Day 73: Road Block

I've hit a road block.

No, it's not like getting stuck behind two horses on a country road in Ireland.

No, it's not like hitting 5:00 traffic in Montgomery, Alabama on I -65.

No, it's not like having to take a 30 mile detour on the way home from vacation all because of a pot hole in the road.

No, it's a different type of Road Block. I'm experienecing a Road Block of the brain. Yes, I have hit a learning stand still. My creativeness is wearing thin. This 12 page paper is taking a toll on my writing abilities! How am I ever going to be able to go straight to classes a week after returning to the good ole U.S.of.A.?

We had class from 10:00-12:45 today and then had the best wine tasting after that. It was probably the best wine tasting because we didn't have a long lesson on the making of the wine or the bottling of the wine and then eat some appetizers. No, we didn't have a lesson at all! We just got to tour this tiny wine cellar and then enjoy the most delicious spread of food. And the best part? It was literally a 1 minute walk away from the Palace, down this little alley in Ariccia -- it was the coolest hidden secret! Also, the man who owned the little cellar was so kind to us! He kept refilling our glasses, bringing us more food and, at the end, he gave us each an old set of Italian Euros. How nice?!

{Can you believe this little gem of a wine cellar has been 1 minute away from us all summer and we didn't know about it until now?}

{Emily, Chelsea and Becca enjoying their tour of the cellar}

{Look at this spread of Ariccia food!! A feast fit for kings :) }

{Kasi, me, Caitlyn, Shellie and Anna Curl making our way through the little cellar -- it was a tight squeeze for all 20 of us to get in there}

{I'm not really sure what this is, but it is a really cool way to store wine glasses}

{Walking down the stone stairs -- bottles of wine were everywhereeeee}

{At the bottom of the stairs there were racks and racks of wine -- all of them full! There is no telling how long this man has been collecting/making/drinking this fabulous wine}

{Just to give you a point of reference, this wine rack was taller than I was...}

{Another shot of the stairs}

{Emily, me and Brittany down in the cellar}

{VINO VINO VINO!!}

{When we walked back up the stairs we spotted it -- the platter of sweet treats! There were Italian shortbread cookies, biscotti and other various delicious desserts. The biscotti was my favorite by far and it is something I really want to try and make on my own when I get home}

{How perfect was this afternoon? A tour of a local wine cellar, a feast of Italian food and a lunch alfresco in an alley of Ariccia? I had to pinch myself to make sure it was real!}

{Kasi and I trying to decide which flavor of biscotti was our favorite... I'm going to go with chocolate chip...}

{The sweet man kept bringing out food!!}

{This summer I think half of the group has gotten new "sneaks" or "kicks", as we like to call them, because they are so in style in Italy -- here is a picture of me, Becca, Anna Curl and Brittany's new "kicks". Me and Brittany are the ones sporting the matching Converse Slims!}

{Just when we thought the man couldn't get any nicer, he came out with a baggy full of old European collectible coins for us to take as souvenirs}

{We did our part and didn't let him down -- he left with an empty bag!}

{My souvenir coins!}

{This is what our short walk back to the Palace looked like -- the Italian alleys of Ariccia}

A glass of wine, a full plate of food and a cloudy day are the perfect ingredients for an afternoon nap. So we all came back to the Chigi, blacked out our rooms and fell into a deep mid-day coma. We all were literally having to be pushed out of the Palace to go to class at 3:30. The only thing getting us out the door was that we knew it was OUR LAST CLASS LECTURE OF THE SUMMER!! WOHOOO! We made it -- we did it. And how perfect is it that our last class was with Susanna? She has the most soothing voice and is the sweetest person, so we were all really excited that she was the professor giving us our last class!

After class we all decided we better get to cracking on our Capstone Papers, so we came back to the Palace and literally sat around all afternoon/night, trying to get words onto paper. I got 3 more pages done... that felt productive! So that justified me calling it an early night and jumping into my bed before 12:00. Hope everyone is having a good Friday and soaking in this summer weather :)