On the other hand, Italy also has so much beauty to offer. Italy's beauty includes the landscape, architecture, works of art, the clothing, the shoes, and food. Italians are all about good presentation, and they show that in many shapes and forms through the arts; mainly fashion, culinary, music, and visual art. Although I love all forms of art, while I'm here I've been mainly focusing on the visual art and food. I'm not a cook by all means, but I'm pretty adventurous when it comes to trying new foods and, believe me, Italy is the place to do that. Since I've been here, I've been particularly interested in cheese. Everytime I go shopping at the grocery store, I pick up a different kind of cheese. I always forget the names, but I've been eating some of the best cheese in my life! Also, the pears and grapes are particularly good here. I'm especially a fan of the pere rosso, or red pears. In addition, I of course love gelato. So far, my favorite types of gelato are the fruit flavors, the chocolate, and the coffee. There are also certain gelaterias that are better than others. It takes a bit of exploring to discover the best ones.
Dinner is always one of my favorite times of the day. Our host mom serves dinner at 8, and the first course is usually a big bowl of pasta. Then we start on the main course which could be anything. She makes all these wonderful vegetarian dishes that I've never heard of, but I always love everything. Once she served salmon, which was delicious, especially since I'm a big fan of fish. Another time we had cooked eggplant with formaggio(cheese) on top. There is also usually insalata(salad) and always and endless supply of pane con l'olio(bread with oil). After the main course, we start on the third course which is frutta(fruit). When we are done with our fruit, she makes us a cup of tea which is usually served with these little cream-filled cookies. And that concludes the story about how I eat every night. Going back to eating at the Hope College dining halls is going to be rough.
Allora, well then, I should probably talk a bit about my trip to Pisa and Lucca last Saturday. We started with a mandatory half day field trip to Pisa, and afterwards we were given the option of stopping in Lucca on the way home. Pisa is a very nice city, I loved that the streets were wide and much cleaner than the ones in Florence. The trip to Pisa included visiting the Leaning Tower, the Baptistry, and Pisa's Duomo. I took a stereotypical photo of me holding up the Tower with one finger (I couldn't resist, haha!). For lunch, I joined some friends to go to a restaurant where I ordered a fabulous mozzarella pizza and drank fabulous vino rosso(red wine)!
After we were done in Pisa, we caught a train to Lucca. I fell in love with Lucca while we were there. Like Pisa, it's clean and more open. The air smells fresh, it's quieter, and you can see marvelous views of the mountains. I must admit, I kind of wish I would've chosen to study in Lucca instead of Florence. Next time I go to Italy, I'm staying in Lucca for sure! We spent the majority of our time walking along the wall of what I believe was once a castle. The entire area was so peaceful and romantic; there was grass, trees, people biking along the path, young couples embracing and kissing, and older coulpes holding hands as they took a leisurely walk. It wasn't crowded with tourists or busy people, everyone here seemed to relax and enjoy themselves. I felt wonderful the whole time I was there.
Of course, all good things must end and I was soon back here in Florence. I love the art history aspect of Florence, but I'm getting sick of everything else. I'm trying to make the best of it though. As an artist, it is a wonderful opportunity for me to be here. I do feel like I'm slowly adjusting to the life here. I love exploring and it's really hard to get bored here, which is a lot more than what I can say for my small hometown in Arizona! Alright, I better bring this post to a close. Arrivederci!
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