Things I’ve Done:
Cooking Classes!
I started my first week of classes at Lorenzo de Medici and I love it! I am taking a current trends of Italian cuisine class where we learn about why meals are cooked the way they are today and then cooking meals that are a spin on traditional italian dishes. So far we have learned about the slow food movement, sustainability, food pyramids and healthy eating, and regional cuisine.
The first day our chef cooked for us an amazing vegetable risotto while going over the syllabus and recommended some restaurants in Florence and places we are traveling. The second day we cooked a chocolate tort cake and we each got to decorate the plates which turned out to be more difficult than it looks. The third day of class was the hardest recipe we will be making in this class. We each had to cut and prepare a fresh blue fish which really grossed me out because I HATE seafood. We prepared a pistachio bread crumb topping and three different sauces to serve with the baked fish. I tried a bite and it actually tasted pretty good and was definitely the best fish I’ve ever had. Still didn’t love it though.
Bargello National Museum
One of my best friends from home, Alexis, also happens to be studying abroad in Florence right now! She is with a different program so we don’t get to see each other much but try to make plans once a week. This week, we decided to explore the Bargello National Museum and get gelato afterwards.
The museum displays incredible sculptures done by Donatello, Michelangelo and so many more notable renaissance artists. One thing that Alexis and I noticed is that many of the art pieces depicted “Madonna” also known as Virgin Mary. It started out really cool, but then got very repetitive with most of the art following the same idea.
I was able to admire the skill and craftsmanship but I’d be lying if I said that I loved this museum. I guess I’m just not a history buff as much as I’d like to be.
The Accademia Gallery
Even though I have learned that history museums aren’t my favorite, I still want to go see the iconic ones in Florence. We bought our tickets to the Accademia Gallery online so that we could reserve a time and then just hop in line.
Once we got in we wandered around looking at all the art before we searched for the piece we really came to see, Michelangelo’s David sculpture. The sculpture was ginormous and honestly difficult to grasp. I was a bit upset to see that the museum had placed an ugly bright green net above the statue to protect it, but also ruined the pure aesthetic of the piece. I enjoyed the rest of the museum and if you go, be sure to keep an eye out for the signs that point to the stairs to the next level. The stairs are hidden past the gift shop so we almost missed it.
Places I’ve Eaten:
All’antico Vinaio
Just around the corner from my apartment, I noticed long lines of people standing in the street and everyone sitting on curbs eating sandwiches with the same wrapper. Where were these sandwiches coming from? One of the most famous panini shops, All’antico Vinaio! Their fresh made schiacciata bread, cheese and freshly sliced deli meat is unbeatable. Not only are these sandwiches huge, but for a good price as well! My only advice is to not go during lunch time when the lines are long. Instead, go around dinner or late afternoon to get immediate service.
Lorenzo De Medici Reception
This was simply amazing. I had no idea that our university would be putting on a dinner reception and when I found out they did, I thought it would be similar to the annoying events everyone was forced to go to in high school. Absolutely not. The venue was STUNNING, we had a 3 course meal in buffet form which allowed us to try so many different foods, and we were given free wine. I really enjoyed my time here and wish I knew how fancy it was going to be so I could have worn my best dress.
Bars I’ve Been to
Red Garter
One of my friends in the study abroad program just turned 22 so we went out on Wednesday to celebrate! I say Wednesday because in Florence, you can only go to certain bars on certain days. Whether not that is an official hours rule or just social construct I’m not really sure. Regardless, everyone goes to Babylon club on Wednesdays. Not sure about what day is best for Red Garter.
We started at Red Garter first which had 2 bars, a few rooms with different music, and one big room for karaoke. It was pretty much all Americans here but we didn’t care because we had so much fun. Emily and I sang Since You Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson and felt like absolute rockstars on the stage. I would definitely come back here.
Babylon
Babylon was fun, but it took a while to get there. We showed up much too early around 11:45 and it was dead and extremely awkward. Don’t go until 1 am. You have to pay a cover fee of $10 which includes a free drink ticket so I suppose it was worth it but definitely worth noting for those who don’t drink. The club was small and in a basement kind of which reminded me of a frat party. Definitely not upscale as I had imagined. Once the club picked up, it was so much fun and I had a blast. My least favorite part about this club was that there were a bunch of people smoking cigarettes inside and our clothes wreaked when we got home.
Takeaways From This Week
- I am starting to learn what I like and don’t like in terms of my traveling style! I love to see the city but am more interested in wandering and exploring than touring specific historic sites.
- I truly love my cooking class and am fascinated by the trends of cuisines rather than bored which is definitely a surprise to me!
- Grocery stores are a mystery to me. They are so cheap here, and the market is even cheaper! However, it is so hard to find things like sweet potatoes, black beans, or salad dressing. I’m not sure why. I made the mistake of buying a bunch of fresh fruits and vegetables from the market the beginning of the week and expected them to last, but they got moldy within two days because of the lack of preservatives. Many of their products aren’t refrigerated either.
- You can wave down taxis just like in New York! They also have a super easy app where you can schedule them if you prefer. There are no ubers in Florence.
That’s it for this week! Weekend recap in Cinque Terre coming soon!
