Castelbrando | MidLife Traveller

Tag Archives: Castelbrando

November 3, 2012 · 12:52 pm

Day 7 – Montecatini Terme in Tuscany

Jet trails from Castelbrando, Italy

5th June 2012Oh well on the road again today but I explored around the castle on my own this morning and took more pics. I love having people to talk to but really appreciate my alone time, it’s natural I guess but I seem to skim the surface of the places I see when I’m with the group but on my own they really seem to soak in more. It amazed me to see all these jet trails this morning I hadn’t heard one single plane!!

Wonderful food for sale at service stations in Italy

We stopped at one of those amazing servo’s again today where I had my coffee and chocolate brioche – not doing wonders for the waistline, but I console myself that I’m walking lots so that keeps the guilt at bay for now. Took some pics of the meats and cheeses at this one too. The tour guide was really good to listen to today, he sure knows his stuff. I usually have good intentions of remembering what he tells us but most of the time it doesn’t stick – good thing I take photos I guess! It seemed like a long day travelling today but we were at Montecatini Terme by early afternoon so I can’t have been too bad. We’re staying at Ercolini & Savi Hotel, it’s another lovely place right in the middle of town.

We had dinner at Fattoria il Poggio a little way from Montecatini. It’s an olive growing, wine making farm with restaurant and also I think they host cooking classes as well. We were inside the bigger building on the farm for dinner at big long tables, was great atmosphere, all dark wood and stone with wine barrels and other old bits and pieces all over. The food was delicious, platters of everything brought to the table to be passed around – just fantastic. The wines were of course their own and more than drinkable too. All round it was a great night, a few people had the wobbly boot on by the time we left and the tour guide serenaded us on the drive back to the hotel – I think he fancies himself as a bit of a singer he often bursts into song on the bus, I must admit though he does have a rather nice voice.

: Village below Castelbrando

: Jet trails from Castelbrando, Italy

: More jet trails from Castelbrando, Italy

: Courtyard at Castelbrando Italy

: Looking down the funicular at Castelbrando, Italy

: Jet trails from the bus, near Castelbrando Italy

: Wonderful food for sale at service stations in Italy

: Fattoria il Poggio, Tuscany

: Fattoria il Pogglio’s gorgeous dog

Day 5 – Castelbrando

Sunday 3rd June 2012

We left Stressa on Lake Maggiore today and headed for Lake Garda for lunch. I have a new ritual now, each time we stop for morning tea I have a cappuccino and a chocolate brioche, they are a croissant filled with chocolate the consistency of say nuttella and are the yummiest things around. Some of the service stations here are amazing, they are like a servo, general store, deli and bottlo all rolled into one. I keep thinking if Merv got in one he’d never come out.

Lunch behind the loo on Lake Garda!!

Sirmione on Lake Garda was our next stop for a couple of hours. Went off on my own for a while then ran into Dale and Val so we had lunch together, right on the edge of the lake. We didn’t realize until after we’d finished that we were sitting right behind the public toilets – what you don’t know doesn’t hurt you I guess! Had yummy antipasti dishes to share and of course a glass of Proseco which has also become a ritual now.Dale had the brilliant idea to go for a paddle as we were walking away from lunch and went to walk down a little boat ramp. Val and I just kept walking slowly and next thing we hear this little voice calling “ladies, ladies”, it didn’t sound like her so neither of us stopped until she called again. We turned around in time to see her scrambling on all fours trying to stand up, absolutely saturated to her waist and laughing her head off. All I could think was good thing I didn’t join her as I had thought about it. They went straight back to the bus and Andrea got her suitcase out so she could get clean clothes and change on the bus before we all arrived. She ended up with a couple of whopping bruises but was okay and had another story to tell.I didn’t wear the crown for being late for long thank goodness. We waited for five minutes at the meeting point for Pam and Bill but they didn’t show so we headed back to the bus. Along the way they apparently phoned Gilberto to say they were on their way, they had been at the wrong place – they got back a bit more than five minutes after us and were mortified as they are really quiet people but it took the heat off me.

View from my room in Castelbrando

Next we drove towards the Dolomites and our home for the next couple of days above the village of Cison do Valmarino – CastelBrando. It’s an old roman fortress and looks out over the valley. It was in the Brando (I think) family for centuries. There are a couple of different parts to it but when it was sold and converted to a hotel they haven’t altered the original and have kept things very authentic. The bus stopped in the village below and we caught a funicular to the castle, like a cable car but runs up the side of the mountain on the ground not in the air, was a long way up. Our rooms were tiny but gorgeous and mine had a most amazing view, I couldn’t stop looking at it and taking photos.We had a great tour around with a lovely girl whose English was very hard to understand. I couldn’t work out what she was talking about half the time but I must have done better than some because there were lots of blank looks and shoulder shrugs and hands in the air – not just confused but practicing our Italian gestures! Once I worked out she was pronouncing ‘swords’ as it is spelt and not as we would say it some of her story made a lot more sense. We had our welcome drinks on the terrace and a beautiful dinner in one of the dining rooms. It was another great day!