I can't believe it's ending

It's late Friday afternoon and I'm leaving the apartment in 12 hours.. this is so strange. I feel like I have been in Italy for just a week or so, and it's time to come home. I'm afraid of the traveling home (overweight luggage and stuff like that) but once I get on the plane, I know I'll be ready to be home. For now, I want to make today last as long as possible. It hasn't even really hit me yet that I'm going to be seeing my family and Drew very very soon!

Since my last cooking class, I have had a full and satisfying day and a half here. Yesterday (Thursday) was my last day of classes, which just included our final exams. My Italian exam went pretty well, I thought, except for one section where I honestly think that no one knew 4 or so of the verbs that we had to use. We'll see how that one turns out. And in photography, the exam itself was relatively easy. Then we presented our final projects, the photojournalism projects. Our teacher didn't say anything critical about mine, just a few positive things, so I guess that means I did well. Honestly, I have no idea how the grading in this class works, and my final grade will be a total surprise when it is posted. and when I figure out how to find out what the grade actually is... Then he came around and looked at our portfolios. Again, I think he liked mine, but I can't really be sure.

After that, it was summer again! It never stopped being summer, but I feel like some "break" should come after exams, so I was saying that summer break was back. I thought it was funny, at least. Most of the apartment went out to dinner at Cinghiale Bianco, a restaurant that Katie says is the best in Florence. I won't disagree! The food was great, and we were all in such a great mood, it being our last day of class and all.

From there we went to a few bars, none that were very exciting. There WAS one guy who danced to all of "single ladies", which was so amazing and fabuloussssss. On the way back home went to the SECRET BAKERY. yea, it's as exciting as it sounds. It's a place near our apartment (that somehow I've never been to) that starts baking pastries and things late at night for the next day. Small cafes and places that sell pastries will buy them from this bakery, but you can go, starting at 1:30, to get one for yourself! They were awesome.

Today I went to lunch, did some last-minute shopping, and I have been packing and cleaning since then.

I can't believe I'll be home tomorrow.

Love y'all!

Cooking Class #4

Wednesday night was the fourth and final cooking class! We were all sad to leave, but really happy with everything that we made.

I made the 1st and 4th recipesThe recipes were:

1. Bruschette Pomodoro Mozzarella e capperi: Bruschetta (pronounced brusKetta, by the way) with tomatoes and mozzarella. We decided we didn't want capers because we don't like them. We also got to choose whether or not to put them back in the oven at the end to melt the mozzarella. we did that! They turned out really really well- things like this make me like tomatoes. at least the really good ones in Italy

2. Cotoletta di melanzana: Fried eggplant slices. They also made a marinara sauce to put on it, making it like Eggplant Parmesan, without the parmesan... These were so good.

3. Pasta ai frutti di mare: Seafood pasta. This included mussels, prawns, calamari, octopus, and shrimp. The poor people who were assigned this dish had to clean and cut all of the whole pieces of seafood. I'm so so glad I didn't have to do that.

4. Ciambellone al Marsala- cake with Marsala, except we used a different wine than marsala because Marco thinks that it's too strong of a taste. What we ended up using made a good cake! We also made whipped cream to put on top, and I asked to put vanilla and cinnamon in it. That turned out well!

We hung around for a bit longer than normal because we were all hesitant to leave. Marco was such a great teacher, and a really nice person. A lot of us got a picture with him before we left.

ROME

This will be my last trip blog! :( I wen to Rome this weekend, but did not end up going to Venice, as I had originally planned. After riding a train for 4 hours twice in two days, i decided that two 5-hour train rides in one day would just be way too much. I'm not too upset about this decision. If I were, I could work it out to to go Venice this Friday before I leave. I don't think I'll end up doing that, though.

THIS trip started like many others, Friday morning. Kelly and I met at the train station at 9am to get the next train to rome, which was conveniently leaving 15 minutes later! Yoya was hopefully going to be coming after her class that day. Kelly and I got two of the seats on the train that don't face the seats that face backwards- these were just like any other seats on a plane or a bus. Later, though, we switched to some of the other seats because if no one is sitting in the seats facing you, then you get more leg room and have chairs to prop your legs on!

Irrelevant.

The train ride was about 4 hours long, but because we were so ready to be there, it felt like so much longer. We started making bets on how many more stops it would be- we couldn't cheat, either, because we couldn't figure out how to read the chart that told us where the train stopped on the way there. I still have no idea how many stops there were, but there were too many.

The Roma Termini station is so large that when you get there you feel like you're in an airport- there are the shops like they have in an airport where you can get everything you need for a trip before you officially enter the city. There is also a underground part of the station that will lead you to the metro station. There are also several exits, we soon learned, because we went out the wrong one to get to our hostel. I'm glad we asked someone in a store where our street was, because we would have been heading off in the complete opposite direction.

In booking our hostel, I tried to find one that was close to the train station, which I think ended up being a very good thing. We found it in about 10 minutes (which is very close, considering how big Rome is) but couldn't figure out how to get in. The hostel is on the second floor of this building, but I momentarily forgot that the second floor of a building in Italy is actually the third floor (Ground, First, Second) and we stood outside looking pretty stupid for a few minutes. When we finally made it in, we paid our way, requested towels, and went and put our stuff in our room. We ended up being given a three-person bedroom, which was awesome- we could leave our stuff in there and not have to worry about someone else being able to get to it. It was just a room with 3 beds, a table, two bedside tables, and a window. The bathrooms were on the halls, which was less of a deal than I though it would be: the showers at least had real doors on them, and the bathrooms were very very clean.

Around this time I got a text from Yoya saying that she wasn't going to be able to make it. because of that, Kelly and I decided to go ahead and start seeing things around the city. (I did tell Yoya though that she was going to have to pay for the hostel since they need 24 hours notice for a cancellation- Yoya ended up coming later!)

Kelly and I put our stuff down and went to venture around Rome! We knew that we needed to walk left-ish to get to the Coliseum, so we wandered in that direction, without much help from a map at all. We stopped a snack bar/pizzeria thing, where she got a caprese salad, and i got a kebab. i don't know why, but for some reason, kebab places are everywhere around here. The man who was working there was so nice and helpful, and gave us hugs and kisses on the cheeks when we left...

After walking about ten more minutes, we came to an intersection where we had to decide which direction to take- i chose left, when i saw that the coliseum was in that direction! power of observation FTW. we got to the point where we could look out at the coliseum, but couldn't figure out how to get down to it. turns out all we needed to do was turn around and go down through the subway to get there, but it took us another 5 minutes of wandering in the wrong direction to figure that out...

SO we finally got down next to the coliseum, and as we were wondering how to get in, a girl approached us with the opportunity to have a tour of the coliseum and to skip the lines. for 28 euro. i knew that wasn't a good deal for some reason, and we kept walking. but when another girl, clearly a native english speaker, approached us with the same deal, plus a tour of the palatine hill and roman forum for 20 euro, we decided to do it. considering a ticket into the places is 12 euro, we basically paid 8 for a tour and the ability to skip the lines. too bad i didn't go 20 years ago when it was free to get in! ha

the tour started up about 15 minutes later with a man from Rome who was really entertaining. he had a story time outside the coliseum for about 20 minutes before we went in, that was informative and entertaining- he kept pulling kelly up to use as a volunteer, though she never volunteered herself. I think that made it more fun for me, knowing the person who was called up there.

When we actually went into the Coliseum, we were probably in there for about 20-30 minutes. I'd like to say it was overwhelmingly awesome and that it took my breath away, but really, it was exactly what I had expected. I learned about the Coliseum in my Ancient Cities class, and I have seen many pictures of it. So as I was listening to our guide, I was looking out into the stadium thinking that it looked exactly like I thought it would. It was still pretty cool though!

When our tour changed to the Palatine Hill, our guide switched. This one was a woman from New Jersey, who was really into the history of the place, which made it more enjoyable for me. About 10 minutes into the tour of the Hill, Kelly had had enough of the tour, and broke off to do her own thing. I was enjoying the information and wanted to make sure I saw everything, so I stuck with it. I'm glad I did! When we got to the Roman Forum, we looked out on it, and Jennifer (the guide) gave us all the information about the buildings from there. After that, she told us about the tour she was giving the next morning of the Vatican, and we were free to go. I walked around for about 10-15 minutes on my own, taking pictures of the Forum, and then went to find Kelly by the Coliseum.

Temple of Antonius and Faustina in the Roman Forum

Note: Everywhere we had been so far had a fountain with drinking water nearby, which was a really nice treat. The water came through the ancient plumbing (with new pipes) and was spring water! It was so nice to have a source of FREE WATER.

From the Coliseum, we walked in the general direction of the Trevi Fountain. It was, of course, incredibly crowded, but I did get a picture in front of it, and made a wish! We didn't stay there long since neither of us are interested in being a part of big crowds, and we set out to wander around and eventually find dinner.

Pinocchio!!

We stumbled across the Pantheon, but I think it was closed at that point. I took a picture of it, and was satisfied with that. We got dinner at another pizzeria place that had good lasagna. I had that and a fanta, which I have become obsessed with- it's different than back home. After that we.. wandered some more. We found this gelateria that had SO MANY FLAVORS. it had at least 70, no joke. and i got three flavors for 2.50. it was amazing! from there we walked back by the Trevi fountain, which was still crowded. We headed north and ended up walking for hours around Rome, which was really beautiful. We got to uptown Rome, which has a bunch of nice hotels and restaurants, and we felt like we were in NYC. We came across a park that had a movie being shown on a big screen. I have no idea where that was. We really were literally wandering.

A hotel we saw while wandering around.

We eventually headed back to the hostel, because there we had a free bathroom! and we were tired, of course. We made friends with the man at the front desk when Kelly needed to use the computer. He let her use that for as long as she needed, gave me good directions for getting to the Vatican the next day, AND gave us a bottle of wine... That part was kind of weird. Yoya got there eventually, and after we talked for a while, we went to sleep, planning on getting up relatively early the next morning to head to the Vatican!

SATURDAY: (this post is so long already)

The three of us woke up around 8:00, packed up, said goodbye to Monjur, who was still awake at the front desk, and left around 8:30. I was not about to walk all the way to the Vatican from where we were, so I was headed to the Metro station around the corner. Kelly and Yoya decided to do that, too. We had breakfast at a little bar on the way to the City, and then we split up. I was taking the tour that Jennifer (tour guide of the Palatine Hill/Roman Forum) was giving, but neither of them wanted to pay for a tour, so they set out to walk around on their owns.

I was so glad that I was doing the tour. It lasted for about 3 hours, we got some really really good information, and I got to skip the 3 hours of lines! The tour started off in the Vatican Museums, including the Raphael Rooms, continued into the Sistine Chapel, and then ended at St. Peter's Basilica. I was one of the people in a large group wearing an earbud listening to a woman with a microphone, but I so didn't care. I was taking notes the whole time, and thinking that I was so glad to be there. It turns out it was a good thing that I did the tour, because I think that Kelly and Yoya decided that they didn't want to wait in the line for the Sistine Chapel, and never ended up seeing it :(

I snuck a really bad picture of the Chapel ceiling. It was worth it, though!

On my way out. I don't know why I'm standing like that...

After the tour, I had lunch with a girl who I met in my tour group. Her name is Tara, and she is doing an internship in Paris for the summer. She had gotten lost from the group for about an hour during the tour. She had heard one word that Jennifer said: "cafe", and she asked someone where the cafe was. He ended up taking her to the top of the Basilica, thinking that was the only one that it could be. Turns out, we were by the cafe in the Sistine Chapel, but she got a ride to the top of the Basilica for free! But anyway, Tara and I got lunch outside the city, and then said "It was nice to meet you!" and went our separate ways. I headed back to the metro station to get a ride to the train station. I got to the train station at around 4:00, and the next train to Florence was at 4:45. After I spent about 20 minutes trying to find the train (it was at some extension of a platform, hidden from view) and then got on and sat for the next 4 hours or so. I ended up really enjoying the train ride by myself.

I got back to Florence at around 8:45 Saturday night. No one was in my apartment when I got back, but I enjoyed talking to mom and drew on the phone!

Sunday I ended up doing museum visits and resting all day. It was really relaxing, and I think I would be much much more exhausted now had I not done that!

I'm sorry that this post is so late! and so long.

That was Rome for me!

Cooking Class #3

Yet another amazing cooking class tonight! It was even better because I realized yesterday that there is another class next week, so tonight was not the last one! yaaaaaaaay

Here's what was made:

1. Ravioli spinaci e ricotta (you can figure that one out for yourself): ENTIRELY from scratch! the pasta was mixed and rolled out, filled with the filling, and cut! dressed with really simple sauce of butter, oil, and sage leaves. The group who made these did a really good job, and i really enjoyed them.

2. Piselli al prosciutto: this was basically just a sautee with vegetables. we didn't use any prosciutto because it was paired with a dish with prosciutto, and because a girl in the class doesn't eat pork and things like that. it ended up being shallots, zucchini, and red peppers (By the way, the red peppers here are HUGE. twice the size of large ones at home. and really really tasty) I made this one.

3. Saltimbocca alla Romana: basically a pile of tenderized beef (that we pounded ourselves, first time for me) prosciutto, and sage leaves. This was the dish paired with the vegetables. You sautee this in butter, and then make a gravy after their cooked to pour over the pieces. this was great, and i could have eaten all of them. I made this one as well

4. Torta di Ricotta (Ricotta tort, silly!): we each had an individual pie of this. it's basically italian cheesecake. and since i'm all about cheesecake i'll be coming back and making this! they also made a strawberry sauce to put on it/next to it. the recipe didn't have a crust, but he had made dough for them to use, as well as a blueberry puree to eat it with.

i could have stayed there and eaten these things all night. these are some of the best meals i'm having in italy, and i'm making parts of them!!

tomorrow is italian quiz #3. yippee.

I'd like to give a shout-out to Drew, who I have been dating for 2 and a half years today! haha when do we stop counting half years? not yet! :) love you!

love and miss y'all! i'll be home really soon, it seems.

AMALFI COAST: Sorrento, Capri, Pompei

Note: Remember when I said that Cinque Terre was the most beautiful place I've ever seen? It has lost that title. Capri, with it's beautiful coastline, and water a blue I have never seen, has won my heart.

The trip started last Friday morning, when Kelly, Erin and I took the 9.10 train to Napoli. (Yoya was leaving after her class later that day) We were riding one of the fast trains that would get there in 3 hours, which was nice, except the tickets are twice the price of the normal trains. The train ended up being a 9.45 train, since it was delayed 35 minutes (story of our lives). It was an enjoyable ride, and I wouldn't have minded staying in that comfortable seat with air conditioning for the rest of the day. The train was almost set up like an airplane- it looked that nice on the inside.

When we got to Napoli, he had to take a local train to Sorrento. Upstairs in the train station is where all of the regional train world is, but when you go downstairs to the local train area, it's completely different, and almost kind of scary. Right before I bought my ticket, a man went up to the counter, acting as if he just needed to ask a question, and ended up buying a ticket. Because of the language barrier, all I was able to do was glare at him so hard. On the other side of me was a kid asking for money. As soon as he said a few words (that I didn't understand) I said "no" and walked out of line.

The three of us got on the train to Sorrento, which was nothing at all like the one we had just gotten off of. This train was small, uncomfortable, covered in graffiti, and had no air conditioning. We're used to that kind of situation now, but that didn't make it any more comfortable. The train to sorrento was about an hour and 20 minutes because it stops in every.town.on.the.way.

When we got to Sorrento, we immediately went and found food for lunch. we each got a pizza and ate all of it. They were good, and decently-priced. From there we headed to our hostel, "Hostel Le Sirene", where the girl at the counter said "Allora" way too often. (I still haven't mastered quite when to say this word, and her saying it every sentence didn't help me). We were shown to our room, which had 6 beds, and we spread out and layed down for a while.

When Yoya met up with us about an hour and a half later, we headed to the beach in Sorrento. There is one small strip of sandy beach, which is the free beach, which was also very very crowded. We went a little bit farther and found a private beach with deck chairs and floating chairs. We hung out here for about 3 hours and then went back up to get ready to go to dinner.

We went to a restaurant that Erin went to the two nights she was there the month before, called "Leone Rosso" (I took a picture of the sign and tagged drew in it, of course) We all really enjoyed the dishes that we chose. Erin told the waiter that she had been there the month before and had to bring us back with her, and thanked them for being so nice. So they brought us each a tiramisu FO FREE. that was pretty sweet.

Wandering around Sorrento, I figured there must have been something special going on that weekend- the streets were lined with vendors selling chocolate-covered things and cotton candy. There were cheesy street lights decorating the streets, and a stage set up for performers. I never found out the reason, but it did make walking down the streets more enjoyable. We shopped around for a bit, and ended up in the English Beer Gardens. We were there pretty early, but that meant we had a table when the place became really crowded, which was fun to watch. After that, we called it a night pretty early and headed to bed.

Saturday morning we got up to go to CAPRI! We got our free breakfast in the diner next to the hostel, and went to get on the ferry to get to the island. The ride there was only about 30 minutes. Immediately getting off the ferry, we went and got tickets for a boat tour around the island. This was definitely worth the time and the little money it cost. From that view, we could really see just how beautiful Capri really was. My pictures are nice but cannot really convey what we saw there. About twenty minutes into the ride, we stopped at the Blue Grotto (Grotta Azzura) and were given the option of paying to go on a little boat to go in there. The four of us decided to do that. I got some pretty cool pictures, but I'm pretty sure I never need to do that again. for 11,50 euro, we were inside the grotto for about 4 minutes. that was stupid. The rest of the boat ride was really enjoyable, and I didn't feel like I had been ripped off when it came to that.

Grotta Azzurra

After the boat tour we went and found some lunch, and then started the trip up to Capri Town. According to my guidebook, there are the options of taking an open-air taxi, or the railway up to Capri Town. We did neither of those, and climbed the 450 feet of stairs. The pictures that we took of each other when we reached the top are not quite as flattering as I would have liked, but we can't help that.

We shopped around up there for a while, and then made our way down a different side of the island in search of a beach. We finally found one that was just gorgeous, and isolated from everything else. Their chairs had all been claimed, so we got to go in for less than we would have otherwise. We swam around there for a few hours, and then needed to get back to the Marina Grande in order to catch the ferry back. It was then that we realized how far we had walked and how isolated this beach was- we had to climb up the same 450 feet to get back to Capri town and then back down the way we had gotten there the first time. I was going to sleep well that night.

I guess it was around this time that my stomach started feeling badly, but I decided to ignore it for the most part. We went back to Sorrento and got ready to go out to dinner. When we got back to the Hostel from Capri, we found that there was a man in our room. He was a new roommate, and we had left our stuff in the hostel. We were fortunate that he was nice and that all of our stuff was ok. He was supposed to be in a room with 10 guys originally. That wasn't us.. On our way out we ran into our second new roommate, a woman from China named May.

We went to dinner at Cafe Latino, a place that Kelly and Yoya found the day before and wanted to try. It was a cool place, tucked away in a garden, with a nice atmosphere. It was odd, though, that there was a projector and screen where we were sitting with R&B music videos from the 80s that were really very inappropriate. I don't know why they thought that was a good idea. This place really was in a garden, and we fully understood that when a lemon fell out of a tree and missed Kelly's head by only a few feet. She carried that lemon around with her for the rest of the night.

When we finished dinner, I decided that I didn't want to go out because I wasn't feeling well. Erin was tired, so she and I went back while Kelly and Yoya when out. They didn't end up coming back till 3 or 4, while we went to bed around 10.30. haha

The next morning I realized that I just needed to go home instead of going to Positano. Yoya was going home as well. She, Kelly, and I wanted to hit up Pompeii while we were in the area, so we took that local train in the direction of Napoli and got off in Pompeii. Erin had been there the month before, so she went straight to Positano.

It was so cool to be in Pompeii. I studied it in Latin in high school, and being there was just unreal. I never thought that I would be able to walk through ancient ruins like that, and I was doing it. We had fun taking our time walking around taking pictures. It would have been more fun if we hadn't had to carry our bags around, but that didn't slow us down much.

ancient toilets... :D

We ate lunch just outside the ruins, and then got on our respective trains: Yoya and I to Napoli, and Kelly back to Sorrento, from which she would get a bus to Positano.

This is where the story about the trip should have dwindled down and ended. Unfortunately, this is not so. Yoya and I got to Napoli around 2.00 and tried to use one of the machines to get tickets to Florence. We were going to take the slow train back in order to save money. However, the machine wouldn't work for us, and we got in the real line to buy the tickets. 15 people and 30 minutes later, we were next in line, when a man walks up (again, looking like he's just going to ask a question) and BUYS A DAMN TICKET! If my eyes really burned like they probably looked like they were, he would have had a hole in the back of his head. I'm surprised Yoya didn't go off on him. We finally got up to the counter and bought our cheap tickets to Florence, with a transfer in Rome. The train would leave an hour and a half from then.

unrelated, but you have to pay a euro to go to the bathroom in the train station.

waiting for our train in naples

Of course, the train was late, by 30 minutes. It was one of the Hogwarts Express-like trains, and we had to sit in the fold-out aisle seats for the first 45 minutes or so because the train was so crowded. We took the seats of some people who got off before Rome. When we got to Rome we got off and checked to see when the next train to Florence was leaving. There was one leaving in TWO minutes, so we ran down and hopped on. We found a cabin that had no one in it, but had some luggage. When the owners of the luggage came back, they made us change seats, even though these trains have no assigned seats. About 45 minutes into the ride, we started smelling something unpleasant. Someone suggested that it smelled like smoke, just as the cabin started to get a bit foggy. We got our stuff and moved to a cabin that was closer to the front, where the smell and smoke weren't as bad. Then the train stopped for about 10 minutes. Everyone was out in the aisle, leaning their heads out the doors, trying to figure out what was going on. I think we learned that they thought that something was going on with the brakes. The train started and stopped again about 2 or 3 more times, and then kept going all the way to Florence. I was glad we didn't have to change trains.

Checkin' it out

We got back to Florence around 11.00, and I was starving. I made myself a Caprese salad, called home, and went to bed. There were only 2 other people in the apartment, and I scared them when I came home because they weren't expecting anyone.

The Amalfi coast was gorgeous, and I had a great time. Despite it being more plain in comparison, though, I think I had a better experience in Cinque Terre. It has been my favorite so far.

I'm sorry if this was hard to follow! Writing about such a big trip is intimidating!

Love y'all!

weekend number 3

i can't believe i'm posting twice in one day! i suppose i'm just putting off packing for this weekend. tomorrow morning, erin, kelly and i will leave on a 9:10 train to sorrento for our weekend in the amalfi coast! Yoya will join us later after her class. i'm assuming things will run much more smoothly than last weekend. i'll call home to say i got there safely. if you're concerned, call my mom :)

today's tests went pretty well. my presentation in italian was super easy, much to my surprise, and i felt much better prepared for the quiz there. the midterm in photography was harder than i expected, and i misunderstood some of the directions because i was reading broken english. i'm sure it's all fine but that's irritating.

all of my apartment plus kelly went to dinner at aqcua al 2, which was THE BEST meal i've had so far. i had a pasta dish with swordfish sauce, which i've never had before. it tastes like ham, which i thought was pretty good.

ok. i need to pack. buon fine settimana! love y'all!

Uffizi Gallery, Cooking class #2

Yesterday I finally sucked it up and went to buy the "Friends of the Uffizi"/Uffizi Pass. For 40 euro you get admission to a good list of museums (including the Academia) and get to skip the line to wait. I'm hoping that I'll go to enough museums now to make it worth it, but I know I'll really appreciate not having to stand in line. I can get up in the morning, to go a museum, and get to class without having to rush.

So after buying the pass, I went into the gallery itself. I didn't really know what I was getting myself in to, I just knew that I wanted to go. Buying a guidebook before entering would have been logical, but I didn't know yet that I wanted one. I soon learned that going through the gallery alone was actually really pleasant- I could maneuver my way around the big tour groups who would all stop and listen to someone talk about one piece, and I could go look at whatever I wanted without worrying about losing someone. I enjoyed reading the descriptions of the pieces, namely the historical and political aspects of the paintings/sculptures and about the museum. I was that kid taking notes from the plaques. It's fine.

Had I been trying to count the number of pieces entitled "Madonna and child enthroned by/between (angels, saints...)" I would have lost count. I'm glad I didn't try. I grew tired of those pieces depicting the same thing, and half-way through the gallery (after having been there for an hour or so) I started skimming through rooms. I'm sure I saw all of the pieces that there were to see, but I was lingering around and reading about particular pieces less and less often. I knew that if I wanted to, I could come back pretty easily.

I would love to post here some pictures that I took of my favorite pieces. Unfortunately, no cameras allowed. I did end up buying a guide book on my way out, which has the gallery divided up by room and has descriptions of all of the pieces.

In between my museum visit and my first class, I grabbed a sandwich. I had seen this stand with a really long line the week before, and decided it was worth waiting for. What I got will probably shock some people: a tuna sandwich with tomato and onion. and I really liked it. I don't know why but that was what I was craving when I saw it as an option. I enjoyed it enough that I didn't even care that I got some on my shirt...

After classes I had thirty minutes until my cooking class. I was starving and couldn't wait till we got to eat after cooking everything, so naturally, I got some gelato. I went to the place where we had a gelato-making tour and tasting last week, because I thought the people were really nice and the gelato is cheap. The man gave me a sample as soon as I walked in of a gelato made from cheese and pears. It was delicious, and I got a cup of that and peanut butter & chocolate (that's one flavor). Odd combination, but again, was exactly what I wanted. I walked around the central market for a bit, looking for things to bring back for Drew and my family. I walked away from any vendors who greeted me by saying "Ciao bella" because I'm so damn tired of that. I ended up having to walk away from a lot of vendors, and left empty-handed (except for my gelato that I was still enjoying).

Cooking class was so much fun though! We cooked 4 recipes again:

1. Risotto all Milanese: I learned what rices are the only ones that I can use if I want good risotto.

2. Pasta al pesto tradizionale: We learned how to cheat and use what I call a "wand blender" to make pesto without it turning black from the metal blades (you boil the basil for 10 seconds and then immediately put it in cold water)

3. Crochette di pollo (chicken meatballs. they weren't my favorite)

4.Torta di cioccolato: a chocolate cake, that he alters a bit and puts thin slices of peaches in. SO good.

I cooked the chocolate cake with 2 other girls. It was nice because when the cake was in the oven, I got to walk around and watch what everyone else was doing. Class is supposed to be over at 9, but the cake didn't even come out of the oven until 9. Marco likes to refrigerate it with a glaze once it's done, but we didn't have time for that and ate it warm. It was still really good, despite it not being totally done, I guess. Marco told us that he was going to be giving us a good, crisp wine to drink with the risotto, but that never happened since we were all running behind. He promised 2 bottles for next week! haha

Marco helping with the chicken meatballs.

Every Thursday in Italian we have a quiz, so I have that today. I also have my photography midterm, which I'm not looking forward to.

That reminds me: the other day in photography we went to La Specola, a zoology museum, to practice taking pictures in harsh lighting. It's a museum of embalmed animals. Here is what is said online about it: "founded by Grand Duke Leopold of Lorraine, was opened in 1775 and is the oldest science museum in Europe. Contains the largest collection in the world of wax anatomical models, made between 1770 and 1850, and over 3.5 million animals of which approximately 5,000 public display. " What I experienced was an un-airconditioned building with DEAD ANIMALS. And when you get farther into it, you find sections of figures using the casts from dead people. I took some pictures of them too, but will not post them here. They'll give you nightmares.

I can't believe this week is practically over. It seems that just yesterday I came back from Cinque Terre, and my weekend starts today after class. If this is how quickly my weeks are going to go, I'll be home in no time.

This weekend I'm going to the Amalfi coast! I'll be in Sorrento Friday and Saturday nights, and Positano Sunday night. I hope that it will work out for me to to do Rome and Venice next weekend!

Arrivederci!