The Last Night

It is Saturday morning, May 16th 2009. This is the last full day in Florence, and what emotions I am feeling. Yesterday morning, Alex went to the airport to get her parents, who have come to spend the week with her traveling before she returns to the states. Taylor went around 2pm yesterday to pick her mom up from the airport as well, who was there with the surprise of her best friend! It was an emotional day for us, the parents being the true sign that the end of this semester and the abroad experience is here.

I am all packed, hard to believe that I have fit my life from the past four months into two large black bags, and my backpack. If we can take a moment to say a prayer that my bags are under the weight limit and I don't have to pay millions to get my luggage home, that would be appreciated! I have taken the time to go through my clothes from the semester and got rid of a full trash bag. These clothes were sent to Abruzzo, where the earthquake took place a few months back. The people down there lost everything, so the chance to give back a little to this country.

Tania has spent the last week here with me, she left this morning back t Virginia, where I will actually see her tomorrow when I return to the states. We had a wonderful time together, spent a day in Venice with Alex and the two of us also went to Pisa for the day to see the tower. I think Tania was overwhelmed by the city, and she became aware of the Italian way of life. She actually managed to roam the streets a few times while I was taking finals and such, so that was great. And of course, she enjoyed some Italian Pizza, which made her very happy!

Speaking of finals, all went well! I am hoping to get my grades in the next few weeks, but the papers I received had big A's on the top, and my written finals felt strong. Practicals were fun, the students in my classes and I worked together to finish the assignment recipes on time. It was a successful semester, and I am looking forward to some more cooking when i get home!

Riverview Farms Catering is busy for the summer, and of course, always looking for more work. I am planning to get as may hours in, with catering, childcare, and anything else that comes my way, to pay off my loan from the semester and start to save for my next adventure in this world.

Off to roam the streets one last time, and of course, one last gelato before I board my 6:30am flight back to Dulles. I will be in Virginia until Wednesday afternoon, when I get on the last leg of my travels to San Fransico, landing around midnight.

Until my final destination is reached, I send you love!

Ciao Bella, Ti Amo :)

Welcome Home Sun

The sun shines on this Saturday afternoon in Florence, and it is 12:45. A nice time of day to get out and explore. This means I must peel myself away from the computer and these papers to enjoy the city without the rain.

I have been sitting in front of this computer for too many hours in the last week, but for a few reasons. One, its been raining outside, and this makes it hard to get motivated out the door and on my feet. Instead, I make hot cocoa and hibernate. Two, I have three 6 page papers due in the next six weeks so I have been trying to get a jump start on them before Melissa comes to visit, spring break comes, and we go to Greece. 

Paper #1- BORING!! 6 pages on Gluten. Now, don't get me wrong, I love that I am writing on something other then gay marriage, gun control, abortion or the summary of a college read novel, but it is hard to talk about protein structure for  pages. I am trying though, and it will be successful!

Paper #2- much more interesting, if I do say so myself. Flavor combinations, the five flavors themselves- Salty, Sour, Sweet, Bitter and Umami. This is more up my alley, and really is a large part about what separates one chef from another in the world of creativity. I am also assigned to discuss the importance of planning the flavors on a plate, and what are the rules to be followed when combining one flavor with another. :)

Paper #3- This paper is for my Tradition of Italian Foods course, which is very interesting, and tasty!! This papers is to include discussion on as many or as few of the traditional ingredients to Italian cuisine. Such ingredients may include Prosciutto, Truffles, Traditional Balsamic Vinegar, Parmigiano Reggiano, and many others. But wait, for the best part..................I am to write a recipe, Italian style, and take pictures of the product!! Pretty exciting!

So, now that I have dipped my toes into all three of these assignments and have notes of research spread from one end of the kitchen table to the other, I part this Florence apartment to soak up the Vitamin D. I think a nice run will do the trick!

All my love, hope the weather is sweet where you are as well.

Ciao Bella

Parma and Modena

Today we took a bus to two different cities in Italy, Parma and Modena. There were about 25 of us that went, and we had to meet this morning at 6:15am, so it was an early one!

The first stop was to the Parmigiano Reggiano factory, which was incredible. We took a tour through the factory, watched the master cheese maker take the whey from the previous fays cheese, and start a new batch for today. A little history, this cheese has been made for over 8-- years, and the process has changed very little. It is truly an exact science, and the techniques were like watching hands of magic. The important part that sets this cheese apart from other varieties, such as parmesean cheese, is the cows are raised in Parma, the feed that is fed to the cows is grown in Parma, and the only way this cheese can be called Reggiano is because of this local process. We stood in the warehouse room where the cheese is aged, shelves stacked floor to ceiling with rounds of cheese weighing up to 90 pounds each. They are checked very regularly with specific tools to check the aging process and make sure nothing is going wrong with the cheese.

The second stop was in the town of Parma, we walked around for an hour or so, had some lunch and wandered though a chocolate festival that was going on this weekend. I tasted some yummy treats!

Back on the bus, we were on our way to Modena. Here, Traditional Balsamic Vinegar is made. It is a rather simple process, but the aging time is very long! The vinegar sits for a minimum of 6 years, and there really is no maximum. We tasted 6 year old white balsamic, made from white grapes, 12 year old Traditional and 25 year old Traditional. All I needed was some fresh strawberries and vanilla gelato to go with the balsamic and it would have been heaven. 

Next weekend we are off to Rome, for a hopefully sight-filled and INEXPENSIVE trip around the city!

Love you you- Ciao Bella

Squolla de Italia!

I just remembered that I have yet to blog about how classes are going, which is the main reason I am here, so its about time I share the good stuff.

I start my week with Italian on Monday mornings at 9am. Its a great class, and although learning a language is difficult, my teacher is very attentive and helps to explain all of our questions. I can't wait to be fluent!

Monday afternoons, its to the kitchen! I have my baking techniques class, which gives me one more reason to visit the school gym a few times a week. This class is really fun, and its very educational. The different types of flours they have in Italy are not available in stores in the U.S., so I am learning about new textures and glutens and proteins for different types of breads. I think I can order these flours online, which will be a goal of mine when I come home.

I go to Yoga on Monday nights with a roommate, its pretty fun! We even got the guys to go this week, so that was humorous. Hopefully they will come back.

Tuesday mornings I have my management class at 9am. This class is a bit repetitive to the class I took back home, but I know its important information to help with Catering, so I will sponge up all the information I can. After that, I go to my wine class, which is great, as I am sure you expected. I am a rookie when it comes to wine, so I am learning a great deal in this class. We are taking a field trip next Friday to a winery outside of town, and it is famous for its Chianti, so I am excited!

Tuesday nights I go to pilates with a different roommate, this is a new thing for me because I had never been before I came to Italy, so its fun and a good workout at the same time!

Wednesdays is back to Italian in the morning, and then the class titled Tradition of Italian Food and Culture, otherwise known as LUNCH!! Its a great class, and very tasty as well. Today we made Risotto with white truffles, yum!

Tomorrow, or Thursdays, I have one class, Italian Creative Cuisine, at 3pm, which is great because we focus a lot on presentation and the combination of different flavors. Its very fun!

Needless to say, I truly have found my niche, and I am completly in love with school! Off to the gym, I need to work off all this eating! Ciao Bella!

Duomo, The David, and Pisa

We climbed the Duomo yesterday, saturday, and it was incredible. 493 steps to the top, and when we reached the last few stairs, the sun was setting on the city, it was so amazing! We took several pictures, but for some reason blogger is giving me trouble when I try and upload, so hopefully I will get that taken care of before too long, I know you are all anxious for photos. The inside of the Duomo is also a sight to see. The round roof is all painted, with the most beautiful work I have ever seen, it was breathtaking! There are Mass services held in the church, and I am hoping to attend a few services while I am here, as they sound amazing, and are in Italian, which could be fun. We also went to the Academia Museum and saw The David. That was really neat, the detail on his hands and feet are amazing! We were not allowed to take photos in this museum but there was incredible art on all the walls, most of which are more then 500 years old so it was neat to see some ancient history. 

Friday night there was a welcome party for all the SAI (Study Abroad Italy) students, and that was also very fun! There were two free drinks for everyone, and loud music with a dance floor. My roommates and I danced until late, and then slept yesterday until 1:30 in the afternoon, so that was a new one for me. I have never slept that late. We are going to the same club tonight to watch the superbowl!

Orientation is all through now, and classes start tomorrow. I am excited to get into a routine and attend classes. They all sound so interesting!

Here is my school schedule for the semester, for those who are interested. 

Monday- I have Italian Language class from 9-10:15am

Tuesday- Restaurant Management from 9-10:30am

Wine Appreciation from 12-12:30pm

Wednesday-Italian Language again, from 9-10:15

Tradition on Italian Foods at 12:00

Thursday- Creative Italian Food and Decoration from 3-5:30pm

And I have friday off, which is nice, and so do all my roommates so we can get an early start to our travels for the weekend!

Today we spend the better part of the day in the town of Pisa. It is an hour train ride from Florence, and the tickets were only 5 Euros each way, so that was a nice little trip without too much of a cost. In this town is where the leaning tower is, which was pretty incredible to see. I also took lots of pictures here, so hopefully I will get those up soon. We met some guys earlier in the week, both of which go to Alabama State University and both of them are named Hunter, which is ironic, so we have been going out with them at night, and they joined us in Pisa today. Its nice to have some guys around, we don't attract so much "attention" from the Italians and other travelers. 

I miss you all so much, and hope that the weather is treating you well. It has been in the late 50's here, so not too bad. It rained a little today, nothing to heavy, but its nice for some cozy weather as there had been hardly any rain in California before I left. 

I will write again soon. Love you!! Ciao Bella!

Airplane!

So the time has come. I have actually bought my airplane ticket to Italy, so there is no turning back. I fly out of DC on the 26th of January and I land in Sweden in the early morning of the 27th. I am only there for a few short hours and then back on the plane for a quick 1 hour flight to Italy. Everything is coming together and I am getting excited!

All I want to do now is pack!

68 more days!!