Gastronomical update

 I've had pici twice this week and this makes me very happy. On Tuesday night, I made the pici that my dad bought me in Siena with my host family. They showed me how to make a simple ragu sauce and we also had boiled artichoke, salad, delicious bread and cenchi for dessert.
 Last night, I ate at a ticket restaurant very close and delicious. They have pici there, so I split that with Kately who got an amazing pesto pizza. We were also able to share three litres of white wine, so it was a pretty good deal. I went out afterwards for St. Patty's day (which only the Americans seems to celebrate here). There were several people missing from my Italian class (its from 4:30-6:30 which is too late to start drinking for some people) and she was asking us about the holiday. I heard of two other classes in which the teacher literally just took the class to Friends' Bar.
 Also, yesterday three girls in my Dante in Translation class put on a very interesting walking tour. We went around Florence and saw several quotes on plaques from Dante's Divine Comedy such as about crossing over the Arno, and about the Baptistry, etc. They took us to several selected quotes and then explained the significance. Afterwards, the director of our program, Monica, treated us to free delicious gelato.
 Tomorrow, I leave for Venice with my school. Will update you more later.

Prague, the coolest city in the Czech Republic

  I just got back from visiting Prague this weekend and I must admit, I had a great time. I still can't believe that I actually made it there, I unfortunately severely underestimated the amount of time it would take me to get to Pisa's airport. The fact of the matter is, I couldn't have left Florence any earlier because I had an Art History midterm and then had to stop at home and get my stuff. Needless to say, I arrived at the airport 30 minutes before scheduled departure, but miraculously made it on the plane.
 I had to stop in Paris both ways, so I guess I can see I've seen the Eiffel Tower at night because I got a spectacular view during my layover. Doug was nice enough to trek out to the airport and meet me there. Public transportation is really great in Prague, it's super convenient, goes everywhere, and you can get long term passes for really cheap. My three-day pass cost around $17 but I think his student pass for a month is less than that. It's also nice because you just need to have your pass on you and show it if there is a ticket officer instead of constantly getting it in and out of your wallet. When I arrived on Thursday night, I got to meet one of Doug's flatmates and we all went out together.
 On Friday, Doug and I saw Charles' Bridge, Old Town, and New Town. We did a lot of walking around and eventually went to the top of the Baby Tower. That night, we made chicken and whole-wheat pasta for dinner, it was delicious.
 Saturday, we went to Prague Castle which has been around since 870 and is still used by the government. The cathedral was huge, and gorgeous with incredible stained glass. We also went to the top of Petron Hill which is right in front of where he lives and climbed up the tower. For dinner, we went to Louvre Cafe because I wanted to try some Czech food. It definitely was not a traditional Czech place, but was very elegant and offered some Czech dishes so I tried goulash which I really liked. Afterwards, we went to the Chocolate museum's store and got hot chocolate. That night, we went to the Five Story Club and I tried something Czech (which was fried cheese, in bread and with ketchup) and Doug got sausage which actually was not that great.
 Czech is such a different language and it was really fun to see Doug try to speak it in restaurants. The food definitely is not as good as Italy but the churches are gorgeous despite the people being pretty nonreligious. All the dogs were adorable and very well behaved, rarely on a leash but always following their masters obediently. Things are also much cheaper there: Doug also lives in a huge flat, with his own room for only $500 a month. It was a nice change of pace to be spending a lot less money for a weekend. Overall, I had a great weekend and hope that I can be as good of a tour guide when he comes to Florence.

Assisi

 This weekend is in most ways already over for me so I might as well write about it now. Thursday I went to Casa Buonarotti which is conveniently located two blocks away from where I live for a class field trip. I saw many Michelangelos and of course, got to listen to Peter. After Italian class I went straight to the train station and got on the train to Siena. Upon arrival I entered the castle to a delicious homemade meal prepared by Loreen. Despite there only being three of us there was enough food for ten (as always), but in her defense she did have to use up all the food since that was our last night in that hotel. We had tender chicken with capers and flavorful pasta with vegetables.
 Yesterday, we drove to Perugia and then Assisi but the weather was terrible (extremely cold and rainy). Since the weather was so awful we ducked inside the National Museum of Umbria for a little bit. Afterwards, we ate the leftover chicken with some bread we brought for lunch and made a huge mess in the car. Assisi was difficult to enjoy in such biting cold so we just walked around a little and stopped for dinner at a restaurant that didn't look closed. At this point, it was a little eerie walking around, it seemed to be a desert town. The dinner was pretty mediocre, especially compared to the dinner we had the night before.
 We were very happy to get back the farmhouse that we were sleeping at for the night. We watched Italian t.v. but it was still hard for me to understand because they were talking way too fast.
 This morning was the complete opposite of yesterday weather-wise. There were clear blue skies for miles and the sun was simply glorious. We went to the Basilica which was very pretty but I always wish I have a guide when I don't because I feel like I'm missing out on the significance of something. Between the three of us I probably knew the most just because of the classes I'm taking right now. Next time I go to Assisi, I want to go with a Christian or someone really knowledgeable about Christianity.

Siena for a Second Time

This past weekend was pretty fun and VERY inexpensive as I got to see my father and Loreen who are currently staying in Siena. I went out Thursday night and then got to the train station around 1pm (or 13:00) to take the train to Siena. My train didn't actually get in until closer to 2:30 which is unfortunate because my dad was under the impression that I was meeting him around 2. Also, I told him to meet me at the city gates because I honestly had no idea what I was talking about (in case anyone had any doubts about my inability to navigate, this weekend definitely cinched it). When I went to Siena it was on a private bus that dropped us off in front of the walled city so I naturally just assumed that I could somehow do the same when meeting up with them. 

 Needless to say, they took a bus up to the walled part and then took a bus back down to meet me at the train station. My dad was also a little peeved because he had dented the rental car within the first several hours of having it. After we met up we drove to the castle (it really is a castle from the 12-13th century) that is their hotel room/apartment. It is gorgeous, authentic, and beyond comfortable with tons of space, a kitchen, and a pullout couch that I put to good use.

 We rested up and then headed to the walled part of the city around 5:30 while it was still light out because we had to find the parking lot (you need a permit to have a car inside). That was a whole other production and we quickly found out that Tuscany does not seem to find it useful to invest in road signs and our directions were very vague and unhelpful. We eventually stopped in what we thought might be the parking lot, asked an Italian girl who was walking up the hill to Siena and looked so confused that she just got in the car with us to show us the way. She was really nice and I guess we did save her a hike so I felt good about that. 

 We had an excellent dinner at L'Osteria of pici, chicken, and boar and then I showed them Piazza del Campo where we got a gelato.We were all exhausted and went to bed very shortly after returning back to the castle.

 On Sunday, we had breakfast with the woman who runs Castello di Quattro Torra which consisted of tea, coffee, juice, yogurt, croissants, jelly, and nutella. We got in the car and on our way to Pisa we stopped at a very tiny walled town called Monteriggioni where we walked around for a bit and purchased a bottle of wine. On the road we stopped at a very authentic restaurant (there was no menu) and had fresh spaghetti al ragu, penne a arabiata, and ravioli al ragu as well as salad and a pretty tasty salad. I have to say, my language skills definitely came in handy this weekend between ordering in restaurants and trying to navigate.

  When we finally did make it to Pisa we were all a little surprised by how much larger it was than we were expecting. We took the obligatory Tower pictures and enjoyed walking around a little and grabbing a gelato on the way out. We stopped in Lucca on the way back to Florence and saw enough of it to know that it would make a pleasant day trip. Arriving in Florence, we had dinner near the Duomo and then I walked home.

 This morning I got up at 7:30 in order to volunteer at the school at 8:10 a.m. It was really fun and not too stressful. I was introduced to the students and they asked me in English what my name was, how old I am, what I like, etc. I'm really excited to go back and almost wish that I had time to go on other days. I can even make a lesson plan for later if I want to do a lesson with them. Plus, it is a pretty good opportunity to listen to Italian being spoken.