The trip to Assisi with ISA started bright and early at 8:00am in front of the train station. We promptly loaded the bus and awaited departure which was able 45 minutes later since other people who were on the list decided to show up a half an hour late. The bus ride was smooth and about two hours so I was able to get in a little shut eye before we arrived. Assisi is a town that is on top of a mountain so we drove up quite a bit to park the bus and get a quick snack and then followed our tour guide up two sets of escalators into Assisi. The tour guide brought us to a bunch of churchs and town landmarks but I was unable to take my eyes off of all the beautiful homes. Every inch of every building was created with such detail it was amazing; they all had cute sets leading up to their ornate door and the building was covered in irory and the windows were decorated with colorful shutters and fresh potted flowers.
After our tour we were dropped off the main church and alotted 2 hours for lunch and to wander the city. Of course it was 2pm by then and we were all famished. We went to a trattoria that had good reviews but it was swamped so we wandered around looking for somewhere else. Every place we came across was either a to-go pizzeria with pizza that had been sitting out all day or an expensive ristorante. Finally we settled on an Osteria (A set up from a pizzeria but below a trattoria and ristorante). Everything on the menu was decently priced and the decor was cute sowe figured we were making out well. I ordered the lasanga and then wanted to cry when it was served to me. It was literally a piece of 2x2x2 overcooked, burnt on top, sauceless, cheeseless, and meatless piece of what I guess you could call lasagna. I tried to cut it with must difficulty and then proceeded to eat it in about 3 bites. Meanwhile Jen and Anna both got about 11 inch pizzas each. They of course offered slices of their pizza since I was still so hungry but I felt bad eating their food when I knew they were just as hungry as I was. So I sat there patiently sipping my wine until the waiter came over and took our plates away. I was going to tell him about my terrible meal but of course he ran away and then didnt show up again for about 25 minutes. By this time I'm angry so he comes over smiling and I was just like "We never got bread" he of course was Italian and had no idea what he said so I began to frantically point to another table's bread and kept repeating myself. I know this sounds a bit obnoxious but by this time its 3:30 and all I've had to eat all day is a bowl of cherrios and cardboard pasta, I was on edge to say the least. About 10 minutes later we get our bread and I scarf down the entire basket before signaling for the check (A major Italian faux pas by the way) Of course my luck after the terrible meal was the realization that there is a 2 euro cover charge per person. Not a happy camper. After lunch I was in a grumpy mood but we still had time before we needed to meet the group to leave so we wandered the city exploring. In the beginging I loved Assisi for being on a mountain and having cute little stair ways to get everywhere but after lunch it was just plain annoying to have to hike to get anywhere on an empty stomach. I slept the bus ride home and hopped for a better day on Saturday in Siena and San Gimigano.
After a good nights sleep, I was feeling positive about our trip for the day and it was even better since we didn't have to meet up for the bus until 10 am. The bus ride was pretty short, only an hour and a half, so I took in the rolling hills and read my book before arriving. We made it to Siena and begin to worry since the dark clouds were rolling in and it was yet again another city ontop of a mountain. We met up the tour guide but everyone needed a bathroom break so I made a run for the nearest bar and grabbed a criossant so I wouldn't be ravished by lunch time. The tour started and it was dead boring. Our tour guide tried to keep us interested but a church is a church is a church on the inside, plus it doesn't help that its usually colder inside than it is outside. The rest of Siena was surprisingly not that pretty compared to all the other cities since Siena was in a war-of-architecture with Florence while they were both being built so many years ago. Siena wanted to be different than Florence so instead of going the renissance route, they went medievel. Everything is dark and for some reason under construction.
The most interesting part of Siena is thier city center since its a giant brick oval. The oval is used twice during the summer for thier horse races where everyone in the entire city gathers along with the rich and famous to cheer on their horse. The other interesting part of Siena was thier Duomo. I know this sounds terrible but I think Siena's duomo is prettier yet smaller than Florence's Duomo. After the Duomo, the tour concluded and we set out on own to eat and explore! For lunch we walked around for a while but apparently its the cities off season so barely anything was open except for the places on the city center which were way over priced. We finally found a place and settled in where I got gnocchi of course and it was delicious. Following with our tradition we went for gelato. I ordered a cone of mint and hazelnut thinking it would be a terrific combination. Unfortunately the hazelnut tasted more like an actual nut than nutella like I had anticipated and had nuts mixed in (YUCK) but I still enjoyed it since the mint was SO GOOD. I scoped off the hazelnut and enjoyed my mint cone while wandering the city looking for a bakery that sold Siena's famous pasty/cookie. Of course with my luck I wasn't able to find any open bakery that sold single cookies of the one I wanted to try, it was all over priced giant packages. Normally I would just get the package and bring it home but I've never tried the cookie so what happens if I didn't like them? We all pulled out our umbrellas as it started to drizzle on our walk back to the bus.
We got on the bus briefly before arriving with the rain in San Gimigano. The landscape that overlooks below San Gimingano was breathtaking since it over looks a ton of vineyards. Of course there were no grapes and barely anything was green but it was still gorgeous. As our tour guide brought us toward the city center, we started noticing a strange pattern; children in Halloween costumes. It wasn't until we reached the arched entrace of the city did the tour guide announce that they were celebrating Carnavale! All the children were dressed up to throw confetti, spray silly string, and dance in the parade through the city. We made it to the city center just in time to see the floats begin to take off and confetti to fly everywhere. It was a magical moment that I truly wished I was participating in. Our tour guide pulled us away all too quickly to bring us furthur into the city for more sight seeing and fact learning. The entire time we were trying to listen to our ear pieces for inforamtion abotu the family crests painted on the walls of the city we were distracted by the sounds of the parade in the distance. The tour ended shortly after this but the parade was long gone so we went back through the city looking for shelter from the increasing rain. Of course Anna and I were lured down the street all the way to the heavenly smell of fresh oven brick pizza. I couldn't resist a freshly made slice of 2 euro margarhita pizza, and I was absolutely exstatic that I did since it was the best pizza I've had while being in Italy. I enjoyed every last memorable bite. We walked back up the street with more time to kill and found friends from our tour. We sat in envy listening to how they six of them had been separated from the group during the beginning of the parade and were dragged into it as it drove away. The danced, sang, were covered in confetti, and given free bottles of wine by shop keepers and Italians enjoying the parade. I couldnt believe I walked to a arch with foregin family crests instead of dancing to Italian Cher and drinking free wine!
Sulkingly we gather ourselves to walk back to the bus. By this time the weather had decreased along with my mood and it was pouring. I was the brilliant one in the group to wear flats so my feet were soaked to the core. We made it bac kto the bus but I was far to uncomfortable to do anything but listen to my ipod and stare out the darkened windows. We got back to Florence as it continued to pour and I had to walk home in the soaking wet shoes thorugh puddles. Not the best situation. We made it back to the apartment where I peeled off my flats and washed my feet since they were just plain gross.
I pulled on my rainboots, feeling infinately better and headed to Tijuana for dinner. Tijuana is one of the only Meixan establishments and you need to make a reservation anytime you want to eat there so we were all excited for it by the time we got there. Anna and I ordered giant margarhitas, queso dip, and chicken quesadillas andate ourselves into bliss. The food was overpriced but oh-so-delicious and it hit the spot after my rainy day.
Today April and I woke up relatively early for our day off, put in a load of wash, and then headed to the cooking school building to sign up for a wine tasting trip we wanted to take with our class. Afterwards we picked up Jen and headed to Ganzo for lunch where we met Shelbi. For lunch I had a fresh turkey and some special cheese sandwhich with fresh tomatos and roasted potatos on the side. I was pleasantly full before walking to check my mailbox where I was greeted with an adorable card from Aunt Lisa, such a mood booster! I came home about 4 hours later to my laundry finally being finished. Loads at our washing machine in our apartment listeraly take 3 hours and then everything has to be hung up to dry since Italian's don't believe in dryers. I put in my second load and then headed to a mandatory meeting with ISA.
After the meeting, Shelbi and I went to meet up with a boy she had met out earlier in the week for coffee. The whole tete-e-tete was awkward since it was just the three of us and Alex (the Italian) didn't speak more than two words in English (Hello/Goodbye) We did our best and had a few laughs at our ability and inability to translate. We headed home and relaxed before just cooking up some pasta and pecorino sauce for dinner.
This week I am literally going to Ganzo everyday for lunch and some nights for dinner since my vouchers for the month expire next Monday! I have my first Italian quiz Thursday and I'm nervous about it to say the least so I might go to tutoring Wednesday to try to comprehend more and get a different perspective. The rest of the weeks forcast is going to be sunny and mid-fifties so I'm going to try to be outside as much as possible soaking up the sunshine after all this rain! Hope you all are enjoying the surprise snow storm!
Love and Miss Everyone! xoxo
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment