la mia avventura italiana

my favorite reading spot

2010-09-10T12:37:00.000-07:00

This spot is one of my favorite places in Siena. It is just outside Porta San Marco on the south side of the city. There is a little playground that kids are always running around and benches that nonnas are sitting on, watching the kids play and chatting. Surrounding this area is a beautiful view of the Tuscan countryside. The valleys and hills around this area are filled with silvery olive trees that seem to almost shine in the sunlight. It is such a relaxing place to sit and do some thinking or to sit and read a book.
I have been coming here lately in the afternoons to do either of those things. I usually go with the intention of reading, but easily get distracted by the olive trees and the laughter of bambini.

Lots of fun things to look forward to

2010-09-09T15:40:00.000-07:00

For the last while, we have been trying to figure out what exactly our plan is for the upcoming few months. While this plan is still being worked on, we have come to the conclusion that we will probably, most definitely be in Siena until the end of October. After that, we are hoping to spend some time in Germany before moving back to the states in December, sometime before Christmas.
So, being here through October gives us an extra month to do lots of fun things in Italy. Tonight we did some internet searching for events that might interest us, and found a lot to keep us busy!
Here's what we have coming up: (0r at least all of the things we found that we would like to do)
Alghero, Sardegna- September 17-20
Impruneta grape festival - September 26
Barcolana Regatta, Trieste - October 9-10
EuroChocolate festival, Perugia - October 16-17
Fiera Nazionale del Tartufo Bianco d'Alba - October 23-24

This next month and a half is going to go by way too quickly. I really can't believe that our time here is almost over!

Figs are delicious!

2010-09-05T11:17:00.000-07:00

Figs are one of my favorite fruits. This is something that I have discovered only in the last few years. When I was working at Gratzi in Ann Arbor, we had a pizza one week on the menu that had fresh figs, ricotta, walnuts and honey. After having that pizza, I have been hooked on figs.

Lately, we have been seeing fresh figs at the fruit stands and in the markets. We bought some last week that were absolutely perfect. They were almost bursting out of their skins; they were so juicy and ripe. We ate some of them just plain, but for a few others I dressed up a little bit. The resulting dressing up was pretty high up there with some of the best things I have ever eaten.

I quartered the figs, placed them in a baking dish, put a tiny piece of gorgonzola on top, then a piece of prosciutto over the cheese. Then, it all got drizzled with balsamic and a little bit of honey. It all went into our little toaster oven to warm up, melt the cheese, and crisp up the prosciutto. It was pretty much anything you could ask for in a food. Sweet, juicy, salty, cheesy, and delicious!

We were going to make this again tonight, but by the time we decided to, all of the fruit stands were closed for the night and the grocery store was out of figs. I have all of the other ingredients here waiting for the perfect figs to be found again.

One year later and we are still here!

2010-09-03T15:11:00.000-07:00

So I really meant to write this post yesterday because on September 2, 2009, we arrived in Siena on our year long (plus!) italian adventure. In some ways, it seems like the year went by at an incredible speed, but other ways, it seems like we have been here for quite awhile. Either way, this past year has been amazing in so many ways.
The first thing is, I am so proud of myself for actually doing this. Moving to Italy has been a dream of mine for the past 7 years. There were many times when I thought it would always remain a dream and never actually be more than that. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband who will support me and push me to follow my dreams, and be willing to move across an ocean with me. This year abroad has not always been easy. In the beginning, actually, it was pretty hard for me. I am so glad I stuck it out through the hard times and have come to a point where I really enjoy my life here.
So, now, this is where I am. I really like living here, and can't imagine leaving soon. I can't imagine not being able to go across the street for a gelato on my way home from work, or stopping at my favorite bar in the morning for an espresso and pastry, or laying in the piazza on a sunny day, or taking an evening passegiata.

la vita e' bella in italia, sempre.

These pictures are from our first night here a year ago.

A day at the beach

2010-08-27T15:10:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to go to the beach for quite awhile. I have been talking about it and planning on going, but just hadn't actually gone yet. Today, I set my alarm to get up early, got on an early train to Viareggio, and spent the day at the beach.
Viareggio happens to be the same seaside town that Justin and I went to back in February for Carnevale. It is completely different in the summer. Also, while Nadine and Simon were visiting in May, we spent a day at the beach here.
I had such a nice relaxing day at the beach today. I should have done this much sooner. Now the summer is winding down, and I don't know how many more chances I will have for beach days as the weather cools down.
Going to the beach in Viareggio is much different than going to an American beach. Here, almost all of the beaches are private. You can't just lay down your towel where ever you feel like it. You have to rent a beach chair for the day from one of the many private beach clubs. In Viareggio, there is a tiny area sectioned off for a public beach, but it is literally only about 20 feet wide, and people are packed in. It is a much nicer beach experience to pay 5 euros for a chair and umbrella and a little bit of personal space.
So, I spent the day sitting in my beach lounger, reading a book, listening to music, and watching the waves. I took a few breaks to go swimming in the sea, which was just the right temperature to be refreshing and cool you off, but not too cold that you don't want to jump right in. I also had the perfect lunch at one of the beach clubs of spaghetti alle vongole (spaghetti with clams, one of my favorite pasta dishes) with a nice glass of white wine followed by an ice cream sandwich back on the beach. (It's kind of funny, whenever I go to the beach in California, I ALWAYS want a hot dog, but here, I always want fresh seafood with garlicky, spicy pasta. Italy wins, sorry hot dogs.) After lunch, more swimming, reading, and relaxing.
Another thing about the beach going experience here, there are always people walking around trying to sell things. There are guys selling sunglasses (reasonable at the beach) but I also saw another guy selling puffy, down winter jackets (and a few ladies interested in buying them. I guess they were a good deal?) At the beach you can buy knock-off designer bags, clothing, shoes, food, jewelry, beach toys, and even massages. Yep, a nice Asian lady was walking around offering her masseuse services, so I thought why not? So for 15 Euro, I got a full body 30 minute massage right on my beach chair in front of the Mediterranean Sea.
Life is good here. :)

Stomennano

2010-08-26T09:30:00.000-07:00

This morning, we did a cooking lesson off-site. This particular place was a villa/agri-tourismo/winery right in the middle of the Chianti area of Tuscany. It is called Stomennano. It was beautiful. I wanted to spend the entire day just sitting in the garden enjoying the beautiful surrounding views. The entire estate looked like something that you would see on a postcard or in a romantic movie. There were little tables and chairs set up in their own private gardens, overlooking olive groves or vines of grapes. There were rows of lemon trees, fountains, statues, rose framed windows, and views of Monteriggioni. It was SO nice. I just keep thinking of this lovely place and how I would love to spend much more time there.

market day in Siena

2010-08-25T05:23:00.000-07:00

Every Wednesday morning, there is a huge market in Siena. Before today, I had never been to it. Usually if I don't have to get up for work, I am sleeping in. But Lella and Livia are always talking about how nice of a market it is, so I figured I should get myself out of bed early one of these days and check it out. Today was the day.

There was a little bit of everything at this market, from clothes, to shoes, to tablecloths, to plants, to food, to knives, mixed in with a lot of junk. It was huge! Justin and I wandered around for at least a couple of hours, looking at everything. We didn't really buy anything (like I said, a lot of it was junk), but it was still fun to walk around and see everything that there was.

Really pretty plums!

Sausages and cured meats.

Baccala and sardines.

Veggies

I'm not sure what kind of plant these are, but I thought they looked really neat.

Panzanella

2010-08-22T10:11:00.000-07:00

Over the summer and throughout the seasons, the menus seem to change around here. Instead of seeing so many hearty soups such as pappa col pomodoro or ribollita, they are replaced with summery salads. Many of these salads still are based on the poor cuisine of Tuscan farm families, but are a little bit better suited to the hot summer days. Believe me, when it is so hot here, you do not want to be eating a heavy, hot soup. But on these summer days, a salad such as panzanella is perfect! We have been making this salad quite often in the cooking school, and a couple of nights ago, Justin and I decided to try it at home as well.

Here's what you need:
- stale bread (really stale, rock hard is perfect)
- red wine vinegar
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper
- tomatoes (I like cherry tomatoes because they are a little sweeter)
- red onion
- cucumber
- basil

Cut the bread into thick pieces or chunks. These can even be an inch or so thick. Place the pieces in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Also add a few dashes of red wine vinegar. Put something over the bread to weight it down into the water. Let the water soak into the bread until when you touch the bread, it is almost falling apart. The amount of time will depend on the bread, but it shouldn't be more than 30 minutes. When the bread has reached this point, take handfuls out of the water, squeezing as much water out of it as possible. You can even use a salad spinner, after squeezing, to get even more moisture out of the bread. The bread should be kind of the consistency of cous cous. Add to the bread the tomatoes, which should be halfed or quartered, depending on their size, sliced red onion, peeled and sliced cucumber, fresh basil, salt and pepper. Mix everything together and dress with olive oil and vinegar. Cover lightly and let chill until cool. Drizzle with olive oil before serving.

Hello

2010-08-03T15:15:00.000-07:00

Wow, this blog started off with such good intentions. I guess I have been neglecting it lately. We have just been doing way too much lately and once I had gotten behind on writing, it felt like there was no way to ever catch up. So, instead of trying to catch up on everything, I am just going to try to restart with where I am now. August 3, 2010. I am also going to try to do shorter posts, or maybe even just a few pictures every more frequently. If I feel like I have to write a lot about one particular place, I think I will be less likely to do it. And I am getting to the point where I just want to start using this to keep track of what we have been doing, so I will remember everything in the future.

So tonight, we had a cooking lesson with Darren McGrady. That name might not strike anyone as familiar, but he was a pretty neat guy. He was the head chef at Buckingham palace for the Royal family and also the personal chef of Princess Diana for the 7 years leading up to her death. I can't imagine what it would be like to have such a job. I guess the royals are people just same as everyone else and probably like to eat some of the same things, but just to think that he was cooking for the Queen of England every night!

Roma

2010-04-29T05:16:00.000-07:00

Our next stop was Rome, the eternal city. There was so much to see and do in Rome, and it seems like you could spend weeks there and still not see everything there is. Definitely one of the highlights of Rome was Katie joining us in our adventure.
Early Saturday morning, I headed to the airport to meet Katie and bring her back into the city. I was afraid that I would be late and that she would be already waiting for me at the airport, but when I got there, I saw that her flight was delayed over 3 hours! After what seemed like forever, she finally came through the gate and after lots of hugs, we headed back into the city to meet up with the rest of the family for a full day of sightseeing.
Our first stop was the Vatican, where we went through the Vatican museums. The Vatican museums have everything from Egyptian antiquities to Etruscan collections to works from Raphael to modern art, finishing with Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel. The Sistine Chapel always seems surprisingly small to me. It is just a chapel, that happens to be painted by one of the most famous artists of all time. Pictures were not allowed in the Sistine Chapel, and there were guards walking around stopping people with cameras, but I was extra sneaky, and got a couple of pictures.
After the museums, we went into St. Peter's Basilica just as mass was starting. You can't help but be impressed by this magnificent church. It is huge- the largest church in Christianity. It is also very ornately decorated. Pictures don't really do it justice, but here is my best attempt.
After our tour through the Vatican, we headed out on foot to explore the city. We crossed the Tiber at Castel Sant'Angelo and then walked through Piazza Navona, and then saw the Trevi Fountain. We all threw coins into the Trevi Fountain over our shoulders, which means that we will all be returning to Rome someday. The Trevi Fountain is huge, and you can hear the rushing water before you can see it.
Near the Trevi Fountain is the Pantheon, so that was our next stop. The Pantheon was originally built over 2000 years ago as a temple for the Roman gods. Today, it is one of the best preserved buildings of ancient Rome. One of the reasons that the Pantheon is so impressive is the mathematics of it. The height from the floor to the open oculus is exactly the same as the diameter of the circle. Still today, the dome of the Pantheon is the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome.
After a nice dinner, we decided to walk to the Colosseum to see it lit up at night. It was quite a site to see.
The next day was another full day of sightseeing. We spent some time walking around the Spanish Steps, and then walked past the Pantheon and stopped at the Trevi Fountain for a gelato. The main portion of our day was spent around the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. For me, it is incredible to think that you are walking in the same places that Caesar once ruled. There is so much history in this area, and the feeling is hard to describe.
I have so many more pictures of Rome, and I can't post them all on here, so if you are interested in seeing more, you can check out my picasa web album at http://picasaweb.google.com/recarlisle/Roma#.

A pit stop in Orvieto

2010-04-27T10:42:00.000-07:00

The next part of our adventure with my family had us heading to Rome. We left Siena early Friday afternoon with the intention of taking our time and stopping along the way to see a few places. It was another cold and rainy day, so we decided on just one stop in Orvieto.
In Tuscany, there are many hill top towns. Orvieto is just south of Tuscany in the region of Umbria. And it is not on a hill, but a large rock.
We headed up the giant rock that Orvieto sits on and proceeded to explore the city. We walked around for a while, and then found the main cathedral. The cathedral of Orvieto is considered one of the best romanesque gothic churches in Italy. To me, the exterior looks very similar to the cathedral in Siena.
After exploring the church, we were hungry for some lunch. By that time, it was well past lunch time, so our options were limited. We found a small cantina in the main piazza right next to the church that seemed to be open, although quiet. We shared a bottle of the local Orvieto Classico wine and had sandwiches of prosciutto and pecorino. During our lunch, the owner brought us a plate of pasta to share. It was something that she had made for herself to take home for dinner. She wanted to share with us and we were certainly glad she did. It was penne pasta with an artichoke sauce; very simple, but very good.
After our
delicious lunch, the owner's son brought us downstairs to show us the old wine cellar. It was filled with huge barrels and dust covered bottles. He told us that it had been his grandfather's and that most of the bottles were over 50 years old. The wine was no longer drinkable, but every once in awhile they would open a bottle just for the fun of it. It was really neat to see all of the old bottles and barrels.
Even though it was a quick stop in Orvieto on the way to Rome, I was very glad that we stopped. It is a very nice quiet town with really nice people. It was nice to experience a real town not on the usual tourist track of stops where people will gladly share their pasta and their family history with you over a simple lunch.

Sorry the pictures are so weird in this post, I can't figure out how to change them.

Hello, I am still here

2010-04-27T10:03:00.000-07:00

Wow, I guess it has been awhile since I have updated anything on here, and I am so far behind now! We have been traveling all over Europe the last couple of months, that it just seems like I have so much to write about, and it is so overwhelming that I just haven't done it yet.
Still coming up are my accounts of Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, Paris, Madrid, Toledo, and then Cinque Terre again. And then in a couple of weeks, we are going to Germany for a week to visit my friend, Nadine.
On top of all of this traveling, I have been busy helping Lella out at the cooking school. As the weather is getting nicer and it is getting closer to summer, Siena is becoming more and more of a tourist city. There have been many more groups of foreigners coming to learn how to cook. I want to share some of the things that we have been making because I have been eating very well!
So, to catch up on all of these recent travels and adventures, I am going to try and post something every night until I am caught up. So, here goes for lots of postings! Next up, Orvieto and Rome.

Rain and wine in Tuscany

2010-04-04T06:11:00.000-07:00

After having a lovely day seeing a few cities north of Siena, the next couple of days, we headed south to explore more of Tuscany. We weren't as fortunate with the weather these days, as it turned cold and rainy. Despite the weather, we still had a nice time visiting Buonconvento, Montalcino, Abbia di Sant'Antimo, Pienza, and Montepulciano. The day before, our landlord, Paolo, had come by to pick up our rent for the month when we told him we were planning on driving to Montepulciano. He was very excited, and told us all of the other cities to stop at on the way. With his recommendation, we were able to see a lot of small sites that we would have otherwise missed out on.

We ended up stretching this southern Tuscany sightseeing trip into two days. Our first stop was Buonconvento. This is a very small town just south of Siena that was originally part of the Republic of Siena. There is not much to see here but an idyllic, quiet medieval village. This town seems less touched by tourists than some of the other Tuscan villages.

Our next stop was Montalcino, farther south from Buonconvento. Montalcino is situated on top of a hill, looking out over vineyards producing some of the world's greatest wine, Brunello di Montalcino. As it turned out, we arrived there just in time for panini for lunch with a glass of Brunello. One of the things that I love about Italian food, and more specifically, Tuscan food, is the simplicity of it. The panini that we ate were delicious; simply some salumi toscani between two pieces of bread that were slightly crunchy and warm. Paired with a glass of Brunello, and we had an excellent lunch! After lunch, we walked around for a bit, explored the fortezza, then headed back to the car for our next stop.

After following some small winding roads south for a little ways, we came across the Abbia di Sant'Antimo. There is record of this abbey as early as 813 AD, although a new abbey replaced the original structure in 1117. There are still monks who live and work here today. It is a very calm place, located in a beautiful valley.

Our final stop for the day was Pienza, a city rebuilt for Pope Pius II in the 1400's. He was originally from this area in Tuscany, and wanted a retreat from Rome. He had his hometown rebuilt as an ideal Renaissance town. It is located in the Val d'Orcia, a UNESCO world cultural landscape. These rolling green hills studded with cypress trees are exactly the type of scenery that you would expect from Tuscany. Here, we walked around, bought some cheese (Pienza is famous for its pecorino), checked out the cathedral, and then headed home.

The next day, we decided to take it a little slower, after seeing so many places the day before. As we headed to Montepulciano, we drove through the Crete Senese, the rolling clay hills south of Siena. Montepulciano is another town that is situated on top of a hill surrounded by vineyards. Here, they produce vino nobile di Montepulciano, another well-known red wine. Once there, we checked out some shops, saw an Etruscan tomb, and of course, had some wine with lunch, this time pizza. After lunch, we headed to the main piazza to check out the cathedral and the Palazzo Comunale. Parts of this city looked very familiar, as it was used as a backdrop for movies such as Under the Tuscan Sun, and more recently, New Moon. After taking in the vistas of Montepulciano, we headed home to get ready to leave for Rome in the morning.

To see more of my pictures from these days of traveling around Tuscany, check out my online album here: http://picasaweb.google.com/recarlisle/Tuscany#.

A day under the Tuscan sun

2010-03-24T16:35:00.000-07:00

After a wonderful trip to Venice and Bologna, we returned home to Siena to explore some neighboring Tuscan towns. For the next three days, my mom, dad, and I (Justin had to work) drove all around Tuscany seeing some cute villages, seeing beautiful scenery, drinking great wine, and having some great food. This is the first day of our Tuscan adventure.

Monteriggioni, San Gimignano, Volterra. Three very different cities located north of Siena in the beautiful Tuscan countryside. Justin and I had been to Monteriggioni and San Gimignano before, but every time, we were cursed with rainy, cold days. This was our lucky day, because we experienced a beautiful day under the Tuscan sun.

Our first stop was Monteriggioni, a tiny hill-top village that is completely enclosed within it's ancient medieval walls. This walled village was originally built in 1203 as a fortress for protection against the raging battles between Siena and Florence. As soon as you walk through the first gate to the village, you can already see the gate leading out. There are a grand total of 80 people who live within theses gates. There is a cute little church, a cafe, a few shops selling pottery and wine, and grand vistas of the Tuscan countryside all around. Monteriggioni is easily passed on a grand tour or Tuscany, but a great stop to see a tiny medieval village.

After enjoying a cappuccino and a sweet in the cafe, we headed to San Gimignano. San Gimignano is another very picturesque medieval hill town. Many years ago, the residents of this city were dyers (they dyed cloth), so they built towers to hang the drying dyed cloths from. Originally, there were over 70 towers in this small city. Today, there are 13 of the original remaining.

By the time we arrived, it was lunch time, so we found a cafe and had panini with Vernaccia, a white wine produced around San Gimignano. We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the town, through olive groves and into wine shops. As I said earlier, Justin and I had been to San Gimignano before, but it really is a much nicer city to see on a nice sunny day. After finding some paintings and wine to spend money on, we headed to Volterra.

On a map, Volterra looks very close to San Gimignano. The roads tell a different story. Although very beautiful, these roads are not for the weak stomach or someone who gets motion sickness easily. These Tuscan roads are some of the curviest and winding roads that I have ever driven on.

When we finally arrived in Volterra we found out that we were just late enough for everything to be closed. Volterra is famous for alabaster, a roman theater, etruscan museum, and, if you are a Twilight fan, the Volturi. We did have enough time to walk around and see the theater from the outside. We also explored a few shops and took some pictures before heading home on the windy roads back to Siena.

Bologna......mmmmmmmmmmm......Bologna

2010-03-22T13:02:00.000-07:00

After our wonderful time in Venice, I didn't have too high of expectations going into Bologna. I had never been there before, and I thought it was going to be more of a stop-over/place to sleep on our way home from Venice. My guide book on Italy had only one page on Bologna, without many major highlights and I had heard that there is not much to do there with the exception of eating. I was pleasantly surprised at all that Bologna had to offer. The food was definitely the highlight of the stop for me, but there were many things that I loved about Bologna.
I was excited to get some great food and I was not disappointed! Bologna is located in the region of Emilia Romagna, which is considered the food capital of Italy. It is the home of fresh egg pasta specialties like lasagne, tortellini, tagliatelle, and cappelletti, just to name a few. Bolognese sauce comes from here and prosciutto di Parma along with Parmigiano Reggiano are made just up the road in Parma. Bologna also has its own charcuterie specialties including mortadella.

Our Bolognese culinary adventure started late Sunday night. After we arrived from Venice, we decided to look around for somewhere for dinner. We walked up a main street near our hotel for a little bit, but decided to return to the small, cozy looking restaurant that was next to our hotel. We walked in and saw old wood paneling on the walls and families eating pizza; it was a very relaxed atmosphere. Little did we know that we were about to have one of the best meals of our life. We started off with a liter of the house red wine, a plate of mixed charcuterie including, proscuitto, salumi, mortadella, and braesola, and bruschetta with tomatoes. It was very simple, but excellent. Next up was the pasta course. Oh, the pasta course. This is usually the high point in any meal in Italy and this was no exception. I had tortellini (probably made by hand) with Bolognese sauce which was everything that a pasta should be. Maybe even better than my tortellini was my mom's tortelloni (big tortellini) with a cream sauce and prosciutto. We were happy after the pasta, but we had already ordered a second course, so then we ate scallopini, prepared 3 different ways. One with mushrooms, one with asparagus, and one with lemon and wine sauce. After this amazing meal so far, how could we say no to dessert? We finished the meal with two different mascarpone mousses, one with berries, and one with chocolate. This meal might not sound like anything fancy or incredible, but that is the thing that I love about Italian cuisine. They make really great food that doesn't have to be fancy to taste good. And boy, does it taste good.
The next day, we woke up ready to experience the city of Bologna. It was a beautiful day, and we set off on foot to explore. The first thing that we noticed about the city is that almost every sidewalk has a covered portico. In the historic center of Bologna, there are over 38 kilometers of porticos!

Another thing to notice in Bologna is the towers. At one point there were close to 200 medieval towers in the city. Today, there are much less, but they still are a highly studied point of the city. Two of the most famous are situated near the center of the city and are called le due torre (the two towers). The taller of the two is open for climbing. After 497 steps (I counted!), we made it to the top to discover a beautiful view of the city below us.

After our climb, we were hungry for lunch, so we headed over to Tambourini, a market that specializes in Bolognese specialties. There we purchased an assortment of salumi, cheese, and bread for a picnic lunch in Piazza Maggiore, facing the half finished facade of the cathedral. It was another great and memorable meal in Bologna.

After our lunch, we headed inside to check out the cathedral before heading home to Siena. Bologna was a great stop as part of our trip home from Venice. I would love to spend more time there, walking along the porticoes, checking out markets, sitting in the piazza, and finding great meals in cozy restaurants. To see more pictures from Bologna, check out my web album here http://picasaweb.google.com/recarlisle/Bologna#.

Venezia

2010-03-21T08:01:00.000-07:00

Ok, here I go writing about the first of our many wonderful stops. I have been putting off writing about this for the last few days because we have done so much in the last few weeks that I just don't know where to even start! Here's my best shot at what I can remember from the beautiful city that is Venice.

On Saturday, February 27, my mom, dad, Justin, and I left Siena in our cute little Fiat Panda rental car and headed for Venice. This was going to be my third trip to Venice, but I was just as excited as I was the first time. My parents had just arrived in Italy the day before and everything was new and exciting for them. Also, this was Justin's first time to the city built on water. By the time we arrived in Venice, it was mid-afternoon and the sun was shining; it was a beautiful day. Our apartment hotel was just a few minutes away from St. Mark's Square on a cute and quiet canal.

After settling into our room, we decided to explore the city before the sun was gone. We first headed to St. Mark's Square, "the most beautiful drawing room in Europe," according to Napoleon. Stepping into this grand piazza for the first time (or even the first time in a few years) is breathtaking and leaves you awestruck. All of a sudden, after walking through narrow alleys and over small bridges, you come out to this great opening filled with people, cafes, pigeons, and one of the most beautiful Byzantine cathedrals in the world. This great square looks out on the lagoon of Venice, which is a reminder of where you really are. As it gets later and the sun begins to drop in the sky, the mist from the lagoon starts to take over the city giving it a magical glow. Pictures and words can't really do justice to the feeling that Venice gives you.

After walking around Piazza San Marco, exploring the lagoon area, and sneaking into the basilica right before it closed for the night, we decided to head over to il Rialto. Il Rialto is the most famous bridge in Venice, crossing the grand canal and also home to a huge market area. Here, we did some shopping (mostly window shopping), picture taking, and then stopping in a cafe for a bellini. The bellini is the drink to have in Venice. It is simply prosecco and peach puree. It was originated in Harry's Bar, a famous bar at the mouth of the grand canal that Ernest Hemingway used to frequent. Now, it is served for tourists all over Venice.

After wandering around for awhile longer, we started to get hungry and found a restaurant near our hotel that served Venetian seafood specialties. We started our dinner with a mixed plate of small seafood bites. It included polenta with baccala, anchovies, crab cakes, stuffed mussels, and other regional seafood specialties. Then, I had a black tagliatelle with squid, zucchini, and tomatoes. It was a very nice Venetian style dinner.

The next day, we woke up to a very different Venice. The sun was gone and the streets were wet. No, it had not rained over the night, but the lagoon was taking over the city. This is a daily fight for Venice as the tide comes in. We passed shops that the entire floor was covered in a couple of inches of water. You couldn't tell where the sidewalks ended and where the canals began.

We made our way through the water to the Doge's Palace right off of St. Mark's Square. As we toured the palace, the water slowly made its way back into the lagoon. After this, we walked around, found some delicious pizza for lunch, and then took a gondola ride through the canals. As touristy as this seemed, it was a great way to see the city from a very different perspective and a very memorable experience.

We left Venice early that evening just as it was starting to rain. Venice is a city unlike any other that I have ever been to. It is absolutely crowded with tourists, but very unique and still truly it's own. There are many people who work and live there and still have to fight back the water everyday. To see more pictures from our trip to Venice, you can visit my Picasa web album here: http://picasaweb.google.com/recarlisle/Venezia# . Next stop on our road trip: Bologna for some amazing food!

A new feature of my blog

2010-03-20T04:42:00.000-07:00

Well, I didn't get the post written about Venice yet, but I hope to do that today. But, I have been working hard on uploading all of my pictures for you to see. If you look to the right side of the screen here, you will see a slideshow playing of pictures. If you click on one of the pictures, it will take you to my Picasa site, where I am uploading all of the pictures. Depending on what picture you click on, it will take you directly to that album. To see the rest of the albums, click "my photos" on the top left of the Picasa site. There, you can look through the albums with my pictures. They will be organized by each place we visited. I will still be posting some pictures with my regular blog updates, but this way, you can see more than the 5 or 6 that I upload per post. I hope you like the pictures, I am still working on getting them all up here, I am working with quite a few! Ciao!

Yes, I am still here

2010-03-19T06:35:00.000-07:00

Ciao Amici!
Well, here I am finally, back from our last three weeks of traveling. We had a wonderful time with my parents here and I have lots of exciting adventures to blog about, and they will be coming soon with a lot of pictures. Right now I am trying to catch up on everything from the last 3 weeks and trying to figure out a good place to start with everything. I have probably over 2000 new pictures on my computer between my camera, dad's, Katie's, and Justin's. I think I might just post a lot of them to an internet site like Picasa and then link to it here, so you can check out more than just the 5 or 6 that I usually put on one post.
This is just a quick post to say that I am still here and that more is coming soon. I will try to write about Venice tonight and figure out something to do with all of these photos! So check back soon!
Thanks for being so patient with my lack of writing lately. And welcome to my new readers via the Citizen Patriot! Ciao!

update on our lives in Siena

2010-02-19T12:20:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't written much in the last couple of weeks. Nothing much exciting has been going on around here to blog about. That will be changing soon because next Friday my parents are arriving and we have a lot of stuff planned to see and do! My mom will be here for 2 weeks, dad for 3 weeks, and Katie for one week. During this time we plan on going to Venice, Bologna, lots of little Tuscan towns, Rome, Florence, the Cinque Terre, and then Paris with my dad for the final week. We will be very busy, but I'm sure it will be a blast! So check back for updates on our travels! :)

What we have been up to in the meantime:
I have still been helping out at the cooking school, usually at least 3 nights a week. Now all of the classes are for groups of Italians. One night is a pastry class, one night a basic cooking class, and then the third night is a special lesson. The people taking the class are mostly just taking it because they are interested in learning how to make some new things. This is not a professional culinary school by any means, but I am nontheless very glad to be able to help out and learn things along the way. I have lots of new recipes and get to eat a very filling dinner every night thanks to Lella's cooking school. Would you want me to continue posting recipes on here like I did the first week? I don't know if everyone who reads this blog is really interested in cooking or more of our adventures over here. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. I wouldn't mind posting more recipes but I don't want to bore anyone. thanks for the feedback :)

The weather around here has been very strange lately. Last week we got quite a bit of snow (for Siena standards) and then yesterday it was almost 60 degrees. I don't know if spring is on its way or just teasing us here. I am hoping for the first one.

and since I don't want this blog post to be too boring, I will leave you with some pictures of Siena.

Carnevale, Viareggio, Cenci!

2010-02-08T10:58:00.000-08:00

In Italy, the celebration of carnevale has started. Carnevale (or carnival) is the weeks long celebration before the start of lent. It is celebrated by parades, costumes, masks, confetti, and fried sweets. A couple of weeks ago, I started to notice confetti all over the streets every night. I asked Lella what it was from and she told me that Carnevale had started. Then on the weekends, we noticed kids running around the piazza, dressed up like it was Halloween. Now, wherever I go in Siena, I can't help but notice streets sprinkled with confetti, stores selling masks, and bakeries frying all sorts of sugar coated dough.
While it is a fun time in Siena, there really isn't any sort of public festival or huge celebration. For that, we headed to Viareggio this past weekend. Viareggio is a small resort town just north of Pisa on the Mediterranean coast that is famous for its Carnevale celebration. As soon as we arrived, we saw buildings with flags and people in costume. We made our way to the parade area on the seafront boulevard and realized that we were in for quite a celebration. Most of the people there were in some sort of costume, mask, or crazy wig, there were people selling confetti or silly string, there were stands set up where you could buy any type of sweet imaginable, music was playing; it was going to be a fun day. Since we had arrived quite a bit early, we took our time looking around at all of the stalls and also spending quite a bit of time people watching and checking out all of the costumes. Finally at 3:00 the parade started. By this time, the crowd had grown and there were a lot of people. It was such a festive atmosphere. There were huge floats that made their way around both sides of the boulevard. These floats were amazing! Most of them had moving parts, lights, music, and a group of people dressed in costume dancing and singing. The parade lasted for almost 3 hours, ending just in time to catch the sunset over the sea. Here are some pictures:
Like I said, Italians like to eat fried sweets for Carnevale. One of the most popular in Siena are called cenci. This literally means rags. They are just little pieces of sweet pastry dough that are fried and then covered with powdered sugar. Here is the recipe:

300 grams of flour
50 grams of sugar
2 eggs
50 grams of melted butter, not hot
maybe a half glass of Vin Santo
zest of an orange
a pinch of salt

This dough is made like a pasta dough, not really like a typical pastry dough. Combine the dry ingredients on a flat work surface. Make a well in the middle and add the eggs, vin santo, and butter. With a fork, mix these together, gradually mixing in the dry ingredients to form a dough. Bring everything together and knead for a minute or 2 to form a smooth dough. Cover this with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. After refrigerating, roll it out on a floured surface with a rolling pin. Use a knife or a pasta cutter to cut into diamond shapes. Fry immediately in hot oil (peanut oil works the best for this). Turn them and let them fry until they become nice and golden brown on both sides. Remove from the oil and let them drain for a minute on paper towel before transfering them to a sheet where you can sprinkle them generously with powdered sugar. These are only to be eaten during carnevale!

Tiramisu: me vs. the Italians

2010-01-27T13:59:00.000-08:00

For years I have been making tiramisu. My own recipe has evolved throughout the years, but I have come to a standard recipe that I really like using and that I think makes a really good tiramisu. My recipe differs quite a bit than how the Italians make it. After eating Lella's tiramisu everyday for the past week, I might be switching to her recipe. I haven't quite decided yet, and I might have to make them both at the same time to do a taste test. Anyone up for helping me decide?

My Tiramisu:
you will need:
ladyfingers
espresso
brandy
mascarpone cheese, approximately 500g
eggs, 5 yolks, one whole
sugar
heavy cream, one pint
cocoa powder

- Start by lining a serving dish with lady fingers. Using a pastry brush, soak them with espresso, using enough until they feel soggy.
- Mix 5 egg yolks and one whole egg together with a few tablespoons (maybe more than a few, sorry I don't really measure this) of sugar, a little bit of the epresso, and brandy. Cook this very lightly over a double boiler, while whisking, until you can tell the eggs are thickening up. Be careful with this step because you don't want scrambled eggs in your dessert! When they start to thicken, take them off the heat and let them cool.
- In a large bowl, whip the cream together with sugar (sweet enough to your liking) until it has thickened up and you have whipped cream. Not too stiff, but definitly thick. Add the cooled egg mixture to this, and then the mascarpone. Continue to mix until you have a nice thick cream.
- Layer half of the cream mixture over the soaked ladyfingers. You can sprinkle this first layer with cocoa powder if you want, sometimes I do and sometimes I don't.
- Make another layer of soaked ladyfingers and top with the remaining mascarpone mixture. Cover this layer with cocoa powder.
- Cover and place in the refrigerator overnight or for at least a couple of hours.

Lella's tiramisu:

You will need:
ladyfingers
espresso
rum
5 eggs, seperated
150 grams of sugar
500 grams of mascarpone
mini dark chocolate chips or chunks
cocoa powder

- Start by arranging the ladyfingers to cover the bottom of a serving dish. Soak them with espresso and them generously douse them with rum.
- In a large bowl, mix together the egg yolks and sugar, beating them together with an electic mixer until the yolks are a nice pale yellow color.
- Add the mascarpone to the eggs and beat for another 5-7 minutes, until you can tell that it has thickened up.
- In another bowl beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks have formed.
- Gently fold the whites into the mascarpone mixture by hand.
- Spread this mixture on top of the ladyfingers.
- Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top.
- Cover with plastic and place in the refrigerator.
- Sprinkle with cocoa powder to serve.

Ok, so here are the two recipes. Which one wins? Who is going to help me test them? :)

Pici all'aglione

2010-01-26T13:56:00.000-08:00

Pici is a type of pasta very specific to Siena. Pici is the pasta of Siena, and you won't find it many other places. Every restaurant in Siena has their own version of Pici, and this is Lella's. It is a very thick type of spaghetti that is rolled out by hand. This pasta goes back to the Etruscan times, before the Romans, and before Marco Polo brought spaghetti back from the orient. Of course, you can serve this pasta with any type of sauce. Many Siense restaurants serve it with a ragu, porcini, or even a cheese sauce. In Lella's class, we made it with sugo di aglione, which means garlicky sauce. This is a basic tomato sauce that is spicy with garlic and chili flakes.

For the pici:

100 grams of all-purpose flour
100 grams of semolina flour
approximately 130 grams of water
a pinch of salt

Since this is a pasta that is made with only flour and water, you use two types of flour. The AP flour will give it the gluten to stretch out, and the semolina will give it a little more taste and texture. If you don't have semolia, you can double the amount of all-purpose flour. Making pasta can depend on many things. The humidity, the temperature of your hands, even the age of the flour can change how the pasta is. It is better to have a wetter pasta than a drier one, because you can always add more flour, but you can't take any away. So, to start this process, it is best to work on a flat surface that you don't mind getting floury and messy. Dump the flour right onto your work surface, and make a hole in the middle. Start slowly pouring the water into this hole while mixing in the flour with a fork. When the dough becomes too thick to use the fork, you can use a spatula or even you hands to bring everything together. Once you have everything incorporated, start kneading by hand. You should work this dough until you have a nice smooth texture and it does not stick to your hands. You can add more flour as needed. Cover in an airtight space and let it rest for at least half an hour. After it has rested, cut off a small piece at a time, keeping the rest covered. Start working this small piece in your hands and then finish by rolling on a table or other flat work surface. You should roll it back and forth working from the middle outward to form a long thin tube. You can cut this if it gets too long and keep rolling both halves. Roll it until it is a thick spaghetti like noodle. When you are done rolling all of the dough, cook in boiling salted water for at least 7 minutes, maybe more depending on how thick your pasta is. Remove directly from the water and put into the sauce.

Sugo di Aglione:

Extra virgin olive oil
garlic, whole cloves
chili flakes
tomatoes, canned or fresh, depending on the season
a little bit of stock or broth
fresh basil

This is a very easy sauce to make but also very good. Start with a good amount of olive oil and add the whole garlic cloves and chili flakes. This sauce is called sauce of the big garlic, so don't skimp on this ingredient! Only cook until you can start to smell the garlic. You don't want to burn the garlic at all because it will give everything a very bitter flavor. As soon as you can smell the garlic, add the tomatoes and a little bit of broth. Cover the sauce and let it cook for at least 30 minutes. The sauce is done when the garlic is tender with a fork. The final step is to add some chopped basil in the last minute of cooking. Add the pici directly to the sauce and served with a grated pecorino toscano cheese.

Gnocchi al Gorgonzola

2010-01-25T13:34:00.000-08:00

For the second recipe from la scuola di cucina di Lella, I am posting gnocchi al gorgonzola. Gnocchi are a type of pasta that are really more dumpling-like than pasta-like. They are made with potatoes which give them a completely different taste and texture than other types of pasta. This is a type of dish very typical of northern Italy, especially with the gorgonzola sauce. Although I am giving these two recipes together, they definitely can be used seperately. You can serve the gnocchi with any type of sauce you like. You can also use the gorgonzola sauce with other types of pasta, or even with rice or polenta. But in my opinion, the creaminess of this sauce goes well with the smoothness of the potatoes in the gnocchi. Don't be afraid of the gorgonzola because it is a blue cheese! It is mild enough in the sauce and melts well to be nice and creamy.

For the gnocchi:
potatoes
flour
egg

Start by boiling the potatoes whole with their skins still on. When they are done (tender with a fork), drain them immediately. Let them cool for a little while, but not too long. When making the gnocchi dough, you want the potatoes to still be warm, but not hot. When they are an appropriate temperature, use a potato ricer to mash them onto your work surface. (This little machine really makes a difference, it's like a huge garlic press, but for potatoes.) Make a well in the middle of the pile of potatoes, sprinkle generously with flour, crack an egg in the hole, and add a pinch of salt. With a fork, start mixing the egg in the middle. Gradually push the potatoes and flour into the egg and work together to make a dough. If it is too sticky, add more flour as necessary. It should be a little sticky, but not too messy. When you have the dough formed, cut off one small piece at a time to make the gnocchi. With the piece you have cut, start rolling on a well floured surface into a long tube, something like a sausage, that should be about the thickness of your finger. At this point, cut the tube of dough into small pieces, a little smaller than an inch in length. Each of these pieces will become the gnocchi. You can use a gnocchi board or the back of a fork to form the gnocchi. First roll them gently in a circular motion, and then roll them off the gnocchi board or the fork to give them the lines that will make the sauce stick to them better. Cook in a large pot of salted water. The gnocchi are done as soon as they rise to the surface. This will be very quick, maybe a minute or less, depending on the size of the gnocchi. Use a slotted spoon to fish them out and place directly into another pan containing whatever sauce you want to serve them with. In this case, the gorgonzola.

For the sugo al gorgonzola:
butter
gorgonzola dolce cheese
cream
black pepper
parmesan cheese

In a pan over a low flame, melt together the butter and gorgonzola cheese. This should be just hot enough to melt them, not to cook them. When they are starting to get nice and melty, sprinkle generously with black pepper. (Note: this sauce will not need salt because the cheese should be salty enough.) Add just enough cream to make it saucy and mix everything together until it has a nice smooth consistency. Add a handful of parmesan and remove from the heat. Add the gnocchi and enjoy!

Pappa col Pomodoro

2010-01-24T04:36:00.000-08:00

For the first recipe from la scuola di cucina di Lella, here is the story and recipe behind pappa col pomodoro.

Pappa col pomodoro is a traditional Tuscan tomato and bread soup. It's origins are very poor as it is made with stale bread. Tuscan families would make bread once a week, and then at the end of the week, when the leftover bread was stale, instead of throwing it away, they would stretch it even farther by using it to make soup. The result is many tasty and hearty Tuscan soups which rely heavily on stale bread, including this one.

Another important thing about this soup is where it is from. All Italian food is very regional. There are 21 different regions in Italy, all of them with their own type of cuisine. There are definitely some similarities between dishes from some regions, and there are some things that you can find all throughout Italy, but Italian food is much more diverse than just spaghetti and lasagna. As I said, this is a traditional Tuscan soup. More than just being Tuscan, pappa col pomodoro is very specific to the area right around Siena and Florence.

This is a very easy soup to make with not too many ingredients, but it is very delicious.

Here's what you will need:
Extra virgin olive oil
Whole garlic cloves
A couple of chili peppers, crushed
Stale bread (the older, the better)
Tomatoes
Basil
Stock
Salt

A note on some of the ingredients-
The bread should be from a very simple, country style, hearty loaf. If you only have fresh bread and want to make this soup, you can dry out the bread in the oven for a few minutes- not enough to toast it, but just enough to dry it out.
In the summer when you can find really nice flavorful tomatoes, use fresh, but in the winter, canned tomatoes are better than fresh ones without flavor.
Also in the summer, the basil is going to be more aromatic and flavorful, so you won't need to use as much.
You can use whatever kind of stock you like, vegetable or chicken. In a pinch, you could even use water, but a good stock will make this soup better.

Here's how to make it:
- Start with a good amount of olive oil in a heavy bottomed pot. It should be at least 2 tablespoons of oil per person.
- Add one or two whole cloves of garlic per person (depending on how much you like garlic), and the crushed chili flakes. The heat on this pot should be very low, you don't want any color on the garlic, it should stay white throughout the cooking process.
- After a couple of minutes when you can start to smell the garlic, add a couple of handfulls of fresh basil.
- Add the bread and toss in the hot oil to evenly coat it. There should be enough bread to soak up all of the oil.
- Add the tomatoes and mix well to coat the bread.
- Fill the pot with enough stock to cover all the tomatoes and bread. The stock should be warm, so it doesn't stop the cooking process. It will depend how much stock you will need on how stale the bread is. Really stale bread is going to absorb more of the liquid, so keep an eye on this and don't let it get dried out.
- Cover the soup and simmer for at least an hour. Stir occasionally and add more stock if necessary.
- When the soup is done cooking, you can serve it as is, or pass it through a food mill for a smoother texture. According to Lella, it is very important that you do not use an electric blender, but do this step by hand with a food mill. This is meant to be a hearty soup and it should not be pureed.
- Serve the soup with a thread of extra virgin olive oil on top.

Scuola di Cucina, week 1

2010-01-23T15:58:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned a few posts back, this week I started helping at a local cooking school. The past 5 nights I have helped out the teacher, Lella, with a different group of American students every night. Each night we have had around 25 students and we make 4 dishes. Since there is a different group each day, we have been repeating the same 4 dishes each day. I figured it was time to start sharing my experiences at the school, along with some of the recipes.

Before starting, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this experience. I didn't know if I would be in the class as a student, or as a helping hand to Lella. It turns out I am a little bit of both. Lella does not speak any English, and I was a little nervous to have to translate everything on my own. Luckily for me, there is another girl who comes every night to do most of the translating. I am mostly there to grab things for Lella, watch, and help the students a little. One night I was on my own to translate, and it actually went pretty well. I am a lot better at understanding Italian and translating from Italian to English than the other way around. This class is a great way for me to practice Italian and also learn some new things about Italian cusine.

These classes for the American students will go for a few more days, and then next week, on the 28th, a session of classes for Italian students will start. Lella has invited me to attend these classes as well, to help her, and learn more than these same 4 recipes. But, these 4 recipes are really great, and I have enjoyed making them and then eating them every night. My dinner every night this week has consisted of pappa col pomodoro, gnocchi al gorgonzola, pici all'aglione, and then tiramisu. :) So, stay tuned for recipes and photos! I will try to post one each night this week.

Brussels part 2

2010-01-20T06:15:00.001-08:00

Last weekend Justin and I went on our first trip out of the country. We decided on Brussels after we found some cheap airline tickets on Ryanair that we just couldn't pass up. We were excited to go to Brussels for many reasons, one of them being the food, which I already told you about. Another reason we decided to head to Belgium was because neither of us had been there before. We were excited to experience a new city together.

We arrived Friday afternoon and were instantly greeted with a cold wind and snow. Having lived in Michigan for the first 23 years of my life, you would think that I would be able to handle cold weather and winter conditions. But 2 years in California and now the mild Mediterranean climate of Italy has softened my tough Michigan self. It was COLD!

After finding our way to our hotel and checking in, we decided to bundle back up and head outside to explore the city for awhile. At this point, it had already started to get dark (and colder), so we didn't wander too far. Our hotel was very close to the city center, so we walked around there, had a nice dinner, and then headed back to our hotel so we could get an early start on the next day.

Saturday morning wasn't much warmer, which gave us a good excuse to visit some museums. First we went to a museum for the city of Brussels, which was located in the old city hall in the city's majestic Grand Place (this is the main square of Brussels). After this visit, we took the metro north of the city to visit the Atomium, a giant structure in the shape of an atom which was built for the 1958 world's fair. There are different exhibits in each of the atom's spheres, and a great view from the top (well, our view was actually pretty snowy and limited, but I can imagine that it would be great on a clear day).

After seeing enough museums for the day, we continued our walking tour of the city, and ended the day with a hamburger and a beer. I was very excited to have a burger for the first time in at least 5 months (Italians think that McDonald's has good burgers, they have never heard of father's office I'm guessing). Then we decided to see a movie since movies in Belgium are shown in their original language (unlike Italy, where they are dubbed in Italian).

On Sunday we walked around some more, ate more waffles and chocolate, and saw a few more sites. We visited a couple of parks, saw the Royal Palace, visited a couple of churches, and also went to the museum of the Belgian bank (we needed to warm up again, but actually, it was pretty interesting).

Sunday concluded our sightseeing as we left for the airport early Monday morning. We both enjoyed Brussels and the experiences of a new place together. One of the things that I really liked about Brussels after being in Italy for almost 5 months was the diversity of the city. I know this might sound a little stupid, but everything in Italy is so Italian. This is also why I love Italy, but sometimes I just want a burger and not pasta! Brussels was a nice change for the weekend, but I was happy to return home (yes, Italy feels like home) to a langauge that I understand, warmer weather, and even a big bowl of pasta.

Fancy buildings in the Grand Place

The Atomium

More buildings in the Grand Place

A typical looking Brussels building. Actually, this is the restaurant that we ate dinner in the first night. Notice the painting on right side. There are murals throughout the city on random walls. Belgians really like comics and I think these are characters from a comic strip.

The old city hall in the Grand Place.

Taste of Brussels

2010-01-18T11:31:00.000-08:00

Justin and I were excited to go to Brussels for many reasons, one of them including food! Belgian waffles, frites, beer, cheese, and chocolate! This is the first blog post on our trip to Brussels, with more to come soon, with more than just food.
Every beer produced in Belgium also has a specific glass that is made for it. I can't imagine all of the different glasses that bars must have to stock there. Beer typically made in Brussels is fruity, so I thought I should try a cherry beer (the beer on the right). This beer tasted nothing like beer, but more like a cough drop in liquid form. It was red and very sweet!

This is the window of a cheese shop that we walked past. It looked so good! We did have some cheese at a restaurant one night that was very good, but they couldn't tell us what kind of cheeses they were. There were a few soft, bloomy rind rind chesses, a soft washed rind, a firmer one, and a blue. All were good, but it would have been nice to know what we were eating.

No, this isn't in a shoe store. It was in a chocolate shop. This shoe was made of chocolate!

The window of a chocolate shop. Justin and I bought a box of mixed chocolates from this shop. They didn't last too long because they were delicious! We also bought a regular chocolate bar from the grocery store that was just as good. Those Belgians know how to make chocolates.

Don't you dare think that these are French fries! They are Belgian frites! All around Brussels there are friteries, where you can buy frites with mayonnaise.

More chocolate! :)

This is quite possibly the world's greatest waffle. Belgian waffles are so different than what you might think of as a Belgian waffle. They are doughy, dense, sweet, and crunchy with sugar crystals. Then top it off with whipped cream and raspberries! YUM!

The waffles on display to choose from.

Another round of beer. No fruity ones this time.

Justin's dinner our first night in Brussels. It had brussels sprouts! Of course I had to take a picture!

So what exactly am I doing here anyway?

2010-01-06T13:14:00.000-08:00

This is a question that I have been asking myself and have been trying to answer since we arrived in September. Our original intentions didn't quite work out, so we are in Siena as part of a backup plan, figuring things out as we go along.

Our original plan was to come to Siena for the month of September so we could both take a month long language course at the Universita per Stranieri (university for foreigners). Then in October, we would move to Parma where I would begin a pastry program at an Italian culinary school. Everything seemed to be working out fine, I had enrolled at the culinary school, enrolled in the language class, bought one way tickets to Rome, purchased health insurance for a year abroad, given notice for my job, and told our landlord that we were moving. Then at our appointment at the Italian consulate in July, everything changed. We were told, sorry, you can't have the visa you need for this school. Apparently, since the culinary school offered an intership as part of its program, you couldn't get a regular student visa that we were applying for. And, these special student visas that allow you to do an internship are few and far between. The Italian government had already given out it's alloted amount for the time period that I was applying for. So, sorry, you can't go, was what I was told.

Well, this information didn't exactly settle too well with me. Actually I was pretty much in hysterics at the consulate office. There goes thousands of dollars, years of my dreaming and hard work, just for a stupid student visa. As Justin was driving home, I thought that there was no way we would be able to come to Italy. My dreams were crushed. When we got home, we started talking about different options and what we could possibly do. The problem was the culinary school. The language class in Siena only required a normal student visa, which was still available. So I did the only thing we could think of that would still allow us to go, I enrolled at the language school for the entire year. After a couple of weeks of scrambling to get everything together, a few more trips to visit the nice lady (HAHA sarcasm here) at the consulate office, I was promised a student visa valid for a year. Less than a week before we were supposed to leave, I got my passport back in the mail with a visa stamped in it.

So, here we are in Siena. For the last 4 months I have been taking language classes, but as of December, I have completed the highest level. (don't ask me how, I still have trouble with the language and am no where near fluent.) Since arriving I have been questioning what I am doing here and what am I getting out of this experience. I haven't done anything food related except cook dinner at home. This was supposed to be a year-long food adventure, but it hasn't quite been what I had been expecting so far.

Well, thanks to our landlord, that is about to change. Our landlord knows a woman who runs a culinary school in Siena. He talked to her and told her about my wishes to learn about Italian and Tuscan cuisine. I met with her and she offered to let me take her classes for free in exchange for my help with translating for some American students. So, starting January 18, I will be back on the culinary track again. Finally! I am so happy about this opportunity to finally be here working on something that pertains to my original desire to come to Italy.

So, I guess that is the long version of me saying that I am starting a cooking class in a couple of weeks. :)

Bonjour Bruxelles!

2010-01-05T07:07:00.000-08:00

One of the expectations that I had of living in Europe before we came here was that we would be jet setting all over and traveling to new and exciting places every weekend. Well, because of time and money constraints, that hasn't exactly been the case. Since arriving in September, we have yet to even leave Italy. We barely have even left Tuscany. That all changes this Friday when we head to Brussels for a long weekend!
This idea originally came about when Justin and I were looking for somewhere to go over new years. We were originally planning on going to Rome or Venice for the weekend, but the train to get to Venice is quite expensive and all of the hotels we found in Rome were really expensive for the holiday weekend. Then, through RyanAir, a cheap European airline, we found tickets to Belgium for the weekend after new years for only 14 euros each way! So, it is cheaper for us to fly to Brussels for the weekend than take the train to Venice.
We are excited to be traveling somewhere that neither of us has ever been before and excited to be leaving the country! After being in Italy for 4 months, it will be strange to be in a country that doesn't speak Italian. I have been told that Brussels is quite an international city because it is the headquarters of the European Union, and that most people speak English. I hope so because I don't remember anything of high school French and don't even know a single word of Dutch.
It should be a fun and exciting weekend, and I will report back with photos and stories of our Belgian adventure next week.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-02T08:56:00.000-08:00

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Happy New Year from Siena! It is hard to believe that 2009 is over and that we have entered into a new decade. The last 10 years have been pretty amazing, and I can't wait to see what the next 10 have in store for us.
To celebrate the beginning of the new year we joined most of Siena for a party in the Piazza del Campo. Most of the day Thursday it had been raining pretty heavily and steadily, so we weren't sure how the Sinese would be ringing in the new year. At about 8pm, I sent Justin out into the rain to see if anything was going on. He returned only a little wet and said there were plenty of people out and about and that the rain was letting up. So a couple hours later, we decided to venture out to see what was going on. As we got nearer to the city center and the piazza, there were more people and more firecrackers going off. Once we entered the piazza, we realized that there was quite a party. The piazza was packed full of people, all enjoying live music and a panorama of images being projected onto the walls of the piazza. It was quite a site to see, on all of the 700 year old buildings. People were partying and dancing and having a good time.
Right before midnight, the clouds left the sky, clearing up instantly, so we could see the full moon and a sky full of stars. The next minute, people were cheering, kissing, poping champagne, and saying "Auguri!" to everyone. Then the fireworks started. I don't think there was an official firework show planned, but everyone seemed to have brought their own, and started lighting them in the middle of the crowd. There were fireworks going off in every direction in the piazza. It was pretty neat.
So, Happy New Year and Molti Auguri per un buon nuovo anno 2010 for all of our friends and family all over the world!

Sushi lessons in Italy

2009-12-29T09:22:00.001-08:00

The purpose of us moving to Italy was for me to be able to learn about food and true Italian cooking. Well, since being here, I have learned about more than just Italian cuisine. In the language school I was attending, I met friends from all over the world. Some of these friends happened to be from Japan. One night when I had a bunch of people over for dinner, one of the girls, Honoka, brought some sushi that she had made. I was very excited because at home Justin and I definitely like to go out for sushi, and I hadn't had any since California. I was very impressed that she made her own. All of the Japanese girls promised me that if I could make my own ravioli, I could definitely make sushi. So, Honoka promised me a sushi lesson! The next week, as part of a farewell dinner for everyone leaving Italy, she showed me how to make sushi, and I showed her my tiramisu. I was very excited to make sushi and can't wait to try it again!

All of the ingredients ready to go

Honoka showing me the first one
My turn to try one. First the rice.
Then the filling. In this case, cucumber and tuna.
Then roll it up.
A finished sushi roll! I was excited about this as you can probably tell.
The finished products. YUM!

Tastes of Christmas in Italy

2009-12-28T09:37:00.000-08:00

What a weekend for food here! Justin and I have been eating very well here this entire Christmas weekend. I just wanted to share a few pictures of our Christmas meals.

Buon Natale! Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T08:02:00.000-08:00

Buon Natale!! Merry Christmas everyone!!
It is finally feeling quite like Christmas here in Italy. Justin and I are having a very quiet, but also a very nice Christmas here together. Last weekend, we bought a little tree, and have it set up on our kitchen table. It looks like Santa has already been here, and there are quite a few little presents under the tree for us tomorrow morning. Our stockings are hung on the wall and the Christmas cards that we have received are hung on our door. We have enough food and wine to keep us here for a couple of days, and we have some nice little Christmas dinners planned. I just wanted to make a quick little post to say Merry Christmas to all of our friends and family everywhere around the world!! :)

snow in siena!

2009-12-23T13:33:00.000-08:00

Snow in Siena!

2009-12-23T10:22:00.001-08:00

So last week, I wrote about how Siena was becoming a little Christmas city, but that we were missing snow. Well, last Friday we got the snow! Just as I was leaving my class on Friday it started to snow, and continued all night. In the end, it wasn't too much, but definitely enough to cover everything and make it pretty! There were snowmen, people trying to sled down the streets, and of course snowball fights. From what I have heard, I think it is unusual to have this much snow at this time of the year. Some years they don't see snow here at all. But as quickly as the snow arrived, it has disappeared. Today was 56 degrees and nice. So, we will not be having a white Christmas, but at least we got to enjoy the snow for a couple of days.

I have a lot of pictures that I took of the snow, but for some reason it won't let me upload anything right now. So for now you just have to read about it. Check back later for pics!

a trip to Florence and down memory lane

2009-12-17T06:38:00.001-08:00

piazza della repubblica

a view of firenze from the boboli gardens

Justin and I in the Boboli Gardens

on the Ponte Vecchio

in front of the Duomo

Boboli Gardens

This was the spot where Justin proposed to me 3 1/2 years ago.

The restaurant where we had dinner before the proposal. Still one of my best meals to date!

San Lorenzo and the mercato in Florence.

You might be wondering why I am posting pictures and stories from Florence again. Last time I went, I went to meet Angela and I went without Justin. This time, we went together and revisited some of our favorite places in the city.
I have a great connection to Florence today. Florence is the reason that I am living this year in Italy now. In 2004, I spent the summer in Florence for a study abroad program at Central Michigan University. During that time, I fell in love with Italy and promised myself that I would return again someday for longer than just a summer. Well here I am. :) That summer meant a lot to me and still holds a lot of very fond memories.
Jump forward 2 years to May 2006. This time Justin and I were in Italy together, on our first big trip together after graduating from college. We spent a couple of days in London and Germany, but of course, we had to go to Italy, and more specifically, Florence. We spent a couple of days walking around the city, the markets, the gardens, and the churches. One night we decided to go out for a nice dinner and ended up at Perseus, a small restaurant filled with locals. We still remember this dinner as one of the best we have ever had. Even more special than the dinner though was after the dinner as we were walking back to our hostel. It was in the Piazza della Liberta that Justin proposed to me!
So, last weekend, when we went to Florence, we revisited all of these old spots that mean so much to us. It was a very nice trip down memory lane.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2009-12-15T06:10:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that Christmas is next week already! How does it always sneak up so quickly?! Christmas is always one of my favorite times of the year, and in Siena, it is a very nice time as well. In the last month, this city has been transformed with Christmas decorations. There are sparkling lights hanging over the streets and you can't walk very far without seeing a Christmas tree. All of the shop windows are decorated and there is a little market that sells different crafts for gifts. Also, gelato has been replaced with roasted chestnuts and hot chocolate. The only thing missing is a dusting of snow.
During the palio season, as I wrote about a few months ago, each contrada is decorated with their flags and colors. For the Christmas season, each contrada has a Christmas tree decorated with their colors. It is neat to see all of the different trees in each neighborhood now.
This year will be a simple Christmas for Justin and I. We will be staying in Siena. The flights to go home would have been over $1700 per person! So it will just be the two of us here. We are not sure exactly what we are going to do yet. We don't even have a tree or any decorations in our apartment yet. I want to buy a small tree so at least it seems a little more festive here. For now, I am just listening to Christmas music all day! And I have no way to make cookies! I don't know how we will have Christmas without cookies! :( we do have a mailbox though, HINT HINT ;) and in case anyone is wondering our address is:
Viale Vittorio Emanuele II n.48
Siena 53100 Italy
:)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T12:12:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Sorry I have not posted anything in awhile, but we really haven't been up to much, and I haven't had much to write about.
So today, being Thanksgiving, was quite strange in Italy. I went to class like any normal day. There are a couple of other American girls in my class who I said Happy Thanksgiving to, but for everyone else in Italy, today is a normal day.
A couple of weeks ago, Justin and I saw that our grocery store has little pre-roasted chickens that you can buy, something like a rotisserie chicken. We decided that this might be our best option for a Thanksgiving dinner. As I posted a couple of weeks ago, our kitchen is quite dysfunctional, and we don't have an oven, so roasting a turkey was out of the question. Also our grocery store sells turkey drumsticks and turkey breast, but we thought that the little chicken would be easier. So tonight for dinner, we had chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, dinner rolls, apple sauce (no cranberries here either), and a cherry pie (the only type of pie we could find). It was a very nice Thanksgiving dinner and I am very happy to have so much to be thankful for, even if I couldn't be home today.
So HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!

butternut squash ravioli with brown butter and sage

2009-11-22T10:10:00.000-08:00

I started writing this post quite awhile ago, but saved it as a draft, and then forgot about it for awhile, so I thought I should finish it and actually make a new post.

When I worked at Campanile, every once in awhile, we would have butternut squash ravioli on the menu. Every time that we did, I always ate them. These are one of my favorite ravioli! Lately, Justin and I have been on a fresh pasta making kick, so I thought I would try to recreate my favorite Campanile ravioli.

1. take a small-medium sized butternut squash. cut it in half length wise and scoop out the seeds. season with salt and pepper, a few pats of butter, and a couple of sage leaves. stick them in the oven until they are soft and tender and generally roasted looking.
2. take the squash out of the oven and let it cool for a minute. soon after it comes out of the oven, take a fork or a spoon, or whatever device works for you, and remove the squash from the skin. This should be pretty easy, but be careful it is hot! put this in a bowl aside while you make the fresh pasta.
3. fresh pasta is a basic ratio of 1 egg for every 100 grams of flour plus a pinch of salt. 2 or 3 eggs should probably be enough. you can always add more flour, this ratio is a starting point, not an exact measurement, it will depend on the size of the eggs that you use. make a well in the center of the flour and add the eggs. starting with a fork, scramble the eggs, slowly adding flour from the sides. When this is too thick to mix with the fork, it is time to get your hands dirty. start mixing in more flour and kneading with your hands until the dough is a nice smooth consistency, but not sticky.
4. cover the pasta dough with a kitchen towel and set aside. now go back to the squash. I added a small tub of ricotta cheese to the squash and also a few sage leaves chopped up. mix this well until it is smooth.
5. you can roll the pasta out with a pasta machine (easiest), a rolling pin, or if you are in a pinch, you can use an empty wine bottle (my choice). if using a pasta machine, roll it to number 6, if by hand, roll it as thin as you can. make the ravioli by placing a little spoon full of the filling on the pasta, folding it over, pressing around the filling to close it, then cutting around it in your desired shape. 6. the hard part is done. I served these ravioli with a brown butter and sage sauce. brown butter is basically burnt butter. when the fat solids from the butter start to cook, they will produce a really nice nutty flavor that goes with butternut squash really nicely. so, take some butter, put it in a saucepan, and let it burn. don't let it get too hot that it is smoking, you want it brown, not black, and you can use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom and sides of the pan to get the solids moving around. turn off the heat and throw a few sage leaves in. you can also add a little bit of the pasta cooking water to make it a little saucier, not just butter.
7. boil the ravioli in salted water. they will only take a few minutes, because this is fresh pasta. spoon the ravioli right into the sauce, and serve with a shaving of cheese.

Does it always rain in San Gimignano?

2009-11-06T07:55:00.001-08:00

On Monday, we decided to take Angela to San Gimignano, which is a small medieval town not too far from here. Justin and I actually went there in September, but we thought Angela might like it too, so we went back. If you remember the pictures I posted from our September trip, they were also rainy. Every time we have gone to San Gimignano, it has been rainy. This time it was rainy and cold! Despite the lousy weather, we still had a good time walking around the city and seeing the Tuscan countryside. We were definitely not under the tuscan sun that day though! Also, San Gimignano is home to the world gelato champions. So, even though it was cold and rainy, of course we had to have gelato! There weren't very many people in the town that day, but the gelateria was still busy! I had a gorgonzola and walnut gelato that was very interesting and also very good. This particular gelateria has original flavors that you don't find in the average gelateria.

firenze with Angela

2009-11-06T07:11:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday I took the bus to Florence to meet Angela, our former exchange student from 6 years ago, from Germany. We spent the day in Florence. We climbed the campanile, went into the duomo, walked around a lot, went to Santa Croce, and went up to Piazzale Michelangelo. It was very strange for me to be in Florence because I lived there for the summer in 2004. I thought I would be more familiar with the city and know my way around. But I guess 2004 was 5 years ago and I have been to many other cities since then. It's a good thing Angela had her map! We really didn't have too much time there, so we didn't go into any museums, but Florence is only about an hour away, so I will have plenty of other opportunites to check them out.
After going to Florence, I am glad that we are living in Siena. There are so many tourists in Florence, even in November. Siena seems like a much easier city to live in. But Florence will still have a special place in my heart from 5 years ago.

Dysfunctional kitchen

2009-11-06T04:52:00.000-08:00

While we have enjoyed living in Italy so far, there are a few things that have been quite frustrating over here. One of these things for me is our kitchen in our apartment. I posted some pictures of this kitchen a couple of weeks ago, so you can see what I am talking about. This kitchen is basically a closet. It has doors that you can use to close it up when you are done cooking. It is without an oven, has a refrigerator that you might find in a college dorm room, a leaky sink, and then there is the range. We have 4 gas burners. One doesn't work at all, one is too close to the wall, so when you turn it on, the wall starts burning. There is one that works perfectly fine. And then, there is the front right burner. This one has such a strong flame that when you use a certain saute pan on it, the flame pushes it right off. This happened to me just a couple of nights ago when I was trying to make a nice dinner for us. I had a sauce in this saute pan for my pasta that was cooking. I turned my back for a minute and I heard a crash, only to turn around and find my dinner on the floor. I was quite frustrated with this tiny little dysfunctional Italian kitchen. You would think that with all the great food that comes from this place it would be easier to cook!
This is just a little rant, sorry for going on about my kitchen. I will post more later about Florence and vising with Angela.

beans!

2009-10-28T11:51:00.000-07:00

For some reason I have always thought that I didn't really like beans. We never ate beans at home while I was growing up, I'm not sure why my mom never made them. I guess I just assumed that I didn't like them. Well, as with many things from my past as a picky eater, that has changed. This isn't a brand new discovery, because I have been eating beans for a few years now, but here in Tuscany, beans are always present on the menu. Tuscans are bean eaters, and I have become one too now. I cannot get enough cannellini beans, I have made them twice already this week and I bought 2 more bags today at the grocery store. They are so easy to make and SO GOOD. I thought I would share my bean secrets with everyone on here, so in case you might think you don't like beans, just trust me and try these.

Fagioli all'olio
Start by soaking the cannellini beans in water for at least 5-6 hours. They will expand quite a bit, so you probably need less than what you think. Cannellini beans are just a dried white bean, I have seen them in the grocery stores at home.
Next, in a pot, heat a swirl of olive oil and add 2 slices of prosciutto, one branch of sage, and 3 whole cloves of garlic (peeled, but still whole). Just heat this up enough so it starts to smell wonderful and then add the beans (drained of their water). Add enough water to cover the beans by a couple of inches. Turn the heat down very low (you barely want even a simmer, turn it down so you barely have a flame) and let them cook nice and slow. Your kitchen will start to smell very good, and you might want to turn up the heat so they will cook faster and you can eat them, but resist that urge and let them cook slow! This is the trick! I let them cook for at least 3 hours. If the water level gets too low you can add a little bit more. When they are done, serve over nice toasted crunchy bread with a drizzle of a nice olive oil, salt and cracked pepper.
You will enjoy this, I promise.

Tartufi d'Alba!

2009-10-20T11:24:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends! Here are some pictures of Alba and the truffle festival. Last weekend, Justin and I rented a car and drove to Alba, which is a small city in Piemonte, not too far from Torino, where the last winter olympics were held.
For those of you who don't know about truffles, they are these things in the pictures, they grow wild underground in certain parts of the world and are highly prized in the culinary world. Truffles cannot be cultivated and are very rare. They have a very distinctive smell and flavor. I don't really know how to describe it, because it is nothing like you have every tried. The closest thing that a truffle can be compared to is a mushroom, but I wouldn't really say it's a mushroom. It is hard for me to describe. A truffle is truffly, that's the best I can do. There are white truffles and black truffles, white being more expensive and rare. The best white truffles in the world come from Alba, and they hold a truffle festival every year to celebrate the truffle season. And of course, going to this was one of the things on the top of my list to do while living in Italy.
For me, coming to Italy has been an excuse to expand my food knowledge and experience real italian food. Going to the truffle festival was definitly a huge part of that experience for me. It was so cool. We got there are were walking down the city streets and there were vendors along the street selling their truffles. Everywhere we went you could smell truffle. Wow, that smell. I feel like I am rambling on a little about the truffles, but it was just indescribable and incredible.
I really enjoyed Alba, beside the truffles. It was fun for us to be able to drive around Italy on our own and explore. The people of Alba were very friendly. I think I would like to go back to Piemonte.
Next weekend, chocolate festival in Perugia? Maybe!

Ciao amici!

Finally, internet!

2009-10-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

As you might have noticed, I haven't written anything on here in quite a while, but that is about to change. Since we arrived in Italy, it has been a struggle to get online. At first, we had a USB key card that would only let us connect for a few hours a day, sometimes not at all, and always at a VERY slow connection. Then at the beginning of October, that stopped working altogether and the only way we could get online was to steal someone's wireless. But it was a very poor connection that worked less than half the time even slower than the USB key. But today, finally, after almost 2 months, we got our own wireless connection!! This is great in so many ways for us! We will now have internet (DUH), but also we will have a phone through the internet. This is an american phone number 580-749-9252 (580-pizzala: isn't justin clever ;) so that means I can receive phone calls (hint, hint) here just the same as if you were calling me in California! Also, before we had an internet connection here, Justin had to spend 40 hours a week in an internet cafe working. Now he will be able to work from home, which will save us quite a bit of money and we will actually be able to see each other now! As you might be able to tell, I am quite happy about being connected to the world again.
So, now that we have internet, I will hopefully be blogging more regularly. :) I will write more tonight including a recap and photos of Alba and the truffle festival.

PS. here are some pics of our new apartment. Definitly a bathroom upgrade!

Pisa!

2009-10-08T13:19:00.000-07:00

Our last trip anywhere around here was Pisa about a week and a half ago. Here are some pictures from that trip. We took the train to Pisa from Siena and spent the day there. It was a nice day. Pisa is a different city because of the tourism. Obviously there are a lot of tourists everywhere in Italy, but in the Piazza dei Miracoli, where the leaning tower is, is crowded with tourists. There are people all over posing like they are holding the tower up. People get off the train and just head right to the tower to take their picture. Living here has taught me a lot about being a tourist in other places. It seems like so many people here are just here to take their pictures. Sometimes I wonder how much they are really experiencing the city. They see it through their cameras, not with their eyes. I mean I am all for taking pictures, but I think you have to be there for the experience, not the pictures. Ok, sorry for that tanget. anyways, Pisa.
Yeah, we went to Pisa a couple of weeks ago. It was nice. and I took some pictures. We also went into the baptistry and the cathederal, both of which were nice.
Next weekend, well, actually Saturday, we are renting a car and driving to Alba, in Piedmonte, for a truffle festival. Alba is near Torino, where the winter olympics were held in 2004. I am excited for this, and am looking forward to having some truffles right from the source. YUM!! They say that truffles loose their freshness almost right away, and the ones that I tried that were a few days old in LA were pretty amazing, so I am interested to see what they will be like in Alba. New post next week to report on the truffles.

Photos from the wine tasting a couple of weeks back

2009-10-08T13:05:00.000-07:00

San Gimiangio
Monteriggioni
San Gimiangio
Chianti Winery
grapes, soon to be wine!

Some random pictures from Siena

2009-10-08T12:39:00.000-07:00

This is where the sunset pictures were taken from, the unfinished facade. You can climb to the top
Santa Maria dei Servi, another church in the city.

Tuscan sunset

2009-10-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

I took these pictures a few weeks ago, but haven't been able to upload them. Finally my internet is being somewhat cooperative! These are from the Duomo museum. The church was originally meant to be at least twice the size that it is now, but construction was stopped when Siena was hit by the plague in the 14th century. If the church had been finished, it would have been one of the largest churches in the world. The unfinished part is where the museum is now, and you can climb up to the top of the facade. That's where I took these pictures. And I think I have to say that a sunset over Tuscany was just as pretty as any that I have seen over the Pacific Ocean, or even Lake Superior.

2009-09-23T15:29:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends!
Hopefully this will work for me to be able to upload some pictures here tonight. Anyways, an update on our life:
Last weekend we went on a tour of Chianti and San Gimignano. We went to Montereggioni (a tiny hilltop town {population inside the walls- 80} that is completely surrounded by the original medieval walls), San Gimignano - another Tuscan hill town, with 13 of the original 70 towers remaining, a UNESCO world heritage site, and then visited 2 wineries to taste some Chianti and Vernaccia di San Gimignano. It was a nice way to spend Sunday afternoon/evening. We were on a bus with a group of mostly American tourists. They are just starting the harvest of the grapes, so it is winemaking season and we were able to see the vines full of ripe grapes. It was very pretty driving through the Tuscan countryside and seeing all of the wineries.
It is hard to believe that next week is October already! Our first class is over on September 30, and I think that gradually, my Italian is getting a little stronger. Also on October 1, we are moving into another apartment. This one is a little farther from the historic center (still within walking distance), a little bigger, a little cheaper, newer, and equipped with internet! It will be nice to have a place set up that we can settle into for a year.
I have also been trying to scope out restaurants that I might want to try to work at. We have had some nice meals here so far, but since Justin works every weeknight, we only have a chance to go out to dinner together on the weekends. I want to work on my language skills a little more though before I try to work anywhere.
Well, it looks like the pictues aren't going to work again. Internet is too slow. Sorry. :(
Ciao Amici!

2009-09-15T16:00:00.001-07:00

This is more than my first attempt to write a post within the last week. Our internet connection at our apartment is very slow and unreliable, so it's not always easy to get online, much less spend time online writing on here or uploading pictures. This might just be a post without pictures, but I will upload them when I can.
Not too much has been going on here in the last week to report on. Justin and I both started classes last Tuesday and have been busy learning Italian 5 hours a day and then spending a couple of hours doing homework after the class. The classes are hard, it seems like almost everyone in the class has a really good understanding of the language and can be very conversational. I can understand most of what the professors are saying, but I have a hard time thinking and speaking on my feet. I really have to think about what I want to say before I can say anything. It is frustrating sometimes. The school that we are attending is the Universita per Stranieri di Siena. This means it is the University for strangers (foreigners). Since there are people from all over the world in my class (China, Japan, Australia, Germany, France, Brazil, England, Portugal, Spain, etc.) the only common language is Italian, which means the classes are only in Italian. I'm sure it will get easier, and it has already only in the last week, but I still have a long way to go with my language skills.
Besides school, we have been trying to come up with things to do on the weekends. We want to travel around quite a bit, but we are still trying to figure out what it is going to cost us to live here so we know how much we can spend on travelling and weekend excursions. Last weekend we were planning on going on a wine tour of Tuscany and Chianti, but the tour was sold out when we went to sign up. I think we will try again for this weekend. We have some ideas of where we want to go, but we are also looking for suggestions. So, I want to know, what are your favorite European destinations? What is a place that we shouldn't miss out on? Please let me know!!! :)
Well, blogger is still trying to upload my photos after trying for at least 25 minutes, so I don't think you are getting pics with this update! sorry, hopefully next time!

Viva la Civetta!

2009-09-06T08:19:00.000-07:00

As you all know, we are living in Siena, Italy. I thought I should share a little history and some facts about Siena, so you can have a better idea of where we are here.

Siena is a medieval city located in central Tuscany. It's population is just under 60,000. The historic center is divided into 17 neighborhoods, or contrade, which are represented by an animal or symbol. Each resident is fiercely loyal to their neighborhood. As you walk the streets of Siena, you can tell as you pass through each respective neighborhood because there are colorful flag depeciting their symbol from each building. This neighborhood rivalry comes to a head 2 times per year at the Palio, a medieval bareback horserace that takes place on July 3 and August 16. Each contrade has a horse and a jockey that is blessed by their respective church before the race to win the pride of the citizens. The first horse to make it around the piazza del campo 3 times is the winner. If the rider falls off, but the horse crosses the finish first, that horse still wins. People have died in this race before. Just go here and watch the video, it is worth it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9cTrTPbH8s
People are VERY serious about this here. As I write this, there is a gathering outside of the internet cafe for the neighborhood "Lupa." There are men outside in medieval costumes of tights waving flags and beating drums cheering for their contrade. I had to take a break and go outside to take a picture. The palio was 3 weeks ago! The pride that each neighborhood has is crazy to me! The neighborhood that we live in is the "Civetta" which means owl. Our neighborhood actually won the August Palio!! Since we have arrived here, there has been partying every night in our neighborhood. And it's not just partying, its everyone in the neighborhood, young and old, parading the street, beating drums and waving flags, singing and cheering for the Civetta. The Civetta has not won the palio in 30 years, so it is a good cause for celebration. I guess I am kind of rambing on about this here, but I find it very fascinating the pride that these people have. I am very excited to be here next year during the entire Palio season!
This is the men of the Civetta marching around with their Palio banner
Right outside my aparment door, with the flag of the Civetta.

Photos

2009-09-06T08:08:00.001-07:00

Here are some of the photos I was trying to upload the other day. More to come soon enough! :)

Ciao from Siena!

2009-09-04T14:01:00.001-07:00

Hi friends! Ciao from Siena! We arrived in Rome Wednesday morning and then traveled with our 200 pounds of luggage (at least) via train and bus to Siena, our new home. We were met by a woman who I had been in contact with online to find us an apartment. She brought us to our apartment which is just steps away from the main piazza, Piazza del Campo. Our apartment is in a building from the 13th century in the neighborhood that just won the August race of the Palio. We will only be in this apartment for the month of September because we can't get a good internet connection here (which Justin needs to work) and also, it is a bit pricey. The apartment itself is small, but will work fine for us. I don't have any pictures yet, but I will take some and post them soon. Basically though, the bathroom is small enough that you can shower and brush your teeth all while sitting on the toliet. Anyways, the city is really nice. It is one of the best preserved medieval cities in Europe. Most of the buildings around here are from the 13 or 14th century. All of the streets are narrow and the buildings are connected. I have some pictures of the city, but my internet connection is slow and blogger is taking forever to upload the pics, so I will try again later with that. And actually, my internet time is running out here, so Buona Sera!

Arrivederci Amici!

2009-08-31T21:21:00.000-07:00

Well, it's almost here! We are leaving tomorrow!!! Seems crazy that this is actually happening. We are leaving Detroit tomorrow at 7:45 pm on a nonstop one way flight to Rome. We are arriving at 10:45 am (Italy is 6 hours ahead of Michigan, 9 hours ahead of California). After arriving in Rome, we are taking a bus to Siena where we will hopefully be finding a beautiful apartment that has been reserved for us. I say hopefully because while I know that we do have an apartment waiting for us, we don't know anything about it. But we will be in Tuscany, so really, how bad can an apartment be? After we get settled in, I will post some pictures of the new place. Also, I'm not exactly sure how the internet access will be, so I'm not sure how often I will be online at first. Since Justin needs the internet to work, I'm sure we will be figuring this out quickly.
The best way to contact us while we are abroad will be online. My email is recarlisle@gmail.com and Justin's email is jpizzala@gmail.com. Also, feel free to leave comments on here too! :) Actually please leave comments, because I want to know if anyone is actually reading this blog! Another way to contact us will be by phone. Justin has a vonage phone line set up that will be through our internet, so that might take a couple of days to get set up. The phone number will be the same as Justin's current cell phone number (989) 506-3556. So that means that you can call us without calling internationally because it is all through the internet! That means we better be hearing from all of our friends OK?! :) Also, after tomorrow, my cell phone will be turned off and left in Michigan. The line will be discontinued. So I will not be receiving any calls or texts at (989) 506-4599. After we get settled in, I will probably see about getting us cell phones, and will post those numbers when we know what they are. Also, we will let people know what our mailing address will be so you can all send care packages our way! Also, so you all know where to come and visit when you come to Italy!
So, ciao for now and arrivederci amici! Next time you will be hearing from us, we will be in italy!!
I feel like I can't write a blog without some pictures, so here are some from our last week in Michigan with our friends.

Home to Michigan!

2009-08-27T20:30:00.000-07:00

Finally, I have a chance to sit down and write a little bit about the last few weeks of my life. I feel like I have been so busy already and we haven't even left yet! As you can see from the title of this post and the picture above, my mom and I made it home to Michigan in Justin's little Yaris. This little car was PACKED FULL! This car is just a little bigger looking than a smart car to me, only with a backseat. Just to give you an idea of its horsepower, the engine is something like a riding lawn mower. (just kidding, it's probably not quite that big) But this car had trouble going up the 405 to get into the valley in LA. We drove it this full through mountains! It was the little blue engine that could. After a very long 3 days of driving, we made it to Michigan on Tuesday morning at about 2 am. It feels nice to be home but weird to be homeless at the moment. Since getting home, we have been spending time visiting with family and friends around Jackson.

It is hard to believe that we are leaving for Italy in less than 5 days! I think we have just about everything ready that can be at this point. I was nervous about getting my visa in time, but I was woken up early Tuesday morning by the beautiful sound of the fedex man ringing the doorbell with my visa in his hand! On top of getting my visa, I also received a refund for the culinary school in Parma that I originally wanted to attend, but was denied a visa for. I was really not counting on receiving any money back from them, so I am very glad. (I promise to write an entire new post about my visa fiasco, since some of you probably don't know what I am talking about.) Anyways, WHEW!! I am relieved to have that in my hand!

Let's see, what else have I been up to? HAWAII!!! My mom, dad, sister and I spent a week on the big island of Hawaii with the excuse of doing some geology research. We did do a lot of geology research, but also had a lot of fun. It was really neat to see Hawaii from a different perspective than that of a typical tourist. We learned a lot about volcanoes and lava and got to help katie with some research that has never been done before. It was pretty cool, or should I say HOT! We spent 3 days working on a lava flow from 1990. And when I say lava flow it was just miles of pa'hoehoe, (is that right Katie?) a sharp, uncomfortable lava rock. It was probably close to 95 degrees with 90% humidity, no breeze, no shade, working on black rock. Have I mentioned yet that it was hot?!

Besides for the lava, we got to see a lot of scenic beaches, palm trees, mountains, fish, sea turtles, and other things you might think of when you think of Hawaii.

I took a lot of pictures on this trip, and these are only a small portion of them. To see more, check out the Hawaii album on my facebook.

86 Campanile and Aloha Felecia and Hawaii

2009-08-10T20:01:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I am still trying to figure out how to upload pictures on here so they will appear where I want them in my narrative, but they're all just together at the top for now, so I guess you will just have to keep scrolling back up to see the photos that I am talking about.

86 Campanile-
Saturday was my last day at Campanile. I am officially unemployed now. It feels kind of weird knowing that I won't go back to that kitchen to work again. we had a lot of good times there over the past 2 years. It is hard for me to believe that it is really over. But I am looking forward to the future and I am moving on to bigger things. :) Campanile and everyone there will always have a special place in my heart.

Aloha Hawaii!
Tomorrow morning I am leaving LA to go to Hawaii for one week to be a geological research assistant to my sister Katie. She is going to drill volcanoes and she needed someone to come and help her. It turns out that everyone wants an excuse to go to Hawaii, so Katie's research trip is turning into a family vacation for my mom, dad, sister and me. It should be fun, and I don't think we will be doing research the entire time. We are also planning on some snorkeling, beaching, relaxing, eating, and general vacationing. :) The only problem is that Hurricane Felecia (well, I think she might be a tropical storm now) is supposed to arrive in Hawaii just a couple of hours before we do. This might cause a lot of delays not to mention I'm sure a lot of turbulence. I have stocked up on Dramamine just in case. I am bringing my computer with me, so hopefully I will be able to download and post some pics of the volcanoes and beaches. I have never been to Hawaii before, so I am very excited!

My car is worth how much?!?!
As you can see from the picture above, there was quite a bit of damage to my car in the accident last week. I was hoping that they would say that it was totaled and that I would get some money from the insurance, but I wasn't expecting too much. I had my car started at $3500 the 3 days that it was for sale before I crashed it. I hadn't gotten any offers. The adjuster from the insurance company called me tonight and told me that yes, my car was totaled. Then she said that they valued my car at $5700!!! I was very surprised to say the least. I think this is about what I paid for it 2 years ago. So in a couple of weeks I should be getting a check in the mail for a nice little bonus to get us started in Italy. I guess crashing my car didn't turn out to be too bad after all!

however depressing this post is, I AM EXCITED FOR ITALY

2009-08-05T00:09:00.000-07:00

In less than one month, Justin and I will be in Italy.

This is really beginning to feel very surreal.

I have had a mix of emotions these past couple of weeks. I am of course excited to go, but I am also sad to leave friends behind. I am also nervous. I don't really have an entire plan of what we are going to be doing over there. Actually, I have a very rough mental sketch of a plan. I'm sure everything will come together, but right now, I am kind of freaking out; wondering why I quit a job that I enjoy, why I am leaving a nice apartment in sunny LA, why am I saying goodbye to friends that I care about, to move to Italy. Of course I am excited to go and I think this experience will be just what I need, but right now, it's a little hard.

I bought some plastic tubs today to start packing some of our stuff for storage. I don't want to pack up my cute little apartment yet. I have a lot of stuff to do to get ready and I have really been procrastinating on mostly everything.

Also, I have 3 days of work left. :( BIG SAD FACE :( My wonderful friends at Campanile had a party for Justin and me last Sunday. I will miss everyone there. I know that there are some people that I will probably never see again and that makes me really sad. I am going to do my absolute best at keeping in touch, hence the blog. Here are some pictures from the party.

On a completely different subject, I'm pretty sure that I totaled my car tonight. Yes, the car that I had for sale. I am fine, the old lady that I hit is totally fine, but my poor little Hyundai is not so fine. I am hoping that the body shop will say that it is totaled and then I can just get the money from the insurance company and won't have to worry about finding someone to buy my car. LET'S HOPE! What happened: I was driving down Venice to meet my aunt for dinner when I was stopped at a stop light. The light turned green, and the car in front of me started to move, as did I. All of a sudden, I sneezed. When I looked up from my sneeze, the car in front of me had stopped moving, even though I had continued to accelerate. CRASH! This little old lady was driving a 1987 Honda Accord which I hit hard enough to maybe total my car and smash in my front end. There was hardly a scratch or even a chip of paint the size of a quarter missing from her rear bumper. I'm glad that she wasn't hurt and that she didn't have any damage, but wow, those Hondas! I knew I should have brought that old blue Honda out to California with me!
It's not so pretty anymore.

Ciao amici!

2009-07-30T00:27:00.000-07:00

Well, here I am writing my first blog post. I figured that starting a blog would be a good way to keep in touch with people and let everyone know what we are up to on our Italian adventure. Maybe it will be easier for me to write one post that everyone can read instead of emailing a bunch of different people. That's my plan anyway, but I'm sure you all know how good of job I do keeping in touch with people (haha, that's my sarcasm there). Anyway, here goes!

Going to Italy to live has been a dream of mine ever since I spent a summer in Florence in 2004 as part of a study abroad program for CMU. I didn't want to leave Italy when my classes were over for the summer and since then, I have been thinking of ways to get back to experience life as an Italian. Well finally, my dreams are coming true! On September 1, we are leaving Detroit on a one way ticket to Rome. We will be staying for one year in Siena, where I am enrolled at the Universita per Stranieri di Siena. Along the way I hope to eat some amazing food, learn how to cook some amazing food, drink a lot of chianti, become fluent in Italian language, life, and culture, and have some unforgettable experiences (many of which I will hopefully be sharing here).