Catignano Gambassi Terme

... 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 ...

... Cranberry Sauce, Stuffing, Potatoes, and Mixed Vegetables. For dessert pumpkin pie, ice cream, and apple cider! It was nice to spend the night with classmates and a few professors.

Friday night, we had yet another Thanksgiving with all of my friends. Everyone prepared their favorite dish and we spent the night telling stories of our families Thanksgivings.

I'll update you soon,

Siara

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

... conversation with us and found that she was an American who had been living in Siena for 10 years. We asked her what made her stay and she said that she had fallen in love with an Italian. She added that she had a circle of American girlfriends all of whom had married Italians. This gave Kathie more fuel to her worries about Rachel doing the same thing if she took a trip to Italy.

Once back in Arbia, we rested, went to the wine party near the pool then onto dinner. We had ...

... also had some ivory musical instruments and a whole display case full of ancient jewelry you should have seen the size of some of these rings. In the main room of the upstairs there are some pretty interesting works of art: Donatello's St. George, Bronze David, and Amore Assiti. Also in the same room you can find the competition panels for the east doors of the baptistery (which Lorenzo won and his doors were moved to the North side after he made the ...

After Venice, Florence is my favorite city in Italy. It is the home of the Rennaissance, which is where Europe woke-up from their long Dark Ages. Not as easy to walk around as Venice since there are cars up and down the streets but easier than Rome. The Ufizi Gallery is one of those "must see" museums even if your not into art. And, of ...

... I had wine and a huge mushroom & ham calzone. I never thought I'd be able to eat all of it but it was so good that I ate every bite. There is gelato for sale everywhere and Professor Carrara showed us her favorite one in the whole city, so we're going to try to find it again soon. I haven't tried cannoli yet but I'm on the lookout for it. There are pastry shops everywhere as well as pizzerias and pannini shops.

... company. We spent awhile just marveling at the chocolate, deciding what we wanted to try. Finally, we began using our degustazioni. I had a bar of chocolate with nuts, a milk chocolate ball with limoncello (a liquor) inside, as well as some dark chocolate. By far the best drink I had was the cioccolata calda (hot chocolate). Lily (in the photo) had hot chocolate made from dark chocolate, whereas Anne and I had ...

... an average dinner & then hit Monte Carlo casino where we had fun but no luck. Shaun the driver won EU500. Cody & I got our Monaco flags. Coming home was beautiful - the hills are lit up as are the the palaces and there was this fog so it was just stunning. We all sung Queen, Bon Jovi, etc songs coming home which was way fun. And our day song - Vertigo by U2. There was then a coasch party but we didn't go for long - nowhere to buy any booze that we ...