Weekend getaway

Josh and I had decided to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary by taking an overnight trip ALONE.. We hadn't been away without the kids in quite some time, so we were pleased when Morris agreed to stay overnight with them allowing us to make our getaway.

We had wanted to find a special place in the country, with a swimming pool and spa, not more than a 2.5 hour drive from Rome, and near to a medieval hillside town worth exploring. We found all those things in the Villa de Monte Solare. Josh called our travel-writer friend with our specs and she not only suggested this place, but she made a phone call to the manager and got us a Deluxe Suite for 1/2 the price of a standard room. Now that's nice!

To make the most of our time, we had planned to leave by 9:30am on Saturday, but of course, things being what they are (and the late night we'd had), we were lucky to get in the car by 11am. We drove first to Montepulciano - well known for the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano red wines and a truly picturesque town. We immediately liked the vibe of this place. Beautiful and well-traveled, but without the many souvenir and tsochky shops. Montepulciano has a very authentic feel to it.

It was a two hour drive so it was now lunchtime. As Josh shopped for a pair of loafers, he inquired with the shopkeeper about a good restaurant for lunch. She suggested Osteria Acquacheta just around the corner. The place was full of Italians and had a great, neighborhood feel to it. Unfortunately, it was FULL (you need to reserve) and we'd have to come back in an hour. Fortunately, we'd had a snack on the way up at the "Autogrill" and so a late lunch was just fine with us. Even better, it gave us a chance to explore the town before succumbing to a wine-induced haze and a full stomach.

The restaurant has only 10 tables - essentially all communal (some have an inch or two in between) so it's like one big happy family. I felt like I was at a wedding. If the waiter shattered a glass, the whole place would clap and start cheering. There were also certain pecularities about the place that lended to its charm. For example, wine and water are drunk from the same glass. Saves time cleaning glasses, I guess. And the owner, tallies up your bill by memory right on your paper placemat at the end.

But let's not skip over the food. The gig at this place is the Beef. We are in Tuscany after all and they like their beef. You could look right down the narrow restaurant to the back and right in to the kitchen (which was not separated by doors or anything) where you could see a huge side of a cow lying on the center isle butcher block. You order your steak "fiorentina" (known as a porterhouse to the Americans) by the kilo, and you pay by the kilo. Then you see they guy in the kitchen take a meat cleaver to the side of beef and hack off a chunk. Doesn't get much fresher than that. Oh, and no one is asked how they like it cooked. It comes one way - and that's pretty darn rare! You've got to be a real carnivore. But the menu had so many appealing choices. Let's not forget it's Porcini season here too. How can you pass up home-made tagliatelli with funghi porcini? We had bruschetta pomodoro, zucchini with pecorno, and insalata mista as an antipasto to start; then we went for the pasta with porcini; finally we had roasted pork. We ordered a 1/2 a liter (that's almost a bottle) of red wine for 3 euros, and we drank it all! Aside from an Israeli family, and a Danish couple, we were the only non-Italians in the place. We had fun mingling with our table-side neighbors to the left and to the right. On my left were a couple from Rome who gave us some good tips on dining well there. On my right were some young people from Milan. The Israelis spoke no Italian and Josh helped them to figure out the menu and to order. The waitress thanked Josh profusely...as did the Israelis.

The whole experience and the food was awesome. After lunch (it's 4:30 by now) we drove to the other side of town and walked some more. Then we departed for our hotel which was another hour's drive - southeast - through the beautiful countryside with vineyards and rolling hills and villages along the way. We could not help but stop by the side of the road, reach out the car window, and grab a bunch of succulent grapes right off the vine. We were now back in Umbria, having driven through earlier in the day to get to Tuscany, and made our way to our hotel by 6:30pm.

We were greeted by name by the receptionist - she'd been expecting us. We were caught off-guard when she asked for our passports. Now that we are living in Rome, it didn't occur to us to travel with our passports. No harm done. The property was large, well-manicured and very pretty. We enjoyed a glass of fresh orange juice outdoors and took in the landscape. It had been a wonderful afternoon, and now I looked forward to taking a nice hot bubble bath in our suite.

We couldn't imagine eating again but by 9pm, dinner was calling. The restaurant at the Villa was elegant and refined. This time, we couldn't pass up the Steak Fiorentina on the menu. So we skipped all else and went right for the meat.