it has been such a fun week over here in italy! we started monday off with class and of course another cooking lesson...
menu:
Gnocchi
(with a tomato sauce)
*this is a potato dumpling... it wasn't one of my favorites but italians love it! and im just picky about what i eat haha
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we love mary lou! |
on tuesday we took a field trip to Civita di Banoreio. it was founded by the estruscans over twenty- five hundred years ago and the population is now only about 15... they are looking to put steel rods so it doesnt crumble over since it is on volcanic tuff. we were there very early so unfortunatly we didnt get to see much, except beautiful views!
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the city!
and yes, it was a VERY long hike up! |
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mary cate, leah, me, and brittany! |
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cant get enough of the views in italy... beautiful! |
once we left Civita di Bagnoregio, we traveled to
Orvieto, which also sits on volcanic tuff.
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we took a gondola to the city! |
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The Duomo
(made with white and black marble and gold ceilings on the inside!) |
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the whole group! |
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another beautiful site! |
my friend susanna had been to Orvieto before (in 8th grade) and was determened to find this place with a great view! so i went with her and we finally found it... we got a little lost, but the view was worth it! we had to take solo pics because there was no one around to take it of the both of us... haha
after the church and free time for lunch in Orvieto we went to St. Patrick
's Well. The well was built in 1527 with 248 stairs! going down wasnt bad... it was the coming back up we struggled with!
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looking down the well! |
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at the bottom! |
on wednesday we had our first wine "tasting" class!! maurizio, our professor, first gave us history on wine then followed with 6 different wine tastings [3 red and 3 white]. i, surprisingly, liked the red the best! it still do not love wine... it took me a whiiiiile to drink each tasting they gave us. some of the girls were on their second and third tastings before i was done with my first! haha but i am slowly acquiring the taste! :)
on thursday we traveled to Deruta which is known for its hand made pottery and is exported world wide [even to Birmingham]! we got to take a tour of one of the factories where the owner showed us the process of creating pottery... shaping, firing, glazing, painting, another firing, then it sits for an extended period of time depending on the size...
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the factory we went to! |
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the mold and shaping process |
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the fish! |
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the burners |
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the hand painting!
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finish products! |
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there were many american artists who created the designs! |
after we finished touring the factory we got to go shopping for pottery :) they had so many pretty potter patterns it was overwhelming!! but i found some great gifts for good prices!!
once we were done with the pottery we traveled to Assisi! We were able to eat lunch but then we had to make it to an appointment to tour the St. Francis Basilica. It was a beautiful church, unfortunately we were not able to take pictures on the inside, but it was my favorite one yet! Assisi is on my list of places to go again to spend more time there!
its been another great week!! i am loving every second of it and learning and growing so much!! i am so thankful and blessed this was in the Lord's plans for me... He is so amazing and so gracious for letting me see a country that is filled with His Beauty!
hope all is well :)
rae ann
I've been to Orvieto! Kathryn threw up there...you'll have to ask her about that story sometime!
ReplyDeleteAs always, I love to see your pictures and read your stories!
Love and miss you!!!
What a great week....so fun to experience everything with you through the blog! I really like Deruta :-)
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