Trip to Italy Day 16 & 17 - A Day In Castellina Then Goodbye

Since Rhett & Beth joined us after cruising across the Atlantic and spending time in France and England they were ready for an easy day before flying home so they just kicked around in Castellina for the day – they had been gone for 24 Days.  We made reservations for them at the Squarcialupi Taverne (Castellina’s best restaurant) while Beverly continued to convalesce and I stayed with her.  Unfortunately, our dream trip has turned into the trip from hell for her with a chest cold and a sprained ankle and she’s talking about wanting to just go home.

They ate on the taverne veranda overlooking the countryside - the black rooster on the bottle indicates good wine.

Trip to Italy Day 14 & 15 – Cooking Class In Volterra and Return to Florence

The plan for this day was to go to Agriturismo Biologico Diacceroni  near Volterra (75 minute drive) for a pasta and pizza cooking class but since Bev needed to stay off her sprained ankle, I stayed home with her and Rhett and Beth went to the class.  They both took the pasta class.  Here is a shot of the place that I borrowed from the web.

Trip to Italy Day 12 & 13 - So Long Siena and Kathy & Keith and Hello Montepulciano Wine Tasting

After spending most of the day in Siena and having lunch, Kathy and Keith hopped a bus for the Rome airport and Beverly, Rhett, and Beth came to the farmhouse.  With Bev and I still ailing, Beth and Rhett went into Castellina for supper at the I Grani di Squarchialupi (The Grains Of Squarchialupi) – a fresh pasta restaurant.  Their menu has the usual courses: Appetizers, pasta, main course with side dishes, and dessert and unless you are really hungry it's best to just share each course.

Trip to Italy Day 10 & 11 - Agriturismo (Farmhouse) Rocca and On To Siena

The morning of Apr. 22. Kathy, Bev, and Keith made a return trip to Rocca so Keith could meet them and try their wines since he missed our cooking class .  Then Kathy and Keith packed for home and along with Bev, they headed off to Siena to meet up with son Rhett and DIL Beth who were coming in from England.  Kathy and Keith would head for Rome and home after a couple days in Siena and Rhett and Beth would come back to the farmhouse in Castellina.  I was still too sick to go but they ended up with a really nice three BR apartment that overlooked Siena’s Piazza Del Campo ( main public square).  Overhead pic borrowed from the web. 

Trip to Italy Day 9 – Wine Tasting With Lunch And I Can’t Believe I Got Sick

This was one of our usual days with a light breakfast in the apartment then a wine tasting with lunch in yet another Tuscan Wine Region - San Gimignano – where white wines reign made from the Vernaccia grape vs. the Sangiovese grapes used in most Tuscan red wines.  The winery we chose was Il Colombaio Santa Chiara which is located about 3 miles south of the small town of San Gimignano.  The buildings of the winery were originally the San Donato Parish with its parsonage.  The winery was started by one man in the 1950's and now it is run by his three sons. 

A week or so before our trip to Italy, I got the Norovirus then Bev got it and just recovered a couple of days before we left for Italy and now I have a bad cold that has cost me the opportunity to participate in today’s wine tasting and the ability to go to the one city that I wanted to visit – Siena.

Trip to Italy Day 8 - Birthday and Easter Lunch At Il Cantuccio

As mentioned in the previous post we went back to Il Cantuccio Restaurant and Wine Bar in Castellina for Beverly’s birthday and our Easter Dinner. Il Cantuccio means "the nook."

Here are some shots of the restaurant which is small like the others we’ve been in.  They have seating inside the restaurant, outside, and across the street in their wine bar.

Trip to Italy Day 7– Florence Tour

On Saturday we all slept in and then prepared for the trip to Tuscany's capital, Florence for a guided tour on what was finally a pretty day.  Since I can’t do long distance walking and we were having trouble figuring out how to get to Florence, we just decided that I would drive them to a place to meet the guide, come back to Castellina then go back and pick them up – about a 50 minute trip each way.  I had mentioned before that the terrain reminded me of WV and here are a couple of shots showing that from the road to Florence and the road to the farmhouse where we are staying.