Mignon 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...

... headed into the cemetery. It was actually very ornate, the headstones were huge (I remember one being a life size statue of 2 people dancing), and some were in rooms/buildings, I’m sure there is a proper word for them. We each broke off and strolled around separately, then convened together and started walking further up the road. We made it to the Piazza we had wanted to go to, took tons of pictures, and goofed off (I can’t express enough how ...

... 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

... are for behavioural misconduct. After that faisco I changed trains in Parma and settled onto a train headed for La Spezia. Once again I found a nice empty group of seat and was immediatly joined by a couple of Italian boys. After giving them an evil look I got out my book and turned away from them. A little while later I checked the directions to my hostel only to discover that the hostel stops accepting clients after five at night. It was already six in the evening ...

We arrived in Florence today at 6am had breakfast then waited til 8:30 which is when places started opening. We climbed the 400 steps of the Tower of the Duomo to get a magnificent view of the city. After that we went to the baptistery. Then we visited the first of three museums of the day. The first museum was for sculptures from the Duomo. Next we went to ...

... we started to wander the streets of Florence to check out the city. We did a little window shopping and touring of the city layout. We agreed that it was a lot cleaner and easier to walk through than Rome. The streets were wider and there were less little alley way like streets around. Later on in the night we all went to an Irish Pub called Michael Collins Pub, which had live music and also would actually except US dollars, as well as Euros. The wild thing was, the ...

... as much of the original structure and paintings, art work as you find it. The guest rooms therefore will be so fabulous as a result. I have included some in the photo album for today. The hotel also will have a garden that was already part of the property. There has already been buzz about it in many travel magazines (and they havent seen what I have) saying that the spa will be one of the top five in the world. Alas we had not even a bath tub at our B&B ...

... simply every day activities for the Venetiens. The back door to the post office opens on to the canal, the police drive boats, they even have traffic lights in the canals. It made me wonder today how many of these people would actually know how to drive an automobile. A task as simple as that for us doesn't seem like such a big deal until you experience something as different as Venice. It was the same in the campo outside my hostel. Being awoken each morning by the ...