Agriturismo IL Pianaccio Pistoia

... purse. I still don’t regret it at all. After I found my purse, Katy found one she liked as well, so we both left with new purses. We went to grab a bite to eat at a little restaurant right down the street from our hostel, then went to pick up Steve. That night, we basically just chilled out, got settled, and caught up with stories from Rome and Poland (where Steve had been).

The second day Ali and Kelsa were coming in the late ...

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 ...

... 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 ...

... as the place was so cramped and nothing else to do in town, but ended up having a good night both nights we were there.


Sunday did the walk between the 5 towns from Riomaggore to Monterosso. Took about 4.5 hours including thestops in each town to check them out.
The views out over the Ligurian Sea are stunning. Leaving one town and seeing the next far off in the distance, and sometimes a lot higher up in altitude, was really cool.

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

As is always the case at the end of a wonderful trip I am both saddened to be leaving Italy and looking forward to being home (seeing family and friends). Barb and I have traveled so well together during the last two weeks we are now planning our Australia trip (Sarah, would that interest you?). I know, not even home yet and making the next plans. Those of you who know me well, won't be surprised. I simply get restless. :) We spent the last ...

... they called customs (a non-existent stamp in my passport) and security in Frankfurt I was tired but it was nice to find Molly, the other F&M person by the gate. That flight was delayed a while but by the time I woke up we were on the ground in Florence. The airport in Florence is almost as bad as the one we went through in the Cayman Islands, and a little fun fact, the planes cannot hold much luggage so more than half the flight did not get ...

... pizza while the sunset over Florence. July 23 - The following day we stayed a little while longer in Florence - heading for the science museum - where Galileo's telescope, early early versions of microscopes, and other interesting items that showed the progression of science. It really was remarkable to see how we (as humanity) figured out how to conduct electricity, how to create gears so that time can be told accurately, how to construct devices by ...

Voila où notre voyage sympa commença à devenir vraiment un calvaire. Un ralentissement sur l'autoroute entre Florence et Pise, notre véhicule ralentit, la voiture derrière aussi mais malheureusement un Italien trop pressé au volant de sa Porsche n'a pas eu le temps de ralentir. Au final juste de ...

So we wandered the streets yesterday and found a cheap hotel. We wandered around the streets and then we went to go and see Michaelangelo's David. Its a fairly large statue and its quite impressive. So I have decided that updating everyone on everything that I do is kind of boring to read, so I figured I will just do small ...