Boogacres: Cortona, Italy, October 21, 2014, Tuesday

Morning arrives early in Italy. But that's GREAT because we have lots of ground to cover today.

Mary Ann, Benedicta, Stevie, Julie, Jan and Jean-Marie

Benedicta, the owner of the Villa Santa Maria, stopped by the house this morning. It was nice meeting her and talking about the beautiful villa. She didn't stay long. Obviously, she'd been warned about the five crazy American women.

Stefan with the car.

Stefan arrived promptly at 9:00 and we were off for San Gimignano. The drive to San Gimignano was Tuscan beauty at it's best.

Tuscan Countryside

Smooth hills covered with vineyards and olive trees looked like a patchwork quilt of different greens with an occasional villa resting amongst them. Another beautiful ancient walled city, Gimignano's streets were lined with perky coffee shops and boutiques. A very warm and charming town. We split up for maximum coverage of all of the shops and the spending began.

Approaching the city of San Gimignano.

Having only one hour, we found that we do our best work under time pressure. Jan found beautiful Italian ceramic trays, Mary Ann found linens for her table, Jean-Marie found a bow tie and purse, Stevie and I found scarves and ponchos.

Official USC Trojan Helmet for Jeff!! Fight On!!

And the treasure of the day ... an official Trojan Helmet!!
Any kid that goes to college at USC should have a Trojan Helmet. Since Jeff doesn't follow my blog, I'm free to share this with you. Soon he will have one! The back of the van quickly filled up and we hopped inside and were off to Siena. We're in a time crunch today as our Italian cooking class begins at the Villa at 5:00 tonight.

Siena town "circle" square.

We found an OK spot for lunch in Siena. Bar Il Palio was in a central square, that wasn't square at all, rather a LARGE round courtyard lined with many restaurants.

Lunch at Bar Il Palio in Siena

The salads were fresh and tasty, but the other dishes were not special. After lunch the group split up again into groups of shoppers and winos. Mary Ann found an adorable jacket and vest, Jean-Marie found bejeweled cuffs, Jan found shoes and

Stevie and I found a good wine bar in Siena

Stevie and I found a bar with good wine. We had to head back to the house for our cooking class. Ha! Since I don't cook, a cooking class is like trying to teach a one legged man to compete in an ass kicking contest. Kind of impossible. But I'll enjoy the wine and watching the preparation of our feast.

Our cooking class at the Villa. A selfie with the camera balanced on a wine carafe.

Turned out the cooking class was amazingly fun. Lucia and her sister Francesca were our teachers. We made hand made pasta, chicken cacciatori, a delicious pudding dessert and pan seared cabbage. Now don't anybody get the wrong idea here, I still don't cook. I know how, but choose not to. I have a bit of a complex since my children have told me for years, "Mom, you're not a bad cook, you just need to stop using the smoke detector for a timer." Sad, but true.

Francesca cuts the pasta.

Anyway, after that incredible pasta, I've never felt so full in my life. This is worse than a Thanksgiving eat-a-thon. But who cannot eat homemade, HAND made pasta. It was paper thin and about 1/4" wide. So delicious!!

I took many photos and have room for only a few of the highlights here, but just trust me when I tell you ... a good time was had by ALL ... including Lucia and Francesca.

Tonight, I don't hear girls downstairs laughing and giggling. They have all gone quietly to bed. We have another early start tomorrow to visit wineries. What fun!! Hugs to all. Miss you!!