Friday Sept. 30
The rooms were once again in a building across from the actual Villa, but this building was built in 1911, so it had a nice old feel to it. There was a great communal living room with couches, tables, and even a nice little fireplace, which a group of Austrians were taking advantage of when we arrived. The bathrooms were very spacious, and had bathtubs which is rather unusual. The Rubini vineyard is 60 hectares, which is by far the biggest we’ve visited. They produce 400,000 bottles a year. Diletta Rubini and her husband Dimitri Pintar were an absolute treat. They both spoke perfect English, so we were able to joke around as they gave us our tour. They were so fun, always smiling, and of course full of information. Every winery we’ve seen I’ve learned something new, and tasted something different. They let us roam the property and even showed us around the Villa, which they don’t normally do. They gave us gifts, and when we had to go they told us to come back and stay another night. If our schedule permitted it we certainly would. Conversations with people like Diletta and Dimitri are the special parts of a trip like this.
Cividale Di Friuli is a small town that was founded by Julius Caesar himself. There isn’t really that much to see there, but they do have the Devil’s Bridge. Legend has it that the town’s people wanted a bridge over the river but didn’t know how to do it. So they enlisted the help of the Devil himself. He agreed to build the church in one night in exchange for the soul of the first person to cross the bridge in the morning. But the sneaky townspeople sent a dog (or cat depending on who tells the story) across first.
Grignano is along the route to Trieste, and features one of the most beautiful single residences I’ve ever seen. The Miramare Castle sits right on the edge of the Adriatic, and as you can see in the picture it is amazing. You can’t go inside, but the gardens and the park are free to enter. A sign told us that some of the US Army lived in the castle during WWII. Can you imagine the pictures those soldiers sent home?
Trieste was supposed to be the next city, but as we arrived we quickly realized that it was too big to search through to show a couple of things. There was a big square that was very nice, but we drove by it, and the traffic was so heavy that we couldn’t get back to it. So completely by happenstance we found the first Italian shopping mall I’ve ever seen. This is the kind of thing that we are doing on this trip, but we decided to head inside to buy some groceries, get some lunch, and check it out. It was very interesting, and even more fun to people watch than in American malls.
From Trieste as usual we had a good haul to get to the next Agriturismo. So the rest of the evening was basically spent on the road.
When we arrived at the night’s agri, Il Gelindo www.gelindo.it we walked in and I asked for Piero. The two people who greeted us got all excited and called us “I Vespisti” it was so cool. They were the son and daughter of the owner of the place. They showed us to our rooms and when we came back down to check out the menu they showed us to the table they had set up for us. Immediately a bottle of the regional White wine, Tocai, arrived. We were told they were going to give us a taste of the local dishes.. The appetizer was a stuffed mushroom cap, spinach torte, and the house specialty which is polenta. The polenta was extraordinary, it was topped with a meat that apparently is a mix of pork, beef, and one other thing that I didn’t understand. The sauce was mildly sweet, and it reminded me of something you would eat in Prague, not 1 hour northeast of Venice.
The second plate was a pasta carbonara, and a potato and asparagus lasagna, both were top notch. And the main course was a Goulash with zucchini and potatoes, and more polenta. This was accompanied by a strong red wine. I was swirling it around in the glass just playing around, and the Gelindo swooped in. He said that ever since the movie “Sideways” came out everyone was doing that. He said you must pour it, then hear it, I’m pretty sure he meant smell it, it is not “open” so you swirl it once, if it is now “open” you leave it alone and don’t swirl it anymore. So there you go. For this demonstration he brought over a totally different bottle of white wine. Desert was a sampler plate with raspberry mousse, tiramisu, a chocolate nut concoction, and fruit. Even if you weren’t staying in the agri I would certainly recommend “Il Gelindo Dei Magredi” the restaurant. The prices were more than reasonable, and I can personally attest to the quality.