what a giornata

Sorry it's been a while folks!  But we're back with full force!

So where did I leave you last?.... A yes, 

Last weekend I hopped on a bus to San Gimignano, a beautiful medieval town only about an hour away from Siena.  It was finally a sunny nice day!  This town has a bunch of towers and there are a bunch of reasons why, one of which is that since it is a town that used to produce a lot of textile and string, they built the towers to dry long strands of freshly dyed fabric.  The other legend is that competing nobles in the town wanted to see who could built the highest tower...Io non so!  But the image of beautifully dyed skeins (is that the right word??)  of yarn blowing in the breeze is quite lovely!   One thing that is true, is that when town would war, which ever one lost would get all the towers chopped off!! San Gimignano lost along the way, so all the towers are shorter than they used to be!   There was a market going on that day, so all sorts of goodies being sold!  They have a delicious hot nut that is roasted in basically sugar and oil I think, but they smell and taste absolutely delicious!!  There was also a vender with all sorts of dried fruits and olives and cheese marinated in oil, vinegar, ecc, mmmmm........

Sunset was coming so we quickly bought some "cantucci" a delicious traditional cookie of Toscany, and some wine, ran to the highest point we could get to a enjoyed the view!  Absolutely stunning.  All the hills turned different shades of blue/green/aquamarine.  Bellissima!

Watched "Cheeta Gurlzzz" in Italian that night....hahaha.

Wednesday we had a cooking class!  First we made "Papa Pomodoro" which is a delicious slightly spicy soup made with a TON of olive oil, tomato paste, stale bread, basil, a TON of garlic, and salt.  It all get pureed together and is amazing!

Then we made "pici" by hand!  It's just flour, salt, water, and i think a little baking soda/powder and it makes a dough.  then we all rolled out pasta!!  Pici is my favorite because it is really thick.  Also, you can't find it in stores, you have to make it by hand!  We ate it with a pomodoro (tomato) sauce that was also delicious, sort of like the soup, minus the bread.  Next we made "gnocchi" which are a pasta with potato and egg.  They are delicious but VERY rich.  We ate these with gorgonzola sauce, which is gorgonzola cheese, butter, and cream.  Really rich!  I could only eat a few of those!

For dessert it was deep fried dough with a hint of orange, covered in powdered sugar.  Delicious!

So I was stuffed after that!

I've made some pretty good friends here.  Two girls, Lisa and Robyn, from Ohio and Colorado, and awesome.  Robyn is a quiet, outdoorsy girl and Lisa is a vivacious hardworking/hardpartying girl!  They go well as a pair!!  We went out to get "panini" the other night with another girl from LC and it was great.  Note about Italian words:  "panini" doesn't mean "grilled sandwich"  is means plural "sandwiches".  So next time you get one, order one "panino".  And then the server will think you are a big snob! 

Today, I had my first volunteering activity at the Dupre Elementary School, what and experience!!  I got to teach English to little Italian 5th graders!!  They were so cute!!  Especially when trying to say "return-ID".  The teachers haven't decided yet, but right now I might be leading a production of "Robin Hood"!  I only do it once a week, but I'm going to see if I can help with more classes because I love it so much!

Well, going out tonight, tomorrow of to Piensa, a little wine town, and then off to the Alps on Monday!

Still waiting for some letters.....!

love you all troppo!