Back to Tuscany and Agriturismo

March 23, 2012

After another long day of traveling back to Cagliari by bus and then back to Tuscany by plane, we checked in to our hostel around 9 and headed out to find a pizza place the hostel recommended. Easy enough to find, the pizza place restored my hope of Pisa possibly being a nice place to visit. It was late, but the restaurant was packed (every table was full) and all were italians; no tourists here! Unfortunately I can't remember the name of it, but it's off of Corso Italia if you ever wanted to have a nice bite to eat in Pisa. We shared a mushroom and Magherita pizza and a couple of foreign beers. I've said it a lot, but that was definitely some of the best pizza I had ever had. Heavy-eyed we walked back to the hostel where everyone was still up. We sat and chatted with someone from Michigan who worked at the hostel and another guy from Manchester, who was traveling the world...by himself and then meeting up with friends in Mexico. It was rather typical "everything is wrong with our society" conversation, so after 45 minutes or so, we headed to bed. 

March 24, 2012

We woke up that morning to get ready to head to Lucca for a bike ride on the walls before being picked up by the owner of the Agritourism farm we were staying at. Problem. Both of us had packs that were much too big to control a bike with (I guess, if you wanted to try...) Change of plans. Austin hadn't seen the tower yet (or it had been quite a few years). Either way, we headed to go see the tower and sit in the sun for a little while before it was time to go to Lucca to be picked up. Once again a little underwhelmed and a little overwhelmed with tourists, but it was a beautiful day and the field of dreams provided the perfect place to lay in the grass and relax. Austin also was able to get his own cheesy tower pic (a must when in Pisa if you ask me). Look his feet are climbing the tower! What? You didn't fall for it? Damn. After 45 minutes or so of relaxing, we were off to Lucca for lunch and a little gelato. I fell in love with Lucca yet again, and Austin decided that it was the first place he could really see himself living in Italy someday. So once again, 5 stars for Lucca!

It was time to meet Federico the owner of Agricola Biologica Nico, who kindly offered to drive us to the farm because we lacked a car. Upon arrival and after an semi-awkward car ride of trying to make conversation when none of fully knew the language of the other, we arrived at a beautiful home in the middle of the Tuscan countryside. They had a basket-weaving class in session when we arrived and Austin and I decided that there was no cross cultural divide in granolas, as everyone there would be welcomed with open arms in Asheville, NC. The first day there was spent exploring around the home, having the neighbors get mad at us (didn't know there were neighbors?), and a lot of reading. We decided to have a nice dinner there (because we couldn't go anywhere else...) in their restaurant "Il Giusto Gusto". Elena (the wife) prepared the best and most filling dinner I have ever had. We started eating at 8:30 and didn't stop until 11. She served lettuce soup with croutons and olive oil (despite how it sounds, it was SO good), homemade gnocchi with cauliflower and olive oil, a type of hard cheese and honey, a baked cheese custard with salad, and for dessert a cream pie with chocolate. I actually couldn't move afterwards, but it was all so worth it. I have also decided to design my kitchen off of there, as it was the most beautiful room I have ever seen. Very full and sleepy, we headed to bed. 

March 25, 2012

The next day, Elena was nice enough to drive us up to a mountain top about a mile away from a hike. Starting the hike, the desire to do nothing finally started to kick in (at the wrong time no doubt.) And after walking a mile or so, the clouds stared to move in and the sound of thunder was rolling in the distance. Thankfully, Austin was okay with turning around and heading back down the mountain. We walked back up the highway to where Elena had dropped us off and then turned down another road that supposedly took us to Lucca. After an hour and a couple of sweet and short springtime showers, we were still walking through the countryside of Tuscany following signs to Lucca. It was exactly what I wanted to do with my time there and a great time to just unwind, chat about life, and finally relax (not caring where we ended up). Another hour or so later, we finally hit the main road that the farm was off of. 

But instead of turning right (like we were supposed to), we turned left (and kept on walking to Lucca.) Finally we realized that this wasn't the way to go, and decided to walk into a small bar and ask to use a phone (mine was, of course, out of battery). We connected with Federico and about 30 minutes later we were back at the farm inside, happily exhausted from the day. We could only laugh about the adventures we get ourselves into. That night, Federico and Elena invited us to come and eat dinner with their family. They have a two year old named Cloe, 2 dogs, 3 cats, and 2 donkeys. (We only ate with Elena, Federico, and Cloe). I was amazed by their hospitality and the food was yet again incredible. I sang to Cloe jingle bells as Elena pretended to be Santa Claus (lost in translation, I had no idea why we were doing it, but Cloe seemed to enjoy it). Federico and Elena offered to take us back to Florence the next morning because they had an appointment there anyways. Did I mention they were nice? Our stay at Agricola Biologica Nico was the perfect last hurrah before heading back to the busy city. I learned a lot from Nico and Elena, and I was more than appreciative of all their help.

It was also so nice to be around animals again and I couldn't finish this post without introducing the ones we met.

Austin and I might be cat people after this spring break. We saw more cats than dogs during the week, but this guy was the sweetest. The first day he jumped into our bed and didn't want to leave. He also let me carry him when ever my heart desired. I don't know the name, but he greeted us with open arms!

They had two donkeys at the farm. One was named Nella, the other I don't know. They liked to go on walks (however we never took them out). They enjoyed eating Austin's hand as you can in the picture. I think they ere upset that we never had food to give them.

Tobia was one of the dogs we met and the other was Deda. We didn't see Deda after the first day, so we assumed she belonged to one of the basket weavers. But Tobia kept us company, and at every meal he plopped down next to me on the floor. I think the owners thought we were both crazy, because we paid more attention to Tobia than, well, everything else.

If you are ever in Lucca or wanting a good place to learn abotu farming in Tuscany, this is your place. With the incredible hospitality, beautiful home and views, and wonderful animals, it will go own as one of my favorite experiences so far!

Wait, are we still in Italy? Sardegna and Pedra Longa

March 20, 2012 - March 23, 2012

The next day we finally decided to head out and really explore what Santa Maria Navarrese offered. The sky was pretty cloudy and as we walked down to the Marina, we learned that we were two weeks too early for the excursions to start. Without a car and easy public transportation we were confined to SMN and I started to worry that maybe I had chose the wrong destination for Spring Break. 

Of course, I tried to make good of the situation, but after the long days of traveling, I couldn't get out of the funk I was in. But as we continued to explore, and Austin continued to show me the great things of the town and tried to reteach me the beauty of doing nothing. Slowly, but surely my bad attitude lifted and so did the clouds. We walked up to the top of a long winding road that advertised a panoramic view of the town. It really was beautiful, and I started to see the beauty of the small town we were staying in for the next 3 or 4 nights. Good news kept coming when we continued walking behind a (possibly closed?) hostel and found a sign with the words "Pedra Longa" carved in it. Still a little tired from the day before, we decided to spend the rest of the getting more acquainted with the town and do more research on the Pedra Longa that night. 

Walking back to the house, we were greeted by a very small dog who lived next door. She ended up coming out of the house and letting us pet her each time we passed the house, and I swear by the end of it all, she wanted to come home with us. On the last day, as we were leaving, she another puppy came to wish us goodbye, and I was very close to picking her up and placing her in my pack. She was one of the friends we met during the trip (there were VERY few people in SMN, and even less who spoke any sort of english).Our second friend we met was the lady at the bread section in the super market (we have named her Pan lady); we claimed that she got excited everyday when we came into the market to clumsily in Italian ask her for bread. (And that when we left the island, she was sad to see us go...)

Anyways, on March 21, 2012...

We woke up a little later than usual, and spent the morning cooking a big breakfast fit with Pesto eggs, Hashbrowns, and the fresh oranges the owners had left us. A lazy morning led to an incredible day of hiking and sight-seeing. We decided to head back to the Pedra Longa sign and see what was behind it. I really had no expectations at all, and if I did, they were low (maybe a view point? a pretty outlook onto the water?) But I was completely blown away by the beauty that hid on top of the mountain, behind the somewhat closed hostel, and homemade gate. Every step gave a different view of spectacular beauty, and the day? It couldn't have been better weather. I soon began to realize the trip to the island of Sardinia was definitely worth (the little) money we had spent and more. The hike was a perfect mix of ups and downs, as well as rocky and grassy. It was not easy by any means, but incredibly satisfying. What was also great about the hike, was that our destination was easily visible from afar, and as we kept walking Pedra Longa slowly became larger and larger. We were the only ones on the trail for a while, until we began to hear cowbells in the distance. Slowly the noises became louder and louder, until we looked up to 2 mountain, long-haired goats peering down on us! Could this get any better?

Of course it could! The views continued to look even more photoshopped and the trail opened up to even better lookout points with incredible widescreen snapshots of the Mediterranean. We only saw two other older couples during the whole hike, and both of them seemed to be from Eastern Europe. After 2 and a half days in Sardinia, we had yet to meet any Americans or those who spoke english. It was nice to feel like we had the whole island at our disposal and by the end of the 4 days, it started to feel like we were a part of the community (besides the fact that our best friend was a dog.....)

After 4 or so miles, we started to hear the cowbells again, but this time much louder and ringing at a faster pace. Looking to our left, we discovered a goat who seemed to be running for his life. For a split second, we both thought he might actually charge us. But instead, he stopped, looked at us politely and continued on his way. Austin suggested he was just on his daily run, I thought he may have been looking for another goat. We will both never know; but after a while we did feel silly being afraid of the goats, as each time we came across them, they would politely walk off the main path and let us pass. 

We finally made it to our destination and hung out there, exploring around Pedra Longa.  here, we also learned a little history about the famous Sardinian rock formation. PL is a "pyramidal monolithic" rock (any geology majors out there?) that rises 128 meters straight out of the ground. It is made out of calcareous-dolomitic rock and dates back to the mesozoic age! Ancient sailors used to use it as a direction point of the Supramonte region. Needless to say, it was a very perfect day and to top it all off, we came home with sunburnt faces and perfectly sore legs. That night we cooked dinner (basmati rice with sauteed mushrooms and red pepper and steamed broccoli with bread and olive oil) and happily reflected over our day well spent.

 On the 22nd, we decided to make cookies for the owners (share with them, an easy american dish?). Well, it turns out my italian did not expand to the reaches of the cooking products world, so the baking powder was more like cake mix and our cookies turned into cakeies. Also, putting extra white sugar does not make up for the lack of brown sugar Italy seems to have. I ended up liking them and decided that we made some sort of very sweet type of blondie. Whatever you want to call it, all you have to do is mess up a very easy chocolate chip cookie recipe and voila! You've got cakeies! (Or really think chocolate chip pancakes, or blondies, or...) Nevertheless, we left a pile for the owners... hope they liked them! frown had definitely disappeared and I overall very much enjoyed our time in Sardinia. After, weekend after weekend of traveling to big tourist sites and not having any time to just sit down, I had grown accustomed to have jam-packed days. But in Sardinia, I was able to go back to the mindset of pure relaxation and enjoying the natural world. The last couple of days were spent hanging out on the beach, reading, and reminiscing. It really had been a perfect week so far and with last minute planning, our adventure was not over as we were off to Lucca and an Organic Agriturismo farm in Lucca on Saturday. Stay tuned.

Trains, Planes, and Automobiles

March 18, 2012

The next day, we woke up early again to head to the train station in La Spezia. We were going to spend another morning in the Cinque Terre, but the day began very cloudy and colder than it had been. So we decided just to leave early after a makeshift breakfast of sweet crackers and cream cheese and nutella. Arriving in La Spezia, we went to the fast ticket machine and got our tickets to Pisa. Easy enough, we had time to relax before the next mode of transportation. We soon walked to the platform and waited for the train to arrive. No such luck, the letters DOP showed up next to Pisa on the board, which later we learned meant "canceled". 

Okay, I guess we'll wait for the next one. No big deal. Sure enough, there was no train to be found. Then the next one... and the next one... until we finally realized that we had been caught in the middle of a train strike! To pass the time, we really great food (good for you too!) Yes, I finally gave in and got a McDonalds Cheeseburger... no guys, not all of the food is mine. We also read, and wrote, and sketched, and talked, and probably even dosed off a little too. A usual boring and unlucky situation did not leave us bored remarks, but rather jokes and more catching up. It was the most fun you could ever have in 5 hours at a train station! After a long time waiting, we knew the trains would keep being "delayed" and canceled until 6 o' clock that night, so we decided to turn in our regional train tickets and pay the extra money to hop on the next fast train. Finally arriving in Pisa, we realized the usual train to the airport was on strike too so we had to resort to a bus... which probably took too long for us to figure out, but we finally got there. But where was there? Our flight was in the morning, so we had booked a cheap hostel "PISA AIRPORT ROOMS" that prized itself on being so close to the airport (that will tell you how great Pisa is). Finally, around 6, we found the hostel, checked in, and watched the free cable the "PISA AIRPORT ROOMS" offered us. Apparently, cable TV in Italy is telemarketing stations after telemarketing stations (but really... there were at least 60 channels worth). 

Giving up, we headed to the first place we could find that served food. And where was that, you might ask? The Airport. Yes, our only restaurant(s) of choice were in the Airport, so thats where we went. Austin was excited to see he could get a 6 euro Lasagna, and I went for the "chopped salad". He came back with a sad face and a plastic tray of microwaved cheese. My chopped salad consisted of taco lettuce, sandwich tomatoes, and (I was actually excited about this one... corn!) We made the best of the night and pretended we were having a candlelit dinner outside of a 5 star- restaurant. Despite the jokes, I actually had a really good time that day. Its easy to make good out of a bad time when you are in good company! Traveling was however incredibly exhausting, and that was just the beginning of it. (I know... sitting on your ass all day really takes a lot out of you!).

March 19, 2012

We woke up early (again, this time at 4:45am) to catch the 7:35 flight to Calgliari. It was an easy trip, mostly spent sleeping (at least I did), and we were able to celebrate with the rest of the RyanAir crew "another RyanAir on time arrival" where we clapped a listened to all of RyanAir's silly accomplishments. Hey, it was a 7 euro flight... I'll take it. The problem was, Calgliari was a 3 hour bus ride from our final destination of Santa Maria Navarrese on the Gulf of Orsei. And there were no buses to be found when we left the airport. So after talking to a rental car person, almost stepping on a private tour bus, and being robbed by the bus ticket machine, we finally stopped being stubborn and just took a cab (it was cheaper than expected too.) We arrived at the bus station just in time to get on the one to Tortoli (a port town 10 minutes outside of our destination. Sardegna's public bus system is called ARST. Soon it became more of a "pain in the ARST". But looking past the bus sickness we had both acquired from the swervy mountain roads that made the ones in North Carolina seem almost straight, the drive there was absolutely gorgeous. In no way were we in Italy anymore, more like the south west or even Mexico. 

The mountains had a dry, desert feel to them, but they were still greener than most of the Italy I had seen. Finally arriving in Tortoli, I sort of went into panic mode when we realized all the info we needed to get to the house was locked up in the cyber world-- and there was absolutely no Wifi to be found. But sooner than later we found the bus to SMN and stumbled upon an open wifi area outside of the (closed) tourist center. We were able to call Manuela's (the owner of the house we were staying at) parents and her father came and picked us up. The house we stayed at, we found on the site "airbnb", for only 40 american dollars a night, we were able to find a home away from the busy atmosphere in the city that was in our price range. We were greeted with fresh oranges and eggs and homemade bread. The view from the house was gorgeous, but after another long  day of traveling, all we could really do is close our eyes and be thankful we had arrived. Still, smiling faces prevailed.

Cinque Terre

Well the 11 day adventure in Italy has finally come to an end. And looking back on the week, it had to be one of the best weeks of my life. Yes, there were times where I felt stressed, overwhelmed, and tired, but with all of those little breakdowns came an even bigger smile on my face and hilarious stories that I will be laughing over for years. Austin has headed to Rome for his last couple of nights in Italy, and I am back in Florence (and... back in class.)

March 16, 2012

Our first part of our tour of Italy's off the beaten tracks (most of the time) landed us in Corniglia, the cliff town of the Cinque Terre. It was a very easy train ride to Corniglia, and everything went as planned. After we checked into our hostel, the owner suggested that we should take the high trail to Manarola (the next town over). The "blue trail" was mostly closed because of the flooding of last October, so for most of the trip we had to resort to the "high trails". We both agreed that we were almost glad the blue trail was closed, as we probably wouldn't have even thought of going another way. This was one of my favorite parts of our trip in Cinque Terre and possibly even of our whole trip. With a steady incline, in the beginning we (or I) worked up a sweat. But as we hit the top of the mountain and start to ride the ridge, the beautiful views of the blue water and the towns nestling below took over. The mountains had been cut into stairlike formations creating a perfect farming environment. We were able to walk through small farms and experience a different non-tourism based culture of the Cinque Terre. Ending the hike in the 2nd town of Manarola at dusk only created a more perfect first hours of the trip. We hurried down to the shoreline to capture a memory of the beautiful homes and buildings of Manarola. With the sun setting over the ocean, it only added to the beautiful and lively color already found there. After many... many pictures we decided on tasting our first bit of pesto of the Ligurian Region. We weren't disappointed by any means and that was only the start of it. After a long first day we headed back to our hostel in Corniglia (luckily catching one of the last trains there) with full stomachs and beautiful first memories dancing in our heads.

Manarola

March 17, 2012

Via Dell' Amore

We woke up early and had a quick breakfast of croissants and black tea provided by the owner of the hostel. It was still cloudy outside when we set off to our first "real" touristy experience: "Via dell' Amore". The walk was one of the only parts of the blue trail open and was a beautiful cliff side stroll from the town of Manarola to the southern most town of Riomaggiore. A bit cheesy for my taste, it was still a fun and side paths brought a little more adventure as it took you close to the sea. We jumped and climbed around on the rocks reverting back to being five year olds. The walk left us hungry and when we hit Riomaggiore, the first thing we found was a large slice of foccaccia covered in olive oil and pesto. Served warm, I almost thought I was dreaming when I took a bite of it. We finished off lunch with a short walk around Riomaggiore and 2 "prunghe", which we later found out were actually plums.

Riomaggiore

The next stop on our list was Vernazza, the town hit hardest by the October floods. I was excited to go there because I had heard to brighten up a rather unfortunate situation, the town had come together and painted murals on many of the doors in the town. Many of them displayed whimsical depiction of the coastal towns or the sea; all were very beautiful and unique. 

We were planning on doing another high trail from Vernazza to Monterosso, since we so much enjoyed the one from Corniglia to Manarola, but was the reconstruction effort, the trails where the last thing on people's minds (rightfully so) and we were unable to find the #8 to Monterosso. We did however get to walk some of the blue trail until was saw that part of it had been destroyed. Following my mother's "goody-two-shoes" outlook, I didn't want to continue onto the trail since they said it was closed. Thinking back, I wish we had ended up going because many other people seemed to just walk right past the "closed" signs; however, I really have no regrets.So instead we sprawled ourselves out on the rocks by the sea and bathed in the sun until the next train to Monterosso was to arrived. I am still in awe over the incredible work the community (with apparently no government help, I might add) has down to recreate the beautiful town of Vernazza.

Vernazza

Once we hit Riomaggiore, the clouds had departed revealing a beautiful and warm afternoon... perfect for sitting and relaxing on the beach! One of my goals was to get a little bit of sun on the trip, so it was nice to be able to sit in the rocky sand and feel the warm sun on my face. After a while though we got a little bit restless and saw a few people climb on on of the large boulders that jetted out from the sea... so, again we retreated back to our kindergarten days and decided to climb too. It gave us a beautiful view of Monterosso and well... it was just plain fun. Soon after Austin went to go get some gelato and the rest of the afternoon was spent sitting in the sand, eating gelato, people watching, and laughing our asses off. After a short but steep hike to a convent with a panoramic view, we headed back to Corniglia to actually spend some time in the town we were staying in.

Monterosso

And it was a time well spent... We decided to skip the whole sitting in a restaurant aspect of dinner while traveling and buy a large (pesto) pizza (for 7 euro!) and a bottle of wine at the town's only "supermarket" and head down to the "marina"... which consisted of a bunch of paddle boats lying on rocks and concrete. 

There we merrily ate the best pizza I have ever had, drank a glass (or 2) of wine and watched the sun fall under the mountains in the distance. With only a small amount of people and a very peaceful atmosphere, we were very happy to have chosen the center town of Corniglia as our "home" for the duration of our stay. The dinner only added to the dreamlike state we had been in the past 48 hours. I recommend the Cinque Terre to anyone who is in the vicinity.  The region brought some of the best food I have had in Italy thus far, the most beautiful views, and a large step out of reality. With the flooding and the early season, we were able to have a very pleasant time without the rush of the crowds and the noise of a normal tourist site.

Corniglia

Quick update, spring break edition

Ciao Bella's! I thought I would write a quick little something about my adventures so far. I'm doing it from my iPhone so please excuse the poor spelling and grammar mistakes (I know you do that on every one of my posts anyways so we're moving on...) I'm writing from the kitchen of our place in Santa Maria Navarrese in Sardinia. In front of me is fresh picked oranges that the owner's parents gave us the first day and a beautiful view of the rocky terrain and blue beaches from the window. We have so far:
-Seen all five towns of the Cinque Terre
-Hiked the high trail from Corniglia to Manorola
-Caught the sunset over the beautiful rainbow of the Manorola buildings
-hung out and ate gelato on the beach of Monterosso
-Saw the incredible reconstruction effort of Vernazza, the town that was destroyed by the October 25, 2011 storms
-walked, walked, and walked some more
- Ate too much pesto, yet not enough
- Saw about 100 dogs and even more cats
- Watched the sun set over the mediterranean with a bottle of wine and pesto pizza
- got caught in Spezia for 5 hours because of the train strike
- Had a 5 star candlelight dinner at the Pisa airport (just kidding... )
-Ate a microwaveable lasagna and salad inside of the Pisa airport
- Traveled by train, plane, bus, AND car (too much for my taste)
- Navigated around Sardinia without anyone knowing any English
- Explored around Santa Maria Navarrese
- Relaxed on the beach and tried to get as much sun as possible

I'll write more detailed posts of each day and place (get pumped) once I get back to Florence but its been a wonderful journey so far and I can't wait to see what the next few days bring!

Time for a break...

Sorry for the lack of updates. It was midterm week and time was spent trashing the house (because I couldn't have cared less), eating too many stress cookies (because I couldn't have cared less), and well... a lot of studying (because I actually had to start caring). Whoever told me that midterms were going to be a breeze must have been playing a joke on me, because I found them the exact opposite. However with a little more studying than usual, I feel pretty good about them. This morning I kissed my last short essay, last multiple choice question, and last fill in the blank answer goodbye for a wonderful relaxing 11 day(ish) break. Afterwards I rewarded myself with a cookie and cleaning up the mess in the kitchen that had accumulated over the week. Not my usual kind of reward, but the fact that you can see the kitchen counter is rewarding in itself.

Tomorrow I head out in the morning to see the beautiful Cinque Terre. We'll be staying there for two nights and if the weather permits, get as much vitamin d as possible, hopefully a few hikes too! Unfortunately, because of the floods of October 2011, most of the Cinque Terre 5 hour hike through the 5 towns is closed. But there are many side trails that are ready and open that I hope with give some amazing views and step into nature. Cinque Terre has been on my list for "a must visit someday" ever since I saw a picture of the beautiful, colorful homes lighting up the scenic cliffs. Its pretty unreal that I'll get to see them tomorrow! Also, the town of Vernazza (most hit by the floods) has made a tremendous effort to get everything back in shape for the summer season. With this, colorful murals and paintings have sprouted up around the town-- something that shows how wonderful a community these towns create. I hope to be able to look around at the murals and see how the town has progressed (from the devastating pictures I had seen on the internet). Last but not least, I can't wait to try the pesto. If I splurge on anything there-- it will be the pesto genovese with pasta (some priorities I have!). Liguria (the region of the Cinque Terre) is the birthplace of pesto, and well.. I'm basil, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, and olive oil's number one fan. (Number 2 is probably Austin... so look out Liguria!)

After cinque terre, we'll be headed to Sardinia for 4 nights. To be honest, most of this trip will probably be completely spontaneous as we won't have any form of private transportation. But were we are staying is only meters from some of the most beautiful beaches in the world and only a few short kilometers from some of the most beautiful coastal mountains in the world! I couldn't be more excited to get out of the concrete (yet wonderful) jungle of Florence to a more natural setting. Hopefully, our days will be spent relaxing and hiking and enjoying the sun. I can't wait to see the off the beaten path parts of Italy and experience a side that I have yet to see.

For the last couple of nights, we'll fly back to tuscany and spend a night back in Lucca (I told you I liked it there). Then for the next two nights, I'll finally get to see the italian countryside I have been hoping to see. We'll be staying on a farm a little bit outside of Lucca and hopefully get to learn about the agriculture in tuscany! They also have a donkey that "likes to take walks" and the Apuane Alps are near by.

Just writing about everything, is getting me excited, I'm so incredibly thankful to be able to have all of these experiences that I have only dreamed about for years. Buon Viaggio!

* I don't take credit for any of these pictures, but I hope to take credit for some when I get back...

Hey, James

Tomorrow marks the 2 month point of being in Italy. Halfway through, I have gotten a little homesick. Until last night when I was able to head back home for at least 2 hours or so at the James Taylor concert in Lucca.

Thanks to my dad, we were able to get 3 tickets to the concert to see his childhood friend and neighbor play on stage in front of hundreds of smiling faces, from all different parts of the world. It made me so happy to see excitement on every Italian's face I passed... he really has made an impact on the world. Songs like Copperline and Carolina in my Mind took me straight back to my grandparents house "half a mile down Morgan Creek" and slowly my homesickness was washed away. The concert was great and James even said a few italian words himself (with half of the audience soon correcting his mistakes). He played all of my favorites and even one of my favorite Beatles song, Yesterday (Paul McCartney recently asked him to cover the song at the Grammy's and it was treat to hear it live). Most of his band members were there as well as a recording of his backup singers on a 1977 recorder (I think... he explained the importance of the recorder in italian...so...).

He sang 3 encore songs and the audience wouldn't stop clapping a long. By this time, many were up out of their seats dancing to the music. When the concert was finally over the whole audience lined up for autographs and pictures. And of course, James sat on the stage with a smile on his face taking pictures and signing autographs and looking at pictures of children who listen to him "tutti i giorni" and so on. It then came to our turn and I went up to him telling him my name saying that I was "David's daughter". Obviously I really was taken back to North Carolina because in hindsight Who the hell is this David guy in Italy? He stared at me and apologized asking for the last name. Perlmutt... That's when it clicked and he got excited about hearing the name of his old neighbors and jumped up to give me a big hug. Did he know my last name, or did he really remember me? I'd like to think it was the latter... but it's always my dad catching up with James, and me sitting next to them awing over their conversations. This time, I was without my dad, so after a short catching up and "How's the family doing, I was in Charlotte a couple weeks ago with Michelle Obama", Mary, Julia, and I took a picture and went on our way. I'm incredibly impressed that he was even awake at the end of the long line of faithful fans and long concert. He was even able to keep a conversation going (in italian) with many of the fans.

This lovely night was after a day of train rides through the countryside, a wonderful bike ride on Lucca's city walls, a walk back up to the walls for the sunset and quick dinner of homemade pasta with bread an wine.

 On the way back from the concert at Teatro di Giglio, we did as tourists do and got lost. Luckily, when Julia went into a pizza place for a bottle of water and then came out with a group of Lucca(-ians?). $ of them were nice enough to walk us back to the street our hostel was on. On the way, we got a few lessons in italian and they got a few lessons in english. One of the guys asked us about American football and he even knew about the Carolina Panthers and Cam "Newman". I told him I had gone to a game before; he told me he was jealous. I asked him if he had be to a futbol game before, he said yes; I told him that I was jealous. They were so incredibly friendly and funny describing their awful distant relatives from Kentucky and tried to distinguish the difference from escape and landscape. We were finally back to the hostel and talked to our new friends for a little while longer before they made one last joke and asked one last question about America. We said our goodbyes and "nice to meet you's" and that was the end of our wonderful day in Lucca. I will have to visit one more time before I head home, the town was too sweet for just one visit.

This week we have the dreadful midterms followed by (a MUCH needed) Spring Break. I just need to get past these couple of days and I will be Sardegna and Cinque Terre bound! Ah! Ciao for now...

2/9 Recipes

Gnocchi con Cioccolato alla Sorrentina

Serves 6

Gnocchi dough:

500 kg golden potatoes

1 tsp cocoa powder

150 gr flour

1 egg yolk

1 tbsp of grated parmesan cheese 

salt, pepper, nutmeg 

Wash the potatoes and cook them with the skin in a big pot with a lot of water until soft. Peel and mush. Let them cold, then add flour, cocoa, salt, egg, grated parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and an "american" pinch of nutmeg. Mix a little, until all ingredients are together, but do not mix to much or the pasta will turn out to be gummy. Make rolls (like a hotdog; 2 cm diameter) and cut in to rectangles.

Sauce:

500 gr roma tomatoes (sliced in half)

1 eggplant

100 gr parmesan cheese

200 gr mozzarella 

3 bunches of basil

sugar

1 clove of garlic

oil, salt, pepper

Slice the eggplants thin, place in a colander with rock salt and leave for 30 minutes (this will get all of the water out of the eggplant and give it more taste) *Put weight on top of the eggplants to help the process work. After 30 minutes dry the eggplants, flour them, and deep fry in olive oil. Save for later

Peel the garlic and saute in oil. Add the tomatoes, and some basil. Salt, add a half of teaspoon of sugar. Cook the sauce for ten minutes. Cut the mozzarella cheese in cubes. Cook the gnocchi in salty boiling water until the gnocchis rise to the top (couple of minutes). Saute the gnocchi with the sauce. Take the gnocchi out from the pot and mix with the tomatoes in the pan. Add the mozzarella cubes (they should then melt). Serve the gnocchi with grated cheese, fresh basil and fried eggplants.

Disclaimer: The cocoa powder didn't make it into this dish but another groups. It gave it a really interesting flavor but if it scares you--- the dish is delightful with out it as well!

Torta Morbida con Cioccolato e Mandorle

Serves 6

200 gr bitter chocolate

1/2 cup of coffee

150 gr butter

150 gr sugar

120 gr white sliced almonds

50 gr starch

3 eggs

powder sugar

powder cocoa

Toast the almonds in the oven in a baking pan for 5 minutes

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler

In a large bowl, mix the butter with the sugar until you get a smooth and creamy mixture

Blend the toasted almonds in a blender.

Add the eggs, one at a time, (still stirring in the butter and sugar), the starch, and 2/3 of the toasted and blended almonds. Add the melted chocolate and continue to mix. Add the half of cup of coffee as well. 

Butter and flour a baking cake pan. Put the chocolate mixture inside the pan and bake at 140 degrees (Celsius) for 30 minutes. 

Sprinkle the powdered sugar and cocoa powder on top. 

Enjoy!

2/6 Recipes

Our cooking class is set up so that we spend the first 30 minutes to 45 minutes learning about the history of food in Italy and then make a dish that corresponds with what we learned that day. On Tuesday of this week, we learned about the fairly new "Agriturismo" market that you can find in Italy. In the industrial age, much of Italy's beautiful countryside were wiped clean of people as they were looking for new opportunities in the city. Fortunately, today many people are moving back to the countryside and beginning farms again, this time making it work for the 20th Century. Italy has a huge Agritourism culture, where people (usually husband and wife) open up their homes and farms for tourists (or not tourists) to come and see how their food is made and the slow and simple life of living on a farm. (Its a kind of elegant WWOOFing). Then at night, as you stay in a B&B like place, you can enjoy the local food that was harvested not even a mile (or km) away. It's a great concept, and I really hope to see it gain more interest around the world. (yes, agritourism  has been going on for decades but I don't see it as prevalent in the US.) It was also fresh to hear that people are beginning to move back to a simple lifestyle away from the cities when everything else these days are just about moving forward, about the newest product, etc.

Usually the meals served at the B&B's are very simple, as the ingredients are simple. The meal we made, although very surprisingly simple to make, wasn't exactly what I would call "simple". However, it is a regional meal as well as in season (both characteristics of agriturismo). 

Our main course was a Homemade Ricotta and Pecorino cheese ravioli with a Pear Sauce. I had had the combination a few times in restaurants here... but never as good as this recipe. It is always a cheese and pear sauce-- making it much too rich and thick for my taste (but too good to pass up). This one however had the cheese on the inside of the ravioli, and the sauce was just purely pear--- a much lighter spin on the beloved italian dish. I couldn't get enough of it!

Ravioli di Pere e Pecorino

For the dough:

200 gr Flour

2 eggs

salt 

oil

Work the flour with the eggs, salt, and oil until smooth and elastic (10 to 15 minutes) Cover with saran wrap and leave to rest at room temperature. (If you have a pasta flattener--- you know what to do here, flatten pasta, cut in half, and add balls of cheese. Lay the other half of pasta over cheese and cut into squares)

                                                         

For the filling:

50 gr. dry pecorino cheese

150 gr. ricotta cheese

salt 

nutmeg

pepper

Mix the ricotta cheese with the grated pecorino cheese, add an "italian" pinch (big pinch) of salt, nutmeg, and pepper

If you are unable to make the pasta--- just buy ricotta ravioli and use this recipe for the sauce-- it will still taste delicious!

For the sauce:

3 pears

fresh thyme

1 shallot

fresh rosemary

1 tsp honey

1 dl balsamic vinegar

Dice the shallot and cook in a pan with olive oil, add two of the peeled and cubed pears. Add the dice rosemary and thyme. Add 1/2 cup of water and cook for about 10 minutes. The add the honey. 

Then, in a blender, blend the pear sauce (what you just cooked).

Cube the third pear, saute in a pan with butter for about 5 minutes.

Reduce the balsamic vinegar until you get a thick consistence. 

Cook ravioli in salty boiling water.

Place pear sauce on bottom of plate (or mix ravioli in the pan with blended pear sauce). Arrange ravioli on plate, adding some of the cooked cubes of pear on top. Then sprinkle a few drops of balsamic.

And for dessert...

Crema di Yogurt e Mirtilli

6 servings

100 gr blueberries

50 gr sugar

50 gr dry biscuits (graham crackers)

60 gr honey

300 gr white yogurt

6 gr gelatin

2 tbs Vodka

200 gr.

Make the blueberry sauce:

Put in a little pot: sugar, 4 tbs of water, and the blue berries. Cook for 10 minutes.

Soak the gelatin in cold water in a bowl.

Whip fresh cream (in separate bowl).

Mix the honey with yogurt until they are well mixed.

Squeeze out the water from the gelatin (after about 10-15 minutes) and melt in a pot with the vodka and 1 tbs of water. Mix into yogurt. Fold the whipped fresh cream into the yogurt mixture as well. Crumble the biscuits (graham crackers) and mix in the blueberry sauce.

Place in individual cups: cream on the bottom, then blueberry sauce, then cream (or whatever way you want it--- go crazy!) Put cups in the fridge for one hour before serving.

                                           

Rome (if you want to)

Last weekend, 40 or so other students and I waved farewell to Florence (at 5:45 in the morning) to head to Rome for a 2 day excursion. I chose Rome as one of the field trips because one, I felt the need to go, and two, I knew I couldn't navigate the city by myself, much less wait in the lines for all of the incredible, historical attractions. For these 2 days, we had 2 wonderful tour guides: Stefano and Franco (basically 2 older men who teach at LDM and fight and make up like they are married). I couldn't get enough of them! I'm excited to see them again when I go on the hiking in the Alps field trip (and even more excited to hike with them).

With a tour bus and fast passes to all of our visits, we packed in a week's worth of sights into the weekend. Most everything was above expectations. I was expecting to see a bold and generally cold environment of the Roman ages with concrete everywhere-- I was pleasantly surprised to find sunny weather, a lot of parks, and green everywhere! I didn't know much about Rome in general; just the few general facts I have learned in my Renaissance class and famous sights seen in movies. The ruins ended up being more incredible than I expected and the Roman cuisine was a delight!

We arrived in Rome around 9 in the morning, skies still grey and the weather a bit dreary. I guess it was appropriate, as our first stop was the Colosseum, where barbaric, deadly games took place. Once again, I couldn't believe that I was there... looking at something I had heard about since I was a little girl. We walked around and took pictures after leaning a bit of the history from Stefano and Franco. One of the interesting things we learned was that lions and other animals of that sort (the legendary animals that fought in the Colosseum) were not generally used as much as boars in the arena because they had to be imported to Rome and were much too expensive. I found the area to be much smaller than I thought, but still very extraordinary. A peaceful protest of different labor unions around the country gathered outside of the Colosseum, so to get to our next "activity" we had to weave in and out of different protestors with noise makers, signs, etc. Apparently there were a few protests happening that weekend, some even violent (against a train line that will ruin many small towns in Italy), but luckily (or not?) we only saw this peaceful one.

The next stop was the Roman ruins and the Forum. With the chanting and drums and crowds from the protest in the background, it was difficult to hear the history of this area. Nevertheless, it was one of my favorite parts of the trip. The tall trees and first blooms of the year created a pleasant walk around the ruins. The sun, by now, had also shown itself revealing a beautiful day! (Even thought may have given us all a little sun--- helloooo spring!)

After the ruins, we headed to Vatican City (which is actually a country?-- I told you I didn't know much about Rome...) We all went on a guided tour through the vatican museum and ended up at the Sistine Chapel, then to St. Peters Basilica (which was SO beautiful--- the windows let streams of light in that almost looked like they were apart of the architecture, not to mention the famous Pieta was there). Every room in the museum was a huge surprise. It was a long tour but I was glad that we got to go through the museum traveling through Roman history (and A TON of famous works of art and frescas). I will say at the end of it all as we were walking through the last bit of full decorated halls-- the suspense of the Sistine Chapel was killing me. When we finally arrived, it took a while for all of the colors to settle in. Then once my eyes had adjusted, I was quite blown away. However, it is not much of a chapel-- but rather a large rectangular box (this didn't really take away from the fact that every inch of the ceiling and wall was covered by beautiful works of art). We weren't allowed to take photos because the flash would ruin the artwork a Japanese company who restored the building didn't want anyone else to sell their priceless hard work without their permission. Lets just say, my Iphone came in handy for this one--- and no, no one would even want to buy this picture: my chin is in it, and the quality could be a little better, don't worry Japanese restorers.

Dead tired, we all headed to our hotel and had a lovely dinner near by. The rest of the night was history as I lay my head down on my pillow and....zzzzz.

Woken up by the sun, I quickly checked my phone to see who won the unc-dook game this time. And well rivalry wins it all, as we tied up this year's showdown with a complete blow out. Unfortunately I happened to wake up Mary and Kenan with my celebratory "yes!" Sorry guys.

Sunday was much more relaxed as we went on a walking tour with our Favorite guides, Stefano and Franco. We hit many of the big sights including (but not limited to) the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps. Me being a very superstitious kind of person, I made sure to throw my coin into the Trevi fountain and make a wish. (Unfortunately I did NOT find my pop star look alike and I'm not on stage right now singing to a million fans--- I guess its for the better considering I can't sing. at. all). What amazed me the most about what we saw on the tour was the contrast of old and new in Rome. Look right and you see the stereotypical, brightly colored italian buildings; look left and there is the Pantheon built in 126 AD. And then again: walk down streets of Louis Vitton and other high fashion stores only to end up with a view of the famous Colosseum.

We ended the day with a 5 COURSE lunch (I'm not kidding guys) and a trip to the catacombes... It was an interesting experience as 40 or so of us walked behind one another through an underground maze of different graves. But soon we were off on the bus again, heading back to the quainter, slower city of Florence. I still can't believe I was in Rome less that 36 hours ago... Some weekend!