Sweet hey-sus I am exhausted! Today we went to the Abruzzo region of Italy to tour La Porta dei Parchi, an agri-tourism farm that uses traditional farming methods to produce pecorino (basically, they make delicious cheese using sheep milk, and I'll be damned if it isn't super amazing!). They have over 1,000 head of sheep; I got a little 'Heidi' nostalgia when I spoke with one of the workers there who told me the sheep are herded by shepherds up to pastures high in the mountains to graze. I realize 'Heidi' takes place in the Swiss Alps and not Nunzio, Italy. But I couldn't help but think of that book!
The farm was very interesting to me. We watched them make ricotta, walked around the hillside town of Villalago (which felt like Everest because the incline was STEEP), hiked on a trail by the river, and ate a delicious three course meal at the farm with red wine. We had a cheese sampling, traditional shepherd's pasta (rigatoni with cheese sauce and sage), lamb meatloaf with gravy that I could easily drink as a beverage it was so good, and a type of pastry made from the cheese. It was SO good. I didn't buy any cheese, but I thoroughly enjoyed the visit. Even if I was drenched in sweat and wearing the wrong shoes for so much walking. It was absolutely beautiful to see an ancient town and hills covered in wildflowers with snowcapped peaks in the distance. I think I need to marry a sheep-farmer so I can eat cheese all day and wear wildflowers in my hair.
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