021984 I - Poggioluglio Apartments San Gimignano

I liked Florence so much the first time I went, I came back! I realized in August that I loved this city and that I didn't have enough time to spend here, so I decided I wanted to go back to enjoy the slower moving life of Florence.

The first day we got to Florence, Katy and I went straight to the leather market. I had been eagerly waiting the entire semester to buy a new purse, and I knew I had seen several I really liked in Florence, so I had made ...

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

Italy Day 13

We got up for breakfast and then off to the Riders meeting. Many riders were either tired or not feeling well so a hand full decided not to ride. We joined the club but decided to take the bus into Siena. On the ride in we missed our bus stop and ended up a few km out of town. We walked back into town taking in the neighborhoods on the way. Just before entering the old city walls we stopped for pizza then started to explore old Siena. Our first stop was to the ...

... all got a real education there. :) We returned to the room dead tired. London - Day 3. We packed our bags, left them at the front desk, and headed for the British Museum. There, we went through Egyptian and Greek exhibits. The highlight was seeing the Rosseta Stone and a 4000 year old dead guy. :) After lunch, we HAD to go to Harrods: A 7 story famous department store. It had a 4 HUGE room high-end food paradise. There were whole rooms of chocolates, cheeses, and meats!!!! We ...

... that I couldn't identify but that made the bread VERY spicy, it was so good! Around another corner I found a Patissiere (sp?) that had Cenci, something I couldn't pronounce at first but that I have seen many a time on Everyday Italian with Giada and profiled when Mario Batali comes to Italy; well thank you Food Network! Cenci (chen-key) is exactly what it looks like - strips of dough lightly fried and dusted with powdered sugar - multiplied by yumminess ...

Up early to get to the museums as htey are closed tomorrow (monday). Crossed the only bridge to survive World War II to get to the Ufizi gallery where there was a line. Greg went to check out the situation at the front and for an extra euro or 2 he reserved us a time for direct entry. Went to the other gallery where the real statue of David was and he was pretty spectacular. Did you know he is David as in 'David and Goliath?' I ...

... was literally one-way, if someone else was trying to come down while you were going up, one of you had to go backwards), but it was well worth it. From there are great views of both the big tower and the Duomo, plus it's open air so there's nothing to obstruct the view. I stayed up there a good long time, just soaking up the views in every direction and watching the never-ending stream of birds flying off in all directions. Pigeons look kind of dumb and awkward ...

... Ponte Vecchio, a bridge that covers a huge river that runs through the city. There is a walk all along the river and across the river you see all sorts of multi-colored houses on a hill; it is very pretty. One of the other things we really liked about Florece was that it was way less touristy. The people looked Italian, the restaurants were much cheaper (and better), and were are proud to report that we never fell victim to another "trap ...