Italy #12
Today was a great way to finish up the group part of the trip. We got on a bus at 9 am and drove for 2 hours through the Tuscan countryside. It wasn't as green as the pictures but we were looking at it with mid-day sun plus they had been haying so the fields had that look.
We arrived at a restaurant/hotel/ winery/organic farm. There we had a cooking lesson which was fascinating. We had an appie, 1st course, 2nd course and dessert plus wine. We made various stages of it all and will be getting the recipes by email. We made picci which was wonderful -- hope we can get the right flour at home. It's a fat noodle that we stretched out thin. He also demonstrated gnocchi made from ricotta cheese and a bit of flour. Few calories and dead easy. He made pesto from arugula and almonds plus showed us how to make a low fat version. It was a huge meal with all those courses.
After a short walk to see some special pigs (which were the source of the homemade sausages we ate) we walked to a winery. Pretty hot here so not much fun walking on the road -- around 35. The wine tasting went on and on for hours it seemed which drove me crazy. I'm not a red wine drinker anyway so only had one. Had a hard time staying awake.Along with the wine they served bruschetta and some meats which just added to the food overload. So no supper tonite! We got back at 9 pm and everyone had to pack.
The drive home was beautiful as the greens were so much more intense with the evening sun. Hard to get pictures through bus windows though.
We had a wrinkle in our travel plans for tomorrow. Turns out we got tickets on a higher speed train which leaves from a different station. Thank goodness I showed the tickets to Vivien. So, no problem, as we will take a taxi to the right station. Thank goodness for tour guides!!!! We are off to Balzano leaving at 9:35 and arriving just before 1 pm. Then it's a 50 minute bus ride to Castelrotto where our hotel is.