A Wrap-Up Post

Hey all, well I don't know how many people are reading now, but I felt strange abandoning this blog without a wrap-up post. I haven't blogged since March 22, and I have seen, done, and learned so much since then. Part of the reason that I stopped blogging was because I started "experiencing" my experience and I wanted to take it all in and feel everything instead of stopping what I was doing to run home and blog about it.

Since I last blogged, I traveled to Rome, Barcelona, was supposed to go to Paris but I had to go home sick (really bad times, but it's all good now), Venice a second time, Lake Como, Switzerland, Cinque Terre a second time, Pistoia, Castiglioncello, Holland, and Brussels. I was supposed to go to Norway this past weekend but the ash from the Icelandic volcano started up and we canceled. All my pictures are on my Facebook, but it will just take too much time to backtrack and put them up here.

Not only did I get to see some amazing places, I feel like I know and understand Florence. I have my routines, I have my vendors at the market, I know how to get around. Some things I will probably never get: why it rains all the damn time (yes I know Tuscany is in a valley but that still doesn't explain the sucky weather), and why the male population here SUCKS. Now I don't want to stereotype, I am part Italian myself and I cannot vouch for all of Italy, I can only talk about what I see/hear/deal with on a regular basis here. But it is just gross!

I have learned how to live on my own, how to deal with things without my parents, how to live a life for myself, and most of all, learn that it is time to grow up and start dealing with things back home. I have to start looking to the future, graduate college, and figure out my next plan of attack.

One of my friends here was following my blog and it made my day when she said that she could notice how much I changed from the beginning of the trip to the end. The beginning was a little rocky, and there have been some rocky moments here and there, but overall, I can say that I had the time of my life and I do not regret a single second of it.

If I don't know you, thanks for reading and following my adventures. If I do know you, trust me you will be filled in on my adventures and stories, but I truly do not think that I can put this amazing experience adequately into words, so bare with me.

Ciao!

Lucca

On Wednesday we took a day trip to Lucca, a quiet Tuscan town famous for the walls surrounding it.

Duomo di San Martino.

Church of San Michele.

The Piazza dell'Anfiteatro.

I love the burnt oranges of Tuscany.

The Guinigi tower and another church (not sure which one).

We climbed the Guinigi tower, and this is the view from the top.

What a relaxing afternoon.

Ciao!

Cinque Terre/Portofino

I am pretty far behind on blogging because my family came into town! It's amazing having them here, but my schedule is a little bit different (aka, I am never home and I am running around Florence). So until I get back from Spring Break (Barcelona and Paris- keep a look out for those pictures), I won't be blogging on my day-to-day stuff; it'll mostly be our pictures from our trips.

Rachel and I went to Cinque Terre and Portofino through school last weekend. The weather was amazing, and we spent two days basically touring around and chilling at the beach. Heaven.

An amazing view from a seaside restaurant in Camogli.

This is Portofino. Since we got here by boat, it reminded me a little bit of Venice.

The first town we went to, Riomaggiore.

We 'hiked' through the 5 towns on the Via dell'Amore.

Lovers put locks on the bars (and also melt large pieces of glass onto it as well, weird), signifying love, like they do on the Ponte Vecchio.

We also ate well- the specialty of the Ligurian region is pesto with trofie pasta (which is a specialty to the region and you will almost never see it in America), and I ate a lot of focaccia, which is different there than in Florence; in Liguria it is softer and much more oily. Yum. I brought home a bag of Croxetti Genovesi pasta, which is a disk-shaped pasta that is stamped. I had never seen it before. You can see a picture of it here.

It was a fantastic trip, the Ligurian region is so beautiful and relaxing. What a great way to welcome in spring and summer.

Ciao!

Italians pay attention to the little things

Something that I have noticed walking around is that there is no shortage of beautiful and unique things that can be found in ordinary places, such as store-front signs. Oftentimes, they are this robin's egg blue and gold, or white and gold, or just gold! Like these:

And don't worry, the stores themselves are just as beautiful and quaint inside as the outside.

Ciao!

The architecture of Seville

This is the second part about my weekend getaway to Spain, the architecture. Since Seville is in Southern Spain, it has Arabic and Moorish influences (I'm reading up on the Moors right now, but all I can think of is the Bubble Boy episode of Seinfeld. "The Moors!" "No, it's Moops!")

In any case, when I think of Seville, I think mosaics, iron work, splashes of color, and bold church domes.

I'm loving the patina.

The front of Church of San Luis (S. XVIII)...

...And the dome in the back.

There are mosaics all over the city.

Very colorful houses.

This city really does get the best light.

Cool clock at the Alameda de Hercules.

What a gorgeous city.

Ciao!

The food of Seville

Hi guys, I took a little break from blogging this weekend. For a fantastic reason- I went to SPAIN! It was a random trip that I took to visit a friend that I haven't seen since 2006. She lives in Seville and is teaching English. My friend from Florence came with me and it was an all around amazing time. I'm going to be breaking down my trip into two posts- this one (food) and another one (architecture). I honestly cannot explain how amazing this weekend was. The food was delicious, cheap, the architecture is beautiful, the city got amazing light making for great photographs, the people are so nice (and most didn't speak a word of English, but we got by), and the nightlife is tons of fun. You all have to just go!

We ate tapas (basically small plates of food), which is the way people do it and I love it- you get a ton of variety this way. Since we didn't speak Spanish, my friend and I basically just asked the waiters what their favorite things were (we said it in Italian with a few Spanish words thrown in), and told them to surprise us. It was so much fun this way! And there was NOT ONE THING that I didn't love.

For food:

Potatoes with this spicy tomato sauce and garlic aioli.

Rolled chicken, bacon, and cheese, fried, and covered in this almond sauce, served with potatoes.

Grilled squid with garlic aioli.

This is a dip, a kind of hummus texture, made of red peppers and garlic with ham and eggs in it.

This is a piece of pork with this great spicy sauce and potatoes. Pork is really popular in Spain.

The closest thing I can compare this to is a Thanksgiving stuffing, with chorizo in it.

Quail eggs and ham on toast.

Sandwiches on grilled bread- smoked codfish with this awesome mystery sauce, pork with ham, shrimp with garlic aioli, and tuna with red pepper.

For dessert:

Lemon flan with the richest burnt caramel sauce.

Coconut pudding.

Churros with chocolate. In Spain they are eaten for breakfast but they are good anytime!

To drink:

Agua de Sevilla.

Tinto de Verano.

I'm heading back to Spain in 2 weeks for Spring Break (Barcelona)- it will be a completely different part of Spain, but I just fell in love with this country.

Ciao!

A hike around the hills of Tuscany

I spent my Wednesday afternoon walking around in Florence over the bridge. Going over the bridge (the Ponte Vecchio) always leads us to something really interesting- the other side of Florence is much more quiet and less touristy, a great way to spend a peaceful Wednesday. Our plan was to get up to Piazzale Michelangelo, which we eventually did, but we took a long way, stopping to eat our lunch overlooking the Tuscan countryside.

Elaborate gates leading to huge Tuscan manors on rolling hills.

This is one of the manors (I took this picture through a hole in a gate).

Quiet winding roads.

A view from Piazzale Michelangelo (you can see the Basilica di San Lorenzo, Palazzo Vecchio, the Duomo, and a strip of the Arno river).

Another view (you can see the blue dome of the synagogue that I stumbled upon here).

And all this was when it was a little rainy and gray out! We're going back next for more pictures.

Ciao!