Fattoria di Fugnano San Gimignano

... 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 ...

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

... the four of us who contributed, so we wouldn't have to pay an extra fee for glasses and opening, etc. We did find it rather humorous that she insisted that we sit inside (and thus, out of view of the Piazza and the outside diners) as compensation for the plastic cups. She explained (in simpler terms, but we got the gist) that the outside tables were for customers of a slightly higher tax bracket, and although she was more than happy to accommodate us, it would ...

... once again used the public city bus to get into town. Upon arriving our group made a be-line for the bike store. We got there and the place was packed with people from our group. We all got our turn to go into the shop and this time I got to go into the back room. When I got there the old lady from the day before was there and on one wall was a bike frame and pictures of a cyclist named Rossi who was a Provincial biking champion in the 50’s. The woman told us in Italian that ...

... I've never heard a harp played the way this one was, the music seemed to draw us to it. We enjoyed our lunch at a sidewalk café next to the piazza with harp music playing and towers casting shadows across the piazza. We strolled the streets and shops finding the locals here have embraced tourism and think highly of their goods.

... God, "Divino" (literal translation=divine)...hence, Well of the Divine. He gave us a tour of his cellar and explained how he finally obtained his life dream of running and owning a wine cellar. So he sat us down in a den (all 18 of us) and started to explain to us the process and tradition of wine making and the different branches of rosso & blanco wine (red & white). We tried one white and three reds, all of which were quite different from each ...

So the day started off, badly. We awoke late in Montpellier and missed the train we wanted. Arriving an hour late to Arles, France, we were abruptly aware of the town's small size and the train station's lack of luggage lockers. Packs in tow, we trekked into town from the train station in the midday sun, uphill, towards the Roman ruins. Did I mention that it was really hot and we were in jeans and dark colored shirts? We also went to a monastry ...

... book and all the awards in the shop including a letter of thanks from Tony Blair! Marks chocolate orange flavour was amazing - why don't they make ice cream like that in England? In the afternoon we decided to try and buy some local wine direct from the vineyards in the area. By chance we found Croce Bibbiana where we tasted 5 wines including one that retails in the UK for £65. We bought 12 bottles of the 4Euro ...