my thoughts as i travel through this thing called life...

Thursday, July 22, 2010

ROME!!!

So even though I am in Switzerland waiting to jump on a plain to Amsterdam, I still feel the want and need to write about my amazing last days in Florence.

On our last weekend, a group of us took a four hour plain ride to Rome. Literally this was one of the best places that I visited in Italy. When we arrived at the train station, after a short walk from the train station and a turn around the corner, there it was, the Coliseum. As grand as it was, I expected it to be even bigger. What an amazing Architectural structure. Walking through all the different levels this man made “rock” of a building it was truly amazing to see how they built this building and what they used each area for. As you will see we stopped to take our own gladiator poses along the way through the coliseum.

Heather and Dana

After the coliseum, we ventured over to the Forum Gardens. At the Gardens we saw multiple buildings which are now used as museums for old artifacts. The most impressive sight of this garden is what is left of the Roman Forum. You can see in the picture below the size of this massive structure. After all these years its still amazing to see how well it is still standing and how much of it is still standing.

One of my favorite pictures...I found the "drinking fountain" and little did I know that girl on the left was walking by....needless to say, she got showered with some water....she probably appreciated it though, it was a hot day.

After meeting up with a few more people in our group from Cal Poly we took the subway over to the area by the Vatican. This felt like home, it was around noon and there was the hustle and bustle of the city that one expects from a city like Rome. Standing in the center of Vatican City in front of the Fountain and the Vatican itself was truly rare moment. You couldn’t help but to be silent and just take it all in. Being that it was hot and the line for the Vatican was quite long we decided to not go in and go around to see the Sistine Chapel which is located in the Vatican Museum. After traveling through the huge museum we arrived at the Sistine Chapel. The Chapel was like something you had never seen before. All the time, effort and talent that went in to creating that masterpiece was duly noted while enjoying the museum.

So….Im in Belgium now trying to finish up what I saw in Rome. 7-21-2010

While in Rome we also visited the ever so popular Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. Both were very cool to see, especially the Trevi fountain. We’ve all seen it in pictures and movies, but to see it in person is something else. Who knew it is as big as it is and literally tucked away in an alleyway. As you can see from my pictures, I had to throw in a coin to insure that I will once again visit Rome in the future. All in all, Rome is a great city, one that I have to come back and truly visit in depth and spend more than one day in.

And Im finally posting this on the 22 of July....who knew it would take this many days to post a blog entry?

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Day trip

So some of us decided to take a day trip and not attend school. It actually worked out well for me because we were supposed to cook fish and for those of you who know me well, you know I don't eat fish. We took a day trip to San Gimignano, this city is pretty amazing. Known as the Manhattan of Italy, there are 13 towers that make up the skyline. The story behind the towers is that the families tried to out-do each other with taller towers. This was a great day away form the daily routine we had going to school from 12noon to 530 PM.

I love the 10 second time on my camera! I have learned so much about my camera on this trip.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

the past few days...

The past few days have been quite eventful... I hope you have some time to read through all of this!

So I’ve been a little lax-a-dasical when it comes to updating my blog this past week or so. With a school field trip at least one weekend day every week and our own adventures it’s hard to find spare time to do homework, keep in contact with family and friends back home and update my bog.

Let’s start at June 26^th. We went to Verriago beach with school. I previously mentioned this but had no pictures to share with you.

First Double Decker Bus I rode.

Busiest beach I have ever been too. That’s April in the Photo by the way. I guess she didn’t realize that I took a picture.

The next Monday we made Chicken, Fillet and Pork Loin.

Here is our chef for our coking class. Don’t ask me his name because he never introduced himself on the first day. But apparently he is the big cheese at the school because his email is exeuctivechef@apicius.it

We made pork roast with Roasted Potatoes. The Potatoes needed to be roasted more but they were delicious. I love this class because we don’t have to buy lunch.

Roasted Chicken we made on the same day.

This was taken one morning we set out to have an American breakfast. We succeeded but when we found out that it was 18 Euros, we decided to come home and make our own pancakes. We topped them with Nutella. Have you ever had it? It’s pretty much the best stuff on Earth. It goes well in crapes too.

In our Quest to see all of Florence before we return to the states we decided we needed to take quick trips in the mornings before we go to class. This time we went to the Piti Palace Gardens. When I hear Garden I think of a nice sized backyard. Well in Apparently in Europe a garden means acres and acres of land. Boy were we tired by the time we got to class.

Top of the Garden Looking down. If you look closely you can see the back of the Palace and the Cityscape behind that. What an amazing view, but Im sure I did have to mow those lawns or Hike up that hill Everyday

What a view!

View from the backside of the garden.

Me in the garden!

Another View of the Garden when the Family had a whole Pond and Water Fountain.

Another View of Florence from the Top of the Garden. Who knew the city was so large?

The Lookout Tower in the Garden. Too bad it was closed and we couldn’t go in.

That day in Class we made Balsamic Steak. Chef said it was the best Balsamic Sauce he has tasted in a while. Too bad I cooked the meat to well done. He said its better Medium, but I like it well so; it’s all good in my World.

We also made pizza another day in class.

This Past Saturday we visited both the Parmesan Cheese area of Italy called “Parma” hence the name of the Cheese Parmigana Regiano, and the Prochutto Producing Area of Italy called Langhirano near Parma. Both factories were interesting and I don’t think Ill ever look at cheese or cured ham the same ever again.

The Bins that the cheese are made in.

Removing the cheese from the cooked milk!

The Barrels that the cheese are aged in.

An Empty Barrel- This goes below ground level so it’s easier to work with.

Beginning stages of the Curing of the ham. (Freezing)

Refrigerated. Curing.

One of the Professors and the Owner of the Company.

Me at the Factory

Death Bus- The Hottest Bus I have ever ridden in. The Driver said the A/C did work, the windows didn’t roll down, and the driver got lost to all three of the destinations we were headed too. What a day! Oh yeah, it was most likely over 95 deg. F and 40-50% humidity.

On the 4^th of July we had the best FUN day we have had so far. We traveled on the train to Chinque Terra. This is the city with 5 beach cities that you hike through. After arriving to the last city we quickly ate and hiked form the last to the next to last city. What an amazing adventure. 3 plus hours of hiking.