Today we had a cheese making class at 9:30 am, but when we booked it a few months ago we thought an 8 mile ride each way wouldn’t be a big deal, but we were on the struggle bus this morning with the heat and you know, our bodies, so we took our time. We gave ourselves an hour to get there which ended up being fine. The class was huge, around 25 people (cut this number in half and it would have been the perfect amount), all to watch how mozzarella was made…
From shaping it…
To seeing the cows and how they are milked, and seeing how the cheese was stored…
At the end of class, around 11 am when it was a good 85 degrees out, we all got baskets filled with different breads and drinks (yes, you guessed it, wine) and then were given probably 3 lbs of cheese to eat. As Anna has been saying “too much cheese.” This sounds amazing, in theory, until you remembered we have to bike 8 miles back through the hot countryside. Biking after eating a ton of fat… no stars.
We didn’t do too much the rest of the day. The heat was pretty insane (see pic below), so the girls went shopping, and Dave wasn’t feeling great so stayed in the hotel and tried to cool down (which did work).
We eventually made it back out shortly before dinner and bought some artwork in the old town, and then ate dinner at a very cute outside restaurant that overlooked the dramatic view of the landscape below and out to the ocean. After dinner, we kept our streak alive and got some gelato, of course!! Tomorrow: biking another 30 miles to our final town of Monopoli. Wish us luck!