Venezia :)

Last weekend, we paid Venice a little visit.  Initially, we went to Venice because one of my roommates Tory's uncle set up so graciously a dinner for us there.  Little did we know, we'd all fall in love with a city. Venice is completely on water, and even though I knew that, I didn't realize there really were no cars!  It's completely run by either walking or taking water buses or water taxis.  We stayed at Hotel American and it was beautiful!  Here's the view from our room, casual.

We then ate dinner at Linea Dombra, VERY big thanks to Uncle Vito.  He has us all set up.  I literally felt as if I were royalty.  They watched our every move, never let our wine go past half full, and even told us how to eat to get the most flavor out of our dishes.  They initially gave us menus, then immediately took them away and put together something completely on their own.  Each course got better and better.  I am so glad they took the menu's away because we would have never ordered the things that we ate that night.  Our first course was this type of tuna mousse which in theory sounds repulsive but it was to die for.  Our next course was all raw fish, literally all. raw. fish. 

Our next course was a fettuccine with crab which I never wanted to end.  Next was the main dish, it was grilled vegetables, with creamy potatoes and the catch of the day; sea bass.  Describing this food is not possible because it was just that good.  I'm drooling right now actually.  Lastly, was the dessert.  The dessert.  It tasted like HEAVEN.  If you know me, you know I am not typically a dessert girl, carbs all day for me, but this dessert melted in my mouth.  It was a fluffy vanilla mousse with strawberries on it.  Once again, I am drooling.  This meal was easily the best meal I've ever eaten and it lasted about 5 hours; a 5 hours well spent.  5 hours seems like a long time but it's typical in Italian cuisine.

The next day, we spent walking around Venice and really taking it all in.  Usually we are constantly on the go, but while we were here we just chilled out and did whatever was relaxing to us.  Between the four of us, we bought out the entire city (sorry Dad) but the Venetian glass jewelry was too good to pass up.  We also took a gondola ride that day.  If you do one thing in Italy, make sure it's taking a gondola ride in Venice.  Our driver took us on the small canal so that it was quieter and just more fun.  He told us that in Venice, you have to go to gondola school for 2 years, one of which is just to learn how to stand!  His gondola is comparative to our cars in price and everything.  During our little tour, we saw where the Italian job was filmed, one of my favorite movies! Also, the gondola we were in was the one Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp filmed in The Tourist.

Something is seriously up with my pictures, I can't post the gondola ones! :(

Cooking Class!

Okay sorry mom that I haven't blogged in a while, it's crazy on this side of the Atlantic!  Last Friday could have been one of the best experiences in my life thus far.  For my food class, we went on a field trip to the Tuscan hills to cook a home cooked meal.  If you know me at all, you know that I can't cook if my life depended on it.  We took a tour of the winery and saw exactly how wine is made.  From there we went to a family's house that runs a non-profit cooking class just simply to educate people about the proper way to handle food.  They were the nicest people and had the cutest baby ever who I plotted to steal more than once... woops. So my class of 20 all huddled around this one table as they told us what we were going to cook.  They told us it was going to be a crustini course, 2 different pasta dishes, a meat dish, and tiramisu.  We were going to split up and all take on different parts of the meal and come together and eat it as a little family at the end.  Each group was assigned to do something different.  My group went to what we called "the reject room" because we were picked last like the un-athletic kids in gym class.

We were paired with this women named Bernadetta who spoke very little English.  One of my friend Brittany has been taking Italian classes here and so with the help of her, we were trying to learn the language by communicating with her!  It was cool to get out of the American-ized Florence where there really is very little language barrier to try to be challenged a little bit.  Our group was in charge of the crustini.  We had to dice up all sorts of things like tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, parsley, etc.  Definitely not the most exciting thing we could have been in charge of, but we had a great time doing it.

Meanwhile, members of our class were making fresh pasta completely from scratch.  They made ravioli's stuffed with spinach and cheese which was a really cool process.

They also made homemade gnocchi!! I thought that was incredible because of all it entails with the potato and pasta involved.  Us in the reject room got stuck with the easy stuff but it's okay it was probably for the best.  Here's some pictures of the finished products-

All in all, this was a GREAT experience, I had the best day ever.  And don't worry, I got all of the recipes!!!

When In Roma!

So I have been so busy this week with midterms (I kind of forgot that I came here to go to school, woops) and haven't really had time to catch up on my blogging.  However, last weekend, we went to Rome!  I've been saying the phrase "when in rome" all trip so it finally became appropriate which might have been my favorite part.  After a 45€ train ride sitting next to people who were clearly annoyed with my taste in music and how loud my iPod was, a crazy stressful hostile situation, and escaping people in the ghetto, we FINALLY made it to our destination, DJ Tiesto concert!! For everyone who doesn't know who this is, he's only one of the best house music DJ's in the world.  To be able to go to his concert, in Rome nonetheless was incredible.

One of the craziest scenes I've ever seen.  We did a 180 degree flip the next day and did the touristy Rome things.  Kristin and I were the ones to wake up early and we met up with Robert Bucci at the Coliseum, such a casual meeting place right?

Little did we know, you are NOT supposed to take pictures with the gladiators because they will chase you until you pay them for "their work"..

woops. 
Robert then proceeded to take us on a walking tour of Rome in the 100 degree heat, with our Vatican ready clothes on and heavy backpacks but it was so worth it.  He is the most knowledgable person I've ever met.  I would upload the pictures of the places he pointed out to us but I literally have no idea what they are called.  I'm finally getting my Florentine history knowledge down (90 on the midterm!) you can't just throw Rome in there like that, I'll leave that for his blog.  After a nice meal overlooking the Pantheon and a very questionable bus ride that we never paid for, and a line for MILES, Kristin and I parted with Rob and went to our favorite place The Vatican.  This was after we found it fascinating that we were in two countries at once, Vatican City and Italy.

The Bucci's take on The Vatican.


I can't exactly describe The Vatican.  It was honestly the BEST place I've ever been.  We had a very stressful few days and the second we walked through the doors it was like none of it ever happened.  I felt so at ease and so happy, I don't even really know why.  Kristin and I sat there for what felt like hours and just prayed and thought.  When we finally left, we had some separation anxiety and left beaming from ear to ear. I guess it's something you just have to experience for yourself, it's almost surreal.

Teena and I on the bridge over the Tiberius River!
Unfortunately, we were not staying the night so we had to take a cab back before I could meet up with Rob again.  Lucky for me he came to Florence on Sunday! We went to the best dinner ever (pictures to come).  It really was the best seeing Robert.  He clicked with my friends so well, he's so personable, hilarious, and so unbelievably smart.  Made me proud to be a Bucci :) even when he made fun of me for attempting to speak Italian...


Normally here I would add a picture of Rob and I but my pictures are having a tough time uploading so that's why there isn't many in this post.  Hopefully I can figure this out soon.


Until next time... 


PS. My roommates were in the NY Post yesterday June 8 and all over almost every gossip website, with the cast of the Jersey Shore, it's amazing the lies the media will make up.

Amalfi Coast!

Finally I get a chance to breathe and update my blog a little bit..

So this past weekend we went to the Amalfi Coast!!  We left on Thursday and were on a coach bus for 7 1/2 hours casually running into a car accident and having to do a 3 point turn on the highway all fearing our lives at 2 am.  But regardless, we arrived at Sorrento at around 3am.  We stayed at Hostel 7 and the trip was organized through a group called Bus2Alps and for the most part it was very organized.  The hostel was really nice which I was surprised about except the names of the rooms were kinda creepy.  We stayed in room "Silk", us, the boys, and 2 other girls (poor girls didn't know what hit them when we came in there).

We were out of the hostel by 7:30am ready for Capri!  We took a boat to get there and as soon as we arrived we got in another smaller boat for a tour!  Our first stop was the Blue Grotto, one of the 7 wonders of the world.  The way that the sun hits the water turns the water into this radient aqua blue and literally the most amazing sight I've ever seen.  I honestly never wanted to leave the grotto even though our tour guide man was singing Italian with the worst voice known to man kind.

The pictures will just never do it justice.  I have about 7,000,000 pictures of Capri unfortuantely cannot load them all up here but it was amazing.  This is the view from the town of Capri, which is known for lemons and literally they have the best lemon slushies in the universe, sorry Sundaes.

We then took a chair lift about 1800 ft above sea level IN THE CLOUDS and saw what I think is the most amazing, breathtaking view I've ever seen.  Even the boys were "ooh-ing and ah-ing".  Our "family" is what we call our group of friends that we've made and the family all took a photoshoot of ourselves.  Once again, the pictures don't do this justice but I get chills just looking at them.

The next day we went to the island of Possitano.  This was the day of relaxation and BEACH! Normally, I'm not really the beach type, completely the opposite of the entire Bucci family woops, but I was ready to relax and get some of my Punta Cana tan back.  The beaches had black sand and it was hot. SO HOT. But so nice, we just lounged the day away, not really realizing the life we are currently living is real.

On the last day, we went to Pompeii.  As I said before, I've turned into a weirdo history buff since I've been here.  I remember learning about Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius dating back to Ms. Crabtree in 7th grade social studies.  Nothing and I repeat NOTHING will come close to seeing Pompeii for all of it's entirety.  It was such a mind blowing experience I didn't even know where to begin.  An entire city, just gone.  We saw the remains of people, amphitheaters, and houses and a day later, I still cannot wrap my head around the whole thing.  We had a hard time figuring out which mountain was Vesuvius but once we did, it was crazy how we didn't see it before.  The fact the the discovery of an entire city was accidental is probably the most mind blowing part. 

First Week of Classes!

So I guess going to Italia for 6 1/2 weeks isn't all about sightseeing and frolicking the streets of Firenze, but it also comes with some sort of responsibility.  My first week of classes were somewhat of a blur considering it honestly doesn't seem real.  I am studying at the Palazzo Ruccelai which used to be a families castle so even the building I'm studying in is surreal.  This summer semester is the first time that the main doors were allowed to be walked through and they are just magnificent (pictures coming soon).

The classes offered at school are based on interaction.  Each class is 3 hrs and 15 minutes and for the most part, half of that is done in the class, and half outside of the class.  I am taking 6 credits and the courses I am taking are The Story of Florence (history) and The History and Culture of Food.

Monday in my first class, we had a brief lecture on the basic outline of Florentine history and were departing to Fiesole, a town right outside of the city which is based on a hill sort of above the city.  Who knew I'd become a huge history buff but I've been eating the stuff up that I've learned so far, probably because walking two steps in Florence means you're going to walk by a huge historical monument.  Anyway, so in our attempt to go to Fiesole, we were going to use the busses for the first time! However, who knew that in Florence, as long as you give a 3 day warning, you can go on strike whenever, and for whatever reason?! Needless to say, we didn't make it to Fiesole that day.  We did go on Wednesday though! The bus systems are very confusing partially because I don't speak Italian (that's slowly but surely changing) but somehow, someway, we made it there.  Unfortunately I forgot my camera but it was amazing.  We saw the ancient ruins of the Roman bathes and amphitheater, while we also say where people were sacrificed and the most amazing view of Florence from above.  Perfect day to forget my camera huh?

My Tuesday Thursday class is the History and Culture of Food.  This class is great because it combines some of my favorite things; history, friends, and food.  On Thursday, we went on a walking tour of the restaurants of Firenze with our teacher Peter who is German and hilarious, I don't even know if he knows he's funny.  We found all of these hole in the wall restaurants all offering discounts to us everytime we walk in! (Gary and Suze would definitely appreciate a good discount) We also taste tested street meat.  Peter wouldn't tell us what it was until we tried it and let anyone who wanted to try it, try.  Teena and I were the brave ones of our group and tried what tasted like calamari, it was NOT calamari.  It was cow stomach #1, yummmm.  I didn't even know cow's had more than one stomach, oh well.  Jeff and Kristin were not so brave however (sorry guys, had to call you out on that).  On this walking tour of Florence, we stopped into Americo Vespucci's house!  Peter told us that Harvard and Columbia are fighting over who gets to hold their summer program's study abroad classes there, must be nice.  We were right in his foyer where the decision was made to call America, America!  We also saw the map of which America was first founded on.

The First Weekend!

So here I am in Florence! The plane right was absolutely horrendous.  Who knew that the coach section of Air France was so incredibly small.  Jeff and I had the absolute last seats in the entire plane (which was about as big as the airport itself)  Thanks to Tracey I slept through the entire thing while he watched Kung Fu Panda or one of those movies for 5 year olds.  We got to Paris, where I had my first altercation with Euros.  Whoever said that the exchange rate sucked, was right.  Things in Europe are priced semi equally to how they would be priced in America, yet one Euro = $1.40, really just is a blow to the wallet.  So once we get through the traveling we arrive in FLORENCE! aka Firenze, Italia.  The taxi cab to get to our apartment was terrifying.  The roads are so narrow in Florence and the drivers just really don't care at all.  Our apartment is HUGE!                     .

That night we had a hard time finding places to eat since we got in so late.  We went to Little David's Pizzeria and fell in love with our waiter, he was the man who spoke very little English.  We looked very much like tourists whipping out our go-to maps everytime we went to a new place, or trying to go home for that matter!  That night was our first experience with Italian night life where we went to Twice.  Twice was DEAD until 12am when it got packed with native Italianos.  Yes, European men are creepy. Yes, they only play American music every once in a while and yes, the only songs they play are California Girls and Hello.  

The next day was our 7 hour orientation which we could not make it through.  Needless to say the time change was brutal.  We went home and slept about 5 hours.  That night was also the night we had the best. dinner. of. our. lives. 

We went to La Gustria and got this complimentary platter of brushetta. It was to DIE for.  The little spinach balls on the left was amazing and the zucchini with the stuffing inside was amazing too.  This restaurant is known for it's pear ravioli and balsamic steak which is what I ordered (obviously).  It hands down was the most amazing dinner I've ever eaten.

That night was also the first time we saw the Jersey Shore while we were walking to a club YAB.  YAB ended up being closed so we experienced Space for the first time.  And what an experience that was.  We ended up going back the next night, in hopes of seeing Pauly and Vinny but instead we got VIP, good trade I guess.  So yesterday during the day, we went to school for the first time!  The Palazzo Rucellai (school) is in a palace and it was beautiful!  We got our schedule and our books and I am enrolled in The Story of Florence and Food (obviously).  I actually cannot wait to begin classes and get more accustomed to the Italian lifestyle.  It really is something out of a movie.