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!

are you going to eat that tentacle?

I know you were all on the edge of your seats, waiting to see how I spent my Friday night. Marissa, Sam and I decided to go out and get some gelato (shocker) before heading to the Odeon Theater to see the only movie that was showing...The Fantastic Mr. Fox (with Italian subtitles)! It was...strange to say the last, but the roomies and I had a good time laughing at it. Plus, I didn't stay in on a Friday night and I got to pratice my Italian!

I did go to bed pretty early, though, because Gillian and I had a culinary extravaganza planned for today!

We took the train to Florida! Sorry, fam, no time to stop in and say hello.

Obviously kidding.

But I did keep having deja vu all day! With all of the palm trees and the bipolar weather, I was sure that we must be in the Sunshine State. In reality, we were in Livorno, which is so much better than Florida (sorry).

Livorno is Tuscany's third largest city, behind Florence and some other unidentified city. It is a port town, and is actually well known for its population of immigrants! Way back in the 16th century, Ferdinando I de'Medici acquired Livorno and sent a whole bunch of exiles and immigrants to live there, including a whole lotta Muslims and Jews who were being ousted from their home countries at the time. It remains one of Tuscany's most diverse cities today!

Gillian and Sam actually went to Livorno over spring break, but since I missed the trip and really wanted to try cacciuco (you'll see what that is later...), Gillian agreed to go with me again (what a sport!).

After a slight train mishap (we missed both of the 11 o'clock trains and had to take the noon one instead), we rode for an hour before arriving in the beautiful palm-tree filled city. We went to one of the only restaurants that was open. Apparently the entire city of Livorno takes its siesta at 2 PM, which was exactly when we arrived. Whoops.

Fortunately, Gillian and Sam had declared this place a gem. White bread was obviously necessary, as we were starving.

We decided to go big and split an antipasto. Good call! This was the best antipasto in the history of antipastos. It included: mussels, smoked salmon, two kinds of frutti di mare (seafood salad), shrimp in a kind of tartar-y sauce, and the star of the show, crostini (bread) with some kind of mussel-seafood topping. WHOA!

The last time Gillian came to this place, they were unfortunately out of cacciuco, which is a typical Livornese dish. I thought that we had heard good things about it, but looking back, it seems like most people just wanted us to try it..not necessarily because it was delicious. Somewhere down the line I had gotten the idea that it was a soup (think Mario's and Sergio's). I was very, very, VERY wrong, and after they brought out this dish, I was in shock for the rest of the meal. Heck, I'm still in shock!

It turned out to be a kind of...um...well...a seafood stew, if you will. But like mystery stew. You had no idea what you were getting when you pulled something out. And there was an entire, large shrimp sitting on top of the whole thing, staring at me. It still had its claws. The entire dish was coated in this thick, almost barbeque-y sauce.

Gillian performing surgery.

Why, yes, that is a tentacle! What, you never eat tentacles for lunch?

This dish was an experience. This is the kind of thing I came to Italy for: to experience the culture. And cacciuco is definitely full of cultural value (and octopus. I probably ate the entirety of Ursula from The Little Mermaid). Gillian and I could not stop laughing the entire time we were eating this...it was the kind of meal you never forget. I really don't know what else to say about it, except that it wasn't bad...it is just something I'll probably never order again.

There are no words.

After we picked through the...um....stew, the waiter brough us each a GIANT shot of limoncello, which is typically served as an post-meal aperitif, to aid in digestion. I have tried limoncello several times before this, but I decided to give it one last shot. Plus, I kind of wanted to wash the taste of octopus out of my mouth. (Kidding.)

Turns out, I just don't like limoncello. We'll call this little montage The Faces of Limoncello.

Here I am, ready to give it one last good-faith try...

The initial shock of the super-sweet lemon...

And the bitter aftertaste of the alcohol.

After lunch, we were both EXTREMELY full (despite my ragging on the cacciuco, we did some serious damage). We walked toward the harbor, since, like I said, Livorno is a port city.

Note the clouds here.

And here.

More clouds (and sailboats).

Then, BOOM! Clear skies.

Are you sure we're not in Florida?

We probably walked around the city for a good hour and a half (there may or may not have been some gelato...) before heading back to the train station. Look how pretty!

We both slept most of the train ride home, the octopus weighing heavily in our stomachs. A successful day, methinks.

the last of my spring break saga...

Alright, guys, here it is: the final post about my spring break. Thank GOD! From here on out, I am dedicated to clearing the backlog and fully catching you up to where I am now instead of living in the now-ancient past (that is, as long as my internet decides to behave less like a stubborn fit-pitching child).

My two days in Amsterdam were relatively uneventful. It is a beautiful city, and I would definitely love to go back, since I feel like I missed out on a lot of what the city had to offer. I didn't get to do a canal tour or rent a bike, see the Van Gogh museum or check out the flea market.

The first day, I arrived around 2 PM after an epic journey from Eindhoven. I was under the impression that I would be able to get either a direct bus or train there with relatively little trouble. However, I was told upon landing at the airport at 9:30 AM that the next bus would not be leaving until 12:30 PM. Fortunately, there were buses leaving every 10 minutes to the train station, where I was told a train ticket would actually cost less and be quicker. Cool. Upon arrival at the train station, however, I was given a "schedule" along with my train ticket. This schedule apparently told me when to get off the train and catch yet another bus before getting back on another train...except that I don't speak Dutch, so it was all Greek to me (haha, punz). Luckily, I had heard a group of Italian kids next to me asking for the same train as me, straight to Amsterdam, so I was able to follow them through the transportation maze, until, five hours later, I finally docked in the Netherlands capital.

After settling into my hostel and showering, I set out by myself to look around the city, despite my extreme exhuastion. The city is actually often called the "Venice of the North" because it is built on canals.

The National Monument in Dam Square

See? Canals.

Anyway, my first day there was, like I said, uneventful...until I returned to the hostel. I walked in and met the girls I was sharing my 6 bed room with. One of them looked familiar, but I was exhausted and quickly retreated to the bathroom to put on my PJs. When I came back out, I stared at the girl again, and she stared back at me until I realized that it was Stephanie, a girl I had gone to middle school with! I had known that she was studying abroad in Bath, England, but had no idea that she would be in Amsterdam at the same time as me! After a loud and excited reunion, she introduced me to her travelling companions. We talked for a bit before all passing out.

The next morning, we woke up earlyish in order to get to the Anne Frank House before the crowds. We were somewhat unsuccessful, as there was a line around the building when we arrived. The wait wasn't bad, though, and the museum was quite interesting, especially for me, since I've never actually read The Diary of Anne Frank.

Anne Frank statue.

Anne Frank's actual house.

I'm kind of ashamed to admit that I didn't know she was hiding out in the Netherlands...I definitely thought she was in Germany. Whoopsy.

After our tour of Anne Frank's house, we set off in search of the infamous Sex Museum...but ended up a bit lost.

Fortunately, Amsterdam is kind of a nice place to be lost. Very beautiful.

And amusing.

What they say about it is definitely true...I saw my share of "coffee shops" and prostitutes. It's kind of funny until you actually want a legitimate coffee shop, with lights and seats, to sit and read in, and all you can find are smoke-filled rasta-music-playing holes.

Haha, "They're Among Us." Silly Dutch people.

We did finally find the Sex Museum, which I personally feel would have been more interesting with a more "history of sex" feel versus the "display as much porn as possible" vibe that I got.

After the museum, Stephanie and her friends headed back to the hostel for a midday rest, and I went on a fruitless search for the supposed flea market that the city has. After I failed to find it, I too, returned to the hostel for a nap. I ended up passing out, catching up on all sleep lost in London, until past dinnertime. I went out and got a Dutch pancake for dinner, wandered a bit more, and then went home early, knowing that I had to get up early for my flight.

My journey back to Italy was long, but easy, with nothing special to note. It was very nice to return home, though, and very odd that this apartment is finally feeling like...home.

So that is my spring break recap! YAY!

Oh, and don't forget...