independence and a visit from the boy

I think I just completed one of the best weeks of my life. I'll let you know.


Gaber left today after spending one week strolling my Florence streets by my side. We stayed in a little apartment right in the center by the sede, cooked dinner, came and went as we pleased, slept in, watched tv together, and chatted until 4am. It was the definition of perfection.


Wednesday - went to happy hour at a Mexican bar called Tijuana with Christine, Breana, Anna and Claire, then went to a yummy little trattoria called Gusto Leo (I think?) where we ate pizza, then home to snuggle and watch tv (by way of gelato, of course!)


Thursday - introduced Gabe to the wonder of kebabs in this city (he ate 2 in about 2 hours I believe), then strolled and did some grocery shopping, tv watching and snuggling since it was chilly and dreary, came home after class and made heart-shaped pasta with oil, garlic and hot pepper - so good!! I'm going to guess we got gelato afterward?

Friday - wandered ALL day, went to the History of Science Museum, checked out some cute churches, the building that I want to buy to start my restaurant and hotel (where Napoleon's brother lived and died I might add... its a stretch but its abandoned and beautiful.....), walked up the hill over the Arno, ate more gelato and kebabs, met the crew for aperitivo at Moyo, headed to karaoke and then spent about 20 minutes at 21, a discoteca, then headed home for the night.

Saturday - after not sleeping well at all (we decided there was Red Bull in the free mixed drink shots we got for singing karaoke....) we took the bus over the Arno and up to San Miniato, a beautiful little church on the hill, took lots of pictures, then wandered through Florence to the Duomo, ate gelato, stopped by my host family's house to introduce everyone and pick up all the stuff I sent home with him, then wandered home to cook roast beef, thinly sliced bistecca fiorentina and roasted potatoes (pretty successful, I must say!!). I am tempted to say we had more gelato after dinner.... (In case you hadn't noticed, Gabe was quite taken with the gelato!! Especially the lemon!)

Sunday - tried to go to Villa Demidoff in Pratolino.... after successfully figuring out the bus and wandering until we found the entrance, it was closed for restoration, but we found some snow and a "Gigantic Adventure Park" which was a huge ropes course up in the woods, then we went back into the center, strolled through the San Lorenzo market, stopped for gelato by the Duomo and then headed home to make a feast of amazing meats and cheeses and breads and beer, then tv and chatting til late. 

Monday - after Translation class we wandered all around in the sun, visited my favorite church and sat in on Mass for a little while and then went home to get ready to go out to dinner at an ADORABLE and delicious restaurant that Gaber found called Trattoria da Tito - SO GOOD! We took shots of limoncello with our waiter and the busser and then strolled home... by way of gelato. 


Tuesday - had class on and of all day long, Gaber played computer games, did some work and ran some errands, we made some lunch at home with the leftover meats and cheeses and some tomatos and then for dinner we went to my favorite restaurant in Florence, I Tarocchi, over the Arno where we had pizza, salad, bistecca fiorentina and then topped it off with gelato (we did stop by the apartment to pack for Wednesday first!!) Then there was a minor catastrophe (which we avoided very well!) Gaber left the keys in the apartment.... and the cell phones.... so we couldn't call ANYONE to let us back in.... and other than the owner, there isn't anyone else to let us in anyway! So first we found the woman in the neighboring apartment to see if she had access to the courtyard so maybe we could get in the window, but she didn't.... so she asked someone else.... but they didn't either (very teary and upset Sera on our hands at this point..... very covered in mascara and sniffly and pink....) Then I had an idea.... So we walked to Hotel Maxim, the first hotel we all stayed in when we first got here in September and, looking as sad and pathetic as possible, I explained our problem to the man and he let us use the internet to get the woman's number and then the phone to call her and BOOM! She came in less than 20 minutes! And said we were lucky because she usually turns her phone off at night! THANK GOODNESS! Tragedy avoided! Good thing we also had some strawberries waiting in the apartment to eat in bed as we watched House Hunters! 


Wednesday - a sad day... but we made it! Had some (VERY OVERPRICED) pastries at a famous pastry shop (they were pretty good I suppose!), hopped on the bus to the airport, said goodbye as bravely as possible, and that was that! Then I went to the sede to study for my opera midterm, took it, and came home!! Phew. 


Host family update: It's so nice to be back with them! I missed them! We had an amazingly yummy dinner of chicken, roasted potatoes and salad with tomato and avocado! Then we brought out all the Easter candy that my mom sent with Gabe. The Reese's eggs were a hit among the host parents and the Jelly Belly's were a HUGE success with the host bros. Especially the buttered popcorn ones. Yuck. I think I might have to request some more. And Harry Potter beans because the bros are very intrigued. I am going to miss it here. 9 weeks from today and I will be in my house in Vermont... how did that happen?? Scary, exciting, sad, and very different.... Vermont is going to feel awfully small..... 


Life update: As of right now, while my restaurant dream is still fully in tact, I have a new plan that will help my future in the food biz. There is a graduate program in Gastronomy at BU. And I can concentrate in business. While Gaber goes to school at MIT or works there..... And Alex will live down the street. It's a great life plan. I love being young and falling in love either everything and wanting to do everything. It's so invigorating. Did I mention that I am also considering finding a job/internship/something in cookbook/food book translation? It exists! I just need to find it! It would be AMAZING! 


Anyway! Time to go browse dresses online for my 21st birthday and my lovely best friend Isadora's bridal shower that I am throwing as well as her rehearsal dinner! 


Amore a tutti!!


P.S. Countdown to Barcelona, Madrid and London = 13 days and 19 hours!!!!!

part two of random ramblings

Saturday
Fabulous day!! I wore a tiny little light sweater thing and flats and walked around all day in the 60 degree sun! It was incredible!
After breakfast and such, I headed into the center to go to the San Lorenzo market where I bought my very own leather jacket!! Its gorgeous! And yes, it was probably overpriced initially (350 euros) but after talking with the man for awhile and impressing him with my Italian and telling him all about what I study, etc. he sold it to me for 130 euros! AKA $177 when it should have been about $476 - not too shabby right???

After dinner host mamma and I looked through some more maps and photos and magazines and things and talked about movies and more places we would like to go. Then I went and watched the soccer game with the twins and host dad while looking through some really cool magazines (have I mentioned that we have HUNDREDS of house and travel and vacation and architecture magazines????) These were my primary findings: 

http://www.graftlab.com/

http://images.google.com/images?client=safari&rls=en&q=aqua+tower+chicago&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=_I-JS-DuCs7__QazjOzpBg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CCgQsAQwAw

http://ammos.it/web08/pagprova.htm

I love being with my host parents.... maybe I will go to mass with them in the morning.... after I make pancakes of course!!!! 

So far today

No mass! We didn't make it..... as usual! I did make pancakes though! And we used up the last of the mix.... I guess I will have to start making them from scratch! After breakfast Silvia invited me to go for their usual Sunday passeggiata (little walk) to the Piazza where their church is and then to get coffee and pick up chicken for dinner. Filippo stayed home to do homework (yeah right....) so it was just me and Lorenzo and the host parentals. We stopped and talked to just about everyone we passed on the street, walked to the church, greeted some more people, got some cappuccino, and headed under the train tracks to another piazza I didn't even know existed to go to the rosticceria (rotisserie) to buy some chicken parts. Yum. In a few minutes I am going to do my translation homework then make some more lists, finish planning Isadora's bridal shower, dream about life a little, and then watch the amazing 1999 version of Alice in Wonderland and possibly Nine! Perfection! (Did I mention that the NEW Alice in Wonderland is coming to Pistoia - about 40 minutes away - on Wednesday and Thursday and therefore after class on Thursday we are SO going to see it!!!)

Baci a tutti!! I miss you all!!! 

vermont cheddar.

Tonight Silvia made her delicious torts and used my Cabot cheddar that I gave to them as a gift! We had one with artichokes, cheddar and stracchino (still not sure what to call this kind of cheese in English..... but the dictionary defines it as a soft cheese from Lombardy..... ) and one with cheddar and prosciutto cotto (like sliced baked ham only a million times better!) And we had yummy beans. And then I ate a banana in hopes that the tryptophan will help me sleep before 3am tonight - also adding a mug of warm milk with honey to the agenda for later now that I think of it! 


This week started off nicely, nothing too exciting. Just working all the time.... At this point my literature presentation is done, my literature paper is pretty much done and my fashion paper has been turned in.... which leaves me with three exams and two more papers..... and a week to go! And then Thursday, Friday and Saturday off, followed by a week relaxing in Sicilia where it could be getting up to 60! Grand! 


Breana and I are planning great things for this weekend including aperitvo with all the girls on Friday and some raspberry lambic at the German pub Saturday night! Expect photos! 


I must return to literature.... but I will resurface relatively soon!


Baci a tutti! 

10 things that occur around the holiday season in florence that make life worth living

1. Family Gatherings.
Last night my family got together with Victoria and Chrysanthe's family because my mamma is their father's sister, aka our little sibs are cousins. Yesterday was the nonna's birthday and she came with her sister and her husband. All in all, there were 14 people at my house, eating pizza, drinking Coca Cola and beer and laughing and chatting. I sneakily tried to take some family photos and then just decided to make everyone pose! It was a night full of laughter and sweet grandmotherly moments and love. And pizza covered in sliced hot dogs. It was perfect. 

2. Beautiful Lights. 
I know I have previously mentioned this and I also promised photos, but I haven't actually seen the beautiful lights lit up yet.... well I saw them at 2pm yesterday but I don't think that has quite the same effect as seeing them at night..... Tomorrow I will take pictures! I promise! 




3. Wandering at night.
I love this city at night. During the day.... not so much, but at night, definitely. I love walking home after class in the dusk to dark period, watching parents picking up their children, wandering past the bus stops and enjoying the general happy bustle that exists after the work-day has ended. I also love having that extra 30 minutes of leisurely strolling (well, I power-walk like there's no tomorrow but still....) to think in Italian and enjoy all the Italian-ness that surrounds me.... It's very relaxing and rejuvenating.... 


4. Decorations.
Storefronts, lights, windows.... all been said before, but I still really love it! 




5. Thanksgiving Dinner with Giovanna.
Thursday night. With all 20 girls and our professors. Turkey and gravy, stuffing, salads, corn, squash, pumpkin carpaccio, cranberry sauce, corn bread, pecan pie, apple pie and pumpkin pie.... Mmmm.... Just like home! 




6. Thanksgiving Dinner with the Host Fam 
It has been decided. Sunday night I will be cooking my family's version of stuffing and some cranberry sauce along with some molasses cookies perhaps.... Silvia is getting some kind of turkey or chicken, and we are good to go! The boys probably won't like the cranberry sauce and we'll see about Silvia and Enrico! Wish me luck! 




7. Helping Older Women Cross the Street
I was walking home tonight (enjoying the peaceful darkness, of course) and as I approached a sidewalk, this most adorable older woman reached out and asked me if I would be so kind as to walk her across the street because she was scared of falling. I took her hand and we walked across very, very carefully and very slowly, all the while she was telling me how nice it was to have someone help her. Then she squeezed my hand and said, "Buona sera, signorina!" My hand was glowing with warm, fuzzy feelings for at least 10 minutes, especially because I had just come from....




8. Sitting in with a Group of Grandmothers who Pray Together Every Day. 
After my audited class at the University of Florence (Methodologies of Contemporary Art History.... very, very, very boring...), I decided to spend some time in one of my two favorite churches (that I know of so far, that is!). When I entered, there were hardly any people other than one man who was seemingly very frustrated because the priest was late for confessionals and another man who works at the church and was restocking all the candles available to light. I walked through the church looking at all the small chapels until I found one that for some reason gave me the goosebumps. There was a beautiful fresco unlike all the others. Many were dark and depicted Jesus' sacrifice or other sad Biblical stories. This one instead was the Madonna surrounded by Saints, looking up at the heavens. It was so brightly colored and there were such relaxed, content expressions on each face, that I was immediately struck by its beauty. I lit three candles at this chapel - one each for my grandparents and my uncle. It was a rare moment of strong faith which continued to get stronger as I walked behind the sacristy (completely unlit with only a few candles flickering in the eerie silence) and I realized that I heard prayers. When I walked back out past the altar, I found a group of about seven woman, all much older, praying together. I went and sat down across from them and listened with my eyes closed for about 10 minutes, although they continued easily for another 10 or 15. It was pretty incredible.... and not something I often desire, but it felt good today to be part of a group of people so full of faith....




9. Orchestral Concerts.
Last night I decided I wanted to go to an orchestral concert. It is Christmas and Christmas means music which reminded me how much I miss my viola and orchestra and classical music. Within five minutes of deciding this, I had already found one this Saturday at the Teatro Verdi in Florence. I know have a ticket and I cannot wait!! http://www.teatroverdionline.it/




10. Being Happy.
Although I have now been sick for 30 days, I am extremely happy. I am settled, I am bonding with my host family, I am less stressed, things are going well at school, the boyfriend is just lovely and it is almost Christmas! Although I am pretty excited for Thanksgiving as well! This weekend between going out with the gang and taking myself out for a night, I will just be working, commencing some Christmas shopping and cooking! Sounds like a perfect weekend to me! 


Baci a tutti! And see many of you in less than 4 weeks! AMORE! 

UPDATE!

I was just informed today that I have an internship with the Florentine food magazine, Gola Gioconda (http://www.golagioconda.it/) helping them translate their website into English!!!!! I was daydreaming about it after and imagined myself working there after graduation as their token American who translates and writes pieces about food in the United States, and then they would let me start writing my own articles about Florence so I would get to go out and do field work and go to restaurants, and eventually I would open my own restaurant because I would have become part of the business scene in Italy..... Dreaming is great, isn't it?


P.S. Gola = throat, Gioconda = Monna Lisa

christmas is a comin'

Or rather, Natale is a comin'!

But first comes fall. Although not so much in Firenze.... There aren't a particularly large number of trees to turn beautiful colors and send their leaves twirling to the ground.... Fortunately for me, I got to go to Lucca on Friday and in Lucca there are plenty of stunning autumnal trees and even some beautifully decorated storefronts, all ready for Christmas! 


I have also learned that my Florentine family loves Christmas as much as I do. We have the Christmas tablecloth already in full use every night and at least once a day Lorenzo breaks into song. Christmas song that is!! Sometimes he sings on his own in Italian but other times he sings along to American Christmas songs such as Santa Baby and things by Bing Crosby, in English, and it is just about the cutest thing I have ever heard. 


The city of Florence is also gearing up for the holidays by stringing beautiful strings of lights all along every street, too bad they wait until a certain day much closer to Christmas to turn them all on!! 

As far as Thanksgiving goes, although I am extremely sad to not be spending it at home, Giovanna has invited all of us girls over to her house with our professors for the evening. Then either Friday, Saturday or Sunday night I am hoping that Silvia will make some delicious turkey breast and I can make my family's "Italian" stuffing and cranberry sauce that we make every year. Wish me luck!


More news coming soon!
Baci e abbracci a tutti!

Whiskey.

Today was one of the best days I have had in many, many, many years.

As I said earlier, it was Ali's birthday and Luciana was especially sweet and adorable this morning. The walk to the Sede was the

same as always, had language class, a dorky treasure hunt to become oriented in the city and a chat about our mental health being students overseas. Throughout the day, I walked with Alayna and Breana to get tea, pastries, a present for Ali, etc. I am starting to understan

d the city and know where I am most of the time..... soon it will really be home!

After our little health meeting, I took a long and windy path home by way of a few great shoe stores and also a street near ours called Via del Prato. I didn't know what I would find on Prato, but indeed, I found a few little pasticcerie, or pastry shops (often called bars - an American bar is a pub - and

they often also serve wine and panini) as well as a sweet little store where I bought Ali's present (a really pretty silk scarf, and of course I got one as well - 2 for 10

euros! The adorable older woman gave me a deal because I was so carina and I was speaking Italian with her). When I got home, after doing some homework (uffa!...), I watched Luciana

futz around the house, getting ready for Ali's special dinner. We ate in the formal living room tonight (see photo!) and we ate with nice plates and real wine glasses and Giovanna came as a surpr

ise for Ali (she bought the pups of course!! See the other photo!)

We ate the most amazing dinner.... First some aperitivi (appetizers - some bread with homemade porcini mushroom sauce, some with smoked salmon and some with baby shrimp). Then we ate homemade lasagne, complete with homemade pasta. It was traditional Tuscan lasagne, made with bechamel sauce, not ricotta, meat and porcini mushrooms. Then we ate some incredible veal with a sauce whose name is escaping me - made with mayonnaise (yes... mayo... apparently its VERY Italian???), capers, lemon and something else which Giovanna wouldn't tell us because we aren't familiar with it. In addition to the meat, we had the best zucchini I have ever eaten - tiny and so flavorful. Finally, for dessert, Luciana made an INCREDIBLE hom

emade dark chocolate mousse which we ate with gelato. There was, of course, a bottle of red wine and a bottle of prosecco but we only made it through the red wine.

Throughout all of dinner, there was an immense amount of laughter. First, because Ali, Julie and I had tried to explain our one problem with Luciana to Giovanna - we cannot ever say no to her and therefore we always eat way more than we want because she keeps piling more and more onto our plates without asking. Giovanna said this was not a problem and to not worry, we could easily say no. She learned this was not completely the case tonight when Luciana kept bringing more and more food and giving us however much she thought we would want to eat. Così buffo! Later, Luciana was laughing at me because I was flushing and she accused me of drinking too much wine, meanwhile she kept cracking jokes about whiskey, first asking Giovanna if she wanted some (which for some reason was incredibly humorous) and then (in response to Giovanna asking what Luciana would like to name a puppy since we MIGHT be getting one), she said, "Hmmmm...... forse...... AH SI! SI CHIAMA WHISKEY!"

At the end of the evening, Giovanna congratulated us for speaking and listening to Italian all day since 8'o'clock this morning and we took some photographs (as you can see!). After Giovanna left and we helped Luciana clear the table, Ali, Julie and I headed to my room where we proceeded to take a series of ridiculous pictures and laugh hysterically about various things for about an hour, when we then said "Buona notte!" and headed to bed.

I would say, simply, that today was fantastic.

Enough said.

Ci vediamo domani! Buona notte!

Baci e abbracci!

Così felice!

So happy! I think today has been the best day thus far of my Florentine adventure.

This morning we had our first language class and it was surprisingly good. We talked tutto in Italiano ALL day, and it wasn't half bad! After that class, I headed to Giovanna

's apartment with Alayna and some other girlies for a cooking lesson with an amazing woman named Pam. We first made panzanella (see the first photo) which is similar to a tabouleh but with stale bread so

aked in water and then squeezed out and mixed with oil and herbs and fresh vegetables. After that we made pappa al pomodoro (photo due), which is a bit like a stew or soup of tomato sauce and basil and chunks of (also stale) bread. Finally, we made some tiramisù which was far easier than I ever knew!

We sat down to eat with Pam and Giovanna, who bought us some amazing vino - both red and white with un po' frizzante (a tiny bit bubbly). We also had an incredible salad made with spinach from Pam's garden and the best peccorino in all of Italia, served with a concentrated and sweetened balsamic vinegar or local Italian honey. Che buonissimo!

After cooking class, we had history with a professor from Sienna who was very sweet and (for the most part!) quite interesting. After that class, Breana and I wandered the streets to find a notebook to write down all of our new vocabulario in so we won't forget. Finally, I strolled home, a mere 22 minute walk. For some reason all the Italian men have stopped harrassing me and calling to me which is odd considering my hair color, but I have decided to embrace the bionda and just present as Italiana as possible - maybe it's working?

Dinner tonight may have been the best so far: zuppa di fagioli (beans), fresh mozzarella with tomatoes, basil and olive oil, leftover veal from last night and lots of fresh fruit - the grapes are AMAZING. After dinner, Luciana, Ali, Julie and I chatted for a long time about all sorts of things - I think we were all feeling more confident after spending an entire day speaking solo Italiano! Luciana told us that she loves having us here with her because she likes our company. She is incredibly sweet and wonderful and I could not have asked for a better host nonna!

Fino a domani!!

Baci e abbracci!

Note: Today I learned that the patron saint of Florence is San Giovanni and he is celebrated on June 24th - my birthday! It is ovviamente (obviously) meant to be that I am here!

The Menu for Sunday, September 20th, 2009

I have finally figured out why Italians eat their salad and vegetables after eating their pasta and meat....

The following was the menu for this evening, in order:

One large bowl of spaghetti carbonara (once we all had our full large bowls, Luciana realized that there was still some left in the pot so naturally, without asking, she dumped it into my bowl, making it the largest bowl of pasta I think I have ever seen).

Once we had all finished off every last bit of spaghetti (which took a bit since my bowl was about 1/3 of a pound of pasta...) we were presented with the most amazing veal I have ever had (although I have only had veal once or twice.... but non importa!).

Then came the salad and the eggplant - both very amazing, but really...... at that point, even iceberg lettuce was pushing my limit. Regardless, once we took our desired portions of eggplant there was, again, some leftover and, again, it was piled high on my plate.

To top it all off, we had not only fruit salad, but fruit salad and gelato.... Oddio!!!!

Anyway, back to my main point. Italians must eat their veggies after their pasta because the pasta is the heaviest, followed by white meats and fish and then the vegetables. Then usually there is a small break before i dolci (dessert) but for some reason it appears that we skip that much-needed break in this house....

.......

On a different note, tomorrow is the first day of orientation! We have Italian, conversation time with some young Italiani, history and cooking class at Giovanna's apartamento!

Fino a domani!! Baci e abbracci!