Amalfi Coast- Mt. Vesuvius, Sorrento, Capri & Pompeii

First of all, this was by far my most favorite place we went to on this trip! We left really early in the morning on Friday and we first arrive at Mt. Vesuvius. I did not think our bus was going to make it up the curvy, ONE WAY, road up the mountain. Once we made it to the top, we began our hike up Mt. Vesuvius. The hike was literally straight up hill for about 30 minutes. Unfortunately, once we got up to the top, and we were all dead at this point, we could not see anything because it was so cloudy. The clouds only moved out of the way for about a minute in order to see a little bit of the crater, but it was still awesome to say we had climbed the volcano.

Me with Mt. Vesuvius in the background

Sarah & Gabby on the uphill path & this picture does not even do the hill justice! 

After climbing the mountain, we headed to Sorrento where we were going to be staying for the weekend, which was about an hour bus ride from Mt. Vesuvius, which by the way was about 5 hours from Florence. Once we got to Sorrento, we dropped our luggage off at the hotel and walked around the city until our dinner at the hotel. The next morning we woke up early and took about a 30 minute ferry ride to the island of Capri. This place was absolutely beautiful!!! Once we got there, we took a boat tour around the island, and unfortunately we could not go into the Blue Grotto because the tide was too high, which was VERY disappointing. After the tour we came back to the mainland of Capri and took a bus ride up to Anacapri, which was just higher up on the island. Once at the top, we took a chairlift ride to the very top of a mountain. The views were breathtaking and I felt like I was thousands of feet in the air.

One of the beautiful views from the top! 

After the chairlift ride, we made our way back down the mountain in a convertible taxi! Then we went to the beach, laid out for a while, swam in the clear-blue water and jumped off rocks in the ocean! After this free time on the island, we went back to the ferry port and caught the ferry back to Sorrento. Once in Sorrento, we went straight to dinner at an amazing pizza place, and we were served 3 different kinds of pizza, along with a few fried items and dessert. 

Then, the next morning we went to Pompeii on our way back home to Florence. We went on about a 3 hour walking tour through the ruins, as our advisor told us all about Pompeii. Then, we ate lunch and started our 6 hour ride back to Florence! Overall, this was the best weekend here! 

Viareggio & Cinque Terre

Sorry I haven't posted in so long! I've just been having wayyy too much fun! A few weekends ago was our free weekend, and we really wanted to go to Cinque Terre for the weekend, but the house we tried to book fell through. Therefore, we talked to one of our advisors who lives here, and he recommended Viareggio because that is where he and his wife vacation. After doing a lot of searching for a place to stay someone finally emailed us back about a 10 person house we had inquired about, which was only going to be 50 euro a person for three nights! This place ended up being perfect!

When we first got there we were kind of freaked out because it looked like a ghost town, no one was around AT ALL! Then, we realized it was because it was a holiday. The house we stayed in was about a 10 minute walk to the beach, but you had to walk through a forest/park to get there, which was really pretty! So when we first got there, we put our luggage in the house & walked around and had some of the best gelato from a local place called Nilo's. Then we walked over to the beach, where shops lined the entire beach. This place was very quaint & I think we were honestly the only Americans there, which was really cool! After walking around for a while we went back to the house and got changed for dinner.

The next two days that we were there were spent laying on the beach, which was absolutely gorgeous! While laying on the beach, you can see huge mountains behind you. The only thing that was not so great about this beach was we had to each pay around 5 euro a day to lay on it, but that included a chair for each of us and one umbrella, so it wasn't too bad. There was no way we were going to lay on the free beach. It was around 10 feet wide and 50 feet long, but that might be cutting it haha.

After spending a few nights in Viareggio, we took a train to Cinque Terre for the day, which is one of the most beautiful places in Italy! Once we got there, we began our hike up the mountain. After hiking for about 20-30 minutes, we got to a part on the trail where you had to pay to get through because it was a national park. Several of us were wearing sandals because this trip was a very last minute thing and we did not bring tennis shoes with us, and the lady would not let us go through. Therefore, only a few people hiked, and the rest of us took a ferry to all five of the towns. We got off the boat at the last town, Riomaggiore, and then took a train for around 1 euro back to the first town, Monterosso. Then, we laid on the beach in Monterosso for a few hours, and the beaches in Italy are, for the most part, nothing but pebbles. After laying on the beach for a while, we headed back to Viareggio to get our luggage and return the keys & then we headed back to Florence.

Current Trends in Italian Cuisine

While I am here I am taking a cooking class every morning from 9-11:30 am, and we typically cook a four course meal every day for lunch. Here are the dishes we have cooked so far!

Day 1

Crema di porri Vichyssoise con dadolata di pane croccante

(Leek and potatoes Vichyssoise cream with crunchy bread)

Tomatoes stuffed with herb and breadcrumbs

Trofie al Pesto, Pomodori e Noci

(Trofie with Pesto sauce, tomatoes and walnuts)

Amaretti 

(Almond Italian Macroons)

Day 2

Risotto alle Fragole 

(Risotta with strawberries)

Artichoke, chick pea and baby spinach salad with olive oil &

lemon dressing & foccacia bread

Chiocciole di pane ai peperoni

Crostata di marmellata morbida

(Soft jam (peach) tart)   

Day 3

Pizza Liquida                              

(Liquid Pizza)                               

Fiori di zucca ripieni

 (Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms)

Petto di polio all'aceto balsamico con cipolline

(Chicken breast with balsamic vinegar and onions) 

Tortino di Frutta

(Fruit Tart)

Day 4

Impasto base Pasta Brisee 

(Basic Brisee (salted shortcrust) pastry dough)

Torta Salata alle mandorle e ripieno di erbette

(Savoury tart with almonds and herbs)

Crespelle alla Fiorentina 

Coulis

(Fruit Sauce)

Coppa allo yogurt e mirtilli 

(Blueberry yogurt)

Biscotti Savoiardi 

(Savoiardi Biscuits- Lady Fingers)

Day 5

Cucchiaio di frolla salata con crema di Gorgonzola e noci

(Salted short crust spoon with gorgonzola cheese cream and walnuts)

Impasto Base Pasta Sfoglia

(Basic Puff Pastry Dough)

Couri alla Paprika

(Hearts with Paprika)

Crostini di Polenta con i Funghi

(Toasted Polenta with Mushroom)

Perle di Pera al formaggio

(Pear pearls with cheese)

Prugne al Bacon

(Prunes with Bacon)

 Spanish Omelette

Chocolate Souffle

Day 6

Orecchiette alle Cime di Rapa

(Orecchiette with Turnip Top (Broccoli))

Lasagne

Ravioli alla Burrata

Sfogliatine di Pomodori Verdi 

Day 7

Pappa a Pomodoro

Tagliata di manzo con Rucola e Parmigiano

(Beef's Tagliata with Rockets and Parmesan Cheese)

Pollo in Fricassea

(Fricassee's style chicken)

Chocolate Profiteroles

Day 8

Risotto allo zafferano e porcini

(Risotto with saffron and porcini muchrooms)

Pizza di patate ai formaggi

(Potatoes pizza with cheeses )

Cestino di frolla ai frutti neri

(Blueberry tart)

Tortino al cioccolato con cuore di fragola e cioccolato bianco

(Chocolate fondant with strawberry and white chocolate)

Final Exam 

Chicken and Vegetable Kebabs 

(Bell peppers, Pearl Onions & Zucchini) 

The Whole Cooking Class! 

Siena, Lucca & Pisa

After finally getting internet again, after not having it for the past few days, I can finally tell everyone about our amazing weekend in Siena, Lucca & Pisa. We started off the weekend by meeting early it the morning on Friday to take about an hour bus ride to Siena. We first arrived in Monteriggioni, which was a small town out side of Siena. We took lots of pictures here and learned a few things about the rivalry that Siena & Florence once had for each other.

After visiting this very small area, we made our way into Siena, which is a small, but very rich town. In Siena, once a year they hold a very large horse race, somewhat like the Kentucky Derby I can imagine. The race is in a large square in the middle of the city, and EVERYONE comes to the race. Our advisor said it is very crowded and if you wanted to get out or needed help, you most likely couldn't. He also told us that the winner of the race receives a painting from a local artist, and the race is very competitive. Here we took a walking tour of the city, and had an amazing four course lunch. During our free time in the afternoon, we climbed to the top of a tower in a museum, where we could see over the entire city. Then, we visited a church where Saint Catherine of Siena's beheaded head was displayed. We then met back up with the rest of the group, and walked through another church in the area. After touring Siena, we got back onto the bus and made our way back to Florence. After having a very tiring day walking around Siena, we were dropped off at a church that was on the way back into Florence. We toured the church & then took a 30 minute walk back to our apartments. On the way back, we stopped to take beautiful pictures of the Ponte Vecchio bridge in the sunset.

The next day, we met around 9 am and took about an hour bus ride to Lucca, which is a small town very close to Pisa, which was our next destination. When we first got to Lucca, we took about a 30 minute bike ride, stopping to take pictures along the way. After the bike ride, we all sat in a shaded area and we had a picnic of turkey sandwiches that our advisor had made and pizza from a local pizza shop. Once we were finished with lunch, we made our way back to the bus to go to Pisa. Once we arrived in Pisa, we went straight to the site of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Also, in this area was a baptistery and a cathedral. These buildings were leaning as well, but it was not very noticeable. Our tour guide, Lucca, explained that the buildings in Pisa are leaning because the town is nearly at sea level, and much of the soil is sand. Therefore, the buildings somewhat sink into the sand and lean. When the Leaning Tower was first being built, the architects and builders knew that it was going to lean, so they knew how to build it so it would remain standing once it was finished. The tower started to lean as soon as it was starting to be constructed. After touring the cathedral and taking many pictures of the leaning tower, we made our back to the bus to go back to Florence. 

Rome- Day 3 & Arriving in Florence

On our last day in Rome, we had to check out by 11 am, but the hotel was nice enough to keep our luggage locked up in a room behind the front desk so we could see a few more sites before we had to catch our train to Florence at 3:15 pm. First, we went and saw the Spanish Steps, and then the Pantheon. By this point we were experts at catching the metro, so we got on and as soon as we got off at the Spagna stop, the Spanish Steps were right around the corner. Not too far from the Spanish Steps, about a 10-15 minute walk, was the Pantheon, and not too far from both of these sites is the Trevi Fountain.

After seeing these last two sites, we made our way back to the hotel to grab our luggage, and then we headed to the train station. Buying a ticket and catching the train to Florence was a lot easier than we thought. The train ride from Rome to Florence on a high speed train is about an hour and a half, and the ride is beautiful. Once we got to Florence, we took about a 5 min cab ride to our apartments, which we easily could have walked, but after spending an hour and a half trying to find our hotel in Rome, we thought it'd be best to take a taxi here. Once we got to our apartments, we were able to unpack and settle in for a while until we went to dinner around 7:30. We had a three course dinner, which consisted of a quiche and bruschetta for an appetizer, pasta with tomato sauce as the first course and chicken wrapped in ham over potatoes as the third course. Then, we got some sort of flan looking dessert. After dinner, we took a short walking tour around Florence in order to become somewhat familiar with the town. We saw the court house, several piazzas, the Ponte Vecchio bridge, the Duomo and several other sites around town. 

After this, we made our way back to the apartments where we hung out with some people in our program for a while and then went to bed. The next morning we met the group around 8 am and we went to our school, Lorenzo de Medici, for an orientation. At this orientation, I realized that there are several other schools (I think around 12) that are studying abroad here as well and going to the same school as us. After the orientation was over around 1 pm, we became familiar with the Lorenzo de Medici library and the building where our cooking class is going to bed. We then grabbed some pizza for lunch, and came back to our apartment and took a LONG nap! After our nap, we showered and met everyone for dinner at a palace in town, and on the way to dinner we ran into Pauly D and the Situation from Jersey Shore! After dinner, we went and saw our friend Hannah's apartment over by the Arno River and the Ponte Vecchio bridge. We hung out there for a while and then Sarah and I made our way back home. Tomorrow we are meeting around 8 am, and we are going to be taking a day trip to Siena!