have your cake and eat it, too.

What would my second-to-last day in Florence be without gelato?

That is cheesecake and sacher torte flavors. Grazie, Perche No!

Italians trying to speak English has always amused me (just as I am sure my very bad Italian enterntains them), so when I saw this the other day...I had to photograph it.

Randomly saw this gem on the Ponte Vecchio while Sam, Marissa and I were wandering it yesterday...

"Death is named McDonald's."
Thanks for the advice, Italy.


After finishing up my exams, the roommates and I headed to Trattoria Cibreo, also known as Cibreino ("Little Cibreo"). Cibreo is widely acknowledged as being one of Florence's best (and therefore most expensive) restaurants. Trattoria Cibreo shares the same kitchens and chefs, but puts out different food for a fraction of the cost.

This was the line to get in as we were leaving. You literally have to arrive within minutes of its opening, since it only has 8 tables. Luckily, we managed to snag one with little trouble.


I went with a passato di pesce, which was a kind of fish bisque. It as a bit spicy and quite tasty, but not extremely filling. Their portions were sized with the assumption that a person would order both a primi and secondi piatti (at least two courses), so when we only ordered one each, we were left a bit unsatisfied.


So of course we had to order dessert.

Aaaaand I don't know why blogger insists upon uploading this picture sideways, but this is a flourless chocolate torte that Gillian and I shared. It. was. so. good. I felt that Cibreino definitely would have lived up to its repuation had we not been the broke students that we are and ordered a secondi piatti each.

Now I'm off to spend the rest of my life packing. Joy.

culture > classes

Two whole days without posting? Who am I? What is wrong with me?

Oh, wait, as usual, it's not my fault, but that of my internet, which was darn determined to keep me from posting both of the past two days. Blah! So here is my past-two-days recap (and you'll get another entry tonight, after I get back from cooking....lucky you!)...

Monday I was feeling ambitious! I have no classes, so when I woke to a gorgeous day, I decided to take a walk down to all of the junk stores where Gillian and I went earlier in the month.

Look familiar?

Unfortunately, not only were they closed, but there was a locked gate keeping me from even walking between them! Boo :[ So I walked some more, and....HEY! Look what I found!

It was hot on Monday, so I felt no qualms about paying less than 2 euro for a gigantic cone of coolness. This one was cioccolato fondente (dark chocolate) and cioccolato bianco con fragoline fresche (white chocolate with fresh, wild strawberries). I was less-than-impressed with the white chocolate, but the dark was to die for.

Oh, Grom, you have been bested, for sure.

I wandered a little more, passing the Ponte Vecchio. Long time no see!

Possibly my favorite of all Florentine landmarks, though the Duomo obviously gives it a run for its money...

Though I'm also a fan of the San Lorenzo market.

I just can't choose! Please don't make me!

If memory serves me, the temperature got up past 30 degrees Celsius (that's more than 86 degrees Farenheit!!) on Monday, so we trucked it down to the Piazza Independenza to do a little sunbathing...I got overheated pretty quickly and retired to the apartment. Ahhh, shade.

Tuesday morning I woke up and went to Italian like a good student...but then ditched writing to go to the flea market at Cascine park. It only happens on Tuesdays from 7 AM until 1 PM, so I absolutely had to skip class to see it! It was necessary for my cultural assimilation!

(That's my story and I'm sticking to it!)

It was definitely the LARGEST market I've seen to date, and stuffed to the gills with all kinds of interesting people and products. Gillian picked up a couple of clothing items and we spent the rest of the day perusing kitchenware, jewelry, food, what looked like used make-up (ew) and an assortment of other items.

[We interrupt your reguarly scheduled blogging to bring you these pictures of adorable animals.]

Birdies.

Bunnies.

Guinea Piggies.

And, why yes, that is a chipmunk[ie]!

[Thank you for your patience. Regularly blogging and writing sans cutsie endings will now resume.]

We took a bus back to the city center, where we took advantage of a free afternoon to hit up a lunch spot we have been waiting to try...Nerbone!

This little piece of Florentine culture is actually located inside il Mercato Centrale, and is therefore only open until 2 PM. Due to our regular date with Sergio's and conflicting class schedules, we have been unable to make it...until yesterday!

In true Italian style, everyone sits at communal lunch tables to enjoy their meal, after fighting tooth and nail to reach the counter to place an order.

I had pappa al pomodoro (Tuscan tomato soup) but the picture was a little...unappetizing, so I decided to spare you. I wasn't totally impressed with it, but sometimes food isn't necessarily about the food but about the experience, and dining at Nerbone, elbow to elbow (or, in my case, back to back) with the locals was certainly an experience I was unwilling to miss.

Then, Tuesday night, API took us to the Mostra d'Artigianato, which is an international crafts and foods fair, where people from all over the world come to display their wares.

What would a fair be without a giant carousel?

And flowers pointing the way?

There were cars made of twine and polyester...

inspirational wall art....

But once we found the food section, it was all over. We spent the better part of the evening stealing samples from the people. I ate what probably constituted an entire meal made of samples of bread, cheese, wine, crackers, and the occasional piece of chocolate.

We saw this Sicilian stand first thing and knew that us buying a cannoli was not only likely, but an inevitability.

Mountains of dried tomato, olives, and oregano. Normal.

Marzipane fruit! (Gillian bought a couple pieces.)

Beer!

What did I tell you? More cannoli. It was like they were calling our names.

[It's amazing how loudly one tiny...er...giant cannoli can yell!]

I split this gem with Gillian.

We walked out of the food fair with our pockets slightly lighter and our stomachs totally stuffed. I'm kind of bummed that I won't get to go back to explore the rest of it, since we leave tomorrow and the fair will be gone when we get back on Sunday night. The fair was HUGE and took place in this old fort. There were something like 8 buildings filled with all kinds of different crafts.

Anyway, the roomies and I are currently preparing for our weekend abroad in Barcelona! We leave tomorrow night around 8 PM and won't be back until late Sunday night...three whole days of Spanish fun! And with Gillian's roommate from home there to show us around, I'm certain that we will be kept plenty busy.

Like I said, look for another post tonight about my last cooking class of the semester!

why not...indulge?

Life here in Italy runs at a different pace. People are constantly late, they close down their business at midday to take an extra-long lunch, and they have no qualms about finishing a phone call before serving a customer. Italians love a good glass of wine with their meal, eat pastry for breakfast, pasta at least once a day (according to my cooking teacher!), and routinely stop for gelato at random times of day. To summarize, these people live by what I'm going to call the "Perche no?" philosophy.

Translated, "perche no" means "'why not?" It is actually the name of a little gelateria near Palazzo Vecchio that we have recently fallen in love with, as well as the inspiration behind today's post.

People in America are constantly on the go, driving somewhere, always multi-tasking, never taking a moment to just stop, enjoy, and indulge. Shockingly, despite their indulgent eating habits, I have seen very, very few overweight Italians! Shocker! I feel like back home, I was either constantly indulging (eating sweets like there is no tomorrow) or cold-turkey depriving myself of the things (foods) that I love most. This unhealthy kind of attitude lead me personally to some unhealthy eating habits, and I know that I'm not alone. There is probably a reason that America ranks so high in obesity, cancer, and heart disease!

[Hope you're not tired of gelato pictures yet, because I forsee many cones in the upcoming weeks.]

One of the reasons I came to study abroad was to learn about myself. To figure out how well I would function in a foreign country, thousands of miles from everyone I know, on a budget, where I don't speak the language! Despite a lot of people's jealousy over this amazing opportunity, this experience has been a challenge. Fortunately, with all challenges, we are able to reap the benefits of the things that we learn.

What I've learned here is about balance. Balancing my work with pleasures, like traveling. Balancing my bank account, money I need with the money I want to spend. And easier things to balance...such as how many times a week to eat lunch at Sergio's versus Mario's! :D Anyway, the point is that life here has given me a different perspective not only on eating things like gelato (a couple of times a week won't hurt, with all the walking we do!) but also with life in general.

There is no need to rush, people. (Except of course, if you are rushing to a gelateria! Just kidding.) Slow down. Enjoy your life. And every now and then?

Indulge!

As the Italians would say...perche no?

buona pasqua!

Buona Pasqua! Happy Easter! I'm only a few days late, I know you'll forgive me.

The weather played games with us all weekend. I would wake up inthe morning, and be incredibly excited because the view out our window would look like this...

But by the time I showered and got ready, the view would look like this...

Which would usually turn into an all-out downpour by afternoon.

We managed to make our own fun anyway. The celebration started a couple of days before Easter, when Gillian brought me along to a chocolate shop that had been recommended to her.

Here, the children are given giant, hollow chocolate eggs that usually have toys in them. There are all kinds of varieties, and they are all beautiful...and tempting.

This one was the size of a small toddler and cost more than 95 euro.

Gillian and I may or may not have bought one each, and though it did take a great deal of willpower, I resisted the 20-pound egg and went for a smaller version. The chocolate store is also home to a gelateria, and since we had been planning to get gelato anyway, we decided to gamble and try this new, untested and unrecommended place.

We were not disappointed.

My cone...dark chocolate with sicilian orange and "milk" flavors. SO GOOD. And cheap! That is quite a lot of gelato for 1.70 euro, let me tell you. I'm turning into quite the connoisseur.

Every Easter for more than 300 years has been celebrated in Florence with il Scoppio del Carro, or the Explosion of the Cart. The cart is pulled by four white oxen in a procession through the city until it comes to rest between the Baptistery and the main cathedral. A wire is attached somehow, and a white dove that is actually a "rocket" is sent down the wire to the cart, which is full of small explosives and fireworks. Apparently the belief is that if the explosion is successful, then there will be a good harvest that year.

I personally missed the actual explosion, but got to see the cart being pulled away by the oxen after the event.

After that, I went home to celebrate with the roomies!

Lovely morning picture, but check out how big it is! It's the size of my head! And the chocolate is of much higher quality than the stuff they use to make those nasty hollow bunnies with in America. I gave half to my roommate Marissa because Lord knows I don't need that much chocolate.

We had a nice Easter dinner (after trekking through the POURING rain to the other side of the river) at Dante's, which had been recommended to us multiple times, partly because of the food, but mostly because as students, we get free wine. We each ordered a pizza and had a few glasses of wine. When we left the restaurant, it was raining even harder, and our feet were already soaked, so we called a cab to take us home, where, in our wine-induced giddiness, we may or may not have started an all-out berry-throwing war. I think there were berries in every corner of the apartment by the end of the night. Don't worry, parents, we woke up the next morning and promptly swept, mopped, and picked up every last berry.

Oh! I forgot to mention that I spent most of Easter constructing a crostata, or fresh fruit and custard tart, like one we had made in class earlier in the week. I didn't manage to get a picture of it before we demolished it, but Gillian did. I kind of messed up the custard, but it was still delicious. I was quite impressed with myself.

Gillian and I are now off to check out the San Ambroggio market, which is just another one of Florence's food markets, but we have been itching to see if it is better than il Mercato Centrale. The weather is also gorgeous, so I'll probably hang outside before meeting Mary for lunch at Sergio's later this afternoon. Mmmmm, minestra here I come!