A no-waterfall, redeemed by olive oil, wine, and a scenic dinner

Some days that you think might be a fail can turn into one of the best days. Today was one of those.

After scrambled eggs with onions and Moka pot coffee, we put on our swim suits, packed up some cold drinks and snacks, and walked down the street to find the waterfall that Mario described in his Airbnb info. To our dismay, the creek was mostly dried up with no sign of enough running water for a fresh looking swim hole, let alone a waterfall. So our hot trek was in vain.

Back at the house, we ate a lunch of pesto ravioli and leftover carrots and leeks. Everybody chipped in to hang laundry, or fold the laundry that had dried (clothes dry quickly here).

Cristina had managed to book a wine/olive oil tour and tasting for the six of us, so we loaded up into the Megane for the roughly 30 minute drive. We put Adam in the trunk ("I see, you put the African in the trunk," he said jokingly) and made it to the winery for our tour and tasting.

The road was very rural, and very curvy. Anna got quite carsick on the way there, but was feeling better after we arrived.

First, they took us through their wine-making process. The reason it has been hard to find olive oil tours is because most farms only make oil from one kind of olive. Hardly enough for a tour or tasting experience. But this farm, in addition to producing Chianti wine, made three kinds of olive oil. The process for making oilve oil is not very complicated, so there's not much to see in terms of production. But she did show us the terra cotta pots that were formerly used for olive oil before they were replaced for more sanitary equiopment.

For the tasting, they brought out four wines and three olive oils, with little pieces of bread to try them with. This had the advantage of cleansing the palatte between wine tastings. After we were done, we bought some wine and olive oil which they boxed up nicely, and we loaded back up to head to dinner.

Instead of riding in the trunk again, Adam squeezed into the back seat with the girls. Bella sat on his lap. It was snug and Bella would hit her head on the ceiling whenever I hit a bump, but I guess it was better than the trunk.

Our host Mario also owns a restaurant, and he invited us to dine there even though it was booked full. He even said he'd give us a discount. The restaurant was higher up in the mountins, but only five minutes from the Airbnb. All the tables were outside, and the night was refreshingly cool. In fact, it was almost chilly enough to need a light jacket, which I don't think I'd felt since Ireland. The food was good, the sunset view was nice, and when Cristina told our server about the waterfall fail, he suggested another pace about an hour away that his wife had just viited and defientely had plenty of water. We made a note of the location.

Back home, it was still so cool that we turned off the AC for the night.