Okay. I got a complaint that my blogs have not been funny lately. Well, I feel the need to explain myself. Here’s my typical schedule (a la Italiano). I get up at 7:00 each morning to beat the other roommates to the shower. I get dressed really quickly and quietly, as the roommates are recovering from the night before, to sneak downstairs to the breakfast room. I grab the usual breakfast: an apricot croissant, a piece of bread, some really good European cheese, a little glass of OJ and a cup of very strong coffee. While I’m eating I try to upload pictures to the yahoo website since uploading to the actual blog takes far too long.

By the Way: Please book mark this site (I forgot to include it last time) (http://new.photos.yahoo.com/briguyinil@sbcglobal.net/albums) because I’m not going to keep putting it at the end of the blogs.

Back to my routine: So they, by the time I’m done uploading, it is near 8:00. Depending on the activities for the day we either need to leave to walk all the way to the castle, or get on the bus for a field trip somewhere. Then we’re gone pretty much the whole day and come back for dinner at the castle (which has been really lacking; that’s why there are no pictures of them). Then we go straight from the castle to either a gelato place or regular bar. It’s too far to walk all the way back to the dorms and then back to the bar. So by the time I get home it’s 10:30 or 11:00. I e-mail my friends and family and then start working on the blog. So by the time I get to typing I am exhausted and not so funny (crabby if you will). And that my dear strangers, is why my blogs have not been as witty as the first few. However, today (which is really Thursday because I do each blog the next day, obviously so I can tell you about the complete day) you are in luck. I have a couple of hours before we head out to our Pizza lesson, so I will try to make this a classic Mark blog.

The morning started off with a lecture on the winery we were going to visit (BRIADA). It was founded by Giacamo Bolognia, the person who the scholarship (the reason for this trip) was named after. The winery and Mr. Bolognia are known for Barbera wine. Mr. Bolognia made it his mission to educate the world on the Barbera grape when it fell out of wine favor in the late 70’s early 80’s. The Barbera grape is the main grape of the Piedmont region (which includes Asti, Alba, and Nizzi plus all the little towns in between). Giacamo worked night and day to make the best wine possible. He achieved his goal two years before he died in the 1990’s. Now, Braida, is known through out of Italy for having the best Berbera wine in the entire country. All the wine makers of the region know the Braida name and respect it very much. The winery is now run by his widow, his daughter (who does the business dealings), and his son (who is now the head wine maker).

The ride to the vineyard was beautiful. It was only 30 minutes from the school which was a pleasant surprise. Our past two bus rides were 1 ½ hours and 2 hours one way respectively. You can only bond so much with your fellow riders until they start getting on your nerves. The vineyard was beautiful (check out the pictures) and we had a wine tasting. My favorite wine was the Muscado (which is the other grape of the region). It was a sweet white wine with a little fizz to it. Being a pastry person, it was like pure heaven. So after tasting three wines, we were ready for lunch. The lunch was actually right across from the tasting table.

The room was set up beautifully. So guess who came to lunch? The widow of Giacamo Bolognia and his daughter. The daughter came and sat with us for a little bit by the tasting table and told us the history of the vineyard and some inside stories. She spoke English very well (she had studied at a winery in Washington State). We then had an awesome lunch which was basically 4 courses. The antipasto was a asparagus flan (yummy), the main entrée was a meat filled ravioli like pasta with a sage butter sauce, there was a cheese course of gorgonzola, brie, and a hard cheese (sorry I don’t know what it was), and finally dessert was a apple tart (which was more of an apple cake). We had a wine with each of the courses. So we sat and talked for a long time with Giacamo’s daughter. She asked about what we were doing individually, how we liked Italy, the state of political affairs in the US, etc. She was so down to earth and funny. We had a great time. It was a typical Italian mean: food, friends, family, and wine. (There are some great group shots of us..check them out). So of course after lunch and at least 7 glasses of wine, we were all feeling tired. We all dozed off on the bus.

 Not wanting to waste the day away, we tried to stay up and go out. We walked around and shopped it was pretty depressing. Things in Italy cost a lot more since they changed over to the Euro. We ate a pretty non-descript dinner and decided to go to the bar for a drink. The night ended early and we all went to bed. Pretty boring, eh? Yeah, but do I have a story about day 6. I just got finished with day 6 and am blogging you about yesterday. Hee Hee. You’ll just have to wait. If you though dining with a winery family was fun, just wait until you hear about us being treated like rock stars!

Inside NOTES: Love to all. Sarah Flower, I have something for you. It’s molto bene! Mom, I spoke to the Brazilians again. They want to know what part of Sao Paulo you’re from. Sarah Holmes if you’re reading this, Graham that is here is from Kenyon College. Brian I bought my present to myself! Holla to Carlie and all the RMC kids! Tomorrow, (actually today), is fresh pasta and pizza day.

There was a problem with this blog entry, so I had to resubmitt it.  I'm sorry to all those following along that didn't get to see this entry in the correct order.  Here is the missing day...enjoy. 

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So here’s the deal.  The trip is winding down and I want to use these last few days to enjoy myself.  That is why I am late posting Thursday’s adventure.  Since I’m typing this on Saturday, I decided to include Friday to do a super double blog!  Yippee!

So Thursday was Pasta and Pizza Day!  We spent the morning doing a pasta class.  It was a lot of fun.  It was all fresh pasta.  What’s really cool is that the school has a machine that you just throw all the ingredients into and then it mixes and kneads the dough for you.  Then, if you want, you can just tilt down the little mixing bowl and it will start automatically rolling out the dough.  Those crazy Italians!

So if you check out the pictures, you’ll see the great pasta dishes we created.  They key to making a great pasta dish is to keep it simple.  The more ingredients you add, the more you’ll complicate your dish.  That is the main lesson we learned.

Then, we were rushed off to Asti (which is 30 minutes North of Costiglione D’Asti (that’s the name of the town we’re in) to eat at Pizzaria Francese.  The owner is also a Italian journalist.  He was a great guy.  We ended up having a lesson on pizza by his pizzioli (those are the people who make pizzas at the pizzeria).  There are culinary schools here in Italy just for people who want to be pizzioli’s. 

After the lesson, we were able to walk around the streets of Asti.  What a beautiful, midevil town.  It was so much larger than Costiglione D’ Asti and the people there were so fashionable.  Everyone in Asti is put together.  The men dress impeccably and the woman are beautiful.  Everyone takes great care of themselves.  The outdoor cafes are always teaming with groups of friends having laughs over a bottle of wine.  Shopping is great too (although a little expensive).  However, they do have shops where you can get a great deal.   

We ended up going back to Pizzaria Francese for a 6 course meal.  The owner paired each course with a wine from his wine cellar.  We got a tour of it earlier and it was nice.  I am not a big connoisseur of wine, but from everyone else told me there were some really expensive bottles down there.  So anyway we ate a great meal and were treated like rock stars.  It was awesome .

Friday was Cheese Day and we had to get up at the crack of dawn to schlep onto a bus by 7 a.m.  It was awful.  The ride was 2 hours one way, so we spent it sleeping. 

The cheese factory was nice.  It was a cheese manufacturer that makes Grana Padano.  It is similar to Parmiggano Reggiano except for the fact it is made in a different region and the milk is heated to a different temperature.   I have to say it wasn’t my favorite field trip.  Actually, it really stank (literally).   If you have ever smelled sour milk, times that by 2000 and that is how bad this placed smelled.  Don’t get me wrong, it was really clean, but it stank. 

So after maybe 2 hours there, we got back on the bus, snoozed, and arrived at school to do a cheese tasting.  Honestly, there wasn’t much too it.  No big stories to tell you. 

However, once class was over, we all grabbed a taxi back to Asti to celebrate the week coming to an end.  Drinks are a little pricy and the way Italy keeps a bar tab is crazy.  They don’t make you pay for your drinks right away.  You pay at the end.  The only problem is a lot of places (especially if they are busy) don’t write down what you ordered.  So if you’ve been sitting and drinking for a while, you’ll run into the problem of not getting a correct bill (which usually works out best for you).  While sitting and drinking we ended up seeing Giacamo Bolognia’s daughter for the Braida winery.  She, her husband, and baby were out for a stroll/dinner.  Small world, eh? 

So then it was dance club time.  Too bad we couldn’t find a dance club.  We ended up going in the wrong direction and had to leave before we found it (in order not to get stuck in the city.  Taxi only run until 12).  But we had fun, even thought it was raining. 

So, tomorrow is the last official day here.  We have to prepare a lunch for some students and faculty (as our final) and then we get a big send off dinner in the town of Alba. 

I’m a little sad, but I think it’s time for me to go.  This town is way to small to stay in for more than a week.  I don’t know how the other Americans (the ones that are actually going to ICIF for 6 months) will be able to stand it.

CIAO!