Go Ahead Travel Operations Coordinator Brandon Druch recently returned from a much-anticipated Food & Wine Tour of Tuscany and Umbria, and he brought back one of the more striking photographs of Italy we’ve seen in some time. The photo plays with your eyes, and it takes a second to figure out what you’re looking at—it’s almost something out of an M.C. Escher print, with a woman walking down what appears to be an impossibly steep and oddly placed staircase.
A new use for an old aqueduct in Perugia
Luckily, we have the photographer himself to tell us what we’re looking at: “That photograph was taken in Perugia,” Brandon said. “Perugia is a modern city built on top of an ancient city. This photo shows a woman walking toward an old Roman aqueduct that’s been turned into a staircase.”
As the vantage point in the photo suggests, Brandon spent quite a bit of time literally looking down on Italy. “In my free time, I liked exploring the countless small walkways of the cities and villages. In Cortona, I hiked to the top of the city’s impressive fortress…you could see for miles and miles from the park at the top, and few tourists make it up that far, so it was really peaceful.”
Antipasti at Casato Prima Donne in Montalcino.
But like his fellow travelers, Brandon didn’t go to Tuscany to gawk at the scenery—he went for the food. “If I wasn’t looking for souvenirs or having coffee with my new friends on tour, I was looking for the best-known food from the city or region we were in.” His mantra was simple: “Take a bite, appreciate where you are.” Brandon and his fellow travelers had ample opportunity to do just that at several included dinners and wine tastings.
Brandon raved about “the brightest green olive oil we had ever seen, pressed that day,” “the aged wines, the hand-rolled pastas, the wild hog sausage [cinghiale], the pancetta and prosciutto, the pecorino and the parade of deserts…We were fed like kings from start to finish, and with every meal we drew closer together as a group.”
Go Ahead's Brandon Druch hard at work in the kitchen.
But his favorite part of his culinary tour was his group’s cooking class in Florence. “The school is located off a small side street in Florence, and there’s a real classroom-style atmosphere. There was no pressure to cook well—only to eat well.” And with his fellow travelers preparing a meal of pici followed by tiramisu, everyone enjoyed a meal they won’t soon forget.
Did you eat differently when you were in Italy—more slowly, more deliberately or just more? Leave a comment and let us know!
Tags: Food & Wine Tours, Italy tour, Tuscany tour
