Buon giorno! Today was our first full day in Corciano, Italy. The grounds at Villa Pieve are absolutely stunning! The cobblestone work is nothing like American architecture and even the roof is designed with barrel clay tiles which make the homes beautiful. We started off this morning with a breakfast that consisted of espresso, croissants, hard boiled eggs and toast. It was simple yet absolutely delicious. Next, we attended our first language class with Catia and I learned so much. Surprisingly, many of the words had similar spelling to English but were pronounced completely different. We attended a lecture with an Italian chef and learned about the ten commandments of Italian cuisine and how meals are a time for family and friends to catch up and how simplistic but important each dish is. An example of this is how each meal has 4-6 ingredients and usually takes a lot of time to prepare. Afterwards, we took an hour break and took some pictures around the villa together. For lunch, we were served Pasta Alla Napoletana as our first course. This dish consists of pasta with fresh tomatoes and basil. 

The second course with tuna tossed with mixed greens and cabbage. Fresh fruit was given as our dessert. In the afternoon, we took another language class because of the rainy weather and learned how to order gelato in Italian. This was important because we took a walk up to the town of Corciano and were able to use these skills to order gelato at the market. I ordered Fragola (strawberry), Mango, and Nutella and this was the best gelato I have ever tasted. Catia, our language teacher, gave us a tour of the historic town in the hills. The first wall built around the city of Corciano that provided protection was finished during the 11-12th century in the high middle ages and have ancient Etruscan ruins. We visited a church in the city and were able to view many old pieces of artwork. One in particular stood out to me. It was hand-painted by Pietro Perugino, one of the artists who painted the Sistine Chapel with Michelangelo.

 Perugino painted the image in 1513 and it portrayed the disciples of Christ, on Earth, looking the heavenly realm with Mary. It was magnificent to see the old history of the Corciano and be able to walk the cobblestone streets. As a group, we ate dinner together at II Convento and the architecture was beautiful. Matteo, our travel instructor, informed us that it was probably used as a barn in older times because of the arches in the ceiling.

We ate chef’s hats, sort of like ravioli, filled with pesto and cheese as our first course. Second, we ate potatoes and pork and dessert was a custard with chocolate drizzle. The food was exactly as everyone says — amazing! The first full day was a success!