| cooking class at casa gola |

one of my favorite memories of our 30 day vacation was taking a cooking class at casa gola.  our translator showed up at our villa in the morning and lead us through the hills above bevagna where we met Luciana, the owner of casa gola and her assistant Aurora.  We get a tour of Luciana's second home: she has this home for full days of cooking and growing olives, tomatoes and loads of other veggies.  After the tour we sit down for fresh coffee, figs (still looking for them around san diego) and fresh anisette biscotti to get our palate prepped for a full day of tasting and cooking.  Luciana and Aurora both speak minimal english however they were so warm and welcoming.  my family and i played sous chefs for the day; chopping, tasting, drinking and enjoying this unbelievable ambiance.   We stopped for breaks to sip wine, snack on fresh breads, more figs and other tasty snacks.  We prepared a traditional stale bread salad, fresh veggie frittata, stuffed zucchini's, meatballs, pasta with fresh pesto and marinara sauce and custard.  after a very filling early dinner we enjoyed coffee and chatting with the ladies before signing their guest book and saying goodbye to such memorable women and experience.

| day trip: bevanga & montefalco, italy |

having a car during our stay in spello gave us the opportunity to explore small towns (tip: learn street signs- some of these small towns have tons of residential parking and not a lot of public and if you don't speak italian it gets challenging trying to figure it all out).  one of my favorite day trips was to bevanga and montefalco.  both of these towns were unbelievable.   we enjoyed a delicious lunch in bevanga at La Bottega di Assu.   This owner operated restaurant really makes you feel like you belong in the italian culture; i felt like we were lunching at her home, my meal was unreal and so was the wine.  i ordered the truffle pasta: i've only had truffle oil in the states (come to find out that's not really a thing *GASP!* it's just olive oil and well, chemicals. ew.)  truffles taste like a crunchy, almost dirt like mushroom- that might sound weird but i really enjoyed it, LOL.  our lunch ran right into siesta hours-  this town is known for their cashmere and we weren't able to even check it out.  plan your day accordingly; we were bummed we didn't get to explore some of the local shops.  we moved up the mountain to nearby montefalco- we became obsessed with their wine. mmmm...i wish i could get some to the states!  the drive is gorgeous and the views were even better.  We just drove around the square until we were ready for our own siesta.  enjoy bevanga and montefalco. xo

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