Midterms are OVER!

Sorry I have been slacking in my blog the past week! I have been preparing and studying for the five midterms that I had. And for those of you who believe that I am on a four month vacation, yes I actually had to buckle down and stick my nose in the books. It is such a huge relief now that midterms are over and it is officially FALL BREAK! Tomorrow I depart for the experience of a life time! 10 days of traveling with my best friends! During fall break I will be traveling to Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam, Belgium, and Paris! I am looking forward to being in countries who believe in Starbucks and most importantly have a Chipotle! I will be sure to keep a journal along my journeys to be sure to update you all when I return from my ten day vacation. Tomorrow starts my ten day vacation, filled with 5 countries, and memories that will last forever! 

Horseback Riding in Chianti!

I had been waiting for this day to finally come since I booked it! My roommates and I decided to go horseback riding through the vineyards of Chianti. Chianti is one of the sub-regions of the Tuscany that is a major wine producer. Sunday morning when we woke up the weather was questionable, but we kept our fingers crossed that the rain would not put a damper on our day. Sunday afternoon we attended mass in Italian at the Duomo before heading off for the most perfect florentine day. We suited up to go horseback riding and walked to the  corner of the McDonald's that is across the street from the Santa Maria Novella train station where we were supposed to meet at 3:30. The 6 of us stood on the corner with puzzled looks on our face. We stood there for a good ten minutes until someone came up to us and asked us if we were going horseback riding. Finally we had met up with our tour guide. We then walked a few blocks in order to get to the mini bus that would be escorting us to the winery. The bus ride was about 45 mins long along the highway and through the rolling hills of the country side. Also on the tour was a couple who were on their honey moon. He was from Ireland and she was from Slovakia. The entire car ride there the 6 of us girls drewled over their love story, how he proposed, and gazed at their wedding pictures. Once arriving at the vineyard we were welcomed with open arms by the owners! The farm that the vineyard was part of was huge. There were many stables and dogs perused the premises. They gave us lockers to put our things in and fitted us for our helmets. Next, they were to pair us up with our perfect match of a horse! All of my roommates were matched up with brown horses and saddled up. I was the last to be matched up with my horse, which was a white horse! My friends all joked around saying that I would be the one to get to ride the white horse, being that I am the princess! After saddling up and getting acquainted with our horses we did a few trots around the practice ring where we met our tour guide who would be leading up through the trails. They lined us up in horse order and we were off for the trails. We all wore our rain jackets because it looked as if the rain clouds were rolling in.  The trails were absolutely beautiful. We rode through the rolling hills which were filled with long grass, wild flowers, fresh herbs. At some points of the trail the aroma of fresh basil filled your nasal passage. My favorite part of the trails was when we rode through the grapevines of Chianti. When riding through the vineyards the sun started to peek through the clouds and allowed us to see somewhat of a sunset. The sky turned of warms colors such as pink, orange, and yellow as the Jesus rays peaked through the clouds. After a while of being on the horse you kept having to change your position because you became very uncomfortable. Some of the horses did not always cooperate. You had to yell BASTA, meaning stop in Italian when they tried to eat the grass or plants and you had to give them a little kick if you got distanced from the rest of the group. We sure had a few good laughs oursleves!  Needless to say the tour leader got quite a kick out of all of us girls. We rode through the trails for two hours. By the time I got off the horse, my legs felt like jello and my butt was really sore! 

After returning back to the farm, we were then escorted to one of the oldest castles in the Tuscan region. Upon arriving at the castle we were greeted by the man whose family once used to own the entire castle. He escorted us to the oldest room in the castle, which was his wine cellar where we did a wine and honey tasting. We tasted an experimental wine, a Chianti Classico Risvera, and Brunello. We sampled truffle honey, red hot pepper honey, and strawberry honey. I was pretty impressed with myself being able to know what I was talking about and doing when it came to wine tasting due to everything that I have learned in class. After the wine tasting was over we were served dinner! First they brought out a huge tray of bruschetta which was delicious! Second was a giant plate of pasta, one side was gnocchi and the other side was spaghetti! And for dessert we had a berry tart severed with gelato! Wine was also served with dinner. After dinner was finished our ride escorted us back to Florence! Monday and Tuesday I could barely move and sit in class without being in pain. I was so sore from horseback riding, but it was definitely worth it! 

Montepulciano

Tuesday in wine class we learned about and tasted Montepulciano! Montepulciano is the home of the "Nobile" wine which has descended from the Etruscan times.  Montepulciano is from the south east part of Tuscany. Montepulciano brings something with every sip, glance, and tasting. The whole Montepulciano community feels ownership of the wine and the process that goes into making it. The 1960s brought about a big awakening in wine growing of Vino Nobile rather than Chianti. In 1965 the Montepulciano consortium was founded. The consortium protects the quality of the wine by establishing precise regulations  for the production of the wine. A year later in July 1966 Montepulciano was recognized as a DOC.  In July 1980, it was recognized as a DOCG. Montepulciano was placed among one of the most prestigious wines of Italy.  It is composed of  70% Sangiovese grapes, up to a maximum of 20% other varieties of grapes that are recommended by the province of Siena. Montepulciano must be aged for at least two years. It can be aged three different ways. It can be aged for 24 months in wood. It can be aged for 18 months in wood and the remaining six months in a different type of aging vessel.  Or it can be aged for 12 months in wood and for the remaining months be aged in a different aging vessel. Montepulciano cannot be released before the end of two years maturation prescribed by law. 

After wine class on Tuesday I had to go to the immigration office in order to finish my visa and immigration process. There were a bunch of students from my program there. You got a number along with some papers and unfortunately had to sit and wait till you were called. Two hours later my number was finally called. They took 2 passport sized photos of me and fingerprints of both my right and left hands. Being in the immigration office reminded me of the scene from The Proposal when they are in the immigration office. Once all of that was settled, some friends and I rewarded ourselves with Pino's for lunch. Pino's is the best panini place in town and we have become regulars there! It has finally come to that time when visitors are starting to arrive. Tuesday afternoon Steve's parents and brother arrived in Florence Tuesday night Mia's parents also arrived in Florence. Tuesday night Deanna and I went for a walk and sat on the steps of the Santa Croce and soaked in the cool crisp air. Believe it or not it is still very warm here during the day, but gets a tad bit chilly at night. 

Wednesday morning when I was walking to class it was SO foggy that you could not even see the top of the Duomo when walking down the street! Wednesday evening I made homemade chicken salad for dinner! Hmmm hmm good!  Yesterday was a productive day in the library trying to get ahead to prepare for midterms which will be here before I know it. It seems that every weekend there is something going on in the Piazza di Santa Croce. Luckily for me its only a stones throw away from my apartment! This weekend in the Piazza di Santa Croce there is an international fair. Last night my roommates and I went and indulged in some delicious food. We basically ate our way through the fair. We started with gyros from Greece, sangria from Spain, and concluded the night with crepes with dutch syrup from Holland! Needless to say we will be making an appearance there every day throughout the weekend! Tomorrow I have another field trip for my art class, but this time we are going to Arezzo. I can't wait for sunday because I am going horseback riding through the vineyards in Chianti, followed by wine tasting and dinner! Stay tuned for updates! 

the top of the duomo is missing! 

Olive Oil, Bruschetta, & Tapenade!

Monday started week five of classes! Its scary to think that half the semester is over already and that midterms are right around the corner! Cooking class on monday we learned about the importance of olive oil. Olive oil production is similar to that of wine. It is produced during or after the grape harvest. Olive harvest takes place around mid October to mid November. If the region gets a lot of rain in the spring, the olive harvest begins earlier. Olive oil is classified into three different categories: olive oil, virgin olive oil. and extra virgin olive oil. The olive oils are classified based on the acidity level. The lower the acidity level, the better that it is for you. Extra virgin olive oil contains 1% acidity level. Virgin olive oil has an acidity level of 2.0%. Olive oil has an acidity level of 2.5%. Extra virgin olive oil  is easy to digest, helps with inflamatory issues, mono saturated fats. Extra virgin olive oil is rich in vitamins A,B,C,D,E, and K. Just like wine production, olive oil has a consortium. The olive oil consortium controls production with a high level of guidelines, rules, and regulations. The date of production  can be found on the bottle label.  Olive is closed in dark green bottles  to help flavoring protect flavoring. Olive oil tasting is very similar to the wine tasting process. Olive oil is tasted using a clear glass. It is done earl in the morning before you eat anything else. Once the olive oil is poured in the glass you cup your hands around the bottom of the glass in order to warm it up till its about room temperature. Next you should tilt the glass in order to observe the yellow translucent color. You should also twirl the glass around in order to observe  the legs of the olive oil as it drips down the side of the glass. By doing so you can take notice to the consistency, density, and texture of the olive oil. Most importantly you should place you nose completely into the cavity of the glass to pick up the different aromas.

After learning about olive oil it was time to start prepping to make our two recipes of the day! The first recipe we made was bruschetta. Bruschetta is your typical Italian garlic bread. It is a good example of how the simplest food is often the best. Bruschetta is composed of tomatoes, garlic, oregano, basil, and tuscan bread. Typical tuscan bread is on the hard side and is salt free. First you must cut the tomatoes in half and remove the seeds and the excess pulp. Once this step is completed you must place the tomatoes upside down for at least a half hour allowing the remaining juice to be drained. In the mean time you can finely chop the garlic, basil, and oregano. After the half hour has passed, it is now time to dice the tomatoes. Once all the ingredients have been chopped you can mix them all together in one large bowl. Once all the ingredients are all combined in one bowl you drizzle extra virgin olive oil over it and mix it all together. The tuscan bread should be cut into small slices and be lightly toasted in the oven. After the bread was done toasting, you place a spoon full of the bruschetta on each piece and they are ready to serve! Before I came to Italy, I was never a fan of tomatoes. The deep red, fresh, juicy tomatoes have grown to my taste buds liking them more.

The next  recipe of the day was Tapenade. Tapenade is an olive paste which typically comes from Greece. It is composed of black olives, green olives, capers, garlic, anchovies, olive oil, and a few drops of lemon juice. First we chopped the black and green olives, and the garlic. Once those ingredients were chopped we placed them in the food processor along with the anchovies, olive oil, and lemon juice. I was kind of nervous because of the anchovies that were used in the recipe, but you could not even taste them in the finished product! Just like we had served the bruschetta on slices of toasted tuscan bread, we served the tapenade the same exact way. I have never been a fan of olives either before coming to Italy, but I have grown to liking them as well.

Last Weekend of September!

It is amazing how time is just flying by. Thursday Deanna and I finally discovered a website that allows us to catch up on our missed tv series. So after about waiting a month we finally watched the season finale of PLL and now are left in suspense until the new season begins. Thursday night was an early night for us considering we had to be up early for our field trip for our art class to Pienza. Pienza is a small province of Siena located in the country side. It is not easily accessible by way of public transportation. We met early in the morning and got onto the coach bus and started to head for Pienza. Pienza was a very quaint town and would probably be considered a hamlet due to how tiny it was. For the first hour that we were there my art teacher explained all the different architecture techniques that were used in order to construct the main square. After we took a tour of the palace that used to be home to many popes. During the tour we had listening devices that looked like landline telephones from the 1960s. Once the tour was completed we had two hours of free time to ourselves. Some of us decided to go get lunch in one of the restaurants that we found along our exploring. Pienza is also famous for Pecorino. Pecorino is cheese made from sheeps milk. Every other shop was a cheese shop, so we spent most of our afternoon walking in and out of cheese shops sampling! For the remainder of our time there  we sat on a brick wall that over looked the rolling hills of the country side and just soaked up the scenery. It was nice to be in a really quiet town for once that was not overwhelmed with tourists and the noise of the hustle and bustle of the city. Once arriving back in Florence it was time for roomie night! We all ate dinner together and then pushed all our beds together to snuggle up and watch The Lucky One. The weather on Saturday made you want to be lazy and stay in bed all day. I spent the day doing some homework until we went to church at the Duomo at 5. My roommates and I decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner on Saturday night. We all got dressed up and we took the bus up to a restaurant that sits on top of a hill. The restaurant has a closed in patio where you can sit to enjoy your dinner as you look over vineyards and down below the city of Florence all lit up at night. We all split an appetizer that consisted of italian meats and cheeses. For my main dish I enjoyed homemade spaghetti with sicilian vegetables and capers. It was hmm hmm good! After a delicious dinner we headed back down the hill for a night out on the town. Saturday night we went to a bar called Uncle Jimmies, which is a bar that plays country music. Considering it was our first time there it was a night full of fun as we sang and danced the night away. It seems to be that every weekend there is a different event going on in the Piazza di Santa Croce, which is basically my backyard. On Sunday we went to the Piazza di Santa Croce and visited the energy exhibit that was set up. The exhibit focused on the energy of Italy throughout the years. It was something different to see and explore!