| Italy Day 6, Friday, October 11, 2002 This is the start of our last day and I really wanted to stay. We started, by loading the bus and headed out of Levico, drove past Trentino, but before we left the area we found something extraordinary. As we gazed at the huge mountains, we noticed a fortress, the stone color of the mountain, situated just below the top of the mountain. It was huge and made you feel like were in a different place in time. How did they build it? How long did it take to build it? Who lived there? What stories did it have to tell? It wasn't long before we arrived in Verona, the home town of Romeo and Juliet. Then we arrived in the Valpantena area where the Bertani Family has a huge hill side castle surrounded by the high walls. We had a perfect view of it from the road. Then we arrived at the Bertani winery. They gave us a tour of the winery and showed us where they store the grapes that make the Amarone della Valpolicella. Three grapes are used to make the Amarones. They are the Corvina Veronese, Rhondinella, and Molinara. They pick the best of these three grapes in late September and lay them on matts to dry for four to five months. Each day two people go into the storage area to check the grapes. If they are lucky enough in January they will be able to produce the Amarone della Valpolicella. We went into the cellars where they keep the old vintages. Everyone was looking for their birth year vintage. I didn't find mine, but I did find my birth year vintage on a poster on the wall, as we were leaving to go to lunch. But before lunch, we most of us bought some more wine. Again, I can't find the menu, but I know we had Seafood Lasagna and it had mussels, octopus, and shrimp. I don't eat much seafood, but I ate every bit of it. It was a great dinner and the Bertani family opened Amarone della Valpolicella for us. It was a very smooth wine. Gotta love it!!! Then we loaded the bus and headed for Milan, actually we just drove right past it to Stressa. When you think of Stressa, think of Lake Tahoe only more scenic. We drove into the drive way of the Regina Palace Hotel and I fell in love with Stressa. I got up to my room on the 6th floor, opened up the window and this was my view. Off course it was at night so it I couldn't see all of that, but it was a great view. My room was half the room you see when you click on the link, but it was still a great room. If you are ever going to Milan, stay in Stressa at the Regina Palace Hotel. Milan is not too far away. For our last dinner, we ate at the Regina Palace Hotel's Ristorante. Our Menu Prawns and rocket salad Tagliolini with saffron and courgettes Veal "rosette" with champignons Potatoe Pie Fruit Tiramisu Vini Drew opened up bottles of 1981 Amarone della Valpolicella to celebrate the Olive Garden's 20th birthday, which is December 13, 1982. That year the Amarones were not produced, so he went back a year. This was a great treat, as it is I love Valpolicellas. When wine ages it turns brown, and this wine was certainly no exception. It had brownish-purple hue to it. Its nose was of mocha and truffles, and tasted like chocolate covered raisins. It was especially nice to drink a great wine like this with all the Wine Ambassadors and the Olive Garden Family. We all looked back to what were were doing 20 years ago. Some said they were only one or two years old at the time. While the rest of us, had more memories under our belt. Then we started talking about the great moments from our trip. That's when we realized our time in Italy was almost over. Some of us took a stroll on the side of the lake, some went around looking at each others rooms. Jason's room was so great they have it on their virtual tour of the Regina Palace Hotel's website. But most of us were were trying to figure out how we were going to pack our wines. Others just mellowed out in their rooms. It was a great trip and we all had plenty of memories to be thankful for. Thank you Olive Garden and Palm Bay Imports for our 2002 Wine Amassador Trip of a life-time to Italy. |
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