Corsica/Tuscany Day16

Day 16: Tuscan Cooking School

The morning ride started with a shuttle into Tuscany to Villastrada, a sleepy little town near Lago Trasimeno.

We loaded up snacks and fluids

and off we went, cycling through olive  groves

Our goal this morning was to ride up (and I mean UP) to the The La Braccesca estate. This is a huge winery surrounded by beautiful countryside, first Etruscan and Roman, then medieval and Renaissance.

The property extends over 1050 acres where, once upon a time, the holdings of the Bracci counts– who gave their name to the estate – were located: the counts, whose name means “arm” in Italian, also gave their coat of arms to the property, an armored arm which holds a sword.

The land owned by La Braccesca is situated very close by il Fontanaro (20 km).

In addition to a winery tour,

we were treated to a cooking class and lunch.

Cooking school taught us how to make bruschetta the Tuscan way

and also picci, hand rolled thick pasta.  This involved a lot of hand kneading and beating of the dough to get the proper gluten bonds for stretching.

We arrived at our gorgeous hotel for the next two nights, La Corte dei Papi

We were on our own for dinner tonight in Cortona.  Originally an Umbrian city, it was conquered and enlarged by the Etruscans, who called it Curtun. The name is an indoeuropean word meaning "enclosed place" or walled city.  It became a Roman colony and later in the 15th century, it was sold to the Medici family.  With Italian unification in 1861, it joined the Kingdom of Italy.

Cortona is situated on a hillside at an elevation of 2,000 ft with great views of the Val di Chiana, the ancient lake bed of Tuscany and Umbria.

The prevailing character of Cortona’s architecture is medieval with steep narrow streets. 

We wandered the streets with Liz and Winn and Joe and Lisa (from Foxboro) checking out ceramic shops.  Jeri ducked into an art gallery and we came out with an oil by a local artist.  

Finally got to eat dinner.  Went to a local trattoria recommended to us by Rob.  The food was fantastic and pretty darn cheap.