In the meantime, my companions had taken a stroll around the grounds and through the gallery before ending up in the Tasting Room, and by the time we'd finished it was getting on for four, and the fact that we'd missed lunch was starting to tell on all concerned.
Back in the car we made our way back to the city, arriving just before five and splitting up to put cars to bed, deposit cameras and freshen up before joining back up to head off to dinner at a reasonable establishment called Caffe Italia, which does the BYO wine only bit, so I had an excuse to knock over one of the two bottles that had made the transcontinental odyssey with us.
That Brook Eden Pinot Noir mightn't have been the perfect match for the entree of Arancini di carne al sugo (rice balls stuffed with cheese & peas) but it went down quickly enough for me to order a bottle of Waterwheel Cabernet Merlot to go with the main course. Having sighted Maccheroni all'ossobuco (pasta with osso buco in tomato and basil sauce), a hearty red seemed like the way to go and the Waterwheel seemed to go down well with the other mains ordered around the table.
We'd arrived shortly after opening time, and when we left just after seven the place was filling up nicely, a factor that should have entered my consciousness at the time but had a significant effect on Thursday's evening meal arrangements. Still, we'd eaten well, were feeling no pain, and the short stroll back to the corner that marked the divergence of the two parties' paths was enough to remind us that tomorrow was another day that would need a gathering of strength to negotiate.
More significantly, after five days on the road there were laundry matters that would need to be attended to once we’d passed on a thank you bottle of Rockford Alicante Bouchet, after which it was a matter of gathering strength for the morrow and ensuring that the morrow would be greeted with freshly laundered clothing.