Nice to Be Home

The past few weeks have been a blur.  Classes are starting to pick up and I’ve been traveling every weekend.  I can not believe it is already half way through February…that means I’ve been in Florence for over a month!

A few weeks ago our program took us through Tuscany on a weekend trip.  Our first stop was Assisi, a small city on a hill surrounded by walls.  We saw and toured St. Francis’ Church which was definitely the highlight for me considering I work at the St. Francis House soup kitchen in Boston.  Seeing the actual place was unreal and reinforced the meaning behind St. Francis’ teachings of helping others.  I also found out that he created the first nativity scene!

Next stop was Perugia.  Amazing view at the top of the city but even better chocolate.  I was surprised to find out that a lot of students study there too.  The next day we traveled to Siena.  Siena is unique because the city is broken up into sub sections.  For example, you could be a goose, dragon, or even a caterpillar!  It’s these smaller communities that compete in the huge horse race held twice a year in the main square. 

Finally we went to San Gimignano.  This smaller city is famous for its taller towers and beautiful vineyard views.  I hope to come back to all of these cities one day and explore them more in depth!

The following weekend Joe and I headed to Germany.  We rented a car and covered 6 towns and over 600 miles in two days.  It was amazing.  Highlights included the adorable town of Rothenburg, climbing the church steeple in Norlindgen, the beautiful church in Weinshiche, and of course the Neuschwanstein castle.  The views and towns we saw were breathtaking. 

This past weekend I traveled to Prague with all of my roommates and met up with Taylor.  Prague was a fun older city with a modern feel.  We saw the John Lennon wall and walked up to the castle.  It was colder than Florence (I felt like I was in Boston!) so we ended up getting delicious hot chocolate.  Saturday night we went on a fun pub crawl after a wonderful dinner at a vegetarian restaurant called Radost.  Only negatives were that the first hostel we stayed in had bed bugs (eww!) but luckily they moved us to a nicer one.

After all of that traveling it is good to be back in Florence!  We are all staying here this weekend which will be very relaxing and fun (it is my birthday after all!).  Skyped with a lot of my family last night which made me miss them a lot.  I know I’m so blessed to be able to have this experience but sometimes I do miss the comforts and familiarity of home.  Counting down the days until my family comes!

More to come soon!

Midnight Snack

Here's a short piece I had to write for my food writing class...

           It felt like we had been walking for hours and I was growing tired.  The cobble stone was drilling through my boots making my feet raw with every step.   On either side of me the buildings kept repeating themselves with each slow curve and turn.  I was thankful for the Italian boy leading our group of six. This new city was overwhelming during the day, let alone at three in the morning. Hadn’t we already seen that street?  Didn’t we pass that sign?  My feet were throbbing. This better be worth it.

            The smell reached me first.  The aroma of sweet and buttery bread engulfed me and warmed my whole body.  Although I had not been here before, my feet pulled me closer and closer to the irresistible sent, leading me down a side street.  There was less light on this road and I could barely make out the clouded window on the small door we walked through. My heart was racing as my head tried to wrap around the enchanted feeling of where we were and what we were doing.

            The smell was now overwhelming and made my mouth yearn in desire for some of the sugary dough I could only picture in my head. An older man appeared at the doorway of the little area we were squished into, no bigger than my apartment bathroom.  A few Italian words were exchanged and he disappeared, returning quickly with two small white bags.  I heard the crackle of the paper and then something was placed in my hand.

            Under the low light of the small room its buttery top was glistening and I eagerly welcomed its warmth.  Bringing it slowly to my lips I bit down directly in the center, ruining the half moon shape.  My teeth sunk slowly into the chewy dough, the top layer flaking off effortlessly.   I was taken by surprise at the cream also hitting my lips, a cool contrast to the doughy blanket.  The second bite was even better than the first.  I tried to savor the gift but was soon left with only one piece that melted in my mouth.

            I do not remember leaving the small room or walking back down to the main street.  All I remember is thinking about what I had just eaten and what I would give to have another one.  Lying in bed that night I was thankful to be living in Florence and dreamt of the opportunity to return to the secret bakery.  After all, I heard there were eight.

Am I actually living here?

The idea that I am actually living in Florence for 4 months has just begun to hit me.  Everyday I find a new street or shop or café.  I feel as if I could live here for ten years and still discover new things despite the fact that Florence is relatively small.

I wore a step-o-meter (thanks to my dad!) just to see how much I was walking on average a day and it’s about 6 miles…so bring on the pasta!  This must also be why Italians are so thin!  With gelato shops on every corner and no gyms, it’s amazing how few overweight people there are here.  The portions are also much much smaller so people just end up eating less. 

This week I started classes (I forgot I had to go to school here!).  I can already tell my favorites are going to be travel writing and professional food writing.  All my teachers seem great and know the city very well.  A lot of my classes also involve walking around Florence to look at museums or attend food markets too!  

There were many other highlights of the week.  My roommate celebrated her 21^st birthday and we went out to a nice dinner with two of our other friends from BC.  The food was delicious; complete with complementary champagne and appetizer sampler that had stuffed zucchini and bruschetta.  The best dishes were balsamic filet mignon, spinach ravioli and of course tiramisu for dessert!  I’m definitely taking my family there when they visit in March.

We also hiked to the top of Piazza Michelangelo and saw the amazing view of all of Florence.  I liked it so much I did it twice!  When I stood up there and looked out over Florence it took my breath away.  I was in awe of the city’s beauty and felt so blessed to be able to live here.  My next goal is to see it at sunset.

Florence is hosting festivals all the time in one plaza or another.  This week it’s the chocolate festival and it’s VERY close to my apartment.  They had everything from chocolate covered fruit to chocolate rum to chocolate that had hints of lavender!  Samples were everywhere but I settled on the classic chocolate covered strawberries.  However, the festival is here all week so who knows what I’ll get tomorrow!

We just came back from a weekend trip all through Tuscany!  I’ll blog about that soon and put up pictures!

I forgot to mention that it was 60 degrees and sunny here on Friday!  And I have to say that I don’t miss snow one bit!

Talk soon

Ciao