Not being sure we can top yesterday, we woke with a plan to hang out by the pool and do some grocery shopping before meeting the clan for dinner. Breakfast was good and filling, all we needed to start our day. As the cleaning sweetie was in our room we sat in the shade and enjoyed the breeze. Guy told me stories from the book he just finished about how the war for the Germans could have gone so differently with just a few different plans. It made me think of God's plan for this world. All of us. Wars. Peace...Someday I'll know the whys.
After our extended chat in the shade, we headed to the car for a trip to the Coop. (Grocery store). I could have stayed in there for another hour at least. But let me tell you what we bought!! **So excited** Today we are going to be by the pool, so we bought some goodies for lunch. Focciacia bread fresh from their bakery, a cheese spread that is several kinds of cheese mixed together, sliced like the size of a piece of banana bread, and coated with walnuts. I'm sure it is spreadable and will be the topping to my bread today. I have a hankering it will be sweet, but I'm going to love it either way. Guy picked up some speck and prosciutto, cold cokes, aqua panna and other necessary items for the picnic. As I strolled around I also bought some disposable ice cube packets (I'm sorry Geory - I promise to recycle the plastic) that we saw yesterday at the Morefield's villa. In an effort to still have time for the pool, I tore myself away from the isles and got in line to pay. Ahhh...I do love the grocery store.
Back to the il Melone we changed into our swimmies and headed for the pool. Its a warm one today and the pool water is perfecto. I'm keeping the blog up to speed so there is less to do tonight, and Guy noticed I forgot to blog about Volterra, so I added that back into the blog from two days ago. Internet speed at the pool is fast - the hotel's juice, not the TEP. Very nice. I'm also going to have to delete some old photos off my phone because yesterday I got a warning I was almost out of space. Yikes! It's cleaning day for the iphone. I did delete a bunch of pics at the airport in STL, but when you have 7,000 photos and videos on your phone, that is slow going ... deleting one by one. I did back everything up before I left, but I just couldn't get myself to dump everything. I enjoy looking back on "my life in photos".
Lunch was great! And two things about the cheese...it wasn't sweet and didn't really spread, however it was soft and yes, we managed to eat almost ALL of it. Our bread and speck made for a delightful lunch. We didn't sit at the pool and eat because they serve food poolside. We didn't know that until we got out there, but not to worry, there are tables and chairs all around the grounds and the weather in the shade is warm but lovely. Afterwards I came in to get ready for our evening out and dinner. This week has consisted of ponytails and tank tops. So tonight I actually curled my hair and put on a dress for dinner. It felt good to be dressed up a bit.
The drive to Montepulciano was wonderful. The homes are quaint and well manicured with gorgeous trees. Very much what you'd expect to see when you think of Tuscany. It was mostly country roads and small towns. Never did we get on the autostrada and that was fine with us. It's a beautiful day and we are having such a good time. We've never been rushed and it's been a relaxing, leisure time. - When we arrived at Montepulciano, we got a good parking spot and Guy paid the meter until 9:15. That will be cutting it close, but we'll see how dinner goes as we have reservations at 7. Walking up through the town, it seems pretty empty compared to the weekend visitors in Volterra and Cortona. The shops were open and we saw several familiar things, including the guy who makes the fabulous mosaics out of tiles. I took his photo last time, so he is in a past blog, but I did snap of photo of an old guy making shoes. Very sweet. I did buy a purse as mine was falling apart (literally...it was leaving black on the bed when I laid it down). This was a vacation purse I got for 5 euros years ago in Stressa. So I supposed it has done it's job well, but retirement came today as the replacement held all it's contents before I even left the store and my old friend met the trash can in town.
Walking up through the main piazza, I still get the warm and fuzzies from the doors Edward came out of in Twilight. The part were he thought Bella was dead and he was going to expose his sparkly self to the world so he would be killed by the Volturi. I stood in the doorway for just a minute. I need to watch that movie again. There is much less Twilight memorabilia around these two towns now. How quickly it all fades. In that same piazza we see the Morefield kids playing cards and eventually met up with everyone. We visited for about an hour then headed to dinner at the Osteria del Borgo. It's a favorite of ours because of the beautiful terrace and the wonderful cheese, honey and walnut appetizer. Everyone seemed pleased with the location, view and the food. I do have to say that the cheese wasn't as good as in past visits. It was baked just a bit too long and the cheese was browned around the edges making that part hard to eat. Plus it got a bit separated and was a bit oily, making the honey disappear. Still, it was good, but it has definitely been better. I also ordered the spinach, pear and pecorino risotto. Delish! And Guy had the wild boar pici. Like a really thick spaghetti. We both gobbled it all up. After dinner we were too stuffed for dessert so we walked down to where the Morefields had to head to their car, and we all hugged and said our goodbyes with a promise of a trip to California sooner than later to see them again. We had such a great time and we feel so blessed to have been invited to spend a part of their vacation with them.
The drive home was easy and for some reason seemed really dark. Not as many fun lit castles/towns to see, but it was certainly beautiful during the day. Back at the hotel we laughed about last nights wild boar sighting and wondered if we'd see it in the parking lot again. AND WE DID! I'm not kidding. There it was again in the parking lot. It's a black one and really ugly. I tried to get my phone out, but it scampered up into the trees as there is a little olive grove there. This time there were more cars and we had had to park further way, which meant a longer run to the hotel, but at least we didn't forget the room key in the car and didn't have to go back. We'll have to mention it to the staff tomorrow and see what they say. We couldn't believe we saw it again. It must be a regular to the parking lot. It's still gross and creepy.
Tomorrow we are contemplating a drive to the lake but will make the final decision at breakfast. That's a pretty good plan, isn't it. "What do you want to do today, honey?" "Oh, I don't know? Shop, swim, got to the lake, check out another cool town?" Ha Ha. So many options and so little time. Speaking of time. I wish I could freeze it right now.
Ciao from Cortona.
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