Florence, Tuscany, and pasta making!

The past few days have been really busy, but completely amazing at the same time. This past weekend, I went to Florence with some friends. We got completely lost trying to find our hostel but after talking to the few people who knew enough English or were at least willing to point us in the right direction, we found it! Friday, we toured the Duomo. Emily and Jackie wanted to climb to the top of the dome to look around, while Hannah and I were perfectly content staying on solid ground. We managed to find a chocolate shop while we waited for them, so the time passed quickly.

By the time they had finished their adventure to the top, it was time for us to meet up with one of Jackie’s friends that is from Florence. Ellie had been a foreign exchange student at Jackie’s high school about 4 years ago. Ellie was so much fun and so full of energy the entire time she showed us around the city. She took us to the touristy spots but also showed us where she worked and her favorite gelato shop (which was amazing). She also took us into the market and haggled down all the prices for us. I honestly think she ended up saving me around 22 Euros over the course of our afternoon. The weather was even nice, not raining at all the entire day!

Saturday, we woke up and went to meet the bus for our Best of Tuscany tour at the train station. When we got there, we noticed we were the youngest ones and also the only ones not on a honeymoon and not retired with a group of friends. We met a lot of really nice people and even got tips for our trip to Rome this coming weekend. Our first stop was Siena. We met a local guide that told us about the horse races that take place on their square that is shaped more like a sea shell twice a year, July 2 and August 16. We then moved on to the duomo in Siena. The one in Florence was beautiful, but the duomo in Siena was completely breathtaking. It was all made from black and white striped marble. My favorite part was a room that never had torches or open flame inside so the paintings on the ceilings were bright and vibrant without ever having been restored.

 

We loaded up on the bus again and our next destination was a local family run organic vineyard. After a quick tour of the grounds and seeing where they actually produce the wine, we went inside for a meal that was 95% made from things grown on the farm. The only thing not grown on the farm was the cheese since their cows aren’t used for dairy. We also got to taste 4 different wines and spend some time taking in the beautiful Tuscany views.

We took a short bus ride to the town of San Gimignano which has a gelato shop that has won awards, so there was no way we could turn down getting some. I got blueberry lilac and vanilla, which was really good!

Our final stop on the tour was Pisa to see the Leaning Tower and learn a little history about the city. We took the cheesy pictures and then sat in the grass and people watched for about an hour. It was pretty funny to see just how ridiculous you look taking the pictures. After Pisa, we headed back to Florence and got a well deserved night of sleep before heading back to campus for the week.

Monday night, I had the privilege of signing up to take a pasta making class with a local restaurant owner. 12 girls all loaded up on the bus for the short 5 minute ride to the Hotel MonteGrappa where we met Luca. His mother and father started the restaurant 46 years ago. You could feel how excited he was to have us there. They usually aren’t open on Mondays but he was more than willing to open so we could learn from him. It was amazing to watch him work, rolling the pasta out thin, cutting it, and making the sauces. We also got to make some gnocchi, which is a potato based little pasta thing. He continued to tell us how happy he was for us to be there and made it a wonderful experience.

As I mentioned before, I’m headed to Rome this weekend for my last long weekend. It’s really hard to believe that next Friday, I’m already done with my CIMBA experience. I’m so happy I decided to study abroad. CIMBA has been a great opportunity and has given me an experience I never would have gotten anywhere else.

Until next time!

Ciao!

Kelsey