Day 5-7

Making Bruschetta.

Our guest chef, Alvaro.

Castle at Castagnoli

Enjoying the castle tour.

Medieval village

Day 5
Today we had a guest chef, Alvaro. He was a retired chef from Radda and was an excellent source of information. We prepared berry tiramasu, a variety of roasted meats and potatoes, riboletta (which is bread soup), and two kinds of bruschetta. In the afternoon, we toured a castle, winery, and two medieval villages.

Measuring flour with scales

Preparing dough for foccacia.

Our last class member and host family

San Gimignano

Piazza della Cisterna in San Gimignano

View from one of the towers

Day 6
Today was our last cooking class and we prepared risotto, foccacia, chicken marsala with zucchini, and a cake made with farrot (which is an ancient grain). After our meal we drove to San Gimignano and explored the beautiful city of towers on our way to Florence. We arrived in Florence that evening and had dinner with a friend who teaches Italian Food Culture classes. They were having a street festival in the area of our hotel, and we enjoyed food samples and observing the local people as we walked to our restaurant. We had a wonderful meal and it was interesting to discuss the nutrition of the Italian diet. Our host explained that the short distance from farm to table is what made their diet so healthy.

Porcelain museum at Pitti Pallace in Florence.

Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens

Gelato

Shopping in the markets

View of Arno River from Ponte Vecchio.

Ponte Vecchio

Meal with friend who teaches Italian Food Culture classes in Florence.

 Day 7
We explored the city of Florence for a straight 8 hours today! We began at the Boboli Gardens and Pitti Palace. The views from the top of the garden were breathtaking. The palace was the home of the Medici family which were the leaders of Florence during the Renaissance period. We really enjoyed the costume gallery which explained the history of fashion throughout the ages. This will be very rewarding information in our textile and fashion classes. We next visited the Galleria dell Accademia where we saw the sculpture of Michelangelo's David as well as his prisoner sculptures. Bortolini had a visiting exhibit that was also interesting. From there we took a Renaissance Walk through the town visiting historic sites and sculptures. In the evening, we had anouther excellent meal at a local restaurant in the Santo Spirito area of Florence. We continued to discuss the food culture with our host as she explained how most Italians purchase their food daily. She also said Italians have the second longest life expectancy. Tomorrow we travel to Cinque Terre.