Yesterday evening fully lived up to expectations with 13 pages of Brunello di Montalcino on the wine list. We had the San Carlo 2015 and the Il Paradiso di Frassina also 2015. Both were excellent, but the Paradiso di Frassina had an added subtlety to its flavor, probably because the owner of the vineyard plays Mozart to his vines while growing!! It worked for me, anyway! Dinner included dishes which had wild boar and my main was a bunny rabbit stew with pig cheeks…delish! Luckily you can’t comment on this blog…!
Today’s ride was marginally easier than yesterday with 1,400 feet less climb but was 10 miles longer. As you can see from the photos, we rode through some spectacular countryside (again), including the most amazing villa/farmhouse with an absolutely perfect poplar-lined driveway. I know we weren’t the only ones to have stopped to photograph it! Lunch was in a very quaint little village called Acquapendante where we found a tiny little square and a lovely little bakery/cafe.
We passed the house where Galileo was quarantined during an epidemic, which made us feel closely related to him (haha!). I bet he didn’t have to change cycle itineraries four times, though!
Without going into any details as this blog is child-friendly, this afternoon’s ride for me was complicated by the development of a saddle sore the size of Hawaii…it really is not all food and wine!!
Tonight we are in Viterbo, just south of the spectacular lake in the photos and have such a relaxing house to stay in that we will eat poolside tonight. Salad with prosciutto and fresh figs (from last night’s garden) and then veal with mushrooms and red peppers and a few veggie trimmings!
Dat for today: 77 miles (123km) with 6,102 feet of elevation (1,849m). Cumulative: 537 miles (859km) with 37,397 feet of elevation (11,332m)
Roma domani!