Three Weeks Down

It's hard to believe but I am about half way through with my trip to Italy. I don't feel like I have been here for three weeks. Two of my roommates, Valerie and Kelsie, leave on Saturday to go back to the states, which just leaves Bryn, Kimberly, and me. In a way, I am a bit jealous of them because I am missing my family and friends so much right now but I have been blessed to be here for six weeks. I cannot explain my excitement for next week. First of all, I will finally be back in the kitchen because I will start my pastry class. As gay as it sounds, I have missed baking more than you know. Secondly, my mom comes on Thursday! I am dying to see Susiegirl.

Vin Santo: Right

Since I've been so bad about keeping the blog updated, I have at least 11 wines to tell you about. But instead of boring you all with that info, I'm just going to highlight my favorites. None of the foods that we had this week were very intentional. My teacher is super skinny and therefore would rather just sip on wine that eat anything, so this week was mostly just a huge wine-tasting. On Tuesday we had the most interesting three wines. First of all she gave us watermelon just to have, which I'm not usually a fan of. The first wine we tasted was a white 2011 Alois Lageder Sauvignon. This wine is a very herbal wine with its biggest aroma being of green tomatoes. It is a very fresh, soft wine that would go great with Japanese food of fish dishes. The second wine was a red 2009 Castelli Del Duca Ottario. This was a rare wine because it was very fresh for a red and had a fresh aroma. The third wine we had was my favorite for the day because it was so different. It was a 2008 Santa Cristini Vin Santo. This wine is classified as a white but it has a caramel color. It was the darkest white I had ever seen. It had a very strong smell of honey and marmalade and a very sweet taste. It was such an interesting flavor for a dessert wine. It would have been best paired with either medium and soft cheeses or cake. Here are some pics of the wines we had this week.

My favorite night that I have had yet in Italy was Tuesday Night: tacos and beer pong. The five of us went to House of Sizzle with is connected to our favorite bar called Red Garter. It was Taco Tuesday so, naturally, we were there. I think there is something about being in Europe in general or maybe its just that I insanely crave what I know I can't have, but I have been dying for Mexican food. The closest I have is Taco Tuesday at House of Sizzle. Bryn and I then signed up for the beer pong tournament that Red Garter was having. Bryn and I had been looking forward to a good ole game of beer pong for a while. We put our serious faces on for a game of beer pong. Unfortunately we got placed against Shane and Shane. Let me tell you about Shane #1: nicest guy, very friendly, just having a good time. Shane #2: biggest butt hole I have ever met. I swear this guy must live and breath beer pong because he was way too serious and was sucking the fun out of the entire game. By the end of the game I just wanted to swat all the cups on the floor and say "YOU WON!" He was the absolute worst. Bryn and I lost against them unfortunately but better luck next time. We had so much fun other than that mishap. We ran into a guy at the bar that had gone to Venice with us. It was the first time I have seen a familiar face in Florence and it was so nice.

Sweet Bryn and I

This is about as serious as beer pong face gets 

The Crew

Val and James

Sorry for the blur 

Oh Yeah?

Last night, we finally hit up Gusta Pizza which is the best pizzeria in Florence, hands down. I just got the margherita pizza and we sat outside the restaurant on a plaza until it got dark. It was such a relaxing and fun night. We went and sat on the bridge after that and looked at the Ponte Vecchio. This town is so beautiful and romantic.

I finally was able to facetime with Tori Brooke. One thing that I keep thinking about is getting home and sitting on Proud Larry's porch with TB drinking a blue moon. It's about time. Don't ya think, TB?

Haha, miss you.

Bryn, Kim, and I are going to Barcelona this weekend. It is gonna be such a fun trip. I can't wait to get there. We leave tomorrow and come back on Monday, so I'll let you all about it when we get home. Have a great weekend! Ciao!

P.S. I have to delete my facebook and such because I am a gamma chi, so this will be my facebook for a while. Don't forget to keep checking out the blog!