Friday, November 19, 2010

AN ITALIAN FAMILY OWNED OLIVE OIL PRESS

We visited a local small, family owned, olive oil pressing plant. This is one of the most interesting things we have done here in Italy. The local farmers bring in the harvest of olives to the plant for pressing. Some sell the olives to the plant owners who will process the olives and sell the oil. Other farmers just bring in the olives for processing to use the oil for personal use. You will see various varieties of black and green olives sitting idle in large crates waiting to be pressed. This is a warm water pressing plant. The olives go from the crates to a conveyer belt and into the bins to be crushed, pulverized, and turned into oil. The final step allows the mixture of oil, water, and pulverized olives to be separated. The water and olive bits sink to the bottom and are drained while the oil floats to the top. The finished product is the first press. This is the greenest, most fragrant, and most aromatic olive oil I have ever seen.


Saturday, November 6, 2010

SITES OF ROME






It would take days to see all the sites that Rome has to offer. Here are a few photos of the sites of Rome during an afternoon visit. We were fortunate to see an ancient Roman re-enactment.

HALLOWEEN IN ITALY



The Italians do not really celebrate Halloween like we do in the states. Children do not go out to trick-or-treat. In the past three years the night clubs have started having Halloween celbrations for the adults. We attended a Halloween party hosted by the Canadians. The British attended as well.
Shay was a cat and Caden was "Jim" from the Office.

MEDIEVAL TOWN OF SERMONETA






A small medieval village, not far from Rome and 30 minutes from Latina, built on the top of a rock to defend the Agro Pontino area. The Caetani family bought this castle and the surrounding estate in 1297.
Italy is surely full of cities that are rich from the architectural and historical points of view. What is not always so easy to find here are places that are still genuine and out of any touristic flows with all that goes with it. In Sermoneta one can walk on roads that have been paved during XIV century, visit the majestic Princes Caetani's castle feeling like an XIX centoury traveller.