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Italy, Page 5
Wednesday, October 1
We arrived in Lucca from Florence on Tuesday afternoon. I should say we accidently drove around Lucca on our way to Sant' Andrea di Compito, this little town outside of Lucca where Alda and Sonny's house is. We missed the correct exit off the A11 Autostrada and thus ended up in Lucca, the next exit.
On Wednesday we decided to explore the nearby town of Montecarlo and the wine and olive oil producing area surrounding it.
Since it was rainy, we decided to save Lucca for another day.
Naturally, we arrived in Montecarlo at about the time everything was closing up for the afternoon.
The sign says wine tasting but it was false advertising
Complementary colors, right?
After some investigation, we discovered that Buonamico was open for tasting so we hightailed it out of town and soon found ourselves at a state of the art wine-producing facility
Sharing the bar with a nice couple from Tennessee
We learned that Spumante simply refers to Italian sparkling wine and that Prosecco must be from the Prosecco DOC!
The hostess was very nice and spoke English well.
This is the view looking back toward Montecarlo from Buonamico
The "Consorzio" has organized a wine and olive oil tourist route which winds through the countryside but when we asked for a map we were told the map they had printed wasn't very good so they stopped handing it out!
Our next stop was in total contrast to Buonamico except that both places make wine.
We never met Enzo but we were treated to a great tasting by his wife (we think) Elena. This seemed to be a small family run effort in every sense
The room where we tasted also included the labeling machine, the bottle filler, some fermentation tanks and a corking machine!
Nice shirt, Mike! Sorry about the O's.
Here we are with Elena.
I think that we hit the jackpot as far as wine-tasting that day. All the wines were good and the contrast between the two producers was more than interesting.
This is our back patio area looking out at our driveway. There are quite a few houses in that direction.
This is our driveway looking out and to the left. At the bottom you turn left to go into town, or anywhere, for that matter!
We stopped at the Coop on the way back and bought ingredients for a great dinner of veal marsalla and other items you should recognize.
We also enjoyed some of our wine purchases!
Thursday, October 2
Much better weather today so we decided to spend it in Lucca. First, a walking tour and picnic lunch along the wall and then later, the Puccini Opera recital and dinner.
Everything looks nicer when it's sunny. This is the pizza oven and upper patio at our house.
It's called the Piazza Anfiteatro because it is built atop the ruins of a Roman Amphitheater, hence the oval shape.
Lined with shops, cafes and restaurants, it's a very pleasant place to spend some time (and money)
Is it my imagination or is that bed sheet hanging out the window the focal point of this photo?
Another Van Gogh painting
I bought a print form this guy!
Is it my imagination or is that woman, whom we don't know, the focal point of this photo?
The Sisters shop where Lorri and Debbie bought washable paper bags. Never knew such a thing existed. To the left is a mirror reflecting the piazza, that's not a painting.
Our picnic lunch! Wow, a 15 Euro Chianti!
Making me hungry
Mike was trying to catch a bee that was buzzing our bounty
After roaming around Lucca, we headed back to the house to freshen up and get ready for some Puccini!
More photos of the house. The upper level had two queen bedrooms, one bunk bedroom, a sitting area and a huge bathroom.
The lower level had another queen bedroom, bathroom and laundry area as well as the kitchen/dining area. The door you see to the lower right is to a separate one-bedroom apartment
The pizza oven
Our Renault Captur rental, a nice little vehicle
Back in Lucca, we had time for snacks and wine before the concert.
The venue is the Church of San Giovanni. The acoustics are amazing.
Our show (it varies every night) included a soprano, a tenor and a pianist and to my untrained ear, they sounded great! The performance is divided into two parts and lasts about an hour and 15 minutes.
We had a nice dinner at Il Giglio afterward but I don't seem to have any photos of it...
Friday, October 3
Another beautiful day! We decided to drive to Pisa to see the tower and perhaps partake of Pisa pizza on a piazza!
Pisa isn't far from Lucca. Did I mention Google Maps on an iPhone? If your car doesn't have GPS, this is a great way to navigate!
Here is the Leaning Tower
1064? No wonder it's leaning!
There's that selfie stick again
Look, Debbie straightened it up!
The Leaning Baptistry of Pisa
Yup, it's definitely tilting
OK, enough tilting towers, time for a beer
University of Pisa
The Arno. I wonder if you can float here from Florence...
Getting cloudy...
My translate app tells me that "focaccine farcite" means stuffed muffins. Ask Debbie about being "farcita"!
The birthday boy!
We celebrated my birthday a day early and Deb and Mike treated us all to a six-course chef's dinner prepared in-house!
The dinner was prepared by Chef Massimo with the able assistance of Catia.
A look at some of the ingredients
We sipped wine upstairs while we waited for the magic
Mike getting ready to eat
More prep work
Massimo pealing a, um, apple?
Time to get started with a glass of Prosecco
We're hungry!
We are too!
Thinly sliced and sautéed eggplant wrapped around ricotta (?) with a tasty ragu
Mushrooms and pig cheek (high-end pancetta we're told) over fried polenta
A cold faro, tomato, onion, bell pepper and cucumber salad.
Risotto
Sautéed filet of sole over chopped veggies and creamed peas.
with a side of greens wilted in olive oil
And of course, tiramisu!
And it was all topped off with a beautiful fruit tart!
Thanks to Deb and Mike for a great birthday dinner. What a treat! And thanks to Massimo and Catia for creating a great meal!
Making a birthday wish!
Huffing and puffing and blowing all those candles out!
What does that say, anyway?
Birthday boy and Chef
Back upstairs for after dinner drinks and an end to a great day and evening!
Saturday, October 4
Sadly, this was the day that Deb and Mike had to leave. They took the train from Lucca to Florence to Rome and caught their flight back home the next day.
But before they left we went for a walk around Sant' Andrea. Here is the spring water that the locals fill up their jugs and bottles with.
Here is Debbie trying some.
Here is Mike looking for fish in the creek below
Lorri on the foot bridge
Deb, Mike and Lorri and the creek below
A road through town
The Orsi house, I think
On the platform in Lucca waiting for the train
We wished they could stay longer...
Alas! The train finally showed up.
Ciao, Deb and Mike! Have a safe trip back. (They did.)
They are in that window right there, you just can't see them.
Firenze is that-a-way.
Lorri and I had to console ourselves with some of the leftovers!
OK, now what? Well, let's read some of those guide books and make a plan!
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Thursday, October 2
Friday, October 3
Saturday, October 4
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