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Wednesday, September 17, 2003
In the first of our planned wedding events, everyone caravanned to San Giovanni d'Asso in le crete senese – the clay hills and verdant valleys south of Siena widely photographed for postcards, calendars, etc.

We met our guides, Robert, Liz, and Danny for the start of our 5- mile walk in San Giovanni d'Asso at Bosco della Ragnaia, a park borne of the imagination of the artist Sheppard Craige. We set out through the valley and up along the ridge and into the small village of Chiusure. Our walk culminated at the Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, famous for its elaborate intarsia (inlaid wood) and frescoes. Those of us who made it in time visited the church until the monks unceremoniously booted us out to close for lunch. The walk was a nice way to give those friends and family who had not yet met a chance to mix and mingle while taking in spectacular Tuscan countryside scenery.

At the end of our walk we relaxed over a long, leisurely Italian meal on the terrace of Le Torre, the restaurant in the Abbey's tower gate that overlooks the grounds. We can recall at least 8 courses, but in the end there were so many we lost count… wine, two courses of bruschetta, two pasta courses, two meat courses, one vegetable course, the classic Tuscan dessert of biscotti and vin santo, and of course, espresso. Through the entire wedding week, all of our menus were 'chef's choice' – we left everything to our various chefs and were never once disappointed.

One would think we had enough fun for one day – but wait, there's more! A small group of us had arranged a private cooking class in Siena that evening. The class took place in a small kitchen attached to a café and felt very homelike. It was a family-run affair where Elisabetta provided the menu and instruction and her husband Marco helped with preparations. We learned to prepare tagliatelle and fresh basil pesto, sformato di verdure, and crostata with custard and fruit.

We got hands-on experience learning how to make fresh pasta from scratch, and were inspired by the simplicity of several tasty Tuscan dishes. Of course at the end we sat down to enjoy the fruits (and veggies, and pasta) of our labors with wine from Marco's vineyard cooperative.

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