under the tuscan sun.

Last weekend, I stayed in Rome for the majority of the time. On Friday I went with Clara and her friend Bethany to a gallery exhibition opening. It was a bigger exhibit then the last opening we went to. There were 8 works of art, all were by the artist Richard Serra. It was an interesting exhibition, all the works were black circles from paint sticks on a white paper. I can't say I was moved enough to actually want to buy one of the works, not like I ever could afford one, but I was glad I went. Here is an example of the works:

"Baldwin", 2009
Paintstick on handmade paper.

After getting dinner we went to a friend's house to celebrate my good friend Mickey's 23rd birthday! We had cake and then made our way to Campo to meet up with other people. It was a lot of fun getting to hang out with everyone together. Around 1:30 I decided to head home as I had to be at school at 7:30 to go to Tuscany. Yay for 4 hours sleep!

So I hauled myself out of bed and managed to get to the bus on time. We drove for about two and a half hours to the Fattoria del Colle estate in Trequanda, Italy. Upon our arrival we got a short tour of the grounds and the estate, including the history behind the region.

View of Trequanda from the estate.

Then we were taken on a wine tour, as the grounds mainly serve as a winery. It was very interesting to see how wine is actually made. Another thing that was cool, is that the entire estate is run by women. When they first started this was an extremely uncommon thing. Slowly though, it is becoming more acceptable.

The vats where the wine is made.

Oak barrels to age the wine.

After the tour we had a wine tasting. We had three different wines, a Cenerentola, a Brunello, and a Chianti. All were very good! After the tasting we got a lesson in pasta making. After the demonstration we even got to give it a try. I definitely need to work on my skills a bit more! :]

Trying the first wine.

Our teacher in the art of pasta making.

Rolling out the pasta.

Finished product.

Finally we got to sit down and eat. We had a four course meal with the all the wine our hearts desired. Lunch alone was about a 2 1/2 hour ordeal. It was AMAZING!

First course: Meats, cheese, and bread.

Second course: Pasta in a bolognese sauce.

Third course: Roasted chicken and potatoes.
I started to eat this before I remembered to take the picture...

Fourth course: Apple tort.

After lunch, Brittany, Stephen, and I walked to the town of Trequanda. It had an absolutely gorgeous view of the estate and of Tuscany.

Grape vines on our walk to town.

Church in Trequanda.

Tuscany.

We then piled back on the bus for the ride home. I thought I was going to fall asleep, but they put in "Troy." Needless to say Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom will definitely keep me awake! :D I was going to go hang out with people later that night, but when I laid down for a short nap I didn't wake up until the next day! Whoops!

Side note: AS Roma just beat Lazio in soccer and everyone in the city is going crazy! My already noisy street is filled with honking and yelling!