Thursday -10/17-Day 6
BEST DAY EVER!!!! Remember my story about the wine and food pairing for Chefs class that Stu bought me for my 50th birthday in Napa Valley? Well, this day trumped that experience! Today’s Private cooking class from Casa Grande’s Chef Guila was life-changing! I learned so much straight from the expert, hands on, in a real Italian kitchen dating back to the early 1300s, oh my God, the pictures and videos that Stu captured are amazing and will be cherished for the rest of my life.
I am ready to bring this new knowledge and skills back, and teach it to others because the quality of ingredients, the freshness, textures, and flavor profiles, are indescribable and so much fun to learn.
It was exactly what I needed to regenerate my passion for cooking and teaching. So grateful to Stu for making this possible and encouraging me to do it, even though I really was not feeling it last night. He knows me better than I know myself.
And in only two hours, we made four types of focaccia bread, personal pizzas, calzone, white table bread and potato gnocchi with pesto!
I even got a proper pronunciation lesson to boot. I had to promise her I would pass that lesson along to anyone I taught these dishes to.
When everything was cooked and ready, we got to sit down in a very intimate dining setting in the family dining room just off the kitchen and enjoy all that we had made. Stu had plans to go to the gym and for a swim while I was taking the class, but it was so interesting for him that he stayed and took pictures and videos and even joined in and made his own pizza, it was such a good time. One of those things that just happen that you can’t really plan but he just knew that if I showed up, it would be an experience of a lifetime and he was right!
Guila opened a 2019 bottle of Sangiovese Rosso for our meal and we dined like the King and Queen of the casa. After the Rosso we had more of the dessert wine with biscotti, said our goodbyes with much appreciation to Julia and stumbled back to our room through many hallways and staircases, trying not to get lost, again. About to take a big fat nap so much for the rest of the day! We are done!
Buona notte!!
This is a fast pace tour so we've seen many points of interests in 11 counties in 14 days. It was well organized and learned some of the countries history, which was very nice. Pascal is such a caring person and excellent driver. He always have that beautiful smile and warm hello whenever he sees you even though he worked for many long hours. Would give him 7 stars out of 5. He goes above and beyond expectations. What an asset forExpat! Matt is very well versed in European history and it is great learning from him. He also kept us well informed so that the tour runs smoothly, which we appreciate very much. Though a couple of the hotels are not up to par, it won't prevent us from touring through Expat in the future. Overall, it was a great experience for us .
The Mediterranean Tour was wonderful and will be fondly remembered for the rest of my lifetime. A favorite experience is difficult to choose as so many were great. I was awed by the visit to the Basilica of the Holy Family in Barcelona.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year on this 10-day Europe Highlights Christmas tour! This festive journey will take you from Italy to Switzerland and back again with countless adventures in between. Discover the beauty of Venice, Munich’s famous Christmas markets, the Amsterdam canals, the twinkling lights of Paris and the snowy Swiss Alps on Christmas day. Visit mountainous Innsbruck, explore the charming Belgian city of Ghent, cruise the Rhine River and admire Florence’s masterpieces. End the tour in Rome on New Year’s Eve after making memories to last a lifetime!