Ugo. Hugo Boss.

bellies full of freshly made ricotta soup, locally produced wine, 20 day old pecorino, locally brined black olives, sopresatta, culatello, a sort of head cheese, ricotta salata, peeled oranges by francesco's mother, and a little sip of grappa to end the meal, we're back on the bus making it's way meticulously down the winding  road.

green mountains surround us until we reach a bridge that crosses a wide gravely-dried up river that eventually brings us to Ugo Sergi's beautiful bermaot plantation at the "azienda agrituristica il bergamotto." it is an absolutely charming farmhouse surrounded by lush vegetation - olive oil trees, cacti, countless wild flowers, rows of citrusy bergamot trees, surrounded by mountains but also with a sea view. it was really sweet. even the donkeys seemed happy here.
we had our lecture in amongst the bergamot trees, the sun shining from the clear blue sky in between the fully green trees. the origin of the bergamot is uncertain - although it may have originated in asia, it is said that it is a natural genetic modificaiton of the bitter orange.

in the 17th Century it was used as an antibacterial for surgery and medicinal purposes and in the 18th Century it was used for cosmetics such as essential oils and perfumes  - an italian monk used the citrusy oil to create the first eau de cologne while living in cologne. also, Earl Grey used the oil extracted from the bergamot rind as one of the main ingredients in his tea. the oil is very hazardous if applied directly onto the skin - it can have a potent burning effect and when a few drops are mixed with water, it can act as a bronzing oil.  this is why the fruit pickers are often tan in the winter because of the reflection of the sun onto the skin. cultivation of the fruit and preservation of the plantation seemed like a hard and not very profitable job, especially since chemical essences are used today more frequently than the natural oils, but it definitely was peaceful, beautiful and very photogenic.

we took a walk up one of the nearby mountains where we could barely see the castle on the top - norman castle of almendolea. yes, it seemed very far away. and yes, it was a very long walk. a very very steep steep steep walk. i stopped to get my inhaler from the bus along the way and huffed and puffed all the way up. both trips - up and down the mountain - conversations were interrupted, or stalled, because once momentum got going, there was no stopping. although i thought i was either going to pass out or throw up - i'm not being dramatic - the view from the top was quite fantastic and it was the perfect time of day to reach the top: just in time to see the sun setting behind the mountains. we heard a little bit of the history of the area with the help of sandro's translations, although i must admit,

a lot of the time i was staring at david's bottle of water. i stomp back down the hill, seriously, it's so steep i couldn't stop if i wanted to, we have a quick lecture in the kitchen about the connection between the greek and italian traditions, about eating sheep in the spring and goat in the summer but no meat in the winter because the animals are pregnant, and also about the fried bread we tasted that they fry while waiting for the other bread to rise. we had dinner in the farm house: to start: cheese with two types of cured meats and bitter green olives and the fried bread - delish. then we had a macaroni pasta with tomato sauce then i had a veggie dish because the meat they ate was marinated with three almonds as their special secret ingredient with a salad of orange and bergamot with chopped parsley.