La Vecchia Cartiera Colle di Val d'Elsa

... 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 ...

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 ...

... life time on this trip already!
Climbed the tower in the main piazza, saw an enormously large pizza and had wild boar sausages for lunch which were a bit gamey but nice.
Went for drinks at Lochness bar and ended up drinking long islands as there wasn't much in the way of wine or beer there.

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

... find them, not knowing who I was looking for, then Kathie came out to help. We caught up with them and I then figured out that Kathie was talking about Dave and Loraine Huner. Their son played baseball with Michael and that son and his twin sister graduated with Michael.

After quickly saying hello we went back to dinner then after dinner went to the bus stop for our ride to the hotel. At the hotel Kathie and I relaxed then started getting ready for our last day of riding.

... s probably similar to our Anzac Day at home, which is also today.. We got out of there pretty quickly though, and decided to go to the Telecom Future Centre, as there is free internet access here, which is a change because all other places charge you like 4.50 Euro for half an hour.. That's almost $8AUD!!! At around 11am, we thought we would head back to the train station, as we didn't want to get too lost.. Boy ...

... cause. After dinner we headed off to a local night club which is specifically for tourists with there being no locals there but plenty of people on Contiki tours. The bottom floor had karaoke (which suited the American girls on our trip) with a dance floor upstairs (which suited the Australian and Canadian girls). I unfortunately again disgraced myself by busting a move on the dance floor until everyone decided to head downstairs and try out there singing voices. Now ...

... to the north. Our group headed off on a brisk 10 minute walk to the Campo dei Miracoli which housed not only the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but also the Duomo and the Baptistery. Oh and don't forget the hundreds of street sellers, both legal and otherwise. "designer" bags were every where, as were the oh so tasteful David shorts and aprons. We had around ½ an hour to explore the area. It wasn't quite enough time to climb the tower, but it did give us ...

... we get home and start missing Italy! We had an option to either take the bus home or walk home...so, being the die-hards that we are, we decided to walk. It was tiring...but we made it. As usual, the scenery was so beautiful that it made it all worthwhile. Plus, we rewarded ourselves with a gelato when we got back...and then dinner was at a local pizzeria. Delicious! Quite a day, filled with breathtaking sights and warm, friendly people. We continue to have the time of our lives!

After leaving Antibes we drove along the coast on our way out of Franch to Italy. We drove past the roads overlooking Monaco to see it by day. Its so weird to think its a country, its so little!! There were all these gorgeous and massive yaucts in the harbour. Mine will be there one day!! Tehe. Our first stop was a French perfumery. We got shown around their factory and shown the process from ...