Under the Tuscan sun

Greetings from Tuscany.

On Sunday I arrived in Pisa from Barcelona, via Munich! My poor little brain struggled with so many languages in one day. I was so tired that when the Lufthansa flight attendant asked me what I wanted to drink in Spanish I replied in German. I got to Pisa by lunch time and the friendly rep from the cooking school offered to drive me through the town on the way back to the villa so that I could see the leaning tower.

I never realized it developed the lean before the building of it was even completed. We then decided to head back to the villa. Just one problem, he had tripped the immobilizer in the car and it wouldn't start. 45 minutes and three espressos later we were back on the road. The villa is lovely.

Sunday is chef Valentino's day off, so dinner was made "home style" by one of the other staff, Kira. It was awesome. We had melon with prosciutto and why she called "pizza chicken" which was chicken breast baked in a lovely sauce of tomatoes, garlic, olives, herbs and mozzarella. Poor girl is trying to teach me Italian (all the other guests speak some Italian, just not me).

Come Monday morning we were put to work in the kitchen. We spent all morning working on our four course (!!!) lunch. We stated with goat cheese involtini with bresaola

We then had our first pasta course. We had spent all morning learning how to make all sorts of pasta.

We turned some of that into tagliatelle with a pesto sauce.

This was followed by the ravioli we had made with an asparagus sauce

Even though it was only lunch we needed to have a dolche (dessert). We made cantucci with vin santo

After a break we were back in the kitchen to make dinner. First course was pappa al pomodoro, a traditional Tuscan soup made with leftover bread.

This was followed by a main of florentine roast pork, rosemary roasted potatoes and grilled vegetables in this amazing parsley sauce.

Dessert was panacotta with strawberry sauce

At this point I decided to check to see if my travel insurance covered me if I was to explode after eating all that food.

Today, we went to the town of Lucca. It still has it's wall. Nobody ever penetrated it. Even Napoleon saw how strong it was and knocked on the door and offered them the money that he would have paid for the explosives if they would simply let him in (they did, and he gave the town to his sister as a wedding gift). Puccini lived in Lucca and wrote many of his famous pieces there. We even went to his house where his piano is still. Vespa's are made nearby. The town where the story of Pinocchio was written is also just a few km's from Lucca. Lucca was just like I imagined Italy to be. Lots of older men riding bicycles with wicker baskets on the front down tiny cobbled streets.

There is a tower with trees growing out the top of it. They wanted to be the tallest building in town, but nobody can build taller than the basilica (from where I took this picture). So to get around that, they planted the trees.

Almost time to go back to the kitchen. Tonight we are making deep fried stuffed zucchini flowers, lasagna, saltimbocca with green beans and pancetta and a chocolate souffle.

Hoping the pants still fit at the end of the week!

Adios Espana

Do you hear that sound? That my friends is the sound of my kidneys sighing at being released from the tour and no longer having to protect themselves from the elbows of that rude woman that was assigned the seat next to me on the bus for the last 8 days (seriously, if you are going to elbow me 29 times a day is a "sorry" every now again really too much to ask???). The fact is, I survived, and in the morning I am hopping a flight to Italy.

Have had a full few days in Barcelona. I think it is my fav city in Spain. Yesterday we had an optional trip to the home of the Barcelona Football Club. Only the Brits, Aussies and Kiwis were keen (was about to punch the next Kiwi that asked me how Australia did in the last World Cup - then remembered he was a prison guard). The stadium was huge. I understood little on the tour (it being in Spanish and all) except that everyone around me was talking endlessly about Messi (knew that word).

We got to see the silverware, Messi's bronzed boots, wander out to the field (from several vantage points, ground level, mid level and the commentary boxes). We got to wander into the opposing team dressing room, and walk out the tunnel just as the players would. Interestingly, as you walk from dressing room to the field the only possible stop on the way is the match day church.

Today was some Barcelona sightseeing. We went out to Park Guell to check out the mosaics (and try to avoid the film crew that kept getting in our photos). This place featured heavily in the movie Vicky Christina Barcelona.

We then went up Montserrat. This is where the "black Madonna" is. We thought we were going in to see the statue, but it was time for the mass for the pilgrims who had just finished their walk from Barcelona, so we got stuck in a church service instead!

The view from the monetary is pretty amazing

The monks make a special cottage cheese that is a local delicacy when you mix it with their honey. I tried it for lunch. Tasted like, well, cottage cheese and honey.




We also went and checked out the site of the 1992 Olympics. The Olympic stadium is only about half the size of the Barcelona FC football stadium. Go figure.

Two final things to note from Spain. 1) this has got to be the town with the most unfortunate spelling of it's name that I have seen for quite some time...

2) Ordering a cappuccino in Spain is interesting. It would seem after three attempts at it that they consider it to be a shot of espresso with whipped cream from a can.

Tomorrow Luftansa are taking me from Spain to Italy (via Germany, which makes for a long trip). It'll be seven days of cooking in Tuscany.

Space age swimming pools, Tapas & Disturbing souvineers

Am over the hump of this group tour. Have formed a collation of the similarly minded, and even got informed at dinner last night by a Canadian couple that they had adopted me (does that mean I am now Canadian?). There are now several members of the tour group who are no longer under any illusions about whether I like them or not.

Picking up in Seville, we headed to a farm for dinner. Not just any farm, one where they breed fighting bulls. Now you all know that I am no militant vegan or anything, but even I felt a little uneasy when the "sport" of bull fighting was explained to us in detail. In fact, I had an epiphany at the farm. The rules of the Hunger Games are the rules of a bull fight. A group of us discussed this at length and agreed I was right (I do like conversations that come to the conclusion...). Not going to say any more than that as I have decided I am not a fan of bull fighting.

The next morning we started the trek to Granada. We stopped in a little town on the way where we were accosted by a group of Spanish geography students on a field trip who wanted to practice their English. Then it was on to Granada and a visit to the Alhambra Palace.

The view from the palace wasn't bad

The reason many people visit the Palace is the gardens, which are very pretty

Whilst at the palace we made the obligatory trip to the gift shop. There as a little discussion in the gift shop about the appropriateness of some of the figurines. Is it just me, or are these more than a little...wrong?

Today, we started the road trip to Valencia. Yup, being stalked by oranges! (Valencia exports over 3 billion to the EU each year). I could not believe my eyes with what greeted us in Valencia. The only way I could think to describe it was that it looked to me like a space aged swimming pool, or a cruise ship designed by the cast of Star Trek. Check this out...

The thing in the distance that looks like a giant harp is in fact a bridge.

There were even postcards in the gift shop that showed these pools full of sharks! The buildings include an aquarium, a planetarium, and a museum.

We got to spend the afternoon hanging out in Valencia.

I found me a tapas bar. So, so many yummy things to eat...

These were my favorites...

Today's parting thought - did you know that the McDonalds drive thru in Spain is called the "McAuto"? You do now.

Tomorrow we head at Barcelona!

Churches, Flamenco and Star Wars

Okay, so before I start - an update on the group situation. We appear to have formed two factions, the annoying, and the annoyed. Day 4 and we have all picked a side. Was chatting to a guy from Australia today who told me that he realized on Day 1 of this tour that the upcoming 21 day tour he and his brother have may have been a mistake. A few pieces of advice for my fellow travelers. 1) you look silly taking all your photos on an iPad, 2) Fluffy grey Ugg boots are not shoes, they are slippers and 3) stay out of my pictures!!!

Yesterday morning we hopped on the coach and hit the road for Seville. The first stop was in Puerto Lapice, which is famous for being the place where Don Quixote was dubbed a knight.

From there we moved on to Cordoba. The main stop there was a cathedral, which was inside mosque. Yup, you read that right. The "Arabs" who came to the area (mainly Egyptian) in the 10th century built the mosque. When the Muslims left town, the Christians took over the mosque, and built a cathedral at its center. The result is the most spectacular church I have ever seen. It looks kinda Egyptian, kinda Turkish, on the outside, and so very western Europe on the inside. We were all a little blown away.

It was then back on the bus to Seville. The hotel is plain weird. There are mirrors EVERYWHERE. You also have to do this weird (and high inefficient) thing with the lifts where you you select the floor you want on a panel, it then tells you what lift to get in (no buttons in the lift). One floor per lift, hence it can take a while if you have a bus load of people trying to get to their rooms at the same time. Anyway, we headed off last night to dinner, completed with flamenco dancers, and the performance of a few numbers from Carmen (which is set in Seville).

This morning had a very awesome start. We hit all the old Expo buildings (Saville hosted in 1992). The Spanish building was amazing.

Does it look familiar? It is Naboo!!! If you are not a Star Wars fan then you might recognize it from other movies past and present, if not, then go see Sascha Baron Cohen's new movie The Dictator. This site is his "palace".

We then hit the royal (summer) palace.

From there, it was on the the world's third biggest cathedral. Christopher Columbus is buried there.

Then it was time for a stroll around Seville. Of course, being May 1st, that meant we found a protest march. When someone asked our guide what they were protesting (duh), she replied "standard and poors". If you get the joke, you are a step ahead of two thirds of my tour group...

Of course because the sun is out, the likelihood that I will catch rickets has decreased dramatically. And being in Seville, the home of the orange, one would hope I can avoid scurvy too..

And as a parting thought, are you bored with your sangria coming in a normal bottle? I have a solution for you...