Finally a good connection!

We're in Abruzzo, near the town of Sulmona. this is where Holly's class is being taught. We began the class under the charming roof of the garden studio surrounded by lawn and trees. Near to us is a lovely pond beyond which live a large number of a special type of donkeys. These charming critters are owned by the psychiatrist owner of this property which is used for classes such as ours as well as by families who bring their challenged children for therapeutic activities involving the donkeys and conversations with Eugeni, the  psychiatrist. Sulmona is located in a high valley and nestled just below craggy mountains. Do you remember the recent film about the man who was chosen to be the Pope but who, after holding the office for only three months, resigned in order to be closer to ordinary people? Well, this was his home and we visited the basilica where his home throne sits and where he lies in a crypt. Along with Francis of Asissi, this is one of the two Catholic heroes I can relate to.

We spent the morning touring this very old town with it's pre-Roman ruins and still standing aqueducts, defensive walls and city gates. What a fascinating contrast to the Tucson area where we began this visit to Italy. Just to give a quick backup, we began our trip with four days in Venice, which still rates at the top of the list for me. But everything that followed Venice has been outstanding in more than one way or another. I'm only sorry that I couldn't tell you about it on the spot because of one weak or hopeless wi-fi situation after another. At some point I'll try to back up and share some details though I'm better at sharing the current moment than trying to remember the yesterdays. From Venice we traveled to Florence where we spent three wonderful days both in and outside of the city. One day we toured the Tucson country side, which included lavish wine tasting at a large vineyard, a visit to Pisa and it's leaning tower, several walled hilltop fortress villages and finished the day with a lovely walking tour of Siena. One day was devoted to visiting museums, paying our respects to  David,  the Birth of Venus and others. Our last dinner in Florence was spent at a restaurant just beyond the Pont de Vecchio, overlooking the Arno river and culminating in the most artful fireworks display I have ever witnessed.

We moved on to Cortona for several delightful days which included a wonderful and most informative tour of Assisi by a first class leader who is an American married to an Italian and who has been living in Italy for forty years. She  led us to a private garden belonging to close friends of hers for a classic Italian lunch of grilled vegetables, open topped crostini, meat and vegetable barbecued brochettes.
From Cortona we drove yesterday to Orvieto, a walled town only several hours from Abruzzo and our     current location, minutes from Sulmona.

This afternoon at 4:30 we were treated to a cooking lesson by the resident chef, Pino. He is world class and shared with us the making of basic ravioli with cheese filling, Hard work beginning with his scooping out a 100 gram hill of flour and our making a hole in it for one egg to be mixed by our not so skillful hands. Hard work! Much was learned and time passed quickly. We ate delicious ravioli filled by our newly skilled hands and were joined by Eugeni, the congenial host who played the accordion for us as the evening progressed.  Much singing, dancing and hilarity.

Tomorrow the workshop continues all day, to be followed by a farewell dinner for the members of our tour who are not taking the workshop and are moving on to Rome Saturday,

I'm sure my light is beginning to prevent Elaine from entering deep sleep mode, so I'll say goodnight and nod off to rest up for another big day. Goodnight to all, including Bobby, who Sandra says likes to  visit the Rialta for naps when she opens the door for him. He's getting ready for the big trip to Canada I think.