upon our return from rome, we kicked off another week of adventures around town!
TUESDAY night, we went to a cooking class! AND we got to make pasta!!! knocked two things off the bucket list in one night. i'd call that a success.
after making the dough with eggs and flour, we got to use the pasta press!
flipping the crepes. caroline was a pro. i struggled a bit...note christie and amy laughing behind me
the whole crew in our stylish plastic aprons!
the finished product!!! first course: grilled zucchini, tomato, and mozzarella towers
second course: roasted eggplant and red pepper lasagne (with pesto, of course)
dessert: crepes filled with lemon creme, dark chocolate, and strawberry sauce. DELISH!
WEDNESDAY: we got up early for a site visit to one of the restoration labs in florence. this one works with stone, mosaics, metals, sculptures, etc. it was SO cool. i snapped a few pictures...discreetly and before i knew we weren't supposed to take any. oops! but now blogger will not let me upload them. i'm thinking it's a sign...
anyway, THURSDAY was a rainy day. of course i attempted to outsmart the weather and wear zero rain gear to class (a 25 minute walk away)...needless to say, i returned to my apartment totally soaked. after a quick change, i headed to catch a bus to see one of the medici family's country villas.
the house. incredible.
neature walk through the gardens.
it's not too often you get all this neatness in one place...that's what we call nature!
but seriously, it was so refreshing to be out in the quiet country air. AND the sun came out right when we got there! it was a lovely outing.
FRIDAY: we stayed in florence and studied (i camped out at my new favorite place that serves AMERICAN COFFEE). and SATURDAY: we went to perugia for the eurochocolate festival. that's right, a festival dedicated to chocolate. it was awesome.
first we rode this tiny tram thing up the mountain to the city center. it was so fun!
view from the top!
welcome to chocolate heaven. plus a few million italians. (that's probably an exaggeration. but it was a lot of people...)
lindt tent (hey that rhymed!): complete with bear cut-outs (holla! that's annie and me with our heads poking out. i think these things are always fun no matter what the subject is.) AND a giant chocolate bear. solid or hollow? i wondered the same thing. don't worry, we definitely debated it for a little while. at least i did in my head...#confessions.
spotted: mr. bean. he is everywhere. this is for you @lizfix!
with geg, looking out over the city!
delicious hot chocolate
with annie
after walking around the festival and collecting free samples of chocolate, cupcakes, and cones, we had some time to kill. so naturally, we headed to the carousel! (another item on the bucket list, incidentally)
amy and clara rode too! we thoroughly enjoyed the ride...there was some princess waving involved. our other friends watched from the sidelines, took pictures, and probably looked away in embarrassment.
with amy, christie, margaret, and caroline.
after meeting up with our group, we found that the police had closed off the major street in town and "highly recommended" that we not use the cute tiny tram, so we went for plan b: running, escalator-ing, running some more, bussing, running, and making it in plenty of time to catch our train. never a dull moment here...
when we got of the train in florence, we went straight to dinner.
i had this yummy pumpkin ravioli with cheese and balsamic vinegar + some grilled vegetables. a great end to a great day.
SUNDAY: after a short night of sleep, i got up and met christie and caroline at the train station to head to our program trip to the hot springs. we were a little skeptical but had high spirits. i personally was anticipating being in the woods and wading into a smelly pool of boiling water with a bunch of strangers (the question had even been raised about whether others would be wearing bathing suits...never fear, everyone was clothed!)...so imagine our surprise when we arrived at this beautiful spa!
the main building. we went in to the lovely locker rooms and then out to swim! it was basically like a giant heated swimming pool. with jets! so relaxing.
AND don't worry, they gave us swim caps...we debated wearing them but it turns out they are mandatory. so stylish! then we hopped on the train and headed back to florence feeling refreshed and ready for midterms! bring it on, school!
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