Volterra, a Wine Castle, and Cow

Ciao everyone!

Took a lovely drive west through the Toscano hillside yesterday, to a
small, walled town called Volterra. The scenery is so gorgeous here,
I just can't say enough about it. The beauty for me, is tied with
Sicilia - the latter being more "wild", while here is more
picturesque. Walked around the city, had lunch, and then headed
back. No significant sites - although I think the natural beauty
quite qualifies as such!

Today I did a wine tour, tasting, and lunch at Castello di
Verrazzano. You may recognize the name - Giovanni da Verrazzano
discovered the bay of New York, and the suspension bridge in NY with
the longest span in the world bears his name - he was born here in
1485. They've been making wine for over 800 years, and have seemed to
gotten it right. The tour of the grounds was lovely, the cellars of
enormous barrels and collections were amazing, and the aromas of the
fermenting wine and vinegars were intoxicating. And, as you can see,
the lunch was fantastic. Since I was eating at the butcher's tonight,
I kept it vegetarian. I can be a very smart girl, occasionally :)

As for dinner at Dario the butcher's restaurant "Solo Ciccio" (only
meat), well, it was a favorite experience so far....

Wasn't sure if I'd find the place right away in Panzano, but there are
two streets here. And a giant ceramic cow standing in front of the
restaurant. Not exactly subtle, but helpful :)

There were two big tables, in two separate rooms. At my table, were a
lesbian couple and their adorable 7 month old little boy, an older
gentleman from France via Washington DC (his wife isn't a meat eater
and so went out with other friends), two older couples from Canada,
and seven older ladies from the south, celebrating a birthday. What's
so cool, is that the lady couple was from Seattle - and not only that,
but one of them is owner of the "Cupcake Royale" conglomerate (4
stores in the Seattle area - the first of their kind, with the
exception of NYC). Everyone was SO enjoyable to talk with. I've
invited the gals over here for dinner - would be great If they could
make it. In hindsight, wih I'd asked for the others' info too! Ah
well....

As for the meat. Well, it was delicious. So delicious in fact that I
forgot to take any photos. Oops!! But I did get a photo of me, Jody,
and Kelly.

Hope everyone is happy and well!
L

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