To Beef or not to Beef; That is the Question

Yesterday we packed up our things and said goodbye to Bologna. The longer we stayed, the more we liked it as we got to know the city better. But it's time to move on.

We picked up our little white Fiat that has quite a few bumps and bruises that we needed to point out the rental agency. Just hope that we don't add any more! We jumped on the AutoStrada where the speed limit is a suggestion, and we arrived in Panzano mid-day thanks to our awesome GPS (Thank you TZ for the loan!). The apartment here that we rented through AirBnB is amazing! We have several rooms and bathrooms plus a courtyard and a patio overlooking the valley. This is probably one of the best rentals in Italy we have had.

Lunch was right next door at a cute trattoria called Oltre il Giardino. We sat on their patio and had a wonderful meal in the sunshine. (At this point, I would like to say I feel very badly about the snow and bad weather that all our friends in the Midwest are enduring. Really. Yes, I'm really sorry. OK, I'm trying to feel bad here.)

I had Papperdelle sul Cinghiale which is wide long pasta with wild boar sauce, and Greg had grilled pork ribs and sausages.

Panzano is a small village in Chianti located at the top of the hill. It has a series of one-way streets that make driving confusing and a huge hill separating the top part of the village from the bottom that makes walking difficult. However, so far, we have managed both. We visited the well-known Accedemia del Buon Gusto where a friendly, entertaining guy gives out samples of wine and talks about his philosophy on life.

During the high season here, his shop is packed with people sampling and buying wine, but yesterday we had our own private tasting. Actually, I think it would have been more fun with more people, but we enjoyed it.

We spent this morning wandering around Greve in Chianti, the town closest to us. You know how in the US there are soda machines? Well, here on the sidewalks you'll find wine machines. Just put your coin in, select your wine, and put your glass beneath it. Voila!

OK, now for the fun stuff.

Today we had booked a reservation for lunch at Antica Macelleria Cecchini. Back in 2001 when we visited this shop, it was a small, one room business where Dario, a friendly butcher, sold meats and salami to tourists. His reputation has spread and his business has grown. After being featured on TV and in magazines, his small shop is now multiple floors and several storefronts. He serves several specialty meals every day for lunch and dinner. Greg and I booked the Officina della Bistecca which is basically a five-course meal of beef consisting of steak tartare, ribeye, rump steak, one other one (?) and ending in the massive t-bone. Now, I love a good steak every so often, but this was totally an overdose for me. However, it was all excellent quality and prepared perfectly. (unless you like you beef well done - sorry MB)

Enough about the food. Here's an interesting side story to the lunch. At the table next to us there was a group of 8 people (most in their 30's, 6 men and 2 women) who were traveling together. During the first several courses, we kept to ourselves, but as the food kept coming and wine kept flowing, Greg turned and spoke with one of the young men in the group. It turns out they were from Moscow and were visiting Chianti to sample wines from various vineyards. Most of them spoke a little English so we talked about wines and eventually I moved around to the other side of the table and joined the conversation. 

As I moved to the group, the oldest man at the table said he wanted to ask me a question. Suddenly he launched into a conversation that was about a conspiracy regarding the Kennedy assassination, Jim Carey (turns out he meant John Kerry but who knows), the Federal Reserve Bank and two-dollar bills, and Dan Brown (of the DaVinci code). He said he knew exactly why Kennedy was killed and implied that as an American, I should know all of this information too. As he ranted, we noticed that the 7 other people were all shrinking in their seats looking very embarrassed, and one of them poured some of their very nice wine and handed a glass to me and to Greg. I think his point was that Americans don't really know what is going on in their own country because information is kept from them. Isn't that kind of what we think about Russia? When I asked where he got his information, he said it was from the internet, which I suppose he thought was unavailable in the US. I thanked him for sharing his theory, and he assured it me it was not a theory but was a fact. I sort of walked away from him at that point so he did come over as they were all leaving and apologized but said he had some advice for me.... I should read Dan Brown. And I said I had some advice for him..... to not believe all that you read on the internet. The other members of the group were very nice and we enjoyed talking to all of them with that one exception. When they left, the group all happily shook our hands and wished us well. It was basically a very bizarre encounter. In hindsight (which is always so 20/20), I wish I would have asked why we were even talking about an event that took place 50 years ago!

After the beef extravaganza, there is no thought of food or wine tonight. But tomorrow we're back on the road visiting vineyards.