Wandering up to Via Piana - 24

On our second to last day, one of the other guests (the only other American, from San Francisco) decided to accompany us on a wander up the hill through Sora, to the farm`s other estate, Via Piana. It`s a bunch of old barns that are in the process of being renovated into B&B rooms, but there are also people who live in the nearby units. In one of the units, an old man is nearing death - and spends his days singing Italian hymns, which you can hear as you near the buildings. It`s incredibly beautiful, if a bit creepy.

Wandering up to Via Piana - 23

On our second to last day, one of the other guests (the only other American, from San Francisco) decided to accompany us on a wander up the hill through Sora, to the farm`s other estate, Via Piana. It`s a bunch of old barns that are in the process of being renovated into B&B rooms, but there are also people who live in the nearby units. In one of the units, an old man is nearing death - and spends his days singing Italian hymns, which you can hear as you near the buildings. It`s incredibly beautiful, if a bit creepy.

Wandering up to Via Piana - 22

On our second to last day, one of the other guests (the only other American, from San Francisco) decided to accompany us on a wander up the hill through Sora, to the farm`s other estate, Via Piana. It`s a bunch of old barns that are in the process of being renovated into B&B rooms, but there are also people who live in the nearby units. In one of the units, an old man is nearing death - and spends his days singing Italian hymns, which you can hear as you near the buildings. It`s incredibly beautiful, if a bit creepy.

Wandering up to Via Piana - 21

On our second to last day, one of the other guests (the only other American, from San Francisco) decided to accompany us on a wander up the hill through Sora, to the farm`s other estate, Via Piana. It`s a bunch of old barns that are in the process of being renovated into B&B rooms, but there are also people who live in the nearby units. In one of the units, an old man is nearing death - and spends his days singing Italian hymns, which you can hear as you near the buildings. It`s incredibly beautiful, if a bit creepy.

Wandering up to Via Piana - 20

On our second to last day, one of the other guests (the only other American, from San Francisco) decided to accompany us on a wander up the hill through Sora, to the farm`s other estate, Via Piana. It`s a bunch of old barns that are in the process of being renovated into B&B rooms, but there are also people who live in the nearby units. In one of the units, an old man is nearing death - and spends his days singing Italian hymns, which you can hear as you near the buildings. It`s incredibly beautiful, if a bit creepy.

Wandering up to Via Piana - 16

On our second to last day, one of the other guests (the only other American, from San Francisco) decided to accompany us on a wander up the hill through Sora, to the farm`s other estate, Via Piana. It`s a bunch of old barns that are in the process of being renovated into B&B rooms, but there are also people who live in the nearby units. In one of the units, an old man is nearing death - and spends his days singing Italian hymns, which you can hear as you near the buildings. It`s incredibly beautiful, if a bit creepy.

Wandering up to Via Piana - 08

On our second to last day, one of the other guests (the only other American, from San Francisco) decided to accompany us on a wander up the hill through Sora, to the farm`s other estate, Via Piana. It`s a bunch of old barns that are in the process of being renovated into B&B rooms, but there are also people who live in the nearby units. In one of the units, an old man is nearing death - and spends his days singing Italian hymns, which you can hear as you near the buildings. It`s incredibly beautiful, if a bit creepy.

Wandering up to Via Piana - 05

On our second to last day, one of the other guests (the only other American, from San Francisco) decided to accompany us on a wander up the hill through Sora, to the farm`s other estate, Via Piana. It`s a bunch of old barns that are in the process of being renovated into B&B rooms, but there are also people who live in the nearby units. In one of the units, an old man is nearing death - and spends his days singing Italian hymns, which you can hear as you near the buildings. It`s incredibly beautiful, if a bit creepy.

Wandering up to Via Piana - 03

On our second to last day, one of the other guests (the only other American, from San Francisco) decided to accompany us on a wander up the hill through Sora, to the farm`s other estate, Via Piana. It`s a bunch of old barns that are in the process of being renovated into B&B rooms, but there are also people who live in the nearby units. In one of the units, an old man is nearing death - and spends his days singing Italian hymns, which you can hear as you near the buildings. It`s incredibly beautiful, if a bit creepy.

Wandering up to Via Piana - 01

On our second to last day, one of the other guests (the only other American, from San Francisco) decided to accompany us on a wander up the hill through Sora, to the farm`s other estate, Via Piana. It`s a bunch of old barns that are in the process of being renovated into B&B rooms, but there are also people who live in the nearby units. In one of the units, an old man is nearing death - and spends his days singing Italian hymns, which you can hear as you near the buildings. It`s incredibly beautiful, if a bit creepy.

Visiting the Cheesemaking Shephard - 10

The Cheesemaking Shephard (who walks his sheep by the farm every afternoon) lives just up the hill from the farm. At 5am, we got up on a very chilly day to visit him, and sit by the fire as he made his cheese.

After milking the goats and sheep, he heats the milk in a large iron kettle on the fire. Once it gets to about body temperature, he adds a bit of rennet (taken from a lamb`s stomach) to the milk and takes it off the heat. After a little while spent stirring it with a big stick, the curds separate from the whey in this huge clump, which he puts into a mold and starts squeezing and shaping, getting out all of the whey that`s left, until it`s packed tightly into a mold. Then he covers it with salt and lets it age for a few months, after which it becomes Pecorino (like you`d put on your pasta!)

After the Pecorino is done, he puts the rest of the whey onto the fire again and brings it up to a boil - which is how he makes Ricotta (re-cooked) cheese. This he scoops into another mold and lets age for a while, sometimes over the fire to make smoked ricotta.

We grabbed a small wheel of pecorino to take home for only 10 Euros, and another big piece of smoked ricotta, which we ate at the farm. I`m not joking when I say it was damn good cheese.

Visiting the Cheesemaking Shephard - 06

The Cheesemaking Shephard (who walks his sheep by the farm every afternoon) lives just up the hill from the farm. At 5am, we got up on a very chilly day to visit him, and sit by the fire as he made his cheese.

After milking the goats and sheep, he heats the milk in a large iron kettle on the fire. Once it gets to about body temperature, he adds a bit of rennet (taken from a lamb`s stomach) to the milk and takes it off the heat. After a little while spent stirring it with a big stick, the curds separate from the whey in this huge clump, which he puts into a mold and starts squeezing and shaping, getting out all of the whey that`s left, until it`s packed tightly into a mold. Then he covers it with salt and lets it age for a few months, after which it becomes Pecorino (like you`d put on your pasta!)

After the Pecorino is done, he puts the rest of the whey onto the fire again and brings it up to a boil - which is how he makes Ricotta (re-cooked) cheese. This he scoops into another mold and lets age for a while, sometimes over the fire to make smoked ricotta.

We grabbed a small wheel of pecorino to take home for only 10 Euros, and another big piece of smoked ricotta, which we ate at the farm. I`m not joking when I say it was damn good cheese.

Visiting the Cheesemaking Shephard - 02

The Cheesemaking Shephard (who walks his sheep by the farm every afternoon) lives just up the hill from the farm. At 5am, we got up on a very chilly day to visit him, and sit by the fire as he made his cheese.

After milking the goats and sheep, he heats the milk in a large iron kettle on the fire. Once it gets to about body temperature, he adds a bit of rennet (taken from a lamb`s stomach) to the milk and takes it off the heat. After a little while spent stirring it with a big stick, the curds separate from the whey in this huge clump, which he puts into a mold and starts squeezing and shaping, getting out all of the whey that`s left, until it`s packed tightly into a mold. Then he covers it with salt and lets it age for a few months, after which it becomes Pecorino (like you`d put on your pasta!)

After the Pecorino is done, he puts the rest of the whey onto the fire again and brings it up to a boil - which is how he makes Ricotta (re-cooked) cheese. This he scoops into another mold and lets age for a while, sometimes over the fire to make smoked ricotta.

We grabbed a small wheel of pecorino to take home for only 10 Euros, and another big piece of smoked ricotta, which we ate at the farm. I`m not joking when I say it was damn good cheese.

Visiting the Cheesemaking Shephard - 01

The Cheesemaking Shephard (who walks his sheep by the farm every afternoon) lives just up the hill from the farm. At 5am, we got up on a very chilly day to visit him, and sit by the fire as he made his cheese.

After milking the goats and sheep, he heats the milk in a large iron kettle on the fire. Once it gets to about body temperature, he adds a bit of rennet (taken from a lamb`s stomach) to the milk and takes it off the heat. After a little while spent stirring it with a big stick, the curds separate from the whey in this huge clump, which he puts into a mold and starts squeezing and shaping, getting out all of the whey that`s left, until it`s packed tightly into a mold. Then he covers it with salt and lets it age for a few months, after which it becomes Pecorino (like you`d put on your pasta!)

After the Pecorino is done, he puts the rest of the whey onto the fire again and brings it up to a boil - which is how he makes Ricotta (re-cooked) cheese. This he scoops into another mold and lets age for a while, sometimes over the fire to make smoked ricotta.

We grabbed a small wheel of pecorino to take home for only 10 Euros, and another big piece of smoked ricotta, which we ate at the farm. I`m not joking when I say it was damn good cheese.

Making the Wine - 07

We were lucky enough to visit the Farmstay during the grape harvest, which meant that we ended up getting to watch them making the wine in the late afternoon. The farm makes both white and red wine, and they also help the entire town make their wine for the season. First the juice gets pressed, and then poured directly into huge bottles that are left open in the garage for about a week or three. Fermentation happens almost immediately, and nothing is added to it; as Giussepe says, "zucchero naturale!"

The winemaking process is pretty wacky, actually; basically, the whole thing starts foaming, and the foam starts spilling over the top of the bottle. That`s the fermented, nasty bits, which Giussepe removes by hand until the mixture is ready to cap. Once about a week or two has past, he covers the top of the bottle with a cut plastic bottle to keep bad things out of the wine and the wine ferments naturally for a few more months.

Felicita, our noble Farmstay traveling companion - 1

Exploring Sora - 21

We spent some time wandering around Sora for lunch, on a slightly overcast day. The locals were exceedingly friendly, but very not used to tourists. Apparently, agritourism is a very new thing there - at least, for non-Italians. Regardless, we made do - and had amazing food and coffee.

Exploring Sora - 20

We spent some time wandering around Sora for lunch, on a slightly overcast day. The locals were exceedingly friendly, but very not used to tourists. Apparently, agritourism is a very new thing there - at least, for non-Italians. Regardless, we made do - and had amazing food and coffee.

Exploring Sora - 19

We spent some time wandering around Sora for lunch, on a slightly overcast day. The locals were exceedingly friendly, but very not used to tourists. Apparently, agritourism is a very new thing there - at least, for non-Italians. Regardless, we made do - and had amazing food and coffee.