Ravena, Cooking, and Relaxation

One of the best parts of this program is the fact that there are no classes on Friday. Many trips are offered on Fridays throughout the semester, just short day trips to cities in the Tuscany area. I decided to spend my Friday in Florence, get a chance to know the city and spend time with friends. I went on a run to the soccer stadium and explored the area a bit. There is a perfect path around the stadium that gives enough room for runners and people using the sidewalk. Plus I enjoyed it because there were other people running too. It is so interesting to come from a culture where people work out frequently, obsessed about going to gym, and arrive in a culture where that is not a huge factor. I think their exercise is walking everywhere, instead of intense cardio. However, I particuarily enjoyed my run because there were other people running around the stadium or other athletes coming and going. Its refreshing to be around like-minded people!
     The rest of my Friday was spent shopping and cooking up a storm. A few of my friends and I wanted to make dinner; we thought that dinner once a week for all of us would be a great idea. At Jordy's apartment, in his tiny kitchen with not many appliances, we camped out all afternoon and cooked for hours. We made chicken parmesan (which is strangely not a dish in Italy, although you can find it in every American-Italian restaurant), pasta with olive oil, and stuffed peppers with eggplant and zucchini. Once all of our other friends showed up (about 10 of us) and we finished preparing our feast (around 9:30pm), we sat down and enjoyed the food. It turned out pretty delicious and everyone enjoyed it (I hope...)!

     Saturday was a beautiful day and I decided to go on one of the school trips to Ravena. This city is about two and a half hours north east of Florence. Its a gorgeous drive over the mountains where you can see the Tuscan countryside for miles and miles. Ravena was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire, from 402 until the empire's collapse in 476. We visited many different sites, such as the Mausoleum of Theodoric, Arian Baptistry and Dante's tomb. Everything was extremely gorgeous with so many interesting stories. I lucked out and was placed with a great tour guide. He explained all of the mosaics with such detail and knowledge, I wish I could take a class with him! I'll post a few pictures, however they don't do the beauty justice. It's incredible to think that these mosaics have lived through so many ages and are still intact.

(So touristy, please note the hearing devices around our necks)

Ravena is such an interesting town. There are so many great negozi (stores) and beautiful piazzas. It would be a great place to wander around and spend an entire day! Unfortunately, we had to leave pretty early. It was a great trip though and very educational.
     That night, my friend Molly and I went out to a pizzeria for dinner. This was my first time eating pizza in Italy and I must say that nothing can beat it.

This pizza had insalame (salami) and peperone (peppers), named the Fiorentina. Extremely delicious, it will definitely be revisited. After dinner, we grabbed the best gelato in town (according to Margherita) and walked around the neighborhoods for a while. It was a perfect way to end the day of intense sight-seeing.

Sunday was a bit of a gloomy day, the first once since I've been here! A friend and I woke up early and took a 2 hour walk/jog up the mountain and down. It was so refreshing to be up in the hills where you can see the entire city of Florence. On the way back, we found a fig tree and picked fresh figs. This probably made my entire weekend, they were delicious! I've always believed that there is nothing better than picking figs off a tree and eating them right away. Figs and any other fruit. It's the only way to live.
     Thankfully, we got up early enough to beat the bad weather. Although the rain was a little frustrating and ruined our beach plans for the day, it was a blessing in disguise because it gave me the excuse to stay in and get some homework done. Yes, I have homework which I tend to forget about. Its hard to not let this country distract you! But productivity this afternoon definitely capped the weekend off on a good note. OH I can't forget to mention dinner. Margherita prepared a delicious meal, like always. We started off with pesto lasagna (always fill up on pasta for the first course, something I'll never understand). Next was cooked rabbit with sauted kale and broccoli. And for dessert she cooked peaches and filled them with creme, topped with crumbled cookies. Absolutely delicious. 

Well, tomorrow we should see the sun again with a high of 75 degrees.  What a great way to kick off Monday morning! I have to say that the first week of classes, the second week in Italy, was certainly a success. 

Ciao, ci vediamo!