Friday: Market Day in Montalcino

Each little (or big) town has its market day when the street vendors take over and you can buy anything from fresh produce, prepared food, clothes and household items. Friday morning is market time in Montalcino.

A few scenes from the market

Next, we thought it would be a good idea to have a snack and taste some wine so we went to the Enoteca Osteria Osticcio in "downtown" Montalcino. It's a great place with a huge selection of wine as well as some pretty good light fare. The upper dining area also commands a great view of part of the town and the surrounding countryside. The photo on the left was taken from the little balcony off the dining area which is where Lorri and I are standing in the middle photo below.

Sant' Angelo in Colle and Sant' Antimo

This is the tiny hill town on Sant' Angelo in Colle, which was actually closer to the Villa than Montalcino. On maps and on road signs the "Sant'" or "Santo" is always abbreviated to "S" and, being more accustomed to Spanish than Italian, I suppose I've been calling all these places "San" something or other. Anyway, Sant' Angelo was a nice little place with three or four caffés an enoteca or two and, of course, a church dating to the 1200's.

The Abby of Sant' Antimo you may recognize from photos from our wine tour on Monday when we drove by it. Lorri and I went back on Friday to hear the monks do their Gregorian Chants at 3:15. Unfortunately, the chants are at 2:45 (a quarter of, not a quarter past) so we missed them but we able to see the Abby and even a couple monks. Parts of the structure date back to the 800's (yes, that's 800 not 1800) and the church itself to the 1100's.

Last dinner at Villa Fontanelle (sigh...)

We saved a few of the empty bottles from the week's wine supply and before bidding them adieu, we posed them on the back steps to photograph for posterity.

We counted only 48 bottles through six nights, which seemed a little low to me. I think some of them must have inadvertently made a premature exit to the trash can. Of course, we didn't pose the various bottles of gin, vodka or limoncello that we may have imbibed, but still...

We all had dinner together at the Villa every night we were there. I think of myself as a fair county cook but if I had to rank myself among the eight of us, I would probably be around the eighth best. Needless to say, we ate well. Everyone contributed. No one had to worry about driving home so we could enjoy or beverages without the risk of getting behind the wheel.

The table is set for Friday night.

The photo on the left was taken through the lower patio archway looking toward Argiano Villa. On the right, the sun signals the end of a great week.

My journal sketch:

Tomorrow, on to Firenze!