We decided to head back to town, but first my friend asked me if I would like to see a castle. It was in the town called Andria and nearby her hometown. I figured why not since we could knock out another distinctive castle out the way. This one was HUGE!! The Castel Del Monte was built near Bari in the 13th century by the Emperor Frederick II. His policy in Italy, unlike that in Germany, where he encouraged the feudal system, was that of an absolute monarch. For this reason, and also for defensive purposes, he built a number of strong castles in his lands of Apulia, Calabria and Sicily, the largest and most influential of which was Castel del Monte. ("Castel Del Monte". unesco.org.) I was blown away by the size and of it's octogon shape. We drove up to a parking lot to park our car and then hopped on a bus which took us to the hillside of the castle. I noticed the storm clouds reeling in, and because of it's low altitude, we decided to skip the inside tour and just take pictures outside. It started to get gusty up there so we made our way back to the bus which took us back to our car.
During that time we were checking out the castle, my friend recieved a phone call from her boyfriend. He wanted to hold a wine tasting for his friends who brought bottles from nothern Italy. They decided to hold the tasting back at the house instead of going to a restaurant, and that's when panic struck. She would have to cook a feast for 10 and we still were an hour away from home. Not to mention, we would be arriving into town around 2:30pm which meant we were cutting it close if we wanted to stop by the market to grab some items for dinner. Siesta usually hits around 3-5pm, and my friend wanted to start the preparation for dinner at that time.
Nontheless, we picked up whatever we could for dinner and made our way back home. The guests were to arrive at 9pm, and my friend still had to clean up the place as well as prepare the food and get ready. I helped out in the kitchen by doing the dishes. Because of the limited dishware, I washed while she reused the pots and pans to continue to cook the meals. It became a stressful ordeal to beat the clock. Around 8:15pm is when her boyfriend arrived home from work and started to help out in the kitchen while we got ready. What threw us off is the first early arrival guest showing up at 8:45pm on the dot! Yikes! He entertained while we finished up and the next thing you know, the rest of the guests arrived right on time at 9pm. Time to get this party started!
What is hard for me as an American, and as a LIGHT DRINKER is the tasting of the wines on an empty stomache. I'm used to having wine with my meal, but here in Italy, you sip and savor and then eat a huge feast to balance out the fuzziness. Well for me, I'm almost at full drunk mode, but then making I make it more ackward by trying to contain myself at the table. It's something I definitely have to work on, but since this was my 3rd wine tasting while on vacation, I hope I didn't make a fool of myself this time around.
My girlfriend threw an amazing feast and we savored every bite. I even learned a recipe to take back home. I love dinner parties!
During that time we were checking out the castle, my friend recieved a phone call from her boyfriend. He wanted to hold a wine tasting for his friends who brought bottles from nothern Italy. They decided to hold the tasting back at the house instead of going to a restaurant, and that's when panic struck. She would have to cook a feast for 10 and we still were an hour away from home. Not to mention, we would be arriving into town around 2:30pm which meant we were cutting it close if we wanted to stop by the market to grab some items for dinner. Siesta usually hits around 3-5pm, and my friend wanted to start the preparation for dinner at that time.
Nontheless, we picked up whatever we could for dinner and made our way back home. The guests were to arrive at 9pm, and my friend still had to clean up the place as well as prepare the food and get ready. I helped out in the kitchen by doing the dishes. Because of the limited dishware, I washed while she reused the pots and pans to continue to cook the meals. It became a stressful ordeal to beat the clock. Around 8:15pm is when her boyfriend arrived home from work and started to help out in the kitchen while we got ready. What threw us off is the first early arrival guest showing up at 8:45pm on the dot! Yikes! He entertained while we finished up and the next thing you know, the rest of the guests arrived right on time at 9pm. Time to get this party started!
What is hard for me as an American, and as a LIGHT DRINKER is the tasting of the wines on an empty stomache. I'm used to having wine with my meal, but here in Italy, you sip and savor and then eat a huge feast to balance out the fuzziness. Well for me, I'm almost at full drunk mode, but then making I make it more ackward by trying to contain myself at the table. It's something I definitely have to work on, but since this was my 3rd wine tasting while on vacation, I hope I didn't make a fool of myself this time around.
My girlfriend threw an amazing feast and we savored every bite. I even learned a recipe to take back home. I love dinner parties!
