Day Ten: Wednesday, June 30 Montalcino

Day Ten: Wednesday, June 30 Montalcino

Slept pretty well, but it seems the best sleep starts about 2:30. Until 6 or so. I did get some significant GYE work done which was great.

Montalcino Morning Walk
Then at about 8:30 I took a break and went for another Montalcino Morning walk. Gorgeous. I wanted to see if I could locate what appeared to be the two lower quartieres, Travaglio and Pianello. Had already had found Ruga and Borghetto.

In Travaglio


View from lower Travaglio


View from lower Travaglio


In Travaglio






In Travaglio




View from the hospital in Pianello


Pianello


Up to Taverna Il Grappolo Blu



Piazza del Popolo


This was open yesterday. Open only twice a week for the fresh fish.


Late Morning Walk with Christine
We got to breakfast about 10:15 and then worked with Michele on our tasting possibilties for the day. He had one booked for 1:30 and he was trying to set up another. I asked for small, producers close by and the first one he booked was with a place called Solara at 1:30 and then while we were out walking Michele said he would try and set us up with a second one. We gave him our phone number and asked him to text us if he found anything out. He did and he had also book Fornacina at 2:30-3. We walked down in Travaglio and then over to the hospital in Pianello and then up to the big church in Ruga then through Ruga to San Savatore and into La Fortezza.







Brunello gelato. Don't ask beyond that.




Afternoon Wine Tour: Solara and Fornacina
At about 1:20 we headed out to find Solara and its owner Patrizia
We found very little signage so we drove down to the barn area and met an older gentleman who offered to call her. About then we found Silvio and Patrizia's 15 year old daughter who between them pieced together enough English to give us a tour. We meet Patrizia back at the tasting room and bought two bottle of 2008 Rosso at 10 Euro each and one 2004 Brunello at 28 I think. Apparently she is doing it all as there was no sign of a husband participating in the business.







Fornacina
Our appointment was between 2:30 and 3, but our time at Solara went really fast as the English was so limited. Not much time for chatting.











Yanni overlooking the vineyards


We had a wonderful afternoon of conversation with Yanni, the owner's wife.



Dinner Number Three at Il Giglio and a Visit to Mario's Cantina and Anna's Kitchen
We thought about pizza and then decided what we really wanted was another fabulous meal at Il Giglio so we got an eight o'clock reservation and spent toe rest of the afternoon just relaxing and reading.

Down in the dining room it was another American fest. The couple fom Kentucky and a family with three girls from Atlanta.

Day Nine: Tuesday, June 30 Montalcino to the Coast

Day Nine: Tuesday, June 29 Montalcino and Castiglione della Pescaia

I actually slept until 6:30! Hooray. Feel much more normal.

Morning time in Montalcino
Went for a walk around the town and even ran a few big hills. Felt great to get my heart working. No tourists were out. Everyone was greeting everyone with a "Buongiorno." Lovely sun drenched more as the city began to come to life.

This is the main drag, the Via Mazzini


View from the top of the hill.


Got a workout running up the Vialo Roma











Trip to See the Sea in the Maremma. Castiglione della Pescaia
After talking to Andrea and Stine yesterday on our winery tours, we decided it would be fun to drive and see the Tuscan coast in the Maremma. They said it was about 50K away, but it actually took us well over an hour after we left at 11:15. The drive was beautiful as we dropped out of the hills and down toward the coast. Beautiful pine and cyprus trees lined many of the roads.
Once we got there we found a place to parked and walked into the centro. We walked along a channel and we were no sure we were ever going to see the open ocean, but we finnaly made it to the end of the jetty and there it was. Apparently you can see Elba out there.
We walked along the beach and checked out all beach people. Good thing in Italy it's not like France. We decided we weren't ready to eat so we just bought a water and walked through another part of town.



Notice the castello on the hill up from the beaches





Christine and her friend



Into the Mediterranean




Christine at the beach. What a contcept!


A bathroom for .50 Euro


We headed south to see what we could see. Not much really and we decided to head over toward Grosetto and back to Montalcino. We did see all the people who were camping which was what Stine and her family would do every summer driving down from Denmark.
On the trip back we had one bad direction moment near a town called Roselle. Too bad I didn't realize the S223 and the E-whatever it was were actually the same road. At any rate we figured it all out and got to where we knew for sure we were going.
We tried to stop and Banfi but just keep pushing through on some more dirt roads and eventally made it back to Montalcino at about 4:15.

The internet was down, took a nap, and watched a text-cast on the computer of the Japan loss to Uruguay. We could not find live coverage on the tv.

Dinner at Taverna il Grappolo Blu
The restaurant at Il Giglio is closed on Tuesdays so we decided to try Il Grappolo Blu often mentioned in the Vanilla Beans and Brodo book. We had Marco make a reservation at eight but it turned out not to be necessary.

Late afternoon view from our room at Il Giglio


Steps down to Il Grappolo Blu



Went for the half bottle tonight


Crostini assortment-pecorino and miele, olive, liver?, parsley


Christine's Veg and polenta which she also makes


Shell pasta, pancetta, peas, and chilli pepper. It had a little kick.


Sausage and cannelinni beans


Baked pecorino with pine nuts and a touch of miele.


I went for the espresso tonight


We came back to the room and just chilled. Watched most of Spain beating Portugal. Worked a bit on GYE stuff.