A relaxed day

We got a bit of a slow start because we had a late night out on Thursday. We left the house at 4pm, and had some stuff to do. We crossed the Ponte Vecchio to get masks for the Carnevale in Venice, and grabbed some snacks along the way. I got some more schiattatine, and was tempted by this amazing looking pizza. Next time.

La mia maschera

It's handmade in Venice and paper mache. I plan on using it tomorrow in Venice, next weekend, and then to hang on my wall at home.

We crossed back over the bridge and went to the chocolate festival again at Piazza Santa Croce.

These are chocolates in the shape of food!

I am exhausted and have to go to sleep early for our 9am bus tomorrow morning. I cannot wait to tell you all about il Carnevale di Venezia.

Ciao!

Food and more food

I think I told you guys that Rachel and I have a cheese lady. Well, we also have a bread lady. When we got to the market around 9am (so early), many shops were still setting up, like our bread lady. So she was kind enough to give us amazing samples of cenci.

They are typical Tuscan cookies served during Carnival (which starts this weekend) and they basically taste like fried dough in a cookie form, with powdered sugar. They were amazing.

I also picked up two of these rolls, also called schiattatine (but different from the crackers I bought here). They taste very similar to focaccia, but so much better. And what an amazing coincidence that this roll is the same size as the mozzarella and tomato?! :)

We have also made friends with a guy who sells fruits and vegetables, he is our produce guy. Picked up some of these uva and they were expensive.

I was so excited to eat them, but they taste bad! Well, I guess they are just different than what I am used to. They are not as sweet and taste literally like wine. Plus they have seeds. Fail.

We then went to the Florence Chocolate Festival which is held this weekend at Piazza Santa Croce. It was amazing. There were chocolate vendors, demonstrations, and FREE SAMPLES.

This guy makes chocolate into the most amazing things- horse shoes, tools, and they actually look rusty!;

Truffles and chocolate-dipped fruit;

Chocolate bark;

My thick, rich cicciolata calda

After the chocolate festival, we were wiped. I took a nap until 8pm, then got ready for the night. We went out which was a lot of fun, the the absolute BEST part of the night was finding this secret bakery. We had heard talk of a few bakeries in Florence that sell wholesale to other bakeries and while they are baking during the night (starting at around 2am), people can knock on their door and buy baked goods from them. Well we were lucky enough to find this place, knock on the door, and they opened up and sold us treats! I got an amazing slice of Sicilian pizza, while others got fresh donuts filled with custard.

Yesterday was certainly an amazing gastronomical adventure.

Ciao!

It helps to speak la madre lingua here

Italian class at 8am was just as tough to get up for as on Tuesday. So after class, I went back home and took a nap...for 6 hours (oops). At 3:30 we decided we had to be productive, so at 4:15 we finally left the house (I am not usually this slow and calm back at home, I guess la dolce vita has hit me already!) to walk around. Rachel, Meagan and I walked down via Nazionale to get some sweets and cappuccino. We went to una pastacceria that's nearby that we always pass, and I got an amazing crostata al cioccolato.

The pastries there looked amazing, and I noticed this biscotti-looking cookies called cantucci. I had never heard of cantucci and I always see them, so I asked the guy qual'e` la differenza fra di biscotti e cantucci? He said that biscottti are piu` croccante (crunchy). I love learning new things!

Then we walked to get our daily cappuccino (from a cafe that one of our hostel friend's sister works at), and walked around the market. I was looking for a scarf (and bought a black pashmina one), and also leather gloves (which I will wait on), but I also enjoy walking around and talking to the locals in Italian. We made friend with a vendor from Bangladesh who sells jewelry, and he asked me if I speak English, and I responded "Si, ma preferisco parlare solo in Italiano" which got the three of us free bracelets. Mine signified love.

Such a nice guy (a little pushy), but I am so happy that I speak the language, and it is definitely beneficial! After my friends went to class, I kept walking around the market to speak to vendors in Italian. Then I was starving and made dinner at home. Garlic-y spinach with fresh parmigian on top, and penne with garlic, tomato, cream, and more parmigian.

If you haven't noticed, I am using the same ingredients for many things. I am trying to not spend too much money and instead just making do with the ingredients I have on hand. It's been working out pretty well. That's the Italian way.

Ciao!

Travel plans

Had my first Italian class with Rachel yesterday. It was an 8am (ugh) advanced Italian class that I had already taken at my home school (again ugh). BUT, there were 5 of us in the class. Out of the whole school! Props to the smarties! But waking up at 7am (especially not sleeping well the last two nights) was TOUGH. Like, I am actually in school again! But we had a cappuccino after class in via Nazionale (our street) and decided that this was going to be our after class place (we have places for different occasions). We also learned a new word: schiuma. This means foam. The barista didn't speak English and it was hard describing foam to him so we had to do it in Italian. Then we taught him the word 'foam' and he laughed.

We took a quick trip to the market for cheese, and of course I couldn't resist a pastry, called schiatatta alla fiorentina.

I asked the woman what it meant, since the other day I had a focaccia-like cracker called schiattatine, so there had to be some connection. So she said "Perche` e schiattata" and made this hand motion of squishin something, so I assumed it meant flat. But now that I am translating it from the verb schiattare, it means to burst. Well, nevertheless, I learned two words!

Big news: Rachel and I planned our spring break! It's going to be four days in Barcelona, and 3 days in Paris! We are taking cheap planes (thank you, Ryanair), staying in hostels, and bringing along some food to cook to keep costs down. Of course, we will definitely indulge ourselves in the local cuisine. SO excited.

We spent the majority of the day researching for our trip, then I cooked dinner with Antoinette, we made bucatini pasta with garlic-y spinach and olive oil, the fresh feta I bought on Sunday, and freshly grated parmigian. Yum.

Afterward, we were all exhausted so after a trip to the sauna and steam room (I love my hostel!) with my friend Randi, I was ready for bed. Gotta love those 8am classes.

Ciao!

I forgot this was STUDY abroad

Yesterday was the first day of class and it was a little bit stressful. I felt a teeny bit homesick the night before, so I didn't sleep too well. I was missing my friends and family, and in honor of my best friend Michelle, had an Israeli-style breakfast. Hard boiled eggs, chickpeas and tomato salad dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper, and a piece of focaccia. And a tangerine, because she is obsessed. Eggs and chickpeas will pretty much be my go-to proteins, because I am a poor student and cannot afford fish and chicken. Groceries here are expensive!

Anyway, I had some time to kill before class and I was feeling a little stressed so I decided to walk. Since I don't know this city very well and I like to walk just for the hell of it, I just walked and walked until I found something cool.

I love street art. This translates to: Very important. I love you. And only you.

I came upon Piazza della Repubblica, a beautiful piazza with a carousel in the center. I sat in the sunshine next to two women speaking Italian, and just listened. My goal is to be (nearly) fluent by the end, so I have to be able to listen and hear how people speak and at the pace they speak at. I felt relaxed after hanging out in the piazza, seeing how everyone was just sitting down, reading a paper, taking a stroll. I want to be able to adapt that relaxed mentality.

Something I have noticed: NO ONE uses an iPod. Ever. I have not seen one earbud in someone's ear. Well, except for the other American students that are easily spotted. I am so used to having my Blackberry attached to my hand, my earbuds jammed in my ear, and being in my own world. I don't have a Blackberry here, and do not plan on jamming earbuds in my ears anymore.

I met Rachel per un biscotto ed un cappuccino in via Panzani, at the place we found on our first day. It was relaxing just sitting down with a hot drink and a sweet cookie. Did I mention that you have to pay to sit down at a cafe? It's usually a Euro or so. There are taxes on everything here, including using plastic bags at the grocery store. But I don't mind paying the small price to just relax in a pretty Italian cafe for a while.

Class was uneventful, but I got super lost on the way home. I was extremely frustrated. I am not used to being lost and not knowing what is going on. I am not used to feeling vulnerable when asking for directions. Back at home, I was either in my extremely small town, or in Manhattan, both of which I called home. I knew how to get around and where to go, and knew what to do if I didn't know something. At the same time, I felt my life was becoming the same old same. So while it is a humbling experience, being a small fish in an exotic pond, this new life is something I had always hoped for. So I am ready to get lost, trip on cobblestone streets (oh yes, that happened at least 9 times today), and take in a new city!

Ciao!

Dinner at Palazzo Borghese

Tonight, Lorenze de Medici (my host school) had a dinner at Palazzo Borghese for all the students. Villa Borghese is an ancient palace from the 1400s that was inherited by the Borghese family. You can search the Palazzo's website here. It was a 1.9 kilometer walk away, but so worth it. Here's why:

fabric wallpaper in a dining room

the grand main room

beautiful chandeliers

Definitely a one of a kind experience that I would never have done on my own, grazie mille Lorenzo de Medici.

Ciao!

Walking around and dinner

We spent the day walking all over the city. Here are some of my favorite things from that walk:

View from the Ponte Vecchio;

locks are all over this one gate surrounding a fountain on the Ponte Vecchio. It's a tradition where lovers date and sign a lock and attach it. You can read more about it here;

amazing focaccia-like bread, ma piu` croccante (crunchy), called schiattatine;

Afterwards, we were exhausted, and we just wanted to go to the supermarket, make dinner, and relax. Antoinette and I cooked dinner. It was amazing. It was a simplified version of Farfalle alla bosciaola (which is my favorite pasta dish in the world). It was penne pasta (we didn't have farfalle on hand- the butterfly shape), garlic, onion, prosciutto, crushed tomato, and heavy cream. Their cream is not found in the refrigerated section- it is more like a parmalat milk in that it doesn't need to be refrigerated until opened. It was super thick in the container, but thinned out once added to heat. We grated a mound of fresh parmigian cheese into it. YUM.

While I'm on the subject of talking about freshly grated parmigian, I will just say that there is a HUGE difference between this freshly grated, and the stuff I used to eat at home (the pre grated). The parmigian I am eating here is yellow, almost butter colored, nutty and sharp in flavor, and awesome. The stuff at home is powdery white, and just bland in comparison. That is one thing I have really started noticing in my short few days here; the small differences in taste.

Ciao!