Ciao a tutti!
This weekend is the weekend before Easter- obviously. Not so obvious however is all the fuss that occurs here due to that. I was in a piazza on thursday night and suddenly a procession of 300 people complete with monks, nuns, candles and a giant wooden cross came processing through singing and praying at various points. It was quite the sight. It had to do with a traditional procession where you visit 7 churches in one night and also Annunciation Day. Annunciation Day being the most under appreciated holiday ever. There was a big festival in a piazza on Annunciation Day and there was special food- brown sugared toasted nuts and these little wafer cookie-esque things that taste like pizelle (the licorice wafers you eat at christmas) but are super thin. vendors make and bag them right there and hand you ones to taste as they come off the iron. soooo delicious! also porchetta which is this giant wrapped pig that is roasted with the head still on.
Friday I had a trip with the art classes to Bologna- such an awesome city! We saw a Morandi exhibit which was an excellent change of pace (he's an Italian artist who worked from the 1910-s through the 60's) after all the Renaissance stuff we look at. And the city itself if young and hip and known for it's great food- including but certainly not limited to bologna and bolognese sauce. we walked through the open air markets and it was like nothing i've ever seen. huge slabs of meat and giant salamies. buckets of fresh fish ranging from tiny anchovies to 4 ft swordfish. fruits and vegetables of ever color. i love the way food is such an integral part of culture here. amazing.
Yesterday I walked up to Fiesole with some lovely people and spent a fabulous afternoon having a picnic on a grassy hill overlooking the Arno River Valley. We chatted, napped and snacked for nearly 3 hours before walking through the town to visit my favorite bakery to get treats for the long walk back down. That little hill town is one of my favorite places here. It's just so beautiful and peaceful and so different from Florence. It was nice to pass such a relaxing weekend since next weekend is Easter and the ladies and I are spending the long weekend in Crete. It's a whole lot of traveling and a whole lot of ladies and should be a whole lot of fun!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
La settimana scorsa, ho viaggiato molto
Ciao a tutti!
This past weekend I traveled. Boy did I travel. Friday my Black Death class (sunny, I know) took a trip to Pisa and Lucca. Pisa was....Pisa- once you've taken pictures with the Leaning Tower (which is absolutely fabulous) there's not actually anything to do. Lucca however was incredibly adorable. It's a tiny town that is still surrounded by the original walls- these walls, unlike many, were constructed after the invention of gunpowder and thus are about 20 feet wide. So, what did the people of Lucca do? They paved a bike path on it and now you can rent bikes and bike around the city! Bellissima! The views are incredible because you get interesting glimpses into the town and also gorgeous vistas of the surrounding countryside. It was amazing to get on a bike again and just ride.
Saturday, also with my Black Death class, I went to Siena and San Gimignano. Possibly my favorite places ever. They're medieval hill towns with winding, twisting, narrow streets that go up and down and around really steep hills. All amidst original tower houses that are beyond impressive. Siena has an incredible main square that is circular and slanted towards the center. Every year, 10 of the 17 neighborhoods of Siena (a crazy institution similar to gangs but with more chanting and mudslinging and no knife fighting) enter horses into a race that occurs in this piazza. It's legendary for it's rowdiness and people come from all around the world to see it. The horses race 3 times around the square- and I do mean the horses. The jockey is entirely inconsequential- if a jockey falls off (which is quite common since whipping, pushing and kicking other jockey's is allowed and encouraged) a horse can still win without it's rider! Crazy! Also, very excellent pasta in Siena, which was quite nice after a surprising encounter with Luccan pasta the day before- Lucca is known for its pasta because it's very yellow. Yellow pasta indicates wealth because it means you have more egg yolks to spare. I however, am not a big fan. I will take my white peasant pasta any day thank you! As for San Gimignano, what can I say? It was incredible. Siena on a tiny scale with even more fabulous wine. The only negative thing was how little time we had to spend in such a beautiful town.
Saturday night, my friend Sam and I took a train into the country to go back to Figline to visit Charlie and her family. It was so nice to see nono and Luda again- they're incredible people- and Charlie's dad was also there. We had Tuscan grill like last time, and I ate amazing tortellini con proscuito...I'm still amazed that pork is so delicious here. After the real food part of dinner we moved on to liquor sampling. Va bene! So much fun. I tasted 3 different kinds of grappa- let me explain grappa for a second. Grappa is the traditional peasant drink (the institution of a peasant class was abolished in Italy in the 1970's) made from any compostable material. It is a liquor that is, by itself, resembles vodka because it's colorless and odorless. It certainly isn't tasteless however because it retains the flavors of what it is distilled from. In the country, people to this day sometimes drink it with breakfast. Intense. So, first I tried blueberry infused and then honey infused grappa. These are grappas that have had blueberries and honey added to them respectively, and thus pick up the color and flavor of the added ingredients. Delicious but very sweet. I then had raspberry distilled grappa which is grappa made from raspberries therefore it is colorless and contains no actual raspberry fruit or juice, but maintains the flavor. This was my favorite because it wasn't sweet at all. It was a little weird sipping a liquor that's got such a high alcohol content (imagine sipping vodka!) but it was definitely a Tuscan experience! Sunday we had a Tuscan adventure through Chianti, and drove along the Chianti road to a little place called Montegrosse where we explored an abandoned medieval castle. The entire region is dotted with these castles, many of which have been refurnished into homes, but many which stand in ruins. It was incredible. We then drove back along the Chianti road, which goes straight through the heart of wine country. Everywhere you look is just vineyard upon vineyard for miles. We stopped in Radda in Chianti for lunch and had fantastic Ribollita, which is a hearty Tuscan soup with vegetables and bread, and wine. It was the most delicious Ribollita I've had, which I'm told is because of the black cabbage they use in that region, as well as the best house wine, which is because we were in the heart of Chianti so even the vino della casa is good quality. Utter bliss can be used to describe my state after that fantastic meal. It was at this meal that I also tried my first hot liver pate bruschetta- I was a little weirded out but was even more terrified by how much I liked it. I might just become a carnivore after all! Now I just need to try some chingiale (wild boar).....
This past weekend I traveled. Boy did I travel. Friday my Black Death class (sunny, I know) took a trip to Pisa and Lucca. Pisa was....Pisa- once you've taken pictures with the Leaning Tower (which is absolutely fabulous) there's not actually anything to do. Lucca however was incredibly adorable. It's a tiny town that is still surrounded by the original walls- these walls, unlike many, were constructed after the invention of gunpowder and thus are about 20 feet wide. So, what did the people of Lucca do? They paved a bike path on it and now you can rent bikes and bike around the city! Bellissima! The views are incredible because you get interesting glimpses into the town and also gorgeous vistas of the surrounding countryside. It was amazing to get on a bike again and just ride.
Saturday, also with my Black Death class, I went to Siena and San Gimignano. Possibly my favorite places ever. They're medieval hill towns with winding, twisting, narrow streets that go up and down and around really steep hills. All amidst original tower houses that are beyond impressive. Siena has an incredible main square that is circular and slanted towards the center. Every year, 10 of the 17 neighborhoods of Siena (a crazy institution similar to gangs but with more chanting and mudslinging and no knife fighting) enter horses into a race that occurs in this piazza. It's legendary for it's rowdiness and people come from all around the world to see it. The horses race 3 times around the square- and I do mean the horses. The jockey is entirely inconsequential- if a jockey falls off (which is quite common since whipping, pushing and kicking other jockey's is allowed and encouraged) a horse can still win without it's rider! Crazy! Also, very excellent pasta in Siena, which was quite nice after a surprising encounter with Luccan pasta the day before- Lucca is known for its pasta because it's very yellow. Yellow pasta indicates wealth because it means you have more egg yolks to spare. I however, am not a big fan. I will take my white peasant pasta any day thank you! As for San Gimignano, what can I say? It was incredible. Siena on a tiny scale with even more fabulous wine. The only negative thing was how little time we had to spend in such a beautiful town.
Saturday night, my friend Sam and I took a train into the country to go back to Figline to visit Charlie and her family. It was so nice to see nono and Luda again- they're incredible people- and Charlie's dad was also there. We had Tuscan grill like last time, and I ate amazing tortellini con proscuito...I'm still amazed that pork is so delicious here. After the real food part of dinner we moved on to liquor sampling. Va bene! So much fun. I tasted 3 different kinds of grappa- let me explain grappa for a second. Grappa is the traditional peasant drink (the institution of a peasant class was abolished in Italy in the 1970's) made from any compostable material. It is a liquor that is, by itself, resembles vodka because it's colorless and odorless. It certainly isn't tasteless however because it retains the flavors of what it is distilled from. In the country, people to this day sometimes drink it with breakfast. Intense. So, first I tried blueberry infused and then honey infused grappa. These are grappas that have had blueberries and honey added to them respectively, and thus pick up the color and flavor of the added ingredients. Delicious but very sweet. I then had raspberry distilled grappa which is grappa made from raspberries therefore it is colorless and contains no actual raspberry fruit or juice, but maintains the flavor. This was my favorite because it wasn't sweet at all. It was a little weird sipping a liquor that's got such a high alcohol content (imagine sipping vodka!) but it was definitely a Tuscan experience! Sunday we had a Tuscan adventure through Chianti, and drove along the Chianti road to a little place called Montegrosse where we explored an abandoned medieval castle. The entire region is dotted with these castles, many of which have been refurnished into homes, but many which stand in ruins. It was incredible. We then drove back along the Chianti road, which goes straight through the heart of wine country. Everywhere you look is just vineyard upon vineyard for miles. We stopped in Radda in Chianti for lunch and had fantastic Ribollita, which is a hearty Tuscan soup with vegetables and bread, and wine. It was the most delicious Ribollita I've had, which I'm told is because of the black cabbage they use in that region, as well as the best house wine, which is because we were in the heart of Chianti so even the vino della casa is good quality. Utter bliss can be used to describe my state after that fantastic meal. It was at this meal that I also tried my first hot liver pate bruschetta- I was a little weirded out but was even more terrified by how much I liked it. I might just become a carnivore after all! Now I just need to try some chingiale (wild boar).....
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Back in Firenze!
Ciao a tutti!
I'm back from break safe and sound. It was a wonderful break to say the least and now I think I need another break just to recuperate. To my eternal relief and gratitude, I met up with Mike in the train station with minimal issues. We made it to Sorrento on a gorgeous, if chilly day and had dinner at a pizzeria. It then proceeded to rain. And rain. basically, the whole week it rained with minor intervals of cloudiness and an afternoon of sun. So keep that in mind. The pizza in Sorrento was AMAZING. Very different, most definitely, but delicious. It was thicker than the super thin crust of Florence, but still thinner and crispier than American. The pasta in all of Amalfi was second rate compared to Florence, but I guess you get spoiled living in Tuscany. I'm quite excited to get some high quality pasta now that I'm back in Florence because to my everlasting surprise, I missed it.
On Tuesday Mike and I explored Pompeii which was really, really cool. It was the coldest/rainiest day, so I don't have as much to say about it as I wish I did, but it was definitely a crazy experience. It seems surreal to think that you're walking through a town that was just minding is own business, and then an hour later was completely decimated by a volcano. The degree of preservation is definitely eery. Wednesday we had a sunny afternoon so we took a boat to Capri and hiked around. We found a trail to the Arco Naturale (Natural Arch) which is this amazing rock formation that Capri is known for. It's a gigantic rock arch, as the name suggests, and depending on which side you're standing on you can either see the sea and the rest of Capri, or the sea and the Amalfi Coast. The sights were unreal- I'm so thankful that we had some sun so we could really appreciate the beauty of the island and the water. The sunset over the water that followed was also one of the most beautiful I've ever seen.
Rome was pretty jam packed. Our first evening there we saw the Colossuem, the Forum ruins and a bunch of monuments to kings and rulers of Rome/Italy. Then yesterday we walked across town past the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, across the Arno, past the Castelo Sant'Angelo, and to the Vatican. Whoa. We spent the afternoon in the museums and saw the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's. It was beautiful, and the Pieta lost nothing on second sight. That evening we hit up my favorite pizza place in Rome and saw the Trevi Fountain at night. The Trevi Fountain is a beautiful monument during the day but is pure magic at night. I'm speechless every time at how beautiful it is. Today was a travel day, well sort of. I only had an hour and a half train ride and then spent the afternoon hanging out in Piazza Signoria (the piazza outside the Uffizi) and soaking up the sun that decided to come out minutes after Mike left the country. Typical.
I'm exhausted so I think I may go take a nap, or at least rest a little. I'm crashing at a friend's tonight, so I've still got one more night of couch surfing before I move back into my homestay tomorrow. I'm not really excited for classes to start again, because who ever is, but it will be nice to be back in a place that's sort of mine and to return to a more regular schedule. A regular schedule which is only going to be my norm for another 6 weeks. Wow. Talk about how time flies when you're (finally) having fun!
I'm back from break safe and sound. It was a wonderful break to say the least and now I think I need another break just to recuperate. To my eternal relief and gratitude, I met up with Mike in the train station with minimal issues. We made it to Sorrento on a gorgeous, if chilly day and had dinner at a pizzeria. It then proceeded to rain. And rain. basically, the whole week it rained with minor intervals of cloudiness and an afternoon of sun. So keep that in mind. The pizza in Sorrento was AMAZING. Very different, most definitely, but delicious. It was thicker than the super thin crust of Florence, but still thinner and crispier than American. The pasta in all of Amalfi was second rate compared to Florence, but I guess you get spoiled living in Tuscany. I'm quite excited to get some high quality pasta now that I'm back in Florence because to my everlasting surprise, I missed it.
On Tuesday Mike and I explored Pompeii which was really, really cool. It was the coldest/rainiest day, so I don't have as much to say about it as I wish I did, but it was definitely a crazy experience. It seems surreal to think that you're walking through a town that was just minding is own business, and then an hour later was completely decimated by a volcano. The degree of preservation is definitely eery. Wednesday we had a sunny afternoon so we took a boat to Capri and hiked around. We found a trail to the Arco Naturale (Natural Arch) which is this amazing rock formation that Capri is known for. It's a gigantic rock arch, as the name suggests, and depending on which side you're standing on you can either see the sea and the rest of Capri, or the sea and the Amalfi Coast. The sights were unreal- I'm so thankful that we had some sun so we could really appreciate the beauty of the island and the water. The sunset over the water that followed was also one of the most beautiful I've ever seen.
Rome was pretty jam packed. Our first evening there we saw the Colossuem, the Forum ruins and a bunch of monuments to kings and rulers of Rome/Italy. Then yesterday we walked across town past the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, across the Arno, past the Castelo Sant'Angelo, and to the Vatican. Whoa. We spent the afternoon in the museums and saw the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's. It was beautiful, and the Pieta lost nothing on second sight. That evening we hit up my favorite pizza place in Rome and saw the Trevi Fountain at night. The Trevi Fountain is a beautiful monument during the day but is pure magic at night. I'm speechless every time at how beautiful it is. Today was a travel day, well sort of. I only had an hour and a half train ride and then spent the afternoon hanging out in Piazza Signoria (the piazza outside the Uffizi) and soaking up the sun that decided to come out minutes after Mike left the country. Typical.
I'm exhausted so I think I may go take a nap, or at least rest a little. I'm crashing at a friend's tonight, so I've still got one more night of couch surfing before I move back into my homestay tomorrow. I'm not really excited for classes to start again, because who ever is, but it will be nice to be back in a place that's sort of mine and to return to a more regular schedule. A regular schedule which is only going to be my norm for another 6 weeks. Wow. Talk about how time flies when you're (finally) having fun!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Spring Break!
Ciao a tutti!
It's spring break here for us SUF kids- WOOHOO!
I am currently hanging out in a friend Allie O's apt in Rome. It is day 2 of couch surfing (last night was a friend in Florence's apt) and I'm feeling great. I just went out for some AMAZING (and by that I mean probably pretty decent but nothing special except when you've been surrounded by Italian food for 2 months) chinese food. It was so worth the trek all the way to Rome lol. A bit different than the states, but I feel like that should just be my mantra- it was really good but really different. Like gnocchi. Which I had for dinner last night. Except gnocchi is like amazingly awesome and nothing like in the states. Regardless, Mike is arriving in Rome tomorrow. I'm quite excited. We're off to Sorrento- I can't wait to see the Amalfi Coast. We also happen to be going to the pizza capital of Italy. I'll be sure to let you all know how Napoli's pizza compares to Florence. Word of the street is it's amazing because it has fluffier crust- I've become a fan of the thin crust though. It should be an epic showdown. And quite delicious, as is everything in Italy.
The past week was midterms, hence my lack of posting on this blog, but I think my exams went pretty well. Black Death was about as awesome as the name sounds, but Italian was pretty good. Apparently my Italian is pretty decent- the cafe by my school asked me to translate a flier they had printed up in Italian into English so that they could advertise at school. It felt really awesome to actually be able to do it for them, with minimal help from a dictionary. And if it means that me and my friends get free coffee and apple donut holes when we go there, I don't hate that either. DELISH!
I miss you all and send my love. Time to go further enjoy this crazy spring break on which I've found myself!
It's spring break here for us SUF kids- WOOHOO!
I am currently hanging out in a friend Allie O's apt in Rome. It is day 2 of couch surfing (last night was a friend in Florence's apt) and I'm feeling great. I just went out for some AMAZING (and by that I mean probably pretty decent but nothing special except when you've been surrounded by Italian food for 2 months) chinese food. It was so worth the trek all the way to Rome lol. A bit different than the states, but I feel like that should just be my mantra- it was really good but really different. Like gnocchi. Which I had for dinner last night. Except gnocchi is like amazingly awesome and nothing like in the states. Regardless, Mike is arriving in Rome tomorrow. I'm quite excited. We're off to Sorrento- I can't wait to see the Amalfi Coast. We also happen to be going to the pizza capital of Italy. I'll be sure to let you all know how Napoli's pizza compares to Florence. Word of the street is it's amazing because it has fluffier crust- I've become a fan of the thin crust though. It should be an epic showdown. And quite delicious, as is everything in Italy.
The past week was midterms, hence my lack of posting on this blog, but I think my exams went pretty well. Black Death was about as awesome as the name sounds, but Italian was pretty good. Apparently my Italian is pretty decent- the cafe by my school asked me to translate a flier they had printed up in Italian into English so that they could advertise at school. It felt really awesome to actually be able to do it for them, with minimal help from a dictionary. And if it means that me and my friends get free coffee and apple donut holes when we go there, I don't hate that either. DELISH!
I miss you all and send my love. Time to go further enjoy this crazy spring break on which I've found myself!
Monday, March 1, 2010
American nonos and tuscan hills
To top off the craziest week ever, I think I may have just had one of my most beautiful weekends. Friday the ladies and I went out and had some crazy times (stories by request only) so by Saturday I was quite ready to head off to the country with some other gal pals to visit a friend's grandfather. We went to Viaggio which is a little township outside the bustling metropolis (speck on a map) of Figline- pronounced feel-lean-nay, not fig-line. There, my friend's American grandfather from Mississippi lives with his Pisan wife in a beautiful old Tuscan villa overlooking the township and the surrounding hills. They have a small olive grove whose olives nono uses to make his own olive oil (we had it with dinner- it was absolutely delicious). We hiked up to the grove and took pictures of the vista while nono told us stories about his grandkids, and Figline and his travels. That night we had a 5 hour dinner- from 9 pm until 2 am! In true Tuscan style, we grilled little pieces of meat (chicken and turkey sausage for us, but you can do whatever you want) on a table top grill. It's such a social and slow way to enjoy a meal- definitely something I want to bring back to the states with me. The food culture here is just so much healthier because of ideals like that. But, we also got our bbq fix (I swear, the things I miss are so incredibly random it blows my own mind) with his homemade southern style baked beans. Yum! And naturally, among those courses (and numerous others) there was wine like you wouldn't believe. 7 people consumed 3 bottles of red, 1 bottle of lambrusco, vin santo and limoncello. We vehemently said basta! (enough!) to the grappa though. I now understand why Italians drink espresso as a digestivo (digestive aid)- I had a shot of espresso at 1 am and still slept like a baby. But that also might have been because I was deliriously content and sleeping in a cozy bunk bed (I adore top bunks more than anything else you could ever imagine sleeping on) in a house where I felt so incredibly welcomed it was almost making me teary. I have met some of the most incredible people on this adventure who have opened my eyes to such different ways of living a wonderful life. I now need to put live in an Italian villa and host young travelers on my bucket list. This list is growing by leaps and bounds here.
In other news, spring has officially sprung here. The mimosa is in bloom in all it's bright yellow glory, daisies are popping up all over the giardino, and i can be seen with flowers in my hair at almost any moment. Trees have green shoots and the climbing plants on the palm trees are coming back to life. It's absolutely gorgeous. I also just discovered on my Saturday morning hike up the mountain to Fiesole that Italy has aloe like you cannot even imagine. These plants grow on the side of the roads and look like something out of Honey I Shrunk the Kids. There were numerous plants that were wider across than I am tall, with individual "leaves" that were the size of my leg! Spring makes every outing like a grand discovery because there's always something new blossoming- i'll be sure to keep you all posted on the transitions. I hear that after it blooms yellow, spring also blooms purple! We shall see, we shall certainly see. By the time I am back from break it will be in full swing- I'd say I can't wait but I am also quite looking forward to spending a week exploring the Amalfi Coast with Mike. Once I make it through midterms that is. Plus, once I get back, it means my time here has passed the halfway mark. As little as 3 weeks ago that would have been a very exciting thought- I won't lie and say the transition to living here was easy for me. Now, though I still miss you all like crazy, it's a much more melancholy thought because I have found people and places here that I really love too. I suppose that's the inherent danger of going abroad- but also the inherent beauty.
In other news, spring has officially sprung here. The mimosa is in bloom in all it's bright yellow glory, daisies are popping up all over the giardino, and i can be seen with flowers in my hair at almost any moment. Trees have green shoots and the climbing plants on the palm trees are coming back to life. It's absolutely gorgeous. I also just discovered on my Saturday morning hike up the mountain to Fiesole that Italy has aloe like you cannot even imagine. These plants grow on the side of the roads and look like something out of Honey I Shrunk the Kids. There were numerous plants that were wider across than I am tall, with individual "leaves" that were the size of my leg! Spring makes every outing like a grand discovery because there's always something new blossoming- i'll be sure to keep you all posted on the transitions. I hear that after it blooms yellow, spring also blooms purple! We shall see, we shall certainly see. By the time I am back from break it will be in full swing- I'd say I can't wait but I am also quite looking forward to spending a week exploring the Amalfi Coast with Mike. Once I make it through midterms that is. Plus, once I get back, it means my time here has passed the halfway mark. As little as 3 weeks ago that would have been a very exciting thought- I won't lie and say the transition to living here was easy for me. Now, though I still miss you all like crazy, it's a much more melancholy thought because I have found people and places here that I really love too. I suppose that's the inherent danger of going abroad- but also the inherent beauty.
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