"Life is too short, and I'm Italian. I'd much rather eat pasta and drink wine than be a size 0."

I had a lot to check off my to-do list before packing up and leaving this morning. One of those things, for both Alicia and I, was to find one of these "secret bakeries" we had heard about. Apparently there are bakeries around Florence that open in the middle of the night and bake everything for the cafes and restaurants for the day. Our plan was to wake up at 3:30 and go on the hunt for the best pastry we would hope to eat.

Being four in the morning, I was not quite awake enough to think much about taking picture, but Alicia had her Bloggie to document almost the entire experience... and what an experience it was. Italian boys + Italian personalities + Italian pastries --  it's bound to be a great time.

The videos are a little shaky, and they're not all the same direction. I don't know how to change those things, so you just kind of have to deal with it.. sorry!

Finding the right street, since it's hidden... as well

as giving some guys a firm "no."

We weren't the only ones waiting

Mmmm... but we had no idea what to say,

so our new friend took care of us!

The best.

So that was great, and if I weren't stressed about packing/getting sleep, I totally would have done it again.

The rest of the week went by so quickly. Monday we had exams, Tuesday we had our student show, and Wednesday was my last day.

And now I'm in Zurich. Heading to Chicago. I get in around 4, Chicago time. Then my mom and I will take a flight together to Flint. While in Chicago, hopefully I'll be able to write another blog. I don't have too much time until I board my next flight, but I have so much more to talk about!

This has been such an amazing summer, and it's still almost surreal that I was living in Italy for two months. It's even more strange to think that it's over and I'm finally on my way home.

“In Paris, you learn wit, in London you learn to crush your social rivals, and in Florence you learn poise.”

On my way back from Paris, my internet USB got crushed! So I'm been short on internet time, and have yet to write about my weekend!

So like I had said before, Paris was one of those places that had been calling my name for a few years. I needed to go there. And I'm so lucky I my uncle set me up with his cousin who lives there so I had a place to stay. I got into Paris a little before noon, and had plenty of time to explore and sightsee. The family I stayed with has a daughter around my age, so it was nice to have someone to hangout with!

Laura and I at the Arc de Triomphe

My favorite!

My friend Kate, who cam to visit me in Florence a few weekends back, was also in Paris! She had told me that the Louvre is free on Friday nights for people under 26, so we thought that'd be a good Friday-night activity. Laura and I headed out to meet Kate, and hopefully avoid lines. And, luckily, there weren't any lines to avoid! We were so lucky and so excited. As soon as we were in, we headed straight for the Monna Lisa. 

The Louvre

I may be familiar to art museums after this summer, but the Louvre is huge. So we had to plan out what we wanted to see, but honestly, after seeing the Monna Lisa, we were almost Louvre'd out. So we made a few laps and saw some great things, but quickly made our way to the very bottom of the pyramids.

There she is!

Botticelli - one of my favorites!

It was GREAT to see Kate again!

 After the Louvre we decided to casually make our way over to the Eiffel Tower, lingering at some spots, resting our feet at others, and it was a beautiful night to do so!

Notre Dame in the distance

Nice life :)

 It was such a great night!

The next day Kate and I went to Versailles! It was a little bit of a trek, but not too bad, and totally worth it!

Louis XVI

Lovely

Palace chapel

So beautiful!

Hall of mirrors!

The king's bed

The queen's bed

So amazing!

On Saturday night we went out to eat and I tried snails! Yes... that is right. So all of you out there that would call me "picky," you may want to reconsider! Then on Sunday morning Kate and I went to Notre Dame and to explore that area of Paris.

It was a wonderful weekend, and I feel like I need to go back for longer than just one weekend. It was beautiful and there is so much that I wish I could have explored! French is definitely my next language to learn.

Tonight I am packing up all of my things, cramming it all into my suitcases, praying that they don't go over 50 pounds. I did lots of last minute shopping and went out for a wonderful dinner by the Duomo with Alicia and Ally, another girl that was at SRISA in July. I'm feeling very anxious and I just wish I could fast forward to 10 tomorrow morning so that I'm on the plane and everything is running smoothly. I really can't wait to see my family, and this weekend I'll be seeing a bunch of my friends! It will be so nice to get there, but I will miss this city very dearly.

I'll probably be updating this with a new blog tomorrow during my layover in Zurich, and it should be a good one :)

I hope you're all having a good night... and see you soon!

xoxo

Domenica

Two blogs in less than 24 hours?!

Last Sunday was the very last Sunday I would have in Florence, so I wanted to be able to attend at least once church service, and what better place to go than the Cathedral. So Alicia and I woke up early for the third morning in a row to catch the 10:30 mass. It was beautiful! I got a little lost when taking communion, but I figured it out and I was so happy to have gone.

After mass, Alicia and another friend of ours wanted to visit Pisa. Being an experienced Pisa-tourist, I told them I'd go with them. I'm sure I've said this in other posts, but this weather is so fantastic, I cannot get over it! It hasn't gone past 85 in the last two weeks, and Sunday was no exception. It was high 70's and perfect! We stopped on our way to the tower for lunch and split a liter of wine and pizza.

Here's another good traveler's tip: If you go to Pisa, drink wine before hand! It makes it that much better and way more fun! :)

See what I mean about the wine?
Way more fun.

After we got back, which ended up being much later than we had planned, I was so happy that I had done so much in just one weekend! Still on a high, I needed to check one more thing off my list -- get a crepe. So Alicia and I went out, and we did!

Strawberries and nutella -- omg.

Gelateria right down the road from our apt.
Love the creepy gelato man.

What a good weekend! Now off to class...

Ciao!

Esse nufesso qui dice male di pasta!

One must be an idiot to speak ill of pasta!


As usual, I'm being slow when it comes to writing new blog posts. I'm sorry!

Anyways... going back to last weekend...

It was pretty much centered around food, and it was great! Friday was wine tasting in Chianti and Saturday was a cooking class in Bologna! Alicia, Richard and I started our day bright and early, and with a few twists and turns we eventually made it to Casa Ilaria for our class.

The first part of our day was spent in the markets that were scattered along the side streets. It was so cute! We were able to taste cheeses and balsamic vinegars and even though it was barely ten in the morning, our mouths were watering right off the bat! After getting the essentials, we headed back to the kitchen (that is actually part of a bed and breakfast -- very nice) and got our aprons on!

Markets

Our to-cook list was:

Tagliatelle noodles (hand-made), ragu' alla bolognese, and a chocolate salami (I'm sure it sounds more appetizing in Italian).

We first started making the bolognese sauce. It had to sit and cook for two hours.

These are the recipes Ilaria, our instructor, gave us -- word for word.

__________________________________

Ragu' alla Bolognese

1 kg minced meat (pork and beef)

100 g minced onion, carrot, celery

150 g tomato sauce [she used puree]

100 g wine [we used a little bit of white and a little bit of red]

oil, salt

Stir fry vegetables until they get soft

Put the meat and cook it with high heat until it gives out all the water and gets brown, then add salt

Add wine and let dry, then add tomato sauce

Let it cook with low heat and half covered for at least 2 hours.

If you want to leave out fats, drain the oil from the meat before adding the wine.

__________________________________

Alicia starting off the sauce!

Once we had all of the ingredients in the pan, we let it sit, checking on it and adding water every once in a while. It was really crazy to see how much liquid was absorbed and how much water we had to keep adding!

Next it was pasta time! Tagliatelle is a very traditional pasta from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Our cooking instructor actually went to school for pasta making, so we knew it was going to be great! I wish I could tell you all about everything and recite everything she told us, but I'm not the biggest/best cook, so I just kind of went with the flow. I can tell you that the weather plays a big part in how the pasta reacts and how you have to handle it. It it's really dry compared to if it's really wet, or cold or warm, etc. On Saturday I don't know what was going on with the weather, but we had to add lots of flour to get the right kind of dough. Apparently the weekend before was the exact opposite. Sorry for my blabbering, hopefully any cooks out there aren't disgraced by my lack of knowledge! I hope you at least enjoy the photos! :) 

__________________________________

Basic Pasta

1 kg flour

10 eggs [we used three, 10 is for a lot of people]

Put flour on the table as if it was a volcano with a big hole in the middle

Break the eggs into the hole and work them with a fork to mix them into the flour

Be careful not to go out of the volcano!

When pasta becomes a little bit solid, start to work it with the hands for at least 20 minutes, to mix the ingredients very well

When it is ready, cut it in two balls [we didn't since we weren't working with THAT much], put them in a plastic bag and leave it rest for 30 minutes.

Then you can begin to work it with the rolling pin, trying to maintain a circle or an oval.

__________________________________

mmm-mmm!

Once the dough was all mixed (I did get to do my share of kneading, just not pictures of it!) we set it aside to sit. While we were waiting for the dough we got started on the dessert, which also had to sit for about two hours.

At first a "chocolate salami" didn't sound that appealing, but once she explained what it was, and I found out it was about 99% chocolate, I was on board. It's a really easy recipe, too! And just a warning, these pictures don't make it look very good at all, but I promise that it was!

__________________________________

Chocolate Salami

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

300 gr sugar

100 gr unsweetened cocoa

150 gr butter

200 gr hard cookies

(You can add hazelnuts, almonds, meringues)

Leave butter outside the fridge for a few hours

Cream butter with eggs and sugar, and add cocoa

Crush biscuits in a brown paper bag, leaving it chunky

Add to the mixture and mix well until combined

Empty onto aluminum foil, shape into a think sausage, wrap and roll until round

Chill for two hours

__________________________________

I just ate about two hours ago and was completely full, and now after looking at these pictures my stomach is starting to rumble!

After the dessert was in the freezer, it was back to the pasta! There was a technique needed to roll the dough, and it took a lot of practice, but I think we all got it down by the end of the day!

Wrists had to stay down, hands cupped, but open, not putting too much pressure on the dough. So many things to think about all at once -- it was like learning out to drive stick-shift all over again!

Concentration...

Flipping the dough over was a completely different skill!

Success!

Doing my best to keep the knife FLAT!

So much fun!

YUM!

The meal was delicious! Honestly it was one of the best meals I've ever had in my life!

And then the dessert was a whole other story... 

Make all of the gross comments you want, but it was also delicious! It definitely could have used a few more hours in the freezer, but it was amazing nonetheless!

Haha.. mmmmm.........

If I hadn't been wearing leggings, it would have been an unbotton-your-jeans-after-the-meal kind of moment. Good thing our day in Bologna wasn't done just yet, and we still had some walking to do!

Recipes in hand, we set off to see the sights, but again, we got turned around a few times and only made it to a few places. But to be honest, I was completely okay with it. I was ready to go to bed! We were able to see, however, the Seven Churches and the oldest university still in use.

Santo Stefano - Sette Chiese

It was pretty, and really old

The university dates back to 1088 and is still being used today.

Alma Mater Studiorum

Pretty sweet, huh? I really liked Bologna and I would have loved to go back and explore it a little more, but alas, I'm down to my last week!

This coming weekend I will be in Paris! I simply cannot wait and I am so excited to be going. It's been one of those places that's been calling my name for a while, and I really hope it lives up to my expectations!

If you try any of these recipes, let me know! It's a long day of preparation and cooking, but it's totally work it!

xxoo,

Kelly