Honeymoon - Day One October 31st, 2006

Our first full day in Italy. Everything is great so far, including the flights, which were for the most part on time. Quick note on the airports. Munich was nice and they actually have “romance” shops in there (no, we didn’t buy anything). Leonardo da Vinci in Rome was much more crowded.

We rented a car we’re calling the “Little Egg”. We need to translate that to Italian so we can name it properly. [Post honeymoon note: It is “poco uovo”.] Drove up to Montepulciano, took us about 3 hours and we had no problem with directions except we missed the sign for the Montorio.

Some of the people drive crazily, but for the most part it isn’t too bad. The motorcycles are the worst. They were weaving in and out of traffic at 80 kph (~60 mph).

Last night we ate near our villa at Il Covo di Obelix. Everything tasted wonderful. Jill had pizza and I had the wild boar. SO yummy, albeit salty. Vino della casa (house wine) was good, too. Also had spinach on a bruschetta-type bread as an antipasta. [PHN: “Antipasta” in Italy doesn’t mean what it does here, where it’s a specific dish, instead it literally means “before pasta” and could be any type of appetizer.]

The Montorio is beautiful. So well kept, the view is amazing and we’ve got a nice overlook of the San Biaggio church. We’re unwinding nicely and have taken naps two days in a row.

Today we ventured up into Montepulciano and I had my first taste of espresso, which I love, Jill hasn’t ventured yet. Planning on eating at La Grotta tonight near San Biaggio.

Little things are probably the most interesting. Dogs barking nearby, the olive trees right near the villa, the alleys leading up the hills of Montepulciano, the quiet echoes in the churches. The hills are many and it gets tiring quickly, but there are many places just to sit and rest.

Sat at the Caffé Poliziano, which if it isn’t crowded (it wasn’t) offers amazing views of the countryside. Jill had a Coke (heh) and I had an espresso.

The 1-4 PM siesta is no joke. 80% of the places close. Not that big of a deal, we were napping.

More later, ciao. Oh, we did see some kids in Halloween costumes, though only one group. That was neat.

The weather has also been perfect. Sunny and 60s during the day, chilly and cool in the evenings. Not too hard to understand people, some words are very similar.

Forgot to mention the American couple we met that locked themselves out of the Montorio. The doors don’t have knobs (that are functional anyway) and they were standing outside when we came back from dinner last night. We called Stephania, the hotel manager, from our room and she came and let them in. They’re lucky we were there or they’d’ve been sunk.

Also did a wine tasting at the Cantina del Redi. Spooky wine cellar and we bought 2 bottles of wine. A 2002 Vino Nobile (better than the 2003) and a Rosso that Jill actually liked.

Italian TV is funny. The game shows all have scantily clad women hanging around. CNN is the only channel in English, which kind of blows cuz the last thing I want to do while relaxing on vacation is watch the news, but it’s a little piece of normality I guess. It’s international news, so it’s more interesting that US news.

Here is the view from our door at the Montorio for your viewing pleasure.