Wine for breakfast?
Trip Start
Mar 01, 2010
1
51
62
Trip End
Aug 23, 2010
Montepulciano, Tuscany, Italy
Monday, April 26, 2010
Going to a winery is different in Italy than it is in the US. For us it's a fun social event. In Italy, it's work related. If you want to taste wines and have some small plates you go to an enoteca, not to a winery. Well, we didn't know that. So there we were, just the three of us and out guide, at about 10:30 in the morning touring the inside parts of the winery (where the grapes are smashed (no feet necessary), barrels are filled and stored and eventually bottled. I couldn't care less. I'm just here for the wine and brushetta. My parents on the other hand were actually interested or at least felt obligated to pretend that they were. They asked questions, attempted small talk, and tried to engage our guide. FINALLY we are allowed in the tasting room. We get to taste a couple of the wines. Some are good, some are average, but I did have the only white wine I ever got excited about. I bought it and carried it with me the whole way through Europe until I got to Prague so I could share it with my friend Steph. That's friendship. My parents bought a few bottles and I think some olive tapenade or some other odds and ends. They didn't give us any food really, just some crackers. At this point it's almost 1 and I ate at 7:30 so I'm starving and a little tipsy from my lack of food. There was supposed to be a really good restaurant at the winery, but that's at the company's other vineyard. Then there were supposed to be some restaurants nearby, but it's Monday and things tend to close in the middle of the day, so we were out of luck. Onward to Siena.
Siena is beautiful, no doubt about it. Although I think my parents enjoyed it more than I did, though I do love Tuscan food. The old city is like a small town and is famous for the horse race around the palio - which is much much to small for a horse race in my opinion, but would love to be there anyway. We wondered around the streets around the streets and eventually settled into one of the cafes that line the palio piaza. We were very European about it. It was relaxed and unrushed. We people watched and chated, very low key.
Eventually we decided to return to Montepulciano for dinner, but it was another beautiful day in Tuscany.
Side note about European service: I prefer it. Yes it takes a while to get your food and drinks, and is a little annoying when you are sucking down you water. But you see, after your first day you don't suck down you water...it only comes in bottles and you don't want to pay for it. In Europe you can sit down with a book and spend the whole day at your one table. The server may come back and some point, but they'll never give you the check until you ask for it. I LOVE THAT. You would think traveling alone I'd want to get my food, eat and be out of there. But by the end of my travels, I didn't even need a book as a buffer. It's nice to sit and relax while eating your meal. There's no need to hurry or constantly tell the server that yes, the food is good and everything is okay.
