I have discovered my favorite bread on earth...it is called schiacciatta. basically it is an Italian flatbread--kind of like focaccia--it is baked with olive oil brushed on top and finished off with salt on top--seriously HEAVEN. I have now found that a bakery close to my house sells it...dangerous. I love my neighborhood area--it is called the Le Cure area, and apparently it is a pretty nice place in Florence. I live about 15-20 minutes from campus and I have to pass under some train tracks to get the the Le Cure area and once I am there I feel at home. It is such a cute little town...none of the shops are open on the weekend except for one sandwich shop (which is actually not unlike the center of town, where unless you are near the Duomo, you will not find anything open on Sundays...). I cross a little bridge where on either side are what I think of typical tuscan homes--it seems like they just build on top of each other with miss-matched sizes of buildings, some protruding a little farther over the little river, with clothes hanging outside the windows...I just LOVE it.
So last night i took a cooking class! that was on my list of things to do in Italy is take to take a cooking class!! we made, what else--PASTA!!! 3 different kinds...ravioli with a ricotta and spinach filling (i learned why its called "ricotta"--basically this is sheep's milk that only has 5% fat because it is cooked twice, hence the name "ri-cotta"--"re-cooked" ...interesting!), we also made a tagliatelle with a roasted red pepper sauce with a little bit of cream, and a tagliolini (which is just a smaller tagliatelle) with a tomato sauce...and tiramisu!!! it was all sooo amazing! we made the pasta from scratch--with the flour, eggs, kneading it and everything. and we also learned how to make "naked ravioli" which is just the filling of the ricotta, spinach, and a little bit of nutmeg (did you know that if you eat a whole nutmeg clove it is fatal?? ha little known fact--so...take it easy on the nutmeg!) and just boil that, add a little bit of Extra Virgin Olive Oil on top and parmesan cheese! everything is better with freshly grated parmesan cheese...yummmm....secret to life!
also, this past weekend a friend and I went to two small little tuscan towns called Montepulciano and Cortona! they were absolutely amazing!!! My friend Laura and I took an early train on Saturday morning to Montepulciano...we have realized that sometimes travel to these little towns is a little challenging just because the train does not drop you off right at the town--you often must take a bus or two and/or a taxi to the actual town! but our theme for the trip this weekend was "go with the flow"...so we did because there were so many things we found out when we arrived at each place!
so Montepulciano...known for its red wine...amazing! we got there and my dad had helped me look for a little place to stay and we found the most amazing little place. We stayed at "Cittino" which is actually a restaurant, and the lady that owns it, Marcella, rents three rooms above the restaurant for just 40 Euro! Best deal in town! So she speaks no English--which I am getting used to!--but we arrived and she was so excited and showed us our room and treated us like we were her own children! when we came downstairs, she had prepared some dolci for us, which were like little pastries with powdered sugar..home made cooking! THen we walked around, roamed the streets--it is hard to explain how beautiful this place was. Views of the rolling hills of Tuscany, hardly anyone there. I wandered by myself a little after our lovely lunch of enormous pizzas and discovered lovely little cobblestone streets, steep hills, little restaurants...I think i went to the top of the town which was so beautiful. In fact, after dinner, Laura and I went to the main square--which has been compared with the Piazza Vecchia in Florence because of a large brick building with a large clock tower, an old government building--we were the only people in the square at 9:30! It was amazing and a little eerie...but such a cool experience! Oh also, after dinner, we were served limoncello which is a typical Italian after dinner drink--heaven! it was literally like liquid candy...so sweet and tart. I hadn't had limoncello before but i told my nonna that we had it and she told me that she makes it from scratch...so i am looking forward to that! Montelpulciano was a little dream of a town, with narrow, quaint streets, some seemingly straight uphill--Cortona was similar.
then early the next morning we were off to Cortona. We arrived at the train station with no way to get the the actual town center which we were used to! so we called a taxi and ended up with this adorable man who told us a lot about Cortona as we drove up there! he told us that cortona has 11 or 12 churches, but you can't go inside all of them...in fact none of them were open while we were there. in montepulciano, just one was open but it was in the middle of mass...but it was beautiful! Cortona has two main piazzas--republica and signorelli--but you would never know it when we were there because there was no one there! I LOVED being there with no tourists because i felt like a stumbled upon these little towns as they are, with people wandering the streets, getting out from church, and enjoying family time. the only shops that were open were on the "main drag" which is a tiny little street..but Laura and i went into an amazing little shop where this lady makes all the pasta by hand and packages them. and then we went into this other one that sold limoncello, truffle oil, biscotti--basically everything is specially made and packaged and very local. I loved visiting the place where Under the Tuscan Sun was filmed! that is such a great movie mostly because of the scenery and i just loved being there...we wandered the streets and finally found a place that was open! we had some of the best pizza i have had yet...and then we just wandered more. it was so beautiful because as Montepulciano was, i felt like i stumbled on a town as it was...with no tourists just people who lived there! it was soo beautiful. ad next weekend I am going to Ravenna and possibly Bologna and Pauda...we'll see!
update soon! ciao for now!!! :)
Rome: Sistine Chapel! Trying to get the Last Judgement on the front wall and the ceiling...AMAZING.
Mackensey and I in the Chapel!
Mackensey and I in a Piazza in Rome...I forget what it's called but I think it's famous! ha
The Roman Forum
Laura, Mike and I in front of the Duomo before a night out in Firenze!
Ravenna: Dante's Tomb!
Bologna: Mackensey, Elaine, and I in Bologna. Right after this picture we were walking along the street and saw a painter in his studio painting a huge mural on the wall. He noticed us watching him and invited us in and we talked to him for about a half an hour! We learned that he has been to New York a couple times to learn English and to exhibit his work. He has worked on several movies--including one starring Dustin Hoffman and Geena Davis--we are not really sure what he did on the film set, but that's pretty cool! And he has met with Robert de Niro, Harrison Ford, and some other actors! The brochure he gave us was in Italian so we had a difficult time reading what he did on these movie sets, but nonetheless, it was a pretty great experience! 
Bologna: The tower on the left is leaning--the leaning tower of Bologna! Not totally sure about the story of these towers, but we found a great gelato place right under them! ha There are some legends about what happened on these towers, but not sure which one is true. Its cool though because they are in the middle of more modern buildings and these are very medieval-looking.
Bologna: We loved walking these streets in Bologna (before it started pouring!). We stopped by a bakery and found a little snack called "pizza di linguine" or something...basically a long piece of pizza dough covered in marinara sauce and basil--perfect. Then we wandered the streets more and found little open fish markets, cheese shops, and wine enotecas...it was wonderful and quaint. 
Florence: This is where I live! I can't believe I haven't put these pictures up yet! This was taken on a bridge that I cross every day to get to school and come home--my house is not along the river but down the opposite way. But I just love the look of these houses and it was so beautiful this day at around 5:00 when it was starting to get dark. I love where I live. :)
Cortona: a really cute couple walking down a gorgeous street in Cortona on a Sunday afternoon.
Cortona: Laura and me!
Montepulciano: My favorite street! a "vicolo" is a little street...so cute.
Montepulciano: residential area
Cortona: this man was just walking down the street singing to himself...it was such a great moment.
Montepulciano: Laura and me at dinner! We ate at a really cute trattoria and had the most amazing crostini with pecorino cheese and truffles, penne arrabiata, house wine, and ended with a crepe and limoncello! Limoncello is like liquid candy...so sweet and tart..i recommend that you all try it! :) my nonna said she often makes it from scratch, so i look forward to that :)
Montepulciano: I thought this clock tower was so cute. When it turned 3:00, the little man on top of the building rang the bell. Such a small town feel.
Montepulciano: Just loved this street. There are countless streets just like this that wind around corners, easy to get lost in.
Florence: The Duomo on one of the most beautiful days yet! It has rained about half the days so we all LOVE and look forward to days like these!
