So, showing up at the initial point (where a smaller contingent planned to drive together to the real check-in point), it was time for coffee and breakfast. Then a ton of standing around waiting for our leader to show up.
Our leader goes two speeds: stopping to eat and driving QUICKLY. Once he'd had his coffee, he hopped back in his vehicle and flew out of the parking lot on two wheels, while the rest of us scrambled to get in and start our more-or-less temperamental cars.
Check in! That means time to have the "real" breakfast: a spread that ran to three large tables. Of course coffee as well.
The fun thing was that we DID get to attend Mass at a church that hasn't been open for a very long time following earthquake restoration -- so that was nifty.
Off we went to the first stop: oil tasting! After driving for a while through gorgeous countryside, we stopped at an olive press. Having parked in the orchard, we walked down the driveway to find a dismal attempt to let all 160 of us try the olive oil: tiny platters of 8 pieces of bruschetta were brought out one at a time through a narrow doorway (remember the doorway; it figures in later), and whomp the starving hordes descended. And, no, once having had one piece, the lucky stiffs next to the table did NOT move away, but rather stayed put...
The door; did I mention the door? That was, in fact, the same entrance that all 160 of us needed to go through in order to get our free bottle of olive oil. I was the engineering genius who figured out how to open the other door to the left of the main entry door, by the way. Of course, we needed our little paper ticket (provided at registration) in order to get said bottle. And the box holding these bottles? You guessed it: all the way at the back of the press (in other words, through yet another doorway).
I wanted to buy some oil, but got tired of the scrum, so Michael and I decided to enjoy the warm sunshine instead. We hung out with a few people and chatted while the others participated in the wine tasting (there were no more cups by the time we arrived, and we couldn't be bothered to find out, since the next stop was supposed to be at a winery for tasting.
But no! Bait and switch! Because our group ran late, we skipped the winery and went straight back to the original spot for our lunch. Our 3 1/2-hour lunch. Our 3 1/2-hour 12-course lunch. Have I mentioned that we had lunch yet?
Yes, it was delicious. No complaints there.
And on the way home? Michael and I decided to stop at a winery I'd seen several times, called "Purgatorio". Yes, it means "Purgatory". To get there, you get to go on a steep white road that is pitted and pot-holed. I started singing, "Bumping up and down in my little blue fiat" (to the tune of "Bumping up and down in my little red wagon"), but Michael told me to stop when I got to the part "One wheel's off and the axle's broken"...it made him nervous.
We had started to despair of the winery's being open when we saw a little fellow running around in a ratty sweater. We asked his advice and he told us to continue down the road, and yes, the store WAS open. What he meant to say was that the store would be open once he had arrived to open it for us.
He was precious. He would absolutely NOT sell us anything that we hadn't tasted. They mostly do wine and olive oil sales, but they also do weddings.
I wonder what it would be like to have a marriage made in Purgatory?
Love,
Alexandra
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| Bonus picture: I got my car around this corner the other day. |
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| Parking in the olive grove |
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| mmmmm |
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| That little table to the right is where they put tiny trays of bruschetta |
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| The doorway on the right was the only access until I opened the one to the left. |
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| Heavenly view from Purgatory |
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| The tasting table |
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| The tasting room |
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| Our wine came from these vines |
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