Wednesday, June 30, 2010

You have to pay for Ketchup?



Yesterday I broke down and went to Mc Donalds.....I was hungry and just didn't feel like Pasta or anything of the like so I was walking by Mc Donalds and stopped in to have a bite before I went to class. This is not something I regularly do when traveling because eating the native food emerges you in the culture, but it sounded so good at the time. Believe me, it didn't taste as good as it does at home, if I can even say it tastes good there, because I am pretty sure I wouldn't consider it "good" in my everyday life.  


Oh, one other thing, who  ever pays for ketchup? I just wanted some ketchup for my fries, but the man said it was .30 euros.....who pays .36 cents for a measly Mc Doanld's ketchup packet? Not me! 


The coke was as good or better than at home though. On a hot day, who could ask for anything other than a COLD Mc Donalds Coke?

Sunday, June 27, 2010

This past week....

On Thursday we didn’t have class, this is because it was Florence’s independence holiday. We didn’t do much because it was finally a day off from everything, but later in the day we wondered around town, making a stop at H&M clothing store and then headed off across the Pointe’ Vecchio, (the gold bridge) were all the tourists go. It was fun to enjoy it for once, instead of just walking over it go somewhere else. We even got some good pictures. We then strolled home, had a great home cooked dinner of baked ziti and green salad and then headed just around the corner from our apartment to watch the fireworks which were displayed over the river, a great show, but as someone in our group said “Disneyland’s are still the best I have ever seen” and being that I got to watch then quite often when I worked there, I would have to agree with them.
Roommates minus 3 others.
Chris, Kenny, Me, Dex, Tim and Roger.


View from the Gold Bridge


Street Performer in front of the Uffizi Museum


People along the river waiting for fireworks


crazy lady watching the fireworks from the light post


This weekend was filled with great experiences. Starting bright and early Saturday morning we traveled to the Tuscan countryside. Our first stop was at a small hillside community. Have you ever seen the episode of Everybody Loves Raymond when they visited Italy? This is what that city reminded me of! Great views, great architecture and from what I hear they produce great cheese. From the smell of it, Im sure glad I didn’t try it, talk about STRONG!  Following that we traveled to the Winery.  We toured the vineyards of three of the varieties they produce, we also took a look at the cellars where the aging takes place in wood barrels and after that we visited there tasting room where we tried three wines with a selection of fresh deli meats and cheeses. Although I had never heard of any of the wines they produced, two out of the three were very tasty.  Along with the grape vineyards they are also producing crops of olives for olive oil. It was some of the best olive oil that I have ever tasted. After that we traveled to the city of Montipulchiano, this apparently is where they filmed the movie twilight. Not being a fan, I had no idea of what most of the people were talking about when we saw different building in the town. Surprise right? But all in all it was still a great visit. After visiting I settled back in to my seat on the Mercedes tour bus for the two hour ride back to Florence. What a great Saturday, with one great lesson learned…..remember to charge your camera Jason!!  Who would of thought, that with bringing 3 batteries with me that I would ever run out of power for the camera…..good thing everyone one of my other friends brought there cameras.

On Sunday we traveled to Verriago Beach about two hours by train out of Florence. Beaches here are not like those in the United States. These public beaches are regulated by local companies. For a nominal fee they provide you with the use of both a beach chair and an umbrella, it was almost strait out of the movies. Quite different from Huntington and Long Beach.  The most surprising factor for me was to see how many people were at the beach, I would say a round about number of a couple thousand. It truly is a “were going to the beach day” for the Italians, especially for those who don’t live in the city. What a great day and surprisingly enough I didn’t get brunt, maybe it’s because when I wasn’t in the water I was hiding under my towel and umbrella!
First ride on the top of a double decker train!


Now thats a busy beach!


Now after all that fun, I must get back to my studies…to the kitchen and the computer lab I go…I have three 2000 word essays due in the next 2 weeks…………….Wish me luck!

Random Photos...

Libby and Sonya!



Apricot Shortbread Cookie! (mom you would love this!)


One of my favorite parts of the trip! Fresh fruit from the early morning farmers market. 



Eggplant Parmesan  (delicious and easy!)


Deep Fried Stuff!  (Squash flowers, Red Onion Rings and fresh French Fries)

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

My Favorite Photo of the trip.


What could be any better than this?

Monday, June 21, 2010

First Day of Cooking Class

Today was fun!  As you will see in the pictures below, we made two types of  authentic spaghetti.  Was pretty much the best Authentic I have ever tasted!









Venice....My Favorite City in the World.

Fortunately  I was able to re-visit  what is now my favorite city in the world this weekend.  Its all I remember it to be from  when I was there five years ago plus a lot more.  From the canals to the squares, bridges and the famous Vapparettos. We didn't get to ride on the Vapparettos this time because we were only there 6 hours but just seeing all the action made this trip amazing. 

One of my favorite pictures of the day was taken minutes after we stepped off the train...


This photo pretty much sums up most of my memories that I have from this amazingly historic city.  From the boats to the people to the ancient architecture, I can (and have) sat at the edge of the water  at the bottom of this photo for uninterrupted moments  with no cares in the world. 

Pictured Below is part of our group that traveled to Venice from Florence. There was a total of 18 of us who went for the day!

And just to compare the difference the following two pictures are 5 years apart in just about the same place in the world!


  
              6/2010
              6/2005

Kinda Cool....right?

That's all for now, Ciao!



Thursday, June 17, 2010

Welcome!

So, I am sitting here in Florence, Italy and finally getting the ambition to start my own blog. Although I have wanted to do this for a long time, I just never took the time to build it.

I'm having the time of my life at the moment. Between graduating from Cal Poly Pomona last Friday, partying on Saturday for Graduation with friends and traveling to Italy last Sunday, I couldn't ask for anything more.

A big thank you to all the great people in my life who selfishly helped me through my educational and job journeys. I couldn't have done it without each and everyone of you and for that I am extremely grateful.

Ill  be writing more later. Enjoy some photos from my recent travels through life.

Graduation Day!


                                                                   Group Photo


Ciao!