Woke up this morning to the sound of soft rain. Upon looking out the window could not see past the first few rows of olive trees and the temperature had dropped as well. Cooking class started at 9:30 with people from Vancouver, Seattle, and a mother and 10 yr old son from Yamba. We made a yummy basil pesto served on crunchy bread, tagliatelle with a creamy mushroom and pancetta sauce, turkey cooked in milk (sounds different but was sooooo tender and the milk ch...

Another great day at cooking school. We met the other participants today in the township of Gaiole. We visited the local butchers and he showed us his separate building where all the prosciutto (pork legs) hang for curing until they are ready for cutting and selling. We also visited a vege market and a bakery. Our menu for today was bruschetta, pasta (macaroni but more like extra large penne to me) with ragu ( a form of bolognese made with beef and pork mince),...

Lovely late start to the day. Opened up my shutters and said "Buongiorno to Chianti!!!" Others, from NZ, South Africa and USA arrived around 9:30am for our cooking class. Today's menu: pizzettes, gnocchi alla salsa agli aromi, Tuscan chicken and Tiramisu. Great pizza dough that was soooo crunchy, the best gnocchi I have ever eaten and the tiramisu so fresh and light at the end of a big meal. When serving the gnocchi, Paola also served some with a gorgonzola sau...

Spent most of the morning relaxing after a late breakfast. After checking out and leavings bags to pick up later I once again explored Florence by foot visiting many of the piazzas we went to with the tour group. Lots of time to people watch and also have a leisurely lunch. Am traveling by train later today to Montevarchi where I will be picked up by someone from the cooking school I am going to.

Soooo much fun today! Thought I would do something different as I had visited most of the Florence sightseeing places with my tour a few days earlier. After a sleep in (well overdue) I was picked up by an Italian papa to travel to his ranch in the middle of the Chianti hills. They have about 50 horses there as well and do horse riding tours. With Francesco (our Vespa leader) we explored the chianti hills for 2 hours stopping briefly at small townships. It was ...