Language Barriers

The other night a couple of my friends and I were out and we had met this Italian guy we had been talking awhile, we were in a crowded place and so shouting to talk was the only way it was going to work. He was telling us how most Americans are always making a show...show? We looked at him in confusion...he went on to explain himself and we finally figured out he meant to say SCENE hahaha these are classic mix ups that happen way more often then you would think. Its always fun to see what get "lost in translation".

This happened to us all the time too when trying to speak to them in Italian. They usually bust up laughing though because many things can be totally opposite than what was intended. Another tactic I think both of us resort to when we are lost for words or worried about saying the right thing is throwing out every kind of similar greeting at once. I was getting a sandwich the other day and the man as I was grabbing my sandwich said welcome, please, thank you all at once. hahaha hey you know one of them has gotta be right, right?

And the Party Don't Stop Till 8 in the Morning......

In Florence the nightlife is big. You could go out every single night of the week and something would be going on. There are clubs (“discotecas”) and bars that most Americans go to. And then there are bars that most Italians hang out at. I know you have been dying to see what the inside of a club looks like in Florence…
We have been trying to switch it up and go to a little of both lately. Last night we decided to go out with this guy that our roommate Amanda had met a couple weeks ago. It's sometime intimating to go to the places that Italians mostly hangout in because of how bad my Italian is (although this weekend we practiced our Italian almost every time we went somewhere and it definitely does help us!). After touring a couple of local places we ended our night at a lounge that had a membership only entrance (sounds really elite right? It was a 5 euro cover and you got a membership hahaha). Inside the place was filled with Italians! Its fun to try and interact with them and see really how friendly they all are in trying to help you speak the language! I feel like this is much more our scene and can’t wait to go back!

Well Hello Mr. Sun!

While here in Florence for a weekend my friends and I wanted to get a better feel for this beautiful city we’re living in. We decided to take a picnic to Piazza Michelangelo, an area from which gives you views overlooking the entire city. We got a baguette, pecorino cheese, salami toscana, and a truffle spread to share for lunch. It could not have been a more perfect day! The sun was shinning and it was one of the warmest days we have had here. The view of Florence was amazing!! These are the small treasures of the city I will definitely miss when I leave!
The following day we decided to take a day trip to Siena, a town about an hour and a half from Florence. The city was BEAUTIFUL! A small hillside hideaway. We climbed to the top of their panoramic lookout. The tiny winding staircase was kinda rickety and I thought I was going to fall! But once we made it to the top I was very happy I made the trek. It was gorgeous and we just sat and stared at the Tuscan landscape. I loved how laid back the city was we sat in il Campo the city center and soaked in the sun and surrounding culture!

Local Status

Last night Christine Chelsea and I decided that we would try a restaurant that people have been raving about since before coming to Florence and while being here. Its called Acqua al 2, and it is most famous for their steaks. Being on a college student’s budget, we decided that in order to afford the food we would get a sampler of the pasta and a sampler of the steaks to split between the three of us. All the pasta’s were amazing ranging from a rice dish to a vegetarian option to a take on mac and cheese. There were about 5 different dishes we got to sample…and by sample there was probably about two bits for each of us haha…but it was fun to get to see what we would want if we came back again and got a single dish. Next the steak sampler came out….OMG this was a “show stopper”!! I cannot put into words how amazing this was. We got one balsamic steak, one blueberry and one rosemary. Each one was unique and different form the others. The blueberry was sweet but not over powering in taste. The rosemary was more salty and of the three probably my least favorite and the balsamic…too good to out into words! Note to anyone who comes to Florence and orders steak they cook it one way rare but it is amazing if you don’t look at the blood hahaha. Although the portions were small it was fun to get to try something different and would definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone who came to Florence to visit!
After dinner we said our goodbyes to Chelsea and headed back to our house to get some much needed rest before our day trip to Lucca in the morning. As we walked our usually path home….past the Duomo, Piazza Vecchio, Uffizi and the fake David (yes this is true life we walk past all these amazing historically monuments to get home) we were stopped by a crowd of people who were sitting in the Piazza (plaza) listening to a local artist sing! Beans and I decided to stop and enjoy the music along with the locals. It was such a beautiful night not too cold and we sat and watched the man sing. It was fun to be in immersed with the locals and doing as they do! On any given night you can find them stopping to truly enjoy the beauty of the city. We are SO lucky!!

Only 467 Stairs to the Top!

This last Thursday Chelsea Christine and our friend Katherine decided that hiking to the top of the Duomo was a must. We have been in Italy for a little over a month now and we had still yet to do it. The top of the Duomo is supposedly suppose to offer the best views of the city, allowing for you to see all of Florence. One minor detail…467 stairs to the top and at most times you are hiking at about 90 degree angles! After persevering to the top we stood in awe of the view! You had a 360-degree view of the entire city! (Which I might add is muuuuuch larger than we had previously thought; traveling to more of the outskirts of the city is going to be a must!) We picked out everything in the city we could recognize! If you come to Florence you are not allowed to leave without going to the top! After a quick photo session of ourselves…. photos to follow…we ventured to a little well-known Italian gem.

Mario’s is a restaurant that was suggested to us by our Living n Italy teacher. He said that there was no way that we could live here an NOT try what this authentic hole in the wall had to offer. Lets just say he in no way prepared us for what we were about to walk into. We walked into the restaurant to find out that there was enough seating for about 30 people. We put our names in, mind you they speak no English here and we all know that our Italian is a little shaky, then proceeded to stand and wait. Finally we were called to our seat in the corner that we had to squeeze by every local to get to. The next feat using the restroom…that was a quick trip because we found out right away that a hole in the floor…literally a hole in the floor…was not going to cut it for us. The waiter came over to take our order and we looked at her like umm menus? She kindly pointed us to the wall where a menu of about 6 dishes hung along with the daily specials. We sent Christine off to read what they served because we were not all about to get up and make a special of ourselves once again. She reported back that she could not understand a thing…. great. I looked around the restaurant and saw that people were eating something that looked like a ravioli dish with red sauce and thought that had to be a great choice. When the lady came back for the second time in all my fluster I spit out something to the effect of pasta (pasta means the same in both Italian and English so how wrong could I be?)…. Also word to the wise pasta and raviolis are two completely different dishes here and should never be confused. Five minutes later I had my dish in front of my…. some kind of noodles with the special of the day on top…DEER! Oh my god what a treat. When the dish was put in front of my I had a moment of mere panic. What was I going to do? How could I eat Bambi? For those of you who have never had deer it is, well gamy to say the least. I’m glad that we tried the restaurant and stepped out of our comfort zones. I’m sure that the place has amazing food but this dish would not be my first suggestion. Christine and I are already planning a trip back this time were hoping to not be taken so off guard. Wish us luck! I will definitely update you on what the second round entails!!

GROM!

Just wanted to let all you over in America in on a little secret...gelato cannot compare to any kind of ice cream we have there. The first week our gelato obsession took over. We went at least once a day and if we were extra lucky twice a day! haha it was hard work but Christine and I took one for the team. Our favorite gelato by far is from this little place called Grom! Follow the side cobblestone streets by the duomo and you stubble upon the best secret of Florence. My favorites flavors...Crema de Grom and Stracatello. OMG heaven on a cone. Since being here Christine and I have had to take down the gelato intake to once a week. Gotta remember we will be coming back to summer haha.

oh SICILY!

So for our first trip over here, and might I add suggested it was suggested, we decided that we would travel to the little island of SICILY…boy was that an adventure. We went into the trip knowing nothing about the city! We arrived at in the little ocean town of Plamero early Friday and quickly figured out that we had no clue how to get to our hotel. Great so now we were eight girls trying to find a train station (there is not a train there). We finally got asked if we needed some help from a local who told us our best bet was going to a taxi and it was 25 minutes to where we were trying to get!! All eight of us cram into a car that was built for no more than five and we were off. We had a great driver he told us about how much he loved Plamero, the best places to eat, what to see. We were all so excited we couldn’t wait to explore. Did I mention that we were also surrounded by the OCEAN! I felt like I was back home in California!! We arrive at what we thought was our hotel…we walk in backpacks and all to check in. We couldn’t believe how beautiful the hotel was…marble floors, modern décor, and a lovely restaurant…. we thought we made out for 10 Euros each a night how could we get any luckier?! As we approached the check in counter to get our room keys for The Hotel Regina (we were being stared down at this point from everyone around us that was in suits) the woman kindly told us that we had the wrong hotel and the ours was up the stairs…. let me tell you if there is no elevator it is NEVER a good sign. We collect our things and head up the dark hallway to the top to find a bared door that we had to buzz into. We walk in and the guy at the front barely speaks English so we somehow make out to him in basically sign language that we are here to check in. We proceed to our rooms open minded to find out that we would be sharing a bathroom with everyone else that was staying there, oh and there was only one toilet and one shower!! We could not believe what we had gotten ourselves into, shows us for not doing the research, but we are here and we must make the best of it. As you leave the hotel (who knows how this place got to call themselves a hotel, definitely more a hostel if that) you have to hand you key to the man at the front because there is only one for each room. This scared the daylights out of us so before heading out we each strapped every piece of our valuables onto our body. I was not about loose my passport here! The overall city of Palermo was much different from Florence, definitely not a tourist destination, but we did get to walk down to the water!! That night we tried to go out and see what nightlife in the big P was like…. lets say it was almost extinct. We found this small ally way of bars to choose from. Long story short met some Americans serving in the navy who were on duty there, very nice gentlemen but not what we wanted to do. We ended up going back to the nice hotel next to ours and sitting there for a few hours just talking. We got to talking with the table next to ours and they ended up having a daughter who went to school at Berkley but that they grew up here in Palermo…mafia!! (Of course because for those who do not know Palermo is where the mafia started!!) We swear one of the men sitting next to us had to be the godfather (but they were very nice and ended up paying for all our stuff!). The next day we decided that we would try to see a different part of Sicily we heard about this great little beach town called Taormina! After a 3 hour bus ride to the complete opposite side of Sicily (we had no idea what we were getting into but we just went for it, oh and ps we were the only people who spoke English on this bus! And we had to transfer busses half way through…yes it was a complete mess but I was so proud of us for remaining calm and being able to get ourselves to this places when at that point our Italy was pretty much, well non existent) we arrived in this hillside town that overlooked the sea and OMG was it breath taking. Although it was the off-season for the area this place was amazing! Blue BLUE water and beautiful beaches. We hung out here all day had lunch over looking the sea and sat for hours on the beach! The next day we headed saw some of the big monuments in Palermo, sat in on a church service that was in complete Italian lol, and then proceeded to head back. For those of you who have not experienced the Italians way of driving…. you are lucky…definitely a life threatening experience every time you get in the car. There are absolutely no rules or a regulation on driving here or at least that’s what it feels like!! On the way to the airport I remember looking up at one point and there was another car coming head on to us, how we did not collide blows my mind! Although there were many scary parts of this trip I came out knowing exactly how I want to plan my next travels: PLAN never go in without knowing anything! Haha I think you would all be amazed at how we made the best out of our situation, and in the end I would not suggest those of you coming to Italy to make Sicily an mandatory stop, but if you are in for an adventure and have an open mind go for it!
Side note: Over in Europe there is an airline that is the cheapest for getting around it is called Ryanair. Basically you can fly to most of the places over here for around 20-40 Euros which is really unheard of! This is of course the way we chose to get to Palermo seeing as we are poor college students. What they fail to mention in any of the claims when booking is A. You are allowed ONE bag. This includes your purse carry-on etc. Everything must fit into a backpack size bag B. there is no airport security. No wonder everyone in America is terrified of people coming in. If you beep through the metal detector you get to keep going. You don’t have to take anything off, you get to take all the liquids you want, and x-ray machines…what x-ray machines? Hahah terrifying in itself. C. When they say boarding you must pick up everything you own (not that much since the regulations on what you can bring haha) and run to the plane to get a seat. You think I kid about this but I am in no way exaggerating how this whole phenomenon works. You literally push everyone out of your way to get to the plane as fast as you can in hopes of getting a seat. Let me tell you people this would NEVER fly in America. Hahahaha just gotta embrace the culture!

Pss. Pictures will be posted at the top for a couple of these because it takes me so long to get them in other positions!

CALCIO!!!

Tonight we are going to a Firenze (Florence) Soccer game!!!! Ah im so excited I've got my team shirt and can't wait to root our team on! I will have an update after tonight to let you know how we did!! ps our team colors are purple and white whooooop!

Who Knew We Had So Many Talents??

So after a few rough nights of salad with salami, tomatoes, and cucumbers beans and I have started to branch out! We have cooked chicken at least three times now, and I have got to say it gets better and better each time. This might have been previously mentioned but the Italians sell zero spice of which we are familiar with so we usually stick to marinating the chicken in olive oil, salt, and pepper and it’s not bad!! The other night we even hosted our first dinner party where Paige came over!! Beans and I slaved over the stove to make a 3-course meal of pasta, chicken, and salad (you can see how we really like to switch things up around here hahaha). We got her seal of approval so we have decided to take n the challenge of a new dish….

Tonight we will be making grilled cheese (which you might think is hard but they have NO cheddar cheese and so that was a task in itself to figure out what was actually gunna melt and be similar), carrot salad (this consists of grating a carrot and tossing it with some white vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper yum! Ps we got this recipe from an actual Italian!!!!), salad (we couldn’t go one night without our fav!), and drum rollllllllllllll………..TOMATO SOUP!! Our lovely Betty Crocker (Chelsea) taught us how to make this and it seemed pretty easy so pray for us I will have to keep you all updated on how it all turned out. Everything is getting a lot easier and definitely more comfortable around here. We have definitely begun to branch out and are now challenging ourselves to make a different dish each time we cook (how long that will last is the true test).

The other night we were coming home from a long day at school and were stopped by our neighbors (yes they are boys). We stopped to chit chat with them about what they were doing here, just the usual friendly conversation and surprisingly the next day we were greeted with and invitation to dine! And guess how we were supposed to contact them if we wanted to attend, by email Hahahaha oh Italy! We said yes of course who wouldn’t say yes to 5 boys cooking for us and had dinner with them this past Sunday! Boy were they good cooks they made pizzas, pasta and salad (this consisted of roasting the tomatoes in a pan before putting them in the salad olive oil and salt, they salt all their salads here its kinda weird but delish!). We ended up hanging out and talking with them for a few hours. One was from LA, two from Turkey and one Italian and they were all studying here in the city. It is now our turn to have them over and guess what they asked for…American breakfast HAHAHAHA oh man.

Yesterday the girls and I took a cooking class!! We made “thousand layer eggplant”, spinach and ricotta crepes, and tiramisu. It was so fun to try cooking new things! I gotta say that I wasn’t a huge fan of the crepes the spinach kind of over powered but OMG the eggplant tower things were to die for! I cannot even put into words how amazing it was and I don’t even like eggplant!!!!!!!! I will definitely be making this for you familia when I get home so get excited! I miss everyone at home and can’t wait to share all my good recipes! (ps below you will see that i had some trouble with the air flip of the crepe lol)