We got up early on Monday morning and headed to the Lucca area for a cooking class. This was a big goal of mine to take a class in Italy. We found the class online and booked in advance. Here’s the view from our cooking class. 
Not too shabby. Our instructor, Teresa, owns an agraturismo, a farm which is also a B&B. She also teaches these classes in a little kitchen off her house and she owns a restaurant. Basically, superwoman. The class was from 11-4, and in that time she taught us to make several kinds of homemade pasta, gnocchi, three sauces and a dessert. This was just the most amazing experience. I was definitely in my happy place. There were a total of six people in the class and at the end, you all sit down and eat the meal together. I would highly recommend Teresa’s class to anyone. She was sweet and funny and patient and highly qualified. Her restaurant and classes have won several awards. Here’s the info on her class.
After our class, we took and extra thirty minute or so drive to Pisa to see the leaning tower. It’s still shocking to me to be driving along and then all of a sudden, you see a landmark that you’ve heard about all your life.
We drove back to Florence to our apartment and then went out for a late dinner. Our airbnb hosts had recommended a restaurant for us to go to try Florentine Steak. It’s basically a HUGE rare porterhouse steak that is about 2 inches thick. Legend has it that this specialty started with the Medici family. It has to be from a certain breed of cow and has to be cooked a certain way and then is served on a wooden cutting board. It has to sit for a certain amount of time before it’s cut so that the juices redistribute. We thoroughly enjoyed our Bistecca Florentina!
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