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We have been in Lucca for two weeks, and day-by-day all the leaves have been falling from the trees. Now, the trees are almost bare and sitting here on a park bench on an overcast day, it's finally chilly. Winter is arriving, but we give ourselves away as foreigners by still just wearing our jumpers.
We have spent two great weeks at Lucca Italian School and my brain is ready to explode. In two weeks I have learnt more Italian than in five years of learning French at school. I'm scared that I'll forget it all, but even if that happens, we definitely won't forget the place and the people.
Meeting our fellow classmates and getting to know Lucca together has been a great experience. We have learnt not only Italian, but about horticulture and New York from Ronda and about Australia and Aussie slang from Steph.
Katy is like a sponge for Italian and I am more of a flannel - some goes in and much drips off. Nevertheless, it's allowed us to live in Lucca alongside the Lucchesi people and do as they do. Often, this is a morning jog around the city walls, watching arguments in the streets (for this you don't need to understand the language - every Italian is born with the gift of mime) or cycling erratically through the cobbled streets (cyclists dart around every corner without a first glance, let alone a second one).
And living alongside the Italians here means sharing their genuine excitement about food. The home cooking is amazing, with delis on every corner full of dishes prepared that morning. Cooking is a huge part of Italian life, and it's normal for friends and family to make bread or sauces for each other, reflecting how tight the community is (even in a town the size of Lucca).
The food here tastes wonderful, and that's in no small part down to the fantastic ingredients, always full of flavour. To learn how to use them properly, I enrolled on a course at the International Academy of Italian Cuisine. Turns out it's not an informal cooking school for tourists, but a professional cooking school for trainee chefs. Eeek!
In the short time I had with them, I got to cook with various guest chefs from Tuscany, and what really stood out for me is how they managed to extract buckets of flavour from every ingredient. Less is definitely more in Italian cooking, and simplicity goes a long way. Now what I really need it a kitchen to practice it all in. I'm not sure how far I'll get with the van's hob...
When I get the chance, pasta is definitely coming first. I now have a quick and easy way for making fresh pasta if anyone wants it? 1 egg + 100g plain flour. That's it!
Anyway, it's now time to leave Lucca. It's taught us how to speak a bit of Italian and how to cook better. So I took a couple of hours this morning for just one more cycle around the walls and to the old viaduct, which used to supply the town with water from the nearby hills. This town is an amazing Italian achievement, full of wonderful people.
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Steph Hilarious as usual Josh!!! Love it! Thanks for the mentions