The second leg of our trip was the only part that we had somewhat planned two days before leaving. I knew that a friend of ours had a place in Italy, and I’d seen pics that made it look like a great spot to begin the honeymoon. I messaged her and she said there was space! So off we went, with the hope of finding delicious food and wine!
We arrived slightly jet-lagged from our aggressive Venice day to a beautiful countryside bed and breakfast called “Corte Jago” run by Enrica Cipriani’s family. The B&B is in the heart of the Valpolicella wine region and most of the grapes growing on the property are used to make Amarone wines. YuM! The wines are very rich and very dark and very delicious… I’m no sommelier, so that’s as much as I can say! 🙂
This was the true relaxation moment of our trip. We hung by the pool, read our books, and had no real schedule or itinerary. But, knowing us, after half a day of vegging out, we were ready to explore! We borrowed Chris and Enrica’s road bikes and with a roughly translated and hand drawn map from her father, we hit the road. The main goal of the ride was to find good pizza for lunch, and that we did! Halfway though our gorgeous four hour loop through mountains and wineries, we found the perfect lunch spot and were rewarded with delicious pizza.
The area that we rode around was like an American movie’s depiction of the Italian countryside. Everywhere we looked were wineries and the architecture in each village was insanely old and cool. We passed churches that were built hundreds of years ago, we passed famous wineries (Masi), the buildings were all painted cheerful colors, and everyone took great care in their flower presentations! There were almost no cars (luckily) on the narrow streets that we followed. It was simply amazing. We couldn’t have planned anything better – and since we didn’t even really plan it, it was perfect!
And although this part of our honeymoon story seems less majestic or romantic than Venice or the Dolomites, I enjoyed it equally. Having the time to just be was wonderful. Wake up late, eat a lazy breakfast, jump in the pool, dry off in the sun, read a book, jump in the pool…etc. It was so nice, and the Cipriani’s were so welcoming. Our meals were delicious and Marco started to actually enjoy drinking wine. Wins all around!
P.s. we went to Lago di Garda as well. Reminded us of Tahoe.
