Buongiorno all you lovely Loyal and New Followers
The traditional Bullocks arrive with the first of the ‘new’ Chianti Wine. La Nazione.
Now this is the time of year when the nearby small town of Montespertoli has an exhibition of Chianti Wine in its central Piazza and it’s a lovely setting amongst the trees and flower beds. The piazza is surrounded by white tents and a couple of hundred local vineyards bring their Chianti wine for lucky people to taste. The traditional start to the festa involves two bullocks hauling the first of the ‘new’ wines into town. Then the festa goes on for a whole week and with it comes the annual ‘Bomba Acqua’ meaning a deluge of heavy rain to send everyone scurrying into the local bars.
Also during this period of Bomba Acqua, the first of the May wedding parties arrived from England and other parts of northern Europe. Tuscany is very popular for tying the knot due to its many castles and historical villas. We met four lovely people, one couple from America and one from Wales, who had arrived for an English wedding celebration and sadly could not see the swimming pool at their B&B, due to the fog and rain! We hope you nice people enjoyed the wedding despite the weather!
Rosolio alla Rosa and panacotta.
Foto J Finnigan
I’m sure you will agree that the best way to relax during unreliable weather, is to repair to a good local restaurant for a long lunch. We tend to do this on Sundays anyway, and once again returned to L’Osteria Casa Chianti, which is just ten minutes away. I was not presented with a rose this time but, even better, a bottle of Rosolio alla Rosa Digestivo with my panacotta desert. It was really delicious, tastes and smells like English Roses and can be bought locally near Barbarino Val D’Elsa! In fact the restaurant sources everything locally and in particular the tartufi (truffles). Yummy. I should mention at this point that the place was packed, so you should ring and book a table if you intend going! 0039 0571 669 688.
The 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two. La Nazione.
Lest we forget, last Thursday was the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two. We saw marches waving the old Partisan Red Flag, remember in Italy it was the Communists vs Fascists, and some of the old remaining partisan members of the Resitenza were presented with memorial certificates. I always find these occasions very emotional and it is hard to imagine living in this beautiful country when it was overrun by Fascists and Nazis.
On a lighter note, here is a little bit of fun. I want you to look closely at the pictures in this blog that include a photo of the local paper and my coffee cup. Then look at previous blogs and see if you can spot the difference. The first person to leave a comment on this blog with the correct answer will win a signed copy of one of my books below. The choice will be yours! Enjoy…
Meanwhile, have a great week, do drop me a line and visit my author site at http://www.amazon.com/author/junefinnigan
Salute June x
‘My Father, The Assassin’. Book one in the series.
‘The Bolivian Connection’ Book two in the series.
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