Lunch at a Winery in Tuscany

I love wine but I have never had lunch inside of a winery before.  After a drive through the rolling hills of Tuscany we arrived at Poggio Il Castellare, a winery located in central Italy. This area is home to some of the most famous and highly regarded wines in the world.

We were greeted with a first course of cheese and meats from the region and of course, a glass of wine. The dish in the center is made with crushed day old homemade bread, diced vegetables from the garden and olive oil. The food is so simple yet so delicious.  

One of the wines we tasted during lunch was Brunello di Montalcino, one of Italy's most famous and prestigious wines.  It is made exclusively from these Sangiovese grapes grown on the slopes of Montalcino. The word "Brunello" translates roughly as 'little dark one' which seems entirely appropriate when looking at them hanging on the vine.

Now that my travels are over I need to get down to the business of painting.  I have roughly 2000 photos to work from taken over an 11 day trip and a lot of wonderful memories! And yes, it was not easy to take photos after a lunch where you taste 5 different wines but somehow I managed! 

Planes, Trains and Buses

I think that no matter how often you travel you never get used to the stress and confusion of moving from one point to the next, especially when it is across continents.

Our return trip from Rome to Dayton began in the morning, early, just outside of our hotel near The Pantheon.  We took a taxi across town to Termini Station to catch the bus to Fiumicino Airport.  Termini Station is the main bus terminal for all buses

within the city of Rome so there are local and regional buses leaving from this huge terminal.  How can a taxi driver not know where to drop a passenger off for the buses to the airport? Ah, I forgot, we are in Rome where everything is laid back.

After a walk to the side of the terminal that looked familiar we waited in a large que for a couple minutes until a porter asked to see our tickets and said, “Noh, thes is not our company. Your’s es don that way.” Alright, down we walked to the correct que.  “Yes sir, this is the right place.  You just missed the bus to the airport, but the next one will be here soon.”

It was a beautiful sunny day in Roma. Our bus arrived. We settled in for the 40-minute ride.  Nice, we rode past the Coliseum and then the monument to Victor Emanuele.  We made a stop to pick up a few people.  Very nice, we were having a little farewell tour of the city.  We continue and drive past Piazza Campo de’ Fiori. Wait, are we stopping again? Are you serious, we just drove past the Pantheon. Stupido, next time, make sure to check the bus route. We just drove past our hotel!

We arrive at Fiumicino Airport and pull into the exact same parking space we left from a few days ago.  Familiar looking places make one feel confident!  Inside we go.  Hmm, United Airlines must be here somewhere but I don’t see any of the big airlines. Let’s ask the security guard.  “Ah, yes, go back outside, turn right and it’s all the way to the end.” She hollers as we walk away, “and there’s a shuttle bus that goes there.”  Can we walk to the end? How far is it to the end? Let’s be safe, if she mentioned a shuttle, we should take the shuttle.  Thank heavens we took the shuttle.

Every country has different security procedures.  We check in and are pre-screened through security where they check our passports.  We turn the corner and now get to go through regular security.  I know the drill.  Computer out of the bag, liquids out, shoes off. “Lady your don’t have to take your shoes off.”  “Pronto”, the guard says (that means hurry up).  I have one shoe off and one shoe in the tub. Do I take the other shoe off or put the other one back on? “Just go through with one shoe lady.” Ei, yi, yi. 

We are at the gate finally with 30 minutes to spare. Only in Rome do you have Prada, Dolce and Gabbana, Hermes, Ralph Lauren, Burberry, Armani, Moncler and Tods in the airport and one coffee shop. I am starving by now. I head to the counter and yeah, I’m third in line and there are two clerks. I’m salivating as I stand in front of the case with the prosciutto and cheese sandwiches on fresh baguettes. One last cappucinno and a croissant for breakfast and I’ll pick up one of those sandwiches too.  Why is this line taking so long? I’m so hungry. “Next please.” Like a magnet out of nowhere 20 people step in front of me. Are you kidding? I knew I should have gone to the other line.  I knew the guy in front of me was leaving too much space in front of him.  Have I learned nothing about lines in crowded airports? Am I a moron? Just get the food and move on.  OK, food in my arms I walk to my waiting husband and hand him his share. Oh no. The bag I’ve been clutching in the crook of my arm is greasy.  Oh no, my new, so very chic orange leather bracelet that I got yesterday in Pienza has butter stains on it from the croissant.  Why? Why? Why?  After 31 years of marriage my husband has grown to be a very smart man. He walks away… to go get a newspaper to read on the plane.  By the time he returns I have removed the bracelet and stored it in my backpack or else it will continue to irritate me the entire trip home. 

Boarding call.  We are in the 5^th and final group of people to board the plane. I could have guessed that.

Now we are cooking, yes sir. We are in the air, reasonably comfy, just had that great sandwich and I’m reading The International Herald Tribune. I feel so smart.  Uhh, wow, turbulence. I feel hot.  I feel funny. I feel sick.  Where’s the bag cause I feel real sick. No bag, but the stewardess is right here.  I frantically grope at her side to ask for a bag. “What, have you never been through a little turbulence before? Have you never flown before? Lady you just need to relax?” Within seconds the passenger to my right puts a bag in front of my face. She understands the urgency of this matter. “Thank you so much!” Eventually the feeling passes.  Arrivederci Roma!

Now let’s see where do I want to go next… 

Trevi Fountain - toss a coin in to ensure your return visit to Rome.  This beautiful Baroque fountain was built in the 1700's.  They collect about 1000 euro a day from this fountain.  It is guarded by cameras mounted on surrounding buildings and police on foot who blow their whistle if you begin to climb on it or attempt to enter the water.  They regularly catch people with magnets on poles sucking up coins.

A Few More Photos from Monet's Garden in Giverny

 One of the two bridges over the pond.

 The front of Monet's home.

 The view of the garden from the dining room.

The garden from Monet's studio window.

Monet's Garden in Giverny and Musee de l'Orangerie in Paris

The Gardens

It was truly an exciting moment for me to walk the same paths and see the same vistas that Claude Monet nurtured and painted for 43 years of his life.  I was walking where he had walked. I was standing in the same places where he had stood and painted.  I was looking out onto the same gardens that he had found so inspiring.  I was seeing things in the same light that he spent a lifetime capturing. You can study all the books you care to and stand in front of as many of his paintings as you can get to, but as a painter there is a powerful energy that surrounds you when you are standing in Monet’s Garden.

I saw the endless number of paintings waiting to be painted there. I understood how he never tired of painting the same views over and over. Nature never repeats itself, not in a leaf, a flower or the arch of a tree branch. It may be similar but it’s never exactly the same. The light is always changing, as are the seasons. Anyone that’s ever painted outside, en plein aire, knows this.

The Paintings 

My trip to Giverny was followed the next day by a visit to Musée de l'Orangerie, an art gallery of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings located in the west corner of the Tuileries Gardens in Paris. Over the last 30 years of his life Monet worked on a large series of waterlily paintings he titled, Nymphéas. They are housed in museums all over the world including, Water Lilies, 1903, at the Dayton Art Institute in Dayton, Ohio.

In 1922 Monet donated eight of these panels to the French government as a monument to the end of World War I. Visiting them seemed like the perfect finishing touch after my visit to his gardens. 

This photo is from Wikipedia as you are not allowed to take photos in these rooms.

Two adjoining, elliptical rooms, each with four large canvas panels mounted to the walls allow you to be surrounded by these quiet, peaceful paintings.  I saw the source of his inspiration one day and was now looking at his finished paintings.  

First from afar, standing in the middle of the room, my gaze scanning each wall. Then up close, two entirely different perspectives.

In the center of the room you see water, waterlilies and weeping willow fronds. There is no visible sky or banks of the pond to give you perspective.  That’s in part why this new style of painting was so shocking in its time.

Looking at the paintings closely you see a million different mixtures of color layered one on top of the next and feel the energy with which they were created. Memories of mine that will be with me the rest of my life.

Roma

Rome

On the bus ride into Rome I noticed a man riding his scooter while talking on his cell phone and smoking a cigarette.  Now that’s talent or craziness. 

I have always wanted to see what is behind those big double doors that you pass while walking through the streets of European cities. They seem so mysterious. Well our hotel in Rome is behind one of those big double doors.  It is up on the second floor and shares the rest of the space with apartments and a courtyard, very cool.  

 

We walked to the Pantheon and watched the sun go down through the oculus. An ancient building built by Augustus as a temple to all the gods of ancient Rome it has been used since the 7th century as a Roman Catholic Church dedicated to St. Mary and the Martyrs. We were standing in a building built in 27 B.C. Yes, it does rain through the oculus. There are holes built into the floor that drain the water away. Amazing!

The painter, Raphael is buried in the Pantheon.  Wow!

We ate dinner at an outdoor restaurant just behind the Pantheon and watched the sun set over its walls.  We thought Thai 9 was good but this was pretty special! Chianti, anti pasto with prosciutto, spaghetti pomodoro, spaghetti with clams, watermelon and limoncello. That’s Italian!

Short Stories from the City of Love

Really?

The hotel we are staying at is very small, as many are in Paris. There are only 5 rooms on each floor. The lift (elevator) can hold 2 people, just barely, and is surrounded by a circular stairs. It's quite an efficient use of space. Yesterday… it broke. We are on the 5^th floor, except in Paris you enter many buildings on floor 0. Looks like we might not gain any weight here after all. It’s the most fun in the late afternoon when the maid is finishing up her duties and she sends full bags of dirty laundry careening down them without warning.  Apparently dodge ball is included for free with the hotel charges.  It helps take your mind off the fact that you can’t catch your breath from climbing so many stairs. It’s supposed to be fixed tomorrow.  Anyone want to take bets?

Mashed Potatoes

There's a great bistro just across the corner from our hotel. We’ve been having our breakfast there and stopping in for an afternoon drink so Bill can watch the soccer games with the locals. Yesterday we decided to have our dinner there. Bill ordered the steak frites, steak with fries, so Parisian. Until, he asked if they could substitute mashed potatoes for the fries. The waiter gave him the strangest look. Bill… we're in Paris… at a bistro… not at Cracker Barrel in Dayton, Ohio.

Love Locks

I don’t remember this from my visit to Paris several years ago. One of the bridges is completely covered on its railings with padlocks. They call them “love locks”.  You and your sweetheart write your initials on a  lock and then lock it onto the bridge. You are, after all, in Paris, the city of love. The effect created by the gold and silver of the locks is quite beautiful in the sunlight. What do you think, is there a guy sitting around somewhere with a big pair of wire cutters making a few bucks from those unlucky in love? 

The Young Lady

As we were leaving the “Love Lock” bridge a young woman in front of us bent down and picked up a wide gold wedding band that she found. She showed it to us to see if we could read any name engraved on the inside. There was none. She told Bill to try it on. It fit him. She told us to keep it. It was good luck. We were married and she was not. She turned around and walked away. Bill was holding the ring. We looked at each other and expressed how sad it was that someone lost their wedding band. Bill said, “I don’t want this. What do we do with it?” The young woman came back to Bill and said, “Sir, could you spare some change for lunch, in exchange for the ring?”  Bill was reaching into his pocket and suddenly the light bulb went on for me. I took the ring and set it on the railing of the bridge and said, “I don’t think so.” It was a clever scam, I give you something that I found and then you feel obligated to give me a few bucks in exchange.  Bill looked at me and said, “Hey, I’m the New Yorker. How did I not see that one coming?”