19 May 2008

Open "Olympia" Room!

OK, maybe it doesn't look like much to you, showcased by my limited photographic capabilities, but believe me it is a very exciting and satisfying time at Bella Baita. Fabrizio has literally transformed our "disco" into the "Olympia" room at last. Tearing out, ripping, shredding, drilling, insulating, plastering ceilings, raising local massively heavy wood beams, laying pipes, tile, stones, electrical, lights and painting it all by his lonesome, are just a few of his winter time idle time ventures. Fabrizio, the working machine wonder, worked like a man driven with an internal clock ticking the doomsday deadline. He met the May challenge, ready to cook, eat and enjoy.
He made it and we are using it.
We have maximized our modest means to get this big ole dinosaur whipped up into a much more usable space for our guests and cooking classes and other future offerings simmering on the back burner. We still need a variety of furnishings, appliances and wish list items, but we have moved from darkness to light, warmth and space to spread our wings, or well, ahem, at least all of our stuff! We're using what we have been given and leftovers from the "La Baita" era and we're grateful to have them. Now we'll have some time to work in the space and have a better idea of what are true needs are as we go along.
We did inaugurate the space with meals, cooking classes and general "hanging out", not a moment too soon, as the weather hasn't always been cooperative, as mercurial as springtime in the alps can be. If you are interested in our Cooking Together Classes and some photos of other guests adventures click here too. Here are some photos of the past couple of weeks goings on. I hope to get to some recipes and regular posting again now that we're starting to settle into the space, but we're still doing quite a few km back and forth between our flat and the "Olympia" room as we shuttle our utensils and supplies to and fro. Keeps it interesting.
First a spin around the market

Finishing off with coffee and pastries before the hard work starts later

Pasta fun

with new friends and family

The beginnings of cinghiale filled agnolotti

and ricotta and stinging nettle ravioli

"La Dolce Vita" class to comfort the sweetest toothed guests

Marie didn't know where to begin the sampling,
but she worked her way round pretty quick

as the rest of us did too
Thanks for stopping by
See you soon

11 comments:

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

I'll look forward to hearing more about your cooking classes and life at Bella Baita View:D

Rowena said...

Congratulations you guys! I figured you were busy up to your ears in getting the Olympia Room ready. It's looking great!! Ditto on the weird weather...our weekend hikes have been postponed and I'm going through withdrawals. On the other hand, everything is so green from the wet weather -- can't complain there!

Bella Baita Marla said...

Belli Valli, you'll have to put us on the places to visit on your way back to Greece!
Rowena, it is lush lush here, but have been indoors a lot. Your trip to Abruzzo and around sounded so fun.

creampuff said...

Congratulations, Marla! I hope to see it in person someday!

:o)

Bella Baita Marla said...

Thanks Creampuff. I do hope you will make it someday too and then it will be "Creampuff in the Italian Alps". I still think about your past about having a table large enough for all of your blogging friends sitting out on the terrace. Maybe someday.

TorAa said...

Hi,
this is not a fair comment.
The reason is:
http://toraa.blogspot.com/2008/05/ruben-jan-29-1968-may-18-2008.html

sorry

Bella Baita Marla said...

Tor, I understand now that I have been to your site, I am so sorry for your loss. Thank you for letting me know.

Lori Lynn said...

Cool! Best of luck with your new room. Looking forward to hearing about the cooking classes.

Anonymous said...

I am one of the people who took the dolce (sweets) class and was amazed to learn from Marla that we were the first to ask for it (I think). We also took the pasta class.

The pasta class is obviously a must and well worth it. But the sweets class is loads of fun too. Our 5 year old daughter could not get enough of the classes, which was a little surprising since they run like 3 hours.

Anyway, to future visitors: the pasta class is a must if you are at all interested, and the sweets class is also really fun.

Now if I could just grow a bay leaf tree in my backyard...

Mike S,
Chapel Hill, NC, USA

Bella Baita Marla said...

Thanks Mike for stopping by and commenting on your opinion of our classes. We appreciate your endorsement. We think it's fun for the whole family too.

Unknown said...

Fabulous! Congratulations. I will have to keep the cooking classes in mind for a future tour.

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