We are such good cooks! We spent most of the day at Chef Paolo Monti's cooking class in Lucca, about 45 minutes from our hotel. Of course, it took us an hour to get there since we drove down what appeared to be a narrow sidewalk, but was in fact the street Google Maps suggested.

At the class, we learned how to make a variety of sauces and fresh pastas. We were joined by two sisters from Florida and a woman from Australia, but we were definitely the best pupils of the group. After enduring hours of hard labor (ok maybe not that hard), cheesy jokes by the Chef, and Peter almost burning the carmelized pears, we got to sit and enjoy the feast we prepared! Our favorites were a delicious linguini in mushroom sauce and gniocci in curry sauce - both were wonderful!

After all that work and stuffing ourselves full, a nap and some time relaxing by the pool was in order. We finished up the day with another great dinner watching the sunset over the Tuscan mountains, and went to bed excited to head to Cinque Terre in the morning.