Saturday, September 09, 2006 Tenuta Il Corno

Well, I'm having image issues, so you'll just have to read about Tenuta Il Corno for now. Pics soon, I promise.

Tina Roccio, who is the program director for Arcadia in Rome arranged the trip and dinner for us in Settignano yesterday and is a very cool woman. She’s only a few years older than me and she asked me how I was getting along with the “kids.” LOL She’s lived in Rome for 22 years (she stayed after study abroad) and has raised a delightful girl named Giulia. Giulia and I hit it off (despite the fact that I remind her of Julia Roberts), and she sat next to me at dinner in Settignano. She’s 11, and very smart and insightful.

She was with us today too, in Tenuta Il Corno, a winery owned by a truly fabulous person (not fabulous in a fashiony-NY-LA way, in the Italian way) named Maria-Giulia. Little Giulia wanted to go swimming, but didn’t have her suit, so Rachel, a fashion design student from Iowa State and a I made her one out of my roommate’s bottoms, the ribbon from my camera case, a pink napkin, a ponytail holder and the belt from another swimsuit. She declared it “very Versace.”

Maria-Giulia gave us a tour of her winery, and gave us the very basic rundown of how wine is made. What was so fabulous was her long talk about the relationship of wine and food and the body. I never want to eat something out of a package again. She told us that we should eat “for breakfast, one cappuccino and a croissant. Basta”. (that means, that’s all). Then for lunch, a pasta for energy. Then have the majority of the proteins at night, so we have all night to digest them for energy the next day. And never skip dolce because it is the fire that helps digest the proteins. Sounds good to me. I think I’ll try this for a while and see how much weight I gain.

We finally learned how to use the espresso pot! I may have to bring one of these home. It is not to be used with anything but Lavazza.

Liz and I hung out today, which was great. The bus was late picking us up, so we went up to the pool area and hung out in what we dubbed the “emo chairs.” Little mini-papasan chairs after a great fresh dinner under the Tuscan stars could make GWBush bond with Bin Laden. For some reason, the bus driver forgot all about us and Tina was calling for him at 9:30. We left at 12:45 finally on a different bus that happened by. A bribe of a 5 liter can of olive oil (freshly pressed at the winery) was all it took. End day four.

Today is Sunday, and so nothing will be open. That means no phones and no grocery again. I’m sure I’ll find something open. Karen wasn’t feeling well yesterday, so she’s at the winery today. Melissa and Liz are going to mass (Karen went last night, did I mention I live with 3 Catholics?) and then the American brunch after that. I’m not quite ready for American brunch, so I’m going to wander around and see what I can see.

There are also 3 other Iowans on this trip. Rachel, the girl I mentioned, grew up in the Sioux City area (West Siiide!) and a girl who’s name I’ve forgotten (that happens a lot) is from Davenport and her beau is from that town that always reminds me of melon…what’s it called? There are also TONS of Midwesterners: several from Ohio, several from Minnesota, a couple from Illinois and lots from Michigan (hah-lerrr). I may be the only person who comes back from Italy with a midwestern accent again. Most

Is this the most boring blog ever? Post in comments what you’d like to hear about, and I’ll tell you! I’m not sure what the most interesting aspects of what’s going on will be to my readers so it’s good this is interactive and not a book. :)