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Published: August 6th 2007
La Grotta
The garden where we ate lunch.How does one top climbing a mountain and having a picnic in the sun? Tricky, I know. After a bit of discussion over the usual morning coffee, we settled on Montepulciano. Two friends of Lynn’s called Tina and Wayne were staying at the castle with us, so they came along on this adventure.
My very important job as we drove over to the town was to find the lunch spot. This is a responsibility that I did not take lightly, so with reference to the Michelin guidebook and a long discussion with Lynn, we decided on a place called La Grotta that was just outside the town. The five of us sat outside in the most gorgeous garden and had salad and pasta along with the vino nobile, the wine that is produced in Montepulciano. It was, of course, absolutely delicious from the first bit to the last.
After lunch, we headed into town to explore. What a gorgeous Tuscan town. It is filled with little alleys that lead from one main street to the other and the light seems to just shine through them. One of the things I found so interesting as we explored all the towns
Tina and Lynn
Happy people at lunch. was how different they all are. In my mind, I had the idea that one Tuscan hill town was just like all the others. I could not have been more wrong.
We walked through the town up to the Piazza. We climbed up the tower as the Michelin guide had given it three stars. Hmmm Not sure I would have done that, but the views back over the town and the surrounding countryside were lovely. We wandered back through the town, taking in some of the shops. I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, a keen shopper. I do, however, like to window shop in a new town to see what is on offer. Lynn and I found a wonderful shop that sold bound blank books. I considered one for my next journal, but it did not have lines and my handwriting is just too messy to leave on a blank piece of paper, so I passed.
Tina and Wayne decided that they had had enough, but Mom, Lynn and I were still going strong (thanks to all the carbs at lunch). We drove over to Pienza, yet another hill town. We got to see a
Vino Nobile
The local wine -- and a very good one at that! different side in this one, because it was Saturday afternoon and everyone was out of work. As a result, the town was filled with its people sitting in the squares, walking about and catching up on the gossip. We walked along the town walls and were again amazed at the views over the hills.
We had dinner at the castle that night. We were joined by Tina and Wayne and two friends of theirs called Octavio and Guillermo whom Mom, Lynn and I had met back in 1998 when we went to Mexico to visit Tina and Wayne. The food was, as always, out of this world and we had a wonderful evening laughing and drinking the local wine.
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