On an island in the sun

Can't believe how fast time has flown by. I knew this was going to happen. This week was so busy and so stressful. Tuesday we had our oral final for Italian, Wednesday had our final written for Italian, Thursday had our final presentation for a restaurant journal where within our groups and Friday was our wine final. Everyone was extremely stressed out on Wednesday and Thursday trying to figure how to study for our wine final because we didn't have a clear study guide. All we knew is that we had to memorize the important regions of Italy and France and their grape varietals, terrior, location climate etc. It was hard to study for but once we got the exam it was so simple. It was frustrating that we were all stressing out and not enjoying our last nights as a group.

After class on Friday, Danielle and I caught a bus to Pisa airport from Florence due to the trains being on strike, we flew Ryanair from Pisa to Cagliari, Sardegna, Italy. We got in around 8pm and got a taxi to our guesthouse and got settled in. We went and walked around and the town (Poetta) where there really isn't much to do nor any good/decent restaurants. The next day (Saturday), our guesthouse supplied a number for this guy who drives around tourists to different beaches so Danielle and I decided to try it out. Alessandro took us to Villasimius which is the whitest, clearest and bluest blue beach on the South side. We rode in a minivan that his company supplies along with a parasols (umbrella), ice packs and waters. The ride there is about an hour and half and it goes through windy hills surrounded by green bushes that remind me so much of Eastern WA but instead of out in the middle of no-where desert, it’s scenery is an incredible view of the coast from up high and it was beauuittiifulllll!! Here are some pictures that I took:

Today, Alessandro took us to Costa Rei, a beach about 20 minutes away from Villasimius. I don't know which one I liked better. The water felt like a pool and was once again crystal clear and blue. I am quite smitten by this island, I don't know if I ever want to return back to the states. I don't think California could even be this beach worthy. Today I got some sun damage though, my whole front side hurts. We stayed on the beach for at least six hours and I was so happy to relax, read a book that I actually enjoyed and wanted to read for once; I don’t remember the last time that happened. Tonight, are going to go out to the local bars and watch Italy vs. England. Finally no school Monday morning and I can have no worries-pnly for our main man Alessandro to pick us up and take us to our next beach. It's been a good vacation to end our semi-vacation! Here are some pictures of Costa Rei:

50 and counting

Fifty bug bites, fifty new scars. I hate mosquitoes. Every morning our class kills about 10-20 mosquitoes that are flying around our room, all I can think about is four more days until no more waking up at 6am and walking two miles to get to class, no more trekking through the 95 degree weather with humidity and being all swody. 

Anyway, this past weekend five girls, our friend Brian and I went to the seaside of Italy to a town called Viareggio. We left after class on Friday and had a two-hour train ride with no AC- it was miserable. I have come to realize that I have been spoiled by living near the water all my life.

Viareggio was a semi small town, it reminded me of Venice, California with the palm trees, piers and sandy beaches and the stores right on the sea front. Danielle and I stayed at Hotel Liberty which was literally two minutes away from the beach. Friday we got there in time to watch the sunset and walked around the rest of the night exploring the town. Saturday we woke up early and met with the other girls and went to their beach. Every hotel has an agreement with a different private beach; sadly you have to pay to rent a chair, bed or umbrella to be out on the beach. It was the best feeling to finally relax, not think about anything, to not be in a rush to get somewhere or have my attention on a tour guide.

After the beach we split and got ready for dinner. Danielle, Brian and I ended up going to a horrible restaurant where their Prosecco was half Prosecco/half white wine and servings were small. We were not happy so we went to an Appertivo that was a bit better. We finally made out way to the rest of the group and got to enjoy good food and bit of the night life of the town. There was a little flea market selling jewelry and hand crafts and hand blown glass. On Friday night when we walked around, the streets were very family orientated. On Saturday it was filled with teenagers and young people our age. Viareggio is not a very popular place for young people because there is no clubs near the beach, only sit down bars with live music. It was different but I liked it, it was nice to get away from the hustle and bustle that Florence gives you when you’re walking around. We didn’t stay out too late Saturday night; the sun really wore us all out.


Sunday we woke up early, and everyone came to the beach that was linked with our hotel. We ended up cutting our day short because one of my colleagues ended up having a panic/anxiety attack with a mixture of dehydration and we ended going to the hospital. It was scary dealing with a situation like that in another country where you don’t know what the doctors were saying. I’m just thankful that they’re ok now. Got back into Florence and it was soooo hot. It was miserable. Our train ride was 106 degrees inside the train. I can’t wait to be back to my rainy city. Once we got home we showered and went out to eat at Osteria dei Pazzi. We went there the first week and it’s been the best place I’ve ate at so far. The dinner was sooo good. I had bruschetta, papa pesto which is the small spiral noodles in pesto sauce, and then pork loin with a side salad with mozzarella. I love this restaurant, every employee is so happy and they make sure you feel welcomed whether you’re a local Florentine or a tourist. We have to do a group presentation in class where we pick 3-5 restaurants and describe how they run them and Danielle and I chose to do that one. We interviewed Laapo, the teacher from Apicius that we met in the beginning of our trip.

So now I’m facing the last week of class, we have our Italian oral presentation tomorrow (Tuesday), we get into groups and have a conversation at a café, restaurant, train station etc.. Wednesday is our written Italian final, Thursday is our group presentation for food and beverage management operations and then Friday is our Wine lab. Then on Friday Danielle and I leave for Sardegna! It’s an island Northwest of Italy. I’m so excited to spend 6 days on white sandy beaches and pure blue water and not have to worry about annyythinnng, not returning to Florence for school just returning and hopping on that flight home!


That’s it for now, I know I haven’t caught up on everything, I still have plenty to write about from our trip to Parma and Modena,  where we saw how Parmesan cheese, prosciutto and balsamic vinegar were made.


Here are some pictures from this weekend’s trip, until next time!

When in Roma

Here I am again, sitting in class writing an entry. Massimo wouldn’t be happy with me. This past weekend the group went to Roma (also known as Rome) It was a really fun weekend spent in this beautiful city, I wish we would have spent a week there and not 1 night and two days.

Friday night (June 8^th) we went out to dinner at Ganzo for a birthday. I ate pigeon and once again, it was delllicious. It wasn’t a pigeon that they shot in the street; plucked and then fried… it was more of a game hen, a wild bird. They put cocoa on top which really brought out the flavor. After dinner we went out to the Piazza Santo Spirito, had a glass of Prosecco at Volume and cut our night short. As Danielle and I were walking home we cut through a different street than we usually do and smelt fresh pastries. It was about one am in the morning. I stopped in my tracks and started smelling around because word on the street over here is that there is a “secret bakery”. Danielle eventually found a vent that was above our heads and a window where she saw dough being flung. I at this point found some locals and had asked them if they knew about this “secret bakery” and was told it was the next street over. There was a van blocking the doors but they had two huge wooden doors open where two bakers were baking (not so much of a secret but more of a great find) We ordered six pastries and they were the best ones I have ever had. Not sure when they are open regularly but I will definitely be making my way over there sometime before I leave.

The next morning we hopped on a bus (sadly without Chef, he had business in Switzerland and leaves for the states that Sunday) and headed towards Roma. Our first stop was The Vatican where I learned that the Vatican has its own country (Vatican City). We had a tour guide through the Vatican Museum; it had tons of sculptures and paintings inside from hundreds of years ago. Here are a few pictures from the museum. 

An original Greek sculpture. 

It is Greek because of the signature, only Greeks signed their artwork at this time. 

The floor was made out of special stone

                                    The longest ceiling in the world covered in hand painted art

"The School of Athens" 

 We also went to the Sistine Chapel where you can’t take pictures inside but they had copies of the paintings outside with explanations. The main picture that was the biggest one was called the “Last Judgment” where the colors on the top are lighter and get darker at the bottom. The top part represents people in heaven and the people on the bottom are going to hell. 

If you walk through this door every 25 years (on the jubilee) your sins will be forgiven and you will be pure

Where the Pope makes his speeches

Inside

Swiss guards; to be a guard you have to be full blooded Swiss to work for the Pope and their outfits are originally designed from Michelangelo and has never changed. 

Outside The Vatican. 

After the Vatican we went to our hotel and got ready for dinner with everyone and our crazy bus driver and then we split up for the night. I went with Bryn, Josh and Ben out to the night life in Rome. We went to a couple of sit down bars and explored around, it reminded me of Florence a little bit but I still like Rome better. 

On Sunday we had a five hour tour around the Coliseum. I'll write about that later, It’s getting late and I have class in the morning and then I'm leaving for the weekend for Viareggio, a beach on the coast! Can't wait to get out of this town for the weekend and layout in the sun, it's going to be so nice to relax in 85 degree weather. I'll probably come home Sunday night and write about that trip. I still need to do the Parma weekend and our trip to a winery…. Ciao Ciao!