Day Three - Trequanda, A Winery and Petroio

We decided today that we would stick closer to home for the day.  The kids were getting tired of being in the car and we wanted to see what was around here.

I made my morning stop at the Panificio San Giovanni ( my new favorite bakery ) and bought some more delectable treats.  This morning was some amazing rolls topped with sugar, and another something made of apricot that was very tasty.  Margaret was with me this morning and the nice lady in the bakery enjoyed talking to her, albeit most of the conversation not being understood by either party.

We did some things around the house, I taught Charlie how to head a soccer ball, then we headed out for lunch in Trequando.  We had lunch at a small pizzeria called Il Paradiso.  It doesn't look like much, but my oh my was it good.  It was the best pizza we have had so far, and there is little doubt we will be going back a few more times.  I also had a glass of Italian beer.  Don't know the name, but it was quite tasty.

From there we headed to Fattoria Del Colle, a winery right outside Trequanda.  This winery is one of the many agriturismos in the area, where you can typically stay on the grounds and have special activities planned for you.  We just wandered up to the office and said we were interested in a tour.  Since it was a little before three, and the world shuts down between one and three, we had some time to wander the grounds a bit.  At three, we were taken by the receptionist on a about an hour's tour of the winery.  The winery is owned by the Donatella family, and has been since 1919.  What is more interesting is that the ancestors of the Donatella family owned the same land back in the 15th century, but it was taken from them by the Roman Catholic church because they were Protestants.  In 1919, the great grandfather of the current owner reclaimed the land and it has been in the family ever since.  We wandered through the various cellars, learning about the wines they make there.  Our hostess was incredibly kind and gracious, and made us feel welcome even though we were not staying there.  At the end of the tour we got to taste three or four of the wines, and ended up buying a bottle of their "Cinderella" wine.  It was scrumptious.

After the winery we drove to this little town called Petroio, which apparently is the birthplace of terra cotta.  We drove up into the town and promptly found ourselves driving on streets that our tiny car quite literally squeaked through.  We found our way to the other end of town, where we were obviously starting to go the wrong way.  We got a brief tongue lashing from one of the locals, and were directed down one of the steepest, skinniest streets I have ever seen.  We were glad to get out of there.  There are still imprints on the dashboard from much gripping.

We drove back to Podere Ampella and caught up on a few things, then headed out for dinner in Buonconvento.  We had been given a recommendation for a restaurant called Mario's in the old section of the village.  It ended up being the meal of the trip so far.  We started with a great selection of local pastas, then followed it with a main course of guinea fowl and mushrooms.  I don't know how to describe the flavor.  It was unlike anything I have had in the arena of chicken or bird type items.  There were a few tables of British folks, and the main waiter spoke a good bit of English.  No one else that worked there spoke a word of English, but we are starting to get the hang of picking up key words in the machine-gun delivery of the local folks.  We ended the night with a stop at the local geloteria, where we partook of our new favorite food group once more.

We are headed to Florence tomorrow.  It is supposed to be raining, but we already have our tickets for some of the bigger attractions.  We are hoping to make the best of it, knowing that we may not get the best experience there.  I am pretty sure we will live either way.

Until then, buonanotte.