Birthdays and Hill Towns

The first thing I want to say is that today is Bill’s mother’s birthday. She is a devout reader of our blog, so I want to wish her the happiest birthday ever! She will be the first family member we will see when we arrive in the United States, so she will be the first one to see our dirty clothes and hear our crazy stories. We both wish you a very splendid day. We love you Mom!

Speaking of splendid days, we all had one yesterday. Our plan was to take it somewhat easy since Bec and TR are leaving this morning for an overnight trip to the Cinque Terre (which will include that beautiful, but difficult, hike from Monterossa to Vernazza on that cliffside overlooking the Mediterranean). We didn’t really end up taking it all that easy, but we certainly did have a great time.

We started out the morning at the grocery market. TR, who loves to cook, was really eager to visit a typical Italian grocery store, especially since I have talked so much about them. He wasn’t disappointed. He got the whole experience. While Bec and I shopped, he walked around and shot photos and was awestruck by the grand displays of Tuscan meats and different wines. The huge display of olive oils really tickled him. Bec’s favorite, I think, was the chicken package that included the head (with comb) and feet. I guess the Italian cooks would use it for soups or stews.

After we took our groceries back home, we set off on our little adventure, which was to include visits to what I think are two of Italy’s finest hill towns. I warned them that they would be trekking uphill, so we were all prepared.

Our first stop was Cortona. Bill and I had been there earlier on this trip. Cortona is just on the edge of Tuscany, very near Umbria. Prior to becoming well known as the town featured in Under the Tuscan Sun, it was known for its Etruscan ruins. The Etruscans lived several hundred years before the birth of Christ, so we’re talking some really old stuff. We ate lunch at a nice little place owned by a former Brit and his wife (who speaks perfect English). We each had a plate of pasta. Bill and Bec had penne with Bolognese sauce, TR had gnocchi with the same sauce, and I had spaghetti with pesto. Bec considered the pesto, but I reminded her that she MUST have pesto tonight in Vernazza, since the Cinque Terre is very well known for their outstanding beautiful basil.

After a short walk around the town, and a stop for some gelato (Bec shares my conscientiousness about taking care of our calcium!), we drove to Montepulciano.

I really love everything about Montepulciano, but one of my favorite things is the sight of it as you drive up to it. The town balances itself on top of a hill, so you can see it from a distance. The duomo is perched at the very top of the hill, so the town really makes you work for your view of the piazza.

As you enter the town, your eyes are met with a view of pretty shops selling Tuscan food products and, most prominently, the wonderful red wine from the region. We decided to hike up the hill and buy our food and souvenirs on our way down. You start thinking strategically very quickly when you are climbing these hills. We did make a quick stop at the underground caverns of a wine cellar located right in town where they store many barrels of their wines. Then we began our trek.

The Piazza Grande is a very pretty area, and the views as you walk up and up and up are extraordinarily pretty. Unfortunately, the area was either being prepared for or cleaned up from a concert of some kind, so its appearance was somewhat impacted.

After looking at the duomo, we walked downhill back into the town. Bill found a stairway that made our walk down much quicker than the walk up. We stopped at several stores and bought some nice little kitchen items, and Bill and TR each bought a bottle of wonderful Montepulciano Vino Nobile that we selected after tasting a number of different kinds at the same store that had the underground cellar.

Our trip home was slow and took much longer than we had hoped. Bill sat in front and navigated while TR drove. There was a lot of traffic, and the Italian roads are really not fun to drive or to try to figure out, so we got somewhat lost. At one point, TR asked Bill, “Now where do I go?” as he approached a traffic circle. It was not comforting to the two passengers in back to hear the navigator reply, “Beats the hell out of me.”

Bless TR, because it was not an easy drive, especially since the sun was shining in his eyes for much of the time. The backseat passengers were also not thrilled to hear him say at one point, “I can’t see a damn thing.”

But we made it back safely and ate a very late dinner of grilled chicken and ravioli prepared with butter and sage. We felt quite European as we finished our dinner near 10.