Siena/Orvieto

While Jan and Bill were here, we decided on a little overnight trip to Siena.  We all climbed into the the car and set off.  We got checked into our hotel and decided that we wanted to grab some lunch.  We ended up eating in the square there where they run the Palio every year.  Needless to say, it was a tourist trap and overpriced for what it was.  For example, we have been paying around 10-15 Euros for a bottle of wine.  The cheapest on their menu?  30 Euros.  Rip off.  Jan and I split spaghetti carbonara.  I do remember that it was good.  It wasn't great.  I even forget what I had as my main course.  That's how unmemorable it was.  Jan and I then decided to climb the tower.  It seemed like a great idea at the time.  It wasn't a great idea halfway up.

Jan and I, naturally, assumed that we burned off enough calories for a bottle of wine.  That being said, the view from the top was incredible.

After climbing down, we met up with Bill and Lynn and headed off to see the sights of Siena.  One of my favorites was this:

Only kidding.  I didn't get gelato from here.  In fact, I really haven't eat all that much of it.  I know there are some out there that won't want to hear that.  But it's the truth.  My real favorite was the Duomo there.

After sight-seeing, we made our way back to the piazza to have drinks and a light dinner.  It truly was a nice day in Siena.  The next morning, we were up and on our way to Orvieto.  After sight-seeing in Orvieto, we made our way to lunch.  The place we choose was actually not on our list of places, but seeing as every place we tried was closed or couldn't be found, we ended up here.  I am sure glad that we did.

For my starter, I opted for the asparagus lasagna.

It was fantastic!  The pasta was tender, the asparagus was done perfectly and the amount of cheese on it was fantastic.  It was well seasoned and so darn good.  I wish that I had opted to get it as my main course too.  Jan ordered some raviolo stuffed with walnuts and cheese.

I tried a bit of hers, and while I liked it, it could in no way compare to the lasagna.  For my main course, I got chicken in a cream sauce with more asparagus.  It wasn't as good, but then nothing could compare to the lasagna.  It was that good.  With the meal, we ordered a bottle of local wine.  Hey, there were four of us.

We thought that after lunch we would take a quick trip to the winery.  We called ahead and found out that we could get a tour and a tasting, so off we set.  Well, we never did find it.  The directions were poor to begin with and the address we had took us nowhere.  Thankfully, we did find another vineyard, Cantina Altarocca.  There, we tried their 6 wines that they produced.  They made three whites and three reds.  It was nice to sit outside and see the countryside and watch a storm roll in.

After our wine tasting, we headed back to Preci for a light dinner and relaxation.