Market Day and Birthday Dinner

Good Morning Greve!!!

Today is a pretty important day! Not only is it our first full day in Greve or the fact that we meet back up with Davin and Christal at our villa, it is also Kelly's Birthday.  Today we will start the day walking the market, head to what we call the "wine museum", and finish with a birthday dinner done Italian style at one of our favorite places - Alessandro's!

Not too bad of a way to spend a birthday!

The path from our hotel, Antico Pastificio Ulisse Mariotti, down to the main part of Greve is a pretty walk and only takes a couple of minutes.

Market Time!

Market Time is always a fun time.  Since several citizens throughout Italy have never been to a modern shopping mall, they are able to purchase just about anything at a market.  Vendors sell wonderful looking produce, nuts, fresh fish, fresh pork, clothes, shoes and even underwear!!

Purchasing underwear at an open market just seems odd....

On the right is one of the really good pork vendors.  Duane purchased a sandwhich that was big enough for all four us to munch on while we wondered the stalls.

Tari and Kelly spent time looking over different tops and sweaters.

                         

Time for a Break!

While we were wondering the market, Jamie took a moment to have a cappuccino at our normal morning breakfast point.

After successfully finding a few goodies to add to her suitcase, Kelly joins the table for a celebratory glass of prosecco.















Wine Museum Time! - Enoteca Falorni

Enoteca Falorni is a fun way to spend an afternoon in Greve.  They have plenty of wine to try by the glass and you can spend as much time as you would like there refilling your tasting card.  We have spent many hours here and also shipped many bottles back home from here.

We worked up quite the appetite at the market so we ordered up Salumi plate and found our regular couches to get comfy on. 

This afternoon, our friends Davin and Christal will be rejoining us as they went to the south of France when the four of us went to Cinque Terre.  No better way to spend time than in the wine store.

Not sure what Duane was so happy about but obviously he is proud with himself for some reason.                   

Yep, as Tari would say "This Does Not Suck!"  Of course, Tari isn't saying anything because she is on her phone :)

GATOS!!!

The town of Greve has just about as many cats as they do people.

It is very common to find at least one cat laying on a patio, pillar, or a step.

Reunited, and it Feels So Good!

Christal and Davin made it to the villa later in the afternoon, so the gang was all back together.  The piazza is also back to normal as the market wrapped up in the early afternoon.

Now that the gang is all back together, it's time to walk to Kel's Birthday dinner at Alessandro's.

Still one of the funny things in Greve, the wooden police person reminding everyone the parking rules.... which no local really follows!

They Say It's Your Birthday...........

For Kel's birthday, she wanted to have a nice long dinner at La Cantina, better know as  Alessandro's!  Our relationship with Alessandro started on our very first trip when our driver Monica made him provide us with ground coffee. From there, it morphed into a place where we would grab a quick pizza for lunch, to a place we ended up having at least 3 dinners at on this trip!

There are several "house" wines, basically one for each member of Alessandro's family.  Tonight we tried out his father, the Chianti Classico Reserva called Giovanni.

Moving on from Alessandro's family we had a bottle of one of Kel's favorites..Castello di Verraazzano.

For our meals, of course, at least one of the guys had to have Bistecca alla Fiorentina.

The majority of us chose a pasta dish of some sort

Yummmm....Pesto, Beef, Pasta, Wine, what more does one need??

Yay!  Pici Pasta!  Nothing is better than a traditional red sauce and Pici noodles...sometimes less is more. Especially in Italian cooking!

Not sure if this was a seafood soup or more like a seafood risotto.  Either way it looks pretty darn good!

 

Not too bad of a wine selection.... this must have been half way through the night, 4 bottles for our our group of 6 just does not seem like normal.

With two glasses in Davin's hands, this looks more like the group we are used to!

Good Food, Good Wine, Good Friends, no better way to spend a Birthday!

Alessandro brought out Kelly's dessert.  In Italy, you don't do candles...you do fireworks!

Kelly gets to do all the cool stuff on her birthday.

Everyone else's non firework desserts. They may not have the sparkle of Kelly's, but they still tasted just as good.  Duane went with an apple dessert while Tari stayed with her usual..Tiramisu.

A fresh custard with berries

A dessert sample of chocolate, custard and pie

As the dinner wore down so did our evening.... Christal may look ready to hit the town, but we all headed back to the villa to rest up for day two in Greve..... 

Go to 6/11/17