Easter

On April 7^th we welcomed our first visitors from home!  Nick’s close friend Nate and his wife Kristi.  They arrived on a Saturday which gave them the weekend to settle in.  If ‘settling in’ means opening our first bottle of wine at 3pm.  J  We had afternoon snacks to go along with the wine.  Such as cheese, prosciutto, bread and crackers from the local grocery.  Then we added more wine!  We headed out for dinner at some point to a ristorante close by called Monty’s.  Monty’s menu changes daily or weekly, I’m not sure which.  For 12 euro per person we had 3 courses and wine.  The portions were small compared to American standards but they were actually perfectly sized.  I couldn’t finish!

At the house I surprised our guests with homemade tiramisu.  I learned to make it at an Italian cooking class I took while Nick was out of town.  I purchased all the ingredients at the local grocery store since the American ladyfingers are not the same as the Italian cookies.  On rare occasions my cooking attempts turn out.  Thankfully this was one of those times and the tiramisu was a huge success! 

The next day was Easter Sunday and for our Sunday brunch we took our friends to Ca’Bruzzo.  They were offering a special Easter wine tour, tasting a lunch.  Two other couples that we’ve met from here and their families joined us as well.  We had about 10 people at our table and we all had an awesome time.  It was a bit drizzle-y out during our tour but it was still enjoyable to be outside in the countryside.  The tasting was done in the cellar and we were served various bruschetta’s with our wine.  My favorite was one with blue cheese and brie combined.  It was a great mix.

We must have sampled at least 8 wines.  One wine had not been bottled yet so Aldo used a giant syringe to extract the wine from the barrel and pour it into our glasses.  After the tasting we were seated for lunch in front of a fireplace, which was perfect for our chilly day.  We had a risotto and a pasta and then dessert.  Aldo again performed his champagne-opening demonstration.  It truly was an enjoyable day with friends.

On Monday Nate & Kristi took off for Florence.  On Wednesday, Nick and I drove down to Florence to pick them up.  The plan was to pick them up outside of the MacDonald's across from the train station.  However, there was a torrential rainstorm and it was so packed in the McDonald’s that Nate & Kristi couldn’t even get in the door!  Thank goodness for cell phones with international plans so we could connect with them over at the train station.  Needless to say we were all a little damp when we piled in the car for our trip down to Tuscany.......