Yesterday some pretty bad weather had been forecast. In reality we had hardly any rain, but I have a friend staying and we had already made ‘rain plans’. Visiting a museum.
In all the years that I have been living in Umbria, I have hardly visited any museum at all. Not enough rain apparently! We decided to visit the wine museum in Torgiano, followed by the olive oil museum also in Torgiano. Both are private museums from the huge wine maker Lungarotti.
The museums were a pleasant surprise. I must admit I was rather biased and thought these two museums were mostly talking about the Lungarotti ’emporium’, praising it and making publicity for it. I was terribly wrong. Furthermore we learned a lot about the history of wine and looked at a huge number of items that are related to wine and it’s past. We had a radio guide which proofed excellent, entertaining and informative.
By the time we wound up in the wine museum, the museum should have closed, but Gian Luca, a very well informed and kind employee of the museum gave us a short tour of the olive oil museum. Excellent as well. He stressed the importance of olive oil (and wine) in the mediterranean culture. He drew interesting parallels and explained several Greek myths, all in a passionate way.
I happily note that this is one aspect of Italy I have fallen in love with, the passionate people who occasionally cross my path.
I visited these museums with my little girl a few years ago and, like you, they surpassed by expectations. I thought they were beautiful.
Monounsaturated fatty acids are found in high amounts in nuts and oils, such as olive oil and vegetable oil. They can also be found in meat and dairy products. Although monounsaturated fats are present in a wide variety of foods, olive oil is perhaps the most acclaimed source of these beneficial fats.