Hotel Follonica Montecatini Terme

... a browse through their beer selection and as I was doing so the waitress extolled the virtues of the Aventinus Eisbock.
She said it was a 12% beer that still had a Belgian fruity quality but with the 12% kick.
Had to give it a go and after half a glass on top of the 9% tripel I just had before am really feeling that kick as I write this!!!
Lucky she gave me some bread and crisps to go with the beer...

... mind up that I was going to wait until I got back, but I didn’t want to wait any longer. So Katy and I weaved our way through the booths looking at purses and going back to look at purses and being positive that I was getting the right one. I had seen several I liked in Venice, and I found them again when I got here, but nothing was sticking out (except, of course, a purse that was WAY too expensive). So I kept looking. FINALLY I saw one that I ...

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 ...

... since some monks were on the site a few hundred years ago.

Walked around Baboli Gardens which were pretty stunning and crazy to think they were someones backyard at one stage.

After dinner with Zoe, Nonie, James and Kerrin we walked around looking a bar and then when we found it didn't like it so just got 3 bottles of wine for 10 Euro and headed back to the hostel - only to see 4 bottles for 10 Euro around the corner!!!

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

... summer to paint scenes of the Cinque Terre. I spent a wonderful evening on our balcony with him and another Canadian girl drinking wine and eating the delicious pesto of the region. I began the coastal hike between the five towns at seven in the morning to avoid the stiffling heat that is engulfing Italy at the moment. The trail between Riomeggiore and Manarola tricks you into thinking the hike is a joke. But the hike quickly becomes more difficult as you climb ...

... where the students are staying and checked in. Most of us students stayed in the lobby until the afternoon because our rooms weren't ready. When they finally let us in, we were a little disappointed at the size. Of course, it's europe, so everything is smaller. But, our kitchen can fit into a closet. We have no microwave and no oven. It's kinda sad because the food here is pretty expensive. When Amber Lane arrived on Friday, she didn't have ...

... to travel through. It was really fascinating to walk up. Once we made it to the top, we were speechless (as well as breathless) to the incredible 360 degree view of all of Florence and the surrounding mountains/hills with towns scattered in the hills. We also chose to be in Florence on perfect weather days. It was sunny as can be along with pants and a long sleeve shirt temperature. This also meant there was no fog and we could literally see for miles all around ...

... we dont like is the lack of an elevator. This means a 78 step walk up to the 3 floor and our rooms. The place is vast and there is a roof deck with a canopy and we ate pizza for lunch up there. The name is Il Bargello (firenze-bedandbreakfast.it). We had our first museum adventure already. We wet to the Uffizi. The advertising says it is the best museum in Italy. I was inpressed! I saw some of the worlds most ...

... square. All you have to do is hold out your hand, empty or otherwise and you've got pigeons all over you. Add some bird seed to that hand and you've got a feeding frenzy a little more crazy than the morning sparrows. People with pigeons sitting on their heads, shoulders, five in each hand, and then another few dozen trying to find a place to land. A little girl today had a pigeon on her head for about a half hour while feeding the pigeons, little children walking around ...