I believe this was after the first tastings

That would explain our faces.

So as for our weekend.  Our friends arrived late Saturday afternoon without their luggage.  It seems they took one plane from DC and the luggage took another.  We got them settled in and had dinner and sent them to bed.  Sunday, after a leisurely breakfast, we drove off to the Langhe, the wine region.  It was a wonderful, warm, sunny day and there were spectacular views of the Alps.  Our first stops were at a few of the lovely villages to take in the scenery before our friends became too inebriated to appreciate it.  We snacked on local cheese bought at a market to coat our stomachs and then took them to one of our favorite wineries for tasting.  We spent well over an hour sampling their selection of wines and left with our trunk full of cases of Dolcetto and Barbera.  Next we drove to a village famous for it's Roman amphitheater and while wandering the streets ran into some of GP's old friends from the area.  We spent an hour or so with them and shared a bottle of Spumante, Italian Champagne, and some little appetizers.  After that we toured some more hilltop towns, saw a castle or two, and then headed off in search of our dinner.  We ate at a beautiful old inn/tavern that offered us four courses and a lot of atmosphere.  We finally tumbled into bed about midnight.  I swore never to eat again.  I lied.  Monday, as Grace had school and GP and I had work, I took our friends to the local train station and sent them off to the city for a day of touring.  Unfortunately I sent them off in the wrong direction so they ended up in Chieri, (the source of the train line) and not Torino, (the intended destination), and had to wait an hour for the next train back.  Oops.  I used being over-tired as an excuse.  I picked them up in the city at four and we came home to their luggage, (yeah!), and a nap.  Last night we had our final dinner together until this summer.  Have you noticed that pretty much all we do here is eat and drink?  It is no wonder I've put on ten pounds since autumn.  I must now get serious about exercising and dieting!  Yeah, right.  ooxx me