Buongiorno!
It's a rainy Saturday afternoon here in Florence, perfect time to update the blog!
After class yesterday, the majority of the kids in our program took a 45 minute busride to Castello Il Palagio, a castle that dates back to the 1200s. It was nestled between many other vineyards and had a picturesque setting. I took some pictures, but it was a gray, cloudy day, but you'll get the overall idea! There, they handpick their grapes for wine and olives for olive oil. Many wines will have the 'Chianti' label, but if you want authentic, wine from hand picked grapes, you must look for 'Chianti Classico'. This is the label for their brand!
After a brief tour of the wine cellars, we were seated in the dining area. Each place setting had 5 different wine glasses. We were given lessons by the local somalier, named Sebastieno. He was quite the looker! We swirled, smelled, then finaly tasted the wine. We were instructed to taste for different things, such as blackberry, a hint of wood, or a taste of white wine. We tried 5 different types of red wine, sampled their cheese and bruscetta doused in their olive oil. It was all delicious. I could have stayed all night.
We sadly had to board the bus home. When we returned to our hotel, it was nearly dinner time. Our hotel has been providing us with breakfast and dinner. The breakfast is the same everyday with scrambled eggs, undercooked bacon, yogurt, cereal, fruit, and pastries. Dinner has been quite the variety. Every night is a 3 course meal, dessert is usually fruit, but we've been surprised with different cakes on a few occasions. Last night though, was the first bad meal of Italy. The first course was good, a creamy tomato soup, that tasted like it had bread pieces in it. Then we all thought we were getting meatballs, but when the plates were served it was nothing more than chicken nuggets. We were disappointed to say the least. I guess one bad night is nothing to compalin about! Tonight we arent getting dinner served at the hotel, and we are on our own. My friends Lizzie, Suzanne, Jess, Jackie and I are going to find a restaurant in teh city to have dinner.
I finally skyped with people from home today! So good to see familiar faces and catch up with stories from Vermont. I appreciate all the comments, so good to hear from everyone!
Sunday we are going to watch the Viccio-Cavriglia soccer match.. I'll let you know how it goes!
I'm working on putting up pictures from Florence. Stay tuned!
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Florence is our favorite city in Italy. You "snuck" a great photo of The David. We thought about you yesterday (Sunday) -- perhaps you were on your way to Rome.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic opportunity to learn about Italian wine (okay and other cultural aspects of Florence). To defend the hotel's only bad meal - sometimes they try to provide "American cuisine." Sad that we may be known for that! Can't wait to hear about the soccer match especially now when we are bearing down for yet another big snow storm in MA. Say - was the sommelier a good candidate for Kirsten - we could get a "two for"!
ReplyDeleteOh - by the way - I'm thankful that your father was able to interpret your email about David. I personally thought you might have missed the whole issue - :). Glad to know that you didn't.
Enjoyed your pictures of London - Sadie and Alex did too! Thanks for keeping it up!