Hi All
So this morning we left for Florence. So sad to leave the Villa, but will have so many fond memory's to take with me...as well as 2 really good recipe books and a couple of kilos on the hips to show for it!
I shared a Taxi back to Florence with 3 others, the the ride costs R1,150 to Florence. We then dropped one person off at the airport. I then spent the day with 2 of my new friends who come from London, Angela and Sally. We shopped in Florence and then had lunch at a lovely little place in the centre of town. I tried to hunt down a leather bag, but could not find anything I really wanted to take home.
I then had to say goodbye to my new friends and head to the airport. I then left for Frankfurt and then from Frankfurt to Gothenberg where I met Ida and Darryl at the Airport at 23:42! It is wonderful to see the two of them again. It was raining here when I arrived, but still the city (even that late at night) was something to see. It is a stunning city!
Darryl and Ida have a lovely flat and they have such a wonderful life here in Sweden. What a stunning city to live in.
So then, 3 days in Gothenberg for me, cant wait.
Take care all
Regards
Deidre
Monday, September 3, 2007
Friday - And my very last cooking lesson at the Villa
Hi All
This is it, 2 weeks of bliss and hard work in the kitchen has come to an end today.
We have all been lazing about this morning having chats and just enjoying the Villa. Then one of the girls, Tanya asked me if I would like to join her for a walk.
So the two of us took a 2 hour walk, which was super. Hot and so many hills but really clears the mind and we got to talk about everything.
At 3 we started our very last cooking lesson with Laura. We made about 9 dishes for dinner. Laura had invited her sons along for dinner. We have a lovely dinner and good conversation. Last night is always a but sad as things have come to an end.
The food was really very good. We had a couple of repeat dishes from my Italian cooking course the previous week, but not to worry. Angela and I prepared lamb skewers that took us about 2 hours to put together as we had to remove all the fat and bones from the meat and then mince the Lamb ourselves!!! Won't be doing that anytime soon....I will ask the butcher to mince the meat for me. But then the end result was fantastic, they were so good we have finished them all. I will have to try this when I am home. We had that with Tzatsiki, which the 2 of us had also made, was very good.
Laura made a really good piece of Pork for us, done in the oven and stuffed with Wild Fennel and Sea salt and herb and loads of garlic. The meat was so tender and very juicy.
A couple of other interesting dishes, there were 2 pasta dishes that were very good. Stuffed Tomato's and a really good bell pepper salad.
Well that is it, the trip to Tuscany has come to an end. There will probably be more talk of food and drink but nothing that I have done at the Villa!
Hope you all had a wonderful day.
Deidre
This is it, 2 weeks of bliss and hard work in the kitchen has come to an end today.
We have all been lazing about this morning having chats and just enjoying the Villa. Then one of the girls, Tanya asked me if I would like to join her for a walk.
So the two of us took a 2 hour walk, which was super. Hot and so many hills but really clears the mind and we got to talk about everything.
At 3 we started our very last cooking lesson with Laura. We made about 9 dishes for dinner. Laura had invited her sons along for dinner. We have a lovely dinner and good conversation. Last night is always a but sad as things have come to an end.
The food was really very good. We had a couple of repeat dishes from my Italian cooking course the previous week, but not to worry. Angela and I prepared lamb skewers that took us about 2 hours to put together as we had to remove all the fat and bones from the meat and then mince the Lamb ourselves!!! Won't be doing that anytime soon....I will ask the butcher to mince the meat for me. But then the end result was fantastic, they were so good we have finished them all. I will have to try this when I am home. We had that with Tzatsiki, which the 2 of us had also made, was very good.
Laura made a really good piece of Pork for us, done in the oven and stuffed with Wild Fennel and Sea salt and herb and loads of garlic. The meat was so tender and very juicy.
A couple of other interesting dishes, there were 2 pasta dishes that were very good. Stuffed Tomato's and a really good bell pepper salad.
Well that is it, the trip to Tuscany has come to an end. There will probably be more talk of food and drink but nothing that I have done at the Villa!
Hope you all had a wonderful day.
Deidre
Thursday - our day off!
Hi all,
I am running behind on my blog once again! So will have to bring you up to speed.
Thursday was our day off. Sadly last night I was not feeling to well, it must have been the seafood at lunch time, as I later heard that some of the people cooking the mussels had forced the unopened one's open with a knife...well not all of us know how to work with seafood!!
So Thursday morning was spent recovering and just reading at the Villa in the shade. At about 13:15 I took a drive into town with 3 of my new friends. Angela, Sally and Greg. We had a very light lunch of mixed breads with a platter of Cheese and cold meats. I was feeling much better by this time, thank goodness.
We then went for a walk through the Castle of Poppi, what a stunning place. And it seems to be haunted by the ghost of a Countess who use to steal the young men of the village and have her way with them, once she had had enough of their company ;-) she had dropped the out of the castle from the tower. So the village people had then killed her to stop this. Lovely story isn't it?
We had climbed to the very top of the tower...so many stairs and it was so very hot. But once you are right at the top and you can see everywhere as far as possible, it is an amazing sight.
We had run into an English guy who was suited and looked so smart, he was waiting for his bride to, they were getting married in the Castle's chapel, romantic isn't it? He then invited the 4 of us to attend the wedding! Was sweet of him but clearly did not happen.
Then home for a swim. After a shower I had an evening out with 2 of the girls who work at the Villa and their kids. We went to a Pizzeria in Biblianno a little town just other side of Poppi. We had a super evening out, I got to see the locals out and we have a lovely time.
Then to bed!
Take care all
Will be sending the missing blogs very soon after this.
Deidre
I am running behind on my blog once again! So will have to bring you up to speed.
Thursday was our day off. Sadly last night I was not feeling to well, it must have been the seafood at lunch time, as I later heard that some of the people cooking the mussels had forced the unopened one's open with a knife...well not all of us know how to work with seafood!!
So Thursday morning was spent recovering and just reading at the Villa in the shade. At about 13:15 I took a drive into town with 3 of my new friends. Angela, Sally and Greg. We had a very light lunch of mixed breads with a platter of Cheese and cold meats. I was feeling much better by this time, thank goodness.
We then went for a walk through the Castle of Poppi, what a stunning place. And it seems to be haunted by the ghost of a Countess who use to steal the young men of the village and have her way with them, once she had had enough of their company ;-) she had dropped the out of the castle from the tower. So the village people had then killed her to stop this. Lovely story isn't it?
We had climbed to the very top of the tower...so many stairs and it was so very hot. But once you are right at the top and you can see everywhere as far as possible, it is an amazing sight.
We had run into an English guy who was suited and looked so smart, he was waiting for his bride to, they were getting married in the Castle's chapel, romantic isn't it? He then invited the 4 of us to attend the wedding! Was sweet of him but clearly did not happen.
Then home for a swim. After a shower I had an evening out with 2 of the girls who work at the Villa and their kids. We went to a Pizzeria in Biblianno a little town just other side of Poppi. We had a super evening out, I got to see the locals out and we have a lovely time.
Then to bed!
Take care all
Will be sending the missing blogs very soon after this.
Deidre
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