I have landed! After a full day of traveling yesterday--a plane from London to Palermo, a bus to the train station, and two trains to Vallelunga (the nearest town to the school), I arrived at Anna Tasca Lanza just in time for a wonderful dinner of freshly grilled eggplant, pasta (gf!) with homemade tomato sauce, and anchovy-stuffed chili peppers. I'm staying with Fabrizia in her section of Case Vecchie. Check out the view from my window:
Sicily is just as spectacular as I imagined it--more so, even. The school is surrounded by cultivated hills with farm houses tucked in the nooks. The picture above shows the vista, with windmills perched atop the far hill. I have no doubt that I will never get bored here--there are miles to explore and hike. Not that I imagine that I'll have a lot of free time. We have a lot to get done on this film in a short amount of time. We start shooting in late October, so in just a few short weeks.
I anticipate that my days will also be full of helping out with the guests to the school. Today, a couple from Colorado is here, but later in the week, there will be 13. Thankfully, Fabrizia has a fair amount of help--several cooking assistants, a housekeeper, gardeners (including one from Scotland who I find delightful), and farmers. But, in for no other reason than entertainment and hands-on time, I hope to help out in the gardens and in the kitchen.
I anticipate that my days will also be full of helping out with the guests to the school. Today, a couple from Colorado is here, but later in the week, there will be 13. Thankfully, Fabrizia has a fair amount of help--several cooking assistants, a housekeeper, gardeners (including one from Scotland who I find delightful), and farmers. But, in for no other reason than entertainment and hands-on time, I hope to help out in the gardens and in the kitchen.
I sat in on Fabrizia's cooking lesson this morning, where she tought her guests how to make arancini (fried saffron rice balls with beef ragu), fried stuffed zucchini blossoms, Sicilian fruit salad, among several other dishes. What a feast it was. I'll have to be careful, or I'll have to have someone roll me back to the UK for Christmas. Fabrizia's kitchen is awash with natural light and a peaceful place to work. The fact that most of the foods and herbs we used come from the garden and her many fruit trees, the eggs from her chicken, the beef from the town butcher, and the wine from the family's vineyard make the quality of food superb. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!
My Italian is coming bit by bit. Yesterday was full of "Grazie" and "Piacere" (Thank you and nice to meet you), but today I added some simple sentences. I struggle to understand the Sicilian accent, but hopefully it will get easier every day.
My Italian is coming bit by bit. Yesterday was full of "Grazie" and "Piacere" (Thank you and nice to meet you), but today I added some simple sentences. I struggle to understand the Sicilian accent, but hopefully it will get easier every day.