La Papessa Tuscany

... to a little Piazza I had heard about. We got on a bus, and headed that way, not really sure where to get off. At one point we realized how beautiful the view was, and as the bus was stopping at a random stop, Kelsa was like "we should get off here!" so we all quickly hopped off the bus. We were standing in front of a great view, and steps that lead us higher to a church and cemetery type place. We took our time enjoying the view and the peacefulness ...

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 ...

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

... with the O'Calahans, Orrs, Harpers and Ina. We had a competition where some riders told a story explaining the empty farm houses in the valleys that we rode pass. The evening concluded after dinner when we retired to our rooms.

Italy Day 14

We rose this morning and had breakfast with the Orrs. Today was planned off day with everyone taking a bus into Siena for a day of touring. Kathie and I had a head start from the day before but joined in for the tour also ...

... the pizza makers of Italy are clearly several centuries ahead of our skill level. Wednesday, we have a real adventure heading out to the nearby hilltown of Siena. They are having the famous Palio horse race this Saturday and one of the trails was tonight. We had hired a guide to take us around the sights and give us the lowdown on the horserace, as we've been told that the actual event will be too crazy for our young kids to endure this weekend. We ...

... over from my bad day yesterday, I was thinking about how Italian I look today, when I passed by a food/souvenir kiosk playing Bruce Springsteen's 'Glory Days'.......and I had to laugh at myself...I might look Italian but I certainly am not going to give up the Springsteen in my life...

With the arrival of spring break came the arrival of my Aunt Khristina and her sister-in-law Laurie. I couldnīt wait for them to get here because I was very excited to share everything I have learned about the city with them. A A little punchy from the long flight I left them at their hotel for some much needed rest and went to my last class of the day. A little later we all went out to dinner in the Piazza de ...

... the train. I then hung around the hostel with some wine and sat chatting to others. Aisha (whom I met in Marseille) finally caught up with me so we organised to meet this morning. We wandered through the markets which are great. The fresh food is amazing and so are all the leather goods around the outside. We spoke to one of the butchers whose stall was basically all the extra bits we don't eat at home, ie tripe, hearts, lungs ...

... to get gelato. We found Vivoli off a back street of a back street and had such delicious gelato it was unbelievable. The rich chocolate and coffee made everything troubling about finding it worth it. Armed with happy stomaches, we then waited in line to see the Uffuzi. The audio tour was quite interesting as was seeing some of those works like Botticelli's Venice and Primavera in person. then we went around the Ponte Vecchio as well. We both felt a bit under the weather ...

... Museum. Thanks to our guide book, we had made reservations and were VERY glad we did. There was a huge line, which did not appear to be moving at all, for the people without reservations. The Uffizi contains loads of famous Italian paintings. Some can be seen (in miniature) on their website: Click here to jump to more info on the Uffizi After the Uffizi we wandered the streets looking for lodging close to our car so that we wouldn't ...