I have been having issues with updating new posts. Instead of adding new posts I had been working under adding new pages. I thought they were the same thing but sadly they are not. If you have only been seeing what is showing up on this page there are several more posts under the menu (the pink box in the left top corner). Hopefully, I have it corrected and it will all work out better from here. I dated the posts under menu so they now show in order.
I hate to say it but Florence isn’t what it used to be. Not to say that it is still not great just different. I don’t know why I thought it would be untouched by the changing times, population shift and increased popularity. It is Tuesday and there are still more people around town than I remember being on town on a Saturday. Sunday was crazy and I had hopes that it would get better during the week and it haas but just not as much as I wished. I had a pass to skip the line at the Ufizzi and still had to wait about 30 minutes. The line for tickets went around the corner. At some places it feels more like Rome.
The stores also seem different. More like the open market everywhere. It is hard to tell what is really made in italy and what is just made to look like it. I have found some great places. The Italian Leather School is great. Think project runway for purses. You can watch them working through windows. Each person has a table and was working on a single design. Their purses run from about $150 for a smaller bag up to $20,000 for these beautiful ostrich bags. I have my eye on a multi-strap chocolate brown medium sized bag. I am waiting to purchase till I have seen more options.
I also found the store where I bought my purse last time. Theirs were also really nice but a bit more formal. They have a line that they also sell in the states now called “the Bridge” which had some really nice things but I hate to buy a purse in italy with an English name. It just seems wrong.
I haven’t made it across to shop in the Arno area. Supposedly there are good shops over there with the craftsmen right on site. I am hoping I’ll find some unique pieces over there. I plan to go tomorrow after class.
I am going to have to venture farther from the tourist areas to find the florence that I remember but I feel certain it is still out there.
First day of cooking with mama.
Yesterday was very busy. I rushed from mama’s to class then around town trying to find specific places. At 4 I had a walking tour around the school to point out places to eat, bank, drink and more importantly get good gelato. That made me late for cooking with mama. I basically ran through Florence in 5 o’clock traffic ( no one follows any traffic laws or red doesn’t mean stop here) and was 10 minutes late. I felt horrible, mama of course was fine and told me to go rest and we would start at 5:30. I must have looked a sweaty mess which she didn’t want in her kitchen.
Sadly I am the only one cooking this week but that is probably a good thing. Her kitchen is tiny. As short as she is she could reach across and touch both sides. The only way it works is the balcony is right off the kitchen and the clothes line acts as the holding table. We made a three course meal in less space than I would make a sandwich at home.
We started chopping vegetables for ratatouille which then cooked for the next two hours. We then made spinach ricotta “naked” pasta to boil later for the first course. For the second we made a parmigiana soufflé to go with the ratatouille. All which was finished with a ricotta lemon cheese cake. Cheese, cheese and more cheese. Mama loves ricotta.
We served food for five but had plenty for a few more. Dinner is served course style with wine for me and her husband. The two Colombian girls are not drinking. It would be perfectly acceptable in Italy but they might just be worried about mama’ opinion since she does not drink. She however is very quick to have her husband refill my glass for which I am grateful.
Italian is spoken pretty much exclusively at the table. I basically just nod and smile. She speaks perfectly good English and spoke that while cooking. Her husband speaks Italian only and she thinks the girls should be farther along after 3 months. So dinner can be a quiet event.
All in all a great night. Not sure if I will be able to recreate our meals. She promises me recipes but not sure a pico of flour will translate. It was pretty much just cooking by feel.
Off to Charlotte. I am at the airport waiting to board the plane. So far so good. I think I have everything ready. At least I have my passport, credit card and iPad everything else I can replace when I get there if I have to. I have downloaded every app recommended so I can Skype, text, find wifi, and get a map of florence off–line so I should be good. The at&t international plans were crazy expensive so that didn’t work out as well as I hoped. I have unlimited text but otherwise will need to use wifi to connect. Not sure how this will affect my posting but figure if mama’s or the school doesn’t have it I will just have to find a cafe/bar with wifi. It will be quite the sacrifice to have a glass of wine during my posting.
I was late with my last post. I drafted but had to wait for the pictures to move over to my iPad then forgot to post it. Since it was already done I went ahead and posted. Hope I didn’t confuse anyone I am about to get on the plane. Next stop ROME…
I have been working on plans for my Italian language vacation. Monday through Friday of both weeks will be at the Koine language school in Florence, Italy but I had the middle weekend and the weekend on the end to plan. It worked best to fly out of Milan so the last weekend was set. I found a great hotel and a day tour that included the Last Supper so not much else for that weekend.
For the middle weekend I was open to anything. I considered Venice which was an easy train trip but I have done before. I also considered San Marino but there was not everything I wanted for the weekend. I enjoyed a short day in Orvieto on a previous trip and decided a trip back to Umbria should be on the agenda. Looking into Orvieto I decided I had time to add another city and began looking at Perugia which was easily accessible from Orvieto and had a nice old walled inner city. Looking for things to do in Perugia I stumbled across a post for the European chocolate Festival. What are the odds that it would be going on while I am in Italy. Luckily 100%. The only thing that rivals my love to travel is my love of chocolate. In my world chocolate is my answer to everything…bad day have some chocolate, celebrating… chocolate cake, hot outside chocolate ice cream.
So with the chocolate festival the deciding factor the middle weekend will be in Perugia. I even found a hotel with a front door that opens to the festival entrance within my price range. When I told my sister about the chocolate festival she said I must be living right for that to have worked out so well and I definitely agree. I must be living right.
I love to plan trips, almost more than I enjoy the traveling but not quite. The trips are always great but they only last so long. Planning can last for months.
I am currently planning for my first solo travel. I am off to Florence, Italy (my all-time favorite city) to study Italian. For my first real solo trip this might be a bit ambitious but what the hell might as well go big.
My ultimate vacation will be a full year in Italy the year after a retire (hopefully 2022). In order for that to be the vacation of my dreams I want to be able to speak Italian and I have started learning. For some 7 years to learn Italian might seem like a lot but am afraid I will need every minute it. I have been taking classes at a local language school and I am ready to test my limited skills.
A vacation with my mom fell through and I decided it was the perfect opportunity to go off by myself and take a language class in Italy. After much encouragement I picked a language school in Florence and started making my plans.
There were several schools to choose from and they ranged from bargain to extravagant. My choice was easy as soon as I saw the “Cooking with Mama” class I was sold. I will have language classes in the morning and then will cook with “mama” in the evenings. I will be staying with mama at a bargain price. It won’t be luxurious accommodations but will be a great way to practice my new skills.
I can hardly wait.
Plan...Travel...Repeat 
