Sunday morning and old men in sun-faded gilets are gesticulating at Bar Centrale while sipping on espressos.
Outside, elderly women in colourful aprons push aside shutters on iron balconies as the early sun bathes the medieval streets.
I’m in Lari, a tiny village known for its castles and craft pasta in the rolling Tuscan hills, 25 minutes east of Pisa.
Once the ‘capital of the Pisa Hills’, the village, population 1,100, was home to the vicars of the Florentine government who lived in Castello dei Vicari fort during the Middle Ages.
The castle, perched atop a hill at its centre, still dominates the skyline.
I’m here with my husband and friends for a long weekend of pasta, pizza and people watching.
Our base is Casa Meridiana, a traditional lemon-coloured Tuscan farmhouse that has recently been transformed into a charming three-bed holiday rental, with plans for a pool next summer.
We quickly get into a routine, gathering each evening on Casa Meridiana’s charming terrace, which overlooks the village and a sea of towering Tuscan trees, for trays of aperitivo and Aperol Spritz before joining locals in their daily passeggiata (evening stroll) around the castle walls.
Harriet Sime visits the tiny village of Lari, in Tuscany, describing how its ‘tiny castle, perched atop a hill at its centre, dominates the skyline’
Lari (above), once the ‘capital of the Pisa Hills’, has a population of just 1,100
Harriet stays at Casa Meridiana (pictured), which she describes as ‘a traditional lemon-coloured Tuscan farmhouse’
On our first morning, we head to the Martelli factory in the centre of Lari, a centuries-strong, family-run business famous for its high-quality spaghetti, classic penne and Tuscan maccheroni, which are dished out to queuing customers in iconic yellow Martelli bags.
We request a tour (they’re done on an ad hoc basis) – and a few minutes later a man called Luca dressed head-to-toe in a bright yellow branded Martelli T-shirt, cap and watch, emerges.
‘Give me one minute,’ he says, before pausing and adding, ‘one Italian minute’, and ducking back inside.
In true Italian style, Luca returns ten minutes later and ushers us into the front room of the factory where metre-long spaghetti hangs.
I ask if he’s a Martelli.
‘Of course. We all are,’ comes his wry reply and a look that would suggest I asked him if Italians like pasta.
Casa Meridiana (above) is now ‘a charming three-bed holiday rental’
The ‘charming’ Casa Meridiana terrace
Luca explains how the dough is made from semolina and water before being put through a bronze press that creates a rough texture to absorb more sauce.
He guides us through to an intensely humid 28C (82F) room where a giant ball of dough is being kneaded in a silver vat and old men fiddle with strings of hanging spaghetti.
We leave with bags loaded with pasta and two Martelli-branded caps to match Luca’s.
Next day, caps donned, we drive an hour south to Piombino to take the hour-long ferry to Elba, the largest of seven islands in the Tuscan archipelago.
Legend has it that a crown of the Roman goddess Venus was thrown into the sea near Elba, accounting for the jewel-like tones of the waters lapping the fish-shaped island.
With a population of 35,000, Elba is roughly half the size of the Isle of Wight and home to more than 150 beaches and coves backed by thick woodland, fields of juniper and fig trees and a handful of pretty towns and villages clinging to the coast.
Harriet takes the hour-long ferry to Elba, ‘the largest of seven islands in the Tuscan archipelago’. Pictured: An aerial view of Portoferraio town on Elba
Elba (above) is roughly half the size of the Isle of Wight and home to more than 150 beaches and coves, writes Harriet
But the island is best known for being where Napoleon spent his first stint in exile.
The restless conqueror arrived in Elba in 1814, exactly 210 years ago, where he remained until escaping to France on February 26, 1815, after learning Britain wanted to move him to St Helena in the South Atlantic.
His industrious nine-month reign as ‘King of Elba’ was spent improving roads, remodelling the legal and education systems and redesigning the local flag while living in two sumptuous villas.
We spend the morning at Sansone, a white-pebbled beach where large fluffy dogs snooze under the shade of the limestone cliffs.
In need of refuelling and rehydrating, we head 15 minutes east to Da Luciano, a fish restaurant floating above Biodola beach for a late lunch of crab tagliatelle and jugs of local Elba wine before dragging ourselves away to catch the 5pm ferry back to the mainland.
My advice?
Give the region’s larger towns and cities a miss and head to the charming little village of Lari instead.