"And crazy is the forecast all week"

Well ... it has been yet another whirlwind weekend that was barely over by monday morning! We were traveling again this time to Tuscany on a field trip, Pisa and Cinque Terre. It Tuesday, and I'm still exhuasted! Friday, I had a field trip for my History and Culture of Food in Italy class ( I know, what a class right?). Anyway, we took a trip to a little farm and got to tour it and see all of the animals and tour their olive oil making factory. Then they let us taste a few different kinds of cheeses that they produce there (made from both cow and goats milk), the yogurt and the juices that they make at this little farm. No one there is of any more importance than another, all of the workers work together to produce all of the goods that they make. It was such a fun little day! I mean for me, it was just a little side trip, but what we saw and the things that we taste tested were a part of their everyday life. It is interesting to see how a very different way of life works, especially one that is so different from not only my own life, but the life that I have experienced here in Perugia.
After the farm it was off to learn how to cook an authentic Tuscan meal! This family welcomed us into their house and taught us how to cook 3 different kinds of bruschetta, antipasto, gnocchi, ravioli and tiramisu! And then we sat at a huge banquet table and ate all of the fruits of our labors. What and experience, to learn to cook such authentic Italian dishes from an Italian family! They were so welcoming and helpful in trying to explain not only how to cook the foods we were cooking, but why we were cooking them the way that we were. For instance, they peel the skin off of the peppers used in one of the appetizers for better digestion. I had no idea that the skin of peppers wasn't good for digestion. Also, the antipasto we made you had to put bread in a bowl of water, then squish all of the water out and crumble it into a bowl filled with vegetables. They explained that they used to do this when bread got stale so as to use all of the precious food that they have. Learning all about these old cooking techniques and how the food is used in the culture was incredible! It was probably the best field trip I have ever been on in my entire life!
But my weekend was not over at all at the end of my Friday field trip. Two of my friends here an I woke up bright and early and headed North! We were eventually headed for a place called Cinque Terre, 5 towns on the coast separated by mountains that have trails that you can hike along, but we stopped first in Pisa. There is basically only one major tourist attraction in Pisa so it was easy to simply hop off the train for a few hours, take our ridiculous pictures with the Leaning Tower (though they don't call it the "leaning" tower of Pisa here, its just the Tower of Pisa) and we were on our way. But the tower is incredible! People climbed all the way to the top and I honestly don't know how they didn't fall off! What a sight it was to see! I keep seeing these amazing monuments and they barely seem real. It is so surreal to see things that I have heard about all of my life up close and in person. I am literally speechless every time! I just can't even begin to wrap my head around all of the history that I keep seeing. I'm not sure what the Tower was constructed for originally, but it is interesting to see something that was once probably a very necessary building turned into a silly thing that you take crazy pictures in front of. That however, did not stop me from taking the obligatory, holding up the Tower picture!
After that, it was back to the train and off to Cinque Terre! What a beautiful beautiful region! Right one coast, this series of adorable little coast towns were slightly touristy, but more absolutely Italian than anything else. We hiked the 5th and hardest mountain between Monterosso and Vernazza, two hours of striaght, steep, uphill! That was probably the most intense hike I have ever been on. I used to hike when I was little in the mountains in Vermont with my family, but this was VERY different. Hiking along these mountains you got the most amazing views of the coastline. We started hiking late, so we got to see the sun set beyond the mountains towards the end of our hike. Again, there are very few words that even come close to describing this view. The closest thing I can say, is imagine the bluest water you ever seen, clear straight to the bottom even hundreds of feet deep, stretching across so far that you can barely tell where the horizon ends and the sky itself begins. And the unbelievable colors that stretched across the horizon while the sun was setting was one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen! I literally cannot over exaggerate enough the views that we saw. After our hike, we relaxed at a cafe and ate bruschetta while enjoying the peacefulness of the night in Vernazza. And the relaxing extended into the next day as we relaxed on the beach and swam in the gorgeous blue waters of Monterosso. It almost seemed too beach-y of an area to be Italy, but I am absolutely excited that it does exist here! Because it was a nice break from the regular tourist and monument visits that we have done thus far.
All in all, this weekend was a fabulous diversion from the ordinary here in Italy. Learning about how food is harvested and cooked in Tuscany was unbelievable. It was absolutely amazing to be able to be involved in something so authentic! And the trip to Cinque Terre was an amazing little slice of nature, countryside and the sea that I would love to be able to spend more time in some day. The people that actually reside there are incredibly lucky! They have beautiful views, mostly nice weather, and gorgeous waters that they can cool off in at any time! How lucky they are! And how lucky I am to have been able to see and experience some of the amazing, yet slightly out of the ordinary, things that Italy has to offer!