A Gourmet Day

We started out our day in a nice lazy way! We got up and sat out on the terrace in the sun and enjoyed our espresso alfresco-style. Since we weren't scheduled to go anywhere until later in the afternoon, I decided to do my laundry as I was running out of clean essentials and the clothes dryer was working again (the sun!). We toasted the beautiful morning in the Italian way with a couple bottles of Prosecco. I then took all the leftover veggies and made a wonderful frittata for breakfast. It was a fantastic start to a beautiful day. We were just about to sit down to play a game when we realized it was already 1pm and we had to leave at 2pm for a tour of a special flower garden with a great view.....we were all still in our jammies and unshowered.

We made it out on time and drove toward our destination...or so we thought! I was sitting in the back trying to catch up on my blogging and Tony and Scott were in charge of getting us there. At 2:45, I overheard a comment about being near a town that we shouldn't be near. We discussed the route taken and then figured out where we actually were and realized it was unlikely that we would make it to the tour on time. We tried to find the gardens anyway, but never did. It was still a beautiful drive. We needed to head back because we were attending a dinner prepared in a newly renovated villa of Issabella's in Castlemuzio at 5pm.

We walked from our apartment through our cute little town to the villa. It is a beautiful place with much more modern amenities than our quaint apartment. It's a really nice place, but I truly like the Italian ambiance of our apartment; although this one has a drop dead gorgeous kitchen and ours is quite small. Our chef, Manuele, and his daughter, Rachelle, were very friendly and approachable. He's the chef at a hotel in the spa town of Bagno Vignoni and he grew up and still lives in Castlemuzio. It turns out he lives directly across the street from our apartment here. We sat at a large table in the kitchen with our glasses of wine and watched him prepare a very delicious, but extremely rich meal.


Antipasti - Flan of Artichokes with Pecorino and Parsley Tomatoes

Primi - Spelt (farro) with Saffron and Crispy Zucchini on a Cheese Waffle

Secondi - Almond and Apple Crusted Fillet of Pork and Shallots with Balsamic Vinegar of Modena

Dolce - Zuppa Inglese



We enjoyed the meal out on the patio with a beautiful view of the Tuscan hills. I'm so stuffed right now I think I could actually burst!

Etruscan Tombs and More

We got up early to run into San Quirico d'Orcia to visit our first street market. We stopped at Cretaiole to pick some more lettuce and veggies from the garden. The market was just what I was looking for getting fresh food for cooking. There was no butcher so we decided to have a meatless meal. Did a quick browse through the non-food section of the market, but had to hurry on since we needed to get the food back to our apartment before driving back in to Pienza for the Etruscan Tomb tour.

The tour was a real treat as Issabella is a fantastic story-teller. She described the culture of the area from the medieval times through the Renaissance to the current time. She included the story of her husband's family and how they started as share-croppers and over the last 25 years became very successful land-owners. Luciano has much to be proud of. They even purchased some land that has some Etruscan Tombs. We had the privilege of touring these private ruins with Issabella. As soon as they found a grave stone and some pottery, the government made them stop cleaning up the area. It is now just sitting and waiting for the government to schedule a time to excavate the area. The government is very slow and nothing has happened since they first made their discoveries.

The Etruscan civilization started in the Tuscany area around the 9th century B.C. and remained in power until around 500 B.C., when they were slowly overtaken by an emerging power in the south...Rome. While they have discovered many artifacts of the Etruscans (including ceramic dishes, fine jewelry and tombs), there is still a lot of mystery surrounding the civilization, because although they have deciphered their alphabet and a few words, no one has been able master the grammar of the Etruscans. I think that is one of the frustrations of Issabella; when they finally get around to excavating their tombs, they might be able to help fill in some of the blank spots of the Etruscan story.

Also, when they began renovating the farmhouse on Cretaiole to add plumbing, they discovered an Etruscan tomb. The government stepped in and had to excavate under the tomb to let it drop down since the foundation of their house was on top of the tomb. They earned €12,500 for the find.

After the tour, we walked back to the working farm to pick up Tony and Tony who stayed behind. On the walk we passed by a shop selling fresh pasta. We bought some fresh ravioli, some filled with spinach and ricotta and some filled with truffles. We took them home to make a fine lunch. I sautéed a bunch of veggies in garlic and olive oil for the spinach ravioli and that dish was delicious. I figured that the truffle ravioli would stand on their own so I just infused some olive oil with garlic. They were FABULOUS! As you can see, it takes a village to make an incredible Tuscan meal.

We decided to hang out with some fine wine and play Wizard. It rained for a bit and we even got some thunder. Tony, Scott and I drove in to Pienza to pick up some wine for tonight and eggs for tomorrow. We stopped at the farm to see if we could get some fresh eggs. We also wanted to return the empty wine bottles so they could reuse them. Unfortunately, Luciano did not understand that we simply wanted to recycle the bottles. Fortunately, he just refilled them for us! We also got 4 farm fresh eggs. Before heading back, we walked into the little town center.

We finished off our evening with another delicious homemade meal. This one involved all of the veggies we got from the market and the garden. I sautéed all of the veggies (same as before plus fennel, yellow pepper, some sweet little green pepper and asparagus) to mix with the pasta. The little jar of peperoncino are so powerful here...I wish they were like that at home. I've been adding them to everything I make. We also had another fresh salad. It was all fabulous and everyone over-ate again!

The Right Place on the Wrong Day

We rushed around this morning to get everyone ready to drive to Pienza to participate in the Etruscan Tomb tour. As soon as we drove into the parking area of the working farm, Scott says, "Wait, I think the tour isn't until tomorrow!" So, we had to quickly rethink the plans for our day. We decided to do a driving tour that Issabella suggests for her guests.


We drove to Montepulciano first and realized when we got there that we were all famished as we didn't get to eat much before we raced out of the apartment this morning. Unfortunately, none of the restaurants were open yet. We toured part of this old hilltown, famous for it's wine, while we were really searching for a trattoria or osteria with a nice view of the Tuscan countryside. We finally found one with a drop-dead view, but they took advantage of having the view and served crappy food. We ate enough to stave off the shakes. We then climbed the little tower in the piazza to view the city....it was all of maybe 40 or 50 steps!! Apparently you don't really get to climb the tower, you just get to go up to the terrace. The view was just OK as the lighting washed everything out.

We then drove to the next hilltown, Montefollonico....a much smaller, more quaint town that was so sleepy that we hardly saw anyone. I found this great door knocker here that is actually shaped like a hand. I love it as the houses/apartments in the hilltowns seem to be distinguished by their doors, handles and knockers.
We were also very pleased because this town had a restaurant that Issabella recommended highly! They had a huge wheel of Pecorino cheese that was mostly hollowed out that they mix a tagliatelle dish in as they scrape cheese off of the walls of the wheel....it was good if you got a chunk of pecorino, but otherwise, I thought it was just OK. We also tried a wild boar and mushroom dish and ribolita. They were both excellent!



We only drove through the next town, Petroio, but it was quite an experience as the streets were extremely skinny and we had to fold our mirrors in to squeak between the walls of the buildings! Scott did an amazing job maneuvering through the streets, but we decided it wasn't worth driving through anymore ancient hilltowns that were built before cars.


Next we drove on to Montisi, an even smaller hilltown. We parked and walked in. This was the sleepiest town of all and we loved it. Tony thought it was the sleepiest town also!



Montisi is the town next to our town of Castlemuzio and so we popped home so I could cook up some dinner. We started snacking on leftover meats, cheeses, bread, olive oil and wine. After overeating on our antipasta, we decided that a salad would be all we needed for dinner. We used all of the produce we picked at the garden...succulent leaf lettuce, zucchini, onion, parsley, tomato, basil, oil, balsamic, salt, pepper and pecorino cheese. It was fresh, flavorful and the perfect dinner.



We walked around town after it had shut down for the night. It was very quiet and the moon (almost full) was lighting everything up. Scott got a really great picture of me and Tree in the moonlight.

We finished off the night with some Limoncello and then went to bed since we had to get up early again for the REAL Etruscan Tomb tour!

First Day in the Val d'Orcia Region

We were late for our orientation at the agritourismo, Cretaiole, but we found out at the orientation that we should expect Italians to be 10 or 20 minutes late for things (like opening shops or restaurants). I guess we have melded into the culture quite well!
We are staying at an apartment in the little hilltown called Castlemuzio that is associated with Cretaiole so we get to enjoy everything that the apartment and the agritourismo have to offer. The grounds around Cretaiole are beautiful and the views are stunning! They have a wonderful garden that we are free to harvest anything that is ripe....lettuces, basil, parsley, onions, carrots and zucchini. I'm in heaven....except it is too early for local tomatoes.


We then got to tour the working farm. What a treat that was! Issabella's husband, Carlo, and his father, Luciano, run the farm. Luciano and his wife only eat what they produce on their farm....they only purchase salt, sugar and coffee. They grow their own grain, produce, olives, grapes (for vino!) and they raise chickens, pigs, and chickens. Luciano and Carlo also hunt. Luciano is a very proud man and he shared the olive oil, pecorino cheese, salami, prosciutto, capicola, wine, Vin Santo and grappa that he produces for the family. It was amazing how good it ALL was. We bought some of his products to take back to our apartment. The olive oil is so green and delicious...we'll have to bring some home. We also got to visit the farm animals (also known as dinner). The pigs were actually pink...I have never seen pink ones, just grey or white. They were extremely noisy when they screeched for food.





































Came back to the apartment and hung out until dinner. I discovered that by syncing my iPad to my laptop, I transferred four vacations-worth of pictures onto my iPad. I thought that was OK since it would be kind of cool if I could show Terry and Marcello some pictures of our family trips. I was not smart enough to realize that it took a lot of disk space. Now I don' have enough disk space for my pictures from this trip! I can't delete the pictures that were synced....only the ones I transfer from my camera. That will teach me to get a new electronic device the week before we leave for a 7-week vacation.

Wandered over to the one restaurant in town for their pizza night (no markets yet to buy food for me to cook). Little Tony played foosball (or foosaball as he calls it) in the bar area while we ate upstairs. The bartender, Paola, played with him as well as another patron with a little girl. The pizza was fantastic, interesting toppings with a nice thin crust. We ended our night early since we had to get up in time to make it to Issabella's tour of the Etruscan tombs.

Picking Up Padillas in Firenze

We woke up to rain this morning. It's still warm out, and the rain does not bother us. We hope it gets it out of it's system before everyone else gets here. I think Tony and Tree are in for a bit of rain, but the weather is supposed to turn to summer in a couple days. Had the best pastries of the trip for breakfast....I didn't want to stop eating them, but I finally tore myself away. We packed up and then caught a bus to the train station. Stood in a long line to get our Eurail Passes validated for the rest of our trip. Then we found out that all the trains to Florence were full until later in the afternoon. Since the Padillas were scheduled to land in Florence around noon, we had to take a regional train to Prato and then take another regional from Prato to Florence. Not to worry, we have fresh bread, gorgonzola and salame di Prosciutto. Too early for vino...even for me! We should arrive in Florence around noon. We then got a text from the Padillas that they missed their connection in Paris so they wouldn't land in Florence until 3pm, so we had plenty of time.

We arrived in Firenze and headed straight to the Mercato. We decided to sit and cool off (yes, the sun was finally shining) and rest a bit before we picked up a picnic to greet Tony and Tree. The shop owners kept trying to sell us wine to go with our food and we had to decline since we were driving....so sad! Since we had some extra time now, I did some preview shopping in the market for when we come back in a week. Everything is pretty much the same, except all the stalls appear to be run by non-Italians. I think I shall enjoy the leather market by the hotel we like better! We caught a taxi to the airport just as it started to rain a bit. We did all the paperwork for our car while we waited for them to land. We greeted some less than overjoyed Padillas as they were without any of their luggage!

Since they lost their luggage, they had no booster for Tony, so we stopped at a super store near the airport to see if they could buy one. No luck, so we strapped him into the middle back seat and drove to Castlemuzio anyway. The drive was uneventful, but beautiful! Our little hilltown is adorable and the owner, Issabella is a gem. She made us feel so welcome and immediately took the responsibility to find the lost luggage. She gave us a bottle of the house wine from their working farm and we all relaxed. Our apartment is perfect!

We ate dinner at the only restaurant in town and it was fantastic! The waitress brought us a variety of her favorite antipasti, which included crostini with an eggplant and mushroom sauté, another with tuna and a fantastic soft cheese dish wrapped in zucchini with an artichoke and truffle oil sauce (out of this world good!). Dinner consisted of tagliatelle with a delicious wild boar Bolognese sauce. It was so good, we ordered more! We also had two rare beef steak dishes that were a nice change, tender and flavorful. Dessert was a fabulous mix of crostada, semifreddo and biscotti with Vin Santo. We left the restaurant fat and happy. We were successful in keeping the Padillas awake to help them adjust for the jet lag. Tony was exhausted, but then flew out of bed when he heard that we found Limoncello in the fridge!

We retired for the night knowing that we'd have to wake them up way too early, 9:15am for our orientation to the agritourismo, the region and the working farm.

My Bologna Has a First Name.....

....and if you ask my why I'll say....I love the food! OK, all you youngsters out there won't know what that means but us old-timers all remember Oscar Meyer!

We woke up early to Skype with the girls before they went to bed. They both looked a little out of it, but it was good to 'see' them. Only 11 more days and they'll be on their way.We climbed the tower today...not the leaning one...for a total of 498 steps. The steps were wooden and tiny. The way up turned out to be easier than the way down since small steep stairs mean you have to walk sideways for your feet to fit.
We could see the leaning tower out the window on the way up and it really shows how much it is leaning!
The view from the top was great. I did not realize how big the city of Bologna is. They have done a very nice job of preserving the authentic rooftop look so that the city is a mass of clay tiled roofs.

We then visited several churches, including one with an abbey and one that is enormous. The big one, Basilica of San Petronio, has hosted the Pope on several occasions. They were having a small service off in the corner when we were there and it is amazing how the sound travels...especially the singing. Unfortunately for us, they are refurbishing the front of the Basilica and so it is covered. Out in the large piazza, they are setting up for a concert, but we haven't been able to find out who it is.Took a rest in the room for a couple hours since we went to bed so late and got up so early. Went for a long walk around town without any plan. We just kept turning down streets that looked interesting. Most of the streets have porticoes (covered walkways) with shops/businesses/apartments.One hair dresser's door caught my eye....too bad it says Antonia rather than Antonio! Tony and Tree should get their hair done there. :-)

There are small churches scattered all around. It was a nice walk to just experience the city. We ended up at one of the gates at the old city wall. Milan, Parma and Bologna all have major roads circling the old city centers that follow the footprint of the original city wall. We turned around and wandered back in the general direction that we came from (we had no idea where we were!) and we eventually made it back to the center...I guess all roads lead to the center. This is a very beautiful old city that has preserved the 'look' of a typical (at least in these American eyes) ancient Italian city.

Had another fantastic dinner of typical Bolognese food. We had an asparagus appetizer, lasagna, a thee pasta sampler (tortellI, tortellini, and tagliatelle), veal with porcini mushrooms, torta ciocolatto and torta limone. And a fabulous house red. Last night's and tonight's dinners were very reasonably priced! What a bargain for gourmet food.
Walked over to the piazza to see what concert they had set up for. Some guy talked for a long time....sounded like a political speaker. Then a rapper group came out and performed. We are now back in our room and we can hear a new group....can't really tell what type of music it is, but it's loud enough to hear a couple blocks away!

We are off to Florence in the morning to meet Tony, Tree and little Tony. The next phase of our long vacation is about to begin!