Day 27: R and R

After another wonderful breakfast spread prepared by Alessandro, and with the weather calling for more humid heat...we decided to spend the day...(wait for it........for those of you who know me and my love for driving, moving, doing, seeing, accomplishing, achieving, serving, helping, solving and learning....wait for it...) sitting in the shade at our B and B and reading and relaxing ALL DAY!

and it wasn't just Peggy...these are my feet, and the book in front of me was a gift from brother Steve to help me learn about Italy (a Michelin Green Guide), and pick out all the places we weren't going to be visiting today.

The views were actually great, and I finally had time to contemplate what ants say to themselves as they pass each other on the trip up and down the tree trunk.  This took much deep contemplation, because they really do stop for each passing buddy and either bump heads or high five or pass close enough by to give em a sweet whisper...amazingly interesting..no???

Reading all of Italy's history from Michelin, the last half of Deuteronomy and all of Ecclesiastes was a great blessing while Peggy finished about 400 pages of her book...London.  In those 400 pages she discovered that King Henry the III was the first to take his personal hygiene seriously and created mini rooms with padded toilet seats and with 10 foot marble flow pipes to ensure there was no odor remaining in the royal rooms.  Other nobles copied his idea and added artwork etc...they weren't Kings but they relieved themselves in a similar environment...and thus these nobles' loos became known as Throne Rooms.  Another gem!!!
After 600 hours, or so it seemed, it was dinner time!  And today we were going to a restaurant run by Manuel, yes of Mexican Heritage, and an awesome chef who had worked in a 1 star Michelin Kitchen prior to opening up his successful restaurant/wine bar a few houses down from the "*",  Peggy ordered the chef's menu called Profumo di Vino...which was the name of the restaurant:  I actually loved the play on words in that di vino means "of wine" but also divino means divine...he seems to flip the spacing each time it's written...

And we definitely had the Power Table outside...

To save a bit of our wallet and waist, I ordered 2 appetizers and we split the bigger menu...
First up was the amuse bouche...zucchini pudding with zucchini flower cream...

A nice selection of breads and grissini (the local breadsticks)

Manuel grew up in Encinada and we bonded quickly...such that when we ordered our Nebbiolo, he agreed to give us a 27 euro bottle for 16, which we had to remind him of at the end of the evening when it was bill paying time...but he did remember graciously...the wine was very local and very excellent!

Then the first starter...my tender veal smothered internally with a mayonnaise that was even better than the others we have already loved. (a perfect roast beef type combo)

Peggy, with some help from me, enjoyed her shrimp with parmesan crisp and fennel

Then she had a small quiche-like, molten and delicious antipasto

While his plating creativity was a joy to see, the tastes were sublime

and we weren't the only ones who thought so...as you can see, still on his 8 month sabbatical, the world renowned preacher, John Piper, was here enjoying his privacy with family and friends...he's the one in the front with the orange shirt not wanting me to photo him straight on...

We both were receiving our primi piatti, or pasta dish...Peggy's was a deconstructed, and amazing, summer lasagna

Hers really tasted as good as it looked...but mine was worth the price of admission!   This region, especially in the Fall, is known for its white truffles...Steve, Jim...talk to me...We had not been offered a single truffle all trip under "their" excuse that they were not good this time of year and we had too come back in the Fall.  Whoever "they" were, were wrong...check out this amazing pasta of mini ravioli covered in white truffles:

For the main course Peggy had veal and veggies: she wanted to make sure I knew where the pile of sea salt was located

Finally dessert arrived, consisting of baked cream with pure vanilla infusion..called panna cotta..delicious as well...and nicely packaged:

The heavily "loved", caramel and nut crisp was super...but you knew I would love it just from the photo:))
So our 27th day ended with scriptural truth being confirmed yet again...I had been meditating all day on Isaiah's words (Ch 26) that God...
"will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Him, for he trusts in God...Trust the Lord God forever, for He is an Everlasting Rock!
I can say this day was a day of perfect peace, as I meditated and prayed and focused on the Lord...and spent quality chill time with Peggy, my amazing, lovely, eternal partner..:)))  Ciao Bella to each of you