Light, fluffy clouds are picture-esque as long as you are not trying to view them from inside. This morning (i.e. two weeks ago) was still so cloudy and foggy, that it was impossible to see anything on the hillside, much less across the valley. So after a massive breakfast of: ...
yogurt
and soft boiled eggs
and good bread
with homemade preserves (including a great orange marmelade)
and three kinds of salume (bresaola, coppa, and prosciutto)
and a freshly baked apple cake
and coffee
(Heidi took great pride in the bounty of her breakfast table, and mentioned that there's a bit of a competition among the local B&B owners as to who offers the biggest breakfast. The fact that she's the only one in Teglio just means that she's well ahead of any prospective hoteliers.)
...we got on the road up to the Bagni Vecchio in Bormio, because there's no better way to wait out poor weather than in hot water. The hot springs have been in use since Roman times anyway, and the baths were built to take advantage of the springs sometime in the Middle Ages (1200ish). The water isn't very hot, only about 100 deg. at the source, but some of the ancient grottos are amazing, and there are incredible views from most of the pools and the saunas (we saw a family of ibex wandering through the grounds). We had a great time, and got to watch the clouds away, and reveal (most) of the valley for the first time.
Since we had spent most of the day appreciating historical architecture, we felt the we had earned the right to spend the rest of the evening wine tasting, before heading to our dinner reservations.
Sadly, or tasting excursion was largely a failure. We hadn't contacted anyone ahead of time, assuming that we could just show up and drink some wine. Our first stop was at Cantine Rainoldi, where we met the owner, Aldo, who informed us that they usually liked a bit of notice before giving tours. However, he was very nice about it, and made a reservation for us for the next day, and also offered three or four dinner places that he particularly liked.
We then tried to find Ar.Pe.Pe., a winery recommended by our hostess' son, who is a vigneron and sells to both Ar.Pe.Pe and Rainoldi. The address from the promotional literature, and the different address in the GPS system, both took us into a very strange industrial complex, without any apparent wine-related businesses. And it turned 6;00 pm just as we were arriving at Nino Negri, so we weren't able to get in there. So, with an hour before dinner, we stopped at the Napa-style tasting room of Pietro Nera, where I tried to unsuccessfully to demonstrate the difference between Valtellina Superiore and Valtellina Sfursat (a local version of Amarone). We knew that the wine wasn't going to be great, and they did bring us salume and grissini to go with our wine, but the wines were nearly indistinguishable, and both rather indifferent.
Dinner at il Poggio was notable for three things; a beautiful view (and the weather had cleared up so it was actually visible), blueberry gnocchi (which were purple, but didn't taste like blueberries, nor much of anything, for that matter), and meat on a giant "skewer" that was about an inch in diameter, grilled in an oven in the dining room. Julianna also very much enjoyed her mixed appetizer plate, which included "the best lox [she's] ever tasted." I thought the food was good, but not incredible, though the view about made up for it. The Valtellina is a beautiful part of the world, when it is visible.
yogurt
and soft boiled eggs
and good bread
with homemade preserves (including a great orange marmelade)
and three kinds of salume (bresaola, coppa, and prosciutto)
and a freshly baked apple cake
and coffee
(Heidi took great pride in the bounty of her breakfast table, and mentioned that there's a bit of a competition among the local B&B owners as to who offers the biggest breakfast. The fact that she's the only one in Teglio just means that she's well ahead of any prospective hoteliers.)...we got on the road up to the Bagni Vecchio in Bormio, because there's no better way to wait out poor weather than in hot water. The hot springs have been in use since Roman times anyway, and the baths were built to take advantage of the springs sometime in the Middle Ages (1200ish). The water isn't very hot, only about 100 deg. at the source, but some of the ancient grottos are amazing, and there are incredible views from most of the pools and the saunas (we saw a family of ibex wandering through the grounds). We had a great time, and got to watch the clouds away, and reveal (most) of the valley for the first time.
Since we had spent most of the day appreciating historical architecture, we felt the we had earned the right to spend the rest of the evening wine tasting, before heading to our dinner reservations.
Sadly, or tasting excursion was largely a failure. We hadn't contacted anyone ahead of time, assuming that we could just show up and drink some wine. Our first stop was at Cantine Rainoldi, where we met the owner, Aldo, who informed us that they usually liked a bit of notice before giving tours. However, he was very nice about it, and made a reservation for us for the next day, and also offered three or four dinner places that he particularly liked.
We then tried to find Ar.Pe.Pe., a winery recommended by our hostess' son, who is a vigneron and sells to both Ar.Pe.Pe and Rainoldi. The address from the promotional literature, and the different address in the GPS system, both took us into a very strange industrial complex, without any apparent wine-related businesses. And it turned 6;00 pm just as we were arriving at Nino Negri, so we weren't able to get in there. So, with an hour before dinner, we stopped at the Napa-style tasting room of Pietro Nera, where I tried to unsuccessfully to demonstrate the difference between Valtellina Superiore and Valtellina Sfursat (a local version of Amarone). We knew that the wine wasn't going to be great, and they did bring us salume and grissini to go with our wine, but the wines were nearly indistinguishable, and both rather indifferent.
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