San Gimignano is sleepy

We went to San Gimignano yesterday for a day trip. It is a very small and beautiful town overlooking the Tuscan country side. The weather was amazing, so we just spent the day walking, sitting and people watching, and just taking in the views.

Fountain in the main piazza.

I love Tuscany!

Not sure what type of flower/plant it is, but it's pretty.

This was one of the coolest parts of the town. This is a medieval fountain from the 9th century where people got water from and did their laundry. There were also goldfish swimming in it.

Mosaic of an old man sleeping inside the fountain.

Overall, San Gimignano is a lovely little town, but there really is not a lot to do. Two of my friends went to Siena the same day as well, which is a really good idea, but I had already gone to Siena a few weeks ago. Still, I absolutely love traveling around Tuscany!

Ciao!

I've been here more than a month!

Didn't do too much today... but I bought dried fruit! Starting from the top and going clockwise- it's orange, pomelo (another type of citrus), banana chips, cherries, figs, kiwi, and strawberries.

Don't they look pretty?!

I'm headed out to get some aperitivo and out with friends. We love apertivo! We are trying a new place from the one we went to last time- this place is called Zoe and it's across the Ponte Vecchio. It's such a great day- for 8 or so Euro you get a great drink and unlimited plates of yummy food. Going out is SUCH a treat here, and I cannot wait to share aperitivo with my family when they come.

Ciao!

My Wednesday in pictures

Most of my Wednesdays are spent with me coming home from class at 8:50am and sleeping for a very long time. But I am trying my best to get out of that habit, so I spent a good portion of the day walking around with friends.

We got cappuccinos at a new place. Look how cute they are!

Bought pastries at Gilli (we split a rum baba, and then I bought an overpriced violet-scented chocolate)

Hung out at the Piazza della Repubblica (my favorite piazza)

And just kind of wandered

As I have said before, strolls are a lot more beneficial than naps.

Ciao!

How to fight the Monday blues...

Mondays always suck, especially after long weekends filled with adventures (I know, tough life). But I tried some awesome new food today, making it a little easier.

Well, it's not a new type of food, it's soup. But it's the best soup (I think) I've ever had. It's from this place called Il Cernacchino, right off of Piazza della Signoria.

I got the braciole rifatte (fried beef with tomato), which is supposed to be one of their most popular. And it was awesome.

Then I needed something sweet, so I got a cappuccino and warm Nutella-filled donut, covered in sugar at Gilli, at Piazza della Repubblica. I took such a quick and big bite of this sugar masterpiece that my friend said people were staring at me, since I looked like a 4 year old with chocolate on my face. Oh well!

Gilli itself is a fantistic place. It is the oldest cafe in Florence and just luxurious, with many beautiful pasteries, drinks, and aperitivo.

Side note: aperitivo is basically drinks and appetizers before dinner in Italy. Italians eat late (9 or so), so this is a great way to tide people until then (especially since Americans eat so much earlier). On Friday, I had aperitivo with some friends at an amazing place called Kitsch, where, for 8 Euro, you get a real drink, and unlimited amounts of (awesome) food. WIN.

Then later, my same friend made bolognese sauce, something she learned how to make in her cooking class here. I have been wanting to make it, but haven't yet, so I had hers! It was delicious.

But anyway, a fantastic soup in a crunchy bread bowl, pastry treat and hot cappuccino, and bucatini alla bolognese are a no-fail way to start off a busy week.

Ciao!

Bologna the fat, or so they say

Sunday we went to Bologna (even though we usually take day trips on Saturday, it was supposed to rain and we did not want to get rained on like when we went to Siena) and had a great time.

We literally just walked around. All. Day. Which is one of my favorite things to do! Here is some of what we saw and loved:

Palazzo d'Accursio at the Piazza Maggiore

This is the famously unfinished San Petronio Basilica, in the same piazza

Basilica di Santo Stefano

Beautiful ceiling at the International Library and Museum of the Music of Bologna

I just love the antique brass on the doors

Fountain of Neptune

And now, on to the food (since that is basically why we went). Unfortunately, since it was Sunday, everything was closed, which we had no idea about. We were dreaming of rich sauces and fresh pasta, and that didn't really work out. Oh well, I will just bring my family to Bologna when they visit, and we can all stuff our faces together!

But, we did have THE most UNBELIEVABLE gelato from La Sorbetteria Castiglione. I got two flavors- Dolce Emma (ricotta with caramelized fig and lemon), and Dolce Guglielmo (hazelnut praline). HEAVEN.

You will definitely see another post about Bologna in the nearish future, next time with foods galore.

Ciao!

We saw THE David

On Saturday I decided to try some new types of meat and cheeses from our cheese lady. I picked up some asiago and salame (oh and btdubs- it is pronounced "salam-ay" NOT "salam-ee" like it is pronounced in America. The 'e' on the end of salame is like 'ay'). The only time I had eaten asiago was when I used to go to Panera Bread all the time freshman year of college, in good ol' Indiana. This asiago here was obviously fresher and had a more distinct taste.

My lovely sandwich, using amazing Sicilian tomatoes like this one (next time I have to drizzle some sweet balsamic on it)

After lunch, we headed out to the train station (Santa Maria Novella) to buy train tickets to Bologna for Sunday. We are all really, really excited to go.

Okay BUT the point of this post was to talk a little more about THE David, as in Michelangelo's David. Rachel and I walked to the Accademia Galleria which is super close to us. We spent a little time looking at altar scenes, but basically rushed to see the David. Along the way were some cool unfinished sculptures, also done by Michelangelo. The David is worth all the hype. The sculpture is huge, the anatomy is so organic and fluid (you can even see the veins popping out in his hands), and he is in that famous contrapposto stance which I learned so much about in several art history classes. Rachel and I just stared at him for awhile, and I could see myself going back many times.

After we got home, I relaxed for a bit, and then cooked dinner with my friends. Jene prepared sauteed chicken in olive oil, garlic, and lemon juice, and Linzy and I prepped the risotto. Well, Linzy cooked the risotto (she learned in her cooking class here), I mostly grated a large mound of cheese. There were a bunch of us eating, and it was nice to eat family style.

We topped the night off in the sauna and pool (one of my favorite things here, ever).

Ciao!

Museums and history everywhere

Despite exhaustion from my 8am class, I headed out to another museum with a friend. I went to the Museum of San Marco, which is basically a monastery and we get to duck into the small rooms, each with frescoes. Being that this is Italy, they are altar scenes. This is not art that I am used to, be this type of religious art is a huge part of the history of the culture, so I am glad to learn a little more about it. They also had beautiful old prayer books, with the tiniest handwriting I have ever seen, and song books, with beautifully decorated paper, and either leather covers with silver hardware, or red velvet covers. Keep in mind that I am not Catholic, so I do not know the proper terms or the stories and prayers, but I do have an appreciation for beautiful, unique, and old things.

After we left the museum, we went for a walk, went through the San Lorenzo market, and somehow wound up in the middle of a huge parade. We didn't know what it was (and I was too tired to try and translate the Italian), but researching it now, I am seeing that this parade commemerates the last Medici, Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici.

The fleur-de-lis (giglio in Italian) is the symbol of Florence

I just love the history that just pops out of nowhere in this beautiful city.

Ciao!

A trip to the Uffizi

Did I ever tell you guys that we have a rooftop terrace? That was another huge reason we moved to the hostel. When it gets warmer out, we will definitely be eating dinner there, and I definitely plan on napping up there as well. But for now it's still chilly, so we only ventured up there for a second.

You can see the Duomo

And the Apennini mountains

Then we decided to go to the Uffizi for a while. Since we got our Friends of the Uffizi pass, we have unlimited and VIP access (no lines) to the museums. Which is good for me, since I am usually only able to take in so much of a museum at once! We saw a ton of altar paintings, which was cool, but I got shivers when I saw Titian's Venus of Urbino, and Botticelli's Birth of Venus. I have studied these paintings before in art history, and it's cool to see them come to life.

This is the Palazzo Vecchio, as seen from the terrace at the Uffizi

And of course, the Duomo

I look forward to many more trips to the Uffizi and the other museums.

Ciao!

Strolls are a lot more beneficial than naps

I took a walk after class with Rachel (instead of taking a nap, I'm so proud of myself), and we just kind of wandered. Lo and behold, we stumble upon the Jewish section of Florence. We see a kosher store, Judaica store, and this amazing synagogue:

It was all locked up, but I definitely will venture back.

Then, all that Jewish stuff made us hungry, so we walked around a little more, then found this awesome gelateria serving waffles.

They cost extra to put fancy stuff on, so we opted to keep it simple with just powdered sugar. The result was a delicious, buttery (the dough literally has pieces of whole butter in it), not-too-sweet waffle, with amazingly crispy edges.

Happy Mardi Gras!

Ciao!

A very random dinner

This is what one makes when it's 10pm and they have spent all night exercising, and chilling in the sauna and pool (I love my life).

It's lentils and pancetta from this dinner, with zucchini, sauteed in spicy olive oil (we always have a bowl of olive oil with salt, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, and oregano chilling in it), and our trusty parmigian on top. I gave my roommate a bite, and she jumped up and made her own. WIN.

Ciao!

An afternoon in Fiesole

We made a spontaneous decision to go to Fiesole, a small town about 20 minutes outside of Florence. My friend wanted to check out their chocolate festival, and even though I had already been to the chocolate festival in Florence (twice), who am I to say no to chocolate?! We wound up spending just a little time sampling chocolate, and mostly walked around this beautiful town on a mountain.

This is a view from some road we walked up

An old Roman theatre that is still being used

A door knocker

Italy has the most beautiful drinking fountains

And mailboxes

Too bad it was closed

I can't get enough of the adorable Italian cars

Ode to Valentine's Day

It was a great and relaxing way to spend a Sunday, and I look forward to many more (inexpensive) and convenient Sunday trips.

Ciao!

Beautiful Siena

We took our first day trip, and decided on Siena because it is a beautiful, easy to get to, and small. I took a bunch of pictures, keeping in mind that my dad wants to see more architecture. Here you go!

We took Trenitalia.

As soon as we got to the Piazza del Campo, we saw a ton of people lining up in this little log cabin stand. They were all getting this amazing fried dessert treat. It was a fresher, less dense, and overall much better version of the fritelle di riso treat I ate here.

Beautiful fountain.

This is the Siena Cathedral. Reminded me of the the Basilica of Santa Croce (this one is much more elaborate).

Inside.

We climbed up 131 (narrow) stairs at the Museo Dell'Opera Del Duomo to get up to the top, overlooking the entire city. Amazing.

Che carino!

And because no post is complete without food, here are some food pictures!

Gorgeous fruit.

We took a train back to Florence, ate dinner, and I got this yummy lasanga al bolognese

Lasagna here is a little different than back at home. Instead of ricotta, they use a bechamel sauce. It's very good, but a little too rich in my opinion.

Siena is a beautiful place and I highly suggest it as a day trip for anyone visiting Italy.

Ciao!