Small moments

By Esterina & Daren Anderson

Another week under our belt. This was another week about settling into a routine. We had some online work to do. We had a few calls. We did some shopping. Our house is now fully set up, and we can find our way around town pretty well. Nothing especially blog-worthy.

We did take time to adopt one of the rituals of Italian life: Market Day. Most towns in Italy have one, and Italian markets are much more than the typical “farmers market” we see in the U.S. To visualize an Italian market day, picture a good-sized farmers market combined with some food trucks and Walmart spreading all its goods out on tables and trucks in the town square. Market day is as much about shopping for cheap clothes, linens, and kitchenware as it is about artisanal cheese and organic broccoli rabe. You can even buy dog beds. Our town’s market day is Tuesday from 8:30 to 1:00. We took Koji, who now loves markets, and did a good amount of shopping for things we needed around the house. But we made the mistake of then heading to the main grocery store in town, Coop, and doing our weekly shop. This was simply too much shopping and stimulation for one of us (EA). We came home tired and a bit cranky—but well stocked for the week.

This was also a week for exploring our immediate surroundings. We live on a hill, surrounded by more hills. There are farms all around. A flock of sheep grazes in the valley below. There are horses, donkeys, and chickens nearby, as well as the ever-present olive groves and vineyards. Every road is either straight up or straight down. The road leading up to our house is so steep that cars, bikes, and even walking dogs all struggle to make it up. But despite the hills, exploring the area on foot has been fun. There are multiple little streets—paved and dirt—leading to hilltop clusters of farms and houses in all directions.

Esterina explored the area by taking really long runs—one was 90 minutes this week. While she doesn’t intend to be out so long, once she gets out there she keeps seeing roads—either on the map or en route—she wants to explore. She’s always beat when she gets back home, but always has new vistas to describe and a rich collection of sights and sounds to process.

New running shoes help. Somehow, she left her running shoes at home and had to buy multiple pairs—cost escalating with each new purchase—before landing on one that felt cushioned and supportive. Sometimes you do get what you pay for. Daren started exploring the surroundings more seriously on his bike. The hills and narrow roads pose a challenge, but it’s also a great way to explore the immediate area more closely.

We had our first major storm this week: two days of heavy, cold wind and rain. The house shook. The doors and windows were drafty. It was so loud that Koji—previously unwilling to hike up the stairs to the second floor—ended up at our bedside in the middle of the night. He was so scared by the noise that he decided to relocate to our bedroom for safety and security.

We’ve decided to work in a mix of day trips, long weekends, and more substantial trips over the next year, with a goal of exploring every corner of Italy. This week we took a day trip on Saturday. Val d’Orcia is in the southern part of Tuscany, and it is home to some of the most iconic scenery in the region. If you’ve seen movies or photos featuring stately rows of cypress trees, hilltop walled cities, rolling hills, fields of green, and ancient stone farmhouses, they were probably filmed in Val d’Orcia.

This region is about 90 minutes from our home, so we headed out on a road trip with a rough route mapped out to take us through the most beautiful scenery and to some of the most picturesque towns. Our first stop was San Quirico d’Orcia, a small town with ancient walls, a beautiful piazza, and a church built in the 11th century. We spent an hour sitting outside at a café, having a light lunch, chatting, and drinking coffee in the main square. Next stop was Bagno Vignoni, an ancient hot springs/thermal bath used since Etruscan times for soaking and healing. Last stop was Pienza, described as the “Jewel of the Val d’Orcia.” It was indeed a jewel.

It’s always a worry that overblown descriptions of beautiful places will leave us disappointed, but that wasn’t the case with Pienza. The beauty exceeded our expectations. Perched high on a hilltop overlooking green fields and rolling hills that extended to the horizon, Pienza was stunning: ancient stone walls and buildings, a Renaissance cathedral, lovely shops and cafés, and some outstanding local products like Pecorino di Val d’Orcia (cheese). We spent several hours strolling the walls, exploring the shops, and taking in the breathtaking views over the valley below. It helped that the weather was perfect—about 60 degrees and bright blue skies.

We’d like to say that the day ended on a high note with a great meal and a relaxing evening. But reality needed to reassert itself after a magical day. This isn’t a storybook—it’s real life. Things can’t be too perfect. After taking in all the sights in Pienza, we decided to head home, order takeout, and watch a movie. This had been a standard ritual back home, usually on Friday or Saturday night. And takeout meant Indian food.

We were very excited to find that Italy has its own version of Uber Eats (called Deliveroo), and on Deliveroo there was Indian food: Tandoori and Curry House in nearby San Giovanni. We placed our standard order: samosas, garlic naan, chicken tikka masala, and saag paneer, with kheer (rice pudding) for dessert. We laid out a tablecloth on our coffee table for some meal-in-front-of-the-TV dining and waited. And waited. And waited. It took well over an hour for the order to arrive. By then it was nearly 8:30 p.m. “Hangry” summarizes the mood.

When it finally arrived, we discovered that Indian food—at least in Italy—doesn’t come with rice unless you order it (we didn’t). So add 20 minutes to whip up some rice. Finally, time to eat… the most disgusting food we’ve ever tasted. It looked vaguely like Indian food, but there the similarities ended. Imagine chicken cubes with some onions and a bottle of Ragu tomato sauce. And a handful of frozen spinach thawed in the microwave and mixed with cubes of paneer cheese.

Esterina bailed and had popcorn. Daren suffered through the horror. And then the movie was terrible. We chose Mary Supreme, and after a dog burst into flame halfway through, we looked at each other and said, “Why are we watching this?”

How silly. None of this matters in the least, but when you change up your life and make a big move, there is a learning curve. Some things don’t translate well. And if you expect to replicate routines and comforts of home, you may be disappointed. But who could complain even slightly after a day exploring one of the most beautiful places on earth? Even we couldn’t really manage it—other than to laugh and go to bed with a smirk and a reminder that nothing is perfect.

Update from Esterina this week: https://esterinaanderson.com/2026/03/29/beef-stew/

Update on musings from Daren this week: https://esterinaanderson.com/2026/03/29/learning-the-rhythm-of-italy/

Thanks for taking the time to read. We’d love to hear your thoughts!

Please feel free to leave a comment or subscribe for future updates.

By Esterina & Daren Anderson

Another week under our belt. This was another week about settling into a routine. We had some online work to do. We had a few calls. We did some shopping. Our house is now fully set up, and we can find our way around town pretty well. Nothing especially blog-worthy.

We did take time to adopt one of the rituals of Italian life: Market Day. Most towns in Italy have one, and Italian markets are much more than the typical “farmers market” we see in the U.S. To visualize an Italian market day, picture a good-sized farmers market combined with some food trucks and Walmart spreading all its goods out on tables and trucks in the town square. Market day is as much about shopping for cheap clothes, linens, and kitchenware as it is about artisanal cheese and organic broccoli rabe. You can even buy dog beds. Our town’s market day is Tuesday from 8:30 to 1:00. We took Koji, who now loves markets, and did a good amount of shopping for things we needed around the house. But we made the mistake of then heading to the main grocery store in town, Coop, and doing our weekly shop. This was simply too much shopping and stimulation for one of us (EA). We came home tired and a bit cranky—but well stocked for the week.

This was also a week for exploring our immediate surroundings. We live on a hill, surrounded by more hills. There are farms all around. A flock of sheep grazes in the valley below. There are horses, donkeys, and chickens nearby, as well as the ever-present olive groves and vineyards. Every road is either straight up or straight down. The road leading up to our house is so steep that cars, bikes, and even walking dogs all struggle to make it up. But despite the hills, exploring the area on foot has been fun. There are multiple little streets—paved and dirt—leading to hilltop clusters of farms and houses in all directions.

Esterina explored the area by taking really long runs—one was 90 minutes this week. While she doesn’t intend to be out so long, once she gets out there she keeps seeing roads—either on the map or en route—she wants to explore. She’s always beat when she gets back home, but always has new vistas to describe and a rich collection of sights and sounds to process.

New running shoes help. Somehow, she left her running shoes at home and had to buy multiple pairs—cost escalating with each new purchase—before landing on one that felt cushioned and supportive. Sometimes you do get what you pay for. Daren started exploring the surroundings more seriously on his bike. The hills and narrow roads pose a challenge, but it’s also a great way to explore the immediate area more closely.

We had our first major storm this week: two days of heavy, cold wind and rain. The house shook. The doors and windows were drafty. It was so loud that Koji—previously unwilling to hike up the stairs to the second floor—ended up at our bedside in the middle of the night. He was so scared by the noise that he decided to relocate to our bedroom for safety and security.

We’ve decided to work in a mix of day trips, long weekends, and more substantial trips over the next year, with a goal of exploring every corner of Italy. This week we took a day trip on Saturday. Val d’Orcia is in the southern part of Tuscany, and it is home to some of the most iconic scenery in the region. If you’ve seen movies or photos featuring stately rows of cypress trees, hilltop walled cities, rolling hills, fields of green, and ancient stone farmhouses, they were probably filmed in Val d’Orcia.

This region is about 90 minutes from our home, so we headed out on a road trip with a rough route mapped out to take us through the most beautiful scenery and to some of the most picturesque towns. Our first stop was San Quirico d’Orcia, a small town with ancient walls, a beautiful piazza, and a church built in the 11th century. We spent an hour sitting outside at a café, having a light lunch, chatting, and drinking coffee in the main square. Next stop was Bagno Vignoni, an ancient hot springs/thermal bath used since Etruscan times for soaking and healing. Last stop was Pienza, described as the “Jewel of the Val d’Orcia.” It was indeed a jewel.

It’s always a worry that overblown descriptions of beautiful places will leave us disappointed, but that wasn’t the case with Pienza. The beauty exceeded our expectations. Perched high on a hilltop overlooking green fields and rolling hills that extended to the horizon, Pienza was stunning: ancient stone walls and buildings, a Renaissance cathedral, lovely shops and cafés, and some outstanding local products like Pecorino di Val d’Orcia (cheese). We spent several hours strolling the walls, exploring the shops, and taking in the breathtaking views over the valley below. It helped that the weather was perfect—about 60 degrees and bright blue skies.

We’d like to say that the day ended on a high note with a great meal and a relaxing evening. But reality needed to reassert itself after a magical day. This isn’t a storybook—it’s real life. Things can’t be too perfect. After taking in all the sights in Pienza, we decided to head home, order takeout, and watch a movie. This had been a standard ritual back home, usually on Friday or Saturday night. And takeout meant Indian food.

We were very excited to find that Italy has its own version of Uber Eats (called Deliveroo), and on Deliveroo there was Indian food: Tandoori and Curry House in nearby San Giovanni. We placed our standard order: samosas, garlic naan, chicken tikka masala, and saag paneer, with kheer (rice pudding) for dessert. We laid out a tablecloth on our coffee table for some meal-in-front-of-the-TV dining and waited. And waited. And waited. It took well over an hour for the order to arrive. By then it was nearly 8:30 p.m. “Hangry” summarizes the mood.

When it finally arrived, we discovered that Indian food—at least in Italy—doesn’t come with rice unless you order it (we didn’t). So add 20 minutes to whip up some rice. Finally, time to eat… the most disgusting food we’ve ever tasted. It looked vaguely like Indian food, but there the similarities ended. Imagine chicken cubes with some onions and a bottle of Ragu tomato sauce. And a handful of frozen spinach thawed in the microwave and mixed with cubes of paneer cheese.

Esterina bailed and had popcorn. Daren suffered through the horror. And then the movie was terrible. We chose Mary Supreme, and after a dog burst into flame halfway through, we looked at each other and said, “Why are we watching this?”

How silly. None of this matters in the least, but when you change up your life and make a big move, there is a learning curve. Some things don’t translate well. And if you expect to replicate routines and comforts of home, you may be disappointed. But who could complain even slightly after a day exploring one of the most beautiful places on earth? Even we couldn’t really manage it—other than to laugh and go to bed with a smirk and a reminder that nothing is perfect.

Update from Esterina this week: https://esterinaanderson.com/2026/03/29/beef-stew/

Update on musings from Daren this week: https://esterinaanderson.com/2026/03/29/learning-the-rhythm-of-italy/

Thanks for taking the time to read. We’d love to hear your thoughts!

Please feel free to leave a comment or subscribe for future updates.