Hello Again!

I am back, my dear blog readers!!!! I have had the craziest week of my life here in Florence and guess what – you get to hear all about it! This blog post is going to be a little bit on the long side, but full of lots of news from Italy!

It all started this past Saturday when I went to Eurochocolate (Chocolate Festival) in Perugia, Italy. It is two Saturdays dedicated to one of Perguia’s signature ingredients, chocolate. I was very excited because I love chocolate. It was going to be a good break from midterm studying as well, so I was doubly excited.

I woke up feeling a little groggy and achy (a warning that I did not heed) and I promptly got myself together and then my roommate and I headed off with three friends to the train station to meet up with the program taking us to the festival. We got on the train and got our Chocolate Cards – if we showed them at certain booths, we would get free chocolate (yay!). I sacked out on the train and awoke when we pulled into the Perugia train station. All the kids were then shuttled to the beginning of the Chocolate Festival.

The Chocolate Festival was magical – but really crowded. Booths everywhere sold different types of chocolate in all different forms. The air was filled with the scent of chocolate and coffee. It took all the restraint I had not to drop fifty euro at the first chocolate booth. To stave off impulsive purchases, we walked around and took in the landscape. We saw chocolate truffles, hot chocolate, chocolate by the block (50 euro gets you one kilo of chocolate – aka a 2.2 pound chocolate bar), and so much more. Of course, we walked around and got our free chocolates (a chocolate map of the festival, free hot chocolate, and a chocolate “zipper” which was the theme of this year’s festival).

Chocolate!

Our travels brought us to a beautiful old performing arts theater that had been transformed into a chocolate demonstration arena. Professors from the local pastry school were showing the public how to make chocolate confections while local merchants sold artisan treats. The chocolate sellers were from all over the globe, most notably from France, Belgium, and Switzerland. I bought my first piece of chocolate, a chocolate record that will actually play music when put on a record player. I don’t know where I can find a record player in Florence and I do not think that I have the will power to let it sit in my fridge until December so I can take it home (thus I will probably eat it – don’t want to waste good chocolate). It was about now that we decided before we ate any more chocolate that we should eat some real lunch.

Chocolate Demonstration

We had lunch at a recommendation of our friends’ roommates who came to Perugia earlier this semester. It was a quaint little hotel with a very classy restaurant. It was really nice I have to admit to have a nice sit down lunch. The waiters were all wearing white dinner jackets and black tuxedo pants. I had homemade pasta with a pink sauce. The way they served it was amazing – all the food was rolled out on a cart and the pasta was sitting in a little cast iron pot. The waiter tossed the pasta with the sauce tableside and then put it on a hot plate. It was the best meal that I have had in Italy to date. It was beyond incredible.

My amazing lunch!

We wrapped up the Chocolate Festival with a visit to the Lindt tent (of course). It was a game type tent and I was excited to put myself to the test. We were blindfolded and given a sample of chocolate to taste. We then had to feel different bowls filled with ingredients and tell the judge what numbered bowl that held the ingredient we thought was in the sample we tasted (very confusing… even more so when you are blindfolded – apparently I kept walking in the wrong direction). I guessed correctly (hazelnuts!) and I won a free bar of Lindt chocolate! It was so much fun! What else made it great was that my judge did a year exchange with a high school near me. She was really excited to talk with someone who knew that high school – it truly is a small world!

It was an uneventful ride home from the Chocolate Festival and I fell into bed the minute I got home and slept the rest of the night.

When I woke up Sunday, the achy, groggy feeling I felt the day before manifested itself into a cold. As I got up, my stomach began to swim. I think I had too much excitement on Saturday at the Chocolate Festival (basically too much chocolate and staying outside too much). I stayed curled up in bed all day surrounded by my books, studying for midterms. I went to bed early, hoping to calm my stomach and my growing nerves for midterms.

I woke up Monday morning bright and early. It was chilly in the apartment (the heat does not get turned on until November 15^th – it is an Italian law that helps conserve energy) so I bundled up to go outside to class. As cold as it was in the apartment, it was pretty nice outside. I unwrapped my scarf as I walked to my very first midterm. My midterm was pretty painless – I was done after about an hour and a half. The rest of Monday was spent studying for my next slew of midterms. I was sad because I couldn’t go to the market. If I did, half of what I would have gotten would have gone to waste (since I am going on midterm holiday starting this weekend). I miss my routine and sad that I have to wait two weeks until I can go again.

Tuesday was midterm in the morning and Italian class in the afternoon. What dragged me from the monotony of studying for midterms was that my roommates and I went out for dinner! One of my roommates had to go to a restaurant and write a paper on it and if I did not get out of the apartment, I think I was going to scream!! So we went to this cute restaurant right by our school and it was just what I needed. I got a big bowl of gnocchi (the potato pasta) with pesto and my roommates split a house pizza (ham and olives). What was amazing was their homemade balsamic vinegar. It was think and creamy (it might have been balsamic cream) and they served it with thick slices of bread for dipping. It was so amazingly good – it was probably the best thing I have had so far in Italy (besides the pasta at the Chocolate Festival). It was the best of both worlds – my roommate got her paper done and we got a fun night out.

Wednesday was our first rainy day in Florence. It was sad, but we knew this day would come (fall and winter is the rainy season). It poured as I walked to my midterm (Gender Relations in Italian Society). As I settled into my pink couch (my class is in Sala Rosa, the pink room) and began my midterm. Two hours later I emerged, exhausted, cough getting worse from all the dampness, to an incredible sunny sky. It was saying, “Keep going Catherine! You are doing so well!”. The change in the weather made me feel better and kept me in a good mood as I walked back to the apartment and began to study for my final two midterms.

I was roused from my sleep this morning (Thursday) by a strong coughing fit. Sitting up in bed, I took deep breaths to calm my heartbeat and to relax my chest. After getting ready for class (and a cough drop later), I headed out the door, basically cough-free. My first midterm took me the whole two and a half hours, so I ran home after so I could get an extra bit of studying before my Italian midterm. Thankfully, I was very prepared for that midterm and I flew through it.

Before heading home to pack for Paris tomorrow, I stopped by the American bookstore to pick up a book for the flight. I am a self-professed bookworm; I love going to the bookstore and the library and loading up on books. Walking into the store felt like going home – it smelt like paper, ink, and coffee. I felt like if I closed my eyes and then opened them, I would be home with my dad in my favorite bookstore, a book in one hand and a hot chocolate in the other. I took my time looking through the shelves, looking for the perfect book to take with me. I ditched the new bestsellers for the bargain, gently used books. I got two books instead (need to save my money for French crepes!) and had a nice chat with the American cashier (who told me that to make my coughing go away I should have some milk and brandy before bed…).

I came home, packed my bag, charged all my electronics, and talked to my mom. That was the perfect end to a hectic week. Tomorrow starts midterm holiday and I am very excited. I am off to Paris and Dublin and they are going to be so amazing. But planning my own trips was not easy – this whole process really has made me appreciate my parents planning our family vacations. It was crazy trying to coordinate with other people, planning flights, and finding good hotels. At least it is all done and now I get to sit back and relax for the next week.

Next blog will be on Tuesday!!!! I hope you guys have a great weekend… I know I will!!!!!

Ciao and baci!