Villa di Riboia Florence

... But Florence isn’t hard to navigate either. If you know the few big roads and the general direction of places, you can’t really get lost. I found a food market (since I love markets) and wandered around a while, and bought the beans that my mom had specifically requested, then went to meet Katy and Steve. We then went to the Duomo, where we took pictures and I lit candles for Granddaddy and my boss’s sister, then hung out and took in ...

... 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

... 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

Started the day in Rome by visiting the Vatican. It was amazing other than the fact it felt like a whirlwind tour through the place because we were delayed by an hour by a couple late travelers and then by another hour spent in the lineup!....and that was only to see the Vatican museums which included the Sistine Chapel....there was a whole separate lineup and area just to see St.Peters Basilica. We rushed through the majority of the musems to make sure we saw the ...

Okay sorry not writing for a while. i had a art history quiz today...and i was scared because some students that have been studying here before the summer 2 kids came said that a quiz here is a 4 page test. and yes it was a 4 page test asking about almost everything we have learned so far. it was not that bad because i studied a lot but i was unsure about some. my italian class is going very well. i will have to miss it tomorrow because our program is taking us on a trip ...

... half an hour. The rest of the day was spend wandering the streets of Florence looking up at the outside statues and architecture. I went to Piazzale Michelangelo where you can see a panoramic view of the city. It was a wonderful and exhausting trip. Pisa- That Sunday we took a train to Pisa to see the tower. Although the weather was awful it was nice to see such an iconic structure. Pisa was ...

... Rossi was her husband. Then I realized that this old lady was the wife of a bicycling legend and the frame on the wall was one of the frames from his hay-day.

We moved onto shopping and grabbing pizza for lunch then on to the piazza Campos. Here we looked around until it was time to go to St. Dominics Church for the start of a walking tour. The tour guide gave us interesting history about Siena, its churches, and its customs. We ended up at the Duomo which was incredible ...

... I will remember forever. Simple yet wonderful. Pizza, lasagne and risotto were the order of the day together with vino for Anne-Maree and I - it was amazing and Oliver at every scrap of his ginormous pizza. A bit of shopping in the afternoon at the Straw Markets and we were had it so off home to a home cooked meal of pasta prepared by Steve. Early to bed and very satisfied with our first day in Florence. Today we went our separate ways, the Denaros shopping and the Griffins exploring ...

... still wasn't 100% sure I was in the right place until I saw the sign on the 2nd floor (Many business names are not displayed out on the street, besides restaurants & shops - it's so opposite of what we're used to in the States!). There were 2 other students in my little "class": Eva from Greece and Joanna from Singapore. Our chef was Valentino and she whisked - he he :) - us away to the kitchen, which ...