Back to our Rome home

The original plan was to move on to Sienna next, but we were both tired and as my travelling partner had no idea about what was to see at Sienna, he saw no need to go there.  I was just plain tired and in need of a rest.  So we headed for Cortona, not in a straight line, mind you, to return the car and catch the train back to Rome.  This time we were headed thru the hills of Chianti country.

Our first stop of the day was in Figline Valdarno, a short distance from Florence.  We drove up to this restaurant that had a sign indicating it was open.  I wasn't sure though, because the one side yard we drove by had a lot of construction material, as of they were in some sort of construction mode, and the yard we parked by, was quite overgrown.  But, in between appeared to be a reasonably nice courtyard.  So, taking a chance, in we went.  We wandered in to what was actually a fairly large establishment.  No one was around, but we could here people talking  so after a few moments, we called out "Bonjourno", we heard "Pronto", and out came a young man.  Indeed the place was open and we were shown a seat.

We ordered our drinks and had a look at a menu.  Bill ordered a Cappuccino.  The young man questioned this, and when Bill asked for it before the meal, he had to confirm it because clearly the gentleman thought this was not normal.  There are a few things about coffee in Italy that you need to understand.  Cappuccino is a morning drink only, coffee is never drunk before or with a meal.  You do not order a cappuccino after 11am and definitely not after midday  The hard and fast rule is that you should never order cappuccino in the restaurant at the end of a meal.  After a meal you will look out of place drinking anything but espresso.  So based on this, Bill's request was way out of the norm.  The gentleman did bring him his cappuccino before the meal.

As our meal arrived, customers started to come in.  They were all male and clearly working men.  Bill requested another cappuccino to have with his meal.  Now the look on the gentleman's face was one of pure mortification.  He is silently saying "No, no" to Bill.  Bill is saying "yes", he is saying "No".  finally he shrugs his shoulders and walks away.  The other men receive their beer, wine, water and meals, but no cappuccino arrives for Bill!  I start to chuckle because I have read about these rules, and what is tolerated in Rome with the heavy tourist traffic, is unheard of out here in the countryside.  I think the young man was genuinely concerned about how Bill would be perceived by the other men. 

We went away from the restaurant having been satisfied by a good meal but almost peeing ourselves laughing at how mortified this young man had been with Bill's choice of dinner drink and his absolute refusal to acquiesce to Bill's wishes.

Here is what I have since found out about why this cappucino "rule" exists.  There’s a very good biological reason why coffee is a good end-of-the-meal choice and cappuccino is not. Drinking a hot beverage after a big meal attracts blood to the stomach, helping digestion. However, the beverage needs to be easing the digestive process, not slowing it down – so a water-based hot drink like coffee or tea is ideal. Milk, however, is not easy to digest – quite on the contrary! So a cappuccino at the end of a meal completely defeats the purpose of the hot beverage concept – instead of helping your digestion, it hinders it.

The afternoon was spent enjoying our drive through the Chianti countryside.  I have found another new favourite part of Italy.  Here's why............

Rows of grapes with a second crop - I think artichokes- planted in every other row (they are finished now).

 My three constant companions, the map to do the general plotting, the map book to get more detailed info and finally, Greta, the GPS to detail the turn-by-turn, km-by-km route.

  
                                               Poppies grow wild all over the countryside

 Discarded Iris now growing wild in a the ditch alongside the road

I know,  this is abusive, so many pictures.......but I did warn you it was my new favorite area.........

and I started out with more than 50 pictures!!!!!

We got to Cortona by 6, returned the car, headed to the train station and by 6:36 were on the train to Rome.  About half way back the train pulled onto a siding to let another train go by.  The lights on the train went out briefly.  We continued to sit there.  When someone asked what was happening, the reply was something to do with traffic on the line.  We started rolling slowly after about a half hour.  The train stopped again.  Some passengers started saying they were arranging buses to Rome.  Then we started rolling again and were told we were going to be an hour late getting to Rome.  We finally rolled into Orte, where we were told to get off the train and move to another platform where a train would arrive momentarily to take us to Rome.  The mad scramble was on.  Haul your luggage off the train, down a long flight of stairs, across a subway and up another long flight of stairs to the correct platform.  Huffing and puffing, we arrived at the platform about a minute before the train.  Then the scramble was on again for everyone to find a seat for the rest of the journey.  There were three positives about this new train.  The seats were more comfortable, it was a high speed train from Florence to Naples so it was moving fast and didn't make any stops until Rome (I don't know what the people wanting to get off before Rome did), and it didn't go to Termini, so we didn't have to make the over 1/2 km walk from the platform into the station.  We did however have to take a short subway ride to Termini station to catch our bus home.  We arrived back home about an hour and a half later than planned.  TRIP OVER