The Great Big Italian Sleepover!: Wednesday, Day Five: Food and Foothills

Buon Giorno . . . from Rome!
I am going to take my head out of this magical city - no easy feat - and rewind to our last days in Chianti.

Wednesday:
For the most part I will let the photos tell the story . . . with just a little explanation . . . starting with the last photo of this group. Lloyd and I finally sat down for a rematch Wednesday evening and I am delighted to say I sent hiim to bed with tears in his eyes. I am not delighted to report that he obviously got up in the night and drilled himself in the fine art that is crib because the next night he skunked me (no photo proof, so did it really happen?). Rubber match later this fall in Change Islands?
Wednesday was just a fantastic day - I am sure I am repeating myself, but how many ways are there to say incredible, amazing, awesome, brilliant, breathtaking? Ok, there are many ways, but this region leaves me speechless. I mostly just stare, weep a bit, and repeat the words Wow and So Cool over and over.

Morning and Lunch - a lovely slow start to the day. Reading, swimming, sunning, coffee. Muster call was for late morning as we were headed to Barbischio and Osteria il Papavero for lunch. Wow. So cool! A village of 21 people, as many cats, several dogs and one extraodinary artist who lives in the local bell tower (of course he does). Innocenti's work stands out in brilliant colour against the stone walls of the ancient restaurant. Roberto and Claudio (pronounced like clouds in Heaven and God according to him (:) were our skilled servers, artists in their own right, and the wine and food? Out of this world! Do I even need to mention the views from this gem of a village?
Late afternoon and evening - Why not follow lunch with a hike up a mountain path to a crumbling ruin of a castle . . . that happened to be in our backyard in Montegrossi? And yes, there was a view! We had a delicious family meal of "leftovers' - wine, cheese, meats, greens, etc. and a relatively early night as we prepped for Thursday adventures in Florence and Greve.