Bartender, July 13 2012

Now its time to play catch-up and fill you in on the last two months here in Italy. July 13 Bartender played an electric rock concert in San Lorenzo Nuovo, next to Bolsena lake. Andrea and I went to the lake earlier in the day to get some sun and relax. This area of the lake has nice grassy areas next to the water.

This show was different for Bartender, since they are usually an acoustic guitar trio. This time they had a guest drummer Roberto Forlini, and David played the bass. It was great to hear them do something so different!

Bolsena lake

Sound check

Sound check

David

Svedonio

Roberto, Pincio & David

Italia vs. Germania e Spagna

I am incredibly behind on my blogging, the UEFA Euro cup was almost two months ago and we are now onto the Olympics. But I wanted to share pictures from the Italia games even though we didn't win the final game. For both the Italia/Germany game and Italia/Spain game we went to our friends Federica & Riccardo's house to watch. We pulled the TV outside and had a fabulous Italian BBQ in their backyard.

Italia vs. Germania

Riccardo preparing the grill

Mercoledi enjoying the smells of the grill

David helping :)

Federica seasoning the pork chops with fennel seeds

Ready to chow down

The tasty final product

WE WON!!!!

Italia vs. Spagna

Mini keg

David helping again :)

Crazy Italian fans

Delicious BBQ cooking

Mercoledi looking for his plate

Pool

Two weekends ago, to get some much needed  relief from the heat, David, Bonnie and I went to a pool at Valle dei Calanchi (an agriturismo that David works with). It is near Sermugnano, 15 minutes away from Orvieto, in an area that is scarcely populated. There are beautiful forests and clay hills surrounding the property. We had a great time! And the owner let us pick as many nespole (loquats) as we wanted. We returned home with two big bags full. They are delicious!

Valle dei Calanchi

The pool

David & Bonnie picking loquats

Cantine Aperte

Three Sundays ago (I am behind on my blogging) was Cantine Aperte, the day when all the wineries in Italy are open to the public for tastings. We went with our friends Federica and Riccardo to four different wineries. As you can imagine it was a long fun day of drinking amazing wines!

The first winery we went to was Castello di Montegiove. It is a castle from the 13th century. The winery has over 1200 hectares of land that surround the castle which is perched on a hill. We tasted three red wines they produce, all were good, their Gatto Gatto was my favorite.

The small town around the castle

Looking up at the castle

The BBQ heating up for lunch

Inside the winery

Old wine barrels no longer used

Tower staircase with a rope handrail in the middle (not ADA compliant)

Me and Federica

The second winery we went to was Tenuta Vitalonga. It is the winery where we stayed with my family for our Italian wedding reception, so it was very sentimental to go back. There we not only had great wines but also a wonderful, never ending buffet lunch including: pasta, grilled sausages and fruit tort for dessert.

Fossilized shells found around the property. At one point in time this was the bottom of the sea

The winery

Riccardo and Federica

The third winery we went to was Castello della Sala. This is a modern winery set below a castle, that unfortunately was closed to the public. Castello della Sala is an Antinori winery, one of the biggest producers in Italy. They have won many awards for their wines, and I can see why, they were delicious!

The castle

Vineyards

The winery

The fourth and last winery was the same one we went to last year and loved, Tenuta Le Velette. I didn't include as many pictures as last year, I didn't want to repeat the same things. But this place is amazing! Good wine, a fantastic yard to enjoy it in and a beautiful view of Orvieto.

The main villa

View of Orvieto