Tuscany 2004 - Day 2

Sunday, 20 June 2004

7:45 I stagger around, shaking, and check that everything is OK on the terrace and in the kitchen. The sun tries to break through for a short time, but a storm is brewing in the distance. Thunder and lightning are coming closer, it's cool and very windy. So I have breakfast and laze around. In the early afternoon the sun fights its way through and, given the strong wind, it's a perfect day for lazing around - the Lord's Day .

Since my notes have obviously ended up in analog nirvana, the remaining text for this vacation is now being used by my co-author, best man and friend.

So we spend the day chatting comfortably in our little spot, but then disaster strikes at snack time. We open a bottle for dinner, and then another, and then another. By the time we leave for dinner at around 8, all three of us are in a pretty good mood. Again.

We drive to Corsignano to the Osteria Nonna Luisa, which is not easy to find despite the tiny size of the town. The entrance is fairly well hidden, but we manage to get into the restaurant. It is a very small room in an old, beautifully decorated vault. The food was OK, but didn't really blow me away. I had green asparagus with hard-boiled eggs (!) as a starter, which was a bit too soggy for me. Then there was pappardelle with truffles (surprise, my dear fellow travelers suspect that I was a truffle pig in one of my previous lives), which were not very tasty. No comparison to Dragoni's truffle pasta. For the main course, tagliate con lardo, i.e. strips of beef with bacon - roughly speaking. It was OK, but as I said, not a total hoot. Of course, we drank a bottle with the meal, and finished off with a grappa, and are you stupid, it was probably awful. Herbert even leaves his over (!). And then opens another bottle at home, but thankfully most of it remains.

We continue to look at the stars, swaying, until I finally stumble into bed after observing 2 satellites and 1 shooting star. I sleep like a log (no wonder).