Italy: October 12, Florence - Evening

This evening we got a special treat. Sarah had arranged for us to get a tour of an olive oil press and olive grove, followed by a delicious, homemade, authentic Tuscan dinner. She has connections with an American woman living in Tuscany named Janet, and her Italian husband, Stefano.  They picked us up in Florence and took us out to their house in the countryside.  This is a picture of an old chapel nearby.

It was a beautiful area. Janet showed us how the olive oil business works. It was very interesting, and unfortunately we learned that it is a very bad year for olive oil. Most olive trees have been infested with olive flies, which makes the olives unusable for oil.  There may not be any olive oil at all from this region this year.

Stefano cooked us a delicious dinner, partly in the outside wood-fired oven.  I don't have any pictures of the dinner, because I was too busy eating it! There were dishes like rabbit liver crostini, freshly baked bread drizzled with their olive oil, white bean salad, and pear with peccorino cheese for desert. It was an amazing meal!

Mom and me in the Tuscan countryside