So, I haven't written in this blog for the past couple of days because nothing exciting has really happened other than the fact that I've had classes going on. I made cheesecake on Monday in my first class and that was incredible!! We made one that was cooked and not cooked; I prefered the not cooked one.....it tasted like vanilla ice cream on top. Yum! :) My Italian class is going well. I'm learnign a lot but I'm still not able to really carry a conversation with any locals. However, we found this winebar (in a location to be un-named), and the owners knew students from our college that came a year ago and they treat us so well, giving us free glasses of wine and talk to us, help us with our Italian and make amazing food!! We went yesteray and ate Bufalo Mozzerella (the best mozerella you can find here) wrapped in proscuitto and baked and was like heaven in your mouth. Other than that, nothing really has happened other than just my classes. However, today in my Cultural class, we got these pamphlets with articles and stories that students write in and I read one that was incredible and just made me think of my life here and it was summed up perfectly and made me realize that Florence is an experience and things will be different. This is a looong article but I'm going to type it here so that everyone can read it and see what I mean by it changes your thoughts and makes you feel like this person is talking about you:
The Reflections of a 20Something Year-Old, Abroad, With Many ???, and Many More Ideas Floating in his Head.
When you're in your twenties...An idea tthat becomes really stressful when it's the only one that you have...It's called "The quarter life crisis" - you find yourself trying to get away from the crowd more than ever, you get this weird feeling of insecurity, and you start questioning yourself about where you'll be a year from now, but then you realize with panic that you hardly know where you are right now. You realize that there are a lot of things about yourself that you were not aware of and you may not like. You realize that your circle of friends is smaller than what it was a couple years ago. You realize that it gets more difficult to see your f riends and to coordinate your schedules for different reason be it work, school, partner [girlfriend/boyfriend], etc...And you start enjoying more and more the occasional evening beer because it's a great excuse to talk a little longer with your buddy that you don't see often. The crowded nightspots are not "fun" anymore, they even make you uncomfortable sometimes. You even miss school and its commodity, the groups, how you socialize with the same people in a certain and constant way. But then you start to realize that while some were real friends the others were not that special after all. You realize that some people were selfish and that maybe those friends that you considered closest were not exactly the best people thta you'd ever met, and the ones that you've lost contact with were the most important ones. You laugh more, but you cry less tears with more pain. Someone breaks your heart, and you ask yourself how that someone that you loved so much could've done such a thing to you. Or maybe you go to bed at night and question yourself why you can't seem to meet something interesting enough, someone that makes you fall in love with him/her. It looks like everyone you know has a boyfriend or girlfriend forever, and some of them are even getting married. Maybe you also love someone but you aren't sure if you are prepared for a long-term commitment. You feel the same emotions and ask the same questions over and over again, you even talk to your friends about these issues because you can't make up your mind. The one night stands are not interesting anymore, even getting drunk and acting like an idiot seem really stupid. Going out 3 times a week has become exhausting. You take a better look at your job and maybe you are not even close to doing what you dreamed of doing. Or maybe you are looking for a job and the thought of having to start from the bottom scares you even more. You try day after day to understand yourself, what you want and what you don't want. Your opinions become stronger. You take a look at what everyone else is doing and then you find yourself becoming more judgemental, your list of stereotypes keeps getting longer. In the end you worry too much about 'who' decides what's right and wrong. sometimes you feel great and invicible and other times - just lonely and afraid and confused. Sometimes you try to hold on to the past, but then you realize that the past is moving farther and farther away from you and that there's no choice but to keep going forward. You worry about the future, loans, money...and constructing your own individual life. While winning the race would be great right now you're only conforming ot the rules of the competition. What you may not realize is that all of us who are reading this right now identify with all this, with being '20Something.' All of us are in our twenties and we would all like to be a teenager again. Back to that age where we didn't have responsibilities. All this looks like an unstable place, a moving vehicle, a mess in your head. But EVERYONE says it's the best time of our lives and we shouldn't waste it because of our silly fears. Then they say that these years are the foundation of our future. Only yesterday it seemed as if we were 18 years old. Then tomorrow we'll turn 30!!! Just like that, as quick as the snap of a finger!
LIFE IS NOT MEASURE BY THE TIMES THAT YOU BREATHE, BUT BY THE TIMES THAT TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY!
By: Edgardo Nieto-A Student from Mexico.
This made me really think about what i'm doing with life and that this moment, right now, should be my main focus and to make sure that I'm fulfilling the dreams that I've always wanted and not wasting my time away. Nothing left to blog from here, but going to Rome today, and will be back Sunday. Let the moment i'm living now take my breath away.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
This was not my Take on a Carnival.
Fact of the Day: Carnevale means without meat. Comes from the word Carne meaning meat.
Yesterday was my first real trip outside of Florence since I've been here and it was to Venice to see and experience the Carnevale in the Piazza de Saint Marco. Let me just say that this, in no way, was what I was expecting. It started off getting up at 6:30am, which was very painful on a Sunday morning. I think we can all agree on that. Then me and my roommate walked to the train station, which thankfully is right by our apartment, for 7:30am. When we got there, there must have been 200 other people there waiting to go on this trip. Around 8am, we boarded the bus and they played the Italian Job on the way there because it takes place in Venice. I didnt' watch it but I did try to sleep. Then around 11:30-12pm, we arrived at a port where we had to board a boat in order to get to the Carnevale. The boat ride was nice because for the first time in a while, the weather was beauuutiful. So we stood on the top deck and
took some pictures. Around 1, we finally arrived to the Venice Carnivale. The first thing that me and my friend decided to do was buy ourselves masks because what kind of fun can you have without masks at a carnevale? So we went into a store and bought beautiful masks that were being sold all over the place for a variety of prices. When we left the store we started to head towards the central area where the Carnevale was taking place. Every couple of feet that we walked, we saw peopel in extravagant costumes with full skirts and the masks on and they played the part of the person they dressed up to be. They just walked around the area during the whole time that it took place. As we kept walking, more and more people started to show up. There must have been about 100,000 people at least, there to see the Carnevale which lasts over two weeks. Some of the costumes there were just insane and I couldn't believe it. The amount of effort that they put into these outfits is unbelievable especially for something that lasts only two weeks out of a whole year. But i guess that's the most exciting part about it. There were people dressed up from the age of 4 to people in their 80s. The way people were dressed, though, was my favorite part by
far, which is probably why I took over 200 pictures there. I went photo crazy but I think it was
completely necessary.
At 6pm, my amazing day in Venice ended by meeting everyone in our group in front of our boat. By the end of the day, it was freezing!!! The whole day was sunny and not even windy but for some reason it ended up being freezing and my feet were frozen and it was so hard to walk down stairs because I couldnt' feel my feet. They felt like they each weight 100 pounds. After standing on a boat for a half hour. We reached our bus across the river and sat down in the warm heat, which couldn't have felt any better. For the next three hours, while they played another movie that took place in Venice, I fell asleep to my music. When we arrived back in Florence, I went to my room, checked my email and went straight to bed because I was exhausted and I had class in the morning. For my first field trip, it was a lot of fun, but very cold. I can't wait to see what my other trips with school and on my own are like!
Yesterday was my first real trip outside of Florence since I've been here and it was to Venice to see and experience the Carnevale in the Piazza de Saint Marco. Let me just say that this, in no way, was what I was expecting. It started off getting up at 6:30am, which was very painful on a Sunday morning. I think we can all agree on that. Then me and my roommate walked to the train station, which thankfully is right by our apartment, for 7:30am. When we got there, there must have been 200 other people there waiting to go on this trip. Around 8am, we boarded the bus and they played the Italian Job on the way there because it takes place in Venice. I didnt' watch it but I did try to sleep. Then around 11:30-12pm, we arrived at a port where we had to board a boat in order to get to the Carnevale. The boat ride was nice because for the first time in a while, the weather was beauuutiful. So we stood on the top deck and
took some pictures. Around 1, we finally arrived to the Venice Carnivale. The first thing that me and my friend decided to do was buy ourselves masks because what kind of fun can you have without masks at a carnevale? So we went into a store and bought beautiful masks that were being sold all over the place for a variety of prices. When we left the store we started to head towards the central area where the Carnevale was taking place. Every couple of feet that we walked, we saw peopel in extravagant costumes with full skirts and the masks on and they played the part of the person they dressed up to be. They just walked around the area during the whole time that it took place. As we kept walking, more and more people started to show up. There must have been about 100,000 people at least, there to see the Carnevale which lasts over two weeks. Some of the costumes there were just insane and I couldn't believe it. The amount of effort that they put into these outfits is unbelievable especially for something that lasts only two weeks out of a whole year. But i guess that's the most exciting part about it. There were people dressed up from the age of 4 to people in their 80s. The way people were dressed, though, was my favorite part byfar, which is probably why I took over 200 pictures there. I went photo crazy but I think it was
completely necessary.
And these pictures were only from the beginning. We had about five and a half hours to spend here but around 3 my friend and I were starving so we decided to go out and find food. We headed out into more of the central Venice area, away from the Carnevale to find some inexpensive, non-tourist food. There were a bunch of restaurants all around so we went to this place where you order outside and you pick it up and go. I got a panini and it was soooo good. I think all the food here just tastes good all the time no matter what you eat. After eating that panini, me and my friend still weren't stuffed despite the fact that this panini was quite large. So for the next twenty minutes all we were doing was walking around and talking about how much more food we could eat because for some reason we were still starving. So we took that as a sign and decided to get gelato..yes again, becuase we were standing right outside one at the time. This time I spent 2 euro on a cup of chocolate and chocolate chip combo and let me just say that it was amazing!!!! I've come to the conclusion that I could eat paninis and gelatos for the rest of my life and never complain. When we finished there, we continued to look around and see more people dressed up in costumes up until the time when we had to head back to the boat. Here are some more I took:
At 6pm, my amazing day in Venice ended by meeting everyone in our group in front of our boat. By the end of the day, it was freezing!!! The whole day was sunny and not even windy but for some reason it ended up being freezing and my feet were frozen and it was so hard to walk down stairs because I couldnt' feel my feet. They felt like they each weight 100 pounds. After standing on a boat for a half hour. We reached our bus across the river and sat down in the warm heat, which couldn't have felt any better. For the next three hours, while they played another movie that took place in Venice, I fell asleep to my music. When we arrived back in Florence, I went to my room, checked my email and went straight to bed because I was exhausted and I had class in the morning. For my first field trip, it was a lot of fun, but very cold. I can't wait to see what my other trips with school and on my own are like!
Friday, February 5, 2010
Anything with the Word Michelangelo is Beautiful
Fact: Any class with free trips and chocolate is my favorite class.
Yesterday was a very interesting day. A lot of things were done, some good, some bad, some inbetween, but that's the result of being spontaneous right? My day started off with my chocolate class at 9am with the infamous chocolatier Andrea Bichilini. He has won many world wide competitions of chocolate. Not surprising, the whole class was made up of all girls. It started off with him telling us about him and his background in chocolate while giving out the syllabus. After the introduction, he made us watch a movie on cocoa and where in comes from. I learned that the cocoa bean takes two and a half years to fully grow. (There must be a lot of cocoa beens out there now with the amount of chocolate people eat today.)We then learned the percentages that you see on those bags, you know, the 75%, 50% Cacao. That means that if it's 75%, then 25% is sugar. So 100%, trust me I've had it, it tastes like chalk or cardboard, whichever you prefer. Then it was tasting time! He brought chocolate from his own store and then broke it up into pieces and let each of us try. The first thing we had to do was guess the percentage, which none of us ever got right except one time when my friends snuck up to the front and looked at the packaging. But I think he caught her. Then, the second thing we had to do was guess the ingredients in it. I can usually taste many spices or anything else in a dish but this time, I couldn't figure out one. One of the bars had salt (surprisingly, that was my favorite), one had cinnamon, one had pineapple and oranges, another had anise, cardammom, and nutmeg, and one was a combination of dark, milk and white chocolate. Every single one of them was delicious. After leaving that class completely satisfied with out lesson for the day, I ran all the way across Florence to my other class, Cultural Studies of Florence (It's a mandatory class, trust me, i wouldn't take it if I didn't have to) While sitting in what I have considered the girliest room in florence, our professor walked in and told us that the class will only be an hour and fifteen minutes instead of 2 and a half hours. That pretty much made my day being only 12:00pm. The only part about this class that I like is that we get to go on four free trips all around Italy. I'm really excited about every single one, although it does take up most of my weekends, not letting me plan trips to other locations.
Fact: Chocolate Fairs should take place 24/7, year round.
Right after my class, i went to the Chocolate Fair that was taking place under a large white tent in Santa Croce.
There must have been over twenty different stands with companies from all over Italy with different types of chocolate. Chocolate pizzas, chocolate molds, chococlate rum, chocolate with fruit, fudge, truffles, and chocolate tools? I'm not lying! the list keeps continuing. Even my teacher's store was there! I didn't buy anything mostly because I want to go to the store and buy it from him personally. But I did end up buying chocolate covered strawberries which were amazing and chocolate truffles and chocolate filled with this weird strawbeery thing; those were okay. 
But this was definitely a point where I knew I loved Italy.
Fact: Anything with the word Michelangelo is beautiful.
So according to a woman in charge of our program, there is a large percentage of students that live in Florence, but during their whole time here, they never even crossed the Arno River. Well, me and my roommate don't want to be a part of that percentage. We heard about the Piazzale Michelangiolo which is up on a hill that overlooks the whole city of Florenc,e and we knew that this was something that was not to be missed.
Tip: Wear COMFORTABLE shoes when going to the Piazzale Michelangiolo: Yes, you can where boots and flip flops everywhere and they will probably wear out. However, going to this Piazzale is up a very steep hill and you're not always walking on pavement so where sneakers. I did, and couldn't have beeen more happy about it. Not even halfway up there and the view was already beautiful. By the time you go up there, it doesn't take very long, you have a panomramic view of the whole city. The busy streets, the vineyards, the Duomo is crystal clear. It's a site that you would regret not seeing. There are even shops up there as well, which is where I bought my poncho and scarf :). If you can't walk up that high, there is a way to drive and just walk onto the patio that overlooks the city. I think, that if I didn't see this view, I would not feel the same way about Florence. Michelangelo himself produced many beautiful pieces of art, and staring off the Piazza Michelangelo was just as beautiful, if not, more.
Fact: Know where you're going before you actually go. May cause serious case of misdirection.
After leaving the Piazzale, we decided to look for this Winebar that we wanted to go to and talk to the owners because we heard they are really nice guys that are willing ot help us with anything and it's a fun place to if you want a nice glass of wine. We both knew it was on that side of the river that we were on because we ended up passing it the first day we were in Italy but didn't go into it. So what we tried to do was follow our footsteps and find this Winebar and go in before heading back to our apartment. However, we did not have any address or really any idea where we were going. So we ended up walking around and not finding this place for over an hour and I hadn't eaten since about 8:30am, keep in mind this was around 4pm now. So after a while I didn't feel well so I ended up having to go back to the apartment and just wait for dinner. But I did get to take some good pictures on the way back :)
Tip: If you are offered a four course meal for free......TAKE IT!
Ganzo, located on Via Macci, is the place, like I have said, where the school provides food, using your meal voutures. Me and my roommate ended up going there thinking it was just a normal dinner but when we arrived we found out that it was a special dinner that cost us three meal voutures, when a usual dinner is 2. We got a free glass of red wine, and bread to start, then:
Apertivo: 3 types of bruschetta. (Brew-sket-ta, Thank you professor Cruz)
1st course: Rabbit Ravioli in a butter sauce, and the raviolis were fresh, made from scratch.
2nd Course: Braised beef, sliced very very thin with a sauce that had brocoli rabe in with with whipped potatoes. I can't explain the sauce very well but it was very different.
Dessert: Boneta, which we didn't know what it was but it was like a flan with rasberry, chocolate, and some other type of sauce and it was delicious.
Fact: Even after eating a four-course meal, you're not full, you're satisfied because of all the walking you do.
When you're in Florence, you don't drive, you either walk or bike. But being a student, you most likely walk, and you walk EVERYWHERE. But what better way to see the sites than walking right? Up until dinner we walked 13 miles. In ONE day! Usually I walk around 7 miles a day at the least. So when you hear you will lose weight in Florence, people are not lying! I learned that at the bottom of their food pyramid, it's Physical Activity. It's such a huge component of the Italians lifestyle, they want to be in shape, and enjoy food at the same time. And from what I've seen, they definitely do that well.
Fact: There are such places as tourist bars and clubs
Last night, I went to a bar called Twice. I didn't leave my apartment until around 11:45pm. Keep in mind, that's when Italians start going out. Usually midnight, so we were a little early. When we got there, I noticed that they weren't letting in locals but were letting all of the students from America in. Then we got in and asked how much a drink is. We learned that shots are 4 Euro and drinks 8. We knew that was expensive but we didnt' want to do nothing in that bar. So we had a couple of drinks casually and spent so much money. What we realized though, was that all of their drinks are watered down. You have to be careful! On that street, Via dei Benci, there are at least 5 clubs within two blocks and it's filled with Americans. The club owners know that most kids are willing to pay as long as they get drunk so if they water down the drinks, we will order more. Luckily, my friend and I realized that and we decided to go home and just go to bed after knowing we were scammed that night. There are definitely places to go to have a good time, and not get drunk (keep in mind that Italians don't get drunk cause it's inappropriate and I completely agree). So find those bars and meet the locals and socialize, don't stay with Americans because then it's going against the whole point of going abroad.
Yesterday was definitely filled with ups and downs, good times and bad, but now I learned facts about Italy and can't wait for more days ahead.
Yesterday was a very interesting day. A lot of things were done, some good, some bad, some inbetween, but that's the result of being spontaneous right? My day started off with my chocolate class at 9am with the infamous chocolatier Andrea Bichilini. He has won many world wide competitions of chocolate. Not surprising, the whole class was made up of all girls. It started off with him telling us about him and his background in chocolate while giving out the syllabus. After the introduction, he made us watch a movie on cocoa and where in comes from. I learned that the cocoa bean takes two and a half years to fully grow. (There must be a lot of cocoa beens out there now with the amount of chocolate people eat today.)We then learned the percentages that you see on those bags, you know, the 75%, 50% Cacao. That means that if it's 75%, then 25% is sugar. So 100%, trust me I've had it, it tastes like chalk or cardboard, whichever you prefer. Then it was tasting time! He brought chocolate from his own store and then broke it up into pieces and let each of us try. The first thing we had to do was guess the percentage, which none of us ever got right except one time when my friends snuck up to the front and looked at the packaging. But I think he caught her. Then, the second thing we had to do was guess the ingredients in it. I can usually taste many spices or anything else in a dish but this time, I couldn't figure out one. One of the bars had salt (surprisingly, that was my favorite), one had cinnamon, one had pineapple and oranges, another had anise, cardammom, and nutmeg, and one was a combination of dark, milk and white chocolate. Every single one of them was delicious. After leaving that class completely satisfied with out lesson for the day, I ran all the way across Florence to my other class, Cultural Studies of Florence (It's a mandatory class, trust me, i wouldn't take it if I didn't have to) While sitting in what I have considered the girliest room in florence, our professor walked in and told us that the class will only be an hour and fifteen minutes instead of 2 and a half hours. That pretty much made my day being only 12:00pm. The only part about this class that I like is that we get to go on four free trips all around Italy. I'm really excited about every single one, although it does take up most of my weekends, not letting me plan trips to other locations.
Fact: Chocolate Fairs should take place 24/7, year round.
Right after my class, i went to the Chocolate Fair that was taking place under a large white tent in Santa Croce.
There must have been over twenty different stands with companies from all over Italy with different types of chocolate. Chocolate pizzas, chocolate molds, chococlate rum, chocolate with fruit, fudge, truffles, and chocolate tools? I'm not lying! the list keeps continuing. Even my teacher's store was there! I didn't buy anything mostly because I want to go to the store and buy it from him personally. But I did end up buying chocolate covered strawberries which were amazing and chocolate truffles and chocolate filled with this weird strawbeery thing; those were okay. 
But this was definitely a point where I knew I loved Italy. Fact: Anything with the word Michelangelo is beautiful.
So according to a woman in charge of our program, there is a large percentage of students that live in Florence, but during their whole time here, they never even crossed the Arno River. Well, me and my roommate don't want to be a part of that percentage. We heard about the Piazzale Michelangiolo which is up on a hill that overlooks the whole city of Florenc,e and we knew that this was something that was not to be missed.
Tip: Wear COMFORTABLE shoes when going to the Piazzale Michelangiolo: Yes, you can where boots and flip flops everywhere and they will probably wear out. However, going to this Piazzale is up a very steep hill and you're not always walking on pavement so where sneakers. I did, and couldn't have beeen more happy about it. Not even halfway up there and the view was already beautiful. By the time you go up there, it doesn't take very long, you have a panomramic view of the whole city. The busy streets, the vineyards, the Duomo is crystal clear. It's a site that you would regret not seeing. There are even shops up there as well, which is where I bought my poncho and scarf :). If you can't walk up that high, there is a way to drive and just walk onto the patio that overlooks the city. I think, that if I didn't see this view, I would not feel the same way about Florence. Michelangelo himself produced many beautiful pieces of art, and staring off the Piazza Michelangelo was just as beautiful, if not, more.
Fact: Know where you're going before you actually go. May cause serious case of misdirection.
After leaving the Piazzale, we decided to look for this Winebar that we wanted to go to and talk to the owners because we heard they are really nice guys that are willing ot help us with anything and it's a fun place to if you want a nice glass of wine. We both knew it was on that side of the river that we were on because we ended up passing it the first day we were in Italy but didn't go into it. So what we tried to do was follow our footsteps and find this Winebar and go in before heading back to our apartment. However, we did not have any address or really any idea where we were going. So we ended up walking around and not finding this place for over an hour and I hadn't eaten since about 8:30am, keep in mind this was around 4pm now. So after a while I didn't feel well so I ended up having to go back to the apartment and just wait for dinner. But I did get to take some good pictures on the way back :)
Tip: If you are offered a four course meal for free......TAKE IT!
Ganzo, located on Via Macci, is the place, like I have said, where the school provides food, using your meal voutures. Me and my roommate ended up going there thinking it was just a normal dinner but when we arrived we found out that it was a special dinner that cost us three meal voutures, when a usual dinner is 2. We got a free glass of red wine, and bread to start, then:
Apertivo: 3 types of bruschetta. (Brew-sket-ta, Thank you professor Cruz)
1st course: Rabbit Ravioli in a butter sauce, and the raviolis were fresh, made from scratch.
2nd Course: Braised beef, sliced very very thin with a sauce that had brocoli rabe in with with whipped potatoes. I can't explain the sauce very well but it was very different.
Dessert: Boneta, which we didn't know what it was but it was like a flan with rasberry, chocolate, and some other type of sauce and it was delicious.
Fact: Even after eating a four-course meal, you're not full, you're satisfied because of all the walking you do.
When you're in Florence, you don't drive, you either walk or bike. But being a student, you most likely walk, and you walk EVERYWHERE. But what better way to see the sites than walking right? Up until dinner we walked 13 miles. In ONE day! Usually I walk around 7 miles a day at the least. So when you hear you will lose weight in Florence, people are not lying! I learned that at the bottom of their food pyramid, it's Physical Activity. It's such a huge component of the Italians lifestyle, they want to be in shape, and enjoy food at the same time. And from what I've seen, they definitely do that well.
Fact: There are such places as tourist bars and clubs
Last night, I went to a bar called Twice. I didn't leave my apartment until around 11:45pm. Keep in mind, that's when Italians start going out. Usually midnight, so we were a little early. When we got there, I noticed that they weren't letting in locals but were letting all of the students from America in. Then we got in and asked how much a drink is. We learned that shots are 4 Euro and drinks 8. We knew that was expensive but we didnt' want to do nothing in that bar. So we had a couple of drinks casually and spent so much money. What we realized though, was that all of their drinks are watered down. You have to be careful! On that street, Via dei Benci, there are at least 5 clubs within two blocks and it's filled with Americans. The club owners know that most kids are willing to pay as long as they get drunk so if they water down the drinks, we will order more. Luckily, my friend and I realized that and we decided to go home and just go to bed after knowing we were scammed that night. There are definitely places to go to have a good time, and not get drunk (keep in mind that Italians don't get drunk cause it's inappropriate and I completely agree). So find those bars and meet the locals and socialize, don't stay with Americans because then it's going against the whole point of going abroad.
Yesterday was definitely filled with ups and downs, good times and bad, but now I learned facts about Italy and can't wait for more days ahead.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Being sick should not exist in other countries
So this blog will be very short because on Wednesday, although I had one class, Italian, at 6pm at night only, I was laying in bed from 7pm tuesday night until around 4pm wednesday night because I was very sick. The whole time I was at school this past year, I never even had a bad cough. Wednesday, however, i was sitting in bed trying to breathe air that refused to go through my lungs. I did a lot of cool stuff yesterday (thursday) though, walking over 16 miles. But I need my rest and I will update everyone on what a I did in the last twenty four hours in the morning. So for me, at this time, it's Buon Giorno!!! :D
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Traveling is fun. I'd prefer warm weather though.
To sum up my day in one word? Brrrrrrrr!!! It all started this morning at 6:30am. I had another 9am class today so I was supposed to be up by 7:15, howevever, as I mentioned before, my apartment doesn't believe in heat; well, it does, but only in thirty minute intervals. I have been very nervous lately about missing my class and not hearing my alarm so I have been waking up really early and not being able to go to sleep. So this morning, I woke up around 6:30, got my computer, sat in bed, and talked to friends from home because it was only a little after midnight back at school. Then I proceded to get dressed and get ready for my only class for the day. The only bright side to this happening was that i was actually dressed and ready to go to my class, which is at the furthest location, on time. I arrived there and sat down in my room. 
I was the first one there, then the teacher walked in with about 15 other students. (The pictures to the left are of one of my school buildings. This is where my class was today) Out of all my classes, this was the only one I was not looking forward to. It was Restaurant Management. Don't ask why I took it. It was mostly because I was obliged to. Later on in the class I realized that everyone else in that class had to take it because they had to; so I didn't feel all that bad in the end. I mean come on, who would seriously want to take a Restaurant Management class? For fun!?!? My teacher decided to do my class in two portions, two one-hour segments and a break inbetween mostly so he could smoke. I seriously have never seen so much of one population smoke. It's insane!! Thankfully, after sitting through that looong class, I met up with Brittany and we were going to go to Gonzo, which is the restaurant that we can use our 70 meal voutures at. We got there and it was closed still because we could only go from 12-3pm. So we decided to go to a market nearby called Mercato Sant'Ambrogio. The main difference between here and Mercato Centrale is that there are more options insdie the building and also, they sell like jewelery and older clothing. Everything there being sold is used whereas in Mercato Centrale, everything you buy is brand new. These are some pictures I took from there. 
About twenty minutes later, we finished perusing the market and went back towards Gonzo to go to lunch.
I could not believe how delicious this food was!!! I had a stuffed pork with some sort of glazed apple on top and it was so stoft and it was enough food to satisfy me for lunch. After, we couldn't decide if we wanted chocolate for dessert or gelato but my friend wanted gelato so we decided to walk through the Piazza e la Signoria, the long way, to get to this famous gelato shop. The Piazza e la Signoria is well known for their statues, but they are fake. Every one of the statues, such as the David, are not the originals here. They are remade for this specific Piazza. Not only that, but one of my favorite designers, Chanel was also located in the Piazza, so I knew I was in love at that moment. Below are some pictures of the "fake" statues. I don't know, but they looked pretty real to me. 
After we visited that Piazza, we proceded to Via D'oche to pick up our school books. I think that was the remainder of my expenses relating to school which definitely made me happy. When we went down the street to get gelato, we found out it was closed!!! Oh boy were we unahppy because we didn't want to walk anywhere, so we decided to forget it and go tomorrow! There's always a bright side! :D We then walked all the way to Via Gallo to pick up our other school books and on the way back to our apartment my friend wanted to stop at the San Lorenzo Market so she could buy some scarves and gloves. She was afraid of bargaining so I helped her out and made a deal. After we finished at the market, we stopped at a bakery we knew was around ther eand I bought us a brownie that we could split. It tasted like fudge!!! <3 after a good 7 miles of walking we ended up back at our apartment and I started not to feel well, so i layed in bed and covered myself in my sheets, put on gloves, at hat, and socks and watched Julie & Julia in my bed. It was such a good movie. :) Then I made dinner for me and my roommate. I made string beans and candied walnuts with roasted red pepper bruschetta. It was an experiment but was soooooo good!!! We loved it. I was supposed to go to a Beer Pong Tournament tonight at a bar called the Red Garter however, since I'm sick I had to sit out this one and just watch movies in bed and get better. Hopefully this cold will be gone by tomorrow. One week of Italy already gone :( But so many more good times to go!! Buona Sera!
I was the first one there, then the teacher walked in with about 15 other students. (The pictures to the left are of one of my school buildings. This is where my class was today) Out of all my classes, this was the only one I was not looking forward to. It was Restaurant Management. Don't ask why I took it. It was mostly because I was obliged to. Later on in the class I realized that everyone else in that class had to take it because they had to; so I didn't feel all that bad in the end. I mean come on, who would seriously want to take a Restaurant Management class? For fun!?!? My teacher decided to do my class in two portions, two one-hour segments and a break inbetween mostly so he could smoke. I seriously have never seen so much of one population smoke. It's insane!! Thankfully, after sitting through that looong class, I met up with Brittany and we were going to go to Gonzo, which is the restaurant that we can use our 70 meal voutures at. We got there and it was closed still because we could only go from 12-3pm. So we decided to go to a market nearby called Mercato Sant'Ambrogio. The main difference between here and Mercato Centrale is that there are more options insdie the building and also, they sell like jewelery and older clothing. Everything there being sold is used whereas in Mercato Centrale, everything you buy is brand new. These are some pictures I took from there. 
About twenty minutes later, we finished perusing the market and went back towards Gonzo to go to lunch.
I could not believe how delicious this food was!!! I had a stuffed pork with some sort of glazed apple on top and it was so stoft and it was enough food to satisfy me for lunch. After, we couldn't decide if we wanted chocolate for dessert or gelato but my friend wanted gelato so we decided to walk through the Piazza e la Signoria, the long way, to get to this famous gelato shop. The Piazza e la Signoria is well known for their statues, but they are fake. Every one of the statues, such as the David, are not the originals here. They are remade for this specific Piazza. Not only that, but one of my favorite designers, Chanel was also located in the Piazza, so I knew I was in love at that moment. Below are some pictures of the "fake" statues. I don't know, but they looked pretty real to me. 
After we visited that Piazza, we proceded to Via D'oche to pick up our school books. I think that was the remainder of my expenses relating to school which definitely made me happy. When we went down the street to get gelato, we found out it was closed!!! Oh boy were we unahppy because we didn't want to walk anywhere, so we decided to forget it and go tomorrow! There's always a bright side! :D We then walked all the way to Via Gallo to pick up our other school books and on the way back to our apartment my friend wanted to stop at the San Lorenzo Market so she could buy some scarves and gloves. She was afraid of bargaining so I helped her out and made a deal. After we finished at the market, we stopped at a bakery we knew was around ther eand I bought us a brownie that we could split. It tasted like fudge!!! <3 after a good 7 miles of walking we ended up back at our apartment and I started not to feel well, so i layed in bed and covered myself in my sheets, put on gloves, at hat, and socks and watched Julie & Julia in my bed. It was such a good movie. :) Then I made dinner for me and my roommate. I made string beans and candied walnuts with roasted red pepper bruschetta. It was an experiment but was soooooo good!!! We loved it. I was supposed to go to a Beer Pong Tournament tonight at a bar called the Red Garter however, since I'm sick I had to sit out this one and just watch movies in bed and get better. Hopefully this cold will be gone by tomorrow. One week of Italy already gone :( But so many more good times to go!! Buona Sera!
Let the Classes Begin
So yesterday began my first day of classes at Apicius Hospitality School. My first class of the semester was at 9am and was called Italian Pastry and Cakes. I could have not been more excited about this class because I knew that I got to bake for two and a half hours straight. Of course, with my luck, I missed my alarm at woke up at 8:28am and had to run to class, luckily making it there on time. Once I got there, I realized I still had to pay for a locker and for my lab fess for both of my cooking classes. That was an unfortunate event to my wallet lets just say. After I got dressed into my whole uniform and walked into class, everyone was waiting to start. There were 7 kids in my class including me and my professor. The room that we worked in was so small, it was like my bedroom. My professor has studied pastry for a while now and he also told us that he worked with Chef Gordon Ramsey from Hell's Kitchen for a year and a half. He is also from Ireland I believe. I didn't think we were going to do much since it was our first day of school but we got right into baking and the first thing we made was Pasta Frolla or Pastry Dough. Then, we took that finished product and made it into a Torta di Mandorle con base di Pasta Frolla which is Almond Cake with Pastry Dough base. We were supposed to put lemon in it but ended up not doing that. I'm not exactly sure why but only a select few of us actually like the cake. I thought it was good but the lemon would have made it taste so much better. The second cake we made out of the pastry dough was Torta di Mandorle Amare which is a Cake of Bitter Almonds. We flavored that one with orange zest but when teh cake batter was complete, it was sooo thick and the professor was laughing because he didnt' get why it didn't come out correct but for fun we stuck it in the oven to see what it would do. When time was up, we took it out of the oven and to our surprise it rose in the oven and cooked fully. We tasted it and the
cake was delicous which made us all realize that you don't 'know if something is going to work until you try and if it doesn't you figure out what's wrong and try again. On the way back from class, i stopped at the Mercato Centrale again to pick up cheese and vegetables to cook. Once I got back, I was exhausted from being up so early and standing during class to walking home. I had Intermediate Italian at 6pm in a different, farther location so I had to make sure I was out of my apartment by around 5:30 the latest. So for the remainder of the day I sat in my bed, wrote my blog and talked to some friends from home. All I wanted to do the whole time was sleep but I knew if I tried, I would probably miss my class and that was just somethign that I couldn't risk. Around 5:17 I left my apartment and headed towards the Duomo where my Italian class is. I didnt' want to be late so I started to do more of a jog towards my building. I arrived there thirty minutes early and I couldn't even sit in the room because another class was going on. I love my Italian teacher. Not as much as my college professor but he's really fun. He puts on music during class to ease the tension. The first activity we did was we had to turn and face someone next to us and talk to them in Italian so he could see how much knowledge we actually had. I met a girl named Kerri who was doing her second semester here in Italy. She was really nice and told me all about the Italian class since she took beginner the semester before. For the rest of the class, we learned about the past tense and I left already knowing such more more than I came into the class with. Don't you just love that feeling? On the way back to my apartment after class, I knew that my roommate and I love the tiramisu from a place right by our apartment so I decide
d to pick up a piece for us to split for dessert, she looved that I had it when I got back. Since a couple of days ago, I bought a kilo of sausage (which i did not know was two and a half pounds at the time), I knew I had to cook it. So me and my friend cooked two sausages, ground it up, and put it into a tomato sauce that we seasoned and then made heart-shaped pasta and poured it over. It was surprisingly delicious!!! I loved the flavor of that sausage, even though I had it the last two nights. After that was done, we sat around and just talked for a while and then we decided to have that tiramisu because it was just calling our names. Knowing that all the pastries are baked fresh daily just makes the eating part of the dessert that much better. Everytime we have tiramisu, we split it down the middle but I think we're both s
tarting to realize that we both want our own pieces next time. For the remainder of the night, I talked to a bunch of people on Skype and wrote a lot of emails to my friends who I miss dearly and then got ready to go to bed until my friend Skyped me but unfortunately the time difference stopped me from talking. That's one thing about Florence that is terrible on my part, is that I can't talk to a lot of people because the time difference prevents that from happening. But even with that negative aspect, I am still in love with Firenze. <3
cake was delicous which made us all realize that you don't 'know if something is going to work until you try and if it doesn't you figure out what's wrong and try again. On the way back from class, i stopped at the Mercato Centrale again to pick up cheese and vegetables to cook. Once I got back, I was exhausted from being up so early and standing during class to walking home. I had Intermediate Italian at 6pm in a different, farther location so I had to make sure I was out of my apartment by around 5:30 the latest. So for the remainder of the day I sat in my bed, wrote my blog and talked to some friends from home. All I wanted to do the whole time was sleep but I knew if I tried, I would probably miss my class and that was just somethign that I couldn't risk. Around 5:17 I left my apartment and headed towards the Duomo where my Italian class is. I didnt' want to be late so I started to do more of a jog towards my building. I arrived there thirty minutes early and I couldn't even sit in the room because another class was going on. I love my Italian teacher. Not as much as my college professor but he's really fun. He puts on music during class to ease the tension. The first activity we did was we had to turn and face someone next to us and talk to them in Italian so he could see how much knowledge we actually had. I met a girl named Kerri who was doing her second semester here in Italy. She was really nice and told me all about the Italian class since she took beginner the semester before. For the rest of the class, we learned about the past tense and I left already knowing such more more than I came into the class with. Don't you just love that feeling? On the way back to my apartment after class, I knew that my roommate and I love the tiramisu from a place right by our apartment so I decide
d to pick up a piece for us to split for dessert, she looved that I had it when I got back. Since a couple of days ago, I bought a kilo of sausage (which i did not know was two and a half pounds at the time), I knew I had to cook it. So me and my friend cooked two sausages, ground it up, and put it into a tomato sauce that we seasoned and then made heart-shaped pasta and poured it over. It was surprisingly delicious!!! I loved the flavor of that sausage, even though I had it the last two nights. After that was done, we sat around and just talked for a while and then we decided to have that tiramisu because it was just calling our names. Knowing that all the pastries are baked fresh daily just makes the eating part of the dessert that much better. Everytime we have tiramisu, we split it down the middle but I think we're both s
tarting to realize that we both want our own pieces next time. For the remainder of the night, I talked to a bunch of people on Skype and wrote a lot of emails to my friends who I miss dearly and then got ready to go to bed until my friend Skyped me but unfortunately the time difference stopped me from talking. That's one thing about Florence that is terrible on my part, is that I can't talk to a lot of people because the time difference prevents that from happening. But even with that negative aspect, I am still in love with Firenze. <3
Monday, February 1, 2010
Angels is Food from Heaven
Because I had spent so much time walking around last week and particpating in all of that orientation work, my roommate and I decided to take it easy yesterday and spend a day inside relaxing. We think we may be jet lagged slightly still because we are always so tired. But yesterday morning, we decided to meet our friend from another school we met a few nights back for breakfast. One person we met recommended Angels because every sunday morning from 12-3, they have an all American Brunch starting at 10 Euros. I didn't think it was possible to get anything close to an American breakfast in Italy but boy I was wrong. This place was UNBELIEVABLE. I got french toast with fresh fruit and this chocolate muffin from the breakfast bar. Everything was made fresh, nothing was store bought and it tasted delicous. :D I paid a lot for it but the meal was totally worth it. If you want an amazing American meal cause you miss home, go to Angels. You won't regret it. For the rest of the day, I stayed in and read and looked at some books and papers I recieved from the school. Around 6pm, I cooked again the same meal as the night before: Sausage, peppers, and onions. I don't know why, but it tastes soooo good and my roommates are very jealous of my culinary capabilities. I don't blame them. :) For dessert though, my friend and I were craving gelato, like ALWAYS! So we went online and looked for a gelato place that was cheaper than 8 Euros. (I think we've learned out lesson). There was a place called Festivale del Gelato. There were a plethora amount of flavors but they were closing and the times were wrong on a website so I grabbed whatever they had left which was almost like a puff pastry filled with chocolate, made into a gelato. It was alright, but i loved the 8 euro one more unfortunately. :( (The 8 Euro gelato is the one in my picture) After we returned back, I got ready for my first day of school which was today, but I will talk about all of my classes once my day is over. Salve!
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