9.30 - Friday - Chillin' @ Pinaccio

PASS THE WINE BABE – NOWAT’S ARE FLOWIN’

Friday was one seriously laid back day.

With no agenda, we did the huggabed thing and just made it to breakfast on the terrace… another spectacularly clear morning and the usual breakfast pastries, café etc.

Then DL decided she needed to explore the hillside so off she went, while Chucky caught up with NOWAT posting and picture adding and then followed her to the pool, under the pergola and knocked out another NOWAT.

 

The weather was perfect as a couple of fellow guest came for a swim [the water was around 25C, just a little too cold for Chucky…NO make that TOO DAMN COLD for Chucky, but these folks are from northern Germany and thought it was too warm… W T F!!!

After running up to the room to post the fresh NOWAT, we decided to head on down the mountain to the Supermercato for more water and a stroll about Montale.

The Supermercato is right across from the town square, a cute little local market with fresh local meats, cheeses and breads and stacks of water.  They also had the neatest little pull along shopping carts, somewhat like a pull along airline case, much smaller than the average Publix big shopping cart.  I guess they don’t need anything bigger since most of the shoppers literally walk to the store.

After dragging the 6 pack of 1.5 litre water to the car, we set out to explore the little 3 stop light town. [All three lights are within a block of each other.]

After a bunch of pics all over town, [you could literally walk from one end to the other along XX November/Via Libertad - it changes at the town square in under 15 minutes] and grabbed a café on the corner with Da Boyz [locals that thought it cute that we stopped in- why I don’t know… but they were amused about something.  Chucky checked to see if he was dragging TP on his heel or something but all was in order.]  Glad to be of help with your short humor quota Boyz.

More pics of the Square, that was dedicated to the local WW II heroes and the one and only church in town when Chucky spotted a cute  little bar/café shop and ducked in for some local flavor and a pic.  This is when he spotted what looked like vintage liquor behind a glass case.  Ever the saloon aficionado he started to snap pics of some pretty, old dusty bottles when the owner came over, opened the case and showed him the bottle of Grand Armagnac, with a wax seal stamped 1944.  WOW.  He claims it was hidden from the Nazi’s by his father along with a several other rare bottles of wine.  He also proudly showed us the very first [so he says] bottle of Jack Daniels Old #7 Black Label to be sold in Italy.  Apparently his Grandfather was a very popular Saloon keeper back in the day.

 

Time to head back up the mountain for dinner, and a seat outside, even though it had turned a little cool and windy.  The inside was taken up with reservations from all over the area, as far north as Bologna and as far south as Grevi in Chianti.  These folks have a great word of mouth business.

While we had to run up for sweaters… the wind had kicked up… we were enjoying the atmosphere, and conviviality of the other guests who we have enjoyed meeting as well as sharing our music and stories.

As it got a bit too chilly, we took dessert and coffee in our room, finished NOWAT posting and picture editing, caught up on email and got a good night sleep.

Tomorrow, we plan to visit, some local farms, ham and cheese producers as well as our hosts vineyard higher up the mountain.

More on our last day at Il Pianaccio tomorrow… Chucky is having anxiety attacks… he don’t wanna leave!

Ciao 4 Now

Uncle Chuck & The luvin' warm days, cool nights, great wine, Dragon Lady

Relaxing with Fine Tuscan Wine, Aged Sharp Cheese & Great Crusty Bread