Saturday, 21 ottobre 2006 “It rarely rains in Siena…” ~ Rick Steves, Florence and Tuscany 2007 Guess we just got lucky! I kind of enjoyed the rain. It was the good drenching kind that gardeners and ducks appreciate, and it gave me a different perspective. When we arrived at Spannocchia, I noticed that it was…

Saturday, 21 ottobre 2006 This was our typical breakfast, except that breakfast this day featured bread baked by Stefano in the brick oven the day before. The granola is made after the last pizzas are baked in the brick oven on pizza nights, left in the warm oven overnight to bake. Here it is served…

Friday, 20 ottobre 2006 (Continued from A change in the weather.) Friday arrived still damp and threatening more rain. The agenda for the morning was baking with Stefano, a professional baker who took a day off to show us his artistry with dough and a wood burning brick oven. The first step was for Charlie…

Thursday, 19 ottobre 2006 (Continued from Working at Spannocchia) That afternoon brought a chilly drizzly rain. Sandino did a big load of laundry that morning, and since Spannocchia does not have a dryer, we ended up hanging damp clothes all over our room. These wouldn’t get dry until the morning we left. Debby led an…

Wednesday, 18 ottobre 2006 We returned to Spannocchia that evening, where it was pizza night. Pizza night was a big deal at Spannocchia, when the wood-burning brick oven was fired up that afternoon and interns dressed up a bit for the evening. We sang happy birthday to my friend Deb Bettini, who celebrated a big…

Wednesday, 18 ottobre 2006 San Gimignano is called the “medieval Manhattan” because of its many towers. It is one of the most beautiful Tuscan hill towns, making it a mecca for tourists. The city itself was lovely, but the views from it were absolutely stunning. Our bus parked near the bottom of the hill and…

Wednesday, 18 ottobre 2006 After an early breakfast and a spectacular sunrise, we all got on a rented bus to go to a biodynamic farm, Poggio Antico, and then to San Gimignano for a much anticipated field trip. This day was bittersweet for me – my excitement about riding through the hills of Tuscany and…

Wednesday, 18 ottobre 2006 I am thankful that I was able to see this sunrise at Spannocchia.

Tuesday, 17 ottobre 2006 After that incredible lunch, we had a little bit of time to relax. Sandino played chess with Charlie, and I spent some quiet time in il giardino segreto (the secret garden) with a book, my notebook, and camera. I didn’t go far, since I was trying to heal my foot before…

Tuesday, 17 ottobre 2006 A couple of weeks ago, I posted a short paper that I wrote about the history and culture of pasta in Italy. Part of the project was learning to make my own fresh pasta, so I documented this part of our cooking class with Loredana in great detail! (Thank you, Teresa,…