Bellariva Florence

... then went out to eat for Katy’s last night. We found this really good little restaurant hidden behind one of the vendor booths in the leather market and had a great time sharing memories.

The next morning, Steve and I took Katy to the train station and wished her good travels (only a few tears were shed). It was raining quite a bit, so we were all kind of gloomy. We headed over to the Uffizi Museum, but only Steve went in (I’ve seen so ...

... Cranberry Sauce, Stuffing, Potatoes, and Mixed Vegetables. For dessert pumpkin pie, ice cream, and apple cider! It was nice to spend the night with classmates and a few professors.

Friday night, we had yet another Thanksgiving with all of my friends. Everyone prepared their favorite dish and we spent the night telling stories of our families Thanksgivings.

I'll update you soon,

Siara

... dans les jardins!

ensuite on est aller voir le vrai "David" de michealange. installer au bout d,un aller d'un petit muse au gros prix! c'est impressionant de voir sa grandeur et surtout de penser qu'il a ete realise dans un seul bloc de marbre, sculte a la main avec les outils de l'epoque. Comme dans tout bon muse, il est impossible prendre des photos!

Florence photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album. php?aid=164753&id=613699523&l=6 143dbc5b4

On the train from Riomaggiore to Florence saw some large marble processing plants on the stretch from Riomaggiore to Pisa which was really cool as we had just seen a doco on TV about marble mining in Italy a few weeks ago in Split.
Checked into Academy Hostel which is actually the first proper hostel I've seen in Italy, rather ...

Hi Everyone!

After an exhausting weekend in Brussels, I was in for yet another treat with cooking classes in Florence. Organized by my school, a group of us met with a chef for some lessons.

We were taught how to prepare typical Tuscan cuisine including Ribollita and Stuffed zucchini-flowers.

Everything was delicious & I look forward to trying these recipes at home!

I'll update you soon,

Siara

... So now I know for next time... The end to this perfect day was of course with gelatooooo and music by the Arno.

Sunday: I know it may come as a shock to some of you but I actually woke up early and went to church! The original plan was to go to mass at the Duomo, but we weren't sure of the schedule and missed it by 15 minutes. We ended up going to a much smaller church in the area, Santa Maria ...

... a break for lunch, ate at a local pizzeria and met the group again to go to our school/academic offices. There we had our 3rd orientation! It was so hot and I could not keep my eyes open. I put my sunglasses down and closed my eyes. Sometimes my head would nod and I would look like a dum dum but it was ridiculously hot and I was sleepy. So they oriented us on safety for the 5th time, talked about school, and something, something, something.

After getting out of ...

... types of gnoochi and a pork roast with an apple tart as dessert. It was very good as you can imagine. I really like the cooking classes and being able to learn something that is obviously very dear to the Italians' hearts. I also went wine tasting this past Monday. I'm not that big of wine fan, though I'm trying to become one. I know a lot about how to drink wine from my father, but never was a really big fan ...

... of these stores in the city and they all have a random assortment of things. Plus the American products and school supplies are really expensive. A pack of post its is 5.50 euro! We also went to the mercato centrale. There is a huge outdoor market with leather goods, souvenirs, clothes etc. And then there is an indoor market that is two stories with meats, dried fruit (which we love), fruits, vegetables ...

... and Alina made a cream cheese, chocolate mousse pie. It was awesome. We also made a make-shift salad. A very yummy meal. We then just hung out a little bit when Nick and Josh knocked on our door to tell us they were going to the bar to watch the Italy and France soccer match. So we went to Finnegan's to watch the match. It was a really good game and Italy won 2-0.