An Italian Thanksgiving

     My Thanksgiving this year wasn't filled with the traditional foods I'm used to or the family that I love. However, it was one of the most memorable days of this semester, and it was filled with my new friends and a traditional Tuscan feast. We started off in Poggio a Caiano, a small town in Tuscany, and toured the Medici Villa. We basically just walked around in there and looked at...you'll never guess...MORE ART! Sorry though, no pictures were allowed so I can't show you what it looked like inside. I know you all are just sooooo disappointed.

These are a few pictures of the outside of the Villa.

     After that, we arrived in another small town called Carmignano which is known for the wine and olive oil it produces. We got to see where the olive oil and wine is made at Tenuta di Capenzzana, the main producer. It was quite fascinating! 

Gorgeous view of the hills where olives and grapes are grown.

These are the olives going into the press!

Olive juice. Yum! :)

Extremely green olive oil kept in a huge jug.

This is the room where the olive oil is kept in jugs.

Empty bottles waiting to be manually filled and capped. 

Olive oil all ready to go!

     Next, we went into the grape-drying room and wine cellars to see how Tuscan wine is made. They use the most ancient method, which can take years, but the result is some of the finest-quality wine in the  world. 

These grapes have to dry for six months in order to produce the best-quality wine. 

An inscription in ancient Latin basically saying drink water and you'll go to hell, so it's better to drink wine. This is because water was so filthy back then that you could die from drinking it. So it truly was better to drink wine. 

Huge wine barrels. 

Some wine from 1959. The older it gets, the better it tastes. 

     After our tours, it was time for our Tuscan Thanksgiving feast. My friends and I got to sit at the same table as the president of the ACM colleges, who came out to Italy with his family and joined us that day for Thanksgiving. We enjoyed having some fascinating conversations with him, he was very friendly and interesting to talk to. Our meal, of course, was fabulous! The first course was simply two slices of bread with beans, spinach, and olive oil on them, but it was incredible! The olive oil was so rich and flavorful, it was amazing! Next came the pasta, and then came the main course which was mashed potatoes(with more olive oil on them) and some sort of roast beef. All of it was absolutely delicious! In addition, over the course of the meal they brought out several different wines for us to taste. There was a nice dry white wine, along with a red wine, and another red wine that was the finest I ever tasted but also extremely rich. In fact, all of the wine was the richest I've ever had, and I got a headache after only an hour. For dessert, there was an apple crepe with powdered sugar sprinkled over it. Mmmmm! So good!

     Afterwards, we went into a little shop where we could purchase some wine or oil if we wished. I found these gorgeous little platters with sunflowers on them and decided to get one for my host mom. I'm sure it would be something she could use to pour olive oil on or for little desserts. I plan to give it to her the last week I'm here. 

     That's all for now! Ciao!