Well, that was probably the fastest week of my life. People say that time flies when you're having fun. Well, if I didn't have the pictures to prove it I would have thought that it was all just a nights dream. Niki arrived Wednesday night at the train station. I picked her up in La Panda(the car) and we headed back to the restaurant to meet the crew and to enjoy a nice meal with just the two of us.
Thursday we headed off to Lake Trasimeno which is a large lake, about 20 minutes from the restaurant. We bombed around the lake a couple of times under stormy skies , stopping at old ruins and castle towns. We made a quick stop at a house that sold wine and olive oil, where we met a nice old woman named Louisa and her puppy named schloopy who peed all over us. The wine was good and the olive oil was great so we bought a bottle of both to take with us. For dinner we ended up in the town of Castiglione del Lago for Pizza and Wine.
Friday and Saturday I had to work so Niki hung out at the restaurant on Friday and then came with us catering in Montefalco on Saturday. I felt bad, but I think she still managed to have a good time.
Sunday we took La Panda to the nearby historic city of Assisi. The car was a bit stinky due to the fact that a large amount of herb seasoned, rendered pig fat had spilled all over the back(yummy)The weather was still stormy, but we had so much fun. The city is so old and beautiful. There is so much history and religion. It was amazing. After we had visited a food shop, when the rain started to come down, we ducked into a covered stairway leading from the street up to peoples homes. We sat and talked and had a snack of local red wine and dark chocolate infused with black truffle. It was very romantic.
Monday, we rented a car and headed off to Tuscany. We went to the Val d'Orcia region and hung out in the beautiful city of Pienza. We stopped in some shops to grab some cherries, crackers, goat cheese, and blueberry jam.We snacked around for awhile enjoying the beautiful sights and the wonderful weather and then we made our way to Montalcino for some more wine(i think i'm seeing a pattern develop here) Wine country was awesome. That's kind of silly to say because the whole country is wine country but what ever. We stopped at a cantina out side of the city to buy a couple of bottles and then we headed into town. We drank some fine wine, snacked around some more and then hopped back in the car to drive north to the Chianti region. More wine, more food, more good times and than back home.
Tuesday we decided to keep it simple and just hang out in one city. We chose to go back to Tuscany and visit Montepulciano famous for, you guessed it.....wine. This day was very relaxing and very fun. We stopped at a giant field full of wild flowers and red poppies for some pics, then went into the center for a little more of the old food, wine, wine, food deal. If I had to pick a favorite day it would probably be this day.
We made it home safe and had kind of an emotional evening because we knew that we had to be separated again in the morning. I had an incredible time and I can't wait to do it again in October.
Well it's back to work for me. It was good to have the break but it is also good to be back in the kitcken. Although I think that speaking mostly in english for a week has caused my italian to suffer. I'll just have to hit the books. Ciao.
