March 8, 2009
My Trip to Wine Country
This has absolutely nothing to do with nail polish or beauty but since I have yet to start my other blog (which will be focused on writing and photography) I thought I would show you pics here. Today I went to the Napa Valley with a friend and we had a most fabulous day! It was sunny, clear and warm and below are some of the things we did. Enjoy!
Artichoke appetizer at the Rutherford Grill in Rutherford (unbelievably YUM!)
Bangers & Mash (homemade chicken/apple and Italian sausages)
Ahi tuna salad
Beautiful day!
Castello di Amorosa in Calistoga. A few words about this place. All the stones and bricks were brought over by ship from Austria and are 200 years old. All the light fixtures and wooden doors were brought over from Italy. The olive trees planted in front are from Northern California and are 100 years old. The castle has 107 rooms, including a medieval torture chamber that includes an antique 15th century iron maiden from Italy (I didn’t go down there but definitely want to!). So I know what you Europeans are thinking…so what!?! Ha, ha. To that I say, I know, you probably see stuff like this on a daily basis at your local post office, but here in CA we are starved for OLD things! It’s is a tad “Las Vegas-y” but more authentic and less cheesy
On the “drawbridge” looking into castle
The Grand Hall complete with fresco’s surrounding the walls and the Sattui family crest (owner of the castle)
Down to the wine cellar
One of many hand made iron dragons all around the property
Stacks of wine
Now we are at Dean & DeLuca in St. Helena. Aren’t these little edible animals cute? I think they were marzipan
So pretty! Hmm I could do a nail polish swatch collection that match these colors haha!
This is the vanilla coconut cupcake I got at Dean & DeLuca. It looks better than it tasted. The cake was a little dry and dense. The frosting was interesting, instead of buttercream which I expected, it was like whipped marshmallows, but not overly sweet
Welcome! My name is Kelly and Vampy Varnish is a animal friendly beauty blog.
Mmmm, those edible animals and roses look so good!!! I’m addicted to anything made out of frosting. My dad has gotten into the habit of buying my birthday cake with tons o’frosting as I like the frosting over the actual cake!
Vanilla coconut cupcake? Ew. I dislike the taste of coconut. My picky taste buds don’t like it.
I’m off to make myself a grilled cheese (yummy)!
Hi Kate,
I am SO with you on the frosting. I love frosting and could just eat a spoonful of that rather than the cake part!
Hope your grilled cheese was yummy!
Thank you for visiting the Castello and posting the photos on your site.
Jim Sullivan
PR and Marketing Manager
jims@castellodiamorosa.com
707-967-6278
I so want to live in a castle…drafty stone walls and all. *sigh*
Looks like a great trip (and better food) – thanks for sharing!
Hi Jamie,
I know, you and me both. I think I was born into the wrong era and class, LOL!