Torraccia Di Chiusi San Gimignano

... so Katy, Steve and I waked around for a bit before hand. I showed them where Academia was so they could see the David (since I had seen it for free in August, I decided I wasn’t going to pay this time) and I hung out and walked around a bit. It felt nice to be in a city that I had been to before because I knew my general way around. Actually, I have to give myself props, I don’t think we used a map but maybe once the entire time we were ...

Happy Thanksgiving!

I spent the morning taking an Italian exam!!! The afternoon was a little more fun, touring Palazzo Pitti with my Art History class.

It was a little strange spending it without everyone but my school put together a little gathering for us. A group of us dined on a typical American Thanksgiving at a local restaurant. We were served Butternut Squash soup with bread, Turkey ...

Siena photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album. php?aid=164853&id=613699523&l=d 7d2db6b42

Thursday caught a bus to Siena with Nonie and Kerrin.
The Duomo there is one of the best and most beautiful churches I've seen inside and out - and I've seen more than enough churches to last ...

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

... once again used the public city bus to get into town. Upon arriving our group made a be-line for the bike store. We got there and the place was packed with people from our group. We all got our turn to go into the shop and this time I got to go into the back room. When I got there the old lady from the day before was there and on one wall was a bike frame and pictures of a cyclist named Rossi who was a Provincial biking champion in the 50’s. The woman told us in Italian that ...

... world's best gelato," and met some people from Tennessee (college kids from Motlow). Then we went to Volterra. It was SO cold and windy that we cut the tour way short and mostly just hung out in the Duomo. We did see the a Teatro Romano, which dates back to 100 AD, as well as the town baptistery.

... it. I absolutely love this statue. There is so much emotion in it. Unfortunately it was very clear that the elements had gotten to it and eroded down some of its beauty. There was another little exhibit in the rooms to the right of this exhibit. It was a musical instrument exhibit. This was very fascinating to me since I am a music major. I saw a real Stradivarius violin! I have never seen one in real life before. They also had predecessors to our ...

We woke up, absolutely devoured by mesquitoes. Miserable. We were just starting to recover from Amsterdam's sickness that had hit us. These bites were hard as rock. Really strange. The upside, was that we again were able to share the same bed. There really is nothing like sleeping next to Turk. We headed back to the station, hopped on our next train and headed down to Firenze, arriving in the afternoon. We found a guy pushing a hotel ...

Yesterday, my roommate Anne, our friend Michelle, and I went on a day trip to San Gimignano. I'd gone there for a bit at the beginning of the year with my aunt and uncle, but had wanted to go there again. In fact, Anne and I had bought tickets in January or February, and had tried to go on a Sunday, but there weren't any direct buses, so we decided to save the tickets until ...

... Only people praying in the church and there for the right reason, not hordes of Japanese tourists in large groups of 50+ people taking thousands of photos. The view from the church was amazing. You could see all the roof tops and they are all orange Spanish tile, so the whole city looked like that dirty orange color, but the huge Duomo was right in the middle. When the wind would blow, you would get a strong smell of flowers. There was a flower garden a ways down ...