Corfouzo!

I’m finally getting to Greece and Easter weekend weeks later.  Mom and I are on a train to Rome to catch our flight to Nice, France, and I just haven’t had time to get another blog in with finals, saying good-bye to Florence, and traveling.  But Greece was an unforgettable weekend and definitely deserves a blog post. 

Thursday morning we hopped on a five hour bus to Ancona, Italy with Bus2Alps.  Ancona is on the east coast and from there we could take the cruise to Greece…. a 14 hour cruise.  We perused the ship for food once we boarded around four and set up camp in one of the airplane seating cabins before heading to the deck to enjoy the sunset.  We met literally the entire campus of Washington State Univ.  Okay, not really but at least ten more on top of the six of our good friends.  We started the party at the discoteca on the ship at ohhh 10:30, and we were all passed out on the floor between the airplane seats by one.  

We woke up at 7 to get off the cruise and back onto another 1.5 hour ferry to take us to Corfu and the magical Pink Palace.  First things first, we headed down to the beach with a detour to eat cheap gyros and continued on to bask in the Greek sun and argue about exactly which sea we were swimming in. 

Happy hour before the yummy dinner that came with the price of the hostel turned my tongue blue.  

Dinner consisted of a delicious salad, chicken, rice, and soup, and we ate while watching the sunset.  We went for some ouzo, a black licorice Greek liquor, and made our way to the discoteca to dance the night away and watch some authentic Greek dancing.

The next morning we were up early to have breakfast and sign up for the notorious booze cruise.  You can only imagine what shenanigans took place.  It was an unforgettable four hours of cruising the ocean and watching people fail at cliff jumping (which the captain tried to get people to do naked with the incentive of free drinks).  When we got back, we had gyros for lunch and napped on the beach to rest up for...  Pink toga party!

Everyone wore a pink toga for the night and it was just ridiculous.  After another yummy dinner we headed to a friend’s terrace for ouzo and pictures.  After helping our friend who had an allergic reaction to peach juice, Carly and I made it to the discoteca just in time for more authentic Greek dancing and plate smashing.  Plates were coming down on everyone’s heads and we all rushed the dance floor regardless of the clay shards completely covering the floor.  The lights were turned on a song later and we all parted so they could be swept up.  After dancing for three hours straight, I looked up and realized I only knew a few people left on the dance floor and it was time to head to bed.  

Happy Easter!  The next morning most people slept in and we relaxed on the beach until it was time to clean up and check out to begin the long journey back to Florence starting with the ferry back to the cruise ship.  We got on the cruise ship and celebrated Matt’s 21^st birthday.  We were so ready to be of f the cruise and back in Italy but no one was looking forward to the 6 hour bus ride back.  We finally made it back to our apartment around 7 Monday night.  Although the amount of traveling was ridiculous, Greece was incredible and exhausting and I enjoyed every bit.  

Last week :/

One week left in Florence.  I can’t believe this semester has past so quickly!  I remember when I had only been here a week.  I walked around Florence with Courtney today soaking up the hot sunshine and reminiscing about that miserable, cold, rainy walking tour of Florence that we went on the first week when we barely knew each other.

I’ve been embracing my last few weeks by eating delicious authentic Italian meals, spending the days exploring, finally doing the things that I said I could do later, and enjoying the nightlife.  And, of course, eating gelato every day.  Okay, maybe twice a day. 

One thing both Casey and I wanted to do before we left was attend Italian mass in the Duomo on a Sunday morning.  Since Catholic services are so structured, I actually could understand most of the service.  My favorite part was the Apostle’s Creed in Italian and giving peace.

I went out to eat with the roomies to Dante’s the other night and my lasagna was absolutely delicious!  When Taylor was in town, Casey and I took her to Il Francescanas, a super nice restaurant with bomb food.  I got the gnudi which is kind of like huge gnocchi dumplings.  Katie and I found a hole in the wall restaurant called Trattoria Anita that was amazing.  We had 2 courses and a side.  I got pasta alla Medici which had a white sauce, ham, and peas, and my second plate was chicken, beef, and…. Tongue!  It had a weird texture but it was actually pretty good as long as you told yourself that you weren’t eating tongue.  The waiter was shocked an American ordered such a dish and was so interested in what I thought about it.  Tonight, Casey, Taylor, Liz, and I went to Acqua al Due and got the blueberry steak and a pasta sampler!  Last week, I also tried my hand at making my own white sauce for some gnocchi.  I used gruyere, gorgonzola, and parmesan cheese and it was a success.

Continuing my food rant, I signed up for a tasting Tuscany class and a gelato making class through my school.  The good we made in tasting Tuscany was so delicious I never wanted to stop eating.  We made Ribollita (a famous Tuscan soup), chicken liver, focaccia with salami and pecorino cheese, deep fried cucumber flowers filled with mozzarella and basil, and biscotti.  Yum!  The gelato making class was really interesting as well.  We visited one of my favorite gelatorias and made our own chocolate gelato! 

After all of this food, thank goodness Casey showed me and new running route!  The center of Florence has become extra touristy and it’s impossible to take the straight shot to the Arno.  I’ve found a new bike trail where I don’t have to dodge anyone that spits me out farther down the river, and I have been able to get quite a few good runs in on it.

The Italian TRL awards took place in Florence in Piazza Santa Croce.  All of the streets leading up to the piazza were packed, and there were empty bottles and cans everywhere.  It was an interesting night to say the least, and we enjoyed rocking out to some Italian songs for once instead of the American music I hear everywhere in Europe.  Oh, and to lower the American reputation even more, Jersey Shore will be in Florence on Monday.

Another huge festival that took place in Florence recently is Notte Bianca- white night.  It’s a cultural and artistic event and pretty much every street had an exhibition or musical performance, but it literally took an hour to walk down a street because there were so many Italians out.  The party lasts til 6 am and everything stays open until then.  Apparently the meaning of the event is hard to translate into English words, but it is something about a celebration of day light savings time-ish and longer days.  I think… something like that at least.   

Forza Fiorentina!  That’s about the only calcio (aka futball aka soccer) cheer that I know for Florence.  Our program took us to their game against Udinese, and it was crazyyyyyy.  Fiorentina isn’t exactly having a good season, but they showed off a little for us and won 5-2.  Every time we scored Katy Perry’s Firework played which we thought was hilarious.  The Udinese fans were confined in stands that were surround by plastic walls, and you can only imagine the banging and yelling that went on.  Both teams were yelling profanities back and forth.  It was just wild. 

Greece post soon andddd momma comes in five days!!!

Ciaooo

Elba and Lucca

A few weekends ago Casey and I met up with my friend Allison from one of my classes to take a day trip to the island of Elba.  We got an early start andddd ran up to the 7:28 train right as it was pulling away.  Tragic.  The next one was twenty minutes later and took three hours and forty minutes.  (We obviously shouldn’t have made it a day trip).  We took a bus to the port, and then hopped on a ferry for a beautiful hour long cruise to finally arrive at Elba! 

Elba is known for hosting the exiled Napoleon.  We wandered around the city for awhile before buying a bottle of wine and planting ourselves on the rocky beach.  We played games and enjoyed each other’s company watching the peaceful ocean.  We were the only ones around, and I loved the feeling of isolation for once (especially since Florence recently has been bustling with tourists). 

After watching a gorgeous sunset over the water, Casey and I headed back on the ferry.  I fell asleep and apparently my piccell fell out of my purse.  I didn’t even realize until the next day, and of course, I couldn’t understand the Italian ferry boat worker that had my little phone.  Getting home was quite the process.  The train station was completely dead so we grabbed a piece of pizza in the piazza and tried to find someone that spoke English (we had stepped out of the touristy English speaking cities).  We talked to some sixteen year old girls and boys in broken Italian and English, and they helped us get on a bus to get to a train station in a nearby city.  One of them actually complemented my Italian- shocker!  It may or may not have made my night.  We finally made it on a train and then a bus from Pisa to make it back to Florence at 3 am.  Whewww longest day ever, but the serenity of the island was so worth it.

Lucca was a much nicer day trip!  Yesterday, our program took us to the quiet town surrounded by massive walls.  Lucca was a rich city and was one of the only cities in Tuscany not conquered by Florence.  The walls were built around Lucca just in case, but no cannons have ever been fired against the peaceful city.  However, it seems as if Lucca as been forgotten by tourists as it is one of Tuscany’s best-kept secrets.  We went on a tour of the city and had the best tour guide I have ever had!  He was a great host, and he was even friends with Rick Steves who he showed around the city just a few days ago. 

We were taken to get phenomenal focaccia bread, to see a mummified saint, and to gaze upon the Torre Guinigi and wonder how seven trees had grown on top of the tower, their roots sunk into the room below.  We had a delicious lunch and then headed to Fattoria il Poggio for olive oil tasting.  We were shown the machines used to make the olive oil and how only one press classifies the olive oil as virgin.  Our guide was a hoot and there was obviously some controversy between the people of Lucca and the “dirty, stinky, nasty people of Pisa.”  We ended the day with delicious Tuscan appetizers.  Bread, olive oil, and yummy balsamic, two types of sausage, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and vin santo with biscotti.     
    

Casey and I warming the olive oil before tasting.