Argentina Curtatone Hotel Florence

... ambiance. The Duomo wasn’t actually as great as I remembered, but it was one of the first churches I went to and, since I’ve seen so many other, I’ve realized that it isn’t as cool as I thought back then. But I still enjoyed it.

After walking around and doing as much as we could (it was Katy’s last day in Florence, well, traveling in general really), we went to pick up Ali and Kelsa, got refreshed back at the hostel ...

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 ...

... kitchen.I went down later that eveing to chat to the people staying there and marvel at the double bed inthe kitchen.

Really quiet in the off saeason with a lot of places noteven bothering to open or open reduced hours.

Was sitting outside the only bar in RioMaggore and Jess who I shared a dorm room with in Salzburg walked past. Turns out she's staying in the same dodgy room as me again!

Was lucky there was a bunch of good people ...

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

... my natural talent for these things, of course I picked it up quickly like I was born to ride ;-) Did help too having red wine tastings with lunch; really got the hang of the Vespa after that! We visited several places in the Chianti wine region (the only thing I knew about this wine is that Hannibal mentions it in Silence of the Lambs just before he does that slurping sound with his tongue). The winery started in the 1100’s and does olive oil production ...

... near to the hotel was the Cathedral, or Il Duomo, which was absolutely huge. With its pink, brown, and green vertical stripes going all around the giant structure, in many ways it resembled a birthday cake. Not quite standing out tremendously, but yet still very elegant, the gold Brunelleschi's Dome emerged from the structure as well.

Immediately across from this building were the much more magnificent Gates of Paradise. Having won some sort of competition ...

... Most shops here close at 7:00 so you really have to power shop between art stops. Italians eat late, usually not until 8:00, we are starting to get the hang of shopping as long as possible, then having a late dinner (usually only about 5 euro for a bottle of wine). Florence is much smaller then Rome, two nights in a row we naviage safely back to our apartment. At midnight we are poring over our travels plans (and pouring wine). We are off to Siena in the morning.

... to stop and pant at some point on their way to the top. After we left the tower we browed the streets some more and stopped in a little cafe to have dinner. Then later that night we caught the train back to Florence. Right now we are working on planning our trips to Rome, Sorrento and Pompeii, Naples, and Venice! Well, hopefully I will be able to post some photos - my camera seems adequately connected so I am going to try to do that for a while! Ciao! Love, Angela

... In quanto al presente, se fosse stato sempre presente e non se ne fosse andato nel passato, nec in praeteritum transiret, non sarebbe il tempo ma l'eternità. Con Plotino la soggettività-spiritualità del tempo diventa possibile. Il tempo è spirituale, soltanto: l'attesa, l'attenzione, la memoria che, tendendosi verso il loro oggetto, provocano nello spirito una distensione come distensio animi. Kant invece distinse il tempo come forma pura dell'intuizione dai contenuti sensibili e dagli ...