Alaina Goes Abroad

goodbye, florence.

2010-05-25T06:34:00.000-07:00

A summary of my three days in Alicante, Spain requires really only one photo:

I literally did nothing but lay on the beach, eat, sleep, and the occasional crossword puzzle. Now that's my kind of vacation! I walked away with minimal sunburn (it's hard to get your whole back, doing it by yourself), feeling very relaxed and ready to face the difficult week ahead of me.

On the other hand, my time in Florence can barely be summed up in the thousands of pictures I have taken since January. How is it possibly May 25 right now? When I booked this flight seven months ago, all the way back in November, I really thought this day would never come.

In this entry, I will attempt both poignancy and humor...but it could get a little mushy. Bear with me.

I have moved before, and we all know that it is quite a sad experience to pick up and leave everything you know behind. I would never claim that I "know"' Florence. It is a city full of so many surprises, both modern and historic, that it would take years of exploration to truly conquer it. In these past four months, though, I have come to know my cozy corner of the city, and leaving it, as well as my experiences here, behind is proving to be more emotional than I had expected.

As much as I have enjoyed my time abroad, I have on occasion found myself wishing I could go home. Wishing that I lived in a place where asking for directions wasn't such a trial. Wishing that I could just get a freakin' iced coffee, not a caffe americano. Wishing for my own room. Wishing for my car back. Wishing I was with my friends back home as they celebrated Gator gymnastics victories and 21st birthdays.

As big as all of those details seemed at the time, it has taken all of four months for me to realize that what I've learned here far outweighs the cultural discomfort, homesickness, irritation, and frustration that I experienced here.

The experiences I have had in Florence (and elsewhere!) can never be replicated. That was why I decided to study abroad in the first place! When else would I ever get the opportunity to pick up my life for four months and live in a foreign country, with relative financial security? Answer: Never.

Leaving this part of my life behind is only slightly more difficult than leaving the people I've met along the way (mostly because I know it's an inevitability that I will see them again). Not to get all emotional and affectionate, but living together in a foreign country will bond you, no matter how different you may be. And let me tell you, differences abounded in our little dysfunctional Palace family.

But these girls have seen me laugh and cry, they've dealt with me drunk and hungover, consoled me, self-conscious and emotional, and more. Together, we have traveled all over Italy, exploring its culinary gifts, ancient ruins, and cultural history. Together, we took Barcelona by storm, one of the greatest experiences of my life. I cried as each of them got into cabs and drove to the airport, leaving me here, alone at last.

This experience has taught me more about myself that I thought. Even though this was one argument I used to convince my slightly reticent father to let me study abroad, I never imagined the kind of soul-searching I would have to do while living in one of the most beautiful countries on Earth. Stressful? Living in Italy at 20? Really?

The truth is that a lot of issues came to the fore while I was here. I had to confront my problems with food, self-esteem, and self-worth, as well as my feelings about alcohol, dating, and my friendships back home.

Being here introduced me to a lot of new interests, and rekindled some of my old ones (writing, for example). I learned the basics of a new language, and though far from fluent, my parents can attest that I am competent enough to navigate the complexities of Italian travel (and restaurants).

I didn't know what to expect, coming here. I kind of walked into this semester thinking that it was going to be all fun and games, all partying and playing. Honestly, most of it was. I can count on one hand the number of times I have been truly upset in the past four months.

Walking away from my life in America and into Italy gave me new appreciation for the things that I have back home, while also allowing me to emotionally separate myself from problems I have been dealing with. Coming home, I feel more emotionally complete, more mentally prepared to handle problems that come my way. And I will credit that to living with four complete strangers, and the necessity of developing patience when living in a country where there are essentially no traffic laws and no one knows what a clothes dryer looks like. [Exaggeration.]

Tonight, I will board a plane bound for London. From there, I will fly back to Tampa, where I will be reunited with my family and friends.

While part of me is not ready to come home, and probably never will be, while it is incredibly sad to turn the page on this chapter of my life, I know that what I've learned here and experienced here will be with me for the rest of my life.

And not just because I'm a compulsive photographer, or because I blogged about all of it along the way.

But because when you get to know another foreign country as I have come to know and appreciate (though not necessarily understand) Italy, it is a lesson that is impossible to forget.

So thank you to my parents, who supported me (both in financing and encouraging this whole shenanigan) throughout these four months...and through the planning stages, dating all the way back to April of 2009. Thank you to my friends for not forgetting about me while I was gone. Thank you to my Florence roommates who got more than they signed up for when I was assigned to be their roommate. Thank you to Sergio and Mario for being the only Italian men I could trust.

And thanks to all of you for reading. It's been real.

update from paradise.

2010-05-22T11:43:00.000-07:00

I'm a little bit in love with Alicante. First of all, they have a Subway, so I was able to eat my first veggie sandwich in over four months. Second, this city has the most beautiful beach I have ever seen, hands down, bar none. The sand is soft, the water is SO blue, the sky is cloudless, and there are endless palm trees. Need I say more? The only thing that went awry today was the lack of attention I paid to my rear end as far as sunscreen goes. Whoops.

Pictures from Spain tomorrow. For now, I'll finish off The Week with the Parents edition of the blog.

Wednesday, we traipsed out to Pompeii, the excavation site where an entire city was buried after Mount Vesuvius erupted in the year 79 AD. It remained covered until 1700's, I do believe, and even today is not fully excavated. I distinctly remember having a book about Pompeii as a child (my mother corroborates this. She herself is fascinated with the city and tried to get us kids excited about it, as well. Apparently her plan worked, since I still remember the book 15 years later).

I honestly don't remember what most of these buildings are. Couldn't tell you if my life depended on it.

This one is famous, though. It was a house with this mosaic in the entry way that reads (in Latin) "Beware of Dog"

They also restored a lot of gardens as they would have been back in the days of Pompeii.

This one's the amphitheater. It held over 20,000 people which was a big deal back in those days (but coming from a school with a stadium that can house over 90,000, it takes a lot to impress me. Kidding.) This was used for gladiator fights, and was apparently shut down once upon a time after a fight broke out between fans from opposing cities. Good to know that the human race has evolved...not.

Teeny tiny doorway. I would have hit my head a lot living in Pompeii.

This was in the Teatro Piccolo (Small Theater) which was reserved for musical performances, readings, and the like. There was also a larger theater that we didn't get to go in.

Wednesday night, we returned to Sorrento from Pompeii starving, so we decided to head town to the Marina Grande, where our B&B owner had told us we could find some good seafood restaurants.

We got there a little early (read: before 7 PM), so we had to kill some time while we waited for the trattoria to open.

As soon as I saw Trattoria Da Emilia, I remembered that it had been recommended in one of the guidebooks we had picked up here. It did not disappoint! My mother and I split a plate of spaghetti alle vongole (spaghetti with clams) and pesce alla griglia (grilled fish). The grilled fish actually turned out to be...a whole grilled fish. With its head and bones and everything. And even after being warned about sneaky, dangerous fish bones, I still managed to swallow one. Whoops.

After dinner, we went to Gelateria Il Davide, which is apparently rumored to be some of the best gelato in Italy. I totally envy whoever's job it is to hand out that title, by the way. Can you imagine just wandering around Italy tasting all of the gelato you can get your hands on?

Well, I don't know if this is REALLY the best in Italy...I've been to so many places...maybe if you let me try a few more flavors I'd be able to decide...

That is banana, crema di nutella, and "Oreo" flavors. I'm predictable. I definitely wouldn't say it's the BEST gelato I've had in Italy, but honestly, at this point, I think it would be impossible to decide.

Thursday, we had to catch a train back to Naples around 4 PM, so we tried to take a quick trip to Amalfi which ended up being even shorter than we anticipated. We didn't get off to the quickest start that morning, and then the bus ride took WAY longer than anticipated.

Note to readers: If you are ever travelling the Amalfi Coast by bus, be prepared to fear for your life. Drivers apparently have little to no concern for human life as they take hairpin turns that leave you looking over the edge of a cliff at nothing but water at breakneck speed. They also have no concern for the width of the road as they speed by cars, motorcycles, people, and even buses going the opposite direction.

Legit, the only pictures I took in Amalfi. We were there for all of an hour and a half, but did manage to get in a quick tour of the paper factory, for which Amalfi is famous. They make their paper out of cotton instead of trees, even to this day. I, of course, had to get a pretty piece with some dried flowers pressed into it.

After a bit of a disaster catching our train in Naples, we did manage to arrive in Pisa safe and sound that night around 11 PM. We spent a few hours Friday in Lucca, then taking the necessary touristy shots of the Leaning Tower of Pisa upon our return (but you'll have to ask my Dad for those shots...I didn't take them on my camera). We killed more time by having some pizza and gelato before the parents saw me off on my train to the Pisa airport, and they returned to their hotel for their last night in Italy.

In spite of all of the mishaps (read: stolen wallet, missed trains, etc.), I hope that the parents enjoyed their week in Italy as much as I enjoyed spending it with them. Great food, great company, great sights, great country...what more could a girl ask for?

the blues.

2010-05-21T10:11:00.000-07:00

I'm currently sitting in the Pisa airport, waiting for my flight to Alicante, and I have the fastest internet connection I have had since I got to Europe! It only took me about 10 minutes to upload all of these photos. Hot damn.

As promised, the Sorrento installment of The Week with the Parents. Also as promised, cats. Lots and lots of cats.

This fella was the B&B Welcome Wagon, always sitting on top of one of the cars as we were returning home from one of our daily adventures.

On Tuesday, the parents and I decided to do the island of Capri, since the weather was BLISSFUL, not a cloud in the sky, and not a sign of rain: the first day of its kind since my parents had arrived in Italy, if I'm not mistaken. Both Florence and Rome had nothing but rain for us, so at the first sign of sun, we took to the water.

Check out that sky! This was in Sorrento, on the way to the Marina Piccola ("Little Marina") where we caught our hydrofoil to Capri.

Waiting to board...

I actually read my book most of the boat ride there (whoops), but took some photos when we docked.

I have seriously never seen such beautiful blue water.

As soon as we landed in Capri, we went to buy tickets to see the Blue Grotto, which is (I think) Capri's major tourist attraction. At any rate, it's supposed to be gorgeous. Inside, the light refracts off the blue water and turns the inside of the whole cave an incredible shade of blue. But of course, our bad luck came through: due to rough seas and high tide, no boats were going into the Blue Grotto that day. Boo!

The boat took us around the entire island, though, which was fun. Here's me and Mom on the boat.

The Lover's Arch...you are supposed to kiss your significant other (or a friend) as you go under for good luck.

And here is Mom holding Dad in the boat as he leans dangerously over the rail, trying to get a picture of something. Typical.

After our tour was over, we grabbed a quick lunch before heading to the city of Anacapri, located on the other side of the island. The bus ride there was crazy. Combining the insanity of Italian drivers with steep cliffs that plunge directly into the Mediterranean is never a good idea.

In Anacapri, we went to see the Monte Solaro, which has an amazing view of the city of Capri and the coast. Wanna know how we got there?

By chair lift.

There she goes!

It was a little chilly on the way up and down, but the view was pretty incredible. And though I have taken many modes of transportation these past months (plane, train, automobile, boat), I do believe this was my first journey by chairlift.

You know, just chilling.

At the top.

Matching [tourist] hats. Awww.

Thennnn I decided I wanted to do a jumping picture.

Then Mom wanted to play.

We took our boat back to Sorrento around 4 PM on this monster of a ferry.

We spent the rest of the afternoon eating, shopping, and generally relaxing before headed to bed early. Our plans for the next day included visiting the excavation site at Pompeii, and everyone knows that you can't go visit ancient ruins on anything less than 8 hours of sleep.

Pompeii installment tomorrow (hopefully). Plane takes off in just over an hour (hopefully).

Only 5 days until I land in Tampa! How did that happen?

when in rome...

2010-05-20T14:09:00.000-07:00

...do not do as the Waagners do. Because if you do it the way the Waagners do, you will end up realizing that someone stole your wallet on a crowded Roman metro.

True story.

Anyway, sorry for the unoriginal title, but there is a helicopter-sized mosquito (or five) buzzing around my head, and my computer is about to die because it literally took an hour to upload these ten photos, so quick and dirty is all you get.

Theme for the week: Cats. There will be many, many more of these lovely feline photos to come in the Sorrento installment of The Week with My Parents, but for now, just one.

This photo is dedicated to my brother Travis, who apparently became obsessed with cats sometime between the time our cat died two years ago and now.

We took a walk to the Vatican...

Then to the Colosseum, where my dad had to, of course, touch everything. And know everything about every kind of rock ever used to build the Colosseum. Apparently, along with learning basic Italian, I am expected to know about the building techniques of the ancient Romans. Whoops.

Mom throwing her coin into the Trevi Fountain...

Then we went into the Piazza Navona, where there was some sort of mini-festival set up, and they were sending up these shapes made out of BUBBLES up into the air!

See the star?

And the "EU"?

Playing with bubbles.

We also saw some Roman catacombs...

Sunglasses + scarves = family resemblance?

Anyway, I apologize again for the lack of substance in this blog but I will say it again: it is not my fault! I'm looking at you, Blogger.

Tomorrow, the parents and I are off to do Lucca for the day, then my flight departs for Alicante at 8:55 PM from Pisa. Hopefully, my hostel will have internet so that I can catch up on the other happenings of this past week, and show you pictures of what are assured to be the most blissful three beach days of my life.

still kicking in sorrento.

2010-05-19T01:22:00.000-07:00

Well, hello! I am sure that you have all forgotten by now that I even HAVE a blog, but my absence has not been my fault, not even one tiny bit. Most of the hotels we have been staying in have lacked internet service, so when I do get on at internet cafes and such, I get to stay on for about 10 minutes before it is time to move on.

Just to quickly recap, my parents and I left Florence around 11 AM on Saturday morning to head to Rome, where the weather was uncooperative, pickpockets were plenty, and our lovely hotel was located in the ghetto, to put it nicely. We still managed to have a great time exploring the Colosseum, the Palatine, the Roman catacombs, and the Pantheon. Pictures and details to follow, as soon as I can get onto my own laptop.

After a disastrous last day in Rome, in which my father got his wallet stolen (after failing to heed advice from both my mother and myself), we took a train to Naples, where we caught ANOTHER train to Sorrento, where we have been for the last two days. Sorrento is such a nice little town...very quiet, laid back, relaxed, and SUNNY, which is a weather condition I forgot existed. What, you mean it is possible to have a day sans rain and clouds? It is located just under an hour south of Naples by train, near the famed Amalfi Coast, favorite vacation spot of the rich and the famous. Sorrento is a little less hyped than that, but beautiful, nonetheless.

We arrived Monday night, but pretty much just ate dinner before collapsing into bed at our little B&B. Yesterday, we took a boat out to the island of Capri where we took a boat tour around the island and rode a chair lift (yes, an actual chair lift) up a mountain to a view overlooking the entire city of Capri. My nose got a little singed, but other than that, it was a perfect day, capped off by the most incredible dinner experience I have had here in Italy.

The owner of our B&B had recommended this restaurant that was supposedly located "up the hill" (read: mountain) from us, so when we decided to go, they sent a car to personally pick us up. From there, we drove and drove and drove up some very winding streets up to the most beautiful vineyard slash farm you have ever seen. There were lemon trees, chickens, dogs, but above all, an insane view of Capri and the coast. The waiter told us up front that we would not be ordering from a menu, but that everything would just come to us. From there, we were served a traditional Italian meal, all four courses, that even my father proclaimed the best he had eaten in Italy (and for those of you that know him, you know what a big deal this is). The meal was capped by my parents' first experience with limoncello. Afterwards, we were again personally driven down the hill to our B&B, where we were unable to do anything except sleep.

Today, we are going to visit the historical site of Pompeii before spending one more night here in Sorrento. Tomorrow, we are taking a train back to Florence, where my parents will stay until they depart from Pisa on Saturday. I will be taking a train to Pisa Friday afternoon to catch my flight to Alicante, Spain where I will spend three days laying out (and trying to catch my tan up to my friends'...I am looking at you, Kaley Goodfellow!) and relaxing.

I hope to provide pictures from everything that I just described above at some point over the next couple of days, but I make no promises. Internet here is even rarer than back at The Palace.

hey, hey, hey...

2010-05-14T10:22:00.000-07:00

...goodbye.

Well, not yet. I'm certainly not done blogging, but this is our last night in The Palace...and the mood is somber.

It turns out that the entirety of my Italian life fits into a suitcase (or three). Whether it weighs less than 50 lbs remains to be seen.

That's right: everything is stowed, stored, packed, packaged, and put away for my journey home. My bulletin board is empty. No clothes hang in my closet. There is [almost] no food left in the kitchen.

It's too sad to think about, really, so Sam and I filled up our refillable liter-and-a-half wine bottles (mine has been dubbed "Elsa") and we're going to have a roommate party tonight. And when I say "party," I mean that we'll spend the night crying, whining, and reminiscing.

have your cake and eat it, too.

2010-05-13T11:45:00.000-07:00

What would my second-to-last day in Florence be without gelato?

That is cheesecake and sacher torte flavors. Grazie, Perche No!

Italians trying to speak English has always amused me (just as I am sure my very bad Italian enterntains them), so when I saw this the other day...I had to photograph it.

Randomly saw this gem on the Ponte Vecchio while Sam, Marissa and I were wandering it yesterday...

"Death is named McDonald's."
Thanks for the advice, Italy.

After finishing up my exams, the roommates and I headed to Trattoria Cibreo, also known as Cibreino ("Little Cibreo"). Cibreo is widely acknowledged as being one of Florence's best (and therefore most expensive) restaurants. Trattoria Cibreo shares the same kitchens and chefs, but puts out different food for a fraction of the cost.

This was the line to get in as we were leaving. You literally have to arrive within minutes of its opening, since it only has 8 tables. Luckily, we managed to snag one with little trouble.

I went with a passato di pesce, which was a kind of fish bisque. It as a bit spicy and quite tasty, but not extremely filling. Their portions were sized with the assumption that a person would order both a primi and secondi piatti (at least two courses), so when we only ordered one each, we were left a bit unsatisfied.

So of course we had to order dessert.

Aaaaand I don't know why blogger insists upon uploading this picture sideways, but this is a flourless chocolate torte that Gillian and I shared. It. was. so. good. I felt that Cibreino definitely would have lived up to its repuation had we not been the broke students that we are and ordered a secondi piatti each.

Now I'm off to spend the rest of my life packing. Joy.

drawing to a close.

2010-05-12T13:08:00.000-07:00

Am I going insane, or is it really May 12? That can't be possible, since yesterday was January 25. I just arrived in Florence, right? There is no way that I have been here for nearly four months already.

Sadly, that is the truth, though. My time abroad is drawing quickly to a close, and until today, I think, I was a little bit in denial about it. As ready as I am to go home and see my family and get out of this tiny apartment, I am going to miss Florence, living abroad, my roommates, buying fresh food, and a million other things that I could never recount.

Things might get hairy over the next couple of days as I finish my final exams, pack everything up, and attempt to cram as much Florentine culture into my days as humanly possible, but I hope to update again before I have to leave my apartment on Saturday. After I move out, my parents and I will travel to Rome, Naples, and Pompeii before I return to Pisa to fly to Alicante, Spain for three days. Then, I'll go back to Pisa to fly home on Tuesday, May 25. It's sure to be a whirlwind of a week, but I suppose that it's a fitting close to my whirlwind semester.

Speaking of whirlwinds, it seems like it was just hours ago that Gillian and I returned from our second trip to San Gimignano (when in reality we went last Saturday).

For those who don't remember, San Gimignano is a tiny gem of a Tuscan town, located a little over an hour south of Florence close to Siena. It's known for its beautiful scenery, medeival feel, and, of course, the world champion of gelato: Pluripremiata.

Unlike last time, it was actually open [and crowded, to say the least.] I was a happy camper.

Remember this?

The line was nuts and the girls working behind the counter were...brusque, to put it politely. But I walked out with a giant cone of joy, in the form of tiramisu, banana, and nutella gelato.

It only costs 3 euro to make my day.

Then Sunday, my parents arrived in Italy after a hectic series of plane rides that finally ended in Pisa. I spent the better part of Monday showing them all of the major sights of Florence, and we managed to hit two restaurants I've been meaning to try: Acqua al Due and Trattoria Casalinga. I was quite impressed with Casalinga, and while Acqua was a fun night, the food wasn't quite what I expected.

My parents first Italian gelato experience: Grom!

In front of the Ponte Vecchio on Monday.

The parents.

At the Piazzale Michaelangelo.

My dad treated the whole city like a museum, stopping to inspect every little detail. He was particularly fascinated by the vehicles, including this little toppolino, or "Little Mouse". In this picture, a woman is telling him not to lean on the car or it might dent! Whoops.

Tuesday, I woke early to eat breakfast with my parents before they headed to the Galleria Uffizi while I took two of my finals. I feel comfortable with how I did on both. After that, the parents and I went to Mario's, where my mom finally got to experience ribollita after all of my chatter on this blog about it.

Mom&Dad departed Tuesday afternoon (in the pouring rain) bound for Cinque Terre! I haven't heard from them since yesterday night, but I hope that the hike went well. As far as I know, they are headed for Siena tonight, and will return to Florence on Friday night to help me move out on Saturday morning.

Today, I met up with Bethany and Mary for our last Wednesday lunch at Sergio's :[ It would have been a sadder affair, but the restaurant was hopping, and we had to eat quickly. No time for nostalgia when it's Italian lunch time! Gillian and Sam met me in the San Lorenzo market after that to finish up some last minute souveneir shopping...no matter how much I shop it just seems like my list keeps getting longer and longer!

Then, Gillian and I finally took on lampredotto, a Florentine specialty made from a cow's fourth stomach. [I can tell that you are salivating at the thought!] We were both a bit intimidated by it, but we absolutely HAD to try it, so we decided to just buy one sandwich to sample.

Looks innocent, right?

My first bite...

Sam digs in...

Bethany gets in on the fun, too...

Verdict?

I personally liked the taste, but couldn't get over the combination of my mental block about eating cow's stomach as well as the very SLIMY texture. Gillian and I each braved another bite, trying to give it another chance, but it was a no-go. We tossed over half of it in the trash. Oh, well! At least we gave it a shot.

I finished off my Wednesday with my final practical cooking exam, in which my teammates and I prepared a bruschetta as well as a panna cotta. Both turned out great, and we were all pleased with how it went. Since I've been feeling a bit under the weather this week (sore throat, congested, headache) I decided to rest up tonight in preparation for our final days here. I actually packed one of my suitcases and started in on my big one...as soon as I do laundry, I should have no problem finishing up Friday night!

I hope to write again before I leave, but be assured that I will update a few times while I'm travelling if I don't get to. Ciao!

preview.

2010-05-05T14:57:00.000-07:00

I had planned (and still do) on doing an entry at the end of my time here on exactly what I think has changed since I arrived here on January 25, but I think that this postsecret acts as both a good summary and introduction to what I'll be posting about in a few weeks.

In other news, it is raining here and has been for the past three days, therefore I have no new pictures to share. You're probably tired of looking at my ribollita, anyway.

Dear Florence, I love you, but you have to change. All of this rain? It's got to stop if we are going to have a functional relationship. I'm giving you 9 days to comply with this ultimatum. Thank you. Love, Alaina

barcelona!

2010-05-04T06:16:00.000-07:00

Well, hello! Long time no....write? My internet is finally cooperating, so I can update you on the latest adventures of the ladies of The Palace!

I actually went to Barcelona 3 years ago when I did my mini-study abroad program the summer I graduated. We only got to spend about 36 hours in the city total, so it was a definite must for me to return.

We departed Thursday night at 8:20 PM from Pisa, headed for the Girona Airport. After landing, we took a bus into the city of Barcelona, where we had relatively little trouble finding our enormous hostel. It as a decent place to stay; definitely what I think of as a typical hostel, meaning less customer service, tiny rooms, and crappy food. Either way, we didn't see any bugs or mold or creepsters, so we were satisfied.

Entirely exhausted upon arrivel on Thursday night, we pretty much showered (with no hot water!) and collapsed into bed. We took advantage of a full night's rest by getting up fairly early on Friday morning to cover all of the basic touristy sights of Barcelona. Gillian's roommate from home, Monica, is studying there this semester, and graciously agreed to play tour guide for us.

We met her in the Plaza Catalunya before walking to...

La Rambla, a street famous for its street performers and beautiful shade-providing trees. We meandered down this way, where I encountered Starbucks, which I hadn't seen since London. Of course, we were obligated to stop quickly for an iced coffee.

There were also a lot of stands selling birds and other random pets on La Rambla...in this case, turtles! From Florida! I'm not going to lie, spending a weekend in Spain did a number on my Italian. I kept speaking a mixture of the two languages that my roommate dubbed "Spatalian" and since we have been back, I keep saying "Gracias!" instead of "Grazie!" *facepalm* I was surprised, though, how much Spanish I have retained after not speaking it for almost 2 years.

Me and the roommates on La Rambla.
Also on La Rambla is Barcelona's funnest food market, La Boqueria!

While I will always have a special place in my heart for il mercato centrale, I was definitely impresssed with the variety and COLOR in La Boqueria.

I didn't get many good shots, though. The lighting in there was pretty bad, and no matter how much I adjusted the settings on my camera, the pictures kept coming out too yellow or too light or blurry. Baahhh.

The tour continued through Plaza Real...

Tell me that does not remind you of Florida.

The letters spelled out "Barcelona" but there was construction blocking us from getting a really good angle on them :/ I made them try, though.

Barcelona is full of buildings and art made by Antoni Gaudi, including this church, La Sagrada Familia. Gaudi was a Catalan artist known for his unique designs and modern flair as well as his intense religious devotion. This church is STILL undergoing construction, and has remained unfinished since 1882. Nuts.

We found a little place by the harbor to eat lunch and enjoy our first pitcher of sangria...

Later in the afternoon, we headed to another Gaudi landmark, Park Guell. Gillian's roommate was telling us that originally, Gaudi had planned to make it a large neighborhood full of large and luxurious modern homes, but after the completion of his own, he decided to make it into a park, instead.

The view of the city was obscured a bit by fog, but it was still pretty awesome.

The whole thing is a giant mosiac made out of recycled materials, like coffee cups and scrap metal. A pretty awesome concept, in my opinion.

This building actually served as the guardhouse when Gaudi lived in his house in the Park. Now it's a shop.

I bought some earrings (!!) at the park, but LOST THEM that same night when we went out :[ Very sad day. Good thing they were only like 4 euro.

We went back to the hostel to rest for a bit before meeting up with Monica again at the Plaza Espanya to see a fountain show. They normally play classical music and the fountain's water spurts change shape and color to kind of match the music; when we went, however, it was an 80's theme, which we all thoroughly enjoyed singing along to (as did the rest of the crowd!)

[I also took a video of this which I will upload later; right now, YouTube is not being helpful.]

We at dinner that night at a restaurant close to the water, which someone on Monica's program had recommended as being cheap, but having decent paella. Four of us ordered the fisherman's paella, while Marissa (vegetarian) abstained. I thought the paella was good; not mind blowing, but good.

We didn't finish dinner until past 11 PM; the Spaniards eat even later than the Italians, which I didn't actually think was possible. After dinner, we went out to a large bar, which I don't know the name of. It was HUGE, reminding me of a warehouse with long cafeteria tables inside. The pitchers of sangria were only 5 euro, so we had...a few.

After the bar, we hit up Razzmatazz, which is Barcelona's largest club. It has five large rooms, which are often separated so that they are almost like five separate clubs, each with its own theme. On it's busiest nights, there can be over 5,000 people in there. Whoa.

We had a good time dancing and drinking and didn't end up going home until after 5 AM, so sleeping in the next morning was definitely necessary. We mostly spent the day lounging around, before going to lunch, where we spent more than two hours. Waiters in Europe are WAY different than in America. You practically have to tackle them to flag them down and get them to bring you a check. Repeat process to get change for your payment.

Us in the Plaza Catalunya on Saturday night.

We wanted to try another traditional Spanish dinner that night: tapas! To do a tapas style dinner, usually a group of people will each order between two and four small plates of food, and then the table generally shares, eating off each other's plates. It's kind of the Spanish version of aperitivo: a lighter dinner in which you sample multiple dishes. The place that Monica wanted to take us ended up being closed because Saturday was some sort of holiday, so we went to a place down the street. I enjoyed the tapas experience, but the food there was definitely not high quality.

Again, dinner wasn't over until around 10:30 PM, so we headed back to Monica's to touch up our makeup before heading out to the clubs again.

Our first stop was Ryan's Pub, which is one of Monica's favorite little hole-in-the-wall bars. We had a drink there, and just sat talking and watching rugby for awhile before we went to Chupito.

Chupito is a shot bar, known for it's crazy drinks. That is a list of all of the shots that they have, each with it's own crazy name like "vaca loca" ("mad cow"). Many of them were named after people, other foods, movies, characters, etc. and each one was only 2 euro! We had an amazing time here.

That's a picture of our "boy scout" shots. We each got a marshmallow on a stick, then the lit the bar on fire so that we could roast them. After roasting, we ate the marshmallow and washed it down with the shot. So fun!

Next up was the "Harry Potter" shot. They topped each shot with an orange which was covered in sugar and a bit of alcohol, so that they would light up. Then, once they were aflame, the bartender peppered them with cinnamon to make sparkles. Like magic! Ooooh.

Then we ordered this giant drink to share...

It was as big as my head!

We also did a "Florencia" shot in honor of Florence, a "Finding Nemo" shot in which you have to dig through whipped cream to find an M&M before you can take it, and Sam and I each did a "Willy Wonka" which was just chocolate alcohol with whipped cream. Yummmm.

After Chupito, we went to Apolo, another one of Barcelona's big clubs. It was pretty empty when we arrived, but we waited around and by 3 AM it had filled up. I was pretty bored by 4:30 AM or so, so when I couldn't find my friends, I just took the metro back to the hostel and passed out. Apparently the others didn't get back until past 6 AM! Nuts.

We had to get up early to check out on Sunday morning, so we headed to Starbucks on La Rambla to caffeinate and grab some breakfast.

La Torre Agbar. An...interesting building.

We had been talking about going to the beach all weekend, so when Sunday dawned sunny and warm, we decided to take advantage.

Me and Gillian on the bus on the way to the beach...

It was a little windy down by the water, but it warmed up a lot after about an hour.

In the meantime, Gillian taught us some yoga poses...

And we searched for sea glass and little ceramic tiles...

Me standing in the Mediterranean! Whoopsie, missed a button there.

After a couple of hours, we decided to get a late lunch. We searched for awhile but had a difficult time finding a restaurant, so we eventually just settled for the first one that looked decent. Again, the food wasn't the best quality, but when you're eating on the beach in Barcelona, it's hard to feel sad about that.

I'll spare you the long and painful story of our return home and just say that we finally rolled into Florence around 2:30 AM on Monday morning, our pockets lighter, our skin tanner, and our experience here in Europe richer. I personally think that this was my favorite weekend trip so far. There is just something about Barcelona that gets me every time; I felt it even three years ago when I was only there for a day and a half, knowing that I absolutely had to return. If you're ever in Spain, I definitely recommend it.

hiatus.

2010-04-29T06:19:00.000-07:00

I am off to the beautiful city of Barcelona until late, LATE Sunday night, so I obviously won't be updating over the weekend. I'll see you bright and early Monday morning with tons of photos and stories!

trip to sicily.

2010-04-28T11:50:00.000-07:00

Just a quickie, since I know that you all love my food pornography...

Today, the regions that we were focusing on were Sicily and Sardenia, which are the two largest islands off of Italy's coast. Sicily is the large island at the tip of Italy's "boot" toe, and Sardenia is due west of Tuscany. Obviously, being islands, they are well known for their seafood!

First up? Probably one of the best pasta dishes I have had in Italy to date:

penne alla norma.

The sauce was made by first sauteeing red onion in olive oil. Once it had carmelized a little, we tossed in garlic, tomatoes that had been boiled, peeled, and chopped, basil, and the usual salt&pepper. While the sauce was thickening, we deep fried strips of eggplant in oil, adding them in just before the sauce was done. Toss the al dente penne with the sauce, top with parmesan and extra strips of eggplant, and voila! Deliciousness. I may have gone back for seconds.

Next up was calamari imbottiti, which is stuffed squid. A lot of people in my class were real babies about trying this dish, but I sucked it up and gave it a try. I wasn't SUPER impressed; it was a bit "fishy" for my taste, but at least I tried it!

Since everyone was being a pansy about trying the imbottiti, the teacher deep fried some of the extra calamari bits, like we Americans like.

The calamari was stuffed with breadcrumbs, parsley, and the chopped tentacles, lightly fried, then simmered in a tomato sauce made with white wine until tender.

Finally, my group was in charge of the dessert (how does that always happen?). We made a cassatta siciliana.

Sandwiched between layers of pre-made sponge cake soaked in liquer is a blend of ricotta, sugar, candied fruit, and chocolate chips. On top, we made a glaze with water, food coloring and powdered sugar, before finally topping with a berry puree and freshly diced strawberries. Honestly, there was just too much going on in this dessert. It was too sweet, and the combo of the chocolate chips AND the candied fruit was a little strange. It wasn't bad, but definitely a little intense for me (didn't stop me from polishing off my portion...)

Now that I'm back from class, I'm totally exhausted due to the pills I took earlier today for my ALLERGIES which have been acting up! Something about this Florentine pollen is really aggravating my nose; I've been having sneezing attacks and my eyes are constantly puffy and watery. I'm surprised that I haven't terrified the locals with my teary appearance. So today, I meandered down to the farmacia and demanded relief from the man at the counter, who handed me a box, took my eight euro, and gave me no directions on how often to take the pills, etc. Welcome to Italy.

culture > classes

2010-04-28T01:00:00.000-07:00

Two whole days without posting? Who am I? What is wrong with me?

Oh, wait, as usual, it's not my fault, but that of my internet, which was darn determined to keep me from posting both of the past two days. Blah! So here is my past-two-days recap (and you'll get another entry tonight, after I get back from cooking....lucky you!)...

Monday I was feeling ambitious! I have no classes, so when I woke to a gorgeous day, I decided to take a walk down to all of the junk stores where Gillian and I went earlier in the month.

Look familiar?

Unfortunately, not only were they closed, but there was a locked gate keeping me from even walking between them! Boo :[ So I walked some more, and....HEY! Look what I found!

It was hot on Monday, so I felt no qualms about paying less than 2 euro for a gigantic cone of coolness. This one was cioccolato fondente (dark chocolate) and cioccolato bianco con fragoline fresche (white chocolate with fresh, wild strawberries). I was less-than-impressed with the white chocolate, but the dark was to die for.

Oh, Grom, you have been bested, for sure.

I wandered a little more, passing the Ponte Vecchio. Long time no see!

Possibly my favorite of all Florentine landmarks, though the Duomo obviously gives it a run for its money...

Though I'm also a fan of the San Lorenzo market.

I just can't choose! Please don't make me!

If memory serves me, the temperature got up past 30 degrees Celsius (that's more than 86 degrees Farenheit!!) on Monday, so we trucked it down to the Piazza Independenza to do a little sunbathing...I got overheated pretty quickly and retired to the apartment. Ahhh, shade.

Tuesday morning I woke up and went to Italian like a good student...but then ditched writing to go to the flea market at Cascine park. It only happens on Tuesdays from 7 AM until 1 PM, so I absolutely had to skip class to see it! It was necessary for my cultural assimilation!

(That's my story and I'm sticking to it!)

It was definitely the LARGEST market I've seen to date, and stuffed to the gills with all kinds of interesting people and products. Gillian picked up a couple of clothing items and we spent the rest of the day perusing kitchenware, jewelry, food, what looked like used make-up (ew) and an assortment of other items.

[We interrupt your reguarly scheduled blogging to bring you these pictures of adorable animals.]

Birdies.

Bunnies.

Guinea Piggies.

And, why yes, that is a chipmunk[ie]!

[Thank you for your patience. Regularly blogging and writing sans cutsie endings will now resume.]

We took a bus back to the city center, where we took advantage of a free afternoon to hit up a lunch spot we have been waiting to try...Nerbone!

This little piece of Florentine culture is actually located inside il Mercato Centrale, and is therefore only open until 2 PM. Due to our regular date with Sergio's and conflicting class schedules, we have been unable to make it...until yesterday!

In true Italian style, everyone sits at communal lunch tables to enjoy their meal, after fighting tooth and nail to reach the counter to place an order.

I had pappa al pomodoro (Tuscan tomato soup) but the picture was a little...unappetizing, so I decided to spare you. I wasn't totally impressed with it, but sometimes food isn't necessarily about the food but about the experience, and dining at Nerbone, elbow to elbow (or, in my case, back to back) with the locals was certainly an experience I was unwilling to miss.

Then, Tuesday night, API took us to the Mostra d'Artigianato, which is an international crafts and foods fair, where people from all over the world come to display their wares.

What would a fair be without a giant carousel?

And flowers pointing the way?

There were cars made of twine and polyester...

inspirational wall art....

But once we found the food section, it was all over. We spent the better part of the evening stealing samples from the people. I ate what probably constituted an entire meal made of samples of bread, cheese, wine, crackers, and the occasional piece of chocolate.

We saw this Sicilian stand first thing and knew that us buying a cannoli was not only likely, but an inevitability.

Mountains of dried tomato, olives, and oregano. Normal.

Marzipane fruit! (Gillian bought a couple pieces.)

Beer!

What did I tell you? More cannoli. It was like they were calling our names.

[It's amazing how loudly one tiny...er...giant cannoli can yell!]

I split this gem with Gillian.

We walked out of the food fair with our pockets slightly lighter and our stomachs totally stuffed. I'm kind of bummed that I won't get to go back to explore the rest of it, since we leave tomorrow and the fair will be gone when we get back on Sunday night. The fair was HUGE and took place in this old fort. There were something like 8 buildings filled with all kinds of different crafts.

Anyway, the roomies and I are currently preparing for our weekend abroad in Barcelona! We leave tomorrow night around 8 PM and won't be back until late Sunday night...three whole days of Spanish fun! And with Gillian's roommate from home there to show us around, I'm certain that we will be kept plenty busy.

Like I said, look for another post tonight about my last cooking class of the semester!

why not...indulge?

2010-04-25T11:15:00.000-07:00

Life here in Italy runs at a different pace. People are constantly late, they close down their business at midday to take an extra-long lunch, and they have no qualms about finishing a phone call before serving a customer. Italians love a good glass of wine with their meal, eat pastry for breakfast, pasta at least once a day (according to my cooking teacher!), and routinely stop for gelato at random times of day. To summarize, these people live by what I'm going to call the "Perche no?" philosophy.

Translated, "perche no" means "'why not?" It is actually the name of a little gelateria near Palazzo Vecchio that we have recently fallen in love with, as well as the inspiration behind today's post.

People in America are constantly on the go, driving somewhere, always multi-tasking, never taking a moment to just stop, enjoy, and indulge. Shockingly, despite their indulgent eating habits, I have seen very, very few overweight Italians! Shocker! I feel like back home, I was either constantly indulging (eating sweets like there is no tomorrow) or cold-turkey depriving myself of the things (foods) that I love most. This unhealthy kind of attitude lead me personally to some unhealthy eating habits, and I know that I'm not alone. There is probably a reason that America ranks so high in obesity, cancer, and heart disease!

[Hope you're not tired of gelato pictures yet, because I forsee many cones in the upcoming weeks.]

One of the reasons I came to study abroad was to learn about myself. To figure out how well I would function in a foreign country, thousands of miles from everyone I know, on a budget, where I don't speak the language! Despite a lot of people's jealousy over this amazing opportunity, this experience has been a challenge. Fortunately, with all challenges, we are able to reap the benefits of the things that we learn.

What I've learned here is about balance. Balancing my work with pleasures, like traveling. Balancing my bank account, money I need with the money I want to spend. And easier things to balance...such as how many times a week to eat lunch at Sergio's versus Mario's! :D Anyway, the point is that life here has given me a different perspective not only on eating things like gelato (a couple of times a week won't hurt, with all the walking we do!) but also with life in general.

There is no need to rush, people. (Except of course, if you are rushing to a gelateria! Just kidding.) Slow down. Enjoy your life. And every now and then?

Indulge!

As the Italians would say...perche no?

are you going to eat that tentacle?

2010-04-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

I know you were all on the edge of your seats, waiting to see how I spent my Friday night. Marissa, Sam and I decided to go out and get some gelato (shocker) before heading to the Odeon Theater to see the only movie that was showing...The Fantastic Mr. Fox (with Italian subtitles)! It was...strange to say the last, but the roomies and I had a good time laughing at it. Plus, I didn't stay in on a Friday night and I got to pratice my Italian!

I did go to bed pretty early, though, because Gillian and I had a culinary extravaganza planned for today!

We took the train to Florida! Sorry, fam, no time to stop in and say hello.

Obviously kidding.

But I did keep having deja vu all day! With all of the palm trees and the bipolar weather, I was sure that we must be in the Sunshine State. In reality, we were in Livorno, which is so much better than Florida (sorry).

Livorno is Tuscany's third largest city, behind Florence and some other unidentified city. It is a port town, and is actually well known for its population of immigrants! Way back in the 16th century, Ferdinando I de'Medici acquired Livorno and sent a whole bunch of exiles and immigrants to live there, including a whole lotta Muslims and Jews who were being ousted from their home countries at the time. It remains one of Tuscany's most diverse cities today!

Gillian and Sam actually went to Livorno over spring break, but since I missed the trip and really wanted to try cacciuco (you'll see what that is later...), Gillian agreed to go with me again (what a sport!).

After a slight train mishap (we missed both of the 11 o'clock trains and had to take the noon one instead), we rode for an hour before arriving in the beautiful palm-tree filled city. We went to one of the only restaurants that was open. Apparently the entire city of Livorno takes its siesta at 2 PM, which was exactly when we arrived. Whoops.

Fortunately, Gillian and Sam had declared this place a gem. White bread was obviously necessary, as we were starving.

We decided to go big and split an antipasto. Good call! This was the best antipasto in the history of antipastos. It included: mussels, smoked salmon, two kinds of frutti di mare (seafood salad), shrimp in a kind of tartar-y sauce, and the star of the show, crostini (bread) with some kind of mussel-seafood topping. WHOA!

The last time Gillian came to this place, they were unfortunately out of cacciuco, which is a typical Livornese dish. I thought that we had heard good things about it, but looking back, it seems like most people just wanted us to try it..not necessarily because it was delicious. Somewhere down the line I had gotten the idea that it was a soup (think Mario's and Sergio's). I was very, very, VERY wrong, and after they brought out this dish, I was in shock for the rest of the meal. Heck, I'm still in shock!

It turned out to be a kind of...um...well...a seafood stew, if you will. But like mystery stew. You had no idea what you were getting when you pulled something out. And there was an entire, large shrimp sitting on top of the whole thing, staring at me. It still had its claws. The entire dish was coated in this thick, almost barbeque-y sauce.

Gillian performing surgery.

Why, yes, that is a tentacle! What, you never eat tentacles for lunch?

This dish was an experience. This is the kind of thing I came to Italy for: to experience the culture. And cacciuco is definitely full of cultural value (and octopus. I probably ate the entirety of Ursula from The Little Mermaid). Gillian and I could not stop laughing the entire time we were eating this...it was the kind of meal you never forget. I really don't know what else to say about it, except that it wasn't bad...it is just something I'll probably never order again.

There are no words.

After we picked through the...um....stew, the waiter brough us each a GIANT shot of limoncello, which is typically served as an post-meal aperitif, to aid in digestion. I have tried limoncello several times before this, but I decided to give it one last shot. Plus, I kind of wanted to wash the taste of octopus out of my mouth. (Kidding.)

Turns out, I just don't like limoncello. We'll call this little montage The Faces of Limoncello.

Here I am, ready to give it one last good-faith try...

The initial shock of the super-sweet lemon...

And the bitter aftertaste of the alcohol.

After lunch, we were both EXTREMELY full (despite my ragging on the cacciuco, we did some serious damage). We walked toward the harbor, since, like I said, Livorno is a port city.

Note the clouds here.

And here.

More clouds (and sailboats).

Then, BOOM! Clear skies.

Are you sure we're not in Florida?

We probably walked around the city for a good hour and a half (there may or may not have been some gelato...) before heading back to the train station. Look how pretty!

We both slept most of the train ride home, the octopus weighing heavily in our stomachs. A successful day, methinks.

kitchen math.

2010-04-23T10:07:00.001-07:00

What do you get when you add together...

+

+

= ?

The always-popular, ever-delicious....

Eggplant parmesan!

Fresh from the oven.

Om nom nom nom...

It was a rainy one here in Florence, so I decided to spend the day cooking! I headed to the market this morning to pick up my ingredients fresh, then lazily chopped, boiled, peeled, fried, and baked, until I got the above result! It was a big hit with the roomies...you're welcome, guys!

I don't really want to stay in tonight, since I've already been "in" all day, but I don't really feel like getting dressed up to go to a bar, either. Days like this really make me miss things like movie theathers, putt-putt golf, bowling, or even board games...gahh.

What to do...what to do?

my apologies.

2010-04-22T11:00:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry for the less-than-stellar and enthusiasm-free posts this week. I have been loaded with schoolwork, and as a result, totally tired and not feeling like myself. I think I just need a stress-free weekend (and maybe a Skype date with some family/friends? I feel like I haven't talked to anyone in ages. Maybe I'm a little homesick.)

Anyway, my life this week has felt fairly routine anyway, so despite the lack of real postage, you haven't missed much. Today we went on a "Making Gelato" tour through a Discovering Florence program that is run by the international school, Lorenzo de'Medici, that I attend here. I was expecting...more from this tour, I guess, but the little bit that we did see was entertaining.

A group of about 11 or so went to a gelateria near the Santa Maria Novella church where they produce their own gelato. The man who was supposed to give the tour was apparently not there and hadn't called to cancel, so the man's father, who speaks no English, gave the tour instead with one of the LdM advisors translating for us.

He showed us how to make a sorbetto gelato, which is fruit based and lacks the cream and milk that make the other flavors (like chocolate, hazelnut, coffee, etc.) creamier. Into the sorbetto went just water, sugar (um...a LOT of sugar), and frozen fruit. He blended it with a giant mixer, giving us all a taste of the sugary fruit syrup, then threw it into a gelato-making machine, where it took about 10 minutes to thicken and become delicious.

The old man was adorable, and I was surpised that I understood the majority of what he said even before the advisor translated for us. That is not to say that I necessarily understood every word that he told us, but I got the gist of what he was saying, which was an interesting feeling.

It was creamy and delicious coming out of the machine.

And we all got a free cone at the end! Mmmm, strawberry!

Anyway, Sam and I are off to pub crawl with a group of API kids and one of her friends from back home. I'm not feeling super social tonight, so I think I'm going to take it easy on the drinks...wish me luck!

I miss you all.

sleepy stomach.

2010-04-21T11:42:00.000-07:00

I think the mere title of this post says more about my current state of tiredness than anything else. For some reason, since I got home from cooking class, I have just been beat. Unfortunately, with a research paper to write, bedtime will likely not be until some unmentionable hour past midnight. Yuck.

Cooking class was somewhat uninspiring again tonight, but I thought I'd share the fruits of my labor with you anyway.

We started with a stereotypical Italian antipasto (deja vu?), bruschetta al pomodoro. The usual went into the tomato mixture: chopped tomato, olive oil, salt, fresh garlic, oregano, and fresh basil. Toss, let sit, then top toasted Tuscan bread with tomato-y goodness. Add a little red pepper to spice up your life.

I was REALLY excited about our primi piatti when I first read the recipe today, but the end result was less than impressive. Orchiette al cime di rapa is an ear-shaped pasta made with turnip greens and anchovies. Of course, everyone in the class freaked out at the idea of anchovies, but in the end, you honestly could not taste them. The dish ended up being bland, boring, and sadly without any real flavor or identity. I liked the pasta shape, but ended up topping it with anything and everything I could get my paws on (salt, pepper, red pepper...more salt...and parmesan).

Parmesan cheese makes everything better.

Again, reading the recipe for this next dish, flan di zucchine, excited me much more than the actual food. I personally sliced enough zucchini to feed Ethiopia, then we blanched it. Layer the slices in the bottom of a pan and top with a mixture of egg yolk, parmesan cheese, beaten egg whites, and a dash of nutmeg. Top with more zucchini slices and bake.

Blah.

I did, however, love our main course, pesce al spada di marinara. We baked fillets of swordfish topped with chopped tomato, olive oil, chopped black olive, capers, breadcrumbs, and an array of spices. Simple, delicious...and hot. I may have burned my tongue wolfing it down.

Aaaaaand the finale! The dessert we made was actually not on the syllabus, but since we weren't scheduled to make one today, our very kind cooking teacher showed us the "proper" way to make a tiramisu! (Briana, tell Matt that I'll make him some when I get home.)

In case you were wondering, the proper way to make it is sans liquer, with straight espresso, lady fingers, eggs, sugar, and marscapone. Boom. Using a 100 g marscapone to one egg to one tablespoon of sugar ratio (depending on how much you want to make), separate the eggs, mixing the sugar into the yolk and beating the white until VERY VERY stiff. Add marscapone to the egg yolk mixture then mix in the whites. Prepare the espresso, then quickly dip the lady fingers in the coffee (do NOT leave them there to soak or they will be too soggy). Place a small amount of the marscapone mixture in the bottom of a pan, topping with the coffee-soaked lady fingers. Top with the rest of the marscapone. Refrigerate. Serve topped with cocoa.

Boom. Delicious. Simple. Italian.

Now I'm off to...procrastinate a teensy bit more before I finally settle down to write about Caterina and Marie de'Medici, Queens of France. You'd think they would be more interesting than they actually are.

Buona notte!

exotic.

2010-04-20T07:36:00.000-07:00

It's been a fairly uninteresting day thus far, so I'll share a short piece we worked on in writing class today. We had to go out and find something about Florence that we consider "exotic" or different. Of course, I focused on food.

[I have to polish this up more for class next week, so any suggestions are welcome! But also keep in mind that it is a work in progress...]

In the middle of the largest outdoor market in Florence, and therefore the largest collection of tourists in Florence, there is a single stall that attracts none of them. An obviously Italian mob crowds at the open window of the tiny stand, which is ironically adorned with both the Florentine coat of arms and the highly recognizable red logo of Coca Cola.

My objective today is to search out the exotic parts of Florence, and even without traditionally exotic displays as colorfully plumed birds, bejeweled belly dancers or tasty tropical fruit, this minute stand has captured my attention, and mine alone.

The woman running the show is small, much smaller than the young man working with her, who is likely her son. She smiles the entire time I am watching, even as the grabby hands of the crowd snatch the white paper-covered plastic bags she is patiently handing to customer after customer, who devour the contents, leaning against the stainless steel of the bar before disappearing into the mass of tourists.

These Italians obviously know something that the tourists do not. No English signs are visible; there is no way for an American to discern precisely what is in these mystery sandwiches that the smiling woman is selling, yet somehow, they seem to understand that the advertised lampredotto is something to be avoided. They likely make no connection between the appetizing smell of cooking meat that wafts through the open window of the cart and the mounds of intimidating fleecy white meat piled indelicately in the displays of butchers less than 20 yards away in il Mercato Centrale. If they did, even the most gung-ho of tourists, sporting backpacks, aluminum water bottles, and Rick Steves’ guide to Florence, would be daunted by the answer to the question that no one will ask the woman running the stand: What exactly is lampredotto?
For the answer to this question would be likely to ruin any appetite: what you’d be putting in your stomach is cow stomach.

my life encapsulated.

2010-04-19T07:30:00.000-07:00

I just had to share the kind of beauty that my days are made of:

Tell me that is not one of the prettiest things you've ever seen.

No gelato left behind. That's my motto.

Now I'm off to work on something less beautiful...a writing assignment that's due tomorrow. Whoopee!

under the tuscan clouds (and the umbrian sun).

2010-04-18T23:41:00.000-07:00

API really outdid themselves this weekend. We all agreed that this excursion was the best of the three overnight trips we went on, full of languid relaxation, wine, and enough chocolate to chill out even the most stressed out college student (though it is difficult to be stressed when you are living in one of the most beautiful cities in one of the most beautiful countries in the world).

We departed at 8:30 AM on Saturday, headed for the city of Siena, located smack in the middle of the Chianti region of Italy, obviously well known for its wine and oil production. We started the day, as usual, with a two hour tour.

Siena is a part of the UNESCO Heritage project, meaning that all buildings must be built in the medeival style (on the outside; of course, the insides are allowed modern amenities). This means that the entire city retains a realistically ancient look.

Our tour guide was incredibly energetic and funny. She explained to us about the contrade, or "quarters" of Siena. The different neighborhoods are like teams, which compete in a horse race that takes place twice every year, on July 2 and August 16, called the palio. The contrada that wins essentially just gets bragging rights, but they take the whole team thing very seriously. You are inducted into a contrada at birth, and you can never change, unless you want to switch to your husband's contrada when you marry.

Siena's baptistery, which actually looks a lot like Florence's, as far as colors go.

The cathedral.

Here, you can see how the cathedral was actually built, by covering a plain brick facade with the beautiful marble. Building the entire thing of marble would be incredibly difficult because of the weight of the material as well as the cost.

Wells were a sign of wealth in the old days, not because they were expensive to build, but because only the wealthy had the connetions to get a permit from the government to build them.

The main square, Piazza di Campo, where the palio race is actually held. They do three laps around the piazza in about 75 seconds.

The "square" is actually seashell shaped, which our guide said had something to do with the immigrants that came to Siena, washing up on the shore like seashells.

After the tour, we had some free time for lunch. We got a recommendation from the guide, but after wandering around and looking for it, we gave up and settled for the first place that looked decent.

I wasn't super impressed with my picci all'amatriciana. I have been making the amatriciana in my kitchen for the past couple weeks and I personally thing mine is much better. Plus, the restaurant charged a 15% gratuity on top of the cover charge! WHAT?

I bought the banner of one of the contrada, the lupa, or she-wolf, which is also the symbol of the entire city of Siena. It was also the contrada of our tour guide, and she spoke so passionately about it, I couldn't help but be sucked in.

Siena is also known for a treat known as panforte, which literally translates to "strong bread." It has been around since the Crusades, when it was made as a kind of trail mix for the soldiers.

It's a kind of mixture of nuts, honey, different spices, and dried fruits all crammed together to make a kind of ancient, chewy granola bar. I got a grassato al cioccolato (or something like that) which had a layer of chocolate ganoche on the outside. Yummyyy. I snacked on it while we rode the bus to and from the thermal baths that afternoon.

More from Piazza di Campo.

After lunch, we boarded the buses and headed to one of Italy's famous thermal baths. These are actually fueled by heated water that comes from a kind of spring that results from all of the volcanic activity in the area. The water is infused with all kinds of awesome minerals that are good for different systems of your body, depending on what baths you go to. The ones we visited smelled very strongly of sulphur (reminded me of home!), and were supposed to be excellent for your skin, liver, and kidneys.

We spent the afternoon lounging in these heated pools, which were like a warm bath more than hot tub, like I was expecting. It was so relaxing and it brought back all of my desires for a nice hot bath (or hot tub)....

The outside of the spa.

Our hotel for the night was actually not located in Siena, but in a small town called Chiancino, where I shared my room with Marissa and Gillian, while Sam was put in a different room because she signed up a bit late for the trip. We were served a four course meal at the hotel! While the food was...you know, hotel food, it was really nice to be waited on (for free!).

Obviously, we started with bread...

And the always-nececssary water and wine...

We were STARVING by the time our antipasto came out, so we may have overindulged a little at this point.

Cheese! And bread. We think the spreadable cheese was tomino, and then a hunk of mozzarella.

Followed by fried vegetables and rice balls...

Primi piatti was a vegetable soup, which I didn't like so much. Now that I've been spoiled by Mario's and Sergio's thick, delicious soups, brothy just doesn't do it for me anymore.

Vegetable lasagna (I didn't eat all of that...whoa). It was flavored with cheese sauce and nutmeg, which was an interesting combination. I wished I had foregone the soup so that I could have finished this.

Roasted chicken was our main course, or secondi piatti. They also served french fries, but I told them not to give me any. I was getting incredibly full by this point and needed to save room for dessert.

Tiramisu cake! It was good, but not astounding.

After dinner, we were all STUFFED and exhausted, so we pretty much just went back to our room and talked for awhile before passing out until morning. We boarded the buses at 9 AM, headed for the Umbrian city of Perugia.

The mandatory two-hour tour included some pretty spectacular views.

Perugia is also known as the "Green Heart of Italy." Pretty!

The city was originally founded by the Etruscans, but was later taken over by the Romans, who built the aqueduct you see here.

Etruscan arch.

More beautiful views.

Unfortunately, the city which is well known for its chocolate-making as well as its beauty, is also now famous for the Amanda Knox case. For those of you who don't know, she was the American study abroad student who murdered her British roommate in what she claimed was an accident during a weird sexual game. U-S-A!

A stop at the chocolate store was necessary.

After hanging in Perugia until around 2 PM, we boarded a bus bound for the Chianti region of Italy, much closer to Florence than Perugia. The ride was about 2 hours, and full of twists and turns...I felt bad for anyone who gets carsick, because that was an intense bus ride. And the driver seemed to have very little respect for the laws of physics.

We went to the Castle Verrazzano, which was owned at some point in the past by the man who actually discovered New York. The vineyard has been owned by the same family since the 7th century...and let me tell you, what a life this family has lived.

The entire property was gorgeous. When we arrived, we were greeted by the vineyard owner, who gave us a little talk about the history of the castle, as well as respecting the wine for its flavors and history, and not just thinking of it as alcohol to get you drunk because, as he put it, "even a baby can get drunk"...but not everyone can appreciate the subtleties of a good glass of wine.

We also took a quick walk through the wine cellar...

The oak of the barrels gives the wine an "oak-y" flavor.

Finally, the wine tasting began. We started with an inexpensive bottle of "table wine," after the owner explaned to us a bit about how to hold the glass and experience the wine with senses other than taste. I'm certainly no wine connoisseur, but I have learned a thing or two here in Italy.

They served us enough food throughout the tasting to constitute an entire meal, starting with salami, prosciutto, and Tuscan bread...and olive oil, of course.

Later, we sampled some pecorino cheese and salad...

The waiters poured us a second glass of wine, a Chianti Classico, which is one of the post popular wines in the world, even if it's not necessarily the best or most expensive. This was my favorite of the three we tried, and I ended up buying a bottle.

Finally, we sampled a sweet dessert wine, which was served with these little cookies...whose name I am blanking on at the moment. You are supposed to dip them in the wine, but after one bite of that, I was done with that little experiment, and enjoyed them separately.

Roommates and I enjoying our wine-tasting experience!

We boarded the bus one last time, full of wine and cheese, our skin softened, and our muscles relaxed. A fully successful weekend, capped by a quick and beautiful drive back to our home city...now who could ask for more?

this is getting old.

2010-04-18T11:50:00.000-07:00

Sorry guys, no blog tonight due to, once again, my internet's refusal to a) upload my photos b) function in any sort of a timely manner. As soon as it's back on track, I will have photos for you from our weekend excursion to Siena & Perugia, where we experienced thermal baths, a four course meal, and a wine tasting in Chianti. Are you excited? You should be!

See you tomorrow [hopefully]!

P.S. Shout out to my Aunt Laura, who got married this weekend in South Carolina! Wish I could have been there. Congratulations and I love you!

if you're hungry...

2010-04-14T11:51:00.001-07:00

...walk away. Just walk away now. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Happy Hump Day to you all! I must say, that while I generally dread Wednesdays because they are the obstacle to the all-downhill-from-here second half of the week, they are possibly my favorite days here in Italy.

If you read my blog at all, you know what Wednesday's mean: Sergio's! We have had a standing Wednesday lunch date there since late February I think, and I've mentioned before that I think the staff is slowly getting to know us. None of us can really put a finger on what it is about this place that just warms our hearts, whether it's the ever-changing handwritten-daily menus, the same faces we see every time we go, or the simply incredible food, I have no intentions of ditching this date any time soon.

As soon as Gillian and Sam were ready to go, off we went!

The funny thing is that Sergio's wasn't even recommended to us by API, as most of our favorite places thus far have been. Gillian's professor from home actually knew of Sergio's when he visited Florence something like 50 years ago! Back then, it was little more than a sandwich shop, but now, it's a full on trattoria. For the sake of comparison, I ordered the ribollita today. If you have been paying attention in Italian class (a.k.a. my blog), you know that ribollita is a typical Tuscan soup with a black cabbage and bean base. I ordered it once when we first arrived in the city and I was not impressed at all, but when I decided to try it again at Mario's last week, I fell completely in love. Today, the two ribollitas competed for my heart: Sergio vs. Mario.

Ignore the fact that the soup looks vaguely disgusting in this photo, and concentrate on the fact that it is delicious. I think I decided that I prefer Mario's ribollita to Sergio's, but that Sergio's other soups (pasta e fagioli, minestra di farina, etc.) totally beat out the bean soup I had the first time we went to Mario's.

After our lunch, Sam and I took our books down to the Piazza Independenza again to soak up some Florentine sunshine. We say that we go to study, but we mostly just watch the dogs play in the park. We have come to recognize many of them, as well as their elderly Italian owners, who seem to gather in the park for little reason other than to cram onto benches with other elderly Italians to watch their dogs have a good time. Interesting people, these Italians.

I went directly from there to my cooking class, where I knew I was in for a seriously delicious dinner. I have literally been waiting for this class, knowing that what we were preparing was going to blow everything else away.

The star of the show today was...pizza napoletana! Neopolitan pizza, just like they famously make in the southern city of Naples. Holy crap, was I excited.

We handmade the dough ourselves, allowing it to rise before rolling it out and then portioning it into three separate pans.

One pan became this...

Our teacher essentially just took the dough, made indentations with his fingertips, topped it with fresh rosemary, salt, and olive oil and then stuck it in the oven. Yummmmmm.

The other two pans became pizza margherita, which is just the dough and tomato sauce (don't forget the olive oil!) topped with fresh bufalo mozzarella cheese and basil.

Sound boring? It's not. I'd just like to inform my parents that when they get here there will be a non-negotiable pit-stop in Naples just for pizza. Thanks!

And you can't have pizza without beer...

We each got a small cup of Peroni, a typical Italian beer. I actually didn't hate it like I do most normal beers (Guiness is the only one I can say that I legitimately like).

Now we're going to play a small game called Name That Entree!

You may not be able to tell, but underneath all of that tomato sauce and cheesy goodness is...aubergines! Yes, we made parmagiana di melanzane, or eggplant parmesan. I've never actually tried it, due to my unfounded fear of eggplant, but I can tell you that I will be sampling this again before leaving Italy.

We started by slicing the eggplants very thin and then coating them with salt. While they sat like that, we prepared the tomato sauce the normal way, with peeled tomatoes, olive oil, salt, the works. After the sauce had thickened up, we set it aside and heated up some oil, which we deep-fried the eggplant in, after rinsing the salt off. We then lined a deep pan with the fried eggplants, then a layer of sauce, then a layer of sliced fresh mozzarella, then basil, repeat. Top with grated parmesan cheese, and bake. Then devour.

Then there may or may not have been a little more pizza...

Finally, our teacher let us at the dessert, which I was personally involved in preparing! See that crust? All mine, baby.

Pasticheria napolitana is a dessert normally made at Easter. The crust was prepared the same way we prepared the crusts for the fruit tart and the torta della nonna, with flour, sugar, eggs, and butter, but this time we also added the zest of one lemon. The filling was made by heating milk and boiled wheat (which I had never seen before, and is sold mostly so that people can make this particular pie) until it became creamy. After allowin that to cool, we added it to a sweetened ricotta and egg mixture, which also incuded some vanilla and orange flavoring, as well as more lemon zest. The kicker? We also put in 150 grams of candied fruit.

I singlehandedly rolled out the dough for the crust, and after the teacher had added the filling, a classmate and I did the criss-cross pattern with the dough strings on the top.

I wasn't entirely sure about how I was going to feel about this dessert, with the candied fruit and all. It turned out to taste pretty similar to the torta della nonna, just more citrus-y and sweeter, thanks to the candy. I certainly wasn't complaining.

Tomorrow, I have class pretty much all day, but then, in the evening, my roommates and I are going on a tour of a gelato factory! Free samples? I sure hope so! Then this weekend we are going on our final excursion with our program to Perugia for a wine tasting and to Siena to experience Italy's thermal hot baths! Woohoo!

I hope your Hump Day was at least half as good as mine! Ciao!

fiesole, falafel, and fickle weather.

2010-04-13T13:08:00.001-07:00

Florence's weather has been playing games with our hearts. After a teasing few days of sunny, warm goodness, I woke up today to a stubbornly overcast sky, with a side of chilly wind. Not the best weather for my writing class field trip to Fiesole, but we made do.

Fiesole is a small town loacted in the hills that surround Florence, famous for its ancient Roman ruins and spectacular views of Florence. I took a 20 minute bus ride up to the city and was welcomed with some pretty spectacular landscapes that refused to be captured on film. Rest assured that the real thing is so much better.

Yep, that sprawl of building is Florence. Hard to believe.

It was an uphill hike to get those shots, but compared to the hike in Cinque Terre on Sunday, this was nothing.

We settled in the courtyard outside an old Franciscan monastery to write. The topic was the clash between our expectations of life in Florence and the reality of actually living here. I wasn't fond of how my writing turned out the first time around, but with some tweaking, I feel like it could work. I'll probably share the piece I wrote on London before spring break first, but maybe you'll get to see both if you're lucky.

I spent most of the afternoon just bumming around the apartment before the roommates and I headed out for our usual Ethnic Tuesday dinner. Tonight's ethnicity?...Jewish? Haha. Gillian and I have been craving hummus like none other, so when she found a local kosher vegetarian place with HUMMUS as an antipasto, we had to go.

Now that I'm done enjoying my hummus and falafel, Sam and I are drinking wine in preparation for heading out to the bars. I'm already exhausted, so I'm steeling myself for a very long night out...wish me luck!

is this real life?

2010-04-12T01:53:00.001-07:00

My internet is being flakier than usual tonight (though it is actually working for the most part, so I suppose I should thank the Solving Problem deities instead of complaining), and Blogger seems to be following suit. My pictures have uploaded in a very strange manner, and are refusing to be centered or ordered in any way. This could get interesting.

My roommates Marissa and Gillian and I signed up for a day excursion to Cinque Terre through a local student travel agency called Florence for Fun. The entire cost of the trip was only 38 euro and included round trip transport by train as well as a tour guide and entrance into the "national park" (which essentially just gave us permission to actually walk the trail).

Cinque Terre literally translates to "Five Lands." The cities, Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso al Mare, are five tiny towns embedded in the cliffs of Italy's Ligurian coast, and are connected by a walking trail that totals around approximately 11 km, ranging difficulty from a nice, paved trail to unpaved, rocky "stairs" and uphill treks.

We met up with the FFF group at 7:15 AM at the Santa Maria Novella train station, where we caught a train at 7:45 directly to Riomaggiore, the first town in the chain, where we started our journey.

I could tell when I woke up at 6 AM that the weather was going to be problematic. It was cloudy and cold as we were walking to the station in Florence, and the sky even threatened us with a few rain drops. I was truly hoping that Liguria is far enough from Tuscany to avoid the obvious rainstorm that was approaching Florence, but when our train stopped in Riomaggiore, it became obvious that this was little more than wishful thinking. Several in the group were wearing shorts and zip-ups, and even I, in my jeans and heavier jacket, was quite cold.

The trail we walked is called Via Dell Amore, or the Lover's Path. I forget precisely why it is called that, but there are all kinds of sappy lovey tributes scrawled all along it, as well as locks, which people often inscribe with their initials before tossing the key into the Mediterranean. How romantic.

We didn't really spend any time in Riomaggiore and just started our hike to Manarola. This first part of the walk was deceptively easy, as we strolled along, everyone photographing everything in sight and oohing and aahing over the spectacular landscapes. I was no exception.

Manarola is a tiny little fishing town, all of the houses brightly colored so as to be more identifiable from the decks of fishing boats out to sea. Again, we spent little time here before trekking onward to the third town, Corniglia.

Disclaimer: I did actually take all of these photos! It's not hard to mae them look this good when you are in a place as incredible as Cinque Terre.

I thought that the shots of Manarola were some of the most stereotypically "Cinque Terre-y" with all of the little houses set into the incredibly beautiful cliffside.

Some of the best shots of the city came from...a cemetary, where I shamelessly hammed it up for the camera, even standing on one of the cemetary walls...anything for a good shot, right?

Me and Mrissa, just chilling on a wall in the most beautiful place on Earth. You know, normal.

By this point, it was probably close to noon and I hadn't eaten since breakfast that morning around 6:30 AM...and I was starting to get a bit lightheaded. The hike got slightly more difficult from Manarola to Corniglia, teasing us with rockier stretches and way more uphill climbing, but I was still able to conquer it fairly easily. The only thing distracting me from my hunger were the unchangingly gorgeous views! I don't think I would ever get tired of looking at it, photographing it, hiking it.

The water was the most insane colors the whole way, the kind of blue that I thought only existed in Crayola boxes.

See? Slightly more challenging trail than what we had been working with...I guess it was preparing us for the climb ahead, though none of us knew it yet.

You can barely see Corniglia through the little arch there...it seemed so far, but lunch was there, so we pressed onward.

We had to cross all sorts of dangerous (haha) obstacles, like an Indiana Jones-esque wooden bridge...

as well as a final 382-stair climb to reach the town. Thumbs up for a serious workout after not eating for 7 hours. We were determined not to settle for a touristy restaurant (probably a little more difficult than you would imagine, considering that hundreds or thousands of tourists flow through the city on a daily basis) and go for something typically Ligurian. This meant one thing for me: pesto!

Liguria is where Genoa is located, considered to be the home of pesto, a kind of basil sauce for pasta that I have become mildly obsessed with since I arrived here.

We found a little hole-in-the-wall down one of the side streets with the requisite hand written menu outside. Cinque Terre is also (obviously) known for its seafood, as well as its white wine. Obviously, we had to sample as much as possible. The three of us split a bottle of white wine (which I loved, though I probably should have waited until I'd eaten a bit more before having a glass. I got a little tipsy, but was fine by the time we started hiking again) and then Gillian and I shared a plate of acciuga al limone for an antipasto. That's right: I ate anchovies...and liked it!

For the main course, all of us independently decided on the tagliatelle con pomodoro e pesto...pasta with tomato sauce AND pesto?! Yes, please! They brought us one large plate to share, and we were not disappointed. We walked away from lunch feeling exceptionally pleased with ourselves.

Views of Corniglia...

By the time we had finished lunch we literally had no time to explore the town. The tour guides offered us two options: we could either take the train to the fourth town, Vernazza, or we could attempt the more difficult hike, which was both longer and more challenging than what we had experienced thus far. My roommates and I were all gung ho to do the hike, so we followed our guide.

Honestly, after the first hill, with my stomach still full from lunch, I wasn't entirely sure that I was going to make it. But I pressed onward, loving the burn in my legs and the feeling of my heart pumping...I haven't worked out other than walking since I've been here, and it was such a good feeling to actually get some exercise in. Again, the views worked like a magic balm on my aching calves at the top of every hill.

Every shot I took looked like a postcard. It got kind of ridiculous.

That's Corniglia in the background.

We stopped periodically to rest.

Look how far we went! And this was probably about halfway.

The entire 4 km stretch took us a little over an hour and a half to hike.

This part of the trip was so challenging, yet so rewarding. I don't think there has been a single moment of this trip that topped seeing Vernazza for the first time.

We made it!

Ew, what is that black wire, ruining my shot?

We actually had some free time in Vernazza, and our first stop was, of course, gelato. The weather had improved significantly since the morning's chilly, overcast-ness, and we were all sweaty and ready for some cold deliciousness.

We also spent a bit of time looking at the local goods, buying postcards, and checking out the selections of wine and pesto. Gillian and I ended up buying a bottle of balsamic vinaigrette (we're all obsessed here at The Palace) and I, of course, got my requisite post cards. They were all so gorgeous...choosing was so difficult that I ended up just grabbing randomly.

There was also another UF student on the hike, so we, of course, got in our necessary Gator chompin' photos! GO GATORS!

The hike from Vernazza to Monterosso is 3 km, slightly shorter than from Corniglia to Vernazza, but supposedly takes over two and a half hours. It is the most brutal part of the hike, but also the most visually rewarding: the views from that section of trail are apparently mindblowing. Unfortunately, becuase of time constraints, we did not have time to hike that section of the trail, and instead took a train to the final town.

We had very little time in Monterosso before our train for Florence left at 6:30, but we did manage to get in some shots of limoncino, a kind of dessert liquer, which I have officially decided that I do not like. Gillian's professor had also told her that the foccacia in this town was amazing, so we all picked up a different variety for dinner. Mine had fresh tomatoes and chese, while Gillian selected anchovies with tomato, and then we shared them later on the train home.

Of all the towns, I was most bummed about not really getting to see Monterosso. Gillian's professor from home had told her that it was his absolute favorite, so we are already making plans to go back in May to hike that final stretch from Vernazza, and spend a day at the beach in Monterosso.

Foccacia!

It was a wonderful, perfect day. The entire time we were snapping photographs and going gaga over the beautiful scenery, we just kept thinking that this could not possibly be real. One girl summed it up, quoting a popular youtube video, when she said "Is this real life?" (Search YouTube for "David After the Dentist" to hear the quote firsthand). And honestly, this IS my life: I hiked a trail along the Mediterranean , ate decadent foods, sipped white wine, and personally witnessed some of the most breathtaking views in the world.

I was much too tired to contemplate all of this on the train ride home. After all of that sun and walking, I was completely exhausted and passed out for the majority of the train ride home. I'm feeling it a little in my calves today, but I'm expecting the full-on second-day sorness to kick in tomorrow. Completely, totally worth it...and can I just say one thing?

I love my life.

Ciao!

the one with all the olive oil.

2010-04-10T14:26:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, API took us on a day trip to Lucca, a small Tuscan town famous for its production of olive oil. As usual, the morning started way earlier than I personally would prefer. We boarded the buses at 8:30 AM and took off.

Also as usual, we were subject to a historical tour of the town. Normally, I enjoy these tours, but Lucca is a small town, and I personally felt that two hours was a bit of overkill. (I also had a serious yen for some lunch after six hours of not eating). Our tour guide, though, was very personable and maybe just a teensy bit crazy, but it made our tour more interesting.

The entire town is surrounded by a large protective wall, at least 10 meters wide, that was built several centuries ago, when the Lucchese people were afraid that a more powerful city state like Florence would attack and attempt to take them over. Very few people realize that Italy was not united as a country until 1861, and before then, it was made up of many warring states that were constantly fighting for power. It was also a battleground for other powers throughout the centuries such as France and Germany.

The wall surrounds the entire city center of Lucca, and at one point in the recent past, there was talk of tearing it down. But the Lucchese people rose up in defense of their wall, and now it remains a monument and one of their claims to fame.

The tour guide was kind of dissing on the bell towers in the city, and she was right: they certainly don't compare to Florence's tower.

She took us inside the church of San Frediano...

Apparently he was actually an Irish saint, so I don't really know why he is important to the Italians.

Then she walked us to the Piazza Anfiteatro (Square of the Amphiteather), so named because of its round shape and probably for some other historical reason that I missed while I was busy photographing it.

Then we walked some more, and came upon this little Luccan gem: it's a bell tower that actually has several large oak trees growing on top of it, their roots reaching down into the actual bell room. I wish we'd had time to climb it, but by the time we were done with lunch, there simply was no time.

We walked to the main cathedral (of course). If I never go into another cathedral again after I leave Italy, I will be a very happy camper. Don't get me wrong; they are all beautiful...but they all look the same to me.

This one in particular is home to a famous wooden carving of Jesus on the cross, a relic which we were yelled at by a crazy old man for photographing...even though not a single person had raised their camera. Also, it is worth nothing that they were actually selling souveneirs inside the church. Gillian and I were somewhat disgusted by that.

Those two are from Napolean Square. Apparently Napolean's sister actually lived in Lucca for awhile, in an apartment right off of this piazza.

Our tour ended in Piazza San Michele.

We ate lunch nearby, sampling the local cuisine. Gillian and I both ordered the minestra de farro, which is a kind of spelt (grain) soup with red beans. It was good, but I would take Sergio's or Mario's over it any day. We were also sure to purchase a small loaf of bucellato bread, which is a kind of sweet raisin bread flavored with fennel. Even after a whole day, I'm still not sure if I like it or not. We spent our little remaining free time exploring the flea market in the Piazza San Michele, before returning to the buses to head to Fattoria di Poggio, an olive farm known for its production of some of the area's best olive oil.

Walking into the farm.

The olive press. Our tour guide made sure to impress upon us the importance of ONLY buying olive oil that is clearly marked with the words "cold pressed." Otherwise, it is "not worthy of being used to power car."

The olive trees.

After our mini tour of the farm, we were taken to actually taste some of the oil produed on the farm.

They gave us bread, olives, sundried tomatoes, and a couple kinds of salami. We finished our "snack" (er...second lunch) off with some dessert wine (that I hated) and some biscotti cookies (which I loved).

Of course, we had to buy some of the products. I myself got a couple of bottles of oil.

I really enjoyed myself on this trip. It was a very relaxing day, though I do wish we had had more free time in the actual city. We had to get back to Florence, though, in order to see Fiorentina play Inter Milan! Pictures from that as well as our hike through Cinque Terre tomorrow.

Buona notte!

going retro: thursday top ten refigured.

2010-04-08T09:22:00.000-07:00

I don't actually know if it's entirely possible to "go retro" on a blog that is less than three months old, but we're going to pretend that it is. In the spirit of going retro, I'm bringing back Thursday Top Ten in a whole new way...

Ten European Cities Have I Loved

We're going to look back at all the traveling I have done thus far in the semester, and then look ahead at what is still to come....ooooooh.

[These are in no particular order. Except maybe the order that they are stored in my Pictures folder.]

1. Verona. My roommates and I set off on a slightly impetuous overnight journey to the home of Shakespeare's starcrossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet. We had an excellent dinner at a kitschy restaurant called Al Bracere before spending most of the next day walking around, eating crepes and gelato, before deciding we'd seen enough and heading home.

Verdict: The city itself is cute enough, and way more...developed than I had been expecting. I really enjoyed the sights of the city, including the above-pictured Roman amphitheater, Juliet's house, and the Piazza delle Erbe, where we of course stopped to sample some fruit from the local market, but I felt like the city itself was too small to warrant any long amount of time being spent there.

2. Roma! API took us to Rome the last weekend in February, where we spent 3 days touring ancient Roman ruins, drinking espresso, sampling the local cuisine, and 1 memorable night drinking at a bar appropriately named...Sloppy Sam's. How perfect.

Verdict: I liked Rome more than I thought I would. It was way more urban than I expected, but somehow still less dirty and toursity than I'd been led to believe. It did, however, solidify my certainty that studying in Florence was the right choice for me.

3. Amsterdam. I actually just blogged about this a few days ago, so I don't think you need much of a recap here. I mostly spent my days wandering the city and eating Vlamese french fries (no mayo, thanks), while trying to avoid being hit by bicycles. Oh, and I also ran into my childhood friend who I hadn't seen for probably 7 years here.

Verdict: I would love to go back to Amsterdam with some of my closer friends to hit all the sights that I missed the first time around. While the city is gorgeous, I don't think I met more than five legitimate Dutch people the whole time I was there. That's how touristy it is.

4. Bologna. Another recent adventure to the city historically known as Italy as la grassa, which literally means "The Fat." I think you can draw your own conclusions about the typical cuisine of Bologna from that nickname. I spent one day in one of Italy's gastronomic capitals, hopping from restaurant to restaurant, waiting to be wowed.

Verdict: I was a bit underwhelmed by Bologna, to be quite honest. I expected...more somehow, in all areas. More history. More cool buildings. More good food. I think that if we had asked API for some restaurant recommendations we might have done a little better. And a tour guide. That would have been nice.

5. Belfast. [Hey, these are kind of almost alphabetic!] The second stop in my spring break was Northern Ireland's teensy little capital city, where I enjoyed a homemade Irish breakfast and pints at what seemed like every pub in the city with my dear friend, Jenny (pictured above).

Verdict: The smaller-town feel of Belfast was exactly what I needed after a hectic three days in Dublin, but I definitely think that 2 days is all that you need for this city. If I'd stayed any longer, I might have gotten bored.

6. London! I spent three days with one of my best friends from high school, Jessica, while she showed me all of the things I missed on my first touristy whirlwind visit to the city last spring. We drank a ton of coffee, ate lots of cookies, met an army of swans, and then suffered the consequences of one pint too many in Kingston.

Verdict: This was the best part of my spring break. I think I could travel to London a million times and never be bored, and not just because the company is fantastic. There is just something about that cold, drizzly city that gets me every time. And after discovering both Ben's Cookies and Borough Market this past visit, it's a sure bet that I'll return eventually. Or at least have Jess ship me some cookies.

7. Innsbruck. Mary and I took an overnight train to this quaint Austrian town in early March, where we experienced some um...Austrian hospitality along with a lot of museum tours, thanks to the snow, which kept us mostly indoors.

Verdict: I loved this little town! The views of the Alps were absolutely stunning, and I found most of the museums to be incredibly interesting. Of course, being Floridian, I was impressed by the snow at first, but later regretted ever celebrating its presence.

8. Dublin. My spring break started with 3 crazy days in the Irish capital and let me tell you, they do not share the Italian stance on drinking. It is accepted, promoted, and expected that people will get drunk. At 5 PM. Every day of the week.

Verdict: I definitely didn't get to see as much of the cultural aspect of the city that I liked. This was probably due to the people who I was traveling with who had...shall we say...different interests and expectations of our trip. Nevertheless, I drank enough Guiness to make an Irishman proud, and enough Irish car bombs to make the politically correct blush.

9. Venice. Another API sponsored excursion. We were all thrilled for this trip, which took place during the famous Carnevale. However, upon arrival, it immediately became clear that partying in Venice for Carnevale is much better in theory than in actual practice. All of that quiet melancholy, the beautiful canals, the fantastic culture...it all disappeared in one giant, glittery and insanity-inducing weekend.

Verdict: The food was underwhelming (and horribly overpriced). To say that the streets were crowded would be a criminal understatement. We didn't get enough time in either Murano or Burano. Honestly, this weekend was kind of a disaster, saved only by the quiet Sunday afternoon I spent searching out espresso and gelato with my roommates, when we finally managed to escape the mad crowd.

10. San Gimignano. This quaint Tuscan town is situated south of Florence, in the hills associated with some of Italy's finest and most popular wines. We went for an afternoon of fun and to enjoy the medeival scenery, but mostly because we had heard that the world championship gelateria was located there...and we couldn't resist.

Verdict: The fact that the gelateria we specifically went for definitely put a dent in my assessment of this city. However, it was redeemed by some delicious and cheap wine, handpainted goods, and fabulous scenery. San Gimignano, we will be back for that gelato. Just you wait.

It's kind of nuts that we have only been to 10 cities so far (well, plus Pisa, but that hardly counts). Of course, it seems like this next month and a half is more travel-heavy than the previous two have been. Before May 25, I will be travelling to:

Lucca

Cinque Terre

Perugia

Siena

Livorno

Barcelona

Viareggio

Rome (again)

Pompei

The Amalfi Coast

And, as of today, Alicante (Spain)

Holy crap. This means that by the time I have left Europe, I will have been to at least 23 different cities in 6 different countries. I'd say my life is pretty freakin' awesome.

The Lucca trip is actually scheduled to take place this Saturday! The city iself is located only about an hour from Florence. We will travel there with API for an olive oil tasting (yummy) before being set free to explore the city ourselves for awhile. When we return, we will actually be heading almost straight to the Fiorentina soccer game. The next morning, two of my roommates and I will be going to Cinque Terre for the day with a local student travel agency called Florence for Fun. Cinque Terre is largely recognized as one of the most beautiful places in Italy (if not on Earth). It is a series of 5 towns, situated on what I believe are a few separate islands, and we will be hiking through all of time. Wish us luck.

it's a beautiful day.

2010-04-07T15:05:00.000-07:00

I hope that a burst of song filled your head when you read this blog title...IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY! A month ago, it was snowing. Today, it is in the 70's, sunny, and completely cloudless. Beautiful.

Today, I fell in love with Italy all over again.

My day started when I woke up around 10. Ate breakfast, the usual, enjoyed the beautiful weather out the window while I ate. Then Gillian and I finally made it over to the San Ambroggio market, another food market, located in the eastern part of the city. I personally have never been to that part of the city, so I enjoyed our walk in the perfect weather.

The market itself was...markety. Pretty sweet. I'm definitely going to miss markets when I am buying my produce at Publix in just over 6 weeks. Ew.

Haha, check out the stall owner smoking while he works. Typical.

Another lunch place that is on our list, and it's actually located IN the market. We would have gone here yesterday, but we had a date with Sergio.

We each bought a few things, and spent a bit of time inside, chatting with one of the cheese vendors. He had a thing for Gillian and kept giving us free samples of all kinds of things...three different kinds of pecorino, an unidentified kind of creamy cheese on a cracker, and finally, a large green olive.

Then we walked back toward the city center...

Yet another thing on our to-eat list: Florentine street food! Trippa, or tripe, which is...cow's stomach, is very common locally, and we are determined to at least sample it...no matter how scared we may be. I think Gill and I agreed to split one later, just to be on the safe side.

Then we came upon this little area, which I had no idea existed...

More used books.

I think the weather has drawn all of the couples out into the open...and they are not shy about PDA around here.

Then we stumbled into this little courtyard.

It's full of little junk shops! Most of them were closed, but I really want to go back and check on one in particular that looked like it had some antique postcards and prints inside.

Then of course, since it was Wednesday, we had our usual lunch at Sergio's! Sam's friend from home, Kasey, who is studying in Stockholm, joined us. I had the pasta e fagioli, a soup with little round noodles and beans, topped with the mandatory dose of olive oil. It was, as usual, delicious.

Before lunch, Gillian and I had done a bit of shopping at San Lorenzo. I picked up a pair of sweet shades and a bracelet for a few euro.

Thennnn the weather was so gorgeous that we took a blanket down to Piazza di Independenza and just spread out to enjoy the sunshine.

Sam did some homework...

While Gillian napped.

I, of course, took the opportunity to show off my new sunglasses! I haggled the guy from 20 euro all the way down to 5. Good job, me.

I spent most of the afternoon, though, with Sam's copy of Eat, Pray, Love.

I picked up directly from the park and went to my cooking class. I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't exactly enthralled with what we made last night, but free dinner is free dinner.

We started with pasta coi ceci, which is a kind of pasta and chickpea "soup" which, like most Italian sounds I have encountered, is thick enough to eat with a fork. On the side, broccoli al limone, broccoli topped with a lemon and olive oil sauce, and a nice slice of Tuscan bread.

For our main course, we made lamb with fresh mint, but I personally wasn't a huge fan. We roasted it, with the garlic and mint wrapped up inside, in the oven for over an hour, stopping to add white wine to the pan as it evaporated. There was just something weird about the taste (plus I got a particularly fatty piece). I wasn't a fan, and didn't stop to take a photo.

Dessert was cicerchiata, which is a kind of carnival food. It is essentially fried dough balls, which we topped with a honey glaze made from raw honey, crushed almonds, cinnamon, and lemon zest.

They were good, but again, uninspired.

I literally ran from my cooking class down to Via Ghibellina, where I met up with the rest of the API crew for Momix, the modern Italian ballet, which had been described to us as a mixture between dance and Cirque du Soleil. I have never actually seen Cirque, so I was a bit unsure about what to expect. Our seats were pretty sweet, on the top floor in a box front and center of the stage (though it took us about a year to find them...)

I enjoyed Momix, though it was quite different from what I had expected. The word "ballet" to me just automatically means choreographed dance to music, but this was much more...interpretive. There was a lot of play with light and different kinds of music and the "dancing" itself was unlike any ballet I'd ever seen.

At the end of the night, we walked home and enjoyed some freshly baked dark chocolate chip cookies that Gillian had (angrily) prepared earlier in the evening, while the internet had been playing games with her. A perfect end to a perfect day.

buona pasqua!

2010-04-07T01:50:00.000-07:00

Buona Pasqua! Happy Easter! I'm only a few days late, I know you'll forgive me.

The weather played games with us all weekend. I would wake up inthe morning, and be incredibly excited because the view out our window would look like this...

But by the time I showered and got ready, the view would look like this...

Which would usually turn into an all-out downpour by afternoon.

We managed to make our own fun anyway. The celebration started a couple of days before Easter, when Gillian brought me along to a chocolate shop that had been recommended to her.

Here, the children are given giant, hollow chocolate eggs that usually have toys in them. There are all kinds of varieties, and they are all beautiful...and tempting.

This one was the size of a small toddler and cost more than 95 euro.

Gillian and I may or may not have bought one each, and though it did take a great deal of willpower, I resisted the 20-pound egg and went for a smaller version. The chocolate store is also home to a gelateria, and since we had been planning to get gelato anyway, we decided to gamble and try this new, untested and unrecommended place.

We were not disappointed.

My cone...dark chocolate with sicilian orange and "milk" flavors. SO GOOD. And cheap! That is quite a lot of gelato for 1.70 euro, let me tell you. I'm turning into quite the connoisseur.

Every Easter for more than 300 years has been celebrated in Florence with il Scoppio del Carro, or the Explosion of the Cart. The cart is pulled by four white oxen in a procession through the city until it comes to rest between the Baptistery and the main cathedral. A wire is attached somehow, and a white dove that is actually a "rocket" is sent down the wire to the cart, which is full of small explosives and fireworks. Apparently the belief is that if the explosion is successful, then there will be a good harvest that year.

I personally missed the actual explosion, but got to see the cart being pulled away by the oxen after the event.

After that, I went home to celebrate with the roomies!

Lovely morning picture, but check out how big it is! It's the size of my head! And the chocolate is of much higher quality than the stuff they use to make those nasty hollow bunnies with in America. I gave half to my roommate Marissa because Lord knows I don't need that much chocolate.

We had a nice Easter dinner (after trekking through the POURING rain to the other side of the river) at Dante's, which had been recommended to us multiple times, partly because of the food, but mostly because as students, we get free wine. We each ordered a pizza and had a few glasses of wine. When we left the restaurant, it was raining even harder, and our feet were already soaked, so we called a cab to take us home, where, in our wine-induced giddiness, we may or may not have started an all-out berry-throwing war. I think there were berries in every corner of the apartment by the end of the night. Don't worry, parents, we woke up the next morning and promptly swept, mopped, and picked up every last berry.

Oh! I forgot to mention that I spent most of Easter constructing a crostata, or fresh fruit and custard tart, like one we had made in class earlier in the week. I didn't manage to get a picture of it before we demolished it, but Gillian did. I kind of messed up the custard, but it was still delicious. I was quite impressed with myself.

Gillian and I are now off to check out the San Ambroggio market, which is just another one of Florence's food markets, but we have been itching to see if it is better than il Mercato Centrale. The weather is also gorgeous, so I'll probably hang outside before meeting Mary for lunch at Sergio's later this afternoon. Mmmmm, minestra here I come!

my bologna has a first name...

2010-04-06T08:38:00.000-07:00

It's I-T-A-L-Y! Ha! Just kidding.

Saturday, Gillian and I took a day trip to Bologna, the capital of Italy's Emilia Romagna Region, a little over an hour north of Florence by train. It is known as one of Italy's gastronomic capitals, since it is the home of both Parma ham and Parmaggiano cheese, obviously two of the country's greatest culinary successes.

We got up super early (around 7 AM for me) to catch the cheapest train possible, which was due to leave at 8:35. Of course, when we got there 15 minutes early, the train was already sold out, forcing us to take the more expensive (though faster) train at 9 AM. We arrived around 9:30 and headed, mapless, toward what we hoped was the city center.

After rounding the first corner, we spotted a white tent...the market we were hoping to encounter? Not quite. Possibly even better.

A used book sale!

We both leafed through some random things for a bit. We ended up returning later in the evening to purchase a gag gift for Sam, and Gillian got a guide to Italy's restaurants. It only cost 1 euro, probably because it was published in 2002...no worries, though! We still knew most of the restaurants in the Florence section.

Then we found a set of stairs that led to a park...

Most of the statues were of animals being brutally killed and/or eaten by other animals. Cute.

We then stumbled into an ENORMOUS flea market, full of cute jewelry, old clothes, sunglasses, and enough bongs to make Amsterdam blush.

Typical Italian dog.

At this point, we have no idea where the city center is, so I caved and bought an ENORMOUS and totally overpriced map. It was the bane of our existence for most of the day, but we were able to map a route...barely.

Literally, maybe half of the map is showing in this photo.

We walked toward il Mercato Delle Erbe, which is Bologna's largest, and supposedly one of the best in Europe.

We eventually found it...

And fresh pasta! Bologna is known for its freshly made egg pasta, especially the tortelloni.

Of course, I bought some Parmaggiano-Reggiano cheese.

I personally prefer il Mercato Centrale here in Florence...it is much homier and less...fluorescent than the Bologna market. The Erbe market's stalls were more formal and technological, and I just missed the more agricultural feel of Florence's best market.

Next, we walked toward the city's historical center.

This is a "walk through" instead of a drive through, haha. Cracked me up.

King Neptune fountain, located in Piazza Maggiore, Bologna's biggest and most important square.

At this point, we were feeling a little hungry for lunch, so we walked in the general direction of one of the places that Gillian had oh-so-considerately written down before we had left.

I think you can figure that out, even if you don't speak Italian.

Of course, Italy likes to screw with us, so the place that Gillian had found recommended was either closed or shut down, so we walked into a trattoria that had its menu handwritten outside, which we have always found to be a good sign. We decided together on two dishes and then split them.

Tortelloni con panna e prosciutto

And tagliatelle con ragu bolognese
[Check out Gillian in the background, preparing her camera]

We were both huge fans of the tortelloni. The cream was very light and delicious, and the ham, obviously what the city is famous for, was amazing. I also really liked the tagliatelle, though it was a bit meat-heavy for both of us.

At this point, we decided to sample some of Bologna's other cuisine...namely, gelato! Sorry, no photo, but rest assured that it was delicious-looking, as well. We wandered around another used book shop for a bit, trying to find a cheap cookbook or any other interesting thing that could catch our eye. Then we decided to abandon the map and just...go.

We found this nice piazza, before retiring to a coffee shop to just sit, talk, and observe the very interesting population of the city. Bologna is home to one of the oldest universities in Italy (in all of Europe, maybe? Gillian?) so there were a lot of students, and some very odd tourists. We also saw our fair share of daschaunds and French bulldogs. After our subpar lattes, we returned to the used book fair to purchase the aforementioned items. We walked and walked some more, and decided to get a snack before our train.

We stopped at an osteria that Gillian had, again, written down before called Osteria dell'Orsa. I ordered a sandwich with mushrooms, cream, and brie and a glass of white wine, while gill had a couple of crostini. Neither of us was disappointed when we returned to our train, which departed at 8:18 PM.

All in all, a very relaxing and gastronomically pleasing day, though I will say that I was not blown away. I feel like if we had actually spoken to someone who had lived or studied there and gotten their take, we would have succeeded more at our restaurant-picking. Either way, a nice day with my great roomie...can't go wrong with that!

the last of my spring break saga...

2010-04-04T01:46:00.000-07:00

Alright, guys, here it is: the final post about my spring break. Thank GOD! From here on out, I am dedicated to clearing the backlog and fully catching you up to where I am now instead of living in the now-ancient past (that is, as long as my internet decides to behave less like a stubborn fit-pitching child).

My two days in Amsterdam were relatively uneventful. It is a beautiful city, and I would definitely love to go back, since I feel like I missed out on a lot of what the city had to offer. I didn't get to do a canal tour or rent a bike, see the Van Gogh museum or check out the flea market.

The first day, I arrived around 2 PM after an epic journey from Eindhoven. I was under the impression that I would be able to get either a direct bus or train there with relatively little trouble. However, I was told upon landing at the airport at 9:30 AM that the next bus would not be leaving until 12:30 PM. Fortunately, there were buses leaving every 10 minutes to the train station, where I was told a train ticket would actually cost less and be quicker. Cool. Upon arrival at the train station, however, I was given a "schedule" along with my train ticket. This schedule apparently told me when to get off the train and catch yet another bus before getting back on another train...except that I don't speak Dutch, so it was all Greek to me (haha, punz). Luckily, I had heard a group of Italian kids next to me asking for the same train as me, straight to Amsterdam, so I was able to follow them through the transportation maze, until, five hours later, I finally docked in the Netherlands capital.

After settling into my hostel and showering, I set out by myself to look around the city, despite my extreme exhuastion. The city is actually often called the "Venice of the North" because it is built on canals.

The National Monument in Dam Square

See? Canals.

Anyway, my first day there was, like I said, uneventful...until I returned to the hostel. I walked in and met the girls I was sharing my 6 bed room with. One of them looked familiar, but I was exhausted and quickly retreated to the bathroom to put on my PJs. When I came back out, I stared at the girl again, and she stared back at me until I realized that it was Stephanie, a girl I had gone to middle school with! I had known that she was studying abroad in Bath, England, but had no idea that she would be in Amsterdam at the same time as me! After a loud and excited reunion, she introduced me to her travelling companions. We talked for a bit before all passing out.

The next morning, we woke up earlyish in order to get to the Anne Frank House before the crowds. We were somewhat unsuccessful, as there was a line around the building when we arrived. The wait wasn't bad, though, and the museum was quite interesting, especially for me, since I've never actually read The Diary of Anne Frank.

Anne Frank statue.

Anne Frank's actual house.

I'm kind of ashamed to admit that I didn't know she was hiding out in the Netherlands...I definitely thought she was in Germany. Whoopsy.

After our tour of Anne Frank's house, we set off in search of the infamous Sex Museum...but ended up a bit lost.

Fortunately, Amsterdam is kind of a nice place to be lost. Very beautiful.

And amusing.

What they say about it is definitely true...I saw my share of "coffee shops" and prostitutes. It's kind of funny until you actually want a legitimate coffee shop, with lights and seats, to sit and read in, and all you can find are smoke-filled rasta-music-playing holes.

Haha, "They're Among Us." Silly Dutch people.

We did finally find the Sex Museum, which I personally feel would have been more interesting with a more "history of sex" feel versus the "display as much porn as possible" vibe that I got.

After the museum, Stephanie and her friends headed back to the hostel for a midday rest, and I went on a fruitless search for the supposed flea market that the city has. After I failed to find it, I too, returned to the hostel for a nap. I ended up passing out, catching up on all sleep lost in London, until past dinnertime. I went out and got a Dutch pancake for dinner, wandered a bit more, and then went home early, knowing that I had to get up early for my flight.

My journey back to Italy was long, but easy, with nothing special to note. It was very nice to return home, though, and very odd that this apartment is finally feeling like...home.

So that is my spring break recap! YAY!

Oh, and don't forget...

london by balconies, with coffee. and swans.

2010-04-02T08:57:00.001-07:00

My spring break trip continued in the UK after my Irish adventures had ended. I landed in Gatwick Airport in London around 8:00 PM on Tuesday night, with the roommates of the two girls I had initially planned on travelling with. I do not know these girls well, and have very little in common with them...this may or may not have made the first leg of my journey through London slightly awkward.

At any rate, I steered us onto the right train from Gatwick into the city, and then onto the correct tube line to our hostel, where we arrived, exhausted from a full day of travelling, past 11 PM. I hadn't eaten dinner, so I headed out for a quick bite before returning to my room and passing out until morning.

I fueled up on free hostel breakfast the next morning before heading out for a bit of adventuring.

I walked through Russell Square, intending to head toward Covent Garden before being sidetracked by...

Starbucks. I hadn't seen one since I left America, and while Italy's coffee trumps 'Bucks' EASILY, I had to sit down for a chai latte, in the name of America. I promptly fell asleep in my chair.

After rousing myself, I wandered down Oxford Street (accidentally) and bought myself a pair of jeans, thank the dear sweet Lord. Aftere that, it was time for me to go meet up with Jessica, a friend of mine in high school who permanently resides in London (well, at least until 2011, anyway).

Since I hadn't been planning on hitting all of the touristy spots that I went to when I visited London last year in any kind of depth, we decided to hit most of them on a whirlwind three hour tour of the city that included...

Somerset House

The Thames River

This is technically not a tourist sight, but a place I stopped for my dear friend Onalee, who studied in London through FSU last spring. Shout out!

Jess also took me where her school, London School of Economics, is based near Aldwych. They had apparently just finished a new building, so after slipping past the high security guards at the front desk (no lie), she took me to the balcony for the view.

'Twas a bit windy.

Then we walked a bit more...

This was so not here at this time last year.

More Thames.

Then we crossed the river on Jubilee Bridge, and after landing on the south bank we headed straight for...

Coffee, of course! From a little caffe called Vergnano, where they actually spoke a little Italian to me! This particular latte was enjoyed on a balcony overlooking the Thames.

Then we walked some more...

Back across the river...

Big Ben, and the scaffolding that was covering Parliament.

The National Gallery

Trafalgar Square

At this point, we had been walking for at least a couple of hours and needed some sustenance. So we headed to Covent Garden where Jessica played the part of Eve to my Adam and introduced me to the sweetest sin since Genesis...

Ben's Cookies.

Oh, dear sweet Jesus, how can I ever choose?
[Small hint: I don't have to. But that comes later.]

Check out the ooey-goeey melty goodness of this white chocolate macadamia nut cookie.

My day in heaven continued when we we returned to Jessica's flat, where her boyfriend, Lucio, made us Moroccan food.

Where can I find a man that will cook me lamb with raisins and saffron and cinnamon and all kinds of other spicy goodness?

Never let him go, Jessica.

Our tour of London's best coffee continued the next day at Cafe Manon, which Jessica and Lucio agree is definitely near the top of the list (if not number one, but we won't argue about silly things like that). They also took me to one of their favorite lunch joints, Benito's Hat, which is kind of like a Moe's or Chipotle in America, with burritos the size of your head. These were fresh and delicious, and this store is not chain, which somehow made me feel less guilty about all of the guacamole I consumed.

It seems like we walked all afternoon, just around and around, so we retired to Jess's flat again to watch a movie. After my nap...er..the movie...we headed to Soho to a Japanese place called Satsuma, where we shared some sushi and rice bowls over a couple of beers. Not quite ready to call it a night, we also went for a pint at a pub close by. Eventually, they dropped me off at my hostel, making sure that I was safe and sound.

Awwww.

The next morning, giving Jess some time to sleep in, I walked down to Covent Garden where I went to -- you guessed it -- Ben's Cookies and went big, buying a special tin that allowed me to also get four cookies for less than 6 euro! Sweet deal! And don't worry, I later shared my goodies with Jess and Lucio.

After that, I took a metro over to Regent's Park, where Jessica had suggested I check out Primrose Hill, both of which I had failed to see on my previous visit.

It was a totally gorgeous spring day.

I stopped here, at the Cow and the Coffee Bean, for a quick latte.

Primrose Hill may not look steep, but let me tell you, I was out of breath when I got to the top.

(Then again, you are talking to a girl who regularly eats gelato before her nightly dinners of pasta with insane amounts of cheese, and whose only exercise these days is trucking it through the streets of Florence in search of more delicious eats. But I digress).

The view from the top was spectacular.

But of course, this is London, and sunshine doesn't last long. The clouds started rolling in before I left the park around 12 PM.

By the time I got to Jess's flat, the sky was downright ominous, and when we set out for Borough Market around 2 PM, it was totally pouring. Typical. Fortunately, Borough Market is almost entirely covered, so the weather did little to deter us.

It was actually Onalee's suggestion that I visit the market, and I must admit, when she first suggested it I was kind of on my Italian high horse.

"Oh, a market? We have those in Italy. You know, fresh fruit, vegetables, olive oil, and all of the bloody meat your heart could ever desire. What's the big deal? But in the name of 8 years of friendship, I'll check it out. No skin off my back."

And can I just say that I am SO glad I went! This market totally kicked mercato centrale's butt. Don't get me wrong, I'm still totally in love with my market here, but this was a whole 'nother playing field.

Freshly made sangria

It also has a significant size advantage over il mercato centrale.

Every spice you could ever need.

But I think it was the prepared foods area that really put it over the top. Here, I ordered a veggie burger on top of a bean salad with some of the best hummus I have ever had. Italy has refused time and time again to provide me with hummus, and I may or may not be holding a slight grudge.

Also, dessert was to die for. Jess and Lucio sampled each other's selections and ended up swapping.

There was also a beer stand that was endlessly amusing.

After leaving the market, we walked along the river bank toward the Waterloo station, where we caught a train to Kingston, located just outside the city.

In Kingston, we met a couple of swans.

Which turned into a whole swan army.

In Kingston, we got some drinks at some pubs and stayed out pretty late, since I didn't actually book a hostel for Friday night. We got back to Jess's flat around 3 AM, where I grabbed my luggage and caught a bus and then a train to Stansted airport. My flight for Eindhoven, in the Netherlands, departed at 6 AM, and from there, I took a bus, then a train, then another bus, then another train to the great city of Amsterdam. But that's another story.

Speaking of other stories, Gillian and I went to Bologna today. And tomorrow is Easter, which means big things in Florence. But if my internet doesn't get it together, you will never get to hear about any of these things, because I will constantly be backlogged on spring break entries. This is actually the second time that I wrote this London entry, becuase when I wrote it last night, my internet crapped out just as I hit "publish post" meaning that I lost everything. It took all I had not to pitch my computer out the window that we have left open to enjoy the beautiful weather. After reminding myself that it is not my baby Dell's fault, but the fault of the Solving Problem network (irony, yes?), I decided that bed was a better option.

So hopefully my internet will be cooperative enough tomorrow that I can post about both Bologna and our Easter celebrations. If not, my parents may have to buy me a new laptop when I return to America.

(I'm only kidding guys, don't worry.)

mario and sergio: the men in my life.

2010-04-01T15:07:00.000-07:00

I'm too tired (and my internet is moving too slowly) to upload all of the pics necessary to portray my London adventures to you, but I will tell you a bit about my day today and my weekend plans....

I got up early for class this morning, but I didn't have history this afternoon, so I got to come home early. When Gillian and Sam woke up, we all headed out together to run a few errands.

First on the list...

Looking at adorable bunnies of course! With Easter coming up on Sunday, it certainly seemed appropriate. We actually checked out the bunnies while we were waiting for an available spot at...

Trattoria Mario.

API had recommended this spot to us in the handbook they gave us at orientation, but we never got around to trying it until today. BIG MISTAKE. It is such a great little typical Italian joint. It was totally packed. We had to wait around 30-40 minutes for 3 of us to be seated. We were given a 4-person table, then, in true Italian style, they seated a random stranger at our table with us after we'd begun eating. Fortunately, he was a pretty cool guy.

The restaurant itself is really tiny, and there are two longer tables, cafeteria style, then several smaller 4-person tables in the back, all crammed together. The menu is handwritten up at the front, along with a bunch of other signs such as one that said Vietato chiedere ketch up!!! (It is forbidden to order ketchup) and others commenting on the fact that they do not use a freezer (everything is totally fresh!) and that their stock is not made with bouillon cubes, but actually chicken and vegetables.

Sam and I ordered minestra di riso e fagioli (rice and bean soup) while Gillian had the ribollita (typical Tuscan cabbage soup with bread). Everything was delicious and we walked out paying only around 6 euro each. Quite cheap for a true Italian experience. We plan to become regulars
there, and I think that Gillian and I have officially become Sergio's regulars as well. That is our usual Wednesday lunch spot, where they gave us extra bread for free this week. That sort of favor is how you know that you are in with the restaurant. Go us!

After lunch, I had wanted to go to a park or something to enjoy the weather...which had rapidly disintegrated during lunch into an all-out storm. Boo! So we came home and played with KinderEgg toys.

The boats that you get in the eggs do not float, FYI.

(P.S. Orange and blue!!)

Later in the evening, I got really adventurous and decided to recreate something we made in my cooking class last night, since I wasn't in the actual group that made it. It is a pasta dish called spaghetti alla'amantricia. I used whole wheat spaghetti and made the sauce from a base of olive oil and pancetta, which is a streaky and flavorful Italian bacon, along with garlic and tomatoes that had been chopped and peeled. At the end, of course, I doused it with a good handful of freshly grated Parmaggiano-Reggiano cheese. I was quite impressed with myself, and there was even enough for Sam and Gillian to try it and declare me a master chef (okay, maybe they didn't go that far, but it was definitely good!).

In the midst of preparation. I forgot take a shot of the final product because it smelled so good and I was starving!

This weekend is going to be simultaneously relaxing and busy. Tomorrow, I'm hoping I'll get to do what I had planned for the day: go to the Cascine Park to read my book. However, it looks like the weather may not cooperate, so my backup plan is to head to the Uffizi museum, which I still have not visited...whoops.

Saturday, Gillian and I have a full day trip to Bologna planned. Because the trains are so odd with their timing and cost, it is cheapest for us to catch an early 8:30 AM train and then stay until around 8 PM at night, so we will be eating two meals there and likely spending some time in coffee shops around the city. Luckily, Bologna is known as being a culinary Mecca, and also has a lot of historical sites to see. Hopefully it will be enough to keep us busy for a full day!

Sunday is Easter, which is a big deal here in Italy (obviously, with the Catholics and all that). There are a lot of events going on around the city, most notably the "Exploding Cart" on Sunday morning after Mass at the Duomo. I'll explain more about that later.

Then Monday, no one has class, so there are no solid plans yet, but I am sure that we will find some sort of trouble to get into...

Tomorrow morning before I head wherever the wind takes me, I should have time to update on my British vacation. Ciao!

adventures in ireland.

2010-03-31T11:45:00.000-07:00

Finally! The internet is cooperating and I have enough time to upload the millions of photos from the first part of my spring break trip in Ireland.

Everything started entirely too early, at 4 AM on Friday, March 19 when my roommate, Marissa, and I went to catch the earliest train possible, because it was 16 euro cheaper than the later train. It all went swimmingly and we ended up at the airport with a couple of hours to spare (as the plan went) so I slept on my luggage until my gate opened. Flight was caught without incident, and we landed, again, without incident. Slight problems finding our hostel, but we found it eventually.

At this point of course, we were starving, so we hit the streets, looking for the greasiest pub food we could find. Along the way...

The Spire.

We thought this was a winner...until the pub was FULL of men who stared at us when we walked in. Next, please.

It's James Joyce! He was from Dublin, obviously.

Yep, we are definitely in Ireland.

Street band.

The River Liffey.

Being in the UK means...driving on the wrong side of the road, and almost getting hit multiple times by cars and buses and taxis...

After grubbing and going back to the hostel to get ready, we went out on the town and found...Temple Bar! It's the most touristy area of town, probably, but totally full of fun pubs and bars and restaurants. Our first night out was a bit of a failure, in that we couldn't find the young people. Literally every pub was full of old men watching rugby games. And some cashier at one of the bars told us that people our age in Ireland "don't drink or go out".....lies.

The next day we walked around a bit...

Before heading to the Guiness Storehouse, where we spent the rest of our afternoon.

We learned about how Guinness is made.

Played around in the advertising exhibit...

Then we got to pour our own pints! The secret is pouring the beer most of the way full, allowing it to settle, and then topping it off to give it the famous "head" of fluffy foam.

Art.

After pouring our pints, we made our way to the top of the Storehouse, where the Gravity Bar is located. Its walls are completely made of glass, giving a panoramic view of the city.

We made some friends in the bar, hung out for awhile, drank some Guiness, then headed back to Temple Bar for some food and to watch the end of the epic Ireland-Scotland rugby game (which Ireland lost...sad day). After that, we headed home and went to bed early.

We woke up the next morning and headed out for a traditional Irish breakfast...sausage, potatoes, beans, toast, bacon, coffee, the works. It was delicousss and carried us straight through lunch. After breakfast, we decided to see all of the sights of the city.

The Joyce School of Language! Not a typical tourist attraction, but interesting to the nerdy English major in me.

Some pretty bridge.

We ended up walking all the way from one side of the city to the other in order to find Phoenix Park, which I'm pretty sure is Europe's largest park. It is (I think) something like 3 times the size of Central Park in NYC, measuring more than 6 kilometers across. So we rented some bikes and hit the trails!

Such a gorgeous day.

This monument was erected in 1979 in honor of a visit from Pope John Paul II.

And...what are those?!

Wild deer, of course! The park is famous for its herd, numbering over 500.

The Wellington Monument.

After that we walked across the River Liffey towards...

Christchurch.

And St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Dublin Castle...which was actually kind of lame.

Obviously.

Flower stand on Grant Street.

The trip to Dublin was a blast. Guinesses and Irish Car Bombs for all!

The next morning, on Monday the 22nd, I got up, checked out of the hostel, and caught a bus to Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, famous for its conflict between the Catholics and the Protestants. This clash began way back in the 1500 or 1600's (if I remember correctly) but still wages on today, though on a lesser scale. Unfortunately, my camera battery died while I was there and I was unable to charge it until I got to London on Tuesday night so my Belfast photos are limited in scope.

I started with a visit to Queen's University, largely recognized as the most beautiful in the UK.

After that I got some lunch and walked toward the city center, where I encountered...

City Hall and the "Belfast Aye,"' a spinoff of London's famous Eye. I didn't ride this one, though, on recommendation from my hostel owner who said it was a waste of money.

More City Hall...

St. Anne's Church and its Spire of Hope. I actually don't know the story behind this, so you'll have to do some research, I guess...

Front of the church.

Then, purely by coincidence, I ran into the John Hewitt Pub which is apparently famous in Belfast, so of course I stopped for a pint of cider. Only in the UK is it completely normal to start drinking at 3 PM.

Then...my camera died. I also took a walk around the Botanic Gardens (where I saw a border collie so reminiscent of Tech that I just had to say hi), visited the Ulster Museum, where I learned a bit about Belfast history, and went to a cupcake store near the city center recommended by a certain Irish friend of mine. The cupcake was DELICIOUS...banana cake with nutella frosting. Mmmm.

The next day I had time to do a little souveneir shopping in the morning, after my hostel owner cooked me an authentic Irish breakfast. I picked up a few things, wandered around the city a bit before realizing I was totally lost. I had to get back to my hostel ASAP to catch my train back to Dublin at 2 PM. I did end up making the train, but a ride that was supposed to last 1.5 hours turned into a 3.5 hour ordeal. Because of some sort of threat on one of the lines, we had to disembark at a stop in Newry, get on a bus for 45 minutes and trek to ANOTHER train station where we were then allowed to go to Dublin.

Of course, at this point I'm panicking. It is 5:15 PM when I arrive in Dublin and my flight to London leaves at 6:55 PM from the Dublin airport. I catch the shuttle, but of course at rush hour in Ireland's biggest city, it's less of a "shuttle" than a "crawl through the streets." I arrive at the airport at 6:00 PM, frantically check my bag, and run to...the wrong gate. Apparently there are two flights departing for London at 6:55 PM, and I managed to go to the one on the completely wrong side of the airport. Doh. Fortunately, I obviously made it to my gate in time to board. From there, I traveled on to London....

But we'll save that for another entry.

Today, it's a beautiful day in Florence, and I do not have any classes this afternoon! So I think I will take advantage of that. Gillian and I have plans to hit up a recommended lunch spot, after which I'm going to take a book and sit in a park for a bit, reading. After I finish my laundry (stil piled up from spring break) of course....

technical difficulties.

2010-03-30T18:09:00.000-07:00

Due to ridiculousness on the part of my internet provider, no update today. I was planning to begin my first spring break installment, but it appears that it will have to wait until tomorrow. Stay tuned for my adventures in Dublin!

there's no place like florence.

2010-03-29T08:04:00.000-07:00

Well, I just arrived back at my apartment in Florence, and immediately threw open my suitcase, grabbed my shampoo, and took a shower. A whole day of traveling by train, bus, and plane can make a girl feel a little disgusting. I'm also currently boiling a pot of pasta for an early dinner, considering I have eaten nothing but peanut M&M's since 7:00 AM this morning.

I had an incredible (and crazy) spring break, but I am definitely wiped! I think I'll need another break to recover from spring break.

I have a lot to update on, but I may not get to it until tomorrow (and it will probably take several days to cover everything...attempting to cover 10 days, 4 countries, and 4 cities in one entry is exhausting to even think about). Of course, never underestimate my powers of procrastination...tonight I have to: do laundry, clean my room, finish a paper for my writing class, do my Italian homework, and hopefully start uploading and sorting the 1000+ pictures I took.

lounging in london.

2010-03-26T07:13:00.000-07:00

Current location: Jessica's flat, on her ridiculously comfortable bed. Jess is currently putting her face on before we head to Borough Market and hopefully Kingston later this evening, if the weather decides to cooperate.

Since I've been here, Jess and her boyfriend, Lucio, have been showing me the less-touristy side of London. It has been heavily coffee-themed, with a prominent side of balconies and delicious little restaurants (and one cookie store in particular that has stolen my heart). I've been extremely tired ever since I got here, so it has been nice to just kind of lounge about and catch up with everything that has been going on in Jessica's hectic life.

Like I said, we are about to head to Borough Market, a large food market located eastward, across the river. Onalee recommended that I visit since I missed out last time, and Jess's roommate Elaiha just mentioned a fantastic veggie burger place over there where I am hoping to nab a (second) lunch (Jessica just force fed me some pasta left over from her and Lucio's lunch). We have been wanting to hit up Kingston ever since my first day here, but a combination of weather and homework have made it a bit difficult. Hopefully the rain will stay away so that this evening we can go have a nice dinner on the river.

Then, much later tonight, I get to catch a train from King's Cross to Stansted Airport, where I'll catch a flight to Eindhoven, Netherlands at 6:55 AM. Ew. Hopefully the Dutch can at least attempt to compete with the culinary and coffee experience I've had thus far in London.

This post seems a bit incoherent. I'm telling you, I have been out of it this whole week, ever since before Dublin, even. I hope I'm not getting sick, because when I get back to Florence on Monday, I officially have less than two months left abroad. WHAT?

planes, trains, and automobiles.

2010-03-23T16:43:00.000-07:00

Why, hello there! Do I actually still have a blog? Doesn't feel like it after being away for like...four whole days. Haha. Can you say addicted?

Anyway, we just made it to London this evening...at least, some of us did. KJ lost her passport at some point on the way from Galway to the Dublin airport, so she and Laura are stuck in Dublin until she can get to the embassy tomorrow and try to sort things out. That means that I am in London with their roommates that I barely know (and have very little in common with)....uhhhhh.....awkward.

This whole weekend was super intense traveling though! I have been on four buses,three trains, two planes, and the London Underground since last Friday morning. It's like the 12 Days of Christmas, except it's the 12 modes of travel. And I've still got at least two more planes, a train, and two more bus rides in my very near future. Lovin' life, folks.

I'm not going for a real update here; just logging into say that I survived Ireland (BARELY. So. Much. Guinness.) and am now back in England, ready to just drink some coffee, read my book, and maybe go to some museums. Since I have already been here, I don't feel super pressured to get around to all the touristy sights or go out super late at night to party. This is my rest between the craziness that was Ireland and what is sure to be madness when I meet up with Sam and her friends in Amsterdam this weekend. Time to relaxxxxxx!

Ciao for now! (Yeah, I keep forgetting they speak English here and speaking to them in Italian. Whoops.)

thoughts on spring break and buying wine in bulk.

2010-03-18T08:58:00.000-07:00

Today, I took my last midterm. Tomorrow, I am hopping a train at 4:35 AM to catch an 11:15 AM flight...because it costs 16 euro less. I think I inherited a few of my father's money-conscious tendencies. I will land in Dublin at 1:15 PM, where I will spend three days, departing Monday to spend an evening in Belfast, Northern Ireland. From there, I will go back to Dublin to fly to London, where I will spend four (hopefully restful) days, just exploring the city and hanging out with Jess. Superearly Saturday morning, I will fly to Eindhoven, Netherlands and then catch a bus to Amsterdam, from which I will return to Pisa on Monday afternoon. Phew! That sounds exhausting.

Spring break is going to be incredibly fun, but also very tiring. I'm starting to wish that I'd booked an earlier flight back, just so that I can rest before school starts all over again, but I intend to live up my 11 days away from Italy! I won't be leaving the country again until the end of April for my trip to Barcelona (how crazy does that sound? "I won't be leaving the country again until a month from now...").

So this afternoon, after a celebratory midterms-are-over lunch in my kitchen, me and the roomies hit the town to run a few errands...print a few travel documents for the anal traveler who NEEDS the weather forecast and directions to every hostel printed out...buy some locks for the hostels...and of course, buy wine in bulk.

What?

Yes, you heard right. You buy one of these bottles...

And they fill it up for you from one of these giant vats...

For really cheap! Like 2 euro per liter.

Crazy, right?

Look! It's glowing.

This was actually Sam's wine, but I was intrigued with the process. Might have to buy my own (smaller bottle) when I get back from break. It's just another one of those ridiculous things that Italy does that when you stop to think about it is actually kind of ingenius. No, the wine is probably not the best quality, but none of us are winos here; wine is wine! And if it's cheapest to drink it out of a refillable bottle, then, goshdarnit, I'm gonna!

And for my father, who was inquiring about grocery stores here, I was an incredible tourist and took photos of the inside. I try to buy fresh produce from the central market, but the grocery store is just so convenient! Two blocks away.

Not nearly as pretty as il mercato centrale.

The grocery stores here are not like they are at home. Instead of one giant room filled with aisles, they are just a series of rooms with small shelves in each one. It can be quite a maze.

I can't believe I am actually leaving tomorrow for spring break. That means my time here is half over! It is so bittersweet for me...on the one hand, I never want to leave Italy. I love it here. But on the other hand, the idea of going home and just spending my summer relaxing and focusing on me sounds really irresistable. And I miss UF, a lot more than I thought I would. At this point, I'm just trying to take it as it comes and not wish for it to go any faster or slower. Just enjoy my time while it lasts, and I'll be ready to go home when the time comes.

I'll try to update while I'm on spring break, but I make no promises. It may be March 29 the next time you hear from me. Arrivederci!

listen to your body (and your mother).

2010-03-17T13:19:00.001-07:00

It's St. Patrick's Day, and while all the rest of the 20 and 21-year-olds are out getting their drink on with green beer (someone please agree with me here: green beer sounds like the most horrifying thing in the world), I am...at home wearing my PJ's, reading blogs, watching TV, doing crossword puzzles, and generally avoiding studying. I am not normal.

St. Patrick's day is not really a big deal to the Italians, except that they know it is a big deal to the thousands of Americans studying here, so they tend to go all out. In spite of this, I was planning on going out tonight. I SWEAR. I promised Sam that I would go on this epic (and uber expensive) pub crawl with her, but my stomach had other plans. After stuffing down a delicious (and cheap) cinnamon raisin bagel right before my cooking exam this evening, I started experiencing the worst stomach cramps ever. Food poisoning? Either way, I'm not going out, and my wallet and my GPA are thanking me. I'm sure Sam will survive without me, despite her skepticism at my texts begging off. Besides, with a midterm at noon that I am just not ready for, it's for the best. You just have to listen to your body sometimes (and your mother, who would agree that staying in tonight is the best option).

I am truly coming to realize here that I just do not enjoy going out. It's such a process, getting ready and then walking out to the bars, paying money to be sexually harassed by Italian men, and then stumbling home at 3 AM, only to wake up the next morning, still paying the price in the form of a hangover. Not my kind of fun. I enjoy going out and having a glass of prosecco with my apperitivo. I enjoy grabbing a cocktail at a bar and coming home early. But this whole partying-get-drunk-all-the-time thing just ain't my thang. And I need to learn to be cool with that, and just say no to wasting money on things that I don't enjoy. Cappuccino? Yes, please! Late night at the Lion's Fountain? No, thank you.

Aaaaand guess what else? A little birdie (or an email) told me that my long-awaited package had finally arrived! A frustrating walk up and down Via Magenta, 45 minutes and 13 euro later, I have BLACK BOOTS! Thanks, Mom!

They fit and everything!

Aren't they pretty?

I was going to wear them out tonight, but I suppose breaking them in in Dublin is almost the same thing as breaking them in on St. Patty's day, right?

This is what the rest of my evening looks like:

Don't worry, I'm not suffering alone; midterms have taken over here at The Palace:

Yep, I get to spend the rest of my night with a cup of coffee and this handsome man...

Oh, Cosimo the Elder, you're such a fox! Ti amo!

(Not.)

it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

2010-03-16T13:36:00.000-07:00

Hold onto your [winter] hats; Florence is going green!

But more on that momentarily.

I started off the day with two midterms: one at 9 AM in my Italian Language class (Boom. Easy peasy.) and finished with a 12 PM exam in my Travel Writing class (Prompt: "Impressions of Florence"). I feel confident that I did well on both, and after I finished my essay, I flounced across the river to accompany Mary to a costume exhibit at the Palazzo Pitti, an old palace originally built by the Pitti family that was later taken over by the Medici. It is now home to several different museum exhibits.

The exhibit was interesting, but tiny! It only took us about 15 minutes to get throught the whole thing. So since the weather has been so nice (of course, during midterm week when we are all being antisocial cave creatures), we decided to take advantage of another Pitti feature: the Boboli Gardens. Today, it was sunny and probably in the mid-sixties: perfect garden-exploring weather.

The "Gardens" were so large that it was more of a park. It is definitely going to take another visit to feel like I've really seen everything Boboli has to offer.

The back of the Palazzo Pitti.

It's almost...dare I say...springtime!

We made another friend! He even let us pet him.

Because...what is a garden without a statue of an obese man riding a turtle?

Tomorrow is going to be full of all of my favorite things...shopping at mercato centrale, lunch with Gillian at Sergio Gozzi, and then...studying. Studying all afternoon until my cooking exam at 6 PM after which we are PUB CRAWLING for St. Patrick's Day. Epic.

Hope your day was as green and gorgeous as mine was! Ciao!