I probably had the best night’s sleep of the entire trip. I didn’t fully wake up until 8 or so and we went down for breakfast about and Gary had to wake Peggy a little before ten so she could get some breakfast. We planned to take a walk to the Etruscan necropolis and we left about 11 or so. It was a long hard walk but we all made it even if we did walk a little faster than the girls on the way there. We stopped at looked at that place I had seen earlier and it does have lots of possibilities. Later in the day Edith told us that many people ask about it but that it’s owned by a wealthy family who wouldn’t want to sell.
We were running out of time as we came back as our lunch reservation at Gallopapa was for 1:30 and it was quickly approaching 12:30. Gary and I actually ran back quite a bit of the last 300 meters or so and I had the joy of taking off my shoes and socks and going right in for a swim. I can not imagine a dip feeling any better. Gary got in soon after as did Peggy and Christine when they arrived. Christine even swam, I haven’t seen that too many times.
Al Galopapa
We agreed to meet at 1:15 to head into town for lunch at Al Gallopapa. We both took quick showers and didn’t leave until 1:20; but managed to get there by 1:33. Gary dropped us off at the end of the main promenade in Castellina to park and we walked to the restaurant. Peggy and I would have sworn it was closer than it was, but we finally got there and got our table in the walkway in the tunnel in the rampart. Apparently a couple was sitting at our table because they were asked to move ad soon as we arrived by the maitre’d who we would later discover was Tinzano, the owner. We had been wondering if Edith had made the reservation but she definitely had. Tinzano was a crack up definitely one of the major parts of the dining experience. I probably should say that Al Gallopapa received one Michelin star for 2007, but apparently they have had one since 2004. Only in the past three months have they begun serving lunch. I have looked on their web site several times and I even think Gary has as well, but it didn’t click until we saw them mentioned at the Castello Brolio cellars wine dinner and then were recommended from Mark and Martin who we met at Tregole. And then when we found out that we could have lunch at a somewhat reduced price it was clear Gary really wanted to try it out on Sunday. This was one of the other great parts of the experience was to see the great joy Gary got out of it. We all have our things that we look forward to and have passion for and this was clearly one of those for Gary. He was very excited about the whole experience.
Tinzano was a lot of fun and was joking with Peggy and Gary about who was in charge. We decided on the strategy of having five dishes for each couple. We knew it was going to be great when we took pictures of the presentation of the bread which also tasted fabulous. For the first course Gary and I had this unbelievable sliced pork which has an amazing story. It is only made in five cities in Italy and goes through an amazing curing process. It came with a dish of puffed crispy bread logs that were also fabulous (€15). I was trying to write the name down in my notebook when Tinziano came up and whisper to me that you can find all the names on the internet. For her first course Christine had a fried zucchini flower stuffed with a goat cheese panna cotta. We shared a pasta that looked like ravioli but it was called something else. For the main course we had rooster which also had gone through an amazing preparation process with bricks and perfect temperatures. The chicken was placed on a bed of spinach, but the most amazing part was the little dab of candied lemon that tasted completely lemony and salty at the same time. The combination of the chicken, the spinach and the lemon mixture WAS the perfect bite. In fact Christine, Peggy and I all had this as our main course. Gary had sliced bison with snow peas and some amazing crisp potatoes that also was pretty darn tasty. We decided on a Rosso de Montalcino for our wine and had two bottles. Sometime in the middle of the meal Tinzano came out in street clothes and informed us he was leaving to drive three people to Florence. Emanuelle, who had been our sommelier, took over and he was just as entertaining. We had to try the desserts so we had the cherry and apricot tart and a cake made with pine nuts. They were small but both very good. We ended the meal with espresso. No cappuccino after morning. And we also found out that dipping the bread in olive oil is also not Italian . Emanuelle offered us grappa to end the meal. It’s about 40% alcohol and Gary still thinks its nasty, but I think I’m developing a taste for it. I think I drank Christine’s and mine. By the time we got up and sauntered out the far end of the tunnel, it was 4 p.m.–a two and a half hour lunch–all for €222! (€111 per couple! Approximately $75 per person) We thought about trying to walk up to the other Michelin star place up the hill from the gelateria but dumped that idea to get back to Tregole.
We probably were back by 4:30 and I brought my computer out by the pool trying to catch up, I had fallen a day behind in my journaling, and wrote for about an hour. Then I went back in and got my suit on and got my book. I read awhile then got in for a dip. I found I could position myself so my face was perfectly facing the sun just peaking out of the water. The gentle warmth caressing my face felt brilliant…bene! Also who would have thought I’d get in three dips in three days. The next three hours was spent reading and enjoying the warmth of the sun. it wasn’t a bit hot. I even finally finished my book! This may have been the first true vacation day I have ever had. I loved it.
We had talked about not having any dinner after having such a late lunch but we decided to go into Catellina for a pizza and a gelato. We went in a little after 9, parked near the gelato place and walked (passigiata) down the main street. We saw a pizzeria called Tre Portes (three doors) and after deciding to eat inside instead of on the smoking terrace we had two pizzas and a bottle of Chianti Classico. Christine and Peggy shared the Bufalo with mozzarella and Gary and I shared a Picante with some kind of meat and sun dried tomatoes. It was all great accept with coperto it all came to €39. so much for a cheap dinner. The coperto wound up being nearly $13.
We then took a passigiata down to the gelateria and it was amazing how many people were out walking after 10 p.m. and most of them were locals. When we got to the gelateria, it ws even busier that the previous night. Peggy figured out that you had to pay to get a number and when I cot my number 85 they were just on 70! I has a €2 cup of berries of the forest and hazelnut and luckily Christine got the last of the peach.
We then drove down to try and see the Etruscan necropolis at night that Chiara had told us about, but we couldn’t get the lights to work and also there were a bunch of spooky looking teenager types sitting up by it. We decided not to walk up to it in the pitch dark and so we rolled back down the hill and back to Tregole.
I stayed up until nearly midnight trying to get caught up on my writing and then did a little reading.
What a grand day of rest and vacation.
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