First departure
Well, today was my last final. I am officially a senior in college (EW) but sadly that also means packing up all of my stuff and moving onto the next location. Although my apartment had its issues (many of them) I am SO sad to be leaving it. It was in an amazing location (I had sleepovers with Galileo every night) and was always right in the center of the party. (people HAVE offered us beers through our window) I lived next to the largest Franciscan Basilica in Italy, (and of course it is the one church with a jewish star on it) and I can't believe my time in this apartment is over. It feels like yesterday that I was pulling up to the apartment for the first time, all skinny and ready for an adventure. But luckily my adventure is not over yet! Tomorrow I am bringing all of my stuff to my friend Alexa's apartment. I will be in the Almafi coast from thursday-Sunday and then back in Florence from Sunday - Thursday in Alexa's apartment.
Food Update
My DEEPEST DEEPEST apologies for royally sucking on the blog front recently. Fortunately and unfortunately, life set in, I had finals, packing and even the last bits of my planning. But I am back to try to catch up on a few of the things I have left out in the past couple of weeks. Starting with, well obviously ... more food ;)
Trattoria Sostanza
-this restaurant is one of the oldest in Florence, and you certainly get that vibe when you enter. It is a very bare restaurant but with a genuine Italian feel, and genuine italian food to match. We got their artichoke and egg pie as an appetizer (AMAZING) and then got pasta with meat sauce and their famous chicken. (and of course some wine) This meal was unbelievable and a definite go to in Florence!
Dim Sum
-although I am usually quite steadfast on my "you must eat Italian when in Italy" rule, living here for 4 months gives me one or two meals to go outside of that. One of these meals was dim sum. I waited for it to come highly recommended by others (I wasn't wasting a night out on bad food) but it definitely lived up to expectations. Although it is not a sushi restaurant, I had dumplings and japanese style food. I would of course not recommend for people to go here if they are only in Florence for a short amount of time, but if you're here and need some food besides Italian, Dim Sum was quite great =]
Tijuana
- sticking with the "not italian" food, Tijuana is a great mexican restaurant in Florence.I had been the last time I was in Italy, and although I didn't have a meal at this restaurant this time around, we stopped by for some margaritas that were larger than my face. And delicious !
Antica Sosta
-of course in my food tour of Florence, I have to hit up all of the famous panini places! I had been to this restaurant almost every day when I was here for my summer program, but never knew the name! Antica Sosta is right next to the leather market and has amazing fresh paninis and large salads. I loved it!
There are of course more restaurants that I have been to (you can clearly see all of the food in each of my fat rolls when I return to America) but I will be back to updating this I promise!
Trattoria Sostanza
-this restaurant is one of the oldest in Florence, and you certainly get that vibe when you enter. It is a very bare restaurant but with a genuine Italian feel, and genuine italian food to match. We got their artichoke and egg pie as an appetizer (AMAZING) and then got pasta with meat sauce and their famous chicken. (and of course some wine) This meal was unbelievable and a definite go to in Florence!
Dim Sum
-although I am usually quite steadfast on my "you must eat Italian when in Italy" rule, living here for 4 months gives me one or two meals to go outside of that. One of these meals was dim sum. I waited for it to come highly recommended by others (I wasn't wasting a night out on bad food) but it definitely lived up to expectations. Although it is not a sushi restaurant, I had dumplings and japanese style food. I would of course not recommend for people to go here if they are only in Florence for a short amount of time, but if you're here and need some food besides Italian, Dim Sum was quite great =]
Tijuana
- sticking with the "not italian" food, Tijuana is a great mexican restaurant in Florence.I had been the last time I was in Italy, and although I didn't have a meal at this restaurant this time around, we stopped by for some margaritas that were larger than my face. And delicious !
Antica Sosta
-of course in my food tour of Florence, I have to hit up all of the famous panini places! I had been to this restaurant almost every day when I was here for my summer program, but never knew the name! Antica Sosta is right next to the leather market and has amazing fresh paninis and large salads. I loved it!
There are of course more restaurants that I have been to (you can clearly see all of the food in each of my fat rolls when I return to America) but I will be back to updating this I promise!
The REAL REAL experience
So this week Gavi's sister Ali came to visit with her husband Adam. She is so sweet and warm and we are all having the best time with her here! Apart from exploring the normal touristy locations as we normally do when family comes, Ali had a friend from Dphie at UF who came abroad and married an Italian man and now has lived here since college. She now owns a restaurant with her husband which just so happens to be literally a 2 second walk from our apartment. Wednesday night, we all went over to her apartment thinking that we would have dinner at the restaurant, but ended up just eating snacks and drinking wine from around 7 until 1:30 am! Her friend was so sweet and cool and we all enjoyed talking to her! (and seeing what a real persons apartment looked like! ... it was BEAUTIFUL!.. and she had a dog, and a dryer... aka heaven!) We didn't hold back in asking her all of our burning questions about life in Italy and how she adjusted and she gave us very real and honest answers! SO COOL!
Tonight, since we never made it to the restaurant last night, we planned to meet there so we would get to try it! The restaurant is called Francesco Vini, and everything was AMAZING! We got a salad, a vegetable roast (there is no way to describe it but beyond amazing), a risotto, a pasta with seafood, spinach, potatoes, beans, a proseco, 2 different types of red wine and a moscato. (I know it sounds like a lot but there were 5 of us so it was a normal amount i promise!) Everything was beyond amazing, and we ended up sitting in the restaurant after the meal and talking to Ali's friend and her husband for a while. They are the nicest coolest people ever!
It was so nice to see what real life in Italy is like, and from a girl who is just like us! No matter what, nothing will ever beat the experience that we have had the past 2 nights, it is truly the best of both worlds!
But now that I got the best of Italy.... we are off to PARIS tomorrow!!!!!! Ill be sure to write about my eating adventures soon! xoxoxo
Tonight, since we never made it to the restaurant last night, we planned to meet there so we would get to try it! The restaurant is called Francesco Vini, and everything was AMAZING! We got a salad, a vegetable roast (there is no way to describe it but beyond amazing), a risotto, a pasta with seafood, spinach, potatoes, beans, a proseco, 2 different types of red wine and a moscato. (I know it sounds like a lot but there were 5 of us so it was a normal amount i promise!) Everything was beyond amazing, and we ended up sitting in the restaurant after the meal and talking to Ali's friend and her husband for a while. They are the nicest coolest people ever!
It was so nice to see what real life in Italy is like, and from a girl who is just like us! No matter what, nothing will ever beat the experience that we have had the past 2 nights, it is truly the best of both worlds!
But now that I got the best of Italy.... we are off to PARIS tomorrow!!!!!! Ill be sure to write about my eating adventures soon! xoxoxo
Shopping and food ... of course ;)
So now that we survived Dublin ... barely we are back to Florentine life (at least for a few days). Gavi's sister Ali is visiting for the week which of course means the food tour of Florence. Last night we went to Osteria Tre Panche (the truffle and warm cheesecake restaurant, and one of my favorites) but today for lunch we decided to try something new. We had been hearing about a restaurant called Zeb, it is on the other side of the arno and is a very small restaurant but we had heard the food was great from very credible sources, so we gave it a try! We had mixed vegetables, pesto pasta, pear ravioli and squash ravioli. All of which was AMAZING! We did not try the desserts because we want to take Ali for Gelato and/or (most likely and) chocolate, but we are definitely looking forward to going back and trying the restaurant for dinner and desserts as well!
After, me and Gabi wanted an afternoon activity, so we went shopping. We had been hearing about a store called Boutique Nadine which is famous for making jewelry out of designer buttons (namely Chanel). All of the Jewelry was so creative and fun that we of course had to get something! They had everything from headbands, to rings to bracelets and even vintage bags! Me and Gabi both got a necklace, I plan on wearing mine mainly as a bracelet though! All in all, I'd say a very good day! (this morning with class we actually went into Santa Croce (the church next to my apartment, check it out in the art history section!)
After, me and Gabi wanted an afternoon activity, so we went shopping. We had been hearing about a store called Boutique Nadine which is famous for making jewelry out of designer buttons (namely Chanel). All of the Jewelry was so creative and fun that we of course had to get something! They had everything from headbands, to rings to bracelets and even vintage bags! Me and Gabi both got a necklace, I plan on wearing mine mainly as a bracelet though! All in all, I'd say a very good day! (this morning with class we actually went into Santa Croce (the church next to my apartment, check it out in the art history section!)
Wine tasting and Gelato!
Just when I thought my week would be boring because I cooked (meaning Gavi cooked) most nights ... Today in food and wine we began the wine section of the class (thank goodness! .. i was getting a little bored of listening to how the ancient Romans ate). We tried three red wines as well as bread and olive oil and learned about how wines are made. I'd say just about the perfect day in class!
Then, after we had some wine, since we were healthy all week we decided to treat ourselves to a little present. Which of course while in Italy is Gelato. We started getting into more of a routine and going to the same places, so we figured this was the perfect opportunity to try out a new place which we heard was amazing! It is called Vivoli and it is very close to our apartment. I got gradiua (basically nutella) and caffe (coffee)! Both were definitely amazing but this was not my favorite gelato place! Definitely worth a try though!
Now I am all packed and ready for my trip to DUBLIN tomorrow! Can't believe I get to go to Ireland!! I will post about it monday when I get home xoxo <3
Then, after we had some wine, since we were healthy all week we decided to treat ourselves to a little present. Which of course while in Italy is Gelato. We started getting into more of a routine and going to the same places, so we figured this was the perfect opportunity to try out a new place which we heard was amazing! It is called Vivoli and it is very close to our apartment. I got gradiua (basically nutella) and caffe (coffee)! Both were definitely amazing but this was not my favorite gelato place! Definitely worth a try though!
Now I am all packed and ready for my trip to DUBLIN tomorrow! Can't believe I get to go to Ireland!! I will post about it monday when I get home xoxo <3
Adventures with class
The best part about living in Europe instead of simply visiting is that you get to see parts and talk to people with whom you would never ordinarily have the chance. Today I got to have one of those experiences. My Italian teacher, who I repeatedly say I love, took us to interview an artisan today. Origionally when I heard this, I was unhappy due to teh extra-long walk early in the morning, but I got over that very quick! We were greeted inside by a man and a woman who were so sweet. They were instructed to speak to us only in Italian, but would make sure we understood everything. He immediately took us downstairs to his workroom to explain to us what he does. He started showing us blocks of steel which he hand engraves so that he can press other objects (like thin sheets of gold and silver) and get the design. I was already sold when he demonstrated the process, but I almost fainted when he showed us the long sheet of engraved logos he had acquired from working with various companies. This list included Gucci, Dior, Neiman Marcus, Sacks and more. (Could you just die?!) Then he asked all of us for a Euro (okay we figured maybe we had to pay for a demonstration of some sort), and then he pressed the euro just as he did other metals and made a fleur di leis an made us all bracelets from them! (Talk about a good day in class!) Then of course we had to do a little work and interview him in Italian, but even that was so much fun! He showed us the catalogs of some of the items he produces. The smallest little box goes up to around 90 euros at Neimans and he was selling them for about 20! So all in all.... it was a great morning!
Back to food....
WOOHOOO so I finally finished catching up from Spring Break! I hope you all enjoy what I had to say about my amazing trip! But now that were back in Florence I of course have some food updates, because what would I be if not a food blogger?
The first restaurant I went to right before I left for spring break, in the middle of mid-terms. It is called Obika. It is a possbility you have heard of it because there is now one in New York. It is a Mozarella bar, and because of that everyone says you "have to go". The food was OKAY. The cheese was very good, but then again, all cheese here is very good. So my overall impression would be if you're here for a while, try it out but it should not be one of the first things on your list!
The second restaurant I went to today after class! We had heard about a little restaurant in a library, and although hard to find it is totally worth it when you do! There is no sign on the restaurant for the name, but it is one street closer to the river from Via de Neri and was DELICIOUS! We saw an egg, cheese, vegetable, bread plate when we walked in, and simply said to the waitress, can we have that. And we were so happy we did! It was beyond amazing! (and eggs are a very rare thing to find in Italy so we were so happy to find a good, cheap way to do it!)
The rest of the week I probably will not have much food to post about. We are trying to be really healthy this week, since we ate out for a FULL 10 days on spring break, and have a very unhealthy weekend coming up (for various reasons) we are cooking most of our meals! But I am sure I will have some exciting things to share with all of you! Ciao <3 <3 <3
The first restaurant I went to right before I left for spring break, in the middle of mid-terms. It is called Obika. It is a possbility you have heard of it because there is now one in New York. It is a Mozarella bar, and because of that everyone says you "have to go". The food was OKAY. The cheese was very good, but then again, all cheese here is very good. So my overall impression would be if you're here for a while, try it out but it should not be one of the first things on your list!
The second restaurant I went to today after class! We had heard about a little restaurant in a library, and although hard to find it is totally worth it when you do! There is no sign on the restaurant for the name, but it is one street closer to the river from Via de Neri and was DELICIOUS! We saw an egg, cheese, vegetable, bread plate when we walked in, and simply said to the waitress, can we have that. And we were so happy we did! It was beyond amazing! (and eggs are a very rare thing to find in Italy so we were so happy to find a good, cheap way to do it!)
The rest of the week I probably will not have much food to post about. We are trying to be really healthy this week, since we ate out for a FULL 10 days on spring break, and have a very unhealthy weekend coming up (for various reasons) we are cooking most of our meals! But I am sure I will have some exciting things to share with all of you! Ciao <3 <3 <3
Sadly officially over the hill (halfway point)
So I am safely back in Florence after an amazing 10 days throughout Europe! We managed to conquer 3 countries and 5 cities bringing our mid-way count to 6 countries and 14 cities! I am SO LUCKY! Now that I am back in Florence for a whopping 5 days, I will be updating the blog more with lots of information I have missed over the past 2 weeks (so sorry for the delay I am doing my best I promise!) Hopefully by the next trip (DUBLIN, IRELAND) I will be fully up to date! ... Did I mention how lucky I am?
Venice!
So I arrived in Venice safely today! All of the details of my trip will be posted in the travel section when I return back to Florence soon but I did need to post some pretty big news ... MY SISTER SURPRISED ME IN ITALY! I of course was so excited to see my family and I am so happy they are here but I have rarely been surprised in my life and my sister totally pulled it off! I can not believe that the five of us are together again! Can't wait for these next few days with them! I will post all of the information about our venice trip when I arrive back in Florence! much loveee and Happy Valentines day!!!!! <3
Things in America that I will cherish for ever and ever and ever
(No this is not be bitching because I LOVE florence... just pointing a few things out ;) )
So unfortunately, this week I do not have any exciting food places to report about. But this is due to a good reason I promise! My parents get here tomorrow! And because of this, the next 10 days will be filled with ALOT of food! So I have been trying to behave in preparation for the many amazing meals (except for la giostra ... I lost that one) I will be having. But I do still have information to report (would you expect anything less)
As we settle into our "real" (aka very unreal) lives in Florece, there are many things that I have learned to appreciate. That is why this post is entitled "Things in America that I will cherish forever and ever"
I'm sure there is more to add to this list, but *DISCLAIMER* I AM NOT BITCHING! (need to keep pointing that out) I LOVE florence and LOVE Italy. Despite the major differences from how I live at home, I would not want to be anywhere else, and being in London this past weekend has shown me that. Living in Italy, I feel I am getting the real "abroad" experience, and I am learning so much and loving just about everything! (except for the things on this list)
I am so excited for my parents to come tomorrow and to show them all around my new home! I am off to Venice tomorrow and finally get to eat seafood! YAY! I will be posting soon!! Si Amo! (I love you all <3 )
As we settle into our "real" (aka very unreal) lives in Florece, there are many things that I have learned to appreciate. That is why this post is entitled "Things in America that I will cherish forever and ever"
- DISHWASHERS: I don't mind washing a few cups and such by hand, however when we cook for all three of us and have about 8 different courses, a dishwasher would be lovelyyy!
- GARBAGE DISPOSALS: Due to the VERY OLD buildings in Italy, the plumbing has not been updated since probably the time Jesus lived here. Therefore, when we clean our dishes (by hand due to our lack of dishwasher) we have to physically pick out all of the watered down vegetables that end up in our sink (now thats what I call fun!)
- DRYERS: For those that know me personally, I change my outfits approximately 3 times a day (a girl has to look her best ;) ) although this is great for looking cute and working out, it leads to a lot of laundry. I never have a problem with doing my laundry and actually prefer it (I have a feat of people messing up my clothing, it is very important!) BUT after I do my laundry I literally have to COVER my room in my sopping wet clothing which then takes about 4 days to dry. So, a dryer to dry about half my stuff would be magical!
- TARGET: As someone in my class said, "In Italy they sell shampoo in one place an conditioner in another." This is not an exaggeration (okay maybe a little). But there IS a separate store for just about everything in Italy. Therefore shopping is about a two day procedure instead of 20 minutes
- FULLY UNDERSTANDING THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU: I am loving my Italian class and learning to speak the language. But sometimes, it is just so difficult! When I was in London I literally was SHOCKED every time someone spoke to me in English. (and i also fell in love with them because of their accents, but thats old news)
- NORMAL HEAT: although the heat in my apartment is now better, the heating system in Italy is just weird! Can't wait to be nice and toasty!
- NORMAL TRASH SCHEDULES: In Italy they have rules for when you can take out trash. One day is for plastic, one day is for paper, and one day is for everything. This means if you have a nice bag of trash sitting in your house and it is not a proper trash day, you get a smelly house!
I'm sure there is more to add to this list, but *DISCLAIMER* I AM NOT BITCHING! (need to keep pointing that out) I LOVE florence and LOVE Italy. Despite the major differences from how I live at home, I would not want to be anywhere else, and being in London this past weekend has shown me that. Living in Italy, I feel I am getting the real "abroad" experience, and I am learning so much and loving just about everything! (except for the things on this list)
I am so excited for my parents to come tomorrow and to show them all around my new home! I am off to Venice tomorrow and finally get to eat seafood! YAY! I will be posting soon!! Si Amo! (I love you all <3 )
Perche no?
I promise I will get to the reason for the title in a minute. But first my afternoon! After class until 3 (yea unfortunately I still need to attend those things where "professors" [in quotations for a reason] try to "teach" [that too] us about nothing) we went to my friend Alexa's apartment. She just happens to live through the nice shopping area in florence, so a peak into some nice stores was of course a must! We found this amazing vintage store with all high-end vintage clothing! It was so fun to look around. We also found a really cool house-wear store, and even made a stop into a few nicer stores. (unfortunately I suppressed my desire to shop and behaved, and yes there is a round of applause in my head as I write this). But since we only had a short time for lunch today, by 4 we were hungry. And what better to eat as a mid-day snack than some gelato...
...and when thinking about names for a gelateria, "Perche no?" really could not be any more perfect. Translating to "why not?" we just simply had to. (all my will power was used during the (sadly window) shopping portion of today. We had heard we had to try this place, but just like everything else in Italy, the owners are a bit tempermental with when they decide to open up shop. (and by that I mean they open when they feel like it, if that means they don't want to open until 4 one day thats fine, or if they just decide not to open for a day,thats fine too) But, much to our surprise it was finally open when we wanted it today. The only gelato place worse than perche no with tempermental time is vivoli but we are determined to make it there! Back to perche no... I got coffee crunch and bacio and both were delicious! The crunch part of coffee crunch was chocolate coffee beans type thing and it was amazing! This is definitely one to go back to!
The rest of our night was spent cooking dinner (aka watching gavi cook us dinner), doing an exercise video (I had to try to work off the gelato somehow!) and packing for our trip to London! We have a lot of really exciting things planned for this weekend and I cannot wait! We are not returning until Monday so I probably won't be able to post again until Monday night or Tuesday but I promise to do it as soon as possible!
I would try to say something in the language they speak in the country i'm going to, but they speak ENGLISH! Even better, we are going to have SUSHI and REAL DRINKS (not wine). - I know this sounds ridiculous but after a month of wine and pasta I am excited for 4 days of something different. Cheerio! (and yes I am a huge dork for writing that ;) ) <3
...and when thinking about names for a gelateria, "Perche no?" really could not be any more perfect. Translating to "why not?" we just simply had to. (all my will power was used during the (sadly window) shopping portion of today. We had heard we had to try this place, but just like everything else in Italy, the owners are a bit tempermental with when they decide to open up shop. (and by that I mean they open when they feel like it, if that means they don't want to open until 4 one day thats fine, or if they just decide not to open for a day,thats fine too) But, much to our surprise it was finally open when we wanted it today. The only gelato place worse than perche no with tempermental time is vivoli but we are determined to make it there! Back to perche no... I got coffee crunch and bacio and both were delicious! The crunch part of coffee crunch was chocolate coffee beans type thing and it was amazing! This is definitely one to go back to!
The rest of our night was spent cooking dinner (aka watching gavi cook us dinner), doing an exercise video (I had to try to work off the gelato somehow!) and packing for our trip to London! We have a lot of really exciting things planned for this weekend and I cannot wait! We are not returning until Monday so I probably won't be able to post again until Monday night or Tuesday but I promise to do it as soon as possible!
I would try to say something in the language they speak in the country i'm going to, but they speak ENGLISH! Even better, we are going to have SUSHI and REAL DRINKS (not wine). - I know this sounds ridiculous but after a month of wine and pasta I am excited for 4 days of something different. Cheerio! (and yes I am a huge dork for writing that ;) ) <3
Trattoria 4 Leoni, Secret Bakery and more!
Hi all! I really do apologize for the slowing down of my food writing. We are trying very hard to eat healthy during the week so we can enjoy the amazing food of wherever we travel to on the weekends. But don't worry (I know you all were ...) we are making it a point to try at least one or two new places in Florence a week. (one month in and my jeans still fit, success!)
So this week we tried trattoria 4 leoni, this is deemed Hilary Clinton's favorite spot and it came highly recommended from everyone we have spoken to so we figured we'd give it a try. There were five of us at dinner and we all just got a bunch of dishes to share. We got a bottle of white wine, 2 different salads, a cauliflower/cheese soufflé, sautéed spinach, 2 dishes of pear ravioli and an artichoke lasagna. Everything was delicious. The winner of the pear ravioli still goes to coquinarius, but this meal was definitely delicious. We all really enjoyed everything! My favorite was the lasagna and the cauliflower soufflé!
After dinner we stopped at Gelateria de Neri for a miniature bite of something sweet before going out! (I mean if we were going to eat out we might as well do it right) But unfortunately they did not have their famous flavors of cookies and cream or nutella. In typical Italian fashion, when I asked why they were out, the man said "well the boss slept in and didn't make any." Brownie points for honesty? We still got chocolate and caffe which of course were delicious but nothing compared to their cookies and cream!
After a solid minute walk, we arrived back at home and got ready to go out for our roommates 21st birthday. She got a table for her birthday (very VIP status) and that meant that we had champagne and sparklers and the whole big deal. We all had a really fun night. Of course the only thing on our mind was the secret bakery. We went and knocked on the door and were greeted by one of the bakers. Each pastry is only one euro (large joke) and we waited for it to be delivered to us. We were unfortunately very disappointed because the pastries were not hot and were very decent. (we are also very spoiled and have an amazing bakery right next to our apartment with the best chocolate croissants) but it was a very fun experience!
So this week we tried trattoria 4 leoni, this is deemed Hilary Clinton's favorite spot and it came highly recommended from everyone we have spoken to so we figured we'd give it a try. There were five of us at dinner and we all just got a bunch of dishes to share. We got a bottle of white wine, 2 different salads, a cauliflower/cheese soufflé, sautéed spinach, 2 dishes of pear ravioli and an artichoke lasagna. Everything was delicious. The winner of the pear ravioli still goes to coquinarius, but this meal was definitely delicious. We all really enjoyed everything! My favorite was the lasagna and the cauliflower soufflé!
After dinner we stopped at Gelateria de Neri for a miniature bite of something sweet before going out! (I mean if we were going to eat out we might as well do it right) But unfortunately they did not have their famous flavors of cookies and cream or nutella. In typical Italian fashion, when I asked why they were out, the man said "well the boss slept in and didn't make any." Brownie points for honesty? We still got chocolate and caffe which of course were delicious but nothing compared to their cookies and cream!
After a solid minute walk, we arrived back at home and got ready to go out for our roommates 21st birthday. She got a table for her birthday (very VIP status) and that meant that we had champagne and sparklers and the whole big deal. We all had a really fun night. Of course the only thing on our mind was the secret bakery. We went and knocked on the door and were greeted by one of the bakers. Each pastry is only one euro (large joke) and we waited for it to be delivered to us. We were unfortunately very disappointed because the pastries were not hot and were very decent. (we are also very spoiled and have an amazing bakery right next to our apartment with the best chocolate croissants) but it was a very fun experience!
Climbing the Duomo
So in our attempt to work out by exploring Florence, Me and Gavi climbed the duomo today! We had already climbed the bell tower and wanted to see the view from the duomo. It was definitely a "cooler" walk, we got to see the fresco on the ceiling from up close. It also had attractions along the way such as original statues and the tools used to create the dome of the duomo. It also was a beautiful view at the top!
However, there is a large section that you basically twirl around a poll on the way down (we got VERY dizzy) and the way to the top of the dome is very steep.
But we had a great hike and a beautiful view at the top!
However, there is a large section that you basically twirl around a poll on the way down (we got VERY dizzy) and the way to the top of the dome is very steep.
But we had a great hike and a beautiful view at the top!
Il Latini + Were home safe!
Hi everyone! So we arrived safely (and alive) back in Florence. We all had the best weekend in Amsterdam! I hopefully will have most of the information posted in the travel section by tonight. I am even getting my card reader today so i might even have normal pictures (and not from my phone! about time!) But for now I need to back up and tell you about dinner the Thursday night before we left!
We went to Il Latini with Gabi's friends from school. There were 7 of us instead of just us 3, big moves! What happens here is you pay a set amount and get unlimited food and wine. (Great place for hungry boys!) The quality of the food was just okay, and it was not our favorite because it was very meat heavy, but it is definitely a great place for big groups of people and people who like to eat a lot. (definitely not the place for people not trying to eat that much) We had a lot of fun though!
Then after this dinner we left early Friday morning for Amsterdam and got back late Sunday night. Me and Gavi are going to climb the duomo now (it is beautiful out today so we might as well work out outside!) and then I will come back and try to post about our amazing weekend! We all had the best time and loved it! Can't wait to tell you all about it!
We went to Il Latini with Gabi's friends from school. There were 7 of us instead of just us 3, big moves! What happens here is you pay a set amount and get unlimited food and wine. (Great place for hungry boys!) The quality of the food was just okay, and it was not our favorite because it was very meat heavy, but it is definitely a great place for big groups of people and people who like to eat a lot. (definitely not the place for people not trying to eat that much) We had a lot of fun though!
Then after this dinner we left early Friday morning for Amsterdam and got back late Sunday night. Me and Gavi are going to climb the duomo now (it is beautiful out today so we might as well work out outside!) and then I will come back and try to post about our amazing weekend! We all had the best time and loved it! Can't wait to tell you all about it!
Food and Wine: Cheese tasting edition
Today in our Food and Wine class (I know our lives are really difficult) we tasted cheese! This of course was after a two hour lecture on renaissance food and middle age food, lets just say I have a full page of beautiful drawings of my initials from that portion. But trying different types of cheeses and learning about their history and how they are made sparked my interest! We tried two different types of mozzarella (buffalo and cow) along with a Casera, Fontina Gorganzola, and Stracchino.
Our classes, although very long, are actually quite interesting! (except for social media, but you can't win everything!) Our teachers are also very nice. Tonight, (as i said in the post below) we are going to try Il Latini with a few other girls (yes, we actually made more friends). We had heard it was amazing and we are very excited to try it!
Tomorrow morning we are going on our second trip to Amsterdam! We are all very excited! I can't wait to write all about it and post pictures (if my card reader ever appears from my friends missing luggage!) I'll write back soon but Ciao for now! <3
Our classes, although very long, are actually quite interesting! (except for social media, but you can't win everything!) Our teachers are also very nice. Tonight, (as i said in the post below) we are going to try Il Latini with a few other girls (yes, we actually made more friends). We had heard it was amazing and we are very excited to try it!
Tomorrow morning we are going on our second trip to Amsterdam! We are all very excited! I can't wait to write all about it and post pictures (if my card reader ever appears from my friends missing luggage!) I'll write back soon but Ciao for now! <3
Osteria delle tre panche
As we settle into life in Florence there is less to report, except the food of course. We are trying to limit ourselves to one or two large meals a week but it is so hard with so many meals to try! This week we decided to try Osteria delle Tre Panche on Tuesday and we are going to Il Latini tonight (thursday), but we will get to that later.
Tre Panche literally means three benches, which is what this restaurant is. It is a small room with three longer tables and benches as seats. It is kind of far (we had to take a cab to get there-by the stadium) but it is well worth it! A large portion of the menu is all items with truffles. And not a small amount of truffle, large amounts of pure truffle that are just about unbelievable. We tried a cheese selection to start, followed by sauteed spinach, a ravioli with fresh truffle, and an artichoke "pie" with truffle. Each dish was more delicious than the next!
The most amazing part (if you can even believe) was dessert. We got chocolate cake which was delicious, but not even close in comparison to the warm cheesecake we got! It was absolutely delicious, and I am not even a cheesecake person! The people that worked here were so sweet and everything was amazing. So this restaurant definitely will go on our "go back to" list!
Tre Panche literally means three benches, which is what this restaurant is. It is a small room with three longer tables and benches as seats. It is kind of far (we had to take a cab to get there-by the stadium) but it is well worth it! A large portion of the menu is all items with truffles. And not a small amount of truffle, large amounts of pure truffle that are just about unbelievable. We tried a cheese selection to start, followed by sauteed spinach, a ravioli with fresh truffle, and an artichoke "pie" with truffle. Each dish was more delicious than the next!
The most amazing part (if you can even believe) was dessert. We got chocolate cake which was delicious, but not even close in comparison to the warm cheesecake we got! It was absolutely delicious, and I am not even a cheesecake person! The people that worked here were so sweet and everything was amazing. So this restaurant definitely will go on our "go back to" list!
Exploring!
Bentornato! (Welcome back) So today I took a tour of Florence's Baptistry which is one of my favorite places in Florence. (Lots of information in the art history section check it out ;). It is one of my favorite places because the whole cieling is mosaic in this beautiful gold tone, I could literally stare at it for hours! After our tour we went for lunch with a few friends to taverneta della signoria. It was decent, which as I have said before is crappy in Italy! But it was fine for the quick lunch we wanted. After this me and Gavi decided to seize the day and go for a walk! (Today was the first nice day in a while so we couldn't just do homework!)
We decided to take a hike up to piazzale michelangelo as well as walk around the other side of the arno (river). We went a different way up to the piazzale (which means big piazza, and a piazza is a big square) which was really pretty and fun! Hiking up there is definetely the workout we needed to balance out our diets here! After we got up to the piazzale, we continued to walk around and found yet another set of stairs leading up to a church. Right before the entry to the church was a large grave site with amazing tombs and really cool (yet creepy) graves. (I promise I have pictures but no way to get them on my computer at the moment!) As soon as I can put my pictures up I promise I will share them! The view from outside the church was even more amazing than the piazza and much quieter because not many people know about it! We had such a nice time and can't wait to go back. Who needs a gym in Florence when you have all of these amazing places to explore!
After we came back down to a normal altitude, we walked towards piazza santa spirito. This is a piazza where there are many amazing restaurants (such as gusta piazza and trattoria casalinga) It is such a cute little area that is much less touristy than the side of the arno with the duomo. We will definitely be returning for many meals (we also casually made a reservation at a restaurant named 4 leioni while we were there ... why not!)
We decided to take a hike up to piazzale michelangelo as well as walk around the other side of the arno (river). We went a different way up to the piazzale (which means big piazza, and a piazza is a big square) which was really pretty and fun! Hiking up there is definetely the workout we needed to balance out our diets here! After we got up to the piazzale, we continued to walk around and found yet another set of stairs leading up to a church. Right before the entry to the church was a large grave site with amazing tombs and really cool (yet creepy) graves. (I promise I have pictures but no way to get them on my computer at the moment!) As soon as I can put my pictures up I promise I will share them! The view from outside the church was even more amazing than the piazza and much quieter because not many people know about it! We had such a nice time and can't wait to go back. Who needs a gym in Florence when you have all of these amazing places to explore!
After we came back down to a normal altitude, we walked towards piazza santa spirito. This is a piazza where there are many amazing restaurants (such as gusta piazza and trattoria casalinga) It is such a cute little area that is much less touristy than the side of the arno with the duomo. We will definitely be returning for many meals (we also casually made a reservation at a restaurant named 4 leioni while we were there ... why not!)
Back in Florence! (1/27/13)
Ciao! It feel so nice to be speaking Italian again, after not knowing even a sound of German! Although we did gather that Wein = Vienna. (We just thought they liked to say Wein and Weiner) So I am back in Florence safe and sound! Our first trip was amazing and I loved every second of it! It did make us realize how much we love Florence and how nice it is to be in a place we know where they speak a language we semi-know! In order to keep some kind of cohesiveness on this blog, I added a "travel page" Where I will write and post pictures of all of my travels on the weekends! I hope you guys like it and are able to find it!
Mercato Centrale
The best part about classes here is that the teachers are willing to take you places and teach you about local information. This is especially true in my Italian class. Taking Italian here is different than taking any other language I have before because the teachers are more worried about practical uses instead of perfect grammar. Because of this,we went on a class trip to the mercato centrale today! This is the main food marked and it his hidden right behind the San Lorenzo market (leather market) The only catch to our field trip was that we were not allowed to speak ANY english and no one was allowed to speak english to us, but it was definitely a fun learning experience!
We learned a lot in the market and I can't wait to go back both to shop and have a meal there! But a warning for people that go: if you are a vegetarian or have a "thing" about meats stay away! There is a lottttt of carcasses EVERYWHERE. Chicken, ham, veal and it is not cut up so it doesn't look like an animal, you can fully tell what animal it is! (brains included) But it is possible to stay near the cheeses, breads and oils for a more sane viewing of food. My teacher pointed out all of the best places to eat and gave us a few tips/ things I learned
The markets are amazing places to meet people and learn about traditional Italian foods. There are slight differences between many of the foods and it is really interesting to learn about it! Ask and people will want to teach you!
We learned a lot in the market and I can't wait to go back both to shop and have a meal there! But a warning for people that go: if you are a vegetarian or have a "thing" about meats stay away! There is a lottttt of carcasses EVERYWHERE. Chicken, ham, veal and it is not cut up so it doesn't look like an animal, you can fully tell what animal it is! (brains included) But it is possible to stay near the cheeses, breads and oils for a more sane viewing of food. My teacher pointed out all of the best places to eat and gave us a few tips/ things I learned
- Each stand is its own shop! If you want something you ask and pay for it at the individual shop. Because of this, I would recommend taking a lap and seeing the differences between stands before deciding. (there is a lot of the same stuff and you of course want the best!)
- colored pasta is purely for tourists and it sucks ... so don't get it
- truffle, truffle salt, truffle oil, truffle sauce is ALL delicious. (I never had it before Italy and I am in love!) It is very expensive though. This is because truffles can only be found if dogs sniff it out! But it is amazing and I would recommend trying as much and as many different types as possible!
- Ask about the small differences between foods. There are so many different types of Hams, and cheeses and if you know the slight differences it will taste even better! (ex: pecorino = sheep cheese, some cheese is cooked in wine so it has a colored crust, ask and learn!)
- We went to a stand of food from the upper regions of Italy. They had small containers of all different types of truffle (immediately sparked my interest) and was telling us about "hot wine." In the northern regions of Italy it is very cold. So people boil wine with spices and drink it as tea. This not only is very tasty but also raises the alcohol content of the wine. (putting this on my "to try" list!) They also had different types of breads, desserts and more!
- There is a stand called bio corner. Although this sounds super American and bad, it was actually really cool! All of the food was locally grown and organic including pestos, olive oils and more! Definitely something to look out for!
- Florence has many desserts right now that are made for only January and February in honor of Carnivale! There is a cake (usually with a fleur de lis on it) as well as a few other pastries that you should definitely try if you are here during those times! Very special and delicious!
The markets are amazing places to meet people and learn about traditional Italian foods. There are slight differences between many of the foods and it is really interesting to learn about it! Ask and people will want to teach you!
Real Italian Experience
The first thing I wanted to point out, if you hadn't noticed was I added a page to my blog! I love learning about the history of these amazing places, art and architecture and I wanted to share all of that with you! So I made a new page entitled "art history" If you click on that link, right under the title of "european adventures" it will bring you to my new page! I will still be posting on this page for my food and day-to-day adventures but I figured that would help! Enjoy!
Now back to my eating tour of Florence. Tuesday we went to Lunch with Gavi's cousin who happens to Live in Florence! It was really cool to go to a local place with someone who lives here. She gave us a lot of insight into life here, how Italians see us and where to shop and eat! When we told her the places we were told to go, she told us that many of the times, Americans will find a restaurant and go home and attract more Americans. The problem with this (although helpful sometimes) is it allows the restaurant to lower the quality of food and raise the prices. She said that it has ruined many of her favorite restaurants. (La giostaria included - although another problem with that restaurant was the father and main chef passed away and now the son owns it, he's not doing a good job) So she gave us many recommendations of non-touristy places that are delicious and we can't wait to try them all!
Another tip from many people for students on a budget is an Italian concept called "apertivo." What this is, is you buy a drink for around 7 or 8 euros and then get unlimited food from a buffet. We decided to try this out at a restautant called Moyo which we had been to and loved. The drinks were amazing and had the strangest names (see picture) but the food wasn't that good... maybe because it was virtually free. But I was really happy we tried this and it was a great experience!
We have found that it is really hard to balance trying to not eat pizza and pasta every night and still trying out all of the different restaurants we want to go to! Due to this, we are now simply trying to space them out a little more. Tonight we tried Vini e Vecchi. It is a really small restaurant (only about 3 tables) and a reservation is a necessity! But it was DELICIOUS! We got the stuffed artichoke, a salad, pasta with rose sauce, pasta with zucchini flowers and pasta with broccoli (and of course wine) And for dessert we got the tiramisu. Everything was UNBELIEVABLE (I don't think I can stress this enough) and the prices were not bad at all! The family that owns it is also so nice and took the time to explain everything to us. I LOVED this place! There are only two seatings, 7:30 and 9:15. Although the 9:15 was late, I liked it because then you can take your time and they do not rush you. But either way going to this place is a must!
Now back to my eating tour of Florence. Tuesday we went to Lunch with Gavi's cousin who happens to Live in Florence! It was really cool to go to a local place with someone who lives here. She gave us a lot of insight into life here, how Italians see us and where to shop and eat! When we told her the places we were told to go, she told us that many of the times, Americans will find a restaurant and go home and attract more Americans. The problem with this (although helpful sometimes) is it allows the restaurant to lower the quality of food and raise the prices. She said that it has ruined many of her favorite restaurants. (La giostaria included - although another problem with that restaurant was the father and main chef passed away and now the son owns it, he's not doing a good job) So she gave us many recommendations of non-touristy places that are delicious and we can't wait to try them all!
Another tip from many people for students on a budget is an Italian concept called "apertivo." What this is, is you buy a drink for around 7 or 8 euros and then get unlimited food from a buffet. We decided to try this out at a restautant called Moyo which we had been to and loved. The drinks were amazing and had the strangest names (see picture) but the food wasn't that good... maybe because it was virtually free. But I was really happy we tried this and it was a great experience!
We have found that it is really hard to balance trying to not eat pizza and pasta every night and still trying out all of the different restaurants we want to go to! Due to this, we are now simply trying to space them out a little more. Tonight we tried Vini e Vecchi. It is a really small restaurant (only about 3 tables) and a reservation is a necessity! But it was DELICIOUS! We got the stuffed artichoke, a salad, pasta with rose sauce, pasta with zucchini flowers and pasta with broccoli (and of course wine) And for dessert we got the tiramisu. Everything was UNBELIEVABLE (I don't think I can stress this enough) and the prices were not bad at all! The family that owns it is also so nice and took the time to explain everything to us. I LOVED this place! There are only two seatings, 7:30 and 9:15. Although the 9:15 was late, I liked it because then you can take your time and they do not rush you. But either way going to this place is a must!
Pisa, Gusta Pizza, Prada Outlet and Space!
Wine Tour!
Siena!
Catching up! (1/18 + 1/19)
Hello everyone! I am sorry for the delay but unfortunately the weekends are going to be hard for me to update especially once I start traveling next weekend (YAY AUSTRIA!) but I will continue to update as much as possible! After calling my Grammy on Skype today she told me about blog comments which I did not know how to get to! Thank you Grammy for teaching me more about technology!!! So now I am able to read all that you guys are writing and it makes this so much more fun! So now to update you guys on life in Florence!!
So as I said in my last post Friday the 18th (shout out to my Nugget [little brother's] birthday!) we went on a day trip. Since this was our last weekend staying in Florence we wanted to get as much in as possible, so we found a tour that a few friends had gone on in years past which is called "the best of Tuscany." It started in Siena with a walking tour of the town including the oldest working bank, piazza del campo (the large piazza in Siena) and the duomo. Everything was beautiful! The most notable part about Siena is the horse race called the Palio that happens twice a year. It happens in Piazza del Campo and despite the fact that the only prize is the honor of winning, about 50,000 people stuff into the piazza to watch the districts of Siena compete to win the horse race. The Duomo was also beautiful. It has stunning sculptures and marble designs as well as stained glass windows and more. Inside the church, there were about 50 large marble artworks on the floor, each of which tell a story. Our tour guide described one story in which the moral is to not rely on luck and to work towards education and philosophy in order to succeed in life. (Does educating myself about food count?) The majority of decorations both inside and outside the Duomo are black and white because it is the colors of the armor of Siena and it was also the most abundant colors at the time. Also in the church are pieces of artwork from Donatello, Michelangelo and more. (Don't worry I totally took a really embarrassing selfie [picture of myself] with a sculpture done by Michelangelo.) I really enjoyed Siena, but felt that I did not need more than the 2 hours we were there to see everything!
After Siena we hoped back on the bus to head to our wine tour. We went to a beautiful winery in the Chianti region which of course had the most beautiful view! We then sat down for lunch. We started out with a white Vernaccia wine and were taught how to properly taste wine. First you look at the color because you can tell the age of a wine by its color. Then you smell the wine, then swirl it around and smell it again. You do this because the smells come to the top and you can tell the main ingredients. Then the best part ... you drink! The lunch was very decent (burchetta, cheeses, and meats) but we continued with different wines so it was okay! The next wine was a Chianti and then an aged Chianti. (The aged was much better and we of course asked for a second bottle ... I mean it was unlimited and amazing so why not?!) Then we had biscotti with a dessert wine. You are supposed to dip the biscotti into the dessert wine. We didn't love the dessert wine, but of course had it anyway, the biscotti was DELICIOUS though!
We then left the winery (much to our dismay) and went to San Gimignano. It was at this point that we realized most small Italian towns are very similar and Florence is just the best! We walked around for a little but there was not much to see at all, so we just drank more wine! We then went to our final stop which was Pisa! Although Pisa is very cool and a must-do when in Italy, you walk into the field of miracles (piazza where the leaning tower, baptistry and duomo are) see it say this is cool and then are bored. Which was exactly what happened. But it was very cool!
This was a very long day, we left Florence at about 8 am and got back at about 8 pm. However, it was turning Gabi's birthday at 12 (my roommate) so we figured we would move our butts and go celebrate! We got home and decided to go try Gusta Pizza. Gusta Pizza is what most people call the best pizza in Florence. It is on the other side of the arno (river) but since we were out we figured we'd give it a shot! It definitely lived up to its expectations! We got a Gusta Pizza and a margarita pizza and both were delicious! Then we went to Lion's fountain which is an Irish pub and had a drink or 2. Then went to a club YAB. It stands for "You are Beautiful" it is a very intense club and was much more beautiful than I had imagined. But then again I'm used to the ghetto clubs in Gainesville. We were put into VIP and it was really nice and a lot of fun! We made a lot of friends and had a great night! Me and Gabi then went back to our friends apartment to hang out for a little while. It wasn't until one of the boys told us it was 5 that we realized we should probablyyyyyyy go to sleep! So all in all it was a very fun day!!
Now onto January 19th (Saturday) This was Gabi's actual birthday so we did not want to set an alarm (we also got home at approximately 6 am) so we slept kind of late. Once we got up, me and Gavi went to the coffee shop next door to bring home chocolate croissants, other pastries and cappuccinos for the birthday girl! We then relaxed for a while until we decided to get up and go to the Prada outlets. To get there you have to take a train and a cab. (IT IS A LARGE PROCESS!) It was very nice and cool, but probably not something we will do again.
After we finally arrived back at home (after a 6 hour ordeal to go to a store) we got ready to go out for Gabi's birthday dinner and then out! We went to La Giostaria which most people say is one of the best restaurants in Florence. We got champagne and a plate of appetizers on the house, then got a burrata appetizer, a greek salad, pear ravioli and tagliette with mushrooms. The Buratta appetizer was exceptional but everything else was very average. It was similar to Coquinarius but much smaller, not as good and much more expensive. (I know it breaks the hearts of many who heard giostria is the best place in the world ... myth busted) We then asked what their best desserts are and were told Tiramisu and Rice Ice cream with raspberry sauce so we figured we'd give it a try. And yet, anothe fail. The tiramisu was good but the ice cream was SO BAD. All in all, we will probably not be returning to giostaria.
After this we went back to Lion's fountain and then to Space which is another club. It is much farther from our apartment but it is very big. We again were put in VIP which was a really cool room above the whole club to look out on. It was a lot of fun!
So that is what has been going on here! Once again I am so happy that I figured out how to read all of your comments and now that I know where they are I look forward to hearing what you guys have to say and if you have any more questions or comments! Ciao <3
So as I said in my last post Friday the 18th (shout out to my Nugget [little brother's] birthday!) we went on a day trip. Since this was our last weekend staying in Florence we wanted to get as much in as possible, so we found a tour that a few friends had gone on in years past which is called "the best of Tuscany." It started in Siena with a walking tour of the town including the oldest working bank, piazza del campo (the large piazza in Siena) and the duomo. Everything was beautiful! The most notable part about Siena is the horse race called the Palio that happens twice a year. It happens in Piazza del Campo and despite the fact that the only prize is the honor of winning, about 50,000 people stuff into the piazza to watch the districts of Siena compete to win the horse race. The Duomo was also beautiful. It has stunning sculptures and marble designs as well as stained glass windows and more. Inside the church, there were about 50 large marble artworks on the floor, each of which tell a story. Our tour guide described one story in which the moral is to not rely on luck and to work towards education and philosophy in order to succeed in life. (Does educating myself about food count?) The majority of decorations both inside and outside the Duomo are black and white because it is the colors of the armor of Siena and it was also the most abundant colors at the time. Also in the church are pieces of artwork from Donatello, Michelangelo and more. (Don't worry I totally took a really embarrassing selfie [picture of myself] with a sculpture done by Michelangelo.) I really enjoyed Siena, but felt that I did not need more than the 2 hours we were there to see everything!
After Siena we hoped back on the bus to head to our wine tour. We went to a beautiful winery in the Chianti region which of course had the most beautiful view! We then sat down for lunch. We started out with a white Vernaccia wine and were taught how to properly taste wine. First you look at the color because you can tell the age of a wine by its color. Then you smell the wine, then swirl it around and smell it again. You do this because the smells come to the top and you can tell the main ingredients. Then the best part ... you drink! The lunch was very decent (burchetta, cheeses, and meats) but we continued with different wines so it was okay! The next wine was a Chianti and then an aged Chianti. (The aged was much better and we of course asked for a second bottle ... I mean it was unlimited and amazing so why not?!) Then we had biscotti with a dessert wine. You are supposed to dip the biscotti into the dessert wine. We didn't love the dessert wine, but of course had it anyway, the biscotti was DELICIOUS though!
We then left the winery (much to our dismay) and went to San Gimignano. It was at this point that we realized most small Italian towns are very similar and Florence is just the best! We walked around for a little but there was not much to see at all, so we just drank more wine! We then went to our final stop which was Pisa! Although Pisa is very cool and a must-do when in Italy, you walk into the field of miracles (piazza where the leaning tower, baptistry and duomo are) see it say this is cool and then are bored. Which was exactly what happened. But it was very cool!
This was a very long day, we left Florence at about 8 am and got back at about 8 pm. However, it was turning Gabi's birthday at 12 (my roommate) so we figured we would move our butts and go celebrate! We got home and decided to go try Gusta Pizza. Gusta Pizza is what most people call the best pizza in Florence. It is on the other side of the arno (river) but since we were out we figured we'd give it a shot! It definitely lived up to its expectations! We got a Gusta Pizza and a margarita pizza and both were delicious! Then we went to Lion's fountain which is an Irish pub and had a drink or 2. Then went to a club YAB. It stands for "You are Beautiful" it is a very intense club and was much more beautiful than I had imagined. But then again I'm used to the ghetto clubs in Gainesville. We were put into VIP and it was really nice and a lot of fun! We made a lot of friends and had a great night! Me and Gabi then went back to our friends apartment to hang out for a little while. It wasn't until one of the boys told us it was 5 that we realized we should probablyyyyyyy go to sleep! So all in all it was a very fun day!!
Now onto January 19th (Saturday) This was Gabi's actual birthday so we did not want to set an alarm (we also got home at approximately 6 am) so we slept kind of late. Once we got up, me and Gavi went to the coffee shop next door to bring home chocolate croissants, other pastries and cappuccinos for the birthday girl! We then relaxed for a while until we decided to get up and go to the Prada outlets. To get there you have to take a train and a cab. (IT IS A LARGE PROCESS!) It was very nice and cool, but probably not something we will do again.
After we finally arrived back at home (after a 6 hour ordeal to go to a store) we got ready to go out for Gabi's birthday dinner and then out! We went to La Giostaria which most people say is one of the best restaurants in Florence. We got champagne and a plate of appetizers on the house, then got a burrata appetizer, a greek salad, pear ravioli and tagliette with mushrooms. The Buratta appetizer was exceptional but everything else was very average. It was similar to Coquinarius but much smaller, not as good and much more expensive. (I know it breaks the hearts of many who heard giostria is the best place in the world ... myth busted) We then asked what their best desserts are and were told Tiramisu and Rice Ice cream with raspberry sauce so we figured we'd give it a try. And yet, anothe fail. The tiramisu was good but the ice cream was SO BAD. All in all, we will probably not be returning to giostaria.
After this we went back to Lion's fountain and then to Space which is another club. It is much farther from our apartment but it is very big. We again were put in VIP which was a really cool room above the whole club to look out on. It was a lot of fun!
So that is what has been going on here! Once again I am so happy that I figured out how to read all of your comments and now that I know where they are I look forward to hearing what you guys have to say and if you have any more questions or comments! Ciao <3
and the eating continues ...
So really, it took me all of about five minutes to start talking about food again (excuse my tendency to exaggerate but I promise I am not exaggerating about the food!) Also, I realized that all of my food information was randomly put in paragraphs so I went back to bold all of the names and put in the address so if you want to go there it is easier!
We recently tried what most people call the second best panini shoppe in Florence. And after trying a sandwich for myself I do agree! This place was Antico Noe and it is a very small shoppe with very good food! Although not as good as Pino's (another panini shoppe very close to Santa Croce) it was very delicious! We got a vegetable panini with mozzarella and pesto it was so delicious! Antico Noe (Volta di San Piero, 6-red, 50122 Florence)
When we were on a walking tour, our second day in Florence we passed this small store which our professor described as a "chocolate workshop" meaning that the chocolate is all freshly made and just about perfection. So of course we had to try it. We went after a lunch one day so we just got a few very small pieces to test out how good this place really was. I dont think there are adequate words to describe how amazing it was! I tried i piece of "il cremino," a cappuccino piece, a waffle and chocolate piece and an almond piece. We are very excited to go back and to try their other products. They have a famous hot chocolate (hot chocolate in Italy is more pure chocolate and rich than what we are used to) as well as Gelato. All of their chocolate is also beautifully packaged and they have some really cool stuff! I was thinking the whole time how much my grammy would love it (shout out grammy! Ill try to bring some home for you!) Vestri (Borgo degli Albizi, 11, 50122 Florence)
A little background, before most students come abroad we are all passed down guides from people who came to the same cities in previous semesters. It is hard to figure out which guides are better than others and which ones are the most like you. (for example one guide basically told us where all the hardrock caffes are in Europe - so we did not listen to anything that person had to say) But we recently found one that seemed to be a girl who ate enjoyed the same things as we did. All of her descriptions of restaurants and activities were exactly what we thought. So when we saw that "Coquinares" was one of her favorite restaurants we could not wait to try it! It is a very hidden restaurant with no sign on the front, so if you've never been there expect an extra few minutes walking up and down the street a little confused. But once you find it, it is amazing! First of all, they are very nice in there! We had made a reservation and they took a little while to give us our table so they gave us all a glass of champagne. Once we sat, we ordered a crostone (toasted bread which comes with toppings) with brie almonds and honey, a salad, pear ravioli and burrata tortolini. All were SO delicious! Also, they have someone come to your table and explain the wine selection to you and help you pick out what you want. Nothing short of incredible! Definitely one of our favorites so far! (not to mention the chocolate cake for dessert!) Coquinarius (Via delle Oche, 15, 50122 Florence)
I have mentioned Finisterre before. It is the coffee shop right next to my apartment (in piazza santa croce). Well since we were being lazy tonight (we have to get up early for our first trip outside of Florence tomorrow) we decided to try their restaurant portion! We were all very pleasantly surprised by what we found! We started with a hummus appetizer, then got a salad and a pizza which was something special. It was a traditional pizza with fresh (not cooked) mozzarella and tomatoes and had ricotta in the crust! Then for dessert, we have been eyeing this cake which has the fleur de lis on it (the symbol of Florence) and have been asking about it. Apparently it is a traditional florentine cake for this time of year, so of course we had to try it! And once again we were pleasantly surprised at how good it was! Finisterre (Piazza Santa Croce, 12, 50122 Firenze)
The last thing I wanted to talk about was my experience in Italian class today. As I have stated before on this blog, I put myself in a higher level of Italian even though I have not taken it in about 4 years. Although it is going to be much more difficult I think I can gain a lot from this higher level class (and I get to sleep an extra hour in the morning, so that never hurt anyone). But today we had two girls who recently graduated school and were our age come into class. Since my class is only six people, we just sat and spoke to them in Italian. It was a lot of fun and very cool! They were really nice girls and told us where to eat, and shop, and go out ... I mean really, what else do girls have to talk about? I am both nervous and excited for the class, but the first week is over so I am stuck in it now!
Tomorrow is our first trip outside of Florence! We are doing a day tour of Siena, Chianti, San Gimingano and Pisa! I am very excited and cannot wait to report on my exciting day! Buona Notte <3
We recently tried what most people call the second best panini shoppe in Florence. And after trying a sandwich for myself I do agree! This place was Antico Noe and it is a very small shoppe with very good food! Although not as good as Pino's (another panini shoppe very close to Santa Croce) it was very delicious! We got a vegetable panini with mozzarella and pesto it was so delicious! Antico Noe (Volta di San Piero, 6-red, 50122 Florence)
When we were on a walking tour, our second day in Florence we passed this small store which our professor described as a "chocolate workshop" meaning that the chocolate is all freshly made and just about perfection. So of course we had to try it. We went after a lunch one day so we just got a few very small pieces to test out how good this place really was. I dont think there are adequate words to describe how amazing it was! I tried i piece of "il cremino," a cappuccino piece, a waffle and chocolate piece and an almond piece. We are very excited to go back and to try their other products. They have a famous hot chocolate (hot chocolate in Italy is more pure chocolate and rich than what we are used to) as well as Gelato. All of their chocolate is also beautifully packaged and they have some really cool stuff! I was thinking the whole time how much my grammy would love it (shout out grammy! Ill try to bring some home for you!) Vestri (Borgo degli Albizi, 11, 50122 Florence)
A little background, before most students come abroad we are all passed down guides from people who came to the same cities in previous semesters. It is hard to figure out which guides are better than others and which ones are the most like you. (for example one guide basically told us where all the hardrock caffes are in Europe - so we did not listen to anything that person had to say) But we recently found one that seemed to be a girl who ate enjoyed the same things as we did. All of her descriptions of restaurants and activities were exactly what we thought. So when we saw that "Coquinares" was one of her favorite restaurants we could not wait to try it! It is a very hidden restaurant with no sign on the front, so if you've never been there expect an extra few minutes walking up and down the street a little confused. But once you find it, it is amazing! First of all, they are very nice in there! We had made a reservation and they took a little while to give us our table so they gave us all a glass of champagne. Once we sat, we ordered a crostone (toasted bread which comes with toppings) with brie almonds and honey, a salad, pear ravioli and burrata tortolini. All were SO delicious! Also, they have someone come to your table and explain the wine selection to you and help you pick out what you want. Nothing short of incredible! Definitely one of our favorites so far! (not to mention the chocolate cake for dessert!) Coquinarius (Via delle Oche, 15, 50122 Florence)
I have mentioned Finisterre before. It is the coffee shop right next to my apartment (in piazza santa croce). Well since we were being lazy tonight (we have to get up early for our first trip outside of Florence tomorrow) we decided to try their restaurant portion! We were all very pleasantly surprised by what we found! We started with a hummus appetizer, then got a salad and a pizza which was something special. It was a traditional pizza with fresh (not cooked) mozzarella and tomatoes and had ricotta in the crust! Then for dessert, we have been eyeing this cake which has the fleur de lis on it (the symbol of Florence) and have been asking about it. Apparently it is a traditional florentine cake for this time of year, so of course we had to try it! And once again we were pleasantly surprised at how good it was! Finisterre (Piazza Santa Croce, 12, 50122 Firenze)
The last thing I wanted to talk about was my experience in Italian class today. As I have stated before on this blog, I put myself in a higher level of Italian even though I have not taken it in about 4 years. Although it is going to be much more difficult I think I can gain a lot from this higher level class (and I get to sleep an extra hour in the morning, so that never hurt anyone). But today we had two girls who recently graduated school and were our age come into class. Since my class is only six people, we just sat and spoke to them in Italian. It was a lot of fun and very cool! They were really nice girls and told us where to eat, and shop, and go out ... I mean really, what else do girls have to talk about? I am both nervous and excited for the class, but the first week is over so I am stuck in it now!
Tomorrow is our first trip outside of Florence! We are doing a day tour of Siena, Chianti, San Gimingano and Pisa! I am very excited and cannot wait to report on my exciting day! Buona Notte <3
Some Italy Tips (di non essere un idiota americana) - (to not be a dumb american) -
Lessons learned in Week 1
So I'm gonna take a small break from talking about all the food I'm eating (ill return to that very soon don't worry!) to talk about some little things I have learned about why it is SO easy for Italians to point out who American's are as well as things Italians do that we are not familiar with! I am sure there will be many more things to add but this is what I learned in my first week!
Contact with other people:
Packing/Weather:
Food and Alcohol (I mean what would a post be without mentioning food).
That is all of the tips I can think of for now! I am sure I will learn much more about Italian Culture and ways of life as my time continues! But for now I am going to explore! Ciao <3
Contact with other people:
- Italians do not understand personal space. It is not a concept they are taught, therefore do not expect to get any while in Italy! They will probably stand an inch away from you, have a full conversation and thing that it is extremely normal. (even if they happen to smell bad- if you try to back away they will keep coming closer)
- Girls, in America (especially people like me) tend to look at everyone and smile if someone is walking past you and such. This is not okay here! Italian men believe eye-contact and a smile is an invitation to talk, date and harass you. So being a little more careful with who you look directly at is always a good idea - this is really hard for me, especially the smiling part since everything is so beautiful!
- Anywhere you go people WILL know you are American. There is no way to hide it, you are and they know! But they appreciate you trying to speak Italian in any way possible. (They know we're all dumb and it is difficult, but they really like the effort) Even if you simply say "per favore" or "grazie" they will like you more! (Mi dispiace non parlo italiano - I'm sorry, I don't speak Italian - is also a good line if you don't think you'll be able to understand anything they say. They will at least appreciate the effort!)
- People are VERY nice here! They do not hate or dislike Americans at all! Because of this make a conscious effort to be nice ALWAYS! They most usually mean well, and although some things are different they want to help you and for you to enjoy your time here! Days can sometimes be exhausting - especially when running around for 12 hours straight - but be nice and they will take care of you! If you make friends with people in local places they will look out for you and help you!
Packing/Weather:
- Italy is cold. It is very similar to New York weather except the winter is more rainy than snowy. In any case, if you are living in Italy during the winter or come for a visit PACK A LOT OF WARM CLOTHING! Italy has very strict laws about electricity, gas and water because they do not produce any of their own energy. Therefore, you will rarely be warm inside (not cold maybe, but not warm).
- If you are living in Italy, dryers rarely exist (although they do sometimes!) So when you wash clothing be prepared for a solid 3 days before they will be fully dry and you can wear them again!
- Adapters vs. Converters: Sometimes (such as phone or computer chargers) an adapter is fine. But most of the time a converter is necessary. The number of Watts in Italy is different than the number used in America on most products therefore a converter is necessary to change that wattage and not blow out all the lights. Although on some products there is just no hope (unfortunately one of these is my electric blanket - it was a good try at least!)
- Only bring bags that zip to Italy! Although Florence itself really is not bad with theft (knock-on-wood) there are many cities both around Florence and in other parts of Europe that are! It is always good to be alert no matter what!
Food and Alcohol (I mean what would a post be without mentioning food).
- Tipping does not exist in Italy. There is a "servizio" or service charge automatically put on your check and that is your tip. People might actually be offended if you tip them so don't do it!
- For some lunch places or coffee shops you are charged to eat in the restaurant and it is actually a few euros more. So make sure to specify if you are taking your food to stay or to go!
- I stated this in an earlier post but Coffee shops do not like you to take away coffee! They put time and effort into their coffee and believe you should sit and enjoy it. The same is not said for panini's and such, they do not care if you simply get your panini and move on!
- Try not to over order! It is very tempting to order everything on the menu because everything is good. However, if you do not finish your food, Italians get offended and think there is something wrong and you didn't like it. Which of course is impossible because everything is amazing!
- Some things simply do not exist in Italy, therefore do not look for them, you will fail. For example, you will most likely not get ice with drinks, butter does not come with bread, salad dressing does not exist (there is always oil and vinegar but thats it), anything processed probably is not sold (everything they have is fresh, ex: no grated cheese, tomato paste etc. all fresh versions!) most of these slight differences are for the better! Even the most simple food is delicious here because it is fresh!
- Portions are usually small. I am convinced this is the ONLY way that people here are skinny. It is a good thing, especially when you want to try everything, but unless you know the portions are big, assume they are small.
- WINE! - Wine is a part of Italian culture. People drink it at lunch and dinner. (You are not looked at weird for drinking in the middle of the day I promise!) However, because there really are no drinking rules here, people do not understand excessive drinking. It is fine to order a bottle for the table or have a few glasses at dinner, but drinking in excess is HIGHLY FROWNED UPON, and you will look like the ultimate American moron. That being said, wine is amazing here and in some cases actually cheaper than water (i am really not exaggerating, when food shopping my bottle of wine was 3 euros and water of the same size was 5) So make sure to try different wines and understand where they are coming from in Italy! Fun and delicious!
That is all of the tips I can think of for now! I am sure I will learn much more about Italian Culture and ways of life as my time continues! But for now I am going to explore! Ciao <3
Catching up!
So unfortunately my everyday posting is going to slow down as I start getting into classes and traveling, but I do always have a lot to report! This post will be divided into three sections, School Food and (best for last) TRAVEL PLANS! Here we go ...!
School
So this was the first week of classes! I successfully was put in a higher level Italian (thank you high school ambition) so I could go to class at 940 instead of 830. That extra hour is a lot especially since we dont get home until about 4 am. And this later time means I don't have to get up alone and walk all the way to class alone. The class, although challenging doesn't seem too bad, they stray from the U.S way of teaching a language and has more of a focus on practical use and less on strict grammar rules. It is already helping! I also had a photography class yesterday (which I practically took a nap in because my father has taught me all of the information since I could look through a viewfinder) but sadly I am trying to drop the class. There is one day of classes is that cancelled for an Italian holiday that will be made up on a Friday when my parents will be visiting, so I would miss that one, and if I miss one more I fail the class. Because it is on a monday and travel emergencies happen, I don't think I can stay in it. Finally, today I had my "culture of food and wine in Italy" class. Much to my dismay this does not include cooking, but more about the culture of Italy and how food influences that culture. The professors are fully aware that people take this class thinking it is a joke (which it is) and therefore try to scare us. We have SO much reading, a research paper, projects, oral presentations and more. Their attempts at scaring people didn't really work though. Tomorrow I have my art history class with Gavi, and I am actually excited for it! Although these three hour classes (we only have each class once a week, besides Italian which we have Mon-Thurs) are starting to be very hard to sit through ... even with a lot of coffee! But classes don't seem that bad despite the fact that they are getting in the way of traveling!
Food
I know I tend to write out everything we have been eating, but really the food is just too good not to share! Yesterday for lunch, we simply got smoothies from Lovelife. But for dinner the real fun started. We wanted to get something quick because the service in Italy is VERY slow. Although most of the time we enjoy sitting over a glass of wine and talking for a 3 hour meal, sometimes you're just not in the mood. So we were going to get prepared foods and just eat at home, but the store we wanted to go to didn't have much left so we went back to Pino's. (literally one of my favorite places here). Instead of getting paninis again, we each got a plate of vegetables (keep this in mind... we went in trying to be healthy!) But then we caught a glance of truffle cream, pesto and cheese and really couldnt help ourselves. We got a mix of sautéed spinach, roasted peppers, eggplant, broccoli carrots and more! Then we got bread, pesto, truffle cream, hot sauce and three types of cheeses (aged picorino, picorino and fontina. And of course wine and water. One of the best meals since I've been here, and ALL of this food for 9 euros!!!! Pino's is literally the best restaurant here! Now moving onto today, 1/15. For lunch I only had an hour in between my Italian and food and wine class so I ran to get a panini from Oil Shoppe (one of the famous panini places). However, like I have said before, if the food is just okay, by comparison it sucks. So I ended up just eating the vegetables out of my panini. For dinner we went to "Il gato y la volpe" with our roommates. When we got there they gave us bread and oil and vinegar, seemed very standard. Then the waiter came over to tell us that the vinegar is homemade. BEST VINEGAR AND BREAD! It was delicious and very hard not to make a meal out of! Then we each ordered a soup (we had heard it was very, good which it was!) and shared penne alla vodka and pesto gnocchi. Both were delicious but the pesto gnocchi was so much better! We are finally starting to understand the distinction between American Italian food and real Italian food. Although this place was more American Italian it was very good nonetheless!! (and we of course had wine water and gelato for dessert) Lovelife - Via dell'Oriuolo, 50122 Florence
Pinos (real name Salumeria Verde) - 36?R Via Verdi Giuseppe, Firenze
Oil Shoppe - Via Sant'Egidio
Il Gato e la volpe - Via Ghibellina 151/r
Travel Plans
Now for the fun part! We have spent so much time in the past week planning our trips! This is so much more stressful than I ever anticipated!!! There is so much to do and many little plans that are so important! This weekend is Gabi's birthday, so we are staying in Italy. We are doing a day trip of tuscany on Friday which should be a lot of fun! It includes a trip to pisa, siena and a wine tour of chianti! We are going to go to one more city close by although we are not sure which one. After this weekend we are not home at all! Our first trip is going to be to Vienna! We wanted to do Vienna and Salzburg together but it is very hard to get to Salzburg and because of class we do not have enough time! (I don't understand why I have to go to class, I'm just STUDYING abroad =/ ) We are getting very excited about out packed schedule and hoping that we have enough time to go everywhere we want! Who knew that 4 months was such a short amount of time!!
School
So this was the first week of classes! I successfully was put in a higher level Italian (thank you high school ambition) so I could go to class at 940 instead of 830. That extra hour is a lot especially since we dont get home until about 4 am. And this later time means I don't have to get up alone and walk all the way to class alone. The class, although challenging doesn't seem too bad, they stray from the U.S way of teaching a language and has more of a focus on practical use and less on strict grammar rules. It is already helping! I also had a photography class yesterday (which I practically took a nap in because my father has taught me all of the information since I could look through a viewfinder) but sadly I am trying to drop the class. There is one day of classes is that cancelled for an Italian holiday that will be made up on a Friday when my parents will be visiting, so I would miss that one, and if I miss one more I fail the class. Because it is on a monday and travel emergencies happen, I don't think I can stay in it. Finally, today I had my "culture of food and wine in Italy" class. Much to my dismay this does not include cooking, but more about the culture of Italy and how food influences that culture. The professors are fully aware that people take this class thinking it is a joke (which it is) and therefore try to scare us. We have SO much reading, a research paper, projects, oral presentations and more. Their attempts at scaring people didn't really work though. Tomorrow I have my art history class with Gavi, and I am actually excited for it! Although these three hour classes (we only have each class once a week, besides Italian which we have Mon-Thurs) are starting to be very hard to sit through ... even with a lot of coffee! But classes don't seem that bad despite the fact that they are getting in the way of traveling!
Food
I know I tend to write out everything we have been eating, but really the food is just too good not to share! Yesterday for lunch, we simply got smoothies from Lovelife. But for dinner the real fun started. We wanted to get something quick because the service in Italy is VERY slow. Although most of the time we enjoy sitting over a glass of wine and talking for a 3 hour meal, sometimes you're just not in the mood. So we were going to get prepared foods and just eat at home, but the store we wanted to go to didn't have much left so we went back to Pino's. (literally one of my favorite places here). Instead of getting paninis again, we each got a plate of vegetables (keep this in mind... we went in trying to be healthy!) But then we caught a glance of truffle cream, pesto and cheese and really couldnt help ourselves. We got a mix of sautéed spinach, roasted peppers, eggplant, broccoli carrots and more! Then we got bread, pesto, truffle cream, hot sauce and three types of cheeses (aged picorino, picorino and fontina. And of course wine and water. One of the best meals since I've been here, and ALL of this food for 9 euros!!!! Pino's is literally the best restaurant here! Now moving onto today, 1/15. For lunch I only had an hour in between my Italian and food and wine class so I ran to get a panini from Oil Shoppe (one of the famous panini places). However, like I have said before, if the food is just okay, by comparison it sucks. So I ended up just eating the vegetables out of my panini. For dinner we went to "Il gato y la volpe" with our roommates. When we got there they gave us bread and oil and vinegar, seemed very standard. Then the waiter came over to tell us that the vinegar is homemade. BEST VINEGAR AND BREAD! It was delicious and very hard not to make a meal out of! Then we each ordered a soup (we had heard it was very, good which it was!) and shared penne alla vodka and pesto gnocchi. Both were delicious but the pesto gnocchi was so much better! We are finally starting to understand the distinction between American Italian food and real Italian food. Although this place was more American Italian it was very good nonetheless!! (and we of course had wine water and gelato for dessert) Lovelife - Via dell'Oriuolo, 50122 Florence
Pinos (real name Salumeria Verde) - 36?R Via Verdi Giuseppe, Firenze
Oil Shoppe - Via Sant'Egidio
Il Gato e la volpe - Via Ghibellina 151/r
Travel Plans
Now for the fun part! We have spent so much time in the past week planning our trips! This is so much more stressful than I ever anticipated!!! There is so much to do and many little plans that are so important! This weekend is Gabi's birthday, so we are staying in Italy. We are doing a day trip of tuscany on Friday which should be a lot of fun! It includes a trip to pisa, siena and a wine tour of chianti! We are going to go to one more city close by although we are not sure which one. After this weekend we are not home at all! Our first trip is going to be to Vienna! We wanted to do Vienna and Salzburg together but it is very hard to get to Salzburg and because of class we do not have enough time! (I don't understand why I have to go to class, I'm just STUDYING abroad =/ ) We are getting very excited about out packed schedule and hoping that we have enough time to go everywhere we want! Who knew that 4 months was such a short amount of time!!
1/13 - Rainy and Cold (not as bad as it sounds!)
So today was our last relaxing day! From now on we have classes at 8:30 and trips taking up our weekend. (All of which I am excited for .. yes even for class) So we slept late and decided to simply go next door to this restaurant called Finestre for coffee and pastries. (Shadily an UNBELIEVABLE restaurant that we can literally order from our window .. which we don't because were semi-classy) We got cappuccinos and apricot croissants. SO GOOD! Then we walked to coin (italian department store) to get sweatshirts. Back story on why my first purchase in Italy is a men's sweatshirt. Florence weather is similar to New York weather ... for someone who is used to living in Florida it is COLD!!! Florence and Italy as a whole also is much more strict with electricity, gas and water laws as they do not produce their own of anything (except food) Therefore, there is a law that heat can only be on a certain number of hours a day and cannot go above a certain temperature. The outcome of this ... our apartment is the EXACT same temperature as it is outside. Which right now is about 35-40 degrees. Me and my roommates all sleep in 4 layers of clothing and gloves. (Still not complaining I swear! Just explaining) So this led to us having to buy more sweatshirts!
After our trip to coin, we decided to go to a grocery store to buy food to cook ourselves dinner. We have been eating out a lot and eating poorly (eating well but bad for you) so we wanted to cook ourselves a healthy meal ... and then get dessert, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Me and Gavi needed to do some sort of exercise when we got home from the grocery store today because we had only walked so we did 2 exercise videos in our apartment (lame but needed). Then we decided to make our first home cooked meal. We had bought fresh vegetables and cheese, so we made a salad, cooked eggplant and peas. As boring as this sounds, everything tastes so much better here because it is all so fresh! Then after we finished we decided we needed dessert. But since it is so cold out we went just next door to us once again because we spotted their dessert section this morning.
When we walked into Finestre for the second time today, we got to speaking to the people that work there, told them we'd be there a lot because we live right next door and they started teaching to us about many Italian customs with food. For example, it is VERY rude to get coffee to go like we are used to at home. They take coffee very seriously here and make beautiful designs on their coffees and like you to both appreciate the coffee and the time they put into making them look artistic and fun! Also, they judge coffee by how "heavy" it is. That is why (for those of you who knew the last time I came to Italy) I said that Italians frowned upon cappuccinos after 2:30, it is too heavy of a drink because it has so much milk. Italians also confused if you ask for decaf coffee with milk because decaf coffee is considered a lighter drink and milk is heavy. - So that was our knowledge of Italian Coffee for the day ! - After our lesson, we ended up getting a macchiato which is espresso with milk. Gabi then got a chocolate croissant while me and Gavi shared a piece of cheesecake with chocolate on top (we deserved it we ate so well today!) It was so good! We also introduced ourselves to just about everyone who worked in the restaurant and no one believed that Gavi and Gabi when they said their names! Luckily mine sounds nothing alike! Tonight we are just relaxing because I have my first day of Italian classes tomorrow! desiderano buona fortuna (Wish me luck!!!) <3
After our trip to coin, we decided to go to a grocery store to buy food to cook ourselves dinner. We have been eating out a lot and eating poorly (eating well but bad for you) so we wanted to cook ourselves a healthy meal ... and then get dessert, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Me and Gavi needed to do some sort of exercise when we got home from the grocery store today because we had only walked so we did 2 exercise videos in our apartment (lame but needed). Then we decided to make our first home cooked meal. We had bought fresh vegetables and cheese, so we made a salad, cooked eggplant and peas. As boring as this sounds, everything tastes so much better here because it is all so fresh! Then after we finished we decided we needed dessert. But since it is so cold out we went just next door to us once again because we spotted their dessert section this morning.
When we walked into Finestre for the second time today, we got to speaking to the people that work there, told them we'd be there a lot because we live right next door and they started teaching to us about many Italian customs with food. For example, it is VERY rude to get coffee to go like we are used to at home. They take coffee very seriously here and make beautiful designs on their coffees and like you to both appreciate the coffee and the time they put into making them look artistic and fun! Also, they judge coffee by how "heavy" it is. That is why (for those of you who knew the last time I came to Italy) I said that Italians frowned upon cappuccinos after 2:30, it is too heavy of a drink because it has so much milk. Italians also confused if you ask for decaf coffee with milk because decaf coffee is considered a lighter drink and milk is heavy. - So that was our knowledge of Italian Coffee for the day ! - After our lesson, we ended up getting a macchiato which is espresso with milk. Gabi then got a chocolate croissant while me and Gavi shared a piece of cheesecake with chocolate on top (we deserved it we ate so well today!) It was so good! We also introduced ourselves to just about everyone who worked in the restaurant and no one believed that Gavi and Gabi when they said their names! Luckily mine sounds nothing alike! Tonight we are just relaxing because I have my first day of Italian classes tomorrow! desiderano buona fortuna (Wish me luck!!!) <3
1/12 - Food and Gucci!
Hiii !! So last night we did end up going to aqua al due for dinner. In our quest to eat our way through Italy we decided to get a bunch of samplers. We got the salad sampler, the pasta sampler and the dessert sampler. The salad sampler was GREAT! It was three different types of salads, all of which were delicious! The pasta sampler was just okay (which in Florence is bad) They brought out five different pastas none of which blew us away. The dessert sampler was a chocolate cake, a tiramisu, a cheese cake and a tart. All of which were unbelievable! My personal favorites were the chocolate cake and the tiramisu! And of course we had a bottle and a half of the house wine because what would a dinner be without a bottle of wine? Aqua al due - Via della Vigna Vecchia 40
Then today we decided to wake up early and go exploring. We got coffee at this shop called Chiro Scuro. It is one of the only coffee shops to have flavored coffee, so of course we had to try. We had the hazelnut cappuccino (noccio cappuccino) it was good, very very sweet and not enough caffeine for the crazy day we had planned but it was delicious nonetheless. After this we crossed the ponte vecchio (casually of course) to go to Boboli Gardens, the costume museum and the porcelin museum. (our school gave us a museum card so all national museums are free!) The costume museum was beautiful and very interesting, and Boboli gardens were beautiful and big. After leaving here we somehow ended up walking way further than we intended, but that doesn't hurt, the more we walk the more we can eat!
For lunch we decided to try one of the many panini shops because we have not had one yet. There is one on our street that we heard was amazing called Pino's so we gave it a shot. The first one we ordered was a caprese panini (mozzarella, tomato and pesto) Then we decided to try a vege-panini (grilled vegetables, pecorino cheese and hot sauce). We all expected to love the caprese and just like the vegetable but it was the other way around. The vege-panini was by far the most amazing panini! The owner Pino was so nice, so we will definitely be putting Pino's on our go-to list.
Then, since we were exploring, we decided to go to the Gucci Museum. I know i've been using the word amazing a lot, but there are few words to describe how AMAZING it was. There were different sections, of travel, handbags, evening gowns, sport, lifestyle and more. It was very well done and classy. One of my favorite things I learned was that the "flora design" (a big staple of Gucci) was started after Gucci was asked to create a floral scarf for Grace Kelly that was more beautiful than anything Gucci had created. And from this came a whole section of the brand. There was also a Gucci car (rims, interior and all), belts sunglasses and even some of the most recent Gucci designs put on celebrities. (Blake Lively, Cameron Diaz and Selma Hayak's dresses were all there!) There is also a little caffe with Gucci sugar cubes (in the shape of the logo) - we definitely want to try that!
Then walking back towards our apartment, we decided to try yet another Gelato shop- Gelataria de Neri (via de neri 22) - it is very close to our apartment and famous for their cookies and cream gelato. I got cookies and cream and dark chocolate - both DELICIOUS!
After this, we needed to work off the gelato, so me and Gavi climbed the bell tower! All 414 steps in less than 30 minutes, talk about a stair master! Now we are relaxing for a little before we decide where to eat next for dinner! Ciao <3i
Then today we decided to wake up early and go exploring. We got coffee at this shop called Chiro Scuro. It is one of the only coffee shops to have flavored coffee, so of course we had to try. We had the hazelnut cappuccino (noccio cappuccino) it was good, very very sweet and not enough caffeine for the crazy day we had planned but it was delicious nonetheless. After this we crossed the ponte vecchio (casually of course) to go to Boboli Gardens, the costume museum and the porcelin museum. (our school gave us a museum card so all national museums are free!) The costume museum was beautiful and very interesting, and Boboli gardens were beautiful and big. After leaving here we somehow ended up walking way further than we intended, but that doesn't hurt, the more we walk the more we can eat!
For lunch we decided to try one of the many panini shops because we have not had one yet. There is one on our street that we heard was amazing called Pino's so we gave it a shot. The first one we ordered was a caprese panini (mozzarella, tomato and pesto) Then we decided to try a vege-panini (grilled vegetables, pecorino cheese and hot sauce). We all expected to love the caprese and just like the vegetable but it was the other way around. The vege-panini was by far the most amazing panini! The owner Pino was so nice, so we will definitely be putting Pino's on our go-to list.
Then, since we were exploring, we decided to go to the Gucci Museum. I know i've been using the word amazing a lot, but there are few words to describe how AMAZING it was. There were different sections, of travel, handbags, evening gowns, sport, lifestyle and more. It was very well done and classy. One of my favorite things I learned was that the "flora design" (a big staple of Gucci) was started after Gucci was asked to create a floral scarf for Grace Kelly that was more beautiful than anything Gucci had created. And from this came a whole section of the brand. There was also a Gucci car (rims, interior and all), belts sunglasses and even some of the most recent Gucci designs put on celebrities. (Blake Lively, Cameron Diaz and Selma Hayak's dresses were all there!) There is also a little caffe with Gucci sugar cubes (in the shape of the logo) - we definitely want to try that!
Then walking back towards our apartment, we decided to try yet another Gelato shop- Gelataria de Neri (via de neri 22) - it is very close to our apartment and famous for their cookies and cream gelato. I got cookies and cream and dark chocolate - both DELICIOUS!
After this, we needed to work off the gelato, so me and Gavi climbed the bell tower! All 414 steps in less than 30 minutes, talk about a stair master! Now we are relaxing for a little before we decide where to eat next for dinner! Ciao <3i
1/10 (night) and 1/11 day!
Pizza from Pizza Man!
Hiii!! So fillin you in on last night, we went to pizza man for dinner! It was very good! We got a liter of the house wine (wine is literally cheaper than water its crazy!) Burrata (a cheese appetizer) and a vegetarian pizza. After this we went to a club called Fullup! It was a really little club but it was a lot of fun! Then today we all slept really late (finally starting to sleep normally here!) So we decided to put on sneakers and just walk around. We walked all around Florence, and then across the river to piazza michelangelo .. the BEST view in florence. The walk to piazza michelangelo is a hike, so we will hopefully be doing a lot of that to even out all our eating! I think we are going to aqua al due for dinner tonight because we have not had pasta yet and they have an amazing pasta! And the eating continues!!
1/10/13- Second day of Orientation and adventures around Florence!
So today we had another orientation but it was not as bad ... luckily! After only an hour and a half of a boring lecture we went on a walking tour of our neighborhood which was actually more useful than we thought! The teacher (who led the tour) showed us a few restaurants we had been looking for as well as a grocery store. Then we went to lunch at a healthy little restaurant (trying to not be obese and probably failing) After this we had another meeting at our school. Our school is in a very amazing location! Right in the piazza della republica (the piazza with the big arch and the carousel) and right next to two o the most famous pastry shops! After this we went on a long walk behind piazza della republica by the movie theatre, the ferragamo museum and across the ponte vecchio. After this we went to Grom (GELATO!!) It was amazing, I got caffee and strachetella (both unbelievable) I am loving everything here and having the best time! We are going out tonight so I will have a lot to report!! Ciao! <3
1/9/13- Orientation and Morning!
Amazing cocktail list at Moyo
Hi everyone! So today was our first day of orientation ... which of course was boring. We got a 5 hour lecture on how not to be homesick and that we shouldn't get too drunk and embarrass ourselves ... don't they know were all in college? (and I'm not Marissa). But we survived! ... after 3 cups of espresso (we had to be there at 8:30 am, not college students optimal time) After this meeting, we then went to a restaurant called Moyo. We had heard that they had great salads, and in order to balance out all the pizza and desserts we figured we should find a few of those. We found that this restaurant also had really exciting cocktails, and that if you order a certain appetizer you get unlimited cocktails.. so that was definitely put on the to do list! The salads were amazing, but the best part is that it is really close to our apartment! A 4 minute walk at most! So that restaurant we will definitely be going back to.
After lunch, we came back to take a nap because we were all exhausted... it was a rough first night. Then we woke up and went to coin, the Italian department store so we could buy some clean sheets and towels! The department store is really nice and we will be spending some time there once we are settled into our lives!
We then came back and showered and went to a restaurant that was also very close to our apartment. It is called Bordoni. Once again me Gavi and Gabi shared food. We ordered a bottle of Chianti wine, an appetizer with hummus, eggplant and white fish, a pizza with tomato, ricotta and a few other things, and a tuna salad. Then after all of this amazing food we decided to have the chocolate cake because we heard it was to die for... which turned out to be an understatment. All of the food was absolutely amazing and we will definitely be returning. On top of all of this amazing-ness, they messed up our order and felt very bad (we weren't in a rush so we didn't care.. and we were in a food coma so that doubled our careless attitude). They ended up taking so much off of the check so it was only 30 euros! 10 euros each! For the best restaurant so far! We then took a long walk around Florence because we felt fat .. as we should. We are taking the night to relax and plan our trip schedule because we also need to get on Florence time! More to report soon! xoxoxo
After lunch, we came back to take a nap because we were all exhausted... it was a rough first night. Then we woke up and went to coin, the Italian department store so we could buy some clean sheets and towels! The department store is really nice and we will be spending some time there once we are settled into our lives!
We then came back and showered and went to a restaurant that was also very close to our apartment. It is called Bordoni. Once again me Gavi and Gabi shared food. We ordered a bottle of Chianti wine, an appetizer with hummus, eggplant and white fish, a pizza with tomato, ricotta and a few other things, and a tuna salad. Then after all of this amazing food we decided to have the chocolate cake because we heard it was to die for... which turned out to be an understatment. All of the food was absolutely amazing and we will definitely be returning. On top of all of this amazing-ness, they messed up our order and felt very bad (we weren't in a rush so we didn't care.. and we were in a food coma so that doubled our careless attitude). They ended up taking so much off of the check so it was only 30 euros! 10 euros each! For the best restaurant so far! We then took a long walk around Florence because we felt fat .. as we should. We are taking the night to relax and plan our trip schedule because we also need to get on Florence time! More to report soon! xoxoxo
First post from Italia! (1/8/13)
So for all that were concerned... I arrived safely! I am currently sitting in my apartment with my roommates! We just finished unpacking. After we all arrived we walked around Florence for a little while then found a local restaurant for lunch. We got a bottle of Chianti wine, and shared a pizza, Caprese salad and grilled vegetable salad. Sooo good!! We met the two other girls sharing our apartment with us, and they were really nice! This trip seems to be amazing! We have orientation tomorrow morning at 8:30 am, so we are trying to get on normal time, wish us luck with that!! I will post pictures soon!
Pre-Trip #1! (11/5/12)
As the beginning of my trip comes closer and closer (62 days to go!) I decided to start a blog! I hope that this will be an easier way to see what I'm doing at all times (or whenever I can update it!) and how fat I currently am... maybe well have a scale until I look like a beached whale? Only time will tell! But for now, I figured I'd start writing about my pre-travel adventures, because honestly, my life is an adventure from now until May! My friend Gavi (and one of the two girls I will be traveling with) bought me an amazing book for my birthday (along with a GORGEOUS bracelet, but thats something else hehe) The book is called "Born to Shop: Italy." I got to reading that today (although I probably should have been doing real work.. but let's be real, anything involving traveling is way more fun) And I am beginning to get SO excited about my trip! We are starting to plan the big trips, such as my spring break, spring festival and more! I'll keep posting as more exciting things happen! YAY EUROPE!!