Cortona, Italy, October 24 and 25, 2014 - Friday and Saturday

Paintin' and Tastin'

It's our last day in Tuscany and we've got a nice quiet day scheduled at the villa.  Sort of.  Carlo arrived at the house at promptly 9:00 for painting class.  Carlo is a local artist who restores fresco paintings in the churches of Cortona.  He was our chef, Lucia's, best man in her wedding.  Small world here in Cortona.

Our Art Teacher, Carlo, explains the Fresco Process

We're painting fresco today.  Carlo brought all the supplies and we painted our own fresco just as Michael Angelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.  Except we weren't lying on our backs painting a huge fresco.  However, it did give us a deeper understanding of how difficult Michael Angelo's job was.  Here are our paintings.  

Jean Marie Fresco.  BRAVO!

Mary Ann's Fresco.  Bravo!

Julie's Fresco.  Nice Try.  Don't give up your day job!!

Stevie's Fresco.  Bravo!!

Jan's Fresco.  Bravo!

The Olives are washed

Then ground and sent to the spinner

Our guide, Mario.  Everybody here is either Lucia or Mario

After a full day of painting, we toured an olive mill.  Quite interesting.  We sampled "new" olive oil ... made the previous day, as well as fresh olive oil ... right of the press.  They had very different flavors.  The day old olive oil tasted like the olive oil that we use - only better!  The fresh oil had an almost nutty flavor. 
 

Bread toasting on an open fire for sampling Olive Oil

The condiments to go with the oils were garlic pods, salt, pepper and tiny red peppers.  The bread for the tasting was grilled in an open fire.  Then we rubbed the garlic pod and red pepper across the toast, added oil, salt and pepper and then enjoyed the flavors.  Yum!

Olive Oil Tasting Room

We got the impression the olive mill hasn't done many tours because the whole family came out to see us.  They were taking as many photos of us as we were of them.  

Our Sommelier checking the oil

We had a special treat, a visit from the olive sommelier who explained the entire process of milling olives.  He clearly loved his work and described the olive oil just as a wine expert would.  He also said the olive oil was good to use on our skin as an oil.  Good bye Yves Saint Laurent at $250.00 for about 4 ounces!  Hello olive oil at $15.00 per liter.  

Lucia's Special Surprise for us.

We returned to Villa Santa Maria to delicious smells coming from the kitchen.  Lucia and Francesco were working on our last meal of  risotto, Rabbit Fritters, and Lava Cake.  

Lucia's Famous "Penis Pops"

Then Lucia surprised us with a bouquet of "Penis Lollipops."  I guess you'd have to know the history of the week to really appreciate the gesture.  Sure made us laugh out loud!!  And it was the perfect ending to the week with the chef at Villa Santa Maria.  

Villa Santa Maria waiting for our driver, Stefano

It is 3:30 a.m. and Stefano has arrived at the villa to take us to the airport.  We are leaving Tuscany today.  We shall miss this area for many reasons.  It's a beautiful area, the people are friendly and accommodating.   But perhaps the most important was the time we had together making such wonderful memories.  

Last view from Villa Santa Maria

Don't know how ... but Stefano got it all in.  

We are now at the airport in Paris.  The flight has been delayed due to technical issues.  Hope they get us up and running soon.

I'll have one more entry after I return to California