Today and yesterday were spent with my study abroad group in southern Tuscany. Talk about breathtaking! It was yesterday when I was walking around in Cortona by myself and I looked out to the countryside and said to myself, "Wow. I'm in Italy." That was when it really started to sink in.
We left yesterday morning and went first to the town of Arezzo where part of "Life is Beautiful" was filmed. It was an adorable town with many big churches that contain famous artwork (surprise!). We had a tour guide who was great; her name was Gianna (pronounced "Jenna"). At lunchtime I went by myself (because no one wanted to walk anymore) to a small restaurant and got an amazing panini. I don't really know what was on it because it was on of my last choices, everything else was sold out. However, EVERYTHING in Italy tastes AMAZING, so it was excellent.
Then we left Arezzo to go to Cortona, another beautiful Tuscan city. Cortona was very hilly but beautiful. When we got there we first checked into our hotel which used to be a convent. All of the other students took naps because they have been going out every night since we got here, but I have not so I wandered around the town by myself. It was very relaxing and I had a great time exploring the winding streets. This was also where I had the breathtaking view of the countryside (which everyone else only saw at night). Luca (our program director here in Florence) treated us to gelato. It was my first one of the trip and I got strawberry yogurt. Of course, it was fantastic! Then we explored the city. We visited a few more churches, and an awesome fortress of the Medici family. The hills were huge but it was a great way to work off the gelato! After our exploring we had a little time to change clothes at the hotel and then went next door to a fabulous restaurant. There we experience yet another amazing meal. The first course was appetizers. This consisted of four different little servings of food. It is hard to explain what they all were, so I'll just say they were all really good. The second dish was my favorite. It was rizzo (rice) but it was cheesy and had mushrooms in it! At the moment I really wished Knorr sides (a brand of easy pasta) could produce that flavor so I could have it in my microwave in a matter of minutes. I guess I'll keep dreaming. Then we had the main course which was cooked turkey (tasted like chicken! very moist) and a kabob of vegetables. For dessert we had hazelnut gelato. I really didn't like it that much because it was only hazelnut, no chocolate or other flavor.
After dinner I went with a couple of my friends and enjoyed the outdoors and had my first Italian beer. Normally I would say it was a bit too hoppy for my taste, but because I've only had wine so far, it tasted pretty good!
This morning we started by going to Paenza. Paenza is a very very small town that we only spent a short while in. However, outside of Paenza a short drive away was a farm where they produce Pecorino cheese. We got to see where they make and store the cheese, and learned about the process and the different ages of cheese. Then we got to taste cheeses and had bruschetta and wine with it. There were also a bunch of cats on the farm so I was excited to pet them! One was a kitten!
After the farm we headed to Montepuciano where we walked around the most hilly town of them all (Cortona was a very very close second). In Montepuciano I bought my first Italian candy. I was really craving some chocolate but they didn't have any bars of chocolate or anything, but I did find some hard caramels (kind of like Werthers) but filled with a delicious dark chocolate liquid! Then we went to a wine cellar and got to see the HUGE barrels they age the wine in. After that tour we, of course, had a wine tasting! However, since I'm not a huge fan of wine in the first place AND I had a mild stomach ache, I opted out of the wine. Then we got on the bus and headed back to Florence. As soon as I got back to my room I experience my first feeling of "being home" here. It was pretty nice. For supper we (Gabriella-host mom and Rachele-host sister) had omelets, potatoes, and salad. I also had a little Japanese treat that was like 2 tiny pancakes with some sweet jelly-type filling.
Now, I am exhausted and I will go to bed. I have already noticed that my English is starting to sound like how the Italians speak English, and also how you would form the sentences in Italian. Such as the first sentence in the paragraph! At least my Italian is improving!
Buona Notte! (Good Night!)
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