Italy Day One

Yesterday, I went to a cooking class at a small farm in tarquinia. It was lovely and just what I needed after trekking barcelona for 4 days. It was peaceful and relaxing. The farm was gorgeous and had a vineyard. We learned to make pasta with only an egg and flour and learned what thickness of pasta goes with what sauce and meat. It was a great time. We also watched a demonstration of how to make tiramisu, but they made a variation with orange juice instead of coffee. I was skeptical, but it was wonderful.

After the class we sat down and enjoyed wine from their vineyard and they served us a 4 course meal. It started with an appetizer of bruschetta, there were four different kinds. The second course was our pasta with a red meat sauce. The third course was web roasted chicken with potatoes and a salad. Then finally the tiramisu. The whole meal was wonderful and so filling! At the farm they make alot of products including olive oil, wine, jam, honey and fruit liqueurs. Everything in there store was very reasonably priced too. The farm was run by a family and they were so nice. There daughter is in the process of learning English. She was embarrassed to speak to us but she was doing so well!!

After the trip we returned to the ship for a cat nap and then we went into Civitaveccia. The town is pretty quaint. We wandered by the beach and had some gelato. On the way back to the ship we stopped at the Fort of Michelangelo. It is really cool looking an upon entering they were preparing for a festival. Some women were practicing for a ballet and it was gorgeous. It seems that the entire town is preparing for the festival. They have carnival rides set up and food booths.

Currently I am on a train to Rome. Meredith, Gabriana, Meghan and I Ate planning to travel around the city and conquer the public transportation system. We are staying the night at a hostel called Romangelo which is 10 minutes from the Roman forum. I'm excited it will be adventurous. I hope to send this blog in when I can get wifi. But the train provided the perfect time to write this post.