Palazzo Ranucci, Cheese Factory, Taylor's Birthday, and Lake Bolsena

This week just flew by!  It was so busy!  Tuesday, instead of cooking class, we went out to dinner at a local restaurant.  As my teacher would say, "we eat, we drink, we talk food."  It was at a nicer restaurant called, "Palazzo Ranucci" (i think haha) Giordano is friends with the chef (of course) since the chef was Giordano's first teacher.  So if he taught Giordano how to cook, we knew we were in for some good food. We walked out onto the terrace to eat oustide, and we greeted by one of the best views in Tuscania.  It was almost sunset, and we could see the Basilica of San Pietro, and all of the landscape.  We sat down, and did just as Giordano said. We ate (4 courses of some quality Italian cuisine), we drank wine, and we talked about food or "had our lesson." I will definitely miss having class at fine restaurants and bakeries when I get back in the classroom next semester.

Class Photo :)

Wednesday, I had Italian class as normal in the morning, and we learned how to make pasta with bread crumbs, and cous cous with shrimp in Cooking class.  I had lunch with the family as usual, and Oleania and I made Insalata di Risso for the next day.  That is a very typical, summer dish here in Tuscania and it was delicious.  It was rice, tuna, olives, "wurstel" or what I would say would be hot dogs :), some vegetables, mayonaisse.  Wednesday night, my host family got to skype with my family which was very exciting.  It was also a lunar eclipse that night, so Felice took us out to the terrace to see it, and the moon was completely red!  It was so unique and like something I've never seen.  After skyping, I asked Manuela about some of the pictures on her bookshelf, and she brought out all of her albums and started showing me everything!  She showed me her family, and their wedding album, and the kids when they were little, so that was fun to see.  I showed her the pictures I brought from home too, so we learned a little about each other.

Thursday, I had another Italian test which went well.  The family was in Rome for the day, and Oleania went to the seaside in the morning, but her and her friend, Marina, came home for lunch and we had the Rice salad that we made the day before.   We went to a cheese factory in Montefiascone, a nearby city, for cooking class.  They showed us how they made Buffalo Mozzarella, which is quite an interesting process, and then of course we got to sample some.  

After we got back from the Cheese factory, we all met up to surprise one of the other students, Taylor, for her birthday.  Giordano baked some treats, and brought music, and we had a party for her at the school.  It was really nice, and she was so surprised.  We are such a small group of students, and faculty, and we have all become like a family since we got here, so it was fun to celebrate together.  We all went to the Duomo that night to celebrate too, and had a blast!

Friday, I went to the open air market in the morning, and then we all took the bus to Lake Bolsena for a boat tour to the Island, and then we got to swim at the Island.  Everything was so beautiful,  and the water was crystal clear.  After the boat tour, we got lunch and laid out in the sun for a little bit, and then we went to the studio of a local artist.  He showed us his current projects, and taught us a little about the techniques he uses, and how he composed a piece of art.  His art was so interesting, and it was cool to learn about the process of how he creates a piece from the beginning inspiration, to the planning, and the color mixing, etc.  

The island on Lake Bolsena where we jumped in to swim!

Some of the artist's current work.  I enjoyed how the people in the bottom corners look as though they are transparent.

This is part of his collection.  It looks as though the train is actually moving by, which I loved.

Tomorrow, API is going to Giglio Island for a boat tour, and on Sunday I will be going to Rome with my host family to help them at their market, which I am very looking forward to.  The days are going by so fast, I don't want to waste any moment!