First Day O'Classes

Today was the start of the academic semester here in Florence for the students at the Palazzo Rucellai university. Fortunately, i woke up at 8am for a 9am class and was greeted with the news that our first class had been canceled due to the professors illness. So, we took the time to run some errands and pick up our stipend! The university alots us 280 euro a month, which comes out to about 70 euro a week, in cash that we can pick up at the Banca Toscana and is money that we can use for food, or whatever we please. After that, I grabed a quick lunch which consisted of mozz cheese, tomato and basil on fresh halla bread and was warm from the panini machine. We sat and ate the sandwiches along the river arno while the beautiful Tuscana sun was beating down on us. After, I had my food culture class, with a German teacher by the name of Peter. It seems as if it is going to be a truly interseting class; starting off with the origins of food, the 3 different regions of where specific foods are derived from in Italy, how wine, oil, etc. is made and why certain foods are not traditionally made to go together. We are also going to have a few in class field trips, a few of which include: going to a dairy barn, and going to a wine vinyard. After class we walked around the streets a little more and then I took a siesta...a very commone afternoon nap that is much needed for many of those living in Europe. (I can't tell if it due to the heavy food consumption or just culture but we always feel like we need one!) After that, we attended aperativo again at what has now become our local place- Bar del San Marco- and had a few tasty treats.
I know in one of the former posts I said I would be back at Dante's- and we went back tonight because the owner offered to cook me and my friends a free meal. There were 10 of us and he went all out, it was literally unbelievable. We had fresh greek salads (with some yummy feta) and bruschetta, mushrooms on bread, and bread with patte. Then we had the pasta dishes- soooo good. One was a penne alla vodka with fish; I don't like soft fish and this dish was literally one if the most amazing meal I've had. The second pasta dish was an alfredo with a smoked bacon taste. And the third was a pasta with a darker sauce and patte. We paired all of this with the house Chianti which is made to go great with the spices in the food. The 3 couse meal was great! We tried to leave even just a large tip but the owner wouldn't let us pay! Customer service is done very different here in the smaller romantic cities of Italy.
And as if that wasn't enough- I got snicker gelato after dinner...because I had to have desert and it was amazing! Not as good as the the tirimisu flavor though I must say.
A domani! (until tomorrow)
Buone notte
xoxo
- Amanda

Class Schedule

Monday- 9am to 10am- The Villa and the Garden
1245pm to 215pm- The History of Culture and Food
Tuesday- 1045am to 1215- Business of Art
1245 to 215- Readings in Modern Italian Literature
Wednesday- 9am to 11am- The Villa and the Garden
1245 to 215- The History of Food and Culture
Thursday- 1045am to 1215- Business Art
1245 to 215- Readings in Modern Italian Literature

Sleepy Sunday

Finally I am caught up on my blog and posting this message on the day it actually happened! I am certainly going to try harder to keep up.
Today, the weather was even more beautiful if you can even imagine. It was the same, 50s but just seemed so great. The thing I love about Saturdays and Sundays here is that all of Italians come out with their families and dogs and shop and everyone is so happy and eating lots of gelato.
We tried something we had been dying to the whole trip (and got completely ripped off) but it was yummy. It was 2 fresh, warm waffles and in the middle was tirimisu flavored gelato and melted nutella....it was sinful. I didn't finish the whole thing because it is huge and clearly not on the light side. Also, it was dripping all over the steps of the Duomo and I'm pretty sure I insulted a national landmark- opps!
After, we went to Ponte Vecchio which is the most famous bridge that connects the 2 sides of Florence over the river Arno- it was seriously beautiful. The bridge is encased in what looks like little houses and is filled with shops that sell gold, silver, and over little souvenirs. Standing on the bridge and looking out on one side you can see all the way down the river and up to the snow topped Alps- unbelievable.
And after an Italian culture filled day- we went to watch the Giants vs. Eagles game at an American themed bar! It was nice and there were a lot of American students there but I think the only other time I will do something American like that again this trip is watch the superbowl because it made me miss home a bit. All of the McDonald's and taco bell commercials killed me!
Well, it is the end of a beautiful weekend and classes start tomorrow...I am excited!
Until then ciao a tutti!!
xoxo
- Amanda

Final Day of Orientation- January 10th

This was the last day of orientation. We picked up our text books at the university around 12pm and took care of some other academic business. In addition to that, one of my classes is taught in all Italian so that will be very difficult for me. The text books were 88 euro, which, when you do the conversion math, is significantly cheaper than how much we pay a semester in the states for text books. All of the text books are like the readers we receive in some of our classes; they are basically a collection of articles copied and bound into a book that the professor puts together.
After that, we walked around to all different parts of the city and I got my first pair of Italian boots...for only 19 euro! We also found a 99 cent store where I picked up a notebook for class.
After, we went to the supermarket and got supplies to make a big fresh salad...it was so yummy!! Fresh mixed greens, beans, olives, mozz cheese, grilled chicken and walnuts. I miss my salads from the states...or places like Pax and ChopIt in the city with a huge selection of salad toppings. Italians don't really like fruit and vegetables much- they are all about the bread, cheese and meats and I just can't eat like that all the time!
We later went to a dinner party and it was so yummy! We had traditional Italian meal- bruschetta, and pasta with zucchini and sausage. We also tried a champagne I had never seen before- it was pink! Apparently it is becoming a craze in the states? Italy is certainly one step ahead on their grapes.
It was yet again a wonderful day; especially because it was very warm. It was lower to mid 50s and sunny- walking around is the best when it is like this.
xoxo
- Amanda

Orientation Day 2! January 9th

On the second day of orientation, we went to the university (Palazzo Rucellai) at 930am. We got a tour of the university, which is absolutely beautiful. It is one small building, connected to the others in the city with a tiny spiral stair case that you have to take in order to get up to the classrooms. There is also a library and studio separate from the main building somewhere else in the city. The university has been owned by the Rucellai family for many many years and is beautiful. The classrooms look like mini cathedrals. The rooms have art painted all over the ceilings, architecture on the walls, and are absolutely beautiful.
After the tour, we filled out our permits of stay for our extended stay of 4 months in Florence as American citizens...which costs 75 Euro, fun.
After that, we skipped the tour of the city (because we give ourselves our own tour everyday) and went over by the river Arno- absolutely beautiful!! We crossed the bridge to the other side of the city and went to this little restaurant called Dante. We each got personal sized pizzas- mine was mozzarella, sauce, and prosciutto, for only 6 euro and it was so yummy! The owner was really nice to us and cooked us a tasting of all of their deserts for free and they were unbelievable. He also gave us free hats and took a picture with us! We are definitely going back there.
Later that evening we went to the same disco as the previous night (Colle Bereto), but it was a little too crowded. So we went to another disco called Fullup and went with some friends to the VIP room..it was great!
It was yet again another wonderful day/night in Firenze :)
- Amanda

First day of orientation- January 8th, 2009

Yesterday we had orientation at this beautiful villa.
We mostly learned about the
university and the sort of the way of the land in
Florence. Each teacher spoke about
their classes, we heard from the registrar, bursar, and
la polizia came in and gave us
some hints about keeping safe in the city. We had little
finger sandwiches with ham and
provolone and a small piece of pasta with soft cheese...
and some fruit for desert,
finally!!! I had 2 servings of the fruit which consisted
of bananas, pears, apples,
oranges, raspberries and strawberries. After lunch we
listened to a few more speeches and
made our way back down to the main part of Florence.
Later on, a few of us went out into the city which was
lit up and there were little Italians around shopping and
it was so fun! We got some world famous gelato (tirimisu
flavored--amazing!) We later picked up our little Italian
phones and I am finally connected to the world!
After, we had something called aperativo which takes place
between about 5pm and 8pm.
It's an Italian tradition and we sat in a little bar/caffe,
ordered 1 glass of wine,
and appetizers are free. It was super yummy and consisted
of all sorts of Italian finger
foods like deep-fried meatballs, bread with tomato sauce
and cheese. All for the price of one glass of wine; 4 euros!
Later one we went to an Italian disco with all Italians and
it was a true experience!
ALL OF THE MUSIC THEY PLAYED IS ABERCROMBIE MUSIC!!!! I
could legitimately sing along with
at least 5 of the songs because they were on the CDs from
work. I was at home.
I had to catch up about yesterday so more about today in the
next post!
Ciao!!
xo
Amanda

Planes, trains, and automobiles

Getting to Florence itself has been quite the excursion. We took off from JFK at 3:50 US time on Tuesday. The Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt wasn't too bad, and might I say I truly enjoyed the warm moist lemon scented towels before each meal.
Meal 1: (dinner) mixed greens with thousand island dressing, pasta with red sauce and mushrooms, ciabatta bread, monetary jack cheese, and chocolate moose with white chocolate shavings and a strawberry....truly delectable!
Meal 2: (breakfast) a multi-grain roll with jam and butter. A piece of cheddar cheese and a fruit plate with strawberries, kiwi, and watermelon....again, yummy!
I watched the Duchess on my laptop complements to Karen....it was such a saucy movie!
And of course, there was a crying baby on the flight. I'm not just talking a few cries here and there. This child yelped and scream for probably about 7 of the 7.5 hours...awesome, again God's way of telling me that children aren't my cup of tea.
It was a little difficult to sleep so I chatted it up with some new girls that I met from UCONN most of the time who are really awesome! One of which works at abercrombie=endless amounts of conversations. We arrived in Germany at 5:30am German time.
Once we got to Frankfurt, things went down very quickly. I purchased my first legal German beer and a croissant...both quite tasty. Then we tried to sleep somewhere for the remaining 5.5 hours and found no where but the floor and chairs to try and catch a few zzz's- quite impossible.
The Germans weren't very pleased with us, it seemed, when we walked into the terminal. I'm pretty sure they were bothered by our normal voice level...opps. And someone told one of the other girls that the way we dressed/acted made it very obvious that we were American...I'm proud of it!!
We finally got on the flight at 11:35am German time. We had to take a bus from the terminal to the puddle jumper of a plane, awesome.
Thank goodness we finally arrive in Florence 1.5 hours later around 1pm
More about the apartment, city, and new roomates in the next post!
xoxo- panda