Got to see the city but I was so tired that really I couldn’t get oriented. My favorite part of day one was the wine store. I am obsessed with the shop where you can fill your wine bottles. You go in and they have these huge metal containers of wine. There is no brand name just the varietal, where it is from and the alcohol percentage. Shockingly enough it is incredibly delicious. I even was able to obscure an Insolia! For those of you who were around in the Corvina days this was The other notable activity of the day was sitting on the “second slice,” as my sister’s boyfriend Gabrio calls it, in the Piazza del Campo. People bring out a drink at what would be happy hour and just sit and enjoy others company. I was able to meet some of my sister’s friends and drink a white wine with a cute little story written on the bottle in Latin. After the story was recited by Gabrio I was in love. A story I will not tell here because I will save it for the person who I bought a bottle for. The wine is decent, the story I love, but then I am the silly girl who falls for anything that can be explained with a story.
Wednesday
Today I finally got to the good stuff….gelato! The dairy here is different and in turn the gelato is better in way I can barely describe. I think it may just be creamier and this makes sense because the milk here just seems thicker. It took me a day to get to one of my favorite Italian things which is shocking. My favorite flavor it still pistachio and we will see if in the coming days another flavor can take over as my personal best.
We also went to a tea room that is my sister’s favorite. Before we left Kenneth made me aware that the lunar eclipse was occurring. A fact I am embarrassed to admit that I was ignorant of until it was brought to my attention. I was lucky to know because it was absolutely stunning. I was lucky enough that on the walk to the tea room I was able to locate the orange glow of the eclipse in its beginning stages. We stopped and observed it when we go to the perfect spot. I was lucky that the tea room was located on a terraced area where the view was perfect for seeing the moon. I was able to periodically go out the door to check the progress of the eclipse, as did many others. The tea room itself was quaint and the mojito that I had there was delicious as was the limoncello cream cake that we devoured.
Thursday
Today Rachel and I had the most beautiful picnic under a peach tree in the botanical garden. We spread out our blanket and enjoyed salami, prociutto, bread, caprese salad, and a Moretti. We then read books and napped for some time. It was a very nice carefree way to spend an afternoon in
In the evening we went to a happy hour on a rooftop. It was a wonderful space and the drinks were completely delicious. They only had a few choices. What I had was called a Moma. So delicious I will be making them at home when I return. The only ingredients were lime muddled like with brown sugar, vodka, tonic, and some canned tea, finished with cucumbers; very refreshing. The only problem was that we couldn't talk to anyone. Hardly anyone there spoke any English, so Rachel and I sat at a table, later joined by some Italians, but were unable to converse with anyone but each other. I feel as if visiting with others is the majority of the purpose of happy hour and this goal was simply not met.
Friday
We got up early and went to the organic market that occurs each Friday. It is just like a farmers market that we would have at home. We successfully bought some produce, including what smell and seem to be green chiles. We gathered the most Mexican ingredients all around town. We later made enchiladas, crispy tacos, salsa, avocado salsa, guacamole, and margaritas. Our guests were all true Italians. They seemed to like everything. It is crazy to me that there are people in the world that don't know what margaritas and enchiladas are. Raising awareness may need to be one of my life goals. People should know about Tex-Mex!
Later in the evening Rachel and I had had enough of not understanding the conversations around us so we headed out to a pub for a beer. There were many beers unknown to me. I had something called an Affligen blonde ale and she had a Murphy's Irish red. We sat on the patio and had our English conversation while everyone around us spoke in Italian. This is becoming the trend of our trip. I mean I can often understand the gist by picking up key words and phrases, however it is exhausting. I have to watch peoples mouths and expressions intently to understand what they are saying. Anyway we finished our night off with some good on British Strongbow! They had it on tap which always makes it taste better! Delish!
Saturday
Our Saturday is off to a good start. We slept in and then Rachel and I got up and went to work out at the fortress. We ran stairs and did sit ups and push ups after each trip down. We are incredibly out of shape. After that we showered and headed back out for a panini. I was very disturbed to find mayo in my sandwich. If you know me at all you know I don't do white and creamy. Damn language barrier...I can't even ask a question like that. I scraped it off and made do Post panini we played tourist and walked around the city a bit and took some photos. Tonight we plan on going to Enoteca Italiana.
http://www.enoteca-italiana.it/w2d3/v3/view/enoteca/enosito2/pubblica/esc_en.html
It looks super cool. We are also going to inquire about wine tours while we are there. The wine tour that I went on during my last trip to Italy was very memorable so hopefully we will be able to arrange another.
Ciao!
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