I love getting my hands dirty. Today’s pleasure, making fresh pasta was particularly special.

It’s day 4 at Potentino. There is a spear of sunshine coming through the kitchen. This morning, Rachel Roddy, food enthusiast and writer behind An A to Z in Pasta, and she is telling us about how pasta making is all about child's play.

She is cheery. A tall, curly hair, freckled skin, British lady who has spent 16 years of her life in Rome. She is a striking presence at the castle. Her speech is quick, with bursts of Italian.

She is showing us the flour divide between Northern and Southern Italy. Another rivalry between North and South. Flour is the key ingredient for pasta making. Puglia, Calabria, Campania, they go for semolina flour, or durum wheat flour. A granular, sandy, fine ingredient that slips through your fingers. On the contrary, Toscana, Lombardia, Veneto, they use a velvety, teddy bear like soft flour, the regular all purpose wheat flour we all know.

It really is simple. You add 200 gr of either flour and 100 ml of water for a semolina flour recipe (or 2 eggs for a soft flour recipe), and you’ve got all the ingredients for pasta for two. As Rachel shows us how to proceed, she tells us how her family likes to think of the process, a flour mountain that turns into a volcano, with the water and/ or the eggs as craters. Mix all the ingredients up, and suddenly you find you have playdough in your hands.

What follows isn’t quite as much fun, but you need to knead. 10 minutes of pushing down, pulling out, folding and turning in. Thankfully, I like to do hands-on work.

The dough, a soft but sturdy ball with all the tenderness of a baby's bottom, is now ready to rest. 30 minutes are key for the gnoccho (the dough) to rise, and as I listen to others talk about what pasta shapes will be made for lunch, I take a moment to observe my surroundings.

We are in a kitchen that is more than 700 years old. Maids, servers, owners and friends, guests and volunteers have passed through this kitchen over the centuries, and have made this little universe their own. There’s a wooden cabinet that particularly draws my attention, full of mix & match glass and kitchenware. I made a note to myself to speak to Charlotte, the owner of Potentino, to tell me more about this room.

The timer is ringing. It’s time to shape the pasta. We practice our beginner skills by exploring the pleasures of forms, from classics such as the orecchiette (little ears) to experimental freeform. We are quickly drawn back from pleasure to work though, as lunch time is getting closer and today we are cooking for 20 people.

The shape of choice for lunch is pici. To get this shape, we pinch about 2-3 inches of the dough and turn it into a thick, long and fat hand-rolled type of spaghetti. This shape, Rachel tells us, originated in Siena, Tuscany. All of a sudden, I am transported to traditions in the valley. Traditions of wine making, growing vegetables without fertilizers, weaving wool from the neighboring sheep farm. Traditions that Potentino is resolutely trying to keep alive.

Our pasta making work is done, and as we wait for the pici to cook, we move from the kitchen to the dining room. There’s an air of excitement and anticipation (and hunger) in the room. We are all hoping the result of our hard work will be good. Is it going to taste as good as it felt when we were preparing it? Will our beginners pasta survive the cooking? Will everybody like it?

Sometimes actions speak louder than words and as guests have a bite of the fresh pasta, paired with roasted tomatoes passata, olive oil and basil, I only need to see their faces to know the answer. Delicioso!

The hard work we put in this morning has been a success. One that I am hoping to repeat at home. And I hope you will, too.

TCB xx

Venice, Venice, Venice...Couldn't find a better timing to talk about this beautiful city considering that Mr & Mrs Clooney celebrated their nuptials there so recently! Venezia is one of the most romantic and charming places in the world, and perfect for a weekend getaway. My boyfriend and I decided to spend our last days of holidays there and the place does not deceive.

Starting by its architecture and followed by the colourful little alleys and the gorgeous food, its offerings are limitless. If you are planning to stay there for a couple of days (as we did), I suggest you do the following:

1. The Grand Canal. There are two options for you to do it: by foot or by boat. Doing it by foot might seem very time consuming but I can tell you it is totally doable. You need to remember the city centre itself is quite small!

We did the foot path to discover the main area and it was perfect. Starting from Cannaregio area, you can walk all the way until Piazza San Marco, the main highlight of Venice. The path includes going through the canal bridges and Venice's labyrinthic streets, passing through Santa Croce, San Polo and Rialto neighborhoods, until you get to the Basilica di San Marco.

Piazza San Marco is stunning. There are plenty of posh cafés (with an orchestra playing all sorts of music), and if you are up for an experience and you don't mind splashing the cash I suggest you having a capuccino and some sweets at Café Florian.

Now coming back to discovering the Grand Canal. As I said, you could do it by foot or by boat. And as any other tourist, I wouldn't miss the oportunity to jump into a boat or a gondola to see the highlights of the City. If you are on a budget, a good option is to take a Vaporetto (their main public transport, €8/hour) from the train station to Piazza San Marco, and do the foot path from there.

2. Shopping. Of course, I couldn't miss talking about shopping! If you are in need of accessories, you are at the right place. Venice is known by its good fabric (looove their leather bags) and by its glass (make sure you get some murano glass jewellery).

3. Cicchetti and wine. There are plenty of places you could stop to indulge some good food & wine (and Prossecco, of course). In Santa Croce you've got Al Prossecco, one of Lonely Planet's favourites wine bar. Here you'll be able to taste natural-process wines and prosecco for a very decent price. Its location is quite local, which gives the place a nice touch.

However, my favourite place was Cantina do Spade in San Polo. We passed through this place several times while walking around the city and every single time it was so busy and lively that we couldn't resist going in. They serve fresh ciccheti (italian tapas) that vary from a wide range of seafood to very yummy veggie fritters. And bare with me, a glass of prosecco is 2€! What else could you ask for.

In Rialto you'll find plenty of touristy stalls selling you venetian hats, masks, and murano glass. But you will also find a beautiful local market selling fresh fish and food. Additionally, Rialto is probably the best place to rent a gondola.

4. Take a ride on a Gondola. You need to be aware that the starting fee for a gondola ride is €80, which to me is a complete rip-off. However, if you've travelled all the way to Venice, and you are only there for two days, you will want to do it! Specially if you go there with your partner. So if you are ok spending 80€ for a 30min ride, then just go for it. Another option is to find another couple that is interested in doing it too and share the ride with them (cheeky, cheeky).

5. Gelato. There's no need to say that every trip to Italy needs to include at least one coffee and one gelato per day (or is it just me?). My favourite place in Venice for ice cream was withoug a doubt Suso Gelatoteca. There are plenty of flavours to choose, the portionts are gigantic, they taste wonderfully and the price is very reasonable, so that's a 10 for me!

To conclude, we've got: a beautiful scenery, delicious food, lots of romanticism, and a perfect weekend away.

Do you need anything else to make up your mind and go?

TCB x