Orti Di Cimabue 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 ...

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 ...

nous sommes rester a florence pour terminer notre visite la ville en allant aux jardins boboli et bardini, situe dans la cours du palais pitti. Deux grand jardins qui a cette date n'ont plus autant a offrir qu'en ete. il n'y a plus de fleur, et la moitie des arbres n;ont plus de feuille, mais on a pu constater l'ampleur de la propriete en passant tout l'apres midi a ...

... was really good and the honey ale and double blonde were good too and certainly better than anything other Italian beer to date.


Tuesday checked out the Uffize Gallery which was excellent. All the "Grotesque" style paintings on the ceilings were really cool.

Had the Florentine specialty - Bistecca Florentina at Osteria de Benci. A T-Bone steak from a particular breed of Florentine cow which is fed and bled a certain way ...

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

... Giacomo says all you have to do is subtract and multiply- so we’ll see how that goes!

Today we actually moved in. We called a cab from our hostel (its very difficult to hail one) and then drove our stuff over the bridge. The ride was fairly inexpensive but with cabs there is always a bag charge. This was the challenging part. Of course our building does not have a lift so we were stuck carrying each bag ...

... of the subject matter but of the origin of the art form itself, are frescos painted in the 16th and 17th centuries. This style of painting derives its name from where they were first discovered, on the ceilings of grottos, hence "grotesques".

At last, we have almost completed our tour. There is one fascinating element of this museum that I want to share with you, a spectacular corridor, known as the Vasari Corridor ...

... t enough wine and almost stole my wine glass after I poured the last glass from the communal bottle. The rest of the night she was complaining how there wasn't enough wine. I don't think they have AA in Italy, so it was a good place for her. My personal cooking was nothing short of perfection as I turned the crepes into a flat donut, poured onions into the quiche mix, and didn't know the difference ...

... We headed back down the hill and into town on the coach (with the tour manager clearing traffic) for our Tuscan Dinner Excursion which was amazing. We had large platters of food brought out to us with a 1.5L bottle of Chianti at each table. The food included anti pasta,
bruschetta, pasta marinara, penne with pesto sauce, ravioli, pork and meat, potatoes, salad, and a dessert plus an ending lemoncello shot (they love these things over there). After gorging ourselves and ...

... need to dodge cars, motorcycles and street venders trying to sell all manner of leaning tower memorabilia including phallic leaning tower of Pisa men's boxer shorts. Pisa is also a real town, so as part of their normal lives people actually have to live in and around this continual precession of pilgrims trudging across their streets in search of the holy grail of European tourism. The cheesiest thing of all is unwritten requirement ...