Andiamo!

My sister is laughing at me because what was to be a “quick trip” to Italy to visit her daughter (my niece) has become well, not exactly a production, but an Andrea “event.” I leave tomorrow.

I don’t know what she thought I would do….retire to a hotel room or museum?  I arrive into Rome on Thursday for a Vatican tour and also the highly-coveted Scavi tour beneath San Pietro Basilica.

Friday I visit the Borghese Gallery and perhaps the Tivoli gardens. I have the key stuff lined up and the rest will fill in; this is vacation, is it not?  A few shots here from my garden to tide me over~

Saturday I have  a 5 hour culinary class & lunch with a chef  in a restaurant not far from the Vatican; we will prepare a 6 course meal and enjoy it with an Italian wine pairing.  At about 2pm I will be off to wander Rome and perhaps go photograph at the Spanish Steps.

In Florence a few days later, we will visit the Uffizi and also take a 3 hour cooking lesson from the “Pasta Mama” in a small village in Chianti.  This is a plate of my favorite, pappardelle with funghi, that I made for my nephew’s graduation last spring.  I can’t wait to hear the pasta secrets, and think I will come home with a basic setup…..

A presto~