The trek to Pisciotta…

The morning that we were leaving Rome was a bit hectic. As usual, nobody in our group was on time and we left a little later than we should have left. Our first stop on our way down to the south was at our professor’s sister’s house / farm. They have an olive oil factory and a wheat and baking factory too. We watched the process of how wheat is made into flour; it’s a loud but interesting process. The flour in Italy is so much healthier, and it also tastes better. The fresh olive oil and bread was absolutely divine. My roommate and I even got a bag of fresh whole-wheat flour. After we toured the wheat / bread / olive oil factories, we walked over to our professor’s sister’s house for lunch. And what a lunch it was! We started off with a plate of olives from the farm, prosciutto (from a pig raised on the farm), some sort of egg and zucchini frittata, and bruschetta. Then came the pasta fagioli soup, amazing; I had two helpings. After the soup came lasagna. Then came the main course of fresh chicken, string beans, and potatoes. This was followed by a salad, and then melon. All this food was accompanied by homemade wine, red and white. Somehow, I was still hungry after this enormous meal. We then said our goodbyes, thanked everyone, and headed back onto the bus for about five hours… I tried sleeping but I couldn’t keep my eyes closed. There was so much to look at. The views are gorgeous! The mountains and landscapes here are beautiful from any angle. Finally, we arrived in Pisciotta. The trip up the mountain was very curvy and twisty and dangerous. Not to mention, that the roads here seem to only be made for one small car. My life probably flashed before my eyes a couple times. Especially when another bus was would be coming from the other direction and the two buses would have to somehow squeeze past one another. We pulled into the piazza and caused quite a commotion in this little town. It was as if the circus had arrived in town, which to a bunch of southern Italians in a small town a bunch of Americans probably are the circus, what a ruckus we caused. We all got off of the bus eventually made our way down or up to our apartments. My two roommates and I were very lucky. We got one of the best apartments that there is. We even have a washing machine! And the view from the balcony is pretty amazing. We have an little old lady neighbor who even brought us fruit the first day that we were there.