Chianti, Cinque Terre and More!

Another week has flown by, and I can't believe I'm approaching my last seven days in this beautiful country. It seems like every day outdoes the last, and this week was no exception.

Wednesday was a day I have been looking forward to since I saw it on the Italy itinerary last fall- the Chianti wine tasting and tour! The day began early and we took a bus to a vineyard about 40 minutes outside of Florence. Our tour guide, Todd, is a California transplant and it was great to be learning from someone who spoke clear English and had a great sense of humor. Before the first vineyard, we learned all about how they classify wine in Italy, as the government takes wine-making as serious business. Table wine, the lowest classification, has very little restrictions, then ITG wines are a catch-all category that also has few restriction and don't have to be made from Italian grapes, DOC is more strictly monitored and has to produced in a specific, historic way, and DOCG wines, the most restricted and closely watched by the government, have to be sent to a government committee for testing and tasting to make sure they deserve the title of a DOCG wine (who gets the tasting gig? sign me up!). I may not be explaining it perfectly, but it was very interesting to learn how much time is devoted to wine by the government here. At the first vineyard, we toured some cellars and tasted 4 wines, one white and three reds. Honestly, if Todd hadn't told us the flavors to look out for,the reds all would have tasted pretty similar to me, but I do feel like my palate is slightly more sophisticated after the tastings. The third red was delicious, and I bought a bottle for Cliff and Stacy to enjoy! After the first vineyard, we took a hsort bus ride to a farmhouse restaurant nestled among the Chianti vineyards. It was one of the best meals of the trip! We had house wine (of course), crostinis, marinated vegetables, meats and cheeses, fresh red pepper and pesto pastas, and then apple cake and caffe macchiatos for dessert. I was in a wine and food coma, and the thought of going to another vineyard made me thankful I wore a dress and not pants where the button would have popped off. At the second vineyard, we learned all about the wine making process and saw the fermentation rooms and storage rooms. It was all a little confusing, and a google search would probably serve you better than me explaining it here, but it was fascinating. We then got to taste another FIVE glasses of wine (and these were big gulp tasting portions), including a dessert wine, and the vineyard's olive oil. The wine was delicious, everyone had a great time and the day provided some of the best picture taking of the trip. Chianti is beautiful and the day was a perfect combination of food and friends- if you come to Italy, a proper wine tasting is a must.

Thursday was another day of class, and I found the outdoor leather market (think a slightly classier Canal Street) right by the Duomo and got my shopping on. I found great gifts for all of my family, and maybe a little something for myself ;) I had a great dinner across the river with Ashley, Amanda and Jen (another voucher success) and headed to bed early since we were going to Cinque Terre in the morning!

Cinque Terre literally means five towns, and it is a collection of five tiny coastal towns attached by a train with some of the most gorgeous views in Italy. It is famous for its hiking trails and beaches, and we were excited to plan a day trip. We got up at six am and miraculously made the 7 am train headed to Riomaggiore, the southermost town of Cinque Terre. The train situation was a minor disaster, as we had to change trains twice and had no clue what we were doing, but we found other people from our program on the same train and managed to make it there in one piece after about two and a half hours and a breakfast of champions made up of cappucinos, french fries and nutella. Anyways, we got to Riomaggiore and started the first hike from to the second town. Now, you all know I am no nature girl and I was really nervous about spending an entire day in a hiking town, but the first trail was easy and beautiful beyond description- pictures will be up soon! The trail from the second to third town was closed due to recent rain and mudslides, so we had to wait for the infrequent train that runs between the cities. By the time we got to the third town, we were starving, so we headed up FOUR HUNDRED stairs leading from the train station to the actual town in search of lunch. Our friend Andrew is super organized and has a trusty guidebook, so we decided to eat at the restaurant recommended by his book. It was a tiny mom and pop shop, and it was worth every penny we spent there. We had homemade pasta drenched in the pesto Cinque Terre is famous for and then fresh caught fish in a white wine sauce. It was so delicious and totally authentic. We then HAD to get some gelato to wash lunch down, and meandered around the town taking pictures and deciding what to do next. The trail from the third to fourth town is medium to difficult and takes about an hour and a half, so half of us decided to take the train and the other half decided to hike (guess which half I was a part of haha). My group ended up taking the train directly to the fifth and largest town, and we had daquiris and hung out by the amazing beach and waited for the other half of our group. After a full day of sun, drinks and hiking, we were all exhausted and decided to take the 7:10 train home. Well, we had some train issues yet again and after buying our return tickets, ended up having to full-on sprint to catch the train home. We made it (barely) and had a hilarious train ride home thanks to our slap-happy delirium and hunger. Once we got back to Florence at about 10pm, we HAD to get dinner, so my friend Steven (who speaks fluent italian! win!) took us to a restaurant by his apartment and recommended spinach and ricotta ravioli in a truffle sauce. It was absolutely heavenly, and to top the night off, we ran smack into the cast of the Jersey Shore. Yes everyone, I have officially had my first Jersey Shore sighting and let me tell you- there is nothing real about that reality show. We saw the boys of the cast walking right by us, followed by a sound crew, lighting crew, camera crew and tons of drunk and annoying fans. It is quite the sight to see in the middle of the beautiful, ancient city. It was kind of cool to see them, but them being here is more inconvenient than anything. Everyone always wants to follow them out to the clubs and their filming interrupts streets, bridges, restaurants and wherever else they go. They are much better suited to Seaside, trust me. After finally getting home and being awake about 20 hours, I passed out and finally got a chance to sleep in.

Saturday I met up with Amanda around noon to go to a pizza place I've been dying to try- Gusto Pizza. Everyone who has studied abroad recommends it and it is pretty famous, although out of the way of the touristy area of the city, and we decided it was about time we see what all the fuss was about. Well, the fuss is well deserved- the pizza was cheap and absolutely delicious. I got a caprese pizza, so it was fresh crust with bubbling mozzarella and fresh cut cherry tomatoes and basil on top- amazing! The restaurant has community style seating so we sat and chatted with a lovely couple from California and gave them a list of places they have to eat. The best was that the couple told us that we were beaming and they could tell we are having the time of our life :) After lunch, Amanda and I had a fabulous afternoon of shopping. I got a beautiful, one-of-a-kind stone necklace and she got a dress from this adorable shop where we got the royal treatment by the lady working there. It was great to relax and take part in my favorite sport. After shopping, we decided to continue our day of indulgence and went to another highly recommended restaurant for dinner with Ashley- Acqua a 2. I spent a fortune and over-ordered, but it was meal I won't forget. We started with their delicious house red wine and got the pasta sampler (they are famous for their sampling courses- you could do a sampler of every single course if you wanted to/ had the money). It was five steaming dishes of pasta- creamed spinach pasta, broccoli pasta, pumpkin pasta which was out of this world, eggplant pasta and pasta in spicy tomato sauce. It w as fun not knowing what you were going to get and every plate was scrumptious. Then, we got what we had come to the restaurant for and what everyone says you have to order- the blueberry steak. Yes, you would think blueberries and steak together are weird or mismatched, but the blueberries were reduced to a balsamic-like sauce and the meat was amazing. I ate every (pricey) bite and don't regret a thing. We ended with tiramisu, lighter wallets and full bellies. After dinner, we hung out at Ashley's apartment for a while and then had ourselves a little adventure which I will describe in a moment. First, I need to comment on Florence's nightlife on the weekend, as this is the first weekend we have been in town to witness it. The entire city basically turns into a giant outdoor bar, as there are no open container laws. There are just hundreds of people wandering the streets, drinks in hand, meeting people and going from bar to bar. It is pure insanity, and the streets are so packed cars can barely get through. The street I take to get to my apartment is the heart of this weekend party scene, and the three of us girls went to get gelato and people watch. It was hilarious and just such a crazy sight- imagine if everyone in Gainesville was allowed to just drink and wander the streets of Midtown with no rules. After a solid hour of quality people watching, it was time for the Secret Bakery. I am sure there is more than one in the city of Florence, but this particular bakery is a legend among study abroad students. After 1 am, if you know where to look, you can go knock on this completely non-descript door that leads to a little bakery where they make pastries for the cafes. A man will answer the door after several minutes, and you can buy the fresh baked croissants and donuts coming out of the oven for 1 euro. It is the perfect post-midnight snack (drunk or sober) and I felt so cool knowing about this hidden piece of Florence. The only problem with the secret bakery is once you have a secret bakery pastry, you are an automatic magnet for hungry, drunk and pushy Italian men. When we got back on the main street, we were accosted twice in five minuted by creepy guys begging us for a bite of our food. It was incredibly weird and made me nervous, so we inhaled our donuts and headed our separate ways home, fighting the crazy throngs of people standing between me and my bed.

This morning, I grabbed brunch at the diner with Ashley and Amanda, and now I have dedicated the rest of the day to laundry, blogging, homework and all the other mundane things I need to do. I also need to avoid spending more money, and the only way to do that since you have to pay for everything (including water at restaurants and peeing) here is to lock myself in my apartment. So, here I am, mid chores and reflecting on how much I truly love Italy. This coming week I have class Mon-Weds, an Italian cooking class tomorrow night and then Rome from Thursday until we fly home early Monday morning! I miss everyone at home and definitely will appreciate the cheaper American prices when I'm home, but I am going to miss this place like crazy. If there was a Publix, Chipotle, Lucky Dragon and dryers, I could totally live here. Before this trip, living abroad for a semester sounded insane to me, but now I can totally see why people do it and love it. If money wasn't an object, I would love to live here for a whole semester, but I am grateful for the time I have here and will continue to enjoy every second. One last week- I've got to make it the best yet!