TUSCANY WITH PATRIZIA - 2013: Sunday, September 22, 2013

What a great time we had this afternoon at "In Tavola" cooking school with Alessandro and Francesco trying to teach us and several other "cooks" how to make pasta and sauces! We "mastered" the techniques of preparing three handmade pastas and three sauces with a lot of laughter and "Mama-Mia's" along the way. Chef "Luigi"( a.k.a. Lou ) played a starring role as we finished up when he was presented with the official chef's apron! There were eight other folks in the class, but we had the most fun - especially when we went down to the wine cellar to eat it all up - including the fresh lemon sorbet for dessert and the wine, of course. We missed Oliver and Suzanne who were still away up at the lake. A good time was had by all as you will see in the photos today - enjoy! More later . . .

See more cooking fun at:

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Today ten of us took an optional day trip to the hilltop town of Cortona and then on to the town of St. Francis - Assisi. Lou and Liz made a trip to Rome and Oliver and Suzanne were on a "business trip" to Lecco on Lake Como. After successfully climbing up the steepest street in Cortona from the bus stop we enjoyed seeing the charming town, did a little shopping and had cappuccino. There happened to be a wedding at the city hall so we smiled at the bride and groom as they came through the streets. On to Assisi where we had a quick lunch and then toured the churches of St. Clare and St. Francis including a walk through the main streets. Back in Florence we celebrated the end of the day with good house wine and delicious food at our favorite "ristorante" - Nerone's. It was good to the last crumb - you'll see in the pics! More later. . .