Today is cooking class day.  Friuli style.
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Our Sunday has one purpose only. To get from Emilia Romagna to Friuli. Along the way we hope to make a stop in nearby Cervia and a stop for lunch later on.

Unfortunately all does not go as planned.
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It is Monday, our first full day in Friuli, and we have planned a day trip exploring the Friuli coast from la Subida, the inn which will be our home for the next five days.  We arrived late in the afternoon the day before, having encountered a few "bumps" and disappointments along the way, but no matter, our real destination was la Subida, a complex of buildings just a few minutes from the village of Cormons, the center of the Collio wine district.
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A certain sadness greets us on Saturday morning, in part because we are saying goodbye to the group we have spent the past week with and partly due to the long drive that awaits us.  Our destination is Friuli, the northeastern most province of Italy, a strange, quasi-Italian region that borders Slovenia and which is an usual mix of the Italian and the slavic.  It is a region we visited for the first time in February and one whose unique vibe, as well as its world class white wines has beckoned us return.  We are looking forward to our five day return visit to the region's Collio zone, but are not particularly looking forward to the six hour drive from Cannara.
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Umbria has a way of reminding us that despite our efforts to tame her and understand her, there is always another new adventure just around the corner.  Our final day in Umbria proved to be just one of those occasions.
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Our story of joy continues on Thursday with our group's early departure for the Arnaldo Caprai vineyard, a grand and elegant cantina located on a commanding hill between Bevagna and Montefalco.
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For the past 48 hours we have been testing whether it is possible to overdose on joy.  Put simply, we have flowed from one joyous moment to the next.  And I'm happy to report that we're still standing.  Even if we may be spinning.
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It's been a little over a week since we arrived in Italy.  We haven't yet hit double digit weight gain, but we're working on it.
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"You gotta love a country where you can spend the whole day shopping for groceries and count it as a good day."  So remarked Collin, one of our guests at the villa this week as we tucked into dinner outside by the pool sometime around 10:00 at night.  As I looked around the table at our group of 13, each chatting and laughing as if they were old friends, united in throwing back a glass of Montefalco Rosso and devouring a plate of prosciutto that had been roasted in the outdoor oven and finished off in the outdoor barbeque, I had to agree.  Some might find our itinerary for the day – a drive to Norcia to buy pork for dinner – minor and trifling.  Here in Italy, though, it can seem important and fulfilling.  Because it is.
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Bill and Suzy's Excellent Adventures goes all Wall Street Journal on you!  A single weekend edition (because news likes to take the weekend off, too) just like Rupert's Excellent Adventures (soon to be prison blog?).  Hope you enjoy the new format.  We have updated our pencil sketched photos in favor of real pixels, too!

And now to the news . . .
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Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip
That started from this tropic port
Aboard this tiny ship.

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