June 6, 2014
The last morning in Santorini.
Finally, a chance to sleep in a little, well at least an extra hour. I woke really refreshed and popped out of bed to throw open the blue door of my room to see the gorgeous morning views of the caldera. After a quick shower, I made my way to the breakfast tables by the hotel lobby. Darrell and Sofia were already there. It was a simple breakfast of Greek yogurt, Coffee, fresh orange juice, a soft boiled egg, and croissants this morning.
After breakfast, it was time to pack up the suitcase and gear. Once finished, the bellman came by to gather all of our luggage and stage them in the lobby. We had some time to sit by the pool, check email, and take in our last views of Oia. The limo van came at 11 am. We loaded up and were off to the airport to catch our Volotea flight to Venice.
We arrived at the Santorini Airport about an hour before our flight.
We stood around for quite a while before finding out that our plane was an hour late.
The plane finally arrived, but we had to wait for the bus to take us out to the plane on the tarmac. We noticed that a church was left undisturbed along side the runway when they built the airport.
We were in the air before we knew it. The take off was smooth and the waters around Santorini extremely blue. The view of the Greek islands below as we flew over was amazing. I saw so many great looking coves, small towns, and beaches I would love to visit.
Our experience traveling with Sofia, George, and the wonderful new friends who were with us was simply amazing. The food, culture, landscapes, people, and of course the wines quickly became near and dear to our hearts. After sharing in this blog, I think you can easily understand how they did.
To Sofia, George, all of our wonderful hosts, and Wines of Greece, Thank you for having been our guides and teachers on this wonderful trip. We will always carry Greece close to our hearts and look forward to the time we can visit again.
On to Northern Italy
Darrell and I were now on our way to Northern Italy. Our next stop was Marco Polo Airport in Venice. Once in the air, we were offered drinks and snacks from a flight attendant with a "for pay" cart. The cart offered some smiple, but nice things. Darrell was surprised to see and non-alcoholic Aperitivo made by Schwepps, which was similar to San Pellegrino's San Bitter. It was very good. Once past the Greek islands and the Peloponnese, the flight path took us over northern Greece traveling north west, across Albania until we met the Adriatic Sea. The pilot then took us across the Adriatic hugging the east coast of Italy until we reached the Po river. When sitting on a right side window seat while approaching Venice on a northern heading, you will get a perfect bird's eye view of the city.
We arrived at Marco Polo airport an hour late, so we had to quickly get our luggage and our rental car. The rental car was a bit of a wait. We had reserved an economical Audi A1, but they over booked that model. I didn't complain when they upgraded us to an Audi A3 turbo diesel touring wagon. We had a 3 hour drive ahead of us. Our destination: Lago di Caldaro and the town of Kaltern in Italy's south Tyrol. It was already 4 pm. We were expected for dinner around 6 pm, so it was time to fly. We made our way west from the Airport and got on the A4 Autostrada. We had made a quick stop at an Autostrada rest stop to send an email about our late arrival. Now in Italy, I thought it a good time to grab an espresso for the drive. The speed limit on the Autostrada typically run 130-140 kmh (80-86 mph), but there all always many cars doing 150-160 kmh (93 - 99 mph). I pretty much kept pace with the flow of traffic the whole way averaging 140 and occasionally, when passing, around 155 kmh.
We continued west on the A4 until we passed Verona. Once to the E45, we headed north to and through the valleys of the Trentino and Alto-Adige, Italy's Südtirol (South Tyrol). The Dolomite mountains and the valleys changed dramatically every few kilometers as we passed. This was all embellished by the late day sun.
We made it to Lago di Caldaro and the town of Kaltern in very good time. About 30 minutes late. We pulled into Haus Am Hang, our hotel for the night, and off loaded our luggage. We were met by Henk Janssen, a friend of Darrell's who drove all the way from the Netherlands to spend a dinner with us. Darrell has stayed at Haus am Hang before. It is one of his favoites. It sits slightly on a rise above the lake surrounded by mountains to the east and west. Here is the website for the hotel - www.hausamhang.it
We quickly checked in, freshened up a bit, and then it was off to dinner.
Dinner was a 40 minute drive away to the north and a bit west. We followed the valley autostrade along the Adige river. It was a photographer's paradise as the "golden hour" came as we drove through.
We exited the autostrade, when we got close to the restaurant. Shortly after our exit, we crossed the Adige river and found ourselves crossing the hamlet of Lagundo, which is the home of the Birra Forst Brewery. Lagundo with its very Tyrolean buildings and landscape was stunningly beautiful. Here is a link to the Fort Brewery website - www.forst.it
Shortly after passing the brewery, we made our way to the edge of the valley. The street became very narrow and the scenery even more beautiful, if that could even be possible.
Nestled between lush green vineyards and trellised apple orchards, we arrived at Schnalshuber Hof. Schnalshuber is a traditional farmhouse restaurant specializing in local and regional farm dishes. Dinner was in a room wallpapered in old German print newspaper with very rustic decor. Here is a link to some info on Schnalsuber Hof - http://www.redrooster.it/en
Along with Henk Janssen, we were joined by the members of the International Brett-Snifer Company, which is a group of regional wine making friends who travel together. Among the group were Franz Gojer of Gögglhof Winery, Luis Raifer of Colterenzio Winery, Mario Pojer of Pojer e Sandri Winery, and Peter Dipoli of Peter Dipoli Estate. Also with us were Monika Unterthurner of Unterthurner Food & Grocery and Norbert Marginter .
Here are links to the winery websites - www.gojer.it www.colterenzio.it www.pojeresandri.it www.peterdipoli.com
The food and drink were exceptionally good. Partly because they just were, but also because of my German - Austrian influenced Hungarian Heritage. It was the kind of comfort food I grew up with. The specialty of the evening, which is a specialty of the area, Speck was fantastic. It is the area's version of cured aged ham or prosciutto. We nibbled quite a bit of it. Then came a few variations of dumplings, goulash, a garden fresh Ratatouille type vegetable dish, amazing fried potatoes, lamb shanks, and meatballs.
After dinner, a basket of schnapps appeared on the table. The bottles were filled with delights of the area, which made for a nice dessert.
We said our goodbyes and made our way back to Haus am Hang for the night. When we arrived, Darrell and I detoured into the bar. We sat and savored a glass of Forst Beer before retiring for the night.
