Saturday, October 15, 2011

Orvieto and end of trip

We had an amazingly fun 4 hour cooking "lesson" at Zeppelin's run by the fabulous chef Lorenzo! A hard task-master,VERY fast,VERY hyper and VERY good!When I first heard that we were going to do a 4 hour cooking lesson,I was dreading it,because ...well....I don't love to cook...but I have to say that this was absolutely one of the highlights of my trip!


Our cute,sexy,waiter and manager,Tito

we fried these squash blossoms

this is before everything got crazy busy!

fresh produce from the market

Lisa and I making focaccia dough

Chef demonstrating the right technique of making pasta

such finesse!

Jill Berry,our fearless art  teacher and chef...notice she is drinking prosecco while stirring!That's talent!

WE MADE THIS!!!!

YUMMMMM

part of Zeppelin's wine display

a mural inside the restaurant

just too too cute!

we made these wild boar raviolis!!!DELICIOUS!

NOT for me,thank  you!

CUTE French owner of the Blue Bar café

Pinocchio is everywhere!

Duomo and blue blue sky


these Medieval images are...very Zetti-like!!!

Mark

more views from the city walls


we had a private tour of the Etruscan tunnels beneath the town...this was a well...

...and a wine cellar

market bounty:red beans

peppers

onions

squash blossoms

looks very Provençal!

even nuns bargain

WOW!

One day,a couple hundred young soldiers descended upon the town for a special mass.Everything stopped in the street..including us!

the beautiful entryway to "our" convent!

a yummy lunch break in the courtyard

We had a fabulous trip to a local vineyard,Palazzone. A dreamscape!This is the old manor house,which is now a 5 star B & B!!!

Only a few grapes were still left onthe vines...


Our vineyard tour guide

The view of Orvieto from the vineyard

this is probably my favorite photo of the entire trip!!!notice Orvieto,dreamy-like,in the background

in one of the wine storage areas

what a gorgeous B & B!!

pre-wine tasting

our tasting table

views from the terrace...

beautiful from all directions

we tasted the Orvieto Classico,paired with food at each stage

Giovanni,the passionate-about-wine owner

Jill,telling one of her hilarious stories


this reminds me of Camelot


we were stylin'!!

typical wood-fired pizzas from the area...so fresh and delicious

more cappucino art

Jill,hard at work

most of us bought bracelets/necklaces from a local artist who had a full page ad in the Italian Elle

sigh

Bill at his best!

our happy little group on the last night together at sho and tell time

Our wonderful hosts,the Steiners! Grazie Mille!!!

one last photo of Tito

 a ballroom inside the convent

one of the staircases...by the end of the week,I was STILL gettinglost!

market day

color co-ordinated

watching time go by

beautiful doorways everywhere

Le Grand Escargot!!!

GOLD: white and black truffles!

bread pattern

gossip

3rd story window

Grandpa and grandson

I took this from the other side ofthe train tracks...everyone going their separate ways...

Back in Rome,this is the famous Castel San Angelo...thos of you who are Angels and Demons fans will recognize it!

can't lose these guys!


one of the many many angels on the bridge by the Castel


Lovers have been recently putting padlocks onto the bridge,representing their love

3 Roman busts inside the Castel




a green café ontop of the Castel!

great view out over the city


one of the many brides that I saw on this trip