Czech This Out

Buongiorno!! I am back from Prague and already getting ready to leave again tomorrow, so I barely have time to blog, but I know I have at least a few people reading so I thought I would fill you in on my latest adventure:) So last Thursday, me and my roommates went to our favorite sandwich place by our apartment called Antico Noe and then walked to the train station where we were to meet our tour leader before getting on a 12 hour bus. We left around 730pm from Florence and got to Prague the next morning at 830am. It was a pretty rough bus ride, but I did manage to sleep for around 3-4 hours. We got to our hotel, "The Fusion Hotel" where we were able to go up and freshen up and then eat breakfast before we left for our walking tour. On our tour we saw Wenceslaus Square, the Jewish Quarter, and also went to the main square where there is an astronomical clock on one of the towers. Every hour, the clock chimes and out from these two windows pop little statues of the apostles. It's kind of creepy but cool that it does it every hour. Despite the weather, Prague was so beautiful and unlike anything I've ever seen before. It's like stepping into a fairytale with all the colored castles it felt like I was in the Shrek movie! Our tour ended at Bohemia Bagels which I was so happy about...not only because I love bagels, but I also hate being cold and Prague was SO cold! Like 30 degrees the whole time with no sunshine at all. But, we still made the best of it and tried to stay warm when we could. We got hot tea and bagels and soup and it was great. When we had first gotten there I had exchanged some of my euros for Czech Koruna. For 100 euro, I got 2,500 Crowns. The currency amounts really threw me off! My lunch at Bohemia Bagel was like 180 crowns! But really that's just 9 dollars. So, after Bohemia Bagel, we met up with Dana's friend from high school who is studying in Prague and she took us across the Charles Bridge to the other side where the Lennon Wall is. The pictures really say it all.

Astronomical Clock

Wencenslaus Square

View from the Charles Bridge

Me at the Lennon Wall:)

So after our sightseeing for the day, we were cold and exhausted but still wanted to do one more thing so we went to the Communist museum that was near our hotel. It was interesting to read about everything and understand how Prague was affected by Communism. Fun fact....did you know that Stalin's right hand man's name was Klement Gottwald???? Weird....also, I hate when people mis-spell my last name like that but it was still funny to see it. So maybe the Gottwalts are some descendants of communists??? Not sure about that one haha. So after the museum, we were exhausted and went back to the hotel to nap before dinner. I had pretty low expectations for the food in Prague, especially since loads of meat and potatoes really isn't my thing, but our dinner was exquisite! Some of our guy friends from Cornell are actually studying in Prague and we wanted to get dinner with them. I think we may have gone to the nicest restaurant in Prague. It was called Mlynec and it is famous for its Bohemian cuisine. The restaurant was so cool and swanky it felt like we were eating in an intimate lounge or something. I ordered the salmon with celery root puree and an herb oil. And for a starter, they brought out a fennel-mushroom mousse. And anyone who knows me, knows I HATE fennel. Literally one of the only foods I cannot stand. So, needless to say I didn't eat that. But the salmon and the wine we had was amazing. The boys got veal schnitzel which looked delicious as well, if I ate veal. And Dana got duck which was good too. Our dinner was 7,000 crowns....you do the math haha but it was worth it! You're only in Praha once....right?

So, after dinner, we went to a giant pregame at one of the boys apartments where we met up with a ton of other guys and girls from other schools either visiting or studying in Prague. And then we headed over to an 80s-90's club called Lucerna. The music was the best: think Spice Girls and Britney Spears all night long. It was such a fun night and it was so nice to go out with boys we knew because we always felt safe! Overall, great first day and night in Prague!

Day 2, Saturday. We woke up and had breakfast at the hotel and then met our tour leader in the lobby where we were going to be led over the Charles Bridge and to the Lennon wall, and then see one of the huge castles across the river. Even though we had gone the day before, we figured we could go again and take more pics at the wall. Oh, and another great thing about Prague, they have Starbucks!!! Oh how I miss Chai Tea Lattes:)

The guards at the Castle

View from the top of the Castle

After all this sightseeing we were hungry and decided to be adventurous and try the Prague street-food (but my roommates will tell you I was the least adventurous) I got the mulled hot wine which was delicious and tasted like hot cider only with red wine. The other three got sausages with sauerkraut and ketchup. I did have a bite of one tho!!

Me with my Hot wine!

So, that was pretty much the extent of our sight-seeing that day. We went back to the hotel and got ready for another night out. We first went to a traditional Czech pub called Kol Kovna where I ordered chicken noodle soup...yes I know boring haha. It was good tho and we got free beer! Then we walked to our friend Roberto's apartment for another pregame before we went to a five story club! There was different music on every floor and it was so much fun!

And that was Prague in a nutshell...it was truly such a beautiful city and we were so glad we made the trip! Even though the 12 hour bus ride home on Sunday wasn't so fun. And now we get to do it all over again tomorrow when we head to Interlaken for a weekend of skiing and eating Swiss chocolate in Switzerland! Only this bus ride will be around 7 hours:)

Stay tuned for an update on all the food I've been making in class! Oh, and mom and dad you'll be happy to know I am doing some academic things, I had an Italian quiz yesterday and a paper due in Chocolates about diabetes and chocolate! See, I am doing some work......

xoxo

Alli

The Reason I'm 'Supposed' To Be Here...

So technically, the real reason I'm here in Italy is to go to school. But really, compared to my studies at Cornell, it's basically like I'm on vacation everyday. But, my classes really are amazing and I do go to them, so I thought I would just mention what I've been up to for the past three weeks in school. So, in my Food, Culture, and Society class we made our first recipe: Cespelle alla Fiorentina which is essentially a spinach and ricotta crepe. And it was delicious. The crepe batter was simple with flour, eggs, butter, and milk. The filling was just spinach, ricotta, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. And then we made a bechamel sauce which is basically butter cooked with flour to make a roux and then we added milk until it thickened. Then we put the filling into the crepes, rolled them up and baked them in a pan after we poured the bechamel sauce over them and sprinkled parmesan cheese on top. Literally amazing and so simple.



















Then, right after that class, I go to my chocolates class where instead of cooking, we went on a walking tour around florence. Our first stop was at this amazing Chocolate place where we had Ciaccolata Calda, which is hot chocolate. But let me be clear. Hot chocolate in Italy is not like hot chocolate in the US. In the US, it's very thin and is usually made with milk and milk chocolate and has whipped cream on top. In Italy, it's more like drinking chocolate ganache. It's made with dark chocolate and real cream and is as thick as pudding. And it is SO rich. I had a small cup on our walking tour and was so full after drinking just half of the cup!

Ciaccolata Calda

So, then we continued our tour and went to an Enoteca (place that sells wine) where we did a wine and chocolate tasting. We first tasted a light red wine with milk chocolate that went very well together and tasted like eating a chocolate covered cherry because the wine was very sweet. Then, we tasted a white chocolate with a sparkling moscato. The white chocolate actually overpowered the moscato because we learned that champagnes are very delicate and should not be paired with chocolate. And last, we tasted a very dark chocolate with a thick syrupy red wine that tasted like plums.  So, that was my day last Monday: Crepes for breakfast and chocolate and wine in the afternoon. Could life get any better?

On Tuesday, it was pastas class. We made Bucatini All'Amatriciana and homemade tagliatelle with tomato and basil sauce. Both were absolutely delicious. I had never had Amatriciana pasta sauce before and it was surprisingly good and simple. You start with pork cheek.....yes, pork cheek. It's called guanciale and looks like bacon but only the fatty part. I was a little grossed out, but I knew it would give the sauce good flavor. You start by cubing the guanciale and sauteeing them until they sweat out all the fat, then you drain the fat and take out the guanciale and add onions, garlic, and canned tomatoes to the same pan. You can also add hot red pepper flakes if you like spice. Then you cook the bucatini, which is a thicker spaghetti but is hollow inside so sauce can actually go through the noodles. Then you add back in the guanciale to the sauce and add the pasta to the sauce and sprinkle pecorino cheese on top. So simple, and the pork gives the tomato sauce such a good meaty flavor.

Then for the tagliatelle, we each made our own pasta dough. 100 grams of flour on the table, make a crater in the center. Crack one egg in the middle and scramble it with a fork and then begin kneading the flour into the egg. Knead it until all the egg is absorbed by the flour and you have a nice homogeneous ball. Then cover the ball in plastic wrap and let sit while you make the sauce. The sauce is made from fresh tomatoes chopped, basil, salt, one smashed garlic clove, and pepper. Then you let it sit in a pot and stew while you run the pasta through the pasta machine and then cut into strips. You cook the pasta in boiling, salted water for only 2 minutes and then add to the sauce pot. So clean and fresh.

So, as if I wasn't full enough, on Wednesday it was Contemporary Italian Cooking where we made Passatina di Ceci con Gamberi. Essentially, it is just chickpeas and shrimp...we were a little confused as to how this dish was going to come together but it was actually so good! And we even had to peel and devein the shrimps with the heads still on! Here is a picture of me peeling shrimp, and the final dish:

So, that's the food update for the week!! I told you I would not be going hungry.....
xoxo,
Alli

Never Have I Ever...lived in a palace, eaten middle eastern food while wearing a mask, and rubbed a boob for good luck...

 Until this weekend! We left early Friday morning for our trip to Venice. Our train left at 8:30 in the morning so we got up and walked to the train station. And those of you who know me well, know that public transportation can freak me out at times. And then, to make matters worse, we found out we were all in different cars on the train. But I had no choice so I held my Italian phone tight in my hand and boarded the train and sat next to some Asian girl taking selfies of herself the whole train ride. I was texting my roommates from my Italian phone saying things like: "I've never felt so alone" and "Literally so scared" and a few other dramatic remarks, but really, it wasn't bad at all. The train took about 2 hours and we arrived in Venice at 10:40 where this man named Tommaso was waiting to take us to the apartment we were renting from him for the weekend. Now, this had all the makings to be a horror story. A strange Italian man, who sent me an email saying to meet him by the green clock outside the train station, leads 4 clueless American girls into a dark alley with a key. He opens the door and....well you can use your imagination the way I did as the four of us followed Tomasso inside the door and up three flights of stairs into our BEAUTIFUL apartment! Literally, all our fears disappeared and we had never been so happy. It was like a palace, huge king size beds, a full kitchen, and a gorgeous bathroom with a luxurious shower that had the hottest water. And in reality, Tomasso was the nicest, most friendly man who gave us maps and advice about how to get to certain landmarks and gave us restaurant recommendations. He gave us the key and we were free to go, but not before we first enjoyed the warmth of our apartment (21 degrees Celsius and we loved it!) Then we set out to explore Venice. We first picked out some masks along the way and then made our way first to the Rialto Bridge for an amazing view and then continued on to Saint Marco Square where we saw everyone really decked out for Carnivale!












So we wandered around Saint Mark's Square and went into the Basilica and took pics with the people who were all dressed up for Carnivale! We ate lunch at a cute little Trattoria on a side street. And then we sat along the river for a bit and of course got gelato. After much exploring and walking, we wandered in the direction of our apartment and got a little lost which was fun and then came back to nap before dinner. We all crashed for like 2 hours and woke up and were starving. So we left our apartment in search of a good meal but quickly realized that you need a reservation for dinner at nearly every restaurant in Venice...who knew?? So we ended up.....at a sketchy middle eastern restaurant. We got some bread and some weird vegetable and couscous dishes but we didn't really care because we were so hungry. Then we went home and went to bed because our train to Verona was going to leave at 730am!

Saturday, Day 2: Our train for Verona left at 7:30am right on time! We got to Verona around 9am and took a cab to Juliet's house immediately. Dana is obsessed with Romeo and Juliet so she was in her glory. There was a wall of love that people could write on and then you entered the courtyard that had a wall of locks and of course the balcony. And then the statue of Juliet: where you're supposed to rub her right boob for good luck..so we did! Then we went through the museum where we saw Romeo and Juliet's bed among other things...until Colleen pointed out the obvious: that none of this is real because its a fictional story! But that was the last time we mentioned that, since it upset Dana too much.
Then we climbed a tower that had 368 steps and gave us an amazing view of Verona, then went and saw a castle, a roman amphitheater, went into 2 churches, and then snuck into these gardens illegally. We were definitely supposed to pay, but no one was guarding the gate so Mikey and Colleen snuck in, and I reluctantly and anxiously followed. They were beautiful though, and there was a fountain with coy fish in it. We also got lunch at this place where there was an Italian buffet with an amazing dessert selection for only 15 euro. So we did that for lunch and decided our dinner would be a big gelato at this amazing place we saw when we first got there. So, towards the end of the day, we all got gelato: best coconut gelato i've ever had!! And then we killed sometime at a cafe until we took a cab back to the train station to go back to Venice. When we got back we went to bed since our train left this morning at 830am. In the morning, Tomasso's mom came to our apartment to check us out, and she couldn't speak any english so we tried to communicate with her a bit, I handed her the keys and we were on our way home! It was a great weekend with a lot of walking, beautiful sightseeing, and of course adventure! Next trip: this weekend we are going to PRAGUE!

xoxoxo
Alli

The Villagio Turistico and other adventures

 Sorry I haven't posted in almost a week...it has been a busy last few days! Our weekend was quite the adventure to say the least. Our program took us on this optional free trip to Umbria which included transportation, 2 nights, dinners, and activities in each city that we visited. It seemed like a no-brainer at the time, but we really weren't quite sure what we were in for. Our bus left on Friday at 1:30pm from Piazza Santa Maria Novella, which is near the train station. Our first stop was at a winery in Montepulciano where they took us into their wine cellar and we got to see the barrels of wine in the process of aging. Then they took us upstairs for my favorite part--the tasting. We tasted three different red wines and were given pecorino cheese, an assortment of prosciutto and other meats, and bread with amazing olive oil. All the wines were delicious! Then we got to take pictures of the beautiful countryside before we got back onto the bus. By the time we arrived at the 'hotel' it felt like it was midnight, only it was only like 8pm. I was sitting at the front of the bus and  I could tell from the little Italian that I can understand, that our tour guides were lost. This gave me a bit of anxiety, although I kept it to myself, especially since my roommates were all asleep. Finally when we arrived, it was so dark I could barely see anything except a sign that said: "Villagio Turistico" or "Village of the Tourists" I then woke up my roommates and we really didn't know what to think. They then gave us our keys and told us that dinner was at 8:30. The hotel owner walked us to our building and to our surprise it was actually so nice! We were in a villa that had 4 beds and a kitchen downstairs and then we went up a spiral staircase to our loft where there were 2 double beds and a bathroom. We were pleasantly surprised. The only problem was that there was no heat. I took a shower that was a small trickle that would stop every 30 seconds and I got so claustrophobic and I spazzed and broke the shower door...haha woops! But they did give us some robes and really good looking slippers so that is literally what I slept in I was so cold. So night 1 was interesting, but it could have been worse....right?

Day 2, Saturday, we woke up early, had breakfast at the hotel and then got on a bus to go to a cheese factory in Maremma. It was a little early for me to be smelling cheese molding, and I did get a bit nauseous for a bit there, but wait till you see the sexy cheese-making outfits we got to wear! We also got to taste a ton of cheeses after which was amazing. The ricotta was delicious as well as the aged Pecorino Toscano.

 After the cheese factory we visited a town called Pitigliano that was literally built into rocks in the countryside. It was so beautiful, but I would have enjoyed it more if it wasn't raining and freezing cold. But luckily, Colleen and I kept our cheese garbage bag robes so we stayed dry! We were given the option to either go back to the hotel or take the walking tour at Pitigliano and of course I wanted to go back to the hotel to get warm....but, shockingly I chose to suck it up! (Dad you would have been so proud, I only complained a little bit!) And I really did enjoy the tour it was so cool to learn about the history of the Etruscans first founding this city until it was taken over by the Romans and the Medici family. Then after Pitigiliano we got back into the bus to continue the tour....at this point I was complaining a little more but mostly because I couldn't feel my toes. We then went to another town near here called Sovana which looked similar but was so small, only 100 people. On the way, we also stopped to see and Etruscan tomb or necropolis that was built many centuries ago. Finally after touring Sovana, the day was over and we returned to the hotel which was still freezing but at least they finally got the wifi working.

Day 3, Sunday, we woke up early again and got our stuff packed up and ready to go. We had breakfast and then left for a town called Orevieto. To be honest, at this point I was losing my touristy steam. I wanted to go back to Florence. But yet again, I sucked it up and we did another walking tour. And I'm glad we did. This city was beautiful and had one of the most beautiful cathedrals I have ever seen. We also got to tour the underground caves that were built by the Etruscans many centuries ago. And the caves were like 60 degrees down there so I loved it...however there were lots of wild stray cats around the entrance to the caves which sort of creeped me out. We were then given some free time to get lunch on our own in the town which was nice because we got to go inside and get warm. Then at 1:30 we went back to the buses and drove 2 hours back to Florence. Overall, we decided we were glad we did the trip and we learned a lot and had fun but it's not something we would need to do again. It was a busy weekend but we were so happy to be back 'home' in our apartment:) And on Sunday night, we booked our next two weekends: this weekend is Venice and Verona and next weekend is Prague!

Arrividerci!
xoxo