Loro Ciuffena

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Loro Ciuffena's clock tower

Arriving in Loro Ciuffena, the bus could not drive through town. Karin prearranged for a van to meet us on the edge of town and take our luggage to the hotel. We walked through Loro Ciuffena to find our new “digs”. This gave us the opportunity to appreciate the town on a local mini-tour (and stop to take a few pictures). There is a beautiful clock tower and bridge over the river with several waterfalls. We continued walking along the river through town and could hear the rushing sound of larger falls somewhere up ahead. To our surprise, the falls were right at our hotel and just outside our rooms. Cathy and I shared a huge suite with Paul and Barbara, each side with its own bedroom and bathroom and a huge entry and kitchen living room area.

The mill and falls in Loro Ciuffena

These falls were just outside our rooms

Our cobbled together snacks at Loro Ciuffena

Joan and Jack looking great.

Another gorgeous waterfall in Loro Ciuffena

Karin helped plan a party in one of the suites with a large terrace. Since our lunch was so big, we bought some salami, cheeses, fresh fruit, breads, chocolate and lots of wine. Steve added the music, and it’s a (or should I say “another”) party. This setting was perfect for relaxing and enjoying the food, wine and company.

We learned to roll the pasta out to the perfect thinness. Then, we filled them with a spinach and ricotta mixture. The key, we were told, is to make sure to seal the ravioli and get all the air out so they do not explode when they’re cooked. We took turns rolling, filling, and cutting (my favorite part) to make several platters of ravioli.

Mid morning, we had a cooking demonstration where Pamela taught us to make pasta. Typically, they just make the noodles, but since we had had noodles for an organized meal recently, Karin arranged for us to make Ravioli. Karin translated as Pamela showed us how to make the pasta from scratch.

Later in the afternoon, we went to another really small hilltown (I can’t remember the name) to do some more exploring. We bought more fruit, cheese, bread, chocolate and Chianti and had “dinner” in our suite with Paul and Barbara.

That afternoon, we hiked back through town and took a short drive to a nearby castle, Castello di Brolio. We had to hike up to the castle and (for some reason) it seemed like more work than it should have been. Perhaps it was the big lunch and the Chianti. There is a beautiful chapel on the castle grounds. The castle itself is a private (summer) home and the family was “in residence”, so we couldn’t go inside, we just got to enjoy the outside. There is interesting “damage from the bombs during WW2” visible on the exterior walls of the castle.

The staff took our ravioli to the kitchen to add to some more they had already prepared and finished getting ready for lunch. That gave us just enough time to discuss the cooking experience and have a quick Prosecco. We had yet another huge lunch consisting of our ravioli with duck ragu, roasted chicken and sausage wrapped in beef, and grilled vegetables. And we had more tiramisu for dessert.