Sunny Weather

The weather has been beautiful here the last couple of days, keeping my spirits up during these last few days of classes. The sunny weather brought me days full of hiking, running around the Arno, and eating Gusta while watching the sun set under the Apuane Mountains in the distance. Wednesday, we were off from classes, because it was Italy's Liberation Day, so that meant a day of exploring all that was left to explore. Kenan and I decided to go on a hike near the hill town of Fiesole and came across incredible views of Tuscany and a wonderful getaway from the city. With most everyone gone this weekend, I think I might head back that way and discover more of the area.

The overlooking view at Mount Ceceri, the place where Leonardo Da Vinci tested his first flying machines! It was the first time in a while where there was no haze on the fields and cityscape below. Incredible!

With every trail we took, and every red and white blaze we saw, there was another smaller trail, causing some confusion. But in the end we made it back to where we started (well, sort of). 

Spring has finally begun to bloom in Florence, and poppies like these popped up everywhere we walked. 

Yesterday, most of my apartment and I headed to the place with the BEST pizza in Florence (and possibly the world--haven't made it to Napoli yet, we'll have to see) Gusta Pizza. I ordered my usual Margherita pizza, and the others tried different ones, and we headed to catch the sun set on... you guessed it... Piazzale Michelangelo. I have been up there probably 5 or 6 times now for the sunset and I do believe this was the best one I have seen so far. With musicians playing the didgeridoo and guitar in front of us-- it made for a perfect night. Of course my favorite part was when the Musician's dog came over to search for leftover pizza. After playing with her for a while, we of course gave her what she wanted... some of the crust and cheese. Lucky girl! 

I don't know what's in store for this weekend, but I do know that the weather is supposed to be just as great! It will be my second to last weekend in Florence, and I hope not to spend it all working on last minute projects.

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.