Today we drove through the countryside between Verona and Soave. As with much of Italy, the going is very easy north-south but a bit of a challenge over the hills east-west. We visited small rural communities and passed farm fields and vineyards. Eventually arrived at Soave, named after the horrible wine they send here. And, what ho, it was the monthly fair day coupled with the annual investiture of the maidens into the castle wine cellars.
We have pictures of the fair and the medievil presentations throughout the old town. No pictures of the maidens.
Roamed around, then had a lovely lunch. The picture to the right is someone's front gate and yard. The small running guy (appears to be running on top of the gate) is part of a statue in the courtyard. People live in the ancient parts of the historic towns.
We had lunch in the place on the right. As you can see below, Penny did not seem to be enjoying the day at all.
The brick eyebrows around some of the windows below are the original brick of the building dating back hundreds of years.
After lunch we strolled around, some tasting of the REAL Soave wines - local grape varieties blended, sometimes with Chardonnay. The better wines there are very nice, perfect for an
afternoon nosh. Then we walked up to the castle and back, then around town to see more of the sights.
The medieval fair was in full swing in the mid-afternoon with all sorts of costumed artisans, peddlers and displays. Here are a few of the sights.
Eventually back to the east end of Verone and a wonderful dinner at a small restaurant / enotecha that had donkey and horse on the menu. That could be a whole other blog.
Back to Venice tomorrow.
2 comments:
Pasta and donkeys and horses! Oh my!
What does it mean that it was the "investiture of the maidens into the castle wine cellars"? I'm too lazy to look up "investiture". Does it mean they keep them in a dungeon?
- Andrew
Not sure about the "maidens" bit, but investiture was what you went through in Scouts asa you got your neckerchief and initial uniform stuff - once you passed the basic knowledge requirements and were no longer regarded as a tenderfoot.
Thus, it has to do with investing one into the fold. No doubt with maidens it is done differently.
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