On our way home

Assisi on Tuesday. The basilica of St Francis is spectacular  No photos allowed inside so here is an outside shot. 

Later in the day we went truffle hunting-more on that later. 

Wednesday we went to a park with fantastical sculptures which was built in 1552.

On to Umbria

Our hotel. A villa owned by the same family for 500 years!

Trevi at night

Donkey ride

Etruscan necropolis

Pienza in the Orcia Valley

Pienza is another charming hill town. Side trips from here included Montepulciano to taste wine. We toured and tasted 4 wines at Villa St. Anna. Chianti, Rosso, Nobile and Poldo ( another Nobile di Montepulciano).  We were served a light lunch with courses to go with each wine. Pecorino is the local cheese. We visited the Etruscan Necropolis of Sovana and the medieval town of Pitigliano. Below: Pienza (top) and Montepulciano.

Olive oil and pasta

We went to a mid-size olive oil mill to see the process of pressing olive oil and then tasting a few samples. The day we were there they were pressing olives for area growers.  The mill is modern and mechanized. From there we visited a farmhouse where we had a cooking class and actually made our lunch-pasta and beans, chicken roll ups with ham and cheese, and pineapple tiramisu.  Below, olives ready for pressing and Paola and Dina (tour leader).  Also "cooks at work". Doug directs the men in grinding the beans.

Tuscan countryside

The views from my window in the last posts were from a villa in the countryside near Siena. We explored San Galgano named for a medieval saint. There is a chapel with a sword in a stone (really) and the ruins of an abbey.  We hiked a portion of the Via Francigena, a pilgrim route from France to Rome. The next day we went to Siena.  Our guided tour included a visit to a Contrada museum and church. Siena is divided into 17 neighborhoods called contradas. Our guide was a member of the Forest contradas so we were able to go behind the scene to visit their museum. The symbol for the Forest contradas is a rhinoceros in front of a tree.

Sunrise

View from window

Florence

Stopped for a day in Florence on our way from Lucca to Poggibonsi, a town in the countryside near Siena. View of Florence from Michelangelo plaza.

Carrara

Day trip to the quarries at Cararra. Mountains of marble. Four wheel vehicles took us up winding mountain roads to a quarry. 

Luca

On the way to Lucca we stopped in the medieval village of Pontremoli which was an important stop for pilgrims on their way to Rome and beyond. It became a wealthy trading town as well. We learned about testarolo, a crepe-like bread that can be cut up and boiled like pasta.  We helped prepare some and then sampled the product.

Upon arrival in Lucca we said good bye to Gioia and hello to Dina, our tour leader for the second half of the trip. Another 7 travelers joined us, doubling the size of the group.

We had our walking tour of Lucca a charming walled city in Tuscany.  The top of the wall is a park with walking and bicycling paths.  So we all got on bikes for a ride around the city.  It was challenging dodging the other cyclists and pedestrians.  On our own, Doug and I climbed two towers for a total of 350 steps.  If there is a tower to climb, Doug will climb it!

Culatello

Trip to the pig farm to learn about a very special salumi.  Saw the black pigs, the hams curing in a barn and in the cellar. It is the best cut of the pig that is then wrapped and cured. Tasty too.  We had a few samples while we were in Parma.

Parma

We started with a walking tour that included the three main squares or piazzas, Garibaldi, Cathedral and Pilotta. Garibaldi is the center of town near shops and city hall.  That was our meeting point.  Garibaldi was the leader who unified Italy in the mid 1800's. At the Cathedral there was a Nov 4 ceremony honoring veterans. Inside the Cathedral we saw two masterpieces of early Italian art.  The first was a marble relief from the early1200's signed and dated by the artist.  Very unusual for the time.  The other was a fresco by Corregio from 1530 that used perspective in a dome-a first. Continued on to view a reconstructed wooden theater and the art museum.

Cheese and Vinegar

On our way from Bologna to Parma we stopped to learn about the making of Parmesan cheese. Below is s picture of Doug and Giuseppe, the cheese maker. We also learned the process for making traditional balsamic vinegar. It is an entirety different food than what we normally see in the market. Sweet and acid perfectly balanced. Photos are of the 1650's villa and the vinegar barrels. 

Ravenna, Monday, November 2

Ravenna is the place to see mosaics.  The pictures tell the story.

Off to Italy

We arrived in Bologna on Saturday, October 31 tired after the long flights.  We rallied for a welcome cocktail and dinner.  Delicious, but 4 courses was way too much food for us weary travelers. 

Sunday, November 1 started with a 3 hour walking tour of the city. The main piazza, Piazza Maggiore and Neptune statue, St. Petronius basilica and Palazzo dell'Archiginnasio which was the first unified seat of the University of Bologna.  We saw a demo of how to make tortellini and even tried our hand at it.  This region is known for its salumi so that was our lunch.  We visited Santo Sefano, another noted church.  Bologna is noted for its porticos.  Photos are from the Piazza Maggiore, tortellini demo with our trip leader Goiia on the left and Doug taking a photo from a portico near Santo Stefano.

As a bonus, we were able to see 4 venues in the Foto/Industrial exhibit. The last day was November 1 so we just made it.