The bountiful breakfast was first and then we took off for Grinzane Cavour (a Unesco World Heritage Site) with its stunning castle, beautiful landscaping and more autumnal views.  We just hung out in and around the castle appreciating its details and people watching the, mostly Italian, fellow tourists.

We stayed and sat in the sun and just enjoyed for a long while. The colors of the vineyard hills really thrills me.  We went into their enoteca and it was packed with people buying wine of the area.

The castle was begun in 1000!

Vineyards eveyrwhere

We just had to see the town of Barolo so we took a little detour on the way home but never got out of the car there:

Barolo

Ken pulled off the road so we could see what the groves of trees were and we found hazelnuts on the ground.  Dead giveaway and Anthony’s first guess.  We came back to La Morra  for lunch and had our first lousy meal at San Giorgio and the top of the hill.  After lunch Anthony and I went to the La Morra Cantina where they were having a wine tasting from local wineries.  They were mostly small producers unfamiliar to us but also, mostly excellent.  You paid €10 at the door for a glass and the tasting was unlimited.  I didn’t drink much tasting and pouring out as I went, and stuck almost exclusively to the Barolos.  There was  also Docetto, Barbera and Nebbiolo to taste and very few whites.  There were some big baskets of grissini (bread sticks) to help with palette blow out.  I like a lot of the wines and loved tasting the differences between the single vineyard wines and the blended crus.  There was also the art of a man named Gallina on display–mostly etchings with color.  He was there too and I spoke to him a bit.  The jazz trio playing outside added to the festive mood.  A wine carnival!  I left Anthony there and walked back to the hotel just feeling great!

There was still a bottle of Chianti left, we had carried with us from Lucca so the four of us drank that in Lyn and Anthony’s room before we went to dinner at the Per Bacco, pizza place just up the hill.  Can’t believe it is their last night with us.  We mad a lot of great memories together.

Here’s Lyn loving life: