March 20, 2009

So this last week was absolutely beautiful, so we took full advantage and spent as much time as possible outside soaking up the sun.  We went to the Boboli Gardens a couple times, which are the gardens of the Pitti Palace, a huge old palace across the river.  There is this great grassy area at the top with a fantastic view of the city and tons of space to lay around.  We soaked up the sun, chatted and made daisy chains.  I am a different person when it’s sunny-I felt so happy and carefree.  I was skipping around picking flowers and momentarily felt like a little girl without a care in the world.  It was lovely, and when we finally left, I had a daisy chain necklace that I happily wore the rest of the day.  A couple other days we went to this great grassy area along the river where it’s peaceful and sunny.  We got smoothies at this new café and brought them with us.  I now finally have a little color on my face, and it feels great to look somewhat healthy again.  

With this lovely change in the weather has come some other changes as well; some great, others not so great.  For one, all of the cafes and restaurants are setting up their outdoor seating, which is exciting.  This really cute café near our apartment was closed the whole winter, and just decided to open last week.  It was like it was hibernating.  It has great outdoor tables, perfect for people watching, and yummy smoothies and salads.  The whole mood of the city has changed too. Everyone seems louder and happier. I love just walking through our piazza and watching all of the groups and families enjoying each other. But also with the warm weather come LOTS of tourists.  All of the sudden the streets that we always walk on are packed with people!  Not only with international tourists, but also Italian school groups from other cities coming to visit Florence.  It’s crazy, especially on the weekends, when it’s seriously difficult to walk and dodge all of the picture-takers and slow-strollers.  Apparently this is just the beginning, and it’s just going to get busier. I guess we’ll have to get used to it.

Yesterday was an especially nice day, and I made good use of my 3 hour break between classes.  First I strolled through the outdoor goods market and got a couple gifts for the family, and then went to the food market to get some fruit from my favorite vendor.  He has the most delicious oranges ever and the best prices I’ve seen.  Ate one of them on the way back home where I made myself a yummy sandwich with the turkey that I had finally found.  Then I went back outside to find this fair that my friend had told me about.  It was in Piazza Santa Croce, just a couple blocks from my apartment.  There were tons of stands selling the most random assortment of goods: candy and dried fruit, cool handmade jewelry, table cloths, vintage clothes, make-up, pots and pans…it was the most diverse market I’d ever seen!  I found this great stand selling Native American jewelry and cloths.  The guy working was really nice, we had a nice conversation (all in Italian!) and I got a great deal on two really cool pairs of earrings.

It was a lovely spontaneous day in Florence.  I enjoyed just walking around by myself exploring the city, my city.  The day ended great too because I found out that Slumdog Millionaire was playing at the Cinema!  I went with Erin and Lacy and it was amazing.  Such an eye-opening movie.  Incomprehensible that so many kids and people are really living like that in the slums.  It was such an interesting movie, not only in the content, but how it was directed, showing that he knew the answers simply because of all he had been through in his life. 

Today we were going to go to Pisa and Lucca for the day, but it was sadly very cold and windy today, so we’re hoping tomorrow will be better weather and we’ll go then.  I also want to go to Cortona, where Under the Tuscan Sun was filmed.  We might do that next weekend.  The weeks are flying by, and I can’t believe how few we have left. This weekend and the next one are my last free weekends, and the rest are packed with friends coming to visit, or me going places (Dublin, Sorrento, Capri…).  Better go make the most of the rest of my time! Ciao amici!

March 8, 2009

Euro Spring Break 09

What a week!  Wow, I can’t believe it was only a week.  It was awesome, and I loved Paris and London, but not gonna lie, there were definitely some stressful times.  I’ll start from the beginning.

Last Saturday was our flight from Pisa to Paris, so we had to find a way to Pisa, which we had heard wasn’t difficult by train.  Well, we should have looked at the train schedule earlier because I decided to check it out at like 11pm the night before and found that there were only two train options to Pisa on Saturday: one getting there at 12 noon and one getting there at 8pm…well, neither of these were going to work since our flight was at 8pm!  So, we had to either look for other options or spend 8 hours in Pisa.  We found a bus online that goes from the Florence station directly to the Pisa airport, but when I tried to buy tickets online, it said that we were too late, and I couldn’t figure out whether we’d be able to buy tickets at the station.  I woke up early the next morning and called, and they said we could buy tickets there, and there was a bus at 4:30 that would get there around 6.  That was a relief.  So we left around 3:30 to get to the station, only to find that we had no idea where to buy these tickets.  Somehow we found the place, and the bus driver was just about to head to the bus.  We asked if we could buy tickets and he said “No, I think the bus is full, you’ll have to come see if there’s any space.”  Shit.  We momentarily freaked out, and tried to calculate how much a cab to Pisa would be (LOTS), and went with him to the bus where there were tons of people who had already bought tickets. Ugh.  All those people got on, and then luckily there was just enough space for us.  Thank goodness.

So we made it to Pisa with time to spare, which was good because turns out we had to stand in this other line and pay an extra fee to check in.  Yeah, ridiculous.  Not to mention, the check in lines for RyanAir were insane!  We  finally checked in, went through security and made it to the gate.  RyanAir, “The On Time Airline,” was of course delayed about half an hour.  When we finally started boarding, everyone bolted to the boarding area because there aren’t seat assignments on these cheap airlines, so it’s first come first serve, and apparently, if you don’t get a seat (which sometimes happens), you have to wait for the next flight!  So we’re all crammed in line- I felt like cattle- and after we showed our boarding passes we had to wait again outside for the plane.  People were pushing and getting ready to get to the plane.  I literally felt like we were waiting for a gunshot to start the race.  They signaled us to go, and we all started speedwalking toward the plane.  One person started jogging, and no joke, set off a chain reaction and pretty soon everyone was running to the plane!  It was absurd.  I was just cracking up.  And then come to find that for some reason no one wanted to sit at the front of the plane, so the three of us literally sat in the front row!  I thought maybe we weren’t allowed to, but we were.  It was odd. 

So we were thankfully on the plane and headed to Paris.  It was a short flight, and we arrived in Paris to find that we weren’t in Paris but in Buveaus, which is quite far from the city (this is what we get for taking the cheap flights).  So we had to take another quite expensive and long busride to the main station in Paris.  Got there, and luckily had Metro instructions from my friend Julia who’s in Paris.  We got on the Metro and I split up from Candy and Jenn

March 15, 2009

Okay, so what I was doing in my last entry would take forever to continue.  With some pain and struggle, we made it to both Paris and London, so Ill skip the travel issues.  Instead, I’ll just recap the important parts of our spring break trip (somewhat in order).

Paris-

Day 1:

- Seeing Julia for the first time in 8+ months, staying up and talking for hours catching up.

- Our amazing 10 euro three course lunch. Included: (real) French Onion soup, Beef Bourgonon,  Duck Confit, Apple Tartlett, Chocolate Mousse.  Delicious.

- Our lovely day touring the city: Latin Quarter (a student oriented, very cool area), Notre Dame (beautiful, historical cathedral), the Jewish Quarter (lots of cool falafel and jewish pastry shops), the crazy lady at the café where we got coffee, éclairs and espresso down by the river (where it seemed like it was couples only…Julia and I broke that trend)

- Meeting an interesting musician from Switzerland and his friend at a pub

Day 2:

- The long adventurous walk from our hostel trying to find a cool area (forget the name) that some girl recommended

- The sun soaking and jumping pictures in the Louvre gardens

- The amazing Croque Madame (an open faced grilled ham and cheese with a fried egg on top) I had at this cute little café near the Louvre

- The Louvre museum (overwhelmingly huge and incredible) and the Starbucks inside of it (I finally had real brewed coffee!)

- Walking along the river, checking out the art work and other knick knacks for sale

- Meeting Julia and trying to catch sunset on top of Montemarte, where there is this amazing white cathedral and the best view of the city. It was quite a hike up there, but we made it and it was worth it.

- Walking around the area near Montemarte with the little artist’s square and tons of really French looking restaurants, and seeing Moulin Rouge!

Day 3:

- Long train ride to Versailles, where we toured the Palace and Gardens.  Insane!   Almost excessive how huge and luxe it was: so much gold and crystal and gaudy decorating everywhere.  The gardens were enormous and perfectly symmetrical.  This King was clearly quite aquisitive.

-  Dinner with Julia at this wonderful, very Parisian place that has been around forever, known to serve good food, fast, to lots of people.  They seriously cram people in there-we were seated RIGHT next to this couple, practically touching arms.  It was cool, very intimate, and the food was good and traditional.

-  The crepe I had after dinner.  From this little stand, with Nutella and bananas.  Wow is all I can say.

Day 4:

- The Museum D’Orsay, an amazing collection of various types of works , including some from Van Gogh and Monet etc.  Really wonderful museum.

- Meeting up with Julia one last time to do the last of the touristy things I had to do: Met her at the Eiffel Tower, which is even more amazing up close.  We went to this beautiful viewing platform and took some fun pictures.  Then we had lunch at this incredible café where she recommended this fabulous salad with warm goat cheese which was amazing.  Then we walked all the way to the Arc di Triomph, which was quite triumphant indeed.

-Said goodbye and headed to the airport for another longg day of traveling!

London-

Day 1: 

- Arrived at our hostel around 9 to find that it is a very young fun scene, it even had a bar attached! It was so strange hearing English everywhere. I kept saying “Merci. I mean Grazie. I mean Thank you!”

- Got to our room to find it was us 3 and one other person who clearly wore a lot of cologne. He wasn’t there, but we nosed around a little and noticed his Ferrari jacket, his nice hiking boots and backpack. We decided he was a wealthy American traveler. Turns out he was actually from Peru, he was very nice, kind of awkward, and we didn’t really get to know him well.

- We were all hungry so we went exploring down the street of our hostel which was full of really cute trendy restaurants full of young business people. We went to an “Indian” restaurant and had some wine and appetizers.

Day 2:

- Decided to make it kind of a relax and rejuvenate day and stayed in the cute area of our hostel. We were staying in Southwark, this really great little area near the London Bridge, just a skip and a hop away from Downtown London, so it was always bustling with young business people. We went across the London Bridge and found a Starbucks where we enjoyed the best lattes ever out of real mugs (they only give you to-go cups if you ask for them. So much better! For us and the environment.)

- Saw signs for Borough Market and decided to check it out. Turned out to be an awesome food market with all sorts of different kinds of food and drinks: Organic smoothies, amazing desserts, All-natural veggie burgers, endless barrels of dried fruit and nuts…it was amazing!

- Hung out there for a long time and then decided to try this restaurant we had seen on our street for lunch. It was called Pret a Manger and it was great! They had lots of fresh sandwiches, salad and soups to choose from, and it was all all-natural organic stuff.  Jenn had their award winning salad wrap and it was awesome.

- Went walking around some more and came upon signs for Vinopolis, which Jenn had just read about in her Rick Steve’s book.  Vinopolis, city of wine- this deserves a bit of an extended explanation:

 Didn’t take us much convincing to go check it out, not only is it a city of wine, but if Rick liked it, it oughta be good.  They had a few different options for how to enjoy Vinopolis. We decided on the cheapest one, which included a tour of the museum, a lesson on “How to Taste Wine” , 5 different wine tastings, and a Bombay Saphire cocktail at the end.  All of that for 20 pounds sounded like a good deal.  So we went up to the counter and there was a young guy working there.  I kinda jokingly asked him if there were any student discounts, he smirked and said “I’ll give you ladies 2 for 1.”  Sweet!  We took it, and so we only paid 10 pounds each!  We were even more excited than before to enter this city of wine.  It was great: the museum was divided into the different stages of wine making and different regions where wine is produced.  Really interesting, we learned a lot, and it was cool to see the Italy and California sections!  The wine tastings were divided in the same way, so we got to try wines from France, Italy, California, South America, Australia etc. 

After we’d tried a few, all of the sudden the guy from the front desk found us and gave us extra cards for 3 champagne tastings and 2 “premium wine” tastings !  This guy was very generous… So we also got to try 3 types of delicious Champagne and some really upscale wines.  We met this wonderful older English couple during our “How to Taste Wine” lesson who thought it was great that we were from the US and wanted to hear all about it. They were from a small town outside of London and were at Vinopolis as an anniversary present.  In their words: “I think they’re trying to get us sloshed!”  It did kind of seem like that…but we weren’t complaining! We finally finished our voyage through the city of wine and entered the real world again.  Vinopolis was down in a basement cellar sort of place, so when we got back outside we were blinded by the light, rather disoriented and ready for some food and a nap. 

-After a nice wine-induced slumber, it was time for dinner!  We decided to try this Japanese-ish place called Wagamama (we were trying to get as much ethnic food as possible, seeing as there’s NONE in Italy).  It was really good- I didn’t have any bad eating experiences, so I’m not sure why London has such a bad gastronomic reputation.  Maybe we just got lucky.

- Then we went to a bar called Slug and Lettuce (still not sure what the heck that name means…but hey, it intrigued us).  Jenn and I sat at a table and whipped out her Europe map and started crossing off all of the places we have been.  These two young working guys saw this as the perfect opportunity to come and talk to us and figure out “what’s with the map?”  They turned out to be a lot of fun-one was from the Netherlands and the other was from France.  They were hilarious, they kept making fun of each other and they got out pens and started marking all of these random places on our map: where they were born, where they want to go, even where their grandma lives…  Now we have quite a map-great memories for sure. 

Day 3:

- We got up kind of early to catch the free walking “Royal Tour” of London.  We met the guide at our hostel and she took us to where the tour was starting.  It was a lovely day, so the tour was packed, which was a bit of a bummer because it was tough to hear.  So we tagged along for a while, got some interesting info about Buckingham Palace, and then decided to ditch the tour and do our own thing.  We ended up frolicking through this great big park with lots of grass and even some flowers!  We found ourselves at the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and Big Ben!  Success.  Then we walked along the river all the way back to our hostel.  Quite a walk, but totally great in the sunny weather, and tons of cool things to see along the river…including some very interesting street performers.

- Went to a recommended restaurant in a recommended area called Soho.  It was a very hopping area and the restaurant was great.  Tons of people everywhere! It was almost like NYC it was so busy.  It was cool, and lots to see.

Day 4:

- Got up early and had a quite stressful time trying to find the train to the airport.  Somehow we made it and headed back to Pisa, where we got off the plane to find it was warm and sunny!  Good to be home.

It is 5 pm on Thursday and Spring Break has officially begun.  Yes!  Finally some time to relax, listen to music and write my blog. I had four midterms this week, and they went well.  To be honest, not a whole lot of studying was necessary, which was nice.  Jenn and I finished our last test and went to the grocery store and left with two types of cheeses, one apple, and two bottles of wine.  We plan to have some celebratory cheese and wine time.  After that, we’re getting together with the girls for a night out.

So, it’s been a while.  Let’s see…A week ago I went to Prague to visit Kerry for the weekend.  I love traveling alone.  There is nothing and no one to distract me from all that is going on around me.  Best time for people watching (hence my last post).  I also often end up sitting next to the most kind, interesting people.  I love it, random human connection, it makes me feel better about humanity – a reminder that we’re all alike and in it together.  I remember the quiet older man who sat next to me on my way home from Boston who shared his trail mix with me as he asked me about my studies.  Or the amazing girl only a couple years older than me who had done so much in her life.  She was very involved in her job working for a non-profit company that sends doctors around the world to where they’re needed.  Then there was the man on the train on the way to Providence who was a graphic designer for the American Cancer Society and who worked in marketing for the walks and other events.  On my flight to Austria, on the way to Prague, I was fortunate enough once again to sit next to one of the kindest people I may have ever encountered.  He was from Egypt and his name was Alibaba (I kid you not.)  More details to come later.

So rewinding a bit: my flight to Vienna was at 7am, and getting to the airport was quite a predicament: I was planning to walk to the train station and take the cheap 30 minute shuttle to the airport around 5 so I would be there an hour and a half early.  Well, I luckily looked online and found that the shuttle doesn’t start running til 6, so my only other choice was to take a cab.  My first thought was to have the cab pick me up at home and take me, but when I asked how much that would be, they said maybe 25-30 euro.  I found out that cabs line up at the train station for a flat rate of 15 euro to the airport, so I decided I’d just walk to the station and take one of those (which it said online take 20-30minutes).  So got up at 4, left at 4:30, walked to the station, got there at 5, got in a cab and said “aeroporto.”  The guy put on the meter 24.50 euro, I asked “Non e cinquanta euro?” “Isn’t it 15 euro?”  He said no, that it had raised.  Awesome.  Oh well.  But then the real kicker was that it literally took 6 minutes to get to the airport!  24 euro for 6 minutes.  And not to mention now I was WAY early for my flight.  I said “Wow! E molto vicino!” “It’s really close!”  He said yeah, since there was no traffic.  I hesitantly handed over my money and got out.  I was seriously the only one in the airport so I breezed through security and went to my gate where, exhausted and disgruntled, I threw my coat over my head and leaned on my bag for two hours.

Finally they started to board the flight to Vienna (which is where I had a layover) and they put us in a bus to take us to the little plane.  I was the first one on the bus and sat at the seat next to the door of the bus, which they left open for maybe half an hour, and I was just sitting there freezing.  Cool.  Finally walked onto the plane and sat down in my seat.  The man next to me (Alibaba) was friendly and we chatted for a bit, and I found out he was from Egypt and headed back there to his family.  He could tell I was freezing and exhausted.  I was leaning back on my seat and he tapped me and said “Here, we’ll switch places so you can sleep.  I don’t want your head to fall.”  I said no, no, its fine, but he insisted.  I graciously changed seats, he put all of the heating vents toward me, and I was able to sleep for a bit against the window.  When I woke up he cheefully said “Good Morning!” and gave me a muffin that he had saved for me from the flight attendant.  Then he gave me a Coke and a water.  Seriously one of the most genuinely kind and generous people I’d ever met.  We talked some more and he told me how he had to leave Egypt to find a job because there is so little money there.  He has two little kids, 4 and 7, and he said it’s difficult leaving them.  He had a whole suitcase of presents for them.  Clearly a wonderful daddy.  No wonder he took such good care of me He joking about how I should watch my purse because “Alibaba and the 40 thieves!”  He was so full of life and I feel lucky to have met him, even if only for an hour. 

Arrived in Vienna and said Buon Viaggio to my new friend and headed to my next gate.  Another hour flight and I was in Prague.  Took a taxi to Kerry’s apartment where I was supposed to meet her friend, Maura while I waited for Ker to be done with class.  I buzzed the apartment I was supposed to, but noone was there.  I momentarily freaked out that maybe I was in the wrong place (since the taxi had no idea where he was going) or that Maura had forgotten about me…luckily the restaurant owner let me into the building so I wasn’t waiting in the freezing snow weather.  Maura walked in maybe 15 minutes later and I was relieved to see her!  She was really sweet, took me up to her apartment where I put my stuff and then we went to lunch at this cool little Mexican restaurant right next to their place.  It was weird going from the Euro to the Crown, because something like 27 crowns is 1 euro, so everything looked really expensive, but it was actually a lot cheaper than what I was used to.  Our yummy Mexican lunch with a beer was only about 6 dollars.  Nice!  We had great convo, and she caught me up on the roommates and such.  Then we went back to her apartment where I waited for Ker.  Finally she came home and I was so excited to see her! 

We did some pretty sight seeing and more good eating on Friday: went to the Castle and the beautiful cathedral with amazing views.  Ate at Bohemia Bagel, an American-owned bagel place where I got my favorite: lox and creamcheese sandwich on an everything bagel.  Amazing.  Saturday night is definitely worth describing in detail.  Saturday was the Carnival in Prague, an all day parade and celebration before Lent.  We went in the evening to where the parade ended.  We took several trains and a bus to get there, and it was pretty far from the city, and it was worth it.  There was a big bonfire and stands selling hot wine, beer, Czech food etc.  We all got some wine and food and sat at the tables near the fire.  There were dogs running loose everywhere and people hanging out, dancing and singing.  After we ate we went inside this barn-like place where there was a concert going on.  We walked in and it was dim, smoky and crowded.  This group of four older Czech men were yelling into the microphone (apparently singing about rather obscene things) and there were people dancing like crazy, one of whom I was momentarily fearful was having a seizure.  I just stared around in awe, until Kerry pulled me toward the bar where we got our first round of big beers for 25 crowns (like 1 dollar).  We went and sat at a table near the stage, and some of us got up and started dancing like the Czechs.  It was very liberating, they have no shame in their dancing, they just go with it. 

After a few rounds of beers and lots of dancing, we decided to check out the other concert that was apparently going on next door.  We weren’t sure what to expect, but when we got there it was like entering another world.  The entrance room was like a bright banquet room full of fancy tables where you could order real food, then in the other room there was a jazz band playing, wearing suits and ties.  People were like waltzing on the dance floor, lots of them wearing carnival attire, like masks or big hair bows or other costumes.  We danced here for a while and then all of the sudden we had to clear the dance floor for a performance.  We all went to the side excited to see what was to come.  All of the sudden this group of maybe 7 guys and 7 girls come onto the dance floor, one of them carrying a chair with a roasted duck on it.  He put the chair in the middle of the room, and then they all started doing this very elaborate dance.  I think it was all kind of centered around this roasted bird.  It was unlike anything I’d ever seen, and I just remember looking around wondering if this was normal.  Like some sort of sacrificial dance or something?  So odd.  I was just giggling and enjoying the show.  What an experience.  I’m definitely glad I got to be a part of such a cultural event.

A really great trip.  Loved seeing Ker, and meeting all of her great friends, and of course witnessing the duck dance.  Next up, Paris and London!  Woop!

- An older couple taking impatient turns going to the “smoker” room to get one last cig in before the flight.
- A younger couple discreetly watching a video on their camera, smirking and holding it low – a homemade porno perhaps?
- A man eating some sort of meat out of a bag and piling the little bones on his knee. Kind of looks like Ted Bundy.
- An unfortunate but cute matching couple wearing the same plaid should-be-pajamas-but-aren’t pants read guidebooks through the same blue rimmed glasses.
- A father and son reading sports magazines and making quiet comments about the cute girls walking by
- A not unattractive young man practicing model poses in his reflection in the window…Does he think no one can see him?
- An odd hippy couple fondling eachothers faces and shamelessly making out.
- A could-be boy band member chillin’ with his fur hooded puffy jacket, sitting with his hands in his pockets framing his crotch, checkin people out (or hoping they’re checking him out.)

Sunday February 15

It’s amazing how much can happen in just a couple days here!  I feel like it’s been ages since my last post, but it’s really only been 4 days. 

So on Friday we got up early and went on the best field trip I’ve ever been on, and probably that I’ll ever go on.  First we went to this cheese factory about an hour away that was seriously in the middle of nowhere.  All of the sudden we were driving up this mountain and there was a snow storm!  I awoke from a nap and there was snow everywhere.  Quite a surprise.  The bus driver got a little lost, and then we drove straight past the factory, but finally we made it.  It was a little Pecorino factory in the hills.  We got a tour of the place and an explanation on how the cheese is made.  It was really interesting, but a lot of the rooms had some pretty funky smells… After our tour we got to try two different types of Pecorino, one fresh and one more aged.  They said the first was about 3 months old, and the second 12.  That amount of time makes quite a difference.  The younger one was soft and mild, and the aged one was hard and crumbly and very pungent.  Both were good in their own ways.

We got back on the bus and drove for a long time to the winery in San Gimignano.  It was definitely worth the drive.  After a couple hours the views from the bus were seriously amazing.  So beautiful.  It was unreal, looked like what you would dream the rolling hills of Tuscany to be. 

We finally arrived at the little winery where they make Vernaccia and Chianti wines.  We were all overwhelmed with the beauty around us and took lots of pictures for a few minutes, and then we started our tour of the facilities.  We got to see all of the big machines where the grapes are peeled (only for white) and squished, and then where the wine is put to ferment in a huge temperature controlled metal device.  Then we saw all of the wooden barrels of wine, which is a crucial step, and where they must stay for at least a few months to be infused with some of the woody flavor.  It was cool to see wine from that point of view. 

Then came the best part: Our teacher had bought a bunch of cheese from the factory, and while we were touring the winery, they had set up basically a wine and cheese party for us in the selling/tasting room!  It was amazing.  We walked in to see all of the cheese cut up and set out with different crackers and breads.  And then they had three wines for us to taste!  One white Vernaccia that was definitely the best white I’ve had so far here (they’re few and far between; red is definitely better here) and two Chiantis, one aged more than the other.  I actually liked the younger one better, although they were both wonderful.  Yummy wine and fresh cheese with the rolling Tuscan hills in the background; can’t get much better. 

Most of us bought a couple bottles of wine, and then we went outside and soaked up the sun for a while as we digested.  The sun felt wonderful, and I was seriously on cloud nine.

Eventually we had to get back on the bus and exit fantasy land.  I bought two bottles of wine and took a plate of cheese to go, to try to make the amazingness last. 

Drove back to Florence and took a wine and cheese induced nap, and then got ready to go on my date with Marco.  We met at 7 and went to dinner at this great Trattoria where he knows the woman who works there.  She was lovely; so friendly and welcoming.  We ordered a bottle of wine (yes, more wine) and she recommended I try the Pumpkin Ravioli, and I didn’t object!  It came out and it looked amazing.  It was clearly fresh, homemade pasta.  The “ravioli” looked more like big tortellini, and it was in a warm buttery cinnamon sauce, even with cocoa sprinkled on top!  The pumpkin filling was so unique and flavorful.  It was delicious.  Almost like eating little pumpkin pies!  I think it could have been a dessert, which is totally fine with me. 

After dinner we went to Café Sant’Ambrogio for a drink and conversation.  Another great date.

Saturday I slept in a bit and then went for a nice walk with the girls.  We didn’t really have a destination other than to somehow get to the hills we see across the river.  So we wandered in that direction and ended up climbing a bunch of hills and stairs to what turned out to be Piazza Michelangelo!  The place where Marco took me one night that has the most amazing view of Florence.  I was so excited that we had happened upon it in the day time.  And it was a beautiful, clear day, so the views were incredibile.  It’s so cool to see your city from that angle, and to see where everything is in the bigger scope.  It was almost overwhelming how beautiful it is, this amazing city on one side, and then these beautiful hills on the other.  I tried to take it all in, and it was difficult.

We kept walking up and ended up at the big, beautiful church that we had seen from the river.  It was huge, and had some more out of this world views.  Then we went to a little café on the hill for some café americanos that we enjoyed out on the patio where we could continue to take in the views.  What a great day! 

Then we headed toward home, stopped at this really cool art fair in Piazza Santa Croce, and then went to the market where all I bought were biscotti.  Finally made it home where Candy and I made a lovely late lunch, I took a nap, and then we started getting ready for our Valentine’s dinner!

There were four of us girls: Candy, Jenn, Jenn’s friend Meg, and I.  We went to that restaurant that Suzanne had recommended for great Bistecca Fiorentina (Florentine Steak) called La Spada.  On our way there, all of the sudden I felt an arm around my shoulder and it’s Rafaelle, the cute cop from aperitivo the other night!  Crazy small world.  He invited us to go get a drink, but Jenn wasn’t really down, so I told him I’d call him later.

Got to La Spada to find that the Bistecca is 42 euro per kilogram.  Yikes.  I asked the waiter,  and apparently one kilo is good for two people.  I must have made a face like “Shit, that’s expensive”, because he came back a second later and said “We have a deal for two of you: you can have an antipasto tray, a kilo of steak, potatoes, and two desserts for 26 euro.”  I looked at Jenn, and back at him, and he goes “No cover charge for you either.”  We decided that was a pretty good deal, and we felt like we had to try this famous steak, and it was v-day, so we went for it.  Oh wow.  I had no idea what I was in for.  First came the antipasto try with assorted crosini and several meats.  Then we had a long and anxious wait for our steak.  It finally arrived and it huge!  Each of us got this insanely thick T-bone steak.  The people at the table were laughing at us because it was quite an absurd sight: two cute little girls with huge manly steaks.  

We took a deep breath and dug in.  It was seriously more rare than I had ever had.  It was basically raw actually.  But it was delicious.  Very tender and perfectly seasoned, and so fresh.  There’s all of these regulations that the meat has to pass before it can be called “Fiorentina,” and you could definitely tell the difference.  It was great.  Somehow, we finished it.  It really wasn’t as much as it looked, because there was a lot of fat and a lot of bone.  Then, beyond all odds, we even finished our two desserts: Tiramisu (a must) and Tubocco (some sort of traditional Florentine dessert with cake and ice cream…it was quite odd.)  What a feast. 

Now it’s Sunday afternoon and I haven’t done much today other than update my blog and eat biscotti.  Oh, I did go to the grocery store.  I’m thinking I’ll need to start reading or studying soon, seeing as midterms are coming up and I have yet to really do anything school related.  We’ll see how that goes.

February 10, 2009

Today I had the best hot chocolate ever.  For the second time in two days.  We went to the Sant’Ambrogio market yesterday with our Food and Wine class and passed this little chocolate shop.  Our teach told us that they had great hot chocolate and to try it some time.  Well, on our way back from the market she gave us a little free time, so obviously Jenn and I tried this hot chocolate.  There were 3 sizes to choose from, 1 euro, 2 euro or 3 euro.  I chose the piccolo 1 euro cup of the darker hot chocolate with pepperoncino (spicy chili pepper).  It was so dark and thick, it looked like pure melted chocolate.  And it tasted like it too.  The chili pepper added a nice spicy kick.  Now this is what I’m talking about.  1 euro for amazing hot, spicy drinking chocolate.  Much better than 7.50 for the very marginal warm seemingly made from a packet cocoa from before.  Now I know what people are talking about when they say how great Florentine hot chocolate is.  Today I brought Kendall and Candy to try some, and they were equally impressed. Oh, and after we finished drinking, we went back into the little shop to gaze at the pretty little chocolates and I asked for one of the almond ones and the lady just gave it to me for free!  Sweet!  Good day.  Not to mention, the street that this place is on is awesome.  So many cool little shops: stationary stores with homemade cards, a clock store with really unique clocks on all the walls, this neat hippy store that reminded me of Haight…I’ll definitely be frequenting that area often.

So rewinding to last night: we went out to celebrate Jenn’s birthday, and some celebrating we did!  We started with apperitivo at this new, fancy bar we’d walked by. 

We sat in this outdoor area that was protected with a see-through tent thing and heated with heaters.  Cool atmosphere.  Most of us ordered Texas Ice Teas because we figure for 10 euro might as well get a little buzz.  Headed to the buffet for one of the healthier spreads so far: grilled assorted vegetables, a couple green salads, some pastas, chicken wings, cous cous etc.  I had two big mounded plates.  We hung out there for a while and then when we were about to head to another place this table of 5 Italian guys stopped us and said “No! No! Where are you going? Come, sit with us.”  In the words of Carolyn “I’m always down to meet some Italians.”  So we did.  Jenn, Carolyn and I stayed and sat with these guys and the other girls headed off.  They turned out to be Carabinieri, who are like police men, but I guess on the higher level, like Army Cops or something?  They were trying to explain, and I didn’t completely understand.  But anyway, this was kind of funny because for a moment I got a little nervous…if this had happened in the US it would have been very uncomfortable since we weren’t 21, but hey, we’re in Italy so it’s all good.  They ended up buying us all another drink, and then 2 rounds of birthday shots!  Cops are generous here, I’m telling you.  One of them was cute and he was from Naples.  I told him I wanted to go there and he said “Okay, you can come with me this weekend.”  Haha.  I laughed, but he was totally serious.  I told him maybe, we’ll see.  Gotta love how forward the guys are here. 

We definitely succeeded in getting Jenn tipsy.  When we finally left those Italian guys we went to this other bar and sat down at the table and I look at Jenn and say are you ok? And she just shakes her head with her eyes closed.  Do you wanna go home? Nod.  So we went home.  It was a great night.

Anyway, tomorrow is already Thursday (can’t believe how fast the weeks are flying).  Friday we’re going to the town of San Gimignano with our Food and Wine class to visit a cheese factory and then a winery where we’ll eat our cheese and drink our wine.  Should be pretty awesome.  Other than the fact we have to be at the bus stop at 7:15am!  Oh well, I think it’s worth it.  Then Friday night I have a date with Marco which is always fun.  I love going out with him and seeing the city from a local perspective.  It’s a huge difference, and I get to see places I probably wouldn’t otherwise.  Then I have a hot Valentine’s date with Jenn on Saturday night.  We’re going to go to this restaurant that we’ve been recommended where there is some of the best Florentine Steak, which is apparently amazing and we have yet to try.  I’m very excited.

I’ll update Sunday. Ciao!

February 9-10, 2009

I have been living in Italy for a month.  I live in Italy.  I live in an apartment in Florence.  Wow.  This is fantastic.  Yet at the same time I’m starting to just be used to it. I now only stop and realize that “I’m in freakin Italy!” maybe once a day, instead of every minute like before.  Yes, still quite a frequent occurrence, but walking to school, strolling to the market, going back to the apartment are becoming routine.  Pretty cool because this is a sign that I’m actually living here and building a life-style, but it’s also made me more aware of the need to remember that I am in Italy; this is a once in a life time thing and I cannot take the amazingness that I am living amongst for granted. 

My small, interactive classes help me to remember this because our teachers often take us out into the city to really experience for ourselves what we’re learning.  This sort of hands-on, experiential learning is such a simple idea, but it’s brilliant.  I feel involved in what I’m seeing; the things we are learning about are not just words in a book or pictures on a powerpoint, but instead they become real and tangible.  Sitting in a classroom, listening to a lecture is sometimes necessary I suppose, but by bringing the lesson out into the world, we actually can see what we’re learning in the scope of our lives.

We get to see from only a few inches away Donatello’s ground-breaking wooden sculpture of Mary Magdalene as our exuberant teacher points out important aspects and asks us what we think about the work.  We are forced to get involved, to form our own opinion, to look at it critically.  I haven’t felt compelled to speak out in class in years, but when I get to see these amazing things for myself I feel like that excited young learner I used to be.  I answer the teacher’s questions, and I am eager to share my thoughts and opinions; I am feeling an enthusiasm about learning that I haven’t felt since Nueva. 

My Art History teacher is especially good at getting us involved in what we’re learning.  She possesses such vast knowledge and genuine passion for the paintings and sculptures we’re learning about.  She points out fascinating things that one would not normally notice, and her excitement about what she’s saying is contagious.  She helps us to sort of adjust our focus to be able to see really amazing things in the art. 

The other day we were talking about a public sculpture of Saint George, and she asked if any of us had seen it since it was just around the corner from the school.  No one had seen it, so she just said “Okay, pack up, let’s go take a look.”  There were 3 presentations planned for that day, but she thought it was more important for us to go see this sculpture!  And what a difference it made!  We had just seen a slide with the picture of the sculpture, but now we got to go see the real thing.  Then she showed us a Ghiberti statue of Saint John the Baptist on the side of a building.  It was larger than life-sized and very idealized.  Perfect posture, no emotion in the face, perfect folding of the robes he was wearing.  She asked us what this type of romanticized work reminds us of and I happily chimed in to say that it was clearly a gothic piece, made before the renaissance, because the renaissance is when the art started changing and showing more real-life, human emotion.  “Brava,” she said, and continued.  

Sunday February 8, 2009

We didn’t have to do much sight seeing in Venice because, let me tell ya, the city itself is a sight to see.  You probably know that Venice is a city built on water; the “streets” are canals of water and the “cars” and “buses” are boats.  I forget who, but back in the day some government official came to Venice and sent a telegraph to his consultant saying, “The streets are filled with water, please advise.”  It does seem rather absurd, but somehow it works…although they have been having some flooding problems.  And we happened to come at the tail end of a high-tide month, so literally many of the walking streets were covered in several inches of water.  This was a bit of a dilemma seeing as many of us were wearing sneakers or, in one case, suede ballet flats.  Yikes.  Some of the streets are armed and ready with these odd lifted platforms that you can walk on above the water, but many of the streets aren’t.  Lucky for us tourists (and for Venice’s tourist economy) you can buy rainboots at pretty much any corner, or, even better, you can buy these awesome, neon-colored trashbag-like shoe cover things that go up to your knee where you tie them.  Oh, so stylish. 

Many of the girls on our program (those who had rain boots at least) were very excited, if not overjoyed, by the water in the streets.  They were actually frolicking in it at some points, splashing and laughing.  That’s sweet, but perhaps they don’t remember what our tourguide told us about the water- that something like 70% of Venetian sewage goes into it?  Yeah, I’d rather not go splashing in poop water, even in water-proof boots.  This was also rather disturbing since the restaurant we ate dinner at had a nice big puddle at the entrance.  Yum.  Oh, and the poor stores, we saw the workers at Prada dumping buckets of water out of their store.  I think that most of the sewage goes into the sea, and I am assuming they must have some sort of sanitation system to keep it cleaner than we think, but I was nervous to ask.

Even if the water everywhere was poopy, it was still a pretty awesome city.  There are no cars allowed anywhere in the city, the walking streets are really narrow, and there are little bridges over little picturesque canals everywhere you look.  There are gondolas in the small canals and then in the Grand Canal there are bus boats and taxi boats and ambulance boats.  We took the Number 1 water bus to the Piazza San Marco today and it literally took 45 minutes, rather than a potential 20 minute walk, but it was the only choice with the flooded streets!  It was a great ride though, such beautiful buildings and houses on the sides of the canal, and it’s so wide and expansive.  At one point I was pretty sure I was at the place where they filmed The Italian Job, which I definitely probably wasn’t, but whatever. 

We toured some really stunning churches on Saturday, one of which had a ceiling and some walls made entirely of intricate, colored glass mosaic!  Each piece was tiny, and together the countless shards formed these amazing portraits of saints and other designs.  A lot of the glass was sheeted in real gold so it shimmered and danced in the low light.  Truly spectacular; I could stare at the ceiling forever and still not see all of the details in the mosaics or understand the time and work that must have been put in to such a project. 

On Sunday we had plans to see the first-ever Jewish ghetto, but the street we needed to take was, you guessed it, flooded.  So those who had appropriate boots took the obstacle in stride and got to see the ghetto, and those of us who didn’t went straight to the next activity: “climbing the campanile in San Marco Square.”  It was a beautiful water-bus ride there, but I was secretly dreading the potential hundreds of stairs that awaited us at the very tall clock tower.  Well, I was pleasantly surprised to find there was an unlikely elevator that took us up to the top.  Yes!  Turns out the stairs would have been worth it because the views were incredible, although it was freezing up there so we couldn’t stay to enjoy them for long.  It was neat to see from up there that Venice is really one with the sea.  Our tour guide had told us that every year _____ used to come to Venice and ceremonially throw a ring into the ocean to symbolize the city’s marriage to the sea.  On the clock tower you could really see how the main Piazza literally just opens to the sea, allowing the water to come in and mingle.  Very interesting, and a beautiful thing to see: a manmade city really acknowledging and accepting nature, rather than trying to keep it out.  I went down from the clock tower and embraced the flooding (although I still didn’t frolick in it.)

After the clock tower, we were set loose for 6 hours of free time.  We were not super excited about this because Venice is apparently the easiest place to get lost in ever, not to mention it was flooded, and we had no idea how to get anywhere or what to do.  We decided to ask for a restaurant recommendation, have a really long lunch and go from there.  It was Jenn’s “birthday,” (her actual day of birth is Christmas, but she’s always celebrated it on February 8 because that was her due date!) so we bought her a yummy birthday lunch and wine at this cute trattoria in Santa Margherita square.  We ate the Italian way and really savored our food and spent lots of time talking and relaxing at the table.  Then we met up with some more friends and walked around for a bit and went for a little birthday coffee at a cool café for another hour or so.  By this time we were doing pretty well on time, and we decided we needed to take a gondola ride.  We walked toward the hotel to the place we had seen earlier, and the guy wanted 80 euro for a 30 minute ride, but we said that we had just been offered 50 (which was almost true) and so after a bit of negotiating we got it!  There were 5 of us so it was only 10 each, which I guess is a really good deal. 

The gondolier was a kind of hard looking young Italian guy who was wearing a beanie that said something criminal on it.  Possibly an ex mafia member? Well he turned out to be really nice and took us on a lovely little ride around the “piccoli canali” and then to the grand canal.  We asked him to sing, but he laughed and said no, so we sang a little bit just to get the feeling.  He let us take pictures with his little gondolier hat which was cute.  We ended our ride just in time and headed back to the hotel with just enough time to get the amazing gelato we had had the night before.  Better than any we had had in Florence, believe it or not!  It was just from this little stand, but they had this flavor called “Cookies” and we wondered if they added some sort of uppers to it because it was phenomenal and made us all so happy.  Anyway, grabbed a gelato and made it back to the hotel right in time, grabbed our bags, and headed to the bus. 

It was a great trip.  I’ve never seen anything like Venice, and it was quite the experience.  

Sunday, February 1, 2009

            First of all, it’s very difficult not having internet in my apartment.  I didn’t really think it’d be a big deal, but I feel so disconnected even not going on for a couple days.  This is rather silly, I admit, because it just proves how dependent we are on our computers and on impersonal communication like email and facebook.  However, I’m in Italy, so this electronic communication is my only channel to home right now.

            Anyway, It’s Sunday now and I am exhausted by the week/weekend that is finally over.  Today will definitely be spent resting and recovering.  My poor body, I feel bad for what I’ve put it through. 

            I can’t complain though because Alyssa came from Rome this weekend and it was so great to see her.  Her and her friends from Rome are so much fun, and it was great to hang out with other UC kids.  She got in Friday night with 3 friends.  We walked around a bit and then met up with Jenn, Candy and some of Jenn’s friends  for dinner.  It was about 7pm and we showed up at this little restaurant, Sasso di Dante, with 13 girls.  We basically ambushed them and took over the restaurant.  Luckily, no one was there yet, so the waitress was able to basically put every table in the restaurant together to make one big table for us.  The chef watched as we all walked in, probably regretting coming to work. 

            We ordered some vino and some delicious pastas.  I had the lasagne which had been recommended by various people.  It was served in a little tourine that was still scalding hot; the cheese was bubbling and it looked amazing.  I was very impatient and consequently burnt my tongue several times, but it was worth it.  It was so rich and meaty, and very oily.  I also tried some of the gnocci, which was incredible, and some of the cheesy mushroom risotto.  Delicious! 

            After dinner Alyssa and her three great friends, Lizzy, Allie and Melissa came back to the apartment and we hung out and drank some more wine before heading to the “Red Bar” ie. Lochness Lounge, where we met up with some more of her friends.  It was a really fun atmosphere with cool oldie music and lots of people.  I met the bartender a while ago, and he is really sweet and remembered me.  Alyssa and I told him we were just gonna share a Japanese Ice Tea, but he made us each one, and then didn’t even charge us!  What a cutie.  He’s from Peru.  We stayed there for a while and headed home pretty early since we had an early morning the next day.

            Saturday morning was tough.  Alyssa and I woke up at 7.  I had a school trip to Bologna leaving at 8.  We walked to the bus stop, which was on her way to her friends’ hostel, and parted ways for the day.  I got on the bus and slept through a quick ride to Bologna, a nice University town.  It was very cold when we arrived, but the tour of the churches was very interesting.  We first saw a church of San Domenico, with amazing chapels and frescoes.  Then we went to the building that was the site of the University for many years and saw the Anatomical Theater where they performed the first ever public human dissection!  Scholars and students from all over Europe used to come to this place to see the dissections and learn about anatomy.  It was pretty cool.  Then we went to the main cathedral which had the largest sun dial and a huge meridian line through it.  This was also the church that was threatened to be bombed by Muslim terrorists because there is a mural of Mohammed being devoured by demons.  Definitely controversial, and I’m surprised it hasn’t been changed. 

            After our tour we had this amazing lunch at a caffetteria place.  Bologna is known best for its food, particularly fresh egg pastas like tortellini, lasagne and ravioli, and also Bolognese sauce!  Yum.  We each got an antipasto tray with meats and cheeses, two pasta choices (I got tortellini and lasagne) and two sides (grilled vegetables and spinach salad for me).  The tortellini was seriously incredible.  It was smaller than we’re used to, and countless times better.  The Bolognese sauce was amazingly rich and creamy and hearty.  The only problem with this little day trip was that after lunch they basically set us free for 3 hours! In a city we don’t know.  We were all tired and in food comas, so we ended up shopping a little bit and then sitting in a café for a couple hours.  Pretty boring, and not fun when you’re hung over, cold, and exhausted.

            Anyway, came home and had a fun night with Alyssa and friends.  We went to apperitivo at Oibo, where we sat at a big table near the kitchen, which was probably a bad idea since every time we saw all the new, hot dishes coming out we got up and had to try them.  Dangerous, but delicious.  We chatted and ate for a couple hours until we felt like they it was probably time to head out.  We grabbed some bottles of wine at the little store on the way home and started walking.  We came upon the same cool hippie guy playing guitar and singing great old American songs and decided to sit in the piazza and watch him for a while. 

We drank our wine and sang along; gotta love the lack of open container law in Italy.  It was amazing; this guy is really good!  He stopped at 11, and we decided to do a little night tour of the Ponte Vecchio, which I didn’t realize was SO close to my apartment!  I love finding these things out…Florence gets smaller and smaller.  Then we started toward the hostel, and were approached by this quiet guy handing out flyers for the “Fish Bar” where we could apparently get a free shot!  Why not? we decided, it was on the way, so we stopped there for a bit.  It was definitely unlike anywhere I’d been yet.  I did not feel like I was in Italy…there was the most diverse crowd: Americans, Italians, Japanese people, young, old…it was cool!

              After that Alyssa and I parted ways with the other girls and went on a silly adventure with Carolyn and Cami that ended with them going to a crazy club and us walking home.  Oh well, it was still a great night!  And a crazy weekend.  So great to see Alyssa and meet her friends.  Now I can’t wait to go to Rome.

                This coming weekend is busy too!  Friday we have a trip to Siena with my Renaissance class, and then Saturday we go to Venice with the school for an overnight trip. I’m excited, it should be amazing, and I’m planning to bring home something glass, since that’s what Venice is known for.  

Off to my lunch date with Marco. Ciao  

So, remember that ideal date I spoke of a few posts ago?  The romantic setting with a bottle of wine and great conversation?  Yeah, well believe it or not, this seemingly impossible date actually came true.  Marco, my “language exchange partner”, took me to Café Sant’Ambrogio, a small, cool little bar where there wasn’t one other American, which was a nice change.  He ordered a bottle of red wine that we shared at a little table in the corner.  Our conversation was endless.  We have tons in common and seriously talked for 4 hours; about the places we want to travel, the things we want to do in life, how we feel about money and materialism, how great San Francisco is, the different ways of life in Italy vs. US etc.  I’ve rarely had such great experiences on dates, so this was a pleasant change.  When the bar closed we went to this beautiful look out place with an amazing view of Florence.  It was really cold, so we didn’t stay there long, but I definitely want to go back.

Anyway, it was lovely.  I think I’ll see him again this weekend. 

So, on another note, two days ago I went to a CEA gathering at this really cool tea cafe where we went tea tasting!  I don’t even usually like tea, but this was incredible.  There were about 20 of us, and we sat on pretty cushions in our own dimly lit room, decorated with cool Moroccan inspired lanterns and murals. The owner (this older man probably in his 50s who was so accommodating and sweet and wore furry slippers) announced that he would be presenting three different courses of teas and cakes!  First was a Chai tea unlike any I’d had before.  It was creamy and spicy and just sweet enough.  He mixes all the herbs himself, so it was amazing.  With this he served homemade orange cake that was so moist and delicious and you could taste the whole pieces of fresh orange.  Amazing.

Then came a green tea with fresh mint.  Okay, I definitely am not usually a green tea fan, but something about this one, the mint maybe? I don’t know but it was amazing, it just tasted hearty and healthy and cleansing.  With it he served a baklava-like cake that was gooey and warm, with honey and some sort of coconut spread and raisins.  Not too sweet, and the perfect compliment to the tea. 

Finally, and note that at this point we’re all in a dim, cozy, delicious, tea-induced stupor, he brought out his secret recipe tea.  It tasted like Christmas.  It was spicy and wonderful and the accompanying trio of cookies were fabulous: coconut, chocolate rice-crispy like things, and little choco chip biscotti. 

What an experience!! He gave us all free membership to the “club” which is awesome, and I will definitely be going back.  Such a cool atmosphere, and a nice little escape from bustling Florence.  I wish I were the owner.  Just make tea and cake and chill in slippers all day.  Sweet. 

That’s one of the amazing things about Florence, I think you could live here forever and still not find all of the amazing little places hidden away on side streets. 

So, I officially love my Early Renaissance Art History class.  The teacher is seriously fantastic.  She gets SO excited about what she’s staying that she often shouts and stomps and snorts.  Yesterday we learned about the two bronze doors of the Baptistry next to the Duomo Cathedral in the center of Florence.  Florence was the first place to have bronze doors cast, and man, these are some amazing doors.  The artist managed to cast the whole story of John the Baptist into 20 panels of bronze that make up the doors.  I can’t imagine how long that took, or how much it cost!  We learned about how there are certain stories and symbols that are always represented in the same way so that people could easily recognize them. It’s called iconography: Since most people were illiterate at this time, the constancy of the figures was like a language. Molto interessante! I haven’t been this into a class in a long time, and I love how she encourages us to say what we think of the art we see.  I’m not usually a big talker in class, but in this one I feel comfortable contributing a lot of my ideas, which is a nice feeling.