Ciao a tutti!
Can't talk long but I just wanted to let everyone know that after a ridiculously difficult and emotional week, it's all over! Tonight, Carla's parents are taking us out to dinner and tomorrow at 6:15 am, we leave for Barcelona. Elisa is going to be nasty about us skipping class but she's going to have to deal with it because she's the one that made me need this vacation so badly. I'll be back Monday morning and then Paul comes Tuesday morning! I have a whirlwind week and a half ahead of me! I can't wait!
I will be back from Barcelona with a lot of stories!
Happy Halloween!
Elsa
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
The Weekend
So last night, we did something a little different, which was lots of fun. Carla's mom is here visiting from the States, and once they got out of dinner everyone who was in Florence for the weekend (not Maggie Wright or Andrea) went to their hotel to hang out. They are staying in a beautiful hotel right on the Arno, called Hotel Orafi. Carla's mom was able to get us up on the terrace for drinks and snacks (which she had brought from the States). It was so funny because we couldn't just bring the drinks and snacks, even though they were ours. We had to give them to the waitstaff, and then have them served. So, Mrs. Katigbak gave them our Fritoes and Cheetoes and bottles of wine. 5 minutes later, they brought everything out on a silver platter. It was hilarious to see the junk food come out in its original bag on this silver platter. And the waiter was taking it sooooo seriously! We laughed about that for a while. The terrace was beautiful, of course. It had a great view of the Duomo and the Piazza della Signoria. We had a really nice time, but unfortunately, I ended up paying 15 euro for a cab ride home. I hate the taxis here.
This morning, we got to the train station around 9:30 to head to Lucca for a day trip. The trip took about 1.5 hours, so it really wasn't that bad. As soon as we arrived, we got lunch at a cute little place. We were even able to sit outside because the weather was picture-perfect! After lunch, we walked around for a few hours and climbed the famous tower "Guinigi" for an amazing view. We were amused by the fact that there were trees planted all the way on top of this tower. We spent about 20 minutes up there, just checking out the mountains and breathing in the fresh air.
When we came down, we decided to walk around the outskirts of Lucca, along the famous Renaissance wall. It was really nice because they had a bike path and there were no cars, so we thoroughly enjoyed the stroll. There was actually a lot of grass in Lucca! I have yet to find any in Florence. Around 3, we became really tired and decided to cut through the city to get to the other side of the wall where we had entered. We caught the train right away and now, here I am!
I'm so glad we decided to do a little day trip. Florence drives me crazy during the week, with the terrible bus system and crazy people. It felt good to get to a quaint, old-fashioned town where I didn't have to rush anywhere. I hate rushing. And Lucca was just so cultural and cute!
Anyway, we have a busy week ahead of us. We'll all be preparing for Barcelona on Friday and then when I return, Paul's coming! There's so much to look forward to, but I will have soooo much work to catch up on. Ugh.
Buona serata!
This morning, we got to the train station around 9:30 to head to Lucca for a day trip. The trip took about 1.5 hours, so it really wasn't that bad. As soon as we arrived, we got lunch at a cute little place. We were even able to sit outside because the weather was picture-perfect! After lunch, we walked around for a few hours and climbed the famous tower "Guinigi" for an amazing view. We were amused by the fact that there were trees planted all the way on top of this tower. We spent about 20 minutes up there, just checking out the mountains and breathing in the fresh air.
When we came down, we decided to walk around the outskirts of Lucca, along the famous Renaissance wall. It was really nice because they had a bike path and there were no cars, so we thoroughly enjoyed the stroll. There was actually a lot of grass in Lucca! I have yet to find any in Florence. Around 3, we became really tired and decided to cut through the city to get to the other side of the wall where we had entered. We caught the train right away and now, here I am!
I'm so glad we decided to do a little day trip. Florence drives me crazy during the week, with the terrible bus system and crazy people. It felt good to get to a quaint, old-fashioned town where I didn't have to rush anywhere. I hate rushing. And Lucca was just so cultural and cute!
Anyway, we have a busy week ahead of us. We'll all be preparing for Barcelona on Friday and then when I return, Paul's coming! There's so much to look forward to, but I will have soooo much work to catch up on. Ugh.
Buona serata!
Friday, October 23, 2009
Pranzo with Aunt Gale and Uncle Ellis
This morning was ordinary. I sat in CLIDA class for 1.5 completely fed up with the Italian language. I didn't want to do anything, and couldn't understand any of the grammar points that we were learning. We had History of Costume at 11 and Elisa showed up late again, 30 minutes into class. Once class was over, I was happy to walk down along the Arno for lunch with Aunt Gale and Uncle Ellis.
They arrived from the States late Wednesday night and had called yesterday with a lunch invitation, which I was happy to accept. I made it to their house in about 20 minutes and Uncle Ellis was standing at the door waiting for me because apparently, I'm a slow walker. I already knew that, considering my 5'2" stature.
He brought me inside and I greeted Aunt Gale and their friend Dino who had come along for the ride. Then, I got a tour. Their house is completely incredible! It used to be an office building which they bought in 2001. It took them 4 years to get it completely renovated. Uncle Ellis had all the before and after pictures and I was shocked. I couldn't even figure out how it looked the way it did. During the renovation, they had discovered 4 fresco-ed ceilings which they also had uncovered and restored. They were absolutely magnificent and soooo colorful! Everything was state-of-the-art. The kitchen was beautiful tiled and just the right size. The bathrooms had those tiny mosaic tiles that started on the floor as dark blue and tapered off to white as you reached the ceiling. I wish I could have taken pictures, but I didn't want to be weird.
We had a really nice lunch. We started with cheesy parmesan pasta and zucchini, and the main course included a great fish in a light olive oil and tomato sauce. There was also awesome salted spinach. Dessert included an apple tart, berries with sugar, and espresso. It was all wonderful and we had a really nice time talking and catching up. I'll also be going there for Thanksgiving when they return in November. They have a tradition to have all their Italian friends over (about 30 people) for an American style Thanksgiving. Each year, they have a theme. This year, it will be NYC, so everyone has to wear black. Easy enough. I'm really looking forward to it.
Anyway, this week has been a rough one, so I'm excited to go out tonight. Not sure what we're doing yet, but we want to find a new bar and just hang out. We'll see what happens. I'm totally sleeping in tomorrow.
Ciao!
They arrived from the States late Wednesday night and had called yesterday with a lunch invitation, which I was happy to accept. I made it to their house in about 20 minutes and Uncle Ellis was standing at the door waiting for me because apparently, I'm a slow walker. I already knew that, considering my 5'2" stature.
He brought me inside and I greeted Aunt Gale and their friend Dino who had come along for the ride. Then, I got a tour. Their house is completely incredible! It used to be an office building which they bought in 2001. It took them 4 years to get it completely renovated. Uncle Ellis had all the before and after pictures and I was shocked. I couldn't even figure out how it looked the way it did. During the renovation, they had discovered 4 fresco-ed ceilings which they also had uncovered and restored. They were absolutely magnificent and soooo colorful! Everything was state-of-the-art. The kitchen was beautiful tiled and just the right size. The bathrooms had those tiny mosaic tiles that started on the floor as dark blue and tapered off to white as you reached the ceiling. I wish I could have taken pictures, but I didn't want to be weird.
We had a really nice lunch. We started with cheesy parmesan pasta and zucchini, and the main course included a great fish in a light olive oil and tomato sauce. There was also awesome salted spinach. Dessert included an apple tart, berries with sugar, and espresso. It was all wonderful and we had a really nice time talking and catching up. I'll also be going there for Thanksgiving when they return in November. They have a tradition to have all their Italian friends over (about 30 people) for an American style Thanksgiving. Each year, they have a theme. This year, it will be NYC, so everyone has to wear black. Easy enough. I'm really looking forward to it.
Anyway, this week has been a rough one, so I'm excited to go out tonight. Not sure what we're doing yet, but we want to find a new bar and just hang out. We'll see what happens. I'm totally sleeping in tomorrow.
Ciao!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Reese's PB Cups
I couldn't let this go unacknowledged...
I just gave Maria Pia one of the Reese's Peanut Butter Crunchy Cups that Mrs. Fanelli sent me. SHE WENT NUTS. "Squisito!!" she exclaimed. (That means exquisite). I have never seen her react that crazily before. It was hilarious. Thanks Mrs. Fanelli! Maria Pia says thanks too :)
Buona notte
I just gave Maria Pia one of the Reese's Peanut Butter Crunchy Cups that Mrs. Fanelli sent me. SHE WENT NUTS. "Squisito!!" she exclaimed. (That means exquisite). I have never seen her react that crazily before. It was hilarious. Thanks Mrs. Fanelli! Maria Pia says thanks too :)
Buona notte
Not terrible
I arose from my bed this morning, dreading the day. Elisa tutoring session day. Following a little grammar lesson at CLIDA, the five of us tutorees headed to Il Museo Nazionale del Bargello. Dobby was there to greet us, and we breathed a sigh of relief. When she soon informed us that she wasn't joining us on the tour, we frowned- it meant we had to be alone with Elisa! Elisa arrived and chatted with us for a while... yes, CHATTED. That was our first shocker.
We spent 2 hours going through the Bargello, which was an awesome museum. This time, she didn't fly through everything as much as she had last week. I was still tired, but very interested in what she had to say. We saw one of the largest and most famous ivory collections in the world, Donatello's David, sculptures by Michelangelo, and a bunch of really cool bronze statues. I definitely have to go back. At the end of the tutoring session, she gave us a quiz on our readings. We all failed miserably. I spent countless hours on those readings and still could not understand what was important and what wasn't. My problems were certainly evident in the quiz. We weren't graded; Elisa just wanted to show us how important it is to learn the dates (UGH) and minute details. This class is going to be ridiculously hard. At least I like museums!
To assess Elisa at that session, she was intense, but not mean. There were points at the end where she made some faces about how stupid our answers were, etc, but that was the extent of it. Following the session, we quickly grabbed lunch and booked it back to CLIDA. We didn't want to be late after last week's incident.
We arrived on time for our History of Costume tutoring session and Elisa actually said hello and greeted Carla (she doesn't take Museologia, so it was the first time they had seen each other for the week). Then, we got down to business. We had a lot of questions on the readings, but she seemed pretty open to answer them all and understood why we had those particular questions. At the end, she gave us a quiz, and we all did pretty well. There were a few I didn't know, but remembered once we went over it.
So, we left our second tutoring session a little confused. Elisa had been fairly normal all day. She didn't look approachable, but she certainly had a calm delivery and didn't make anyone cry. We're thinking that this change might have happened as a result of someone saying something. Gabriella was very upset by her behavior last week, so we think that she may have called Holy Cross. Either something was done, or it's just another reason to think that Elisa could be bi-polar. Anyway, the week is coming to a close and I am so glad. I am exhausted. Tomorrow, I have class from 9-1 and then I'm going to my Uncle Ellis' and Aunt Gale's for lunch. They just arrived from the US and have a house along the Arno. I'm really excited to see some American family members.
I'll update tomorrow after lunch.
Ciao
We spent 2 hours going through the Bargello, which was an awesome museum. This time, she didn't fly through everything as much as she had last week. I was still tired, but very interested in what she had to say. We saw one of the largest and most famous ivory collections in the world, Donatello's David, sculptures by Michelangelo, and a bunch of really cool bronze statues. I definitely have to go back. At the end of the tutoring session, she gave us a quiz on our readings. We all failed miserably. I spent countless hours on those readings and still could not understand what was important and what wasn't. My problems were certainly evident in the quiz. We weren't graded; Elisa just wanted to show us how important it is to learn the dates (UGH) and minute details. This class is going to be ridiculously hard. At least I like museums!
To assess Elisa at that session, she was intense, but not mean. There were points at the end where she made some faces about how stupid our answers were, etc, but that was the extent of it. Following the session, we quickly grabbed lunch and booked it back to CLIDA. We didn't want to be late after last week's incident.
We arrived on time for our History of Costume tutoring session and Elisa actually said hello and greeted Carla (she doesn't take Museologia, so it was the first time they had seen each other for the week). Then, we got down to business. We had a lot of questions on the readings, but she seemed pretty open to answer them all and understood why we had those particular questions. At the end, she gave us a quiz, and we all did pretty well. There were a few I didn't know, but remembered once we went over it.
So, we left our second tutoring session a little confused. Elisa had been fairly normal all day. She didn't look approachable, but she certainly had a calm delivery and didn't make anyone cry. We're thinking that this change might have happened as a result of someone saying something. Gabriella was very upset by her behavior last week, so we think that she may have called Holy Cross. Either something was done, or it's just another reason to think that Elisa could be bi-polar. Anyway, the week is coming to a close and I am so glad. I am exhausted. Tomorrow, I have class from 9-1 and then I'm going to my Uncle Ellis' and Aunt Gale's for lunch. They just arrived from the US and have a house along the Arno. I'm really excited to see some American family members.
I'll update tomorrow after lunch.
Ciao
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
La Questura and a family style dinner
Ciao,
So, I had my second week of my ICIP yesterday morning. I ended up taking the 5th grade English speakers into a smaller room and reading them "The Happy Prince." All of them liked the story, except for Oliver (the troubled kid), who was of course playing devil's advocate. But whatever. I'm not his teacher, so I challenged him a lot and definitely got him a little confused. Sometimes, kids like that need to hear the hard truth with a kind delivery. It makes them wake the heck up and listen. As for the 1st graders, I ended up staying in the classroom because they were out of control and Eleonora definitely needed help. I was pretty tired after that, but fairly happy about what we had done as a class.
After that, I headed straight to the Questura (immigration office) in hopes of getting my Permesso di Soggiorno (so that I don't get deported when they realize I'm not on vacation). All 8 of us went, got a number, and waited from 1:30 to 4:30 until our numbers were called. I got up to the window, gave them my passport and my appointment paper, and they told me that I was missing paperwork and couldn't have my Permesso. This happened to 5 out of the 8 of us and we were absolutely fuming. Kevin, Carla and Maggie Rossi happened to coincidentally have their extra papers with them. The rest of us had left them home in safekeeping. We were only told to bring our appointment papers. We weren't even told to bring our passports, but we had decided to just in case. We soon learned after waiting 3 hours that, yes indeed, we needed EVERYTHING. Fools. I must say that the Italian government and legal system is very poorly organized and an enormous pain in the neck. Was it too difficult to write on our appointment papers what we needed to bring?! Guess so.
Anyway, after that disaster, we hung around town until dinner. At 7:00, we met both of the Maggies' parents and the rest of our group of 8 in Piazza della Repubblica. Then, we walked to the restaurant where they had chosen to treat us to dinner. It was called "Il Latini," and when we arrived, there was already a big line outside. It was obviously very popular. Fortunately, we had a reservation for the 12 of us. The atmosphere was awesome and very family-style oriented. We had a nice table set for us in a little corner, with three 2 liter bottles of Chianti on it. Once we got settled in, the food appeared in masses. There was no menu to order from. Instead, the waiters just brought whatever was being made for the night.
First, let me point out that everything we ate was family style. The portions set on the table were enormous! We started with freshly sliced proscuitto, mozzarella balls, tomatoes, liver crostini (which was actually really good), buckwheat salad, stuffed peppers and bread. I think that was it for the first course. Regardless, everything was absolutely amazing. The first course included a soup with beans and barley, ravioli stuffed with ricotta and spinach in a red sauce, pasta with wild boar meat and red sauce, and ribollita (a typical Tuscan bread soup). Everything was incredible! The main course consisted of a huge plate of different meats (chicken, rabbit, steak, pork and lamb). I had the chicken and also tried the rabbit- which tasted just like chicken anyway. For the main course, there was also a plate of awesome beans, spinach, and rosemary potatoes. For dessert, our waiter brought out a plate of sweets including fruit tarts, panna cotta, caramel flan, profiteroles and some almond cake. With dessert, we had biscotti dipped in Vin Santo dessert wine, which is out of this world. They also brought us a dessert champagne that tasted soooo fresh and crisp- exactly like a perfect pear! Afterwards, the waiter decided that he liked us and brought us a bottle of limoncello (which the other tables didn't get).
At this point, we had been sitting, eating and talking for 3 hours, and were pretty full and drunk. We had such an amazing time getting to know the parents, and I think they were really happy with the solid group that we have here in Florence. Everyone is friends and takes good care of one another. We were all so grateful of the Rossi's and the Wright's for taking us out to such an amazing dinner. I'm sure it was incredibly expensive. I can't even imagine. Such wonderful parents. It was a little bit of a bummer for me though since my family is on the fence about visiting. It seems that this month has randomly become parents' month- all of the students' parents have come, and all at the same time!
Anyway, Andrea and I got home around 11 and just about went straight to bed. We were exhausted. Today, we re-visited the Questura to try again for our Permessos. We arrived earlier, got better numbers, and sat for about 2 hours. 20 numbers before ours, the power went out in the whole building. The computers stopped, and the numbers stopped moving. We couldn't believe that something so ridiculous was happening to us again. So, we sat in the dark for about 30 minutes, wondering what to do. Finally, one of the policemen made an announcement asking all those who had electronic work to go home because the computers weren't functioning. Thankfully, the permessos were not included in that large bunch. So, we waited another hour (in the dark) for our numbers to come up and FINALLY got our permessos after a completely wasted day. I am soooo glad that I will never have to go back to that stupid office. Italy really needs to get it's stuff together when it comes to legal business. Now, I have a ton of homework to do for Voldemort (Elisa) so that's all for now.
Ciao.
So, I had my second week of my ICIP yesterday morning. I ended up taking the 5th grade English speakers into a smaller room and reading them "The Happy Prince." All of them liked the story, except for Oliver (the troubled kid), who was of course playing devil's advocate. But whatever. I'm not his teacher, so I challenged him a lot and definitely got him a little confused. Sometimes, kids like that need to hear the hard truth with a kind delivery. It makes them wake the heck up and listen. As for the 1st graders, I ended up staying in the classroom because they were out of control and Eleonora definitely needed help. I was pretty tired after that, but fairly happy about what we had done as a class.
After that, I headed straight to the Questura (immigration office) in hopes of getting my Permesso di Soggiorno (so that I don't get deported when they realize I'm not on vacation). All 8 of us went, got a number, and waited from 1:30 to 4:30 until our numbers were called. I got up to the window, gave them my passport and my appointment paper, and they told me that I was missing paperwork and couldn't have my Permesso. This happened to 5 out of the 8 of us and we were absolutely fuming. Kevin, Carla and Maggie Rossi happened to coincidentally have their extra papers with them. The rest of us had left them home in safekeeping. We were only told to bring our appointment papers. We weren't even told to bring our passports, but we had decided to just in case. We soon learned after waiting 3 hours that, yes indeed, we needed EVERYTHING. Fools. I must say that the Italian government and legal system is very poorly organized and an enormous pain in the neck. Was it too difficult to write on our appointment papers what we needed to bring?! Guess so.
Anyway, after that disaster, we hung around town until dinner. At 7:00, we met both of the Maggies' parents and the rest of our group of 8 in Piazza della Repubblica. Then, we walked to the restaurant where they had chosen to treat us to dinner. It was called "Il Latini," and when we arrived, there was already a big line outside. It was obviously very popular. Fortunately, we had a reservation for the 12 of us. The atmosphere was awesome and very family-style oriented. We had a nice table set for us in a little corner, with three 2 liter bottles of Chianti on it. Once we got settled in, the food appeared in masses. There was no menu to order from. Instead, the waiters just brought whatever was being made for the night.
First, let me point out that everything we ate was family style. The portions set on the table were enormous! We started with freshly sliced proscuitto, mozzarella balls, tomatoes, liver crostini (which was actually really good), buckwheat salad, stuffed peppers and bread. I think that was it for the first course. Regardless, everything was absolutely amazing. The first course included a soup with beans and barley, ravioli stuffed with ricotta and spinach in a red sauce, pasta with wild boar meat and red sauce, and ribollita (a typical Tuscan bread soup). Everything was incredible! The main course consisted of a huge plate of different meats (chicken, rabbit, steak, pork and lamb). I had the chicken and also tried the rabbit- which tasted just like chicken anyway. For the main course, there was also a plate of awesome beans, spinach, and rosemary potatoes. For dessert, our waiter brought out a plate of sweets including fruit tarts, panna cotta, caramel flan, profiteroles and some almond cake. With dessert, we had biscotti dipped in Vin Santo dessert wine, which is out of this world. They also brought us a dessert champagne that tasted soooo fresh and crisp- exactly like a perfect pear! Afterwards, the waiter decided that he liked us and brought us a bottle of limoncello (which the other tables didn't get).
At this point, we had been sitting, eating and talking for 3 hours, and were pretty full and drunk. We had such an amazing time getting to know the parents, and I think they were really happy with the solid group that we have here in Florence. Everyone is friends and takes good care of one another. We were all so grateful of the Rossi's and the Wright's for taking us out to such an amazing dinner. I'm sure it was incredibly expensive. I can't even imagine. Such wonderful parents. It was a little bit of a bummer for me though since my family is on the fence about visiting. It seems that this month has randomly become parents' month- all of the students' parents have come, and all at the same time!
Anyway, Andrea and I got home around 11 and just about went straight to bed. We were exhausted. Today, we re-visited the Questura to try again for our Permessos. We arrived earlier, got better numbers, and sat for about 2 hours. 20 numbers before ours, the power went out in the whole building. The computers stopped, and the numbers stopped moving. We couldn't believe that something so ridiculous was happening to us again. So, we sat in the dark for about 30 minutes, wondering what to do. Finally, one of the policemen made an announcement asking all those who had electronic work to go home because the computers weren't functioning. Thankfully, the permessos were not included in that large bunch. So, we waited another hour (in the dark) for our numbers to come up and FINALLY got our permessos after a completely wasted day. I am soooo glad that I will never have to go back to that stupid office. Italy really needs to get it's stuff together when it comes to legal business. Now, I have a ton of homework to do for Voldemort (Elisa) so that's all for now.
Ciao.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Eurochocolate 2009
Ciao!
This morning, Andrea and I woke up at 6:30am and took the 8:00 train to Perugia for the Eurochocolate 2009 festival. We arrived in Perugia around 11:15 and then crammed into a bus at the station to get to the actual festival. It was quite a hike. Anyway, we arrived at the festival and met up with Maggie Wright and her parents, who are visiting from Chicago for the week. As soon as we ran into them, Maggie's mom and dad gave us both huge hugs! We had never met them before! They were such nice people and really fun to hang around with. It's great to have some parent figures visiting. Everyone's been getting a little lonely and homesick.
The Wright's helped us purchase Chococards for 5 euro a piece. These cards were pretty cool because they allowed us to go to a bunch of stands for free chocolate, drinks, etc. Our first stop was the Grand Marnier stand, where we each tried a shot and a Sicilian orange peel covered in dark chocolate. Soooo good. Next, we hit the hot chocolate stand-- and it was NOTHING like Swiss Miss in the states. This was literally melted chocolate with cream added to it. It was so rich and amazing. Our next stop was another hot chocolate stand. I got hot chocolate with pepperoncini. It was so perfect because it was doubly warming- the temperature and the spice! I loved it.
Next, the Wright's took us out for a wonderful lunch. We shared scrambled egg and truffle mushrooms crostini for an appetizer. I ordered paparadelle with pumpkin and pecorino cheese for my main course. We all shared a chocolate cake for dessert. Mr. and Mrs. Wright were so genuine and warm to us. We really appreciated that they wanted so badly to treat us to lunch. We all had a really nice time and the atmosphere in the restaurant was awesome (like a warm basement den with a fireplace).
After lunch, we went to another stand and I bought some chocolate souvenirs for people. Then, I bought a piece of a cake covered in chocolate and hazelnuts for everyone to try. I had to find a way to pay the Wright's back, even if it was just a little. It was delicious. Next, we bought large chocolate covered Sicilian orange peels. Then, we stopped at the Toblerone Swiss chocolate stand for a small sample. Last, but not least, we all shared a double layer brownie filled with apricot jam and topped with melted chocolate and whipped cream. It was out of this world!
Needless to say, we all had stomach aches and were ready to get going around 4. It was starting to get cold anyway. There was of course a mad rush to find seats on the train, but we all managed to sit together and we just about napped the whole way.
All in all, it was a great experience for us. We were probably the only Americans, which was a shock considering how celebrated this festival is. All I heard was Italian, which was great practice! The Wright's were such a great family and I'm pretty sure we all left each other very happy. The Wright's (Maggie's parents- from Chicago) and the Rossi's (the other Maggie's parents- from New York) are going to take all of us kids out to dinner on Tuesday night. I can't wait! It will be fun to hang with everyone again.
I have a very busy week ahead of me with lots of reading, and my ICIP to work on. I'm going to try to go into this one prepared for anything. I know Elisa is going to give us a hard time again this week, but I'm going to try to look at the bigger picture. I don't want to let her ruin my day again.
Now, I'm putting my sugar-comotose self into bed.
Buona notte!
This morning, Andrea and I woke up at 6:30am and took the 8:00 train to Perugia for the Eurochocolate 2009 festival. We arrived in Perugia around 11:15 and then crammed into a bus at the station to get to the actual festival. It was quite a hike. Anyway, we arrived at the festival and met up with Maggie Wright and her parents, who are visiting from Chicago for the week. As soon as we ran into them, Maggie's mom and dad gave us both huge hugs! We had never met them before! They were such nice people and really fun to hang around with. It's great to have some parent figures visiting. Everyone's been getting a little lonely and homesick.
The Wright's helped us purchase Chococards for 5 euro a piece. These cards were pretty cool because they allowed us to go to a bunch of stands for free chocolate, drinks, etc. Our first stop was the Grand Marnier stand, where we each tried a shot and a Sicilian orange peel covered in dark chocolate. Soooo good. Next, we hit the hot chocolate stand-- and it was NOTHING like Swiss Miss in the states. This was literally melted chocolate with cream added to it. It was so rich and amazing. Our next stop was another hot chocolate stand. I got hot chocolate with pepperoncini. It was so perfect because it was doubly warming- the temperature and the spice! I loved it.
Next, the Wright's took us out for a wonderful lunch. We shared scrambled egg and truffle mushrooms crostini for an appetizer. I ordered paparadelle with pumpkin and pecorino cheese for my main course. We all shared a chocolate cake for dessert. Mr. and Mrs. Wright were so genuine and warm to us. We really appreciated that they wanted so badly to treat us to lunch. We all had a really nice time and the atmosphere in the restaurant was awesome (like a warm basement den with a fireplace).
After lunch, we went to another stand and I bought some chocolate souvenirs for people. Then, I bought a piece of a cake covered in chocolate and hazelnuts for everyone to try. I had to find a way to pay the Wright's back, even if it was just a little. It was delicious. Next, we bought large chocolate covered Sicilian orange peels. Then, we stopped at the Toblerone Swiss chocolate stand for a small sample. Last, but not least, we all shared a double layer brownie filled with apricot jam and topped with melted chocolate and whipped cream. It was out of this world!
Needless to say, we all had stomach aches and were ready to get going around 4. It was starting to get cold anyway. There was of course a mad rush to find seats on the train, but we all managed to sit together and we just about napped the whole way.
All in all, it was a great experience for us. We were probably the only Americans, which was a shock considering how celebrated this festival is. All I heard was Italian, which was great practice! The Wright's were such a great family and I'm pretty sure we all left each other very happy. The Wright's (Maggie's parents- from Chicago) and the Rossi's (the other Maggie's parents- from New York) are going to take all of us kids out to dinner on Tuesday night. I can't wait! It will be fun to hang with everyone again.
I have a very busy week ahead of me with lots of reading, and my ICIP to work on. I'm going to try to go into this one prepared for anything. I know Elisa is going to give us a hard time again this week, but I'm going to try to look at the bigger picture. I don't want to let her ruin my day again.
Now, I'm putting my sugar-comotose self into bed.
Buona notte!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
