Kings and Soup

I love to sightsee. I am obsessed with it. If it is important, historically-relevant, really cool, famous, or just plain weird, I need to see it, take multiple pictures of it, and then talk about seeing the thing I saw to everyone I met (did you know I went too…). So today I saw a very cool place, Medici Villa Petraia. It is a beautiful palace-turned-villa right outside of Florence (we walked right past the “Leaving Florence” sign before entering the gates). This beautiful villa was past down from family to family, when it was finally given to the Medicis. Anna Maria, the very last Medici, left the villa, along with the rest of the family fortune, to the Italians when she died – this let the villa become a historical site in which I can take multiple pictures and bore you to death with all the stories for years to come.

When you enter the property, you can’t even see the house. All you see are manicured shrubs, citrus trees in huge terracotta pots, and flowers everywhere. A huge fountain dominates the garden and gravel paths lead you to a patio with a view. I could understand why this lot was chosen for this house of ruling families. From the edge of the garden, I could see the roofs of my beloved Florence. It was truly breathtaking.

Views of Florence

After aimlessly walking through the gardens for about ten minutes, we got to go inside the beautiful villa (which I learned also has a game park behind it because the first king of Italy lived here and apparently he LOVED deer – this is also seen in the numerous deer head adorning the walls of the villa). Sadly, no pictures were allowed and it was a real shame. The courtyard had a huge chandelier, covered in amethyst stones. The walls were all frescoed with hunting scenes, the coronation of popes, and scenes of the Medici family. What was also cool is all the rooms had a color/pattern and the color/pattern was not repeated throughout the whole house (which is really difficult because there were A LOT of rooms). The dining room was red, the music room was salmon, and there were a blue, green, yellow, gold, and baby blue floral sitting rooms. The two bedrooms were blue on blue stripes and a dusty orange. The two private chapels were all frescoed with angels, saints, and popes, all blessing the Medici family. The greatest surprise was the game room – a room filled with super long pool tables, card tables, and a small piano. I wonder if there was a rule that the king always had to win… Our tour concluded with a room that was filled with things that the Medicis left in the house, including a priceless Botticelli (so beautiful!).

Back in Florence and totally wiped out, I had lunch with my roommates (riboletta soup – a soup with everything but the kitchen sink in it) and looked into the fridge to see if I had dinner for Monday. I didn’t so I decided to make soup. I had bought star-shaped pasta and I remember how my mother used to make chicken soup with the pasta. So I decided to make star soup. Cutting up leftover chicken was the easy part. I pulled out the “soup-making cubes” (the things that you drop into water to turn it into broth – I have no idea what they are called) and looked at the box. Of course, the instructions were in Italian (and as we know, my grasp on the language ends at “Ciao”). So I plopped one into boiling water and hoped for the best. I boiled the pasta, added chicken, and seasoned to taste. When it was all done, it looked a lot like my mom’s. It even tasted pretty good (not as good as yours, Mom!). I am excited to have some when I get home from school Monday, and I will let you know how it is… cooking for myself is not too bad, so far at least! Any Florentine recipes you like to eat, my dear readers? Is there a Florentine treat you love and I should try? (Comment below and I will try to find it – who knows, it might end up in the blog!)

Riboletta

Ciao!