#26: Visit a Castle

I think I saw this item on someone else's list and thought that sounded like a fun and do-able thing. It wasnt until after I finalized my list that I realized I had already been to a castle... Hearst Castle in San Simeon (near Paso Robles). But hey... why pass up the opportunity to visit another castle. I also started to worry that there would even be other castles I could visit in California. So I started to do some research and found that there are quite a few castles in my home state. According to one website, I had actually been to two castles previously...since they considered Sleeping Beauty's castle in Disneyland a castle in CA you could visit. (I do not).

There was Scotty's Castle in Death Valley but it didn't look like your classic medieval castle and it was a little further than I wanted to drive for this particular adventure. Sam's Castle in Pacifica looked interesting but they had very limited tour dates and times.

So when I saw that Castillo de Amorosa in nearby Napa (only an hour drive for us) was a recreated Italian medieval castle built by a wine maker... I knew THAT was my castle!

                                    This photo is stolen from the internet. The rest are ours.

Straight from the brochure: "An architectural masterpiece. Authentically-built, 13th century medieval Tuscan-style castle and winery. Medieval designs and construction methods were employed to create the Castello; 30 years in the making- 15 years of actual construction."

Standing in front of the mote.

"It is surrounded by 171 acres, 30 of which are grapes situated on one of the most beautiful properties in the United States."

"The Castello has 5 defensive towers with battlements."

 

 

Wine Tasting in the cellar.
"There are 107 distinctive rooms with 95 devoted to winemaking."

There was a working farm with sheep goats and pigs. Chickens roamed the grounds freely.

"8 levels with 4 underground making the Castello 2/3 underground."

 

Ok, I stole this picture from the internet, too!

 

The Great Hall

  Standing on the draw bridge!

 

We went to the Castello with my dear friend Camille, her husband Nick, and their baby Grayson (pictured above :). Nick's parents also came along on our adventure. It was the perfect trip! The weather was great. It was just a little bit foggy which made the castle feel very authentic but the sun was out, too, so it wasn't too cold. What surprised me most about the castle is it has only been finished for a few years but it feels like it has been there forever. The wine was AMAZING! They only sell their wine at the castle; they do not sell it to restaurants or stores, which is really cool. We bought a bottle of my favorite, their blend: Il Brigante. The only disappointing part was they were not letting the general public go down in the prison and torture chamber, which I really wanted to see.

We finished off the trip by going to the Markham winery, which Nick's parents and Nick and Camille are members of. We had cheese and salame with our tasting there. Then headed to Gott's for some delicious burgers and a beer. Again, it was a perfect trip and I get to check another item off my list!

 



#9: Chess

Technically, number nine on my list is to become more proficient at chess. I have played chess a few handful of times before but never consistently enough to remember all the rules and definitely not enough to be confident about any sort of strategy.

Lucky for me, Darren's father loved to play chess and he taught Darren quite well, so I have a good teacher and playmate at my disposal! After the thunder and lightening storm last night, this morning felt like the perfect time to pull out the old chess set, make some yummy French press coffee, and play a few games. Darren won both games but he says I did pretty well.

I really wanted this item to be on my list because I really like the idea of being a good chess player! To me, chess has this allure of being a "smart man's" game, a traditional, worldly game. People who can just sit down and play a game of chess are cool! I mean, the game is over 1500 years old and has ties to India, China, Persia, and of course, the Romans.

 

 

 

Besides looking like a intellectual badass, there are lots of benefits to chess playing (memory, concentration, logical thinking, etc.). But I really like what this one article says about chess being an art form:

 

"In the Great Soviet Encyclopedia chess is defined as 'an art appearing in the form of a game.' If you thought you could never be an artist, chess proves you wrong. Chess enables the artist hiding within you to come out. Your imagination will run wild with endless possibilities on the 64 squares. You will paint pictures in your mind of ideal positions and perfect outposts for your soldiers. As a chess artist you will have an original style and personality".
 

How cool is that?

 

Unfortunately, this is not one of my items I can just complete and check off my 30 Before 30 List. It is one of those things I am going to have to keep working on and checking back in with myself to make sure I am actually becoming more proficient.