My venture

As promised....amalfi coast....kim and my weekend away....normally we get one weekend away every 10 weeks that kim is at home from the ship and during that time mom looks after sofia.....highly appreciated...this time....we chose the amalfi coast...about 500km from our beautiful home in montisi.... Friday after school (more about that in another blog), which was at 13:30 we drove, with the bmw motorcycle, down to the amalfi coast. Our hotel was in Praiano, one of the villages on the amalfi coast....as we arrived, we literally dropped our bags, hopped in the shower and asked at reception whether they could recommend any nice restaurant-within walking distance.....and we were told there was one, 5 minutes walk with an amazing view...la moressa.....we chose a table on the open terrace with an amazing view.....let me share a pic.... View at La Moressa Our bubbly and our view View when it got dark Kim and i decided to share the starter....polipo con crema di patate.....octopus with potato...

Another amazing restaurant....actually an Osteria....and yes...another blog about food....but you know what....i love food...i love to eat it and to look at it...and these places they deserve their own blog rather than being combined...so yes...some shorter blogs...short and sweet...hahaha.... So la porta in Montichiello we have been wanting to try some time...and finally the night had come....we went with friends of ours, who in fact know the owner....so when we arrived, the question was...."are you allergic to anything", "no", "great, then tonight, i will chose what you eat"....and that was that...we never saw the menu...neither for food nor for wine....but you know what...it turned out fabulous.....yes, next time i would like the menu just to see what is actually on it and how large are the actual portions....but for a first time...this was absoloutely perfect...and yes....we all loved it....now i guess it is time to share some pics...first course....o...

A night out...husband and wife...kim and me....our choice....la locanda del castello in san giovanni d'asso....we had heard about it...i have even seen the menu outside the ristorante and for some time we have been wanting to try it...tonight was the night...it was like a ristorante...white table cloths....but i loved how they left the archs in brick.... Inside restaurant We booked a table at 7, early fo Italian standards, and yes, we were the first....but so what....the waitress was attentive and we asked her to speak in italian...after all we are learning the language. The owner also came to the table offering some suggestions on wine and later offered to add truffles to our antipasto, the chianina tartar.....so yes, our starter we decided to share and we decided on the chianina beef tartar with a poached egg....now let me share a pic... Chianina tartar It was absoloutely divine. Now here is a funny fact....kim never liked tartar and somehow after having tried it with me in Ar...

This is going to be short and sweet blog....but this little gem deserves its own blog.....we were meeting some friends from SA in Cortona and the place got recommended to them.....so off we went....when we saw the place we were all excited...why...because the first time we visited Cortona we saw it...and it had a long line of Italians waiting to go in, so we said...one day...we will try it.....and i guess tonight was the night.... For starters i had the porcini mushroom carpaccio, mom and Kim had the beef and cinghiale carpaccio, dad and Ryan had the vitello tonnato and Verity had the chicken liver pate....and we raved...and tried from each other...and I must say...all fabulous.... Porcini mushroom carpaccio Beef and cinghiale carpaccio Chicken liver pate For mains mom and i had the scaloppine with procini, kim had the fillet with peppercorn sauce, dad had the Ossobucco, Ryan had the cinghiale stew and Verity had the Tagliato with rosmary...and again...we all loved our food. Kim was...

Yes...you are reading correct....a day trip....actually an after lunch trip to Florence....main reason....to get some bike clothes....we have explored some shops in Arezzo but nothing really nice...Kim has done some research and said that there were two nice shops up in Florence which we should check out.....so after our Italian school (more about that another time), we drove up to Florence....we had some lunch at the paninoteca in Montepulciano called Casa di Edel da Baffo. We heard that their foccacia panini amazing (of course various fillings)....off we went....we had.....one with prosciutto cotto, formaggio and funghi, the other one with a special prosciutto crudo....in fact it had red peppercorns on the outside...the owner said the name, but in all honesty...i forgot...but i did not forget to take a pic.... Paninoteca (top left corner you see the special prosciutto crudo) Prosciutto cotto, formaggio and funghi They were damn good. I would definitely recommend going there for a si...

Another great lunch....this time in Monepulciano on a Sunday. Mom and dad had already been to this quaint little place and they said that they thouroughly enjoyed it, in fact, they had been there twice and both times they really enjoyed it.....so....we thought, why not go there all together....for a Sunday lunch....the name of the place ristorante degli archi. We arrived, of course we had made a reservation, and Sofia's seat was ready...with colourful plastic knife, fork, spoon and a cup....how cute....she was very excited to play with her cuttlery....hahaha. So for starters there was some sharing going on....kim and i shared the asparagus in a tartufo cream with an egg....Mutti, mom and dad a cold meat and cheese platter and a caprese, eva and felix the tomato brushetta....and wow, the asparagus was absoloutely phenomenal. In all honesty, i had no idea what to expect...but what arrived, was definitely unexpected, but it was just wow. I tried some of the cold platter and caprese, ...

Another day in paradise....it started off with exploring some motorbike and some bicycle shops for some gear....like jackets, helmets, pants etc.....after that...time to explore Arezzo a little bit...there were 8 and Sofia with us, so we all split a little bit into smaller groups...easier to shop that way...hahaha....kim, sofia and i walked to the main piazza to look at some possibilities for lunch and we did find one that looked amazing and of course it also helped when they mentioned that they had a baby chair for Sofia and of course that they had space outside. Have a squizz at the piazza.... Main piazza Church on the piazza Our restaurant on the piazza After our reservation, we strolled a little bit around...and guess what....kim saw that they had guiness beer on draft...so guess what....aperitivo time..... Irish pub Me having campari Guiness and Campari Sofia having a good time Sofia unpacking her pram After that...time to meet everyone for lunch....the menu looked very int...