Road Trip

“The road must eventually lead to the whole world.”

Jack Kerouac

I slept well considering the linen.

We are struggling to find a place for breakfast and I have put a dent in the free biscuits.

Today we head to Montegonzi in rural Tuscany for some time outside the city. It will be nice to have nothing to do in the countryside as opposed to doing nothing in the city.

“I wandered everywhere, through cities and countries wide. And everywhere I went, the world was on my side.”

Roman Payne

There doesn’t seem to be anywhere to eat breakfast in Trieste. We walk around and can only find pastry and coffee. We have plenty of coffee before heading to the train station. We have a 30 minute trip to Trieste Airport to pick up the car.

My hunger gets the better of me and we end up eating some ordinary pizza at the airport. Our ride is a Fiat 500C hybrid. It has 88 000km on the dial and it has earned every one of them. It is a tired beat up unit. It will do the job.

“It is fatal to look hungry. It makes people want to kick you.”

George Orwell

The drive is not spectacular, we are on the freeway just chewing up the distance. Shell has this system of searching for food places as we travel. We get around lunch time and she what is in the area. Today she finds Antica Osteria di Montecarelli in a tiny little village of the freeway.

“I hate people who are not serious about meals. It is so shallow of them.”

Oscar Wilde

This place is Tuscan perfection. Packed and busy, it is like stepping back in time. With no sparkling for breakfast, it seems natural to order two glasses vino rosso. They are generous pours. We order manzo ragù di nonna with tagliatelle. and culurgiones patata con ceps ragù. This is followed by manzo cotto lentamente con polenta. We are about to order another dish when our hosts urges us to pause, we have plenty already.

The food is everything you would expect. It is no longer a surprise when the pasta is deliciously thick. It has been like this every time we have eaten in Italy. I watch TV chefs criticise the pasta making as not being thin enough. What are they talking about?

Finally, when we think the meal is over, a bottle of vin santo is delivered with biscotto. If there is anything more decadent than dipping hard biscuits in vin santo, I cannot think of it.

It is a few hours drive to Le Pappe. We stay off the highway and wind through the Tuscan countryside. We will need wine for tonight and by chance, Bibi Graetz is on the way. I have never tried his wine, but I have read about his anti establishment approach and have been a fan. Full wrap of Bibi Graetz here.

“Anarchism is democracy taken seriously.”

Edward Abbey

It is dark for the last half hour of the drive. We head away from villages into the windy rural roads. The ghosts of ancient olive trees and vineyards are caught the car lights. A tight, rough, gravel road delivers us to Le Pappe and it is a postcard.

Renovated stone buildings, a restaurant where dinner is included as part of our stay. We are shown to our room. A fireplace, a spa. Silence apart from night birds calling to each other. It is too dark for pictures, they will wait for tomorrow.

“I didn’t think it was when I built it, but in the end I suppose it’s just like other houses after all.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Shell opens all the windows and lets the cold night air in before running a bath. She will want the room cold so we can light the fire. It is an hour until dinner and I might open one of the bottles we grabbed at Bibi Garetz.

We didn’t open the wine and didn’t take the camera to dinner.

It was perfection. And then we fell asleep to the sound of the fire.