Blue Monday

Blue because we wake up just a touch hungover either from all the wine or just plain exhaustion from the incredibly fun but incredibly busy last four days. We also have to make a decision as to what to do next since our time with Leonardo has come to an end. We make a slow start on the day and decide we will stay in our current lodging for one more night and explore some of the small towns nearby. The area is beautiful countryside with mountains and lush agricultural valleys with lots of vineyards and olive groves.

The towns tend to be on a hill with a town park area on the plateau overlooking a valley. We stopped in several towns and just walked through the main streets. In the town of Montebello, we had a little difficulty finding the town center and ended up on a dead end, ridiculously narrow street ( my personal navigational specialty is directing Dick into one of these) which required him to back up and attempt to turn around while the locals watched with interest as he did a bit of damage to the rear of the car on a stone wall. Ah well, the trip wouldn't be complete without at least one of these events. In one of the small towns we encountered two guys going into a local coffee spot carrying traditional musical instruments. One of the instruments resembles a bagpipe and is made out of a sheep's belly. The other guy had a wooden flute. I asked if I could take a picture and they agreed, played me a short tune and then asked for money...oh well.

Something we found interesting was the manner in which grapes are grown. Rather than the rows that we are accustomed to seeing, the vines are planted in a "pergola" in which the vines are grown like a roof on a pergola. On the road to our agriturismo, there were vineyards of both types planted next to each other.

Pergola in foreground, typical CA style rows in background

Under the pergola

After a morning of cruising, we had a late lunch at a perfectly OK restaurant and went home for an afternoon nap. Our dinner was prepared by our agriturismo hostess. She made the local specialty, "arrosticini", skewers of small pieces of lamb grilled (by her husband.) Of course, she had to give us an antipasto of meats and cheeses and a first course of homemade pasta and was quite disappointed when we declined dessert. It was a much needed early night.