There's witching hour at midnight, a magic hour of lighting for photographs, and the perfect time of year to be in Umbria, which is - right about now.
Our first real stage day was all about Hispellum - a little olive oil company with big prospects and a lot of big ideas. Umbrian olive oil is typically picked early, which translates into strong grassy aromas and a distinctive green colour - especially tasty when poured over salted crostini. And Hispellum not only brought in an expert to walk us through exactly what constitutes quality extra-virgin olive oil, but invited us into the entire process of their small-scale production. We got to see the process from picking to storing,
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| Choosing the best olives by hand |
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| Olive Oil Tasting |
eat a spectacular lunch of local specialties complete with traditional wines,
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| Crostini with Hispellum olive oil and sea salt, red onion compote and local black truffles |
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| The best, most simple grain and legume salad I've ever tasted |
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| Fresh pasta with tomatoes, chickpeas and olive oil |
and check out olive groves in the pouring rain, thankfully from our warm, dry bus.
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Assisi bathed in "divine light", as seen from Hispellum's newest grove.
The trees were planted by local school children, whose names are attached. |
The downfall stopped when we arrived in Foligno, just in time for us to walk laps around the "old" town in preparation for another gargantuan meal.
We arrived back to the agritourismo, where I saved one of our allergic classmates from the attentions of the extremely friendly resident cat, only to release it for its own massive dinner - the injured pigeon on the stairs. (Sorry pigeon - I had no choice.) I guess everybody eats well in Umbria.
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