Le Saline 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...

... 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

... 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 ...

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

... that did not even have toilet paper. Yeah, I skipped that experience. Naturally, we decided to eat outside. The restaurants in the towns were pricey, but we managed to find a cheap self-service eatery right by the entrance to the path from Riomaggiore to Manarola. It even had a real toilet with a seat and everything! I had onion foccaccia with tomato, mozzarella, and balsamic vinegar, and it was literally the best mozzarella cheese that I have ever tasted in my ...

... the capital of Tuscany and rivaled Florence before encountering the plague and invasions shortly there after. Constantly having to keep an eye on our budget persuaded us to walk to the center of town. We used our limited Italian "Prego, Dirrezione il centro" combined with our hands outstreched pointing two seperate directions to find our way. We started up the hill from the train station and realized we were already half way up the hill. By the time we reached the ...

... went on. Headed back to the hotel. We crashed ... Again ... for 9 hrs. I woke up this morning @ about 8am. Woke sleepy snoring paul up (Thank God for head phones.) and we ate some breakfast. Being Monday all the tour spots are closed so we took a city bus up to a small town in the hills above Florence. The views were awesome. On one side of the hill was the city in a valley on the other side was rolling hills of toscany. We took a short (getting lost ...

... shops would be a bit nicer, and less smelly. So that's what lines it these days. From the end of the bridge it was a quick hop to the Uffizi gallery and the rather large queue, I hadn't listened to the advise about buying a ticket in advance and stupidly ended up spending almost 2 hours queuing, thankfully not in the sun though, that would have just been torture. Then I spent about an hour looking at all the pictures and marble heads. Ok, so it was a ...

... plus. So I walked past many churches, and then to the Duomo. The famous Duomo of Florence. Unfortunately I never went inside, which I may regret sometime in the future, but nor really that bothered about it right now. There is so much to do that you'll never enjoy your time anywhere if all you do is regret the things you missed out on rather than the things you did get to see. After the Duomo, the plan was to see the Ponte Vecchio and then up to Piazzele Michaelangelo for a view of the entire ...