And then,

One thing leads to another. Our friends helped us negotiate the Italian bus system. We broke through the city wall, caught the bus and made it to the next village, where a visit to a vinyard led to a glass of white, which led to a glass of rosé, which led to several glasses of red, all accompanied by local food and cheerful commentary from the proprietor. The parting shot was, of course, cheese and honey - the leitmotif of this holiday - this time without even the skimpiest slice of toast to create the impression that it is anything other than pure indulgence 

The honey is produced on the premises, but the beekeeping is subcontracted. Our host said that by the time he has dealt with the regulation and administration associated with both wine and olive oil production he has no head-space left for the bureaucracy around honey, which is much more stringent in Italy than UK. This country takes food production seriously

I took the picture on the short walk from the bus stop to the farm. One surprise of this trip has been the familiarity of almost all the roadside plants, but this one caught my eye as a bit different. It is Rampion, a Campanula and, I discover, the plant at the heart of the (brothers Grimm) Rapunzel fairy-story, which Wiki tells me was originally an Italian folk-tale - and which is itself a story of one thing leading to another. In most versions, the story ends happily, like our bibulous day