Tag Archives: Road Trip

When it rains it pours, wine


Today we took the morning off and got up late.  Sara finally got the cold that Dave is just getting over so we took it easy. After getting up and having a coffee, we took a drive through the area surrounding Montepulciano, it’s very scenic even with the weather not being great (still raining). There’s a lot of sheep, some horses and cows and tons of wine. It’s much gentler than the northern areas we’ve been in and the soil (per Dave) is red clay with limestone.

We did a wine tasting at a family owned winery called Boscarelli. The local terroir is for Vino Nobile di Montepulciano which we learned today has to be a minimum of 70% Sangiovese. As Sangiovese is a very delicate grape most of the fermentation process is done in huge barrels or even in giant concrete tanks which mimics the old Etruscan method of fermenting in terra-cotta. The Rosso di Montepulciano, the Vino Nobile and the Riserva change in their blends and in the fermentation techniques but are all majority  Sangiovese. The operation reminded us a lot of the smaller family run wineries we visit in California like Keever and Canard where everyone does a little bit of everything from putting the back labels on bottles bound for the US to sorting bad grapes on the table during harvest.

We looked for restaurants around the winery but couldn’t find anything open close by as it was nearing the end of lunchtime so we came back to Montepulciano. Everything was closed here too but Dave was able to find a sandwich in a bar we split. After resting a while at home we went to another tasting in the cantina directly across the road from where we are staying called De’Ricci. While the the cantinas themselves were really interesting (they start at street level and go all the way down the ancient Estrucan caves deep below the city) the wine was just ok. We had the place all to ourselves and they were running a skeleton crew of just one who poured for us. She was a bit of character and after chatting together for a while she waived our tasting fees.

We are having an aperitivo at the apartment with wine we bought last night at the Locanda dei Nobile and some snacks, including pecorino which is made here (from all those sheep we saw earlier). The wine shop has a super knowledgeable staff and crazy amount of local wine- a fantastic shop that Mitch would love. From the street it just looks like a small wine shop with a sandwich counter but we ended up eating dinner there last night because down the stairs they have a giant, multi level cantina that’s been converted into a really cool restaurant.

Tomorrow we’ve booked a few more wine tastings and a lunch in a neighboring town.

Under the Tuscan Sun

The sun was shining this morning in Florence as we packed up for our next part of the trip.

There were lots of people out and about enjoying the weather, biking and running. We had a quick breakfast at the hotel and drove out of town in the direction of Siena with the hilltop town of Montepulciano our destination for today. The route out of Florence took us up into the hills on the Oltrearno side of town by the Pitti Palace and then into the Tuscan countryside. We passed lots of wineries and farms, a bike race and some very heavy industrial zones. When Sara spotted San Giminigano from the highway we decided to take a detour and stop there to look around. It was quiet and parking was easy so we spent an hour or so walking around and even had a gelato because the sun was out and it has warmed up considerably.

We got to admire all the towers and medieval alleys pretty much by ourselves. Sara also made this classic Cinecitta tribute short video

Leaving San Giminigano we got back on the highway, passing by Siena and Volterra on our way to Montepulciano. When we got into town our super nice Airbnb host, Lucca met us and caravanned with us up to the apartment because it’s in a restricted traffic area. This town is so cool and the apartment location is great. You enter the town about halfway down the hill and the walls enclose the rest of it around the top of the hill. The apartment is on the edge of town so the view out the windows is down onto the valley and smaller hills. Also, one of the big cantinas producing vino Nobile (the local wine) is literally across the street from the front door. We walked around a little and had lunch in at a very nice place called Le Lodge di Vignola. The plan was to eat dinner in but all the grocery stores in town are closed because it’s Sunday afternoon so we will probably have a light dinner out. Tomorrow the plan is to take a drive through the surrounding country and visit a winery in the afternoon.

I’m Seeing Double

Last night after we finished our post in the aperitif bar, we headed over to Il Pizzaiuolo for some Pizza.  The place was packed and the pizza was delicious.  Their house wine even came in a bottle with their name on it.

This morning we woke up early to make it to our appointment at the Academia. Unfortunately, today was forecasted to be another wet day so we bundled up and headed off to our appointment.

When we got there, much to Dave’s surprise, Michalangelo created a 15 foot tall sculpture of his likeness and named it after him.

Attached to the museum was a small room dedicated to musical instruments.  There was even a poster for this sweet renaissance metal band.  They really rocked the lute we hear.

After the museum, the next goal of the day was to find a barber as Dave’s beard had become a bit out of control.  We had a plan on where to go, but when we got there (before it opened) there was already an hour long wait.  Luckily, Dave saw a place that was essentially called styles by Toni.  When we got there, Dave asked if he spoke English, Toni did not.  Sara was nice enough to translate for him and told him exactly what he wanted instead of pranking him saying he wanted a mullet or some other crazy option.

After getting shorn, they headed off to the Medici Chapel to check out some old rich people’s graves.  There were also quite a bit of relics in here including many bones and even a finger.  Gross.

The Chapel was designed by Michalangelo and had quite a bit of his works. The coolest part was his hand drawn notes on the wall that are still there.

After the chapel we headed to the Officina Profumo – Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella. This was a beautiful rennissance aged perfumeria/pharmacy that has been in continuous operation.  It was very beautiful. They even had a potion to help Sara but unfortunately they were all out.

Tonight we are off to eat some Sicilian food and tomorrow we leave Firenze for Montepulciano.

Arting with Dave

One thing that’s really awesome about traveling in the low season is the no lines part. Today we woke up and decided to check out the Uffizi galleries. The guidebooks all warn  about insane lines and advise to book ahead. There weren’t any available reservations for today but we decided to give it a try anyway. It was raining pretty hard this morning so a perfect day to spend arting it up with Dave.

 

Everything is within walking distance of our hotel which is awesome. After breakfast we walked along the Arno which looks a little rough due to the recent storms to the galleries. No lines. We just walked right in. (Art-tastic high fives all around!)

Thanks to a great recommendation from a Christine we downloaded the Rick Steve’s free podcast to guide our visit. It always is so overwhelming when you go to famous museums like this and see masterpieces you can as about in books right in front of you (I.e. Venus on the half shell). It’s also an extra special experience going with Dave who likes to make up his own stories and histories of the various works, so special that it may need its own podcast someday called Arting with Dave.

After the Uffizi we went to the Duomo where there was a line. The line gave us a chance to admire the exterior of the Duomo, the campanile and the Baptistry which really are quite stunning. Then we went inside and I instantly remembered from the last time I was here when I was in middle school I think 1) how giant it is and 2) how drab it is compared to some of gilded palaces you see in Christiandom.

After the Duomo we headed back to the hotel on the non-touristy side of the Arno. We ate at Trattoria Cent’ori. Our surely waiter slammed down the menu which was a prix fix consisting of a primi and secondi for 10€. Thinking we ordered too much food, Dave got a pasta and Sara got soup followed by salt cod. It was all so good and we did not feel stuffed afterwards.

We rested this afternoon and in the early evening went back up in search of a haircut and beard trim for Dave. They were fully booked so we decided to meander towards cocktail hour which is where we write this post currently to you all, gentle readers.

Also, last night we walked around a bit on a super fancy shopping street before dinner then stopped in a dive bar full of expats called Green Street Bar. So full of expats that they take USD to Euro at a 1:1 exchange rate. One of the girls there let us cuddle her very adorable golden retriever/ dachshund mix named Sonny who was quite friendly and happy to oblige our current puppy snuggle deficiency. We had dinner at a seafood restaurant we found on Eater called Vivo. The food was ok but the restaurant looked like a mall food court. So yea…we’ll be moving away from Eater recos for the rest of the trip and relying on our tried and true method of finding good restaurants in Italy. If there are tradesmen there, it’s good. If there are dogs in the restaurant, also good.

Tomorrow morning we have an appointment for Dave to meet the David. A dopo!

A Riveria Lifestyle

This morning we woke up early to try to get a quick run in before breakfast. It was about 28 degrees F but with all the Italian food we have been eating, we wanted to make sure to keep in shape after all of the good skiing.  We ran for about a half hour and decided that we had enough.  After running, we headed back to our place and took quick showers and packed up our stuff.  We headed out on the town one last time to get some croissants and focaccia and a coffee for Sara from one of the small cafes.  We tried to get pesto crossiants, but couldn’t find any.

After we had breakfast it was time to hit the road.  If you recall from yesterday, getting in to town was a big pain and parking even worse.  Turns out where we parked was 41 euro for the one night.  When Dave tried to pay, it turns out that anything over 25 euro needed to be paid with a 50.  After getting about 30 euro in the machine in bills, the machine stopped accepting.  Dave had to hit the cancel button which ended up working like a slot machine spitting out many coins to make up the 30 euro.  After getting the car out of the garage, Dave pulled the car up illegally in one of the squares and we loaded up.

Today was Sara’s opportunity to drive.  Being a Tuesday morning, traffic on the streets of Genoa was quite congested.  Once we got out of Genoa, the view was spectacular.  We weren’t able to check-in to our Airbnb until 4pm so we decided to take the back roads instead of the toll road (autostrada).  The road winded through the coast from sea level to high above the cliffs.  At one point we crested a pass of 800 m, a far cry from the Alps where we were driving near 3000 m.

As we approached La Spezia, both Sara and Dave were starving.  We found a small restaurant on the side of the road and decided to stop in.  The sign on the place indicated it was food like your mother would make.  Dave had the Tagllini with Pesto and Sara had Raviloli with Walnut sauce.  Surprisingly, it was one of the best meals we have had in Italy yet.

After getting a bit of shopping done in La Spezia, we headed up the hill to Caste where our Airbnb was located.  Gianluca and his parter met us and showed us our new digs for the next two days.  They even provided us a bottle of wine made by their neighbor.

A 13th century village that consists of about 15 people.  The apartment is all stone and quite beautiful.  We didn’t take many pictures today but promise we will get some up tomorrow.  It is stunning.

Tomorrow, weather dependent, we hope to get some hiking in on the 5 Terre.

Here is a video of our drive today: