Florentine Royalty Treatment

I really can't believe it's been a week since my last post, time is absolutely flying by!

Since the beginning of this week wasn't anything out of the ordinary, I'll start with Thursday, the beginning of my best weekend yet.  Thursday started off well as always in my wine class.  I'm learning so much and tasting wines at the same time!  At the end of class, April and I stayed behind to have a chat with our professor and a student who is studying to get this wine certificate when they invited us to go wine tasting with them that evening.  They didn't give much detail about exactly what we were going to be doing or even where we were going but we were excited regardless and agreed to meet them at a restaurant at 6:30. After wine class, I did a little shopping and then went home to make myself lunch.  Then I had my first Italian quiz which I was beyond nervous for.  The nerves ended up being pointless since the quiz was like 20 questions and beyond simple, I'm almost positive I aced it.  The positive vibes we flowing as I walked home from class early and was able to enjoy an episode of this weeks Glee with Anna (I LOVED IT) before having to get ready.

April and I arrived at  Ganzo at exactly 6:30 to meet our Professor.  We began walking to what we thought would be a wine bar but ended up being his car.  I was hesitant at first but we crammed into his teeny mini cooper and were off to our unknown destination.  I was a little nervous since it was my first time in a car in Italy but it was fine, just a little bumpy thanks to all the cobblestone.  We crossed the Ponte Vecchio to the other side of Florence and ended up at a beyond beautiful hotel set on a hilltop, surrounded by spotlights, and a well-kept garden.  Our professor, Massimo, explained that the hotel, owned by famous Italian designer, Ferragamo, had just re-opened in January after being closed for the summer for renovations.  We stepped into the hotel and I had to stop myself from letting my jaw drop, it was magnificent.  The inside of the hotel was like nothing I've ever seen before, everyone was luxurious and decorated from head to toe; the floors were marble, the drapes were silk, and the ceilings covered in hand blow Murano glass chandeliers.  I couldn't help but feeling under-dressed as one of the staff asked to take my coat while we entered the lounge.  The lounge was a large rectangular table made out of glass with changing colors shinning from below and surrounded by vintage velour chairs.  April and I declined anything to drink fearing the prices of the menu but Massiso insisted on getting us an authentic Italian cocktail since I had been curious about them earlier.  He ended up agreeing to let us share a cocktail named Negroni.  Just a heads up to anyone who doesn't want a strong drink of Christmas tree, AVOID THIS DRINK!  The Negroni is made out of Gin, Campari (Orange Italian Liquor, and Sweet Vermouth) but April and I had to force ourselves to finish the terrible concoction in fear of being rude.  We were almost finished with the first round of cocktails when Chase (the wine certificate student) introduced us to his friend, the manager of food and beverage at the hotel.  He took us fora tour of the sitting area, the conference room, the card room, the ladies parlor, the restaurant, and the wine cellar.  Everything was all so beautiful, April and I had no idea where to look to soak in everything the decor of the hotel had to offer.  After the tour, we were going to taste the wine Chase had brought but unfortunately Massimo declared that it was 8:20 and his wife had been expecting him at 8:00. (Italians are literally NEVER on time)  So we gathered our things and squeezed back into Massimo's teeny car for the ride back into the center of Florence.  As April and I walked back to the apartment we were both in a daze from what we had just witnessed and felt so privileged to have been invited AND invited back for another time when we would actually get to taste the wine!

It was getting late and we were both a little hungry but not starving so we stopped down the street at OK Bar for a quick bite.  I ordered the lasagna and was not disappointed, it was huge and the epitome of what you think of when you think Italian homemade lasagna.  We went back to the apartment and got ready to go out and celebrate Shelbi's 21st birthday!  The celebration was a success and we headed back home to sleep for a few hours before we had our cooking class the next day!

Se ami qualcuno, portalo a Verona

Translation: If you love someone, bring them to Verona.

I have to say, I was surprised at how truly beautiful Verona, Italy was.  The trip with Florence for Fun and all my roommates was a last minute trip booked earlier in the week; I put off booking the trip because I wasn't sure I was interested in visiting a city already known for being romantic and of course this weekend was the weekend before Valentines Day so Verona holds a festival called "Verona In Love".

After looking over the tour schedule for the day and the low price, I decided to book the trip.  I'm so glad I did because it was AMAZING.  Once getting into Verona by private coach bus, I was amazed to see how clean, traditional, and beauiful every single building was.  I don't think there was one building I saw during our entire day trip that wasn't decorated with ivory vines, flowers, iron balcony gates, or something for Valentines day!

We began our tour with a break, since we had been on the bus for 3 hours.  We ran across the street to a little bar for some cappachinos and an awesome chocolate/nutella filled croissant.  The tour then really began in Piazza Bra; a gorgeous fountain and park situated right next to the Roman Arena.  The Roman Arena is similar to the Colessum in Rome and is considered the third largest amphitheater in existance seating around 30,000 people.  During the summer months, it rivals the Syndey Opera House with its Verona Opera Festival. To get into the center of the romantic city of Verona, you enter under the Porta Borsari which is an arch that is believed to be built during 1st century AD, AND ITS STILL STANDING TALL.

Next we went to the Lover's Well.  The story behind the Lover's Well is that two young Veronese were in love but the man believed that the woman in the relationship was incapable of committing herself to him quoting that "the blood in your veins is as cold as the water at the bottom of the well"  In response the woman said "if you really loved me you would jump into the bottom of the well to see how cold that water really is"  Since the man truly loved her, he jumped into the well and the woman felt so terrible and missed him as soon as he jumped so she jumped in after him and the two disappeared together forever.  Now people are suppossed to drop a coin into the well and while its dropping think about what they would like thier ultimate destiny to be and it will come true.  Of course I threw some coins in!

While on our way to the next sight be were walked through Piazza delle Erbe, the most famous and exciting Piazza in Verona.  The Piazza is filled with restaurants, shops, the fountain Lady of Verona, the 14th Century Garadello Tower which is topped with statues of the six divinities.  This area was swarmed with tourists for obvious reasons.

Next we walked to the Ponte Pietra, a bridge that was originally constructed in 1503 then rebuilt several times in wood then stone then wood then stone etc.  From the bridge we were able to see the Castel San Pietro, which was formerly an Austrian barrack and is now closed to the public but its still gorgeous.

After the bridge we made our way to Basilica of Saint Anastasia.  The outside of the church was beautiful with a mix of reniassance and spanish architeture.  We went inside and of course the ceiling paintings were breathtaking.  The only weird part was that there was a church service in progress but anyone was allowed to enter and look around the church while this was happening.  Anna and I felt super awkward so we made our way outside after only a few pictures.

After the church we went to the Arche Scaligeri.  Apparently most Italian cities have like one major family that runs everything for years and then in taken down and disappear.  Verona's family is the Scala Family.  The Arche Scaligeri is a court yard outside of a church which is filled with the tombs of the Scala Family and protected by ornate iron fences.

Conveintly around the corner from the Scala family was Romeo's house. that is if you would like to call a cement wall with a sign and wooden garage door as a house.  When I think of Romeo's house I think of a mansion like in Shakespeare but it's nothing like that at all aka disappointing.

Luckily around the corner from Romeo's wall were the Roman Ruins.  The Ruins are actually located below the city so in a courtyard there were large glass circles you could look through.  Its insane but there are still mosaics that are intact and beautiful!

Our last guided location was to Juliet's house.  Our tour guide led us down a little road, we turned left and were greeted by swormes of tourists.  There is a tunnel which is covered in peoples writing of thier lovers all over the wall which opens into a small court yard.  The courtyard was jam-packed with people taking pictures, kissing, waiting in line to enter Juliet's house and go to her balcony, and poeple waiting in line to take a picture with the bronze statue of Juliet.  We waited in line for 5 minutes before we were tired of waiting to stand on a balcony so we just went and took a picture with the statue.  In my picture you can see that I'm grabbing her boob.  No, I'm not a pervert, I had good reason!  According to ledgend, if you rub Juliet's left boob then you are suppossed to get good fortune while finding a new lover!

After Juilet's balcony we were free to explore the city on our own.  Of course our first priority was FOOD.  Verona is known for the serving of cavallo aka horse.  Our one roommates was totally against this and another doesn't eat red meat so the group split in half; it was a once in a lifetime opportunity so I wasn't going to pass up the chance to try some!  Anna, April, and I asked our tour guide for some suggestions of place to eat, unfortunately we got a little lost looking for her restuarant before getting there.  Once we got there we were shocked to see the menu where there wasn't anything for under 30 Euro, PASS.

We wandered the streets as it began to rain still looking for a place that served cavallo when we came upon a place that looked quiet from the outside.  We opened the door was were greeted by a delicious smell of veggies, meat, dessert, and just plain goodness along all of the those ingredients beings hung on display!  We waited a few minutes in the busy restuarant before anyone who worked there even saw us.  Finally we were approached by an Italian woman who said something in Italian and we replied "Three please".  Then to our surprise she goes "No. No Room. Bye."  We stood there confused before a man working behind the bar came over and asked us if we needed help.  We told him again that we were 3 but we were told NO AGAIN! He felt awkward when we asked if we could wait and stumbled with his words before saying the kitchen was closing.  It was like 10 minutes until two on the busiest weekend of the year for Verona, we were clearly American and unwanted.

We walked around in the rain for about 20 minutes until we were starving, wet, and therefore aggitated.  We went to other first restuarant we saw which ended up actually being pretty good.  I was in the mood for meat since I was teased with the horse meat so I ordered beef stew with a side of veggies and roasted potatos.  We all wanted to try Verona's specialty wine but it was 11 euro per glass, too bad I'm on a budget.  Instead I ordered another Verona specialty drink, a spritzer!  I'm still not sure exactly whats in it but its orange, bubbly, and yummy!

After lunch it stopped raining so we walked to another piazza where the love festival was taking place.  The festival was surprisingly smaller than we all expected but we made the best of it by trying all the samples.  I tried several white wines and ended up buying a Soave ( Veronese White Wine Specialty) and Verona in Love Limited Edition White Zinfindel, both to share with Anna.  I also tried a bunch of different olive oils and cheeses which were delicious but not worth the euro's or having to carry them for the rest of the day.

We also went to a bakery where I wanted a piece of almond shortbread covered in grappa but unfortunately it was only avalible by the entire pie which i also didnt want to carry so I settled for an animal marzipan.  I have no idea what it was but they are a specialty of Verona and were only .60 euro so I tried it.  The middle was good but the outsiede which was bright pink was a weird taste so I quickly finished it before we walked around more.

Before meeting the group to leave for the day, we wanted to try what else? Gelato!  The three of us decided that we were going to try gelato in every Italian city so at the end of the trip we could decide which city makes the best.  For Verona i settled on Fraggola (strawberry) and something about mixed berry in a cone.  The strawberry was pretty good but not my favorite and the berry tasted like Trix yogurt.  Verona is definately not at the top of the gelato list.  We still had some time to kill and it started to rain again making it cold outside so we wandered into a cafe and split a bottle of white wine.

The bus ride home we watched Romeo and Juliet then How to Loose a Guy in 10 Days while I doozed on and off and ate some of the free chocolate stuffed with nutella.  It was a lovely day all around!

Hope everyone is enjoying thier Valentines Day, all the roommates and I are going to a romantic restaurant with a set menu near Santa Maria Novella.

Love and Miss all of you!

Sto male :(

Hello Everyone! Sorry its been a few days, things were busier with class and unfortunately but predictably, I've caught a cold.  After a few days I'm starting to feel better but I'm still stuffed up :(  Anyway, I'll start where I left off...

Anna and I went to our Cultural Anthropology class only to be greeted by a large, pessimistic professor.  As usual we were asked to fill out a sheet with our name, major, home university, why were were in florence, what we wanted to learn from her class, and 3 words to describe ourselves.  Usually after filling out the sheet we would pass them forward and begin class but this woman decides that we all have to share our answers.  Normally this wouldn't be a bad thing except after you read aloud your feelings, she shuts you down and laughs at you.  After one girl said that one of her words was 'family-oriented' the professor asked if her family felt the same way, laughed out loud, and said NEXT.  After we got through everyone's brief biography she handed out the syllabus.  It states that we have to make a presentation to the class every week, we have a 10 page research paper, weekly quizzes, mid term, final, and 3 mandatory trips that we must fund on our own.  Anna and I looked at each other wide eyed as the professor began to show her lecture slides.  On one of the first few slides there was a picture of famished people crawling toward water when our professor explains, "In about 30 years when I'll hopefully be dead, all of you will slowing die out since the earth is going to run out of water resources. HAHAHA" Stunned from the morbid comment I looked at Anna and we both decided that when she announced our mid-class break, we were leaving and dropping the course.  I'm not going to waste my precious time in Italy slaving over course work for an unhappy woman when I could take the course at home and actually enjoy it.

After leaving class we called the roommates and had them meet us for dinner.  We decided on a little ristorante that was on our walk back to the apartment, it was perfect because it had a set menu for only 12 Euro.  I ordered beef tortellini as my first course, roasted veal as my second course, and a fruit medley as my dessert, all accompanied by a glass of sweet white wine.  After dinner we headed home and went to bed in-preparation for our thursday classes.

My first class of the day on Thursday began at noon, Tuscany and It's Wines.  I absolutely adore my professor, and can't wait for class next week.  Our syllabus includes light homework such as enjoying  a glass of wine then describing it in a one page paper, a mid term, a final, and a prepaid trip to a wine vineyard.  Every class we are taught about a specific feature of wine and given a lecture then a break.  After the break we are given three different wines to sample and then given brief information about them.  I'm really hoping to learn alot from this course and my professor.

After class I went grocery shopping then headed home and made myself some lunch.  After lunch I met up with my friend Chelsea and we headed to Italian class.  The class was informative but also torturous with a cold, I was sneezing, coughing, and constantly blowing my nose!  Of course everytime I sneezed the class and professor would all shout SALUTE! (Good health in Italian) then look at me all red faced and with a tissue glued to my nose, beyond embarrassing.  From class I went straight home, did my Italian homework while it was fresh in my brain then went to bed.  I woke up an hour later feeling refreshed and famished.  Luckily the roommates began cooking while I took my nap!

For dinner we had a mixed green salad, fresh bread, and rollitini pasta in a red sauce.  For a dinner accompaniment, I had picked up a bottle of red wine that I needed to taste as homework for my wine class.  Usually I don't drink red wine but after learning about it in class that afternoon I gave it a shot and it wasn't terrible, but still not my first choice.  We all cleaned up from dinner and decided that it was a Thursday night and we should all go out to celebrate a successful first week of classes!  A few boys we are friends with from the program invited us to join them in trying out a new jazz club so we got ready and headed out!

Of course I made the dumb mistake of wearing heals.  We ended up getting lost and surprisingly, aimlessly wandering around cobble stone streets in heels is not fun.  After reaching several dead ends and making numerous circles, the girls and I decided to make our own fun and left the boys.  We ended up a bar around the corner from our apartment where we had been last week.  The place wasn't nearly as full as last week so there was actually room to dance and we were all having a genuinely good time singing along to our favorite songs.  We were all getting tired and decided it was time to call it a night.  We walked over to the booth to get our jackets, everyone walked away with theirs but when I went over to get mine, there were no more coats.  I grabbed my friend and had her help me look through other plies of of coats but it was useless, my coat was gone.  Of course after having such a good night, something had to go wrong, my favorite and only coat gets stolen.

Friday morning I woke up feeling sicker then before and completely regretting going out the night before when I was already sick and now my coat was gone.  I stayed in bed watching TV for a while and turned down the girls when they asked if I wanted to go out shopping and strolling around town since it was beautiful out.  I slept and read through most of the day finally getting up to shower around 4.  The girls came home and we watched from TV and did homework until we decided to go out to dinner around 8.  As usual we never know where we are going before we go, we just walk around and hope for the best.

After walking down a few streets into a neighborhood we haven't seen yet, we saw a large group of people and walked their way.  As it turns out, they were all waiting outside the theater for a show but there was a packed restaurant right across the street.  We checkout the menu and headed inside.  I ordered gnocchi in a creamy tomato sauce covered in melted mozzarella cheese.  It was beyond delicious and I ate every single gnocchi.  After dinner my sweet tooth kicked in and I decided to order a dessert, pear and chocolate mini cake.  The cake wasn't so mini and was covered in melted chocolate and had vanilla pudding on the side.  The cake was beyond moist inside and wasn't too rich, and the slices of warm pear inside were the perfect touch.  After seeing how much I was enjoying my dessert, my roommate decided to order another one for herself!  We walked off our dinner on the way home then got ready for bed and watched tv before falling asleep.

I'm feeling better after resting all day yesterday so we are all going to go out for the day.  I need to get books for some of my classes, need a new converter, a new coat, and of course need to visit the chocolate festival that I missed yesterday!  Love and miss everyone! xo