Lucca For the Day

Today my friend Teresa & I traveled to Lucca to do some exploring :)

The train ride takes about an hour and a half and only costs 5,30 euro one way. Once I got there I was in love with how quiet it was. Florence is full of tourists and crowded with people so it was definitely a nice change of pace. Thanks to my Tuscany tour book and Teresa's home-stay Mom we had a few things we definitely wanted to check out. 

 One cool thing about Lucca is that the entire city center is surrounded by a brick wall that's about a mile and a half long

These two picture are of the Torre del Guinigi. A large tower in the city that has trees at the top & amazing views

 All of the stairs to the top of the Torre del Guinigi

 The top of the Torre with the beautiful trees! It was stunning

Next we went to another tower. The Torre del Ore. There is a clock in the bell tower that was put in in 1754 that still rings today. The walk up this tower was a little scarier because the stairs were the original stairs built in the 14th century. They were wobbly and uneven, not to mention there were PIGEONS hanging out there... terrifying.  

 The view of the stairs from the bottom

 

After all the stair climbing we decided we needed a gelato. We looked for a place that was recommended in my book & I'm so glad we did... it was delicious.

Gelatoria Veneta

I decided to get a shake with Nutella gelato :)

Fun/random fact... The richest man in Italy today... the inventor of Nutella

We also went to a pastry shop to find the famous bread from Lucca, buccellato, a black licorice-flavored bread with raisons. Both Teresa & I agree that it is not the most appitising thing, but Teresa wanted to bring some back for her sweet house Mom. 

Some other pastries from the yummy shop..

It was such an enjoyable day! Lucca was gorgeous and a nice change of pace for the day.

Ciao, Erica <3

September 30th Cooking Class

Yesterday about 30 students from ISA went to a cooking class after our Academia tour. It was so much fun and so delicious. 

We made an appetizer, dinner & dessert

The Appetizer or Apperitivo:

Baked eggplant, mashed potatoes with zucchini & cheese

eggplant

mashed potatoes & chopped zucchini

three stacked eggplants, spoonful of the potato mixture and the cheese (before backing)

After backing

My appertivo :)

Main Course:

spinach & cheese-filled ravioli

Mixing the flour & egg together

The filling: ricotta cheese, egg, spinach and salt & pepper

rolling out the dough

placing the filling on the dough

pre-cooked

 simple sauce of butter & sage

the finished ravioli

 my plate :)

Finally, Dessert!

Tiramisu

The lady fingers & espresso

separating the yolk and egg whites to make the cream filling 

 Folding the egg whites into the mascapone base

Dipping the lady fingers in the espresso and scooping in the filling

 The finished product :)

So delicious

 Clearly my meal was delicious because my plates are totally empty...

Ciao, Erica <3

The Statue of David

Today I went to the Academia Museum where the original statue of David is held. I say 'original' because there are so many replicas scattered around Florence, but today, I saw the actual thing. And it was pretty cool :)

We had the same tour guide that we had for our first day here in Florence, Bernie. The same tour guide who showed the Jersey Shore cast around when they were here. He is seriously awesome. We talked and looked at the David for like 45 minutes and not once was I bored. He is so interesting and knowledgeable. I tried to remember everything he told us about the statue, but there was so much information, and unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the museum (even though I'm sure you all know what David looks like) :) 

Here is what I do remember from what Bernie told me..

• It took 23 months for Michelangelo to make the statue of David.  

• It was completed in 1504

• Michelangelo was 26 years old

• The statue replicates the pose that David had before he fought Goliath 

• The statue used to be on display outside in Piazza della Signoria until 1873, when it was moved into the Academia Museum. 

• It was moved for safety reasons:

1. Teenagers in the 1800s would try to grafitti it (aka, carve their name and initials into it)

2. There were wars going on in Europe and someone accidently shot Davids big toe on his left foot

3. Also during war, someone through a bench off the top of the building directly behind David and it landed on David's left shoulder, which created a long, black crack from his shoulder to his elbow.

4. The statue was STRUCK BY LIGHTENING. There is now a rather large crack that goes done the David's back

• Once inside everyone assumed the statue was safe! But sadly in 1991.. A crazy man climbed over the glass wall that protects David and started banging his left foot with a hammer. Now his toes are a bit messed up on foot. This man was an artist and said that his artwork was better than Michelangelo's and thought if he destroyed the statue that the museum would feature his art. Needless to say the man served two years in prison and is now lives in a mental institute. Although he can leave the institute so all the museums in Italy have a picture of him on file so he won't come in. The man is now 54 years old.

• Michelangelo was given the task to make David by the Catholic church, once finished the church was very confused by the fact that David was naked and was never put inside of any church because it was too racy.

• Michelangelo was not the first artist given this task, he was actually the third. All the other artists turned the work down because the marble was dirty. 

• Michelangelo was very cocky when given the task and said that it would be the best masterpiece the world had ever seen (he was very arrogant to say the least).

I know there is a ton more that I was told but I can't remember it all now. I really should have been taking notes :)

The tour was wonderful & afterward I had a cooking class! Pictures soon to come :)

Ciao, Erica

Its Been One Month!

I have officially been in Italy for one month!! I can't believe how fast this time has gone by! I only have 2 and a half months left, which is crazy and I have already started looking at my schedule for next semester. 

Since I have been here for some time now I definitely have formed opinions about different things that happen here in Italy. The majority of things here I LOVE but there are a few things that are a little irritating.. and since this is the one month anniversary of my trip.. I figured I make a post about what drives me a little crazy about beautiful Italia.

1. EVERYBODY SMOKES CIGARETTES. I mean EVERYONE. I'm sure that there are more smokers than non-smokers in this country. Every time I walk around the city there is smoke blown in my face, and I can't stand it. At home, I would only have to worry about smelling like cigarettes if I were at a bar or party... but here it's EVERYWHERE. Have they not gotten the memo that it is bad for you!? This just baffles me. 

2. YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR WATER EVERYWHERE! I hate having to spend money on bottled water. In my apartment the water is just fine but at restaurants they will not serve you tap water. Usually it's only a few euros a bottle but it still makes me cringe that I have to spend money on something that is normally just given to me. I fell like I am much more dehydrated here than I usually am at home. 

3. The Italian men are SO AGGRESSIVE. I have never experienced so much whistling and so much name calling in all of my life. EVERY TIME I walk down the streets there is someone calling me "bella" or "baby" or something along those lines. They make kissing faces at you and will wink. I have learned the hard way NOT TO GIVE THEM EYE CONTACT. Just keep your head down. It is so hard not to look at them, All I'm wondering is, "who are these fools yelling at me." But if you look at them it just provokes them even more. 

4. Italians don't have DRYERS. Never have my clothes been so stiff in my life. I never thought I would appreciate and miss a dryer so much. My clothes take a day a half to dry in our apartment and they really just don't feel the same. I Can't wait to do laundry at home. 

5. ITALIAN DRIVERS. I feel as if I could be killed every time I cross a street. And the streets are so narrow that when a bus drives by and you are on the sidewalk you feel as if it will take your arm off. I can't imagine ever driving here, although I would fit in since there are so many mini coopers here :)

These are really the only things that I think about and annoy me about this beautiful place. Everything else is pretty much perfection and I am so happy I choose such a wonderful city to study in. 

Ciao, Erica xo

Milan Fashion Week

On Saturday 9/24 I went to Milan for the day to experience Fashion Week.

The whole day was a little choatic & unorganized but nonetheless I had a good time!

The first stop of the day was at the Milan Duomo. I think this is the most beautiful church I have ever seen. And it's HUGE! It's the 4th biggest church in the world (The Duomo in Florence is the 6th). I love the Gothic style.

The only downside to the church was that we didn't know we would be able to go inside of it & we weren't dressed properly (In Italy you have to have both your shoulders & knees covered to enter a church). A bunch of girls had to wait outside (since we were on a tour) for about a half an hour until the rest of the group was done looking inside. 

Just after the church we walked around the Galleria which supposedly is the oldest mall in the world. It was gorgeous with glass ceilings and stores way out of my price range. 

Afterward we had some free time & lunch. And guess where we had lunch at? Some fabulous pasta restaurant? A delicious pizzeria? No...... McDonalds. I know. It's terrible. But seriously everywhere we went was packed. Even McDonalds was! But we had no other choice. The menu is pretty different then in the states. I tried to get a photo..

I just ordered chicken nuggets & french fries. It was disappointing that we didn't have a better meal while in Milan but we were crunched for time and every restaurant had a long wait.


After our FABULOUS lunch we were able to attend a fashion show. Which was AMAZING!! I have never been to one before and I loved the designs of the show we saw. It was in a tent and the designer was Nenette.

As you can see the designs were very feminine, floral and flowy. I loved them, definitely something I would wear.

I tried to get a video..

After the show we walked around the fashion district and saw all the major fashion houses like Gucci, Prada, Miu Miu, Chanel. Seriously every high end designer you can think of.

After that we took the 4 hour bus ride home. All in all it was a good day.


A few more things I liked about Milan..


Elephants must be the city's symbol because there were statues of elephants ALL over the city.

Also, there were cute dogs EVERYWHERE & dogs in Italy can go anywhere a human can!! Restaurants, grocery stores, shopping malls, you name it.

I took a picture of these 2 specifically because they looked the most like Howie :)


Thanks for reading :)

Ciao, Erica xo