I am absolutely obsessed with my Quarters of Florence class. Who knew I live on 2 blocks down from where three of the wealthiest families lived in the 1400’s-1500’s? On top of that, my professor is the cutest little, old Italian man with a hilarious sense of humor. We spent half the class learning about the first gonfaloni (Lion D’ore) of the first quarter (San Giovanni) of Florence, which I happen to live in. Then, we walked around to the Babtistery, Basilica of San Lorenzo, and the palaces of the Medici, Taddei, Ginori, and Pandolfini families. I can’t believe I walk past these historical building every day and never knew anything about them. The Genori family is famous for being among the first to invent fine china. Andddd fun fact: the Ginori family’s cook’s son wrote Pinocchio- true Florentine character.
Before class, I went for a little run and found Cascine Park. It’s only 1.8 miles from my apartment so it will be perfect for doing my longer runs! I can’t wait to see it in the nice warm sunshine because it was cold and foggy the day I went. My amoxicillin that I purchased at a pharmacy on my street for 3.5 euros is doing wonders for my poor asthmatic lungs. Hopefully I will be able to breathe again soon!
We tasted sparkling wines in class, which I’m not particularly fond of. It was interesting to learn how the wines become sparkling. There are two techniques. The first is the charmat technique. It’s quick and cheap and is done by refermenting the wine. The second is the champagne technique and is more expensive and referments for a longer period of time in a liquor, sugary, yeast concoction. I also didn’t realize that sweet wines are sweet because their fermentation has been cut short by lowering the temperature. Less sugar from the grape juice is turned into alcohol; therefore, the wine is sweeter. Our last wine was a Barolo, a dry red, and it was my favorite wine of the night!
Italian is going well for half of my class and not so well for the other half. I’m thankful Spanish is so similar because I understand more. But because my professor refrains from speaking any English, our class is struggling on the simplest assignments just because we don’t understand the directions. Oh, and by the way, even though Florence is flat, don’t think that I’m missing out on climbing up to the hill every day. My classes are held in rooms on the 3rd floor. It’s 90 stairs… I counted.
Last night, I went with Anna, Ashley, and Casey to the Lion’s Fountain, an Irish pub that is student abroad oriented. If you bring in a t-shirt from your university, they will hang it from the ceiling. You can also leave your mark by signing the wall. We each had a beer and then we called it a night.
My next adventure: Interlaken, Switzerland!! I actually leave in 6 hours!!! I’ll be back Sunday with plenty of stories to tell, I’m sure.
Ciao!
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