We have just checked into our final hotel. Along with walking through at least one pair of shoes each we have traveled on planes, trains and automobiles (2686km on the rental car), gondolas, water buses, water taxis, and a hot air balloon. We have eaten 3 times our body weight in pasta, pizza, cured meats and cheese, and drank an Olympic sized swimming pool each in red wine and a hot tub worth of prosecco, white wine and beer. We have met people from all over the world, had too many conversations to count that were 100% English on our end and 100% Italian on the other. When we imagined the trip, I don't think we could have ever in a million years planned for anything better. We did everything we said we wanted to do, and then some at almost every stop. After driving 4 hours from Montalcino to Milano, we made it to our hotel right next to the Linate airport. We are just relaxing on the patio with a glass of wine.
Giampiero, Claudia and Paolo are picking us up for dinner again tonight. It will be an early morning with our flight leaving at 6:55am. I look forward to this last dinner and evening in Italy.
.... Although there is still plenty of time for me to just accidentally sleep in and miss the flight ....
Monday, 23 May 2011
Our First Day Before Milan
This is what we like to call it as there is no need to call it what it really is.
We started the day by visiting the Banfi winery. Banfi is one of the largest producers in Italy, so quite the switch from the one man shows we visited with Silvio. There is certainly a charm that goes with visiting the small guy, and having them come in off the tractor to have a glass of wine with you, but the big beautiful estates definitely have their place as well. Banfi is not exception, and their wines are really good as well. They house the largest glass collection in a museum right on the property. After a tasting, we stayed there for lunch as well.
After Banfi we headed to the monastery. It was kinda weird. They have speakers set up so you can hear the monks chants. The church is beautiful. There was a lot of people set up on the front "lawn" with blankets - napping? That was strange as well. Maybe you can hear the chants there as well?
We had grand plans to do a bunch of other things, but instead we returned to Montalcino, and I believe now we can say we have stopped at every bar, enoteca, caffe and wine shop that serves wine in Montalcino. Sorry Baffas - I know you asked us to save you some wine. Our plan originally was only to drink all the wine in the North, and that would leave you some. I think now you should just really hope they make more in the next 2 months!
We started the day by visiting the Banfi winery. Banfi is one of the largest producers in Italy, so quite the switch from the one man shows we visited with Silvio. There is certainly a charm that goes with visiting the small guy, and having them come in off the tractor to have a glass of wine with you, but the big beautiful estates definitely have their place as well. Banfi is not exception, and their wines are really good as well. They house the largest glass collection in a museum right on the property. After a tasting, we stayed there for lunch as well.
After Banfi we headed to the monastery. It was kinda weird. They have speakers set up so you can hear the monks chants. The church is beautiful. There was a lot of people set up on the front "lawn" with blankets - napping? That was strange as well. Maybe you can hear the chants there as well?
We had grand plans to do a bunch of other things, but instead we returned to Montalcino, and I believe now we can say we have stopped at every bar, enoteca, caffe and wine shop that serves wine in Montalcino. Sorry Baffas - I know you asked us to save you some wine. Our plan originally was only to drink all the wine in the North, and that would leave you some. I think now you should just really hope they make more in the next 2 months!
Sunday, 22 May 2011
Trevor's Barolo in Barolo
Only it's Brunello di Montalcino in Montalcino.
We arrived yesterday afternoon, and wondered the streets of this walled city. It's the first place we've been in a while (besides Florence) that has more then a few houses and a restaurant or two. The tourist area is quite small - maybe a couple of streets. That is of course until you head off to tour the wineries.
We stopped at a couple enotecas for Trevor to drink his beloved Brunello. The first stop we had a flight of five Brunellos and then with dinner we had a 1997 (the BEST year we are told over and over no matter where we go) la Fornace. This was the first winery we stopped at on Silvio's tour. We thought we would give the Reserva from the best year ever (as though we know the difference) a try. It was a great wine! Love it when you have time to give it an hour and it tastes completely different by the time you are done. Licorice, tar etc.
Our hotel here is great. The rooms are a little small, but they are actually just what I was expecting. The view (as it seems to be everywhere we go) is amazing. Hotel Il Giglio. Trev is quite enjoying the name of the hotel.
Pictures from our window:
I even gave a little try to some Brunello gelato. I think maybe they should consider keeping in the wine in the bottle for drinking, or when absolutely necessary for cooking.
We arrived yesterday afternoon, and wondered the streets of this walled city. It's the first place we've been in a while (besides Florence) that has more then a few houses and a restaurant or two. The tourist area is quite small - maybe a couple of streets. That is of course until you head off to tour the wineries.
We stopped at a couple enotecas for Trevor to drink his beloved Brunello. The first stop we had a flight of five Brunellos and then with dinner we had a 1997 (the BEST year we are told over and over no matter where we go) la Fornace. This was the first winery we stopped at on Silvio's tour. We thought we would give the Reserva from the best year ever (as though we know the difference) a try. It was a great wine! Love it when you have time to give it an hour and it tastes completely different by the time you are done. Licorice, tar etc.
Our hotel here is great. The rooms are a little small, but they are actually just what I was expecting. The view (as it seems to be everywhere we go) is amazing. Hotel Il Giglio. Trev is quite enjoying the name of the hotel.
Pictures from our window:
I even gave a little try to some Brunello gelato. I think maybe they should consider keeping in the wine in the bottle for drinking, or when absolutely necessary for cooking.
Saturday, 21 May 2011
Trevor's Phone Call
In an attempt to decide what to do tomorrow in Montalcino, we discovered our favourite Brunello winery on the map the hotel has provided us with. This map is great - it comes complete with phone numbers and email. "Let's give them a call and see if we can have a tour," Trev decides. He calls, and as always the first question is do you speak English? Up until this point the person on the other end always does, or asks him to hang on one minute while they get someone that does. This was not the case with this call:
"Do you speak Enlgish?"
"No"
"Uh uh uh uh. Ummmmmmm. A tour?"
"No Inglese."
"Uh uh uh uh. Enoteca? Tour? Tasting?"
"No Inglese"
"Ok. MEEEEEE E eposa FAVOREEEETO VEEENO TU."
At this point I am in complete hysterics listens to this conversation. One person that speaks absolutely no English - as in not even one word, and another trying so hard to remember any of the words we've learned and possibly string them together to make a sentence that even maybe makes sense. The best part about this is the Americans we were on the wine tour with commented on how much we seemed to know in Italian etc. But in the moment with complete pressure to say something....anything...in Italian....almost nothing comes out. Plus I am trying to make my way to the bathroom so I can close the door and laugh my guts out in there as to not distract Trevor further in his attempts at this conversation. The problem is I am laughing so hard I can hardly take steps to get to the bathroom. I am hunched over to my knees with tears rolling down my face trying desperately to muffle my laugh. Well I don't know if you have ever tried to muffle your laugh, but IT DOESN'T WORK! Instead weird snorting, coughing and choking noises come out. This of course only makes me laugh harder. Finally Trevor ends his own torture, or maybe the person on the other end decides to put themselves out of misery and ends the conversation. Well I completely appreciate this is more then likely a "you had to be there" story I could not pass up the opportunity to write about it so I am able to remember incase I need a good belly laugh in the near future.
"Do you speak Enlgish?"
"No"
"Uh uh uh uh. Ummmmmmm. A tour?"
"No Inglese."
"Uh uh uh uh. Enoteca? Tour? Tasting?"
"No Inglese"
"Ok. MEEEEEE E eposa FAVOREEEETO VEEENO TU."
At this point I am in complete hysterics listens to this conversation. One person that speaks absolutely no English - as in not even one word, and another trying so hard to remember any of the words we've learned and possibly string them together to make a sentence that even maybe makes sense. The best part about this is the Americans we were on the wine tour with commented on how much we seemed to know in Italian etc. But in the moment with complete pressure to say something....anything...in Italian....almost nothing comes out. Plus I am trying to make my way to the bathroom so I can close the door and laugh my guts out in there as to not distract Trevor further in his attempts at this conversation. The problem is I am laughing so hard I can hardly take steps to get to the bathroom. I am hunched over to my knees with tears rolling down my face trying desperately to muffle my laugh. Well I don't know if you have ever tried to muffle your laugh, but IT DOESN'T WORK! Instead weird snorting, coughing and choking noises come out. This of course only makes me laugh harder. Finally Trevor ends his own torture, or maybe the person on the other end decides to put themselves out of misery and ends the conversation. Well I completely appreciate this is more then likely a "you had to be there" story I could not pass up the opportunity to write about it so I am able to remember incase I need a good belly laugh in the near future.
Last day in Chianti
Today we are moving on from the villa in Chianti Classico to Montalcino. We figured we didn't get enough Brunello on the day long tour, so we are headed back for more.
Yesterday we spent the day driving around small towns close to us. We stopped in Volpaia for lunch. It's a town of about 6 buildings and 2 restaurants. We sat on the patio until it was time to pay the bill, and it absolutely started pouring. I guess the Vances are not to tour small towns in Chianti Classico as the two days we have done so are the only two days we didn't have perfect weather the entire trip.
We left lunch and headed away from the rain and into sunny Radda in Chianti. The rain decided that we had a great day mapped out, and it followed us. We ducked into a small enoteca for a glass or two of prosecco (and a coke for Driver). After the rain let up just a bit, we made a break for it (and by we I mean Trevor went and got the car, and pulled up to the front door), and headed home for a quick nap.
Then came the meat dinner of all meat dinners. The Brazilian BBQs don't have anything on this place. A butcher runs the place so I suppose we should have expected what was about to come. Six courses of different cuts of beef cooked different ways. Delicious! How can I forget the potato with Chianti flavoured butter - or was it lard? Nothin like some wine flavoured lard to go with the half a cow you are about to eat. Check out the Fred Flintstone cut!
Yesterday we spent the day driving around small towns close to us. We stopped in Volpaia for lunch. It's a town of about 6 buildings and 2 restaurants. We sat on the patio until it was time to pay the bill, and it absolutely started pouring. I guess the Vances are not to tour small towns in Chianti Classico as the two days we have done so are the only two days we didn't have perfect weather the entire trip.
We left lunch and headed away from the rain and into sunny Radda in Chianti. The rain decided that we had a great day mapped out, and it followed us. We ducked into a small enoteca for a glass or two of prosecco (and a coke for Driver). After the rain let up just a bit, we made a break for it (and by we I mean Trevor went and got the car, and pulled up to the front door), and headed home for a quick nap.
Then came the meat dinner of all meat dinners. The Brazilian BBQs don't have anything on this place. A butcher runs the place so I suppose we should have expected what was about to come. Six courses of different cuts of beef cooked different ways. Delicious! How can I forget the potato with Chianti flavoured butter - or was it lard? Nothin like some wine flavoured lard to go with the half a cow you are about to eat. Check out the Fred Flintstone cut!
Friday, 20 May 2011
Pool Day!
Yesterday - After a quick drive into Figline to take our wines to Mailboxes Etc, we had a relaxing day at the pool. A cooler of beer and water, and some sun.
Thursday, 19 May 2011
Silvio's Wine Tour
Yesterday started pretty early for us as Silvio (from the cooking class) also runs wine tours, and we wanted to have him show us around. He doesn't advertise his tours right now as his jeep broke down recently. We offered up our vehicle, and us and another couple from the class made plans to meet up at Silvio's again for the tour. He warned us not to make plans for dinner as he had never done a tour that was shorter then 12 hours. Plus all the wineries Silvio was taking us to were all very small family owned and run, and would likely provide meats and cheeses to taste the wines with. All of which received over 90 points. Each winery opened new bottles for us of all the wines (most of which we drank).
Our first stop was at the la Fornace winery. The father walked us through the vineyards, told us about his wine, took us through the cellar, and answered our questions. He then brought us inside for a tasting of his three wines (Rosso di Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino and the Reserva) with some meats and cheeses, and bread with his olive oil. All were great. We bought a bottle of each wine. His son Fabio came halfway through the tasting to tell us a little more with a few words of English. Here they produce about 10 000 bottles every year that are only available at restaurants here in Italy.
Our second stop brought us to Assunto at the top of the hill of Montalcino. Assunto is the name of the winemaker (meaning to rise). The wine recently changed it's name from Bellaria as they received a letter from Ernest and Julio Gallo (massive producers) that it was too close to one of their names. Here we tried the 2004 & 2006 Brunello. We decided to go home with a vertical (2003-2006) of the Brunello.
Trev with Assunto
We then stopped for lunch at a slow food restaurant, and moved on to our third winery, Fattoi. Here we tried a Rosso and a Brunello. Neither of which any of us really enjoyed. Silvio warned us this would likely be the case before we went, but he wanted us to see the spectrum of different wines from the same grapes, grown in the same area, producing similar amounts each year. We bought one bottle of the Reserva here just to be able to try that at home. We figured they deserved a second chance. Plus we didn't actually get to taste the Reserva at the tasting, so it will be something new.
Our fourth winery was Montecarbello. Gianni had to come in from the vineyards to talk to us. He produces about 10 000 bottles/year under someone else's label (such a shame). In fact this label he sells his wine to was voted the #1 wine in the world 2010! He keeps a few to bottle and label himself. This is was we tried. We had the 2006 Brunello. It was awesome! Definitely the best stop so far. He only had 71 bottles left of the 2006, Kevin and Colleen bought a couple and we bought four. He opened up one of his last 2 bottles of 2005 for us as well. I asked Silvio how this is worth it for him. He opens up 2 bottles of wine, puts out cheese, and takes time away from working for us to buy 6 bottles. Silvio told me there is no monetary value to him for us going there. He prefers to do it as he has a lot of pride in what he does. His comment was "if you travelled around the world to come to Italy, and then took the time to come to my winery I want to show you my wines." Silvio said it shows him all his hard work pays off when people enjoy his wine.
The scenery here was also stunningly beautiful.
The interesting thing was that both Gianni and Marco did everything themselves. At the other three wineries there was an entire family, but at these last two one guy did everything. Absolutely amazing!
A successful trip, and a beautiful drive home.
After a 12.5 hour wine tasting, and a 15 hour day, I was sure we were headed for Hangover City this morning, but somehow we didn't end up make a stop there!
Our first stop was at the la Fornace winery. The father walked us through the vineyards, told us about his wine, took us through the cellar, and answered our questions. He then brought us inside for a tasting of his three wines (Rosso di Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino and the Reserva) with some meats and cheeses, and bread with his olive oil. All were great. We bought a bottle of each wine. His son Fabio came halfway through the tasting to tell us a little more with a few words of English. Here they produce about 10 000 bottles every year that are only available at restaurants here in Italy.
Our second stop brought us to Assunto at the top of the hill of Montalcino. Assunto is the name of the winemaker (meaning to rise). The wine recently changed it's name from Bellaria as they received a letter from Ernest and Julio Gallo (massive producers) that it was too close to one of their names. Here we tried the 2004 & 2006 Brunello. We decided to go home with a vertical (2003-2006) of the Brunello.
Trev with Assunto
We then stopped for lunch at a slow food restaurant, and moved on to our third winery, Fattoi. Here we tried a Rosso and a Brunello. Neither of which any of us really enjoyed. Silvio warned us this would likely be the case before we went, but he wanted us to see the spectrum of different wines from the same grapes, grown in the same area, producing similar amounts each year. We bought one bottle of the Reserva here just to be able to try that at home. We figured they deserved a second chance. Plus we didn't actually get to taste the Reserva at the tasting, so it will be something new.
Our fourth winery was Montecarbello. Gianni had to come in from the vineyards to talk to us. He produces about 10 000 bottles/year under someone else's label (such a shame). In fact this label he sells his wine to was voted the #1 wine in the world 2010! He keeps a few to bottle and label himself. This is was we tried. We had the 2006 Brunello. It was awesome! Definitely the best stop so far. He only had 71 bottles left of the 2006, Kevin and Colleen bought a couple and we bought four. He opened up one of his last 2 bottles of 2005 for us as well. I asked Silvio how this is worth it for him. He opens up 2 bottles of wine, puts out cheese, and takes time away from working for us to buy 6 bottles. Silvio told me there is no monetary value to him for us going there. He prefers to do it as he has a lot of pride in what he does. His comment was "if you travelled around the world to come to Italy, and then took the time to come to my winery I want to show you my wines." Silvio said it shows him all his hard work pays off when people enjoy his wine.
The property here was beautiful.
Our final stop brought us to Marco. This was the BEST! Here we tasted the 2009 Rosso and 2006 Brunello. Both of these were so great that we, or should I say Kevin and Colleen, bought a bottle of the 2004 Reserva for us to drink there. Marco's olive oil was also the best. We bought 4 750ml bottles. Marco bottled and labeled them for us while we were there.
Oh yes - and Trevor corked the oil for us.
The scenery here was also stunningly beautiful.
A successful trip, and a beautiful drive home.
After a 12.5 hour wine tasting, and a 15 hour day, I was sure we were headed for Hangover City this morning, but somehow we didn't end up make a stop there!
Florence
Two days ago we parked our car in Figline and took the train into Florence. We go off the train and realized we had no map, and really no idea what we were even supposed to see in Florence. The day before Trev had booked us tickets for the Galeria Academia to see the statue of David, but that wasn't until 5:15. What were we going to do until then? We sort of followed the masses of tourists to see which direction they were headed in off the train. That took us in the general direction of the golden bridge. Lunch time was quickly approaching, or come and gone by our usual standards, so we scoped out a place to eat. We ended up sitting right over the water looking at the bridge. The restaurant was great and we had an excellent Brunello (1997), and ended up staying there for well over 2 hours.
After lunch we wandered around a little more and gave in to buying a little tourist book with a map. We found the Academia, and headed in a bit early to try and get our tickets. They ended up just letting us go in then. We saw David. He was probably 15' tall. In all the pictures I always imagined the statue to be more life size. After seeing David, that was enough museum for us. We were on our way (thanks to our map) to the Piazzale Michelangelo. A spot that overlooks all of Florence and has a bronze of David.
I am interested to talk to those that loved Florence to find out what we missed as we both definitely think we missed something here given the reviews before we left. We had a great day though!
After lunch we wandered around a little more and gave in to buying a little tourist book with a map. We found the Academia, and headed in a bit early to try and get our tickets. They ended up just letting us go in then. We saw David. He was probably 15' tall. In all the pictures I always imagined the statue to be more life size. After seeing David, that was enough museum for us. We were on our way (thanks to our map) to the Piazzale Michelangelo. A spot that overlooks all of Florence and has a bronze of David.
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie....
....That's amore!
When the sun seems to shine like you've had too much wine....
When the sun seems to shine like you've had too much wine....
....That's amore!!!!
Monday, 16 May 2011
Cooking 101
This morning we headed into the Morrocco - a small hamlet it Italy not the country - to learn how to cook. There was a couple from Seattle and another from California.
We made the following:
Crostini with Salsa Verde
Crostini Stracchino and Sausage
Home made Fettuccine and fresh tomato sauce
Plain gnocchi & spinach gnocchi with sage cream sauce
Turkey breast stuffed with grapes and herbs
Frangipane (Apple tart with almond butter)
Silvio, Manuela, and Matilda (the translator) were awesome!!! I wanted to do a cooking class the rest of the week, but they were already full.
We then drove around Chianti until returning home to make pizzas in out actual pizza oven here on the property.
There is something wrong with the internet tonight, so hopefully I can add pics tomorrow, but we are off to Florence so no promises.
I'm headed for a slice of "left over" pizza ....
We made the following:
Crostini with Salsa Verde
Crostini Stracchino and Sausage
Home made Fettuccine and fresh tomato sauce
Plain gnocchi & spinach gnocchi with sage cream sauce
Turkey breast stuffed with grapes and herbs
Frangipane (Apple tart with almond butter)
Silvio, Manuela, and Matilda (the translator) were awesome!!! I wanted to do a cooking class the rest of the week, but they were already full.
We then drove around Chianti until returning home to make pizzas in out actual pizza oven here on the property.
There is something wrong with the internet tonight, so hopefully I can add pics tomorrow, but we are off to Florence so no promises.
I'm headed for a slice of "left over" pizza ....
Sunday, 15 May 2011
Stupid Blogger
It rearranged my posts. Internet cafe should be before the "Blogger Down" post. I can't figure out how to get it back in order.
Plus my email account shows a comment from Sak about Trev always burning, and when I look at the blog it's not there. Sak is soooooo right. Trev doesn't believe he is just as casper as I am!
Plus my email account shows a comment from Sak about Trev always burning, and when I look at the blog it's not there. Sak is soooooo right. Trev doesn't believe he is just as casper as I am!
Internet Cafe
I thought I was going to have the annoyance of only having the internet on my phone, and having to blog from there, but recent developments have been that I cannot sign onto the blog from my phone. So...here I am at the internet cafe using a keyboard from 1956. There will be many mistakes in this blog as it is too much work to goback and delete mistakes.
Yesterday we walked from Monterosso to Vernazza. It was not want I would call a relaxing stroll, but the views were amazing.
Today we spent most of the day on the beach. The water was so refreshing (aka ice water) and the sand (aka tiny shards of glass) was hot. It was a nice relaxing day in comparison to what we have been doing. Pretty sure Trevor is a tomato as he refuses sunscreen. I remind 3 times, and then figure he is agrown adult and will do what he pleases. Apparently he pleases to resemble the lobster he had for lunch yesterday.
Tomorrow we are headed to Modena for a little balsamic vinegar and Ferrari. Maybe some wifi so I can add pics from Cinque Terre.
Yesterday we walked from Monterosso to Vernazza. It was not want I would call a relaxing stroll, but the views were amazing.
Today we spent most of the day on the beach. The water was so refreshing (aka ice water) and the sand (aka tiny shards of glass) was hot. It was a nice relaxing day in comparison to what we have been doing. Pretty sure Trevor is a tomato as he refuses sunscreen. I remind 3 times, and then figure he is agrown adult and will do what he pleases. Apparently he pleases to resemble the lobster he had for lunch yesterday.
Tomorrow we are headed to Modena for a little balsamic vinegar and Ferrari. Maybe some wifi so I can add pics from Cinque Terre.
The rain in Tuscany falls mainly....
...everywhere. This morning it poured! Luckily that didn't ruin any of our day. We headed to the town, Panzano, in the area that had their market this morning. We bought a bunch of fresh veggies, meats and cheeses. We then headed to a town (mark on the map) that they recommended to us when we checked in (Badia a Coltibouno). There was a church (?), a restaurant, a winery/tasting room, and that's it. I guess that is a town as really what more could you ever need? Lunch was great, and the massive place ended up being completely full with the lunatics that bike Tuscany. Everyone but us seemed to have a reservation. Most came in soaking wet. Lunch was followed by a stop at the tasting room down the hill. We tasted a few of the producers wines and olive oils. Neither of us have ever done an olive oil tasting, so that was very interesting. High quality olive oils have a bitter taste. When you taste sweet, that is the sign of a very low quality. The rain had completely stopped and the sun was shining by the time we left the tasting area. After a day of markets, wine, and touring the area close to the villa we headed home to cook a great dinner.
Saturday, 14 May 2011
Tuscana
Tuscany is beautiful. Our place here is just as beautiful. After arriving early this afternoon, we visited Dudda and Greve and loaded up on some groceries, hit the bank, grabbed a gelato, and stopped for a pizza (which was of course delicious). We also met the tallest Italian family in history. I imagine they are in the guinness book of world records. Not kidding a couple of them had to be 6'5.
After seeing Valpolicella and Piemonte, I have to say Tuscany is not what I expected. There are less vineyards and more other types of vegetation. Beautiful definitely, but just different. Big trees, vineyard, big trees vineyard. Whereas the other wine regions were vineyard, vineyard, vineyard, vineyard, small patch of trees. Both beautiful, but the opposite of what I expected for the "tourist" wine region and then other wine regions.
Someone asked me how I find the time to write while we are here. I will explain. We just finished cooking ourselves dinner as we have full facilities here, and we are now sitting out on our private veranda, sipping wine made by the owners of the property, looking at the hills of Tuscany. So the time comes mostly when I need 30 minutes or an hour of down time, and we are sitting in perfect weather (27-31 the last few days), and looking at the perfect scenery - knowing I need a way to remember this.
PS - I am not a fan of the bugs in Tuscany. We have seen a few that I have to check twice before I can be sure if it is a bird or a bug.
After seeing Valpolicella and Piemonte, I have to say Tuscany is not what I expected. There are less vineyards and more other types of vegetation. Beautiful definitely, but just different. Big trees, vineyard, big trees vineyard. Whereas the other wine regions were vineyard, vineyard, vineyard, vineyard, small patch of trees. Both beautiful, but the opposite of what I expected for the "tourist" wine region and then other wine regions.
Someone asked me how I find the time to write while we are here. I will explain. We just finished cooking ourselves dinner as we have full facilities here, and we are now sitting out on our private veranda, sipping wine made by the owners of the property, looking at the hills of Tuscany. So the time comes mostly when I need 30 minutes or an hour of down time, and we are sitting in perfect weather (27-31 the last few days), and looking at the perfect scenery - knowing I need a way to remember this.
PS - I am not a fan of the bugs in Tuscany. We have seen a few that I have to check twice before I can be sure if it is a bird or a bug.
Modena, Italia
Yesterday we left Cinque Terre, and headed for Modena. Juanita's directions were something else this time. She took us through a tiny tiny town. We both thought something wasn't right and commented numerous times to each other "should we just turn around and have her recalculate?" The decision was made to trust the GPS as she had gotten us to all locations thus far. We sure had second thoughts when we were driving through the middle of this town, and the road progressively got smaller and smaller. At one point we were headed straight for someone's front door. Oh but wait if you turn on a 45 degree angle with less then a car length to do so you can make a corner and keep going. A 99 year old Italian lady was kind enough to let us know (all in Italian of course) that while you make this turn please look out for the stairs that are right in front of you. Panic sets in a bit at this point as we both picture having to call the rental place and let them know they can pick up their car in some dinky town in God knows where and we're sorry, but even the jaws of life will not help as we had to crawl out the trunk just to get out. I'm not kidding here - had we have gotten stuck there was max 1/2 and inch on each side of the car. Plenty of room between the car and stone buildings. The Italian lady thought so. We asked her a couple of times if we should be driving down this road at all. Thumbs up or thumbs down. "Si, si" and something about the piazza being just ahead. Never in my life have I ever wished for a video camera more then this moment. There are not words to describe what happened and what this was like. Trevor would like me to point out we did not get the car stuck or even brush the sides of the buildings.
After all the insanity, we made it on the autostrata (tolled highway), and finally arrived in Modena. Here we will try the #4 restaurant in the world, or so we thought. We settle into our hotel and Trevor pulls up his work email. There is a message that he needs to contact the restaurant or they will cancel our reservation. Unfortunately we did not receive this message in time, and they had cancelled. We had just driven 2 1/2 hours out of our way to come here, and they canceled on us. Trevor spent the next half and hour explaining that we had come all the way from Canada specifically to go to their restaurant. However they managed to do it - they got us back in. The place only has about 10 tables, so I really am not sure what they did, but I didn't ask too many questions.
Massimo, the head chef, took our order, and spoke with us about many of the dishes. He had a story for all of them, and where he got his inspiration from. "Imagine a cow grazing in the pasture....." We had a wine pairing with each course as well. The best part about it was the favourtie (including mine) was the Italian beer we had with the first 2 courses. It was flavored with smoked chestnuts and jasmine. Yummy - weird as I am not a beer fan and we tried 4-5 wines after this. We had one from Sicily that smelled like manure. Trevor liked it - I did not!
Earlier in the day we walked some of the streets of il centro. We stopped for a quick bit when an old gentleman engaged in conversation with us. He was nice to chat with while we were snacking, but then he wouldn't let us leave. Finally I just got up and said I had to go shopping before the stores closed. I knew Trevor would pick up what I was laying down and he would spend a few more minutes with the old man before he would tell him he had to leave or I would be worried. Let's just say the plan kind of worked - "bananas is liquid". It's a saying from one of the old man's stories that basically means hogwash! While "shopping" and waiting for Trev, I thought I was going to have a "Pretty Woman" moment. For those of you that know the movie you know what I am talking about. I had found myself in a store that I probably should not be in wearing my flip flops, no make up etc etc. I was all ready to do the scene of "Big mistake.....HUGE," but never had the chance as they ended up being very nice to me. Oh well I have that one in my back pocket incase I ever need it!
The hotel here was awesome. It pays to go off the tourist path as the quality and quantity you get for lower prices is great!
We are off to Tuscany for some R&R.
www.hotelviaemilia.it
After all the insanity, we made it on the autostrata (tolled highway), and finally arrived in Modena. Here we will try the #4 restaurant in the world, or so we thought. We settle into our hotel and Trevor pulls up his work email. There is a message that he needs to contact the restaurant or they will cancel our reservation. Unfortunately we did not receive this message in time, and they had cancelled. We had just driven 2 1/2 hours out of our way to come here, and they canceled on us. Trevor spent the next half and hour explaining that we had come all the way from Canada specifically to go to their restaurant. However they managed to do it - they got us back in. The place only has about 10 tables, so I really am not sure what they did, but I didn't ask too many questions.
Massimo, the head chef, took our order, and spoke with us about many of the dishes. He had a story for all of them, and where he got his inspiration from. "Imagine a cow grazing in the pasture....." We had a wine pairing with each course as well. The best part about it was the favourtie (including mine) was the Italian beer we had with the first 2 courses. It was flavored with smoked chestnuts and jasmine. Yummy - weird as I am not a beer fan and we tried 4-5 wines after this. We had one from Sicily that smelled like manure. Trevor liked it - I did not!
Earlier in the day we walked some of the streets of il centro. We stopped for a quick bit when an old gentleman engaged in conversation with us. He was nice to chat with while we were snacking, but then he wouldn't let us leave. Finally I just got up and said I had to go shopping before the stores closed. I knew Trevor would pick up what I was laying down and he would spend a few more minutes with the old man before he would tell him he had to leave or I would be worried. Let's just say the plan kind of worked - "bananas is liquid". It's a saying from one of the old man's stories that basically means hogwash! While "shopping" and waiting for Trev, I thought I was going to have a "Pretty Woman" moment. For those of you that know the movie you know what I am talking about. I had found myself in a store that I probably should not be in wearing my flip flops, no make up etc etc. I was all ready to do the scene of "Big mistake.....HUGE," but never had the chance as they ended up being very nice to me. Oh well I have that one in my back pocket incase I ever need it!
The hotel here was awesome. It pays to go off the tourist path as the quality and quantity you get for lower prices is great!
We are off to Tuscany for some R&R.
www.hotelviaemilia.it
Oh Yum! Oh Yum!
As Trev was packing the car this morning, I headed down the hill for a snack for the car ride. Lucky for us waiting at the bottom of the hill is a Focaccia Bakery. The pot at the end of the rainbow, your prize for making it down the hill successfully. Congratulations - you made it! Now celebrate with some fresh focaccia! I believe I will do just that thank you! I ordered artichoke focaccia, cheese focaccia, tomato focaccia, rosemary focaccia and pizza focaccia. Yum! Oh man - now I have to walk back up the hill....It was worth it!
Remembering Cinque Terre
As our internet service in Cinque Terre was spotty, and then blogger went down there is a lot we missed mentioning the last few days.
We arrived at our little B&B, Villa Cristina, and were greeted by Cristina (who looked no older then 12 I might add).
We unpacked the car, and headed into town. We walked through New Town which wasn't much, through the tunnel to old town where the marina, shopping, more hotels and restaurants are. We found a great little place to have lunch right on the beach overlooking the water.
Cinque Terre has it's own wine. A grape variety that is only grown in Cinque Terre as is labeled as a DOC. We gave their house white a shot. If only we could order house white at home, and have it taste like this. After we lunch, we headed our boat tour I mentioned in the earlier post. It was so much fun. Paula had an absolutely amazing spread prepared (she needs to open a restaurant). We set off with a couple and their daughter from TO, a couple from LA, and another couple from Alabama. Angelo set the boat on autopilot and headed to the back to open up a bottle or two of prosecco for us. We viewed each of the 5 towns from the water (Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggorie), and before we turned around to head back Angelo brought out fresh marinated sword fish and grilled it right on the boat for us. We headed into the sunset back to the marina.
Paula was there to greet us, and make sure everyone had a nice time. She sent us on our way to a place locals go for wine. Six of us headed that way; however, it is closed on Tuesdays (Rick Steves knew that).
Side Bar - The Americans on the trip introduced us to Rick Steves. They said that his guide/travel books are the best. We peeked around in the one they had and the details were amazingly organized. Which places you will not get into without a reso, which places are open and closed when. Great details on how to get everywhere - 14 steps to the left from the train station...
Anyway, we all squeezed into a booth at a restaurant across the street instead. Cinque Terre is a pretty sleepy place, and from what we understand we were in the "happening" town compared to the other four. Nothing is open past midnight, and even after ten the streets are empty, and only few places bother to stay open. It's a nice change of pace.
We unpacked the car, and headed into town. We walked through New Town which wasn't much, through the tunnel to old town where the marina, shopping, more hotels and restaurants are. We found a great little place to have lunch right on the beach overlooking the water.
Cinque Terre has it's own wine. A grape variety that is only grown in Cinque Terre as is labeled as a DOC. We gave their house white a shot. If only we could order house white at home, and have it taste like this. After we lunch, we headed our boat tour I mentioned in the earlier post. It was so much fun. Paula had an absolutely amazing spread prepared (she needs to open a restaurant). We set off with a couple and their daughter from TO, a couple from LA, and another couple from Alabama. Angelo set the boat on autopilot and headed to the back to open up a bottle or two of prosecco for us. We viewed each of the 5 towns from the water (Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggorie), and before we turned around to head back Angelo brought out fresh marinated sword fish and grilled it right on the boat for us. We headed into the sunset back to the marina.
Paula was there to greet us, and make sure everyone had a nice time. She sent us on our way to a place locals go for wine. Six of us headed that way; however, it is closed on Tuesdays (Rick Steves knew that).
Side Bar - The Americans on the trip introduced us to Rick Steves. They said that his guide/travel books are the best. We peeked around in the one they had and the details were amazingly organized. Which places you will not get into without a reso, which places are open and closed when. Great details on how to get everywhere - 14 steps to the left from the train station...
Anyway, we all squeezed into a booth at a restaurant across the street instead. Cinque Terre is a pretty sleepy place, and from what we understand we were in the "happening" town compared to the other four. Nothing is open past midnight, and even after ten the streets are empty, and only few places bother to stay open. It's a nice change of pace.
The next morning we woke up and headed for the trail. You can walk between the towns, and if you googled Cinque Terre as I suggested, you will see this is no easy task. What we didn't know is the section we chose to do was the most difficult. It was not a stroll, or even a changing walk, it was a hike. It took us just under 2 hours as the pathway is busy with people going in both directions. There are some sections where the trail is no more then a foot (a foot and a half max) wide and you've got to pass people going the other way. Hmmmm this is sounding a lot like the roads of Italy. After making it successfully to Vernazza (the town next to Monterosso) we jumped on the train to Riomaggiore for lunch. We had some outstanding seafood - the mixed fish appetizer, and it came out with 6-8 different fish cooked different ways. MMM-MM!
Photo: Example of the "paths" on the hike
Photo: View of Vernazza just before descending down the mountain from our hike.
The next morning we started by taking the train to Riomaggiore to do the Via dell' Amore (walk of love). This was like a board walk compared to what we had done the day before. This walk takes you from Riomaggiore to Manarola. We were going to continue on to one more town, but part of the pathway between Manarola and Corniglia had been washed away. So again we opt for the train, and take that to Corniglia. Corniglia is the only town that is not located on the water. There is a small bus that takes you up the hill to the town, or you can walk 413 stairs straight up the mountain. We chose the bus on the way up and the stairs on the way down.
We didn't stay long as all either one of us could think about was headed to the beach for the rest of the day.
We ended up back at the place that Paula had recommended that was closed for the second night in a row. The name has left me for the moment, but Mary and her husband were great and had a wonderful selection of wines from all over Italy.
www.villa-cristina.net
Photo: Example of the "paths" on the hike
Photo: View of Vernazza just before descending down the mountain from our hike.
The next morning we started by taking the train to Riomaggiore to do the Via dell' Amore (walk of love). This was like a board walk compared to what we had done the day before. This walk takes you from Riomaggiore to Manarola. We were going to continue on to one more town, but part of the pathway between Manarola and Corniglia had been washed away. So again we opt for the train, and take that to Corniglia. Corniglia is the only town that is not located on the water. There is a small bus that takes you up the hill to the town, or you can walk 413 stairs straight up the mountain. We chose the bus on the way up and the stairs on the way down.
We didn't stay long as all either one of us could think about was headed to the beach for the rest of the day.
We ended up back at the place that Paula had recommended that was closed for the second night in a row. The name has left me for the moment, but Mary and her husband were great and had a wonderful selection of wines from all over Italy.
www.villa-cristina.net
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