Its amazing- even after being here for several weeks, the city just keeps cropping up with new surprises! Yesterday was just a fabulous day all the way around. It just felt good to live in Florence and enjoy what she had to offer. Incredible sightseeing is just one of the day-to-day things I get to do (being in art history classes 5-6 hours per day, mainly on site visits), and yesterday was one of my favorites so far.
In the morning I visited the San Marco monastery where thousands of people used to come to practice negative mysticism (they isolated themselves in a cell for exactly 38-42 days to meditate until they had a kind of controlled hallucination. the most popular one was to meditate on the crucifixtion of christ until you actually saw yourself there at the scene). Then in the afternoon, it was back to the Uffizzi gallery where we saw a plethora of artists who painted around the same time as Leonardo da Vinci, which provides an incredible contrast. His genius and skill practically flies off the canvas at you, especially when you pair him side by with other artists of the day.
After the Uffizzi, Carly took me to one of just a handful of the really real genuine gelato places here in Florence. Her guest lecturer that day was a native Florentine woman who has lived here all her life and she told them this great wisdom that I am now imparting onto you: if you ever see the gelato piled up in great mounds in the bins, run the other way. It may look fabulous and delicious, especially when they decorate it with the fresh fruit, but that is not real gelato. Instead, search out the little hole-in-the-wall places where they make it fresh and make it right. This gelato will look much flatter in the bins, but it is made with real fruit and no milk or sugar. Also, they will probably have some unorthodox (at least to americans) flavors like rose, green tea, or rice. If your eyes have trouble telling the difference, trust me when I say that your tastebuds will have no trouble at all. I had lemon and strawberry and it might have well been the best thing I have had since I left the states! And there was no sugar!! okay, I suppose I am getting a little overly excited over just a frozen snack, but I am telling you... it was a little cone of heaven.
So after the divinely-inspired gelato, we headed back to the apartment to start cooking dinner. Those of you who know me well know that I am not exactly a whiz in the kitchen, but Carly and Caitlin will plead my case: you would have been proud of me last night. We made the tradition Italian-style meal with all four courses: antipasta, primero, segundo, and dolce! Here was the menu:
Antipasto: little toast squares spread with fresh pesto and topped with fresh raspberries.
Primero: a salad of fresh sliced tomatoes, mozzarella, and strawberries covered in balsalmic vinegar and red wine vinegar. pretty much to die for.
Segundo: spiraly pasta (i dont know the official name) with a tomato sauce that Carly expertly seasoned with thyme and basil.
Dolce: the most exciting part! we recreated the tiramisu that we learned how to make in our cooking class the first week! i think i whipped the creamy part a little too much because it was kind of fluffy, but the flavor... sorry, I just drooled on the keyboard a little bit remembering it.
We thought about taking in a movie (something none of us has done in forever), but the english ones werent playing on Wednesday night, so instead we just walked around the city. It was so nice after dark, because the heat during the day has become a little overwhelming in the past week but last night there was plenty of refreshing breeze and great people watching. We ended up just sitting and talking on some church steps in a fun little piazza for awhile, watching the funny street cleaning trucks, bicycles with way too many passengers, p.d.a. couples, groups of tipsy american students, and other night strollers like ourselves. We did some great window shopping (more like window lusting- there are some wonderful designers here) and happened upon several swanky hangouts that we will be returning to on a night when we are more appropriately dressed. Finally we came back home to our perfect cozy apartment! (actually last night it was a little more stifling than cozy, but after we opened windows all back up it was fine).
I know this was all probably more detail than any of you cared to read, but just in case any one is wanting to live vicariously through me a little bit (and i wouldnt blame you a bit), then hopefully this will help! haha, I know my mother will enjoy it to the last drop at least if no body else does, and that alone makes it worth writing all this.
Class got canceled this morning so I think I am going to go walk around and maybe do a little shopping in the market before the real heat of the day sets in. I will try and send some of this sunshine the way of all you people who seem to be drowning in the Houston rain as of late!
Ciao for now!
Allie
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