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Buona Sera
This entry is a little later than usual because the internet in my apartment broke and they tend to be a bit slow with fixing things in Italy. One thing I forgot to mention in my last entry was that when I got back from fall break there was an oven in my kitchen! So far this semester we had a stove top but no oven. Since we finally got an oven my roommates and I have been putting it to use.I was very excited to finally be able to cook in the oven and try some recipes from my cooking classes, on my own. Check out the pictures of what I have made! Pizza the first time around was definitely an adventure. Grocery shopping can get a little tricky when all of the packages are in Italian. Yeast was very hard to find and so the first time we made pizza I bought the wrong thing. I am not totally sure what I used but I think it was baking powder or baking soda..thus the dough was a little dense since it didn't rise. After buying 3 different things and finally finding yeast, the second time around worked a lot better! Everything else came out pretty good and I can't wait to try more things.
Then last Thursday I went on another wine tasting trip with my cooking class. We went to this small village about an hour away where they make wine and olive oil. We got to taste 2 wines (a white and a red), new and old olive oil, plus we got a lot of food with the wine. For food we had toasted bread with olive oil, bread with salami and proscuitto, olives, bread with cheese, and bread to dip in the new & old oil. The toasted bread with olive oil was absolutely delicious! Everything else was great too. It was interesting tasting the difference between olive oils. The newer one was much greener and more bitter than the old. I like the old one better but it was very cool getting to taste both! Since it is a small place I don't think they usually have big groups like us. It seemed like we had to walk through someone's house and ate in their dining room upstairs. It was fun!
Then this weekend I traveled with 4 of my friends to Palermo, Sicily (a city in he north west). For anyone who doesn't know: Sicily is a region of Italy and it is a small island right at the bottom of the country. We got there Friday afternoon and came back early Sunday morning. The flight was only an hour. Once we got there we checked in at our hostel. The hostel was very nice which was lucky! We had a room of 3 and a room of 2. All of the walls were painted really colorful, the rooms were big, no bunk beds, and free breakfast! Plus we were close to everything so it was great.
After we checked in we walked around Palermo to check out the city. It is right on the coast so we walked down to the water which was really pretty. It was also slightly warmer there than in Florence so that was a bonus. On Friday I got a cannoli since they originate from Sicily. It was delicious! We found this great place for dinner that was pretty cheap and it was great. We actually went there both nights for dinner. Everything in Palermo was cheap so that was good.
Saturday we got a map and walked around the city. Since it isn't a huge tourist location there aren't any tours so we had to do our own thing. We first went to check out catacombs that were marked on our map. They were very interesting. You aren't allowed to take pictures so I can't show what they looked like but they were definitely different! Instead of just various bones it was actually whole people. Basically it was skeletons with their clothes still on from the time period they died (1800's or early 1900's). Some of them even had some skin left! It was interesting but a little creepy! There was also a little girl that had been preserved by a special method developed by a scientist. She is perfectly preserved and although she died in 1920 it almost looks like she is just sleeping. Unfortunately the scientist kept his method of preservation a secret and died eventually so no one knows how he did it. Very weird! After the catacombs we basically walked around and checked out some churches and other old buildings. There were palaces, fountains, gardens, and several churches. After spending the day walking around we went out to dinner at the same restaurant and then got more cannolis. Sunday morning we had to get up at 5am for our flight so that was all the time we got in Palermo.
Overall I am really happy I got the chance to go to Sicily although I would have loved to go to Siracusa (a city on the east coast). Palermo was a lot of fun but it is a pretty dirty city. Even though we weren't there for very long I felt that it was enough time to see everything. Also it was interesting because in my mafia class we learned all about the mafia in Palermo. Palermo is the main place where the mafia is. It was weird to think the city I was in, was a city where the mafia was such a big part of the culture until about 5-10 years ago. But no worries for us, the mafia only affects the people who live there though so it is still safe to visit.
Yesterday Florence started to set up Christmas lights all over the city. They are putting them up across many streets. I can't wait for them to be lit! I love the Christmas season. I'm pretty sure they aren't lit until December but it will be great once they are. Also since Thanksgiving isn't a holiday here stores have already been putting out Christmas displays for a few weeks.
Tomorrow is exactly a month until I come home. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. In my last few weekends I will be going to London, England and Munich, Germany. This weekend I have a day trip to Lucca a small town nearby where we will do some olive oil tasting. I also have a soccer game to go to. Both things this weekend are through my study abroad program which is great. Also this weekend 2 of my friends from Stonehill (who are studying in spain) are coming to visit so it should be fun! On Friday my friends and I are taking a trip to Pisa to see the leaning tower! It should be a fun weekend!
Everything else is going great too. Classes are good. I had my first big assignment due yesterday, an 8 page paper. It was for my mafia class so it was actually pretty interesting. Italian is going pretty good, it is definitely a tricky language. And no surprise my cooking classes are great too! Today we made ribollita soup which has a lot of vegetables, it was delicious. We also made veal cooked in marsala wine, and a delicious dessert! It was probably the best dessert we have made so far. It was a almond flavored crust with ricotta and then melted chocolate on top. I definitely enjoyed it and I'm disappointed I only have a few classes left!
Well that is all the excitement at the moment. Hope everyone at home is doing good and hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! Everyone make sure to eat extra food on Thanksgiving since I won't get to celebrate it here!
Ciao Tutti!
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