We have started to upload our photos to an online album that we have shared. We will continue to upload photos here as we go and as long as our internet connection keeps working. You can see the photos here.
With the weather cooperating, we got in our super Fiat rental and headed for Montalcino, about 25 minutes away. Montalcino is one of the many small hill towns in this area, and is most well-known for the famous Brunello wine. We intended to partake of said wine, as well as anything else that sounded good.
We parked at the northern end of the town, right beside the fortezza. It was about this time that it started to rain again, though fortunately not as hard as yesterday. We only had one item on our agenda for the day, which was lunch at Osteria Al Giardino. This restaurant was recommended by Rick Steves in one of his travel books, and we wanted to try it out. It promised affordable prices, homemade pasta that was tremendous, and a friendly atmosphere for the kids. The Osteria was at the other end of town so we started to head that way. As we rounded the first corner of the old stone streets, we ducked into a really neat little 14-room hotel owned by a man named Pietro. Pietro's family owns a winery in the area, and the hotel has been in his family for a really long time ( I wish I could tell you how long, but I could not understand everything he was saying ). We talked to Pietro for a few minutes before heading back out. He asked us to come back at 4 for a wine tasting he was hosting, and we happily agreed.
A bit further down the street we came across Petto's Pizzeria. The kids had been clamoring for pizza since we got here, so we went in and bought a slice of plain cheese. It was delicious. The day was off to a good start! We walked down to the Osteria and sat down for lunch. We ordered a plate of local cheeses and Montalcini honey, a ravioli that had some sort of crack cocaine in it with strips of bacon, and pinci pasta with meat sauce. We ordered a couple of glasses of the Brunello wine to have along with the food. Everything was amazing. I know you are supposed to say that when you eat Italian food in Italy, but it really was very good.
After lunch, the sun came back out. We made our way back to the fortezza and climbed up to the top, where you could walk along all of the walls and also go to the top of two of the towers. I can honestly say I have never seen a view like we saw up there.
We descended from the fortezza and made our way back to the center of town and found the local gelateria called Why Not Gelateria. Why not indeed! We all had a scoop of one of the flavors ( I had no idea what I was ordering, but it looked really good ), and sat down to watch the people go by. By this time, a lot of the locals were starting to come out, and it was neat to watch the older couples walk through the streets. I can imagine them having made these same walks many, many nights.
We made one last pass through Petto's Pizza and had a slice of pepperoni this time. Even better than the first time around! We bought a few bottles of wine ( a bottle of Brunello and a bottle of Rosso ), as well as some limoncello, and headed back for the car. As we crested the hill and put our things in the car, we decided to take one last walk along the city wall, looking out over the Val D'Orcia. The local town fathers and their dogs were having a discussion about something apparently very important as we walked by. I could not get enough of the view, and took the time to soak in the vineyards and olive trees below for as far as the eye could see. Sadly, we never reconnected with Pietro for his wine tasting. We stopped back by, but he was not around.
What an amazing Day One. We have not yet decided where we are heading tomorrow. I can only hope it lives up to today.
Buoanotte.
I hope you are bringing some limoncello back with you!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe cool one