On our way!

September 24,

We headed to Dulles in a driving rainstorm to meet up with Cindy and Bill and Brad and Sophie for our long delayed trip to Italy. Our favorite wine bar was supposed to be our meeting point but things didn't work out quite right. Luther and I had something to eat and a couple of glasses of wine. Brad and Sophie showed up but we couldn't sit near each other so that was kind of a bummer. Cindy and Bill were no shows.

We headed to the gate and boarding was in progress. When we got to our seats we saw that Cindy and Bill were not in their seats. Gasp! They showed up shortly after rather grumpy. They had hit way more lines than the rest of us had.

The flight was uneventful and we arrived at 8:10 in Rome. Renting our van took quite a lot of time. The vehicle wasn't ready so we had to wait around for them to wash it. Finally we got on the road. The luggage didn't fit so we had to pile it up on the extra seat.

We drove north headed for Montepulciano for lunch at La Grotta which was across the square from the church of San Biagio. All went well until we got there and there was a wedding going on in the spectacular church so we couldn't find parking. Eventually we did manage to park behind another car with plenty of room for other cars to pass.

Our table was outside on the really pretty patio. Brad was cranky and said he wasn't hungry. Bill had a hard time finding something he liked. Finally we all ordered. Luther started us with a bottle of very nice local white. Then a bottle of Vino Nobile de Montepulciano. I had the traditional Tuscan bread salad which was really nice and refreshing. Then I had the raviolis stuffed with ricotta in a tomato basil sauce. Very good. Others had the eggplant and zucchini tart the cheese tart, Bill had pasta with rabbit sauce. Luther got paparadelle with chicken ragu. Brad had a chocolate and pistachio ice cream dessert (and he said he wasn't hungry!). Everyone enjoyed the food and the day was beautiful. Perfect temperatures. We got our second wind. See the food! As we left the restaurant we admired a Ferrari in it's native habitat [below right]

We headed for Casale di Mele where we'd be staying for a week. On the way we stopped at a Coop supermarket and we bought 255.00 euros worth of groceries and wine which had to last a couple of days.

We got to the house with no trouble and our hosts showed us around. There was a LOT to hear about. It's really beautiful with some of the prettiest views to be found. The house is only 6 years old but seems very old. All terra cotta floors and stone.

We all went to rest up. I couldn't sleep. Neither could Luther so we both showered and went downstairs. Luther got to watch his favorite Italian TV show. When everyone was up we made pasta with broccoli and garlic and ate out on the terrace. It was a beautiful evening. Perfect temperatures. We had several nice wines. All in all a very fun, if tiring day.

Kitchen of Casale di Mele

Pool and yard

Terrace

September 25

Today dawned cool and misty but you could tell it would be clear. We had some of the delicious apple cake that Deborah made for us. Some had toast as an alternative. After everyone got dressed and ready to go we left for Cortona.

It took about 45 minutes on mostly autostradas before we turned onto a road toward a hill on top of which stood Cortona. We drove up and up and looked for a parking space, finally finding one on the side of the road as it was gradually filling up with cars.

We walked into a town gate and down little stone streets by the wall and into the interior where we found what I would probably call an antique market. A lot of the stuff was pretty junky but some was quite pretty and ran the gamut of things from copper goods, jewelry, stone planters and sinks to pretty antique linens.

There wasn't a lot to see in the town. We walked up the hill and visited a 12th century church of San Francisco. Frescoes and relics.

After that we found the Pane e Vino restaurant where we had a fine lunch. They had spectacular cured meats which they served like charcouterie. Luther had bruschetta with garlic and olive oil which was marvelous. I had an arugula salad and paparadelle with ragu of three meats. We had a local chardonnay and two local red wines and esspressi to wake us all up again. See the food!

We drove on up the road we parked on but it ended up going on up into the mountains. I saw on the map that it eventually ended up at the E45 autostrada so we went that way. It was very twisty - nothing but switchbacks - but very scenic. After we got on the autostrada we zoomed back. Brad, Cindy and I sat outside to watch the thunderstorm move across the horizon. It's been about 2 hours and we still haven't gotten any rain. It's the slowest moving storm I've ever seen.

Dinner was supposed to be porchetta pasta but we couldn't find the porchetta. All I could think was that it didn't get packed up in the bag. We cooked little cherry tomatoes with hot pepper, onions and garlic and a bunch of chopped up cured ham. It turned out to be good. Before dinner we watched a show called Minute to Win It. BOY was it stupid! But we all had fun hooting and cheering for the sweaty, overweight Italian men (one with quite the set of mooters).

Awaiting the storm

Storm over Collazzone

Dinner cooking

September 26

Today we woke to bright blue skies. I got up early and got breakfast out, made coffee and dumped the dishwasher. Everyone else got up slowly and I hurried them up some so we could go to the market.

After we ate we drove over to Marsciano where the Monday market was. For once we drove right there and found a parking place RIGHT in front of the action. It was a typical Italian market with lots of stands with everything from vacuum cleaners to shoes. There were 3 or 4 sausage and cured meat stands and a bunch of vegetable stands where we bought the makings for dinner. Then we went into the Coop with our list and bought it all. Toilet paper, trash bags, dishwasher soap, sugar, cream, pasta, water - on and on.

We loaded up the car and headed for Orvieto down a direct route between Marsciano and Orvieto. It was a very twisty road that went up into the mountains where there were lots of walking paths and restaurants so it must be a tourist area in season. It was quiet at this time of year. We got to Orvieto and found the underground parking garage and took the elevator up to the town. We wandered around snapping pictures, toured the inside of the Duomo and I bought an olive wood bowl.

We chose Ristorante Palumbo for lunch. It was pretty small and was completely full by the time we left. I had an antipasti typico platte and tagliatelle with wild boar ragu. 4 others got the same pasta. Sophie got the arrabiata pasta. Most got bruschetta or the meat plates. We had a crisp Orvieto white to start and a red from the same producer. At the end the owner asked if we wanted grappa. He brought little shot glasses and limoncello and amaron (sic) both sweet liquors. See the Food!

We drove straight back after going to the ATM and buying a s**tload of wine. It was a quick trip.

It is now breezy and cool. Cindy and Bill are by the pool. Brad, Sophie and Luther are napping and I'm catching up on this journal. It's very windy. Sunset brought sun streaming through the dining room window illuminating the pretty kitchen. (right and left)

Dinner was farfalle with the good ham we bought as well as red peppers, zucchini, onions and garlic. We watched L'eredita before dinner. Everyone is learning how it works. After dinner the men cleaned up and got the sink stopped up so we had to call Louie who came and unstopped it. We had biscotti with vin santo for dessert outside. It was cool and breezy.