Eating My Way Through Europe

I love food.

Anyone that's met my family knows that we all love food. So needless to say, I've really enjoyed all the different food I've been able to eat here. So I decided to rank all the countries I've been to based on their food:

1. Italy

This might be unfair, considering we've spent the most time in Italy, and I'm part Italian. But the food has really been incredible. Pizza, pasta, steak Florentine, tiramisu, red wine, panini (fun fact, I just learned the plural of panini is panini), gelato, etc, etc. One would have to put effort into finding a bad meal in Italy. I've been called something of a Italian food snob before, but I've loved it all. Everything is so fresh and delicious it's hard to find anything wrong with it.

Favorite meal: Steak Florentine with blueberry glaze

Runner up: Gnocchi with sausage and truffle sauce

2. Germany

I was in Germany when I came up with the idea for this post. At the time, I was thinking about putting Germany at #1, but upon returning to Italy I realized that was silly. Germany was where I made up for the lack of protein I might have suffered in Italy. Bratwurst and beer were staples of lunch and dinner, how could you go wrong? Our first night in Germany we didn't even eat at a restaurant, we went from street vendor to street vendor. We started with a bratwurst, followed that with a chocolate covered fruit (I had a banana), then a large mug of beer, then (if you're Eli), a second bratwurst. The Hofbrauhaus was one of our favorite spots, and where I had my favorite meal. Even the bratwurst I had at the Olympic Stadium was great.

Favorite Meal: Pork Knuckle and dumplings, with dark German beer

Runner up: Any of the 3 bratwursts I had.

3. Spain

While Spanish food didn't quite sate the Mexican craving I had, it was still quite good. Paella, sangria, tapas. Those were the staples of our Spanish food experience. I actually hadn't heard of tapas, apparently it's just another word for appetizers. They were still good though, my favorites were chicken wings, calamari, and croquettes. I had two different kinds of paella, one with seafood and one with chicken. I preferred it with seafood, it's hard to go wrong with seafood when you're on the coast. I really like sangria too, it was interesting how different it was at each place we had it depending on the amount of fruit or spices they put into it. I still really want some fajitas and guacamole though...

Favorite Meal: Seafood paella, with sangria. And the Romantica, a dessert Eli and I split. I'm not even sure what was in it, but it was delicious.

Runner up: Argentina style ribs

4. Switzerland

While Switzerland might be home to the nicest people and best chocolate on the planet, their actual food leaves something to be desired. I might say that my favorite meal in Switzerland wasn't Swiss at all, but was actually at a place called California Bar where I had the "Texas Burger" with bacon, cheese, fried onion, and other delicious toppings. But the best meal in Switzerland wasn't because of the food, but the location. We stopped to eat on our way up Mt. Pilatus, which was a very cool experience. I had onion soup, Eli had sausage, Trent and George had chicken wings, but Katie chose best with the fish dips. Also, I learned I do not like Swiss beer, it's too sweet. Maybe I should have asked what authentic Swiss food is.

Favorite Meal: Texas Burger

Runner up: Onion Soup

Real Favorite Meal: Swiss Chocolate

That's pretty much it. Hopefully this post has made you hungry.

Life's too short for bad food,

ae

A Productive Tuesday

Tuesday was a pretty busy day.

For our class we took a tour of the History of Soccer museum, which is just outside of Florence. I wasn't sure what to expect out of the museum, but I really enjoyed seeing it. There was all kinds of memorabilia inside, such as jerseys from the Italian national team from 1934 all the way to the 2006 team which won the World Cup. Oh, and they also had two actual World Cup trophies on display in the museum. Also on display was an autographed Pele jersey and a Maradona jersey. The museum had all kinds of old sports equipment such as old-school soccer balls and cleats. Behind the museum was the practice facility that the Italian national team uses before it plays, and stays there for a few weeks before the World Cup. The facility has four very nice practice fields, apartments, even a restaurant. We were allowed to walk around for a bit, which was very cool.

After lunch, Trent and I decided to head to Pisa. I've been there once before, took the cliche picture and everything, but Trent hadn't so I decided to go with him. I'm glad I went though, because the first time I was there we didn't do much other than take pictures of the tower. This time we also went into the baptistry and cathedral. I really enjoyed both of them, particularly the cathedral. Other than that, there isn't much to Pisa. Lots of stores. So we just went back home, it took about 4 hours round trip.

Last night we had a picnic up at the Piazza Michelangelo and watched the sunset. It was a nice night. It's weird to think that there's only a week and a half left of the trip. Looking back, I'm not sure if it's flown by, or if it's been forever. All I know is there's still plenty I need to do before I leave.

Ciao for now,

ae

Pictures from Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre 2, USA 1

So this weekend we went to Cinque Terre, which as been a trip I've been looking forward to since before I even got to Italy. I had pretty lofty expectations going in, but Cinque Terre still exceeded them.

After checking into our hostel (which was actually not in any of the 5 towns, but just a few minute bus ride from Riomaggiore), we were on our way to start our hike. We started by taking a ferry from Riomaggiore to Monterosso. The first hike was pretty tough, it was a just over two miles of hills and rocky terrain, but the views were amazing (I'll post pictures soon). We took a much needed stop in Vernazza for some swimming and cliff jumping. The second hike was even longer, about two and a half miles with lots of elevation change (aka, the never-ending staircase). This second hike was just as fun, even though Spencer lost his shirt (more on that later), and I almost had to kill Eli with a rock (for lying). The next two hikes were not difficult at all, the last one is even called the "Lover's Road". We got back to Riomaggiore just in time to watch the second half of the US/Ghana game... unfortunately. While we lost 2-1, we at least played well (And didn't get embarrassed like England's 4-1 loss to Germany).

Day two in Cinque Terre was great too, we spent our time relaxing in Monterosso, mainly on the beach. This was the perfect way to recover from a long day of hiking. However, while everyone was just taking it easy on the beach, Spencer and Leni went on an mission to find Spencer's shirt. We all thought they were crazy, but they went anyway. Over 3 hours later they return with the shirt. They share their adventure that involved bartenders, dogs, locked gates, and beer boxes. I'd go into more detail, but I wouldn't to the story justice. Oh, and he had left it on a table in the middle of the second trail, so exactly how it ended up where it was is still a mystery to me. Overall our time on the beach was great though, and I had an amazing pesto pizza for lunch. Cinque Terre is definitely one of my favorite places in Europe.

That's all for now,

ae

Song of the Day

Blog that talks about Ashley, because she's awesome

(If you look closely at the picture of Matt and his groomsmen, I'm on the left)

USA USA USA!

We just watched the USA-Algeria game, which the US won with a goal in the 91st minute. It was a really great game, and the place we were watching it at turned on "Born In The USA" after the game. And now the US is advancing to the next round.

That's really all for now, I was just really excited about us winning.

ae

Video of the Day

Speaking Spanish Sufficiently Should Suffice

It's been a busy past few days.

Our flight from Munich (Well, apparently "West Munich" airport is two hours from Munich, in Menningen) was delayed about an hour, so we missed the last bus to the train station that was going to take us to Barcelona. So we ended up having to take a cab, but we were able to split it between 5 people so it wasn't too expensive.

Our full day in Barcelona was mostly spent exploring the city. We saw the Cathedral, the Sagrada Familia, and the Picasso Museum (Which was very cool). Afterwards we stopped to watch the Spain/Switzerland game, which didn't turn out so well when Switzerland ended up winning 1-0 (Though, we weren't too upset since we all love Switzerland). That night we wandered around town, George was convinced he knew where we were going but we never found it. We did however stumble upon the beach, and jumping into the Mediterranean late at night has been one of the highlights of the trip.

The next day we took the train to Tarragona, a small beach town near Barcelona. It took less than an hour after we arrived for us to end up on the beach. After all the traveling we had done over the past few days, it was really nice to just sit back and relax. The weather was perfect too (Particularly when compared to all the rain we had in Germany). The next day was mostly more of the same, I had a delicious kebab at the Kabana (that's how they spelled it) by the beach, and we watched the US/Slovenia game (2-2, everyone was upset about the blown call). We had dinner afterwards, and while it's not quite Mexican food, Spanish food is very good. I had some very good seafood paella and sangria.

Our last day was spent traveling, though it took a lot longer than it should have. This is because RyanAir, "The On-Time Airline", delayed our flight 3 hours. We didn't get back to Florence till about 10 PM. Sunday was spent recovering from the week of travel, and watching Italy tie New Zealand.

It's now the beginning of the second 3 weeks. I'm taking a Sports Marketing class, which is from 12-2 every day. It seems like it's going to be a pretty interesting class, and we get to go on a field trip to the History of Soccer Museum, and see the practice facilities that the Italy national team use.

That's pretty much it for now... We're going to Venice on Thursday since we don't have class because of a Florence holiday. We are also going to Cinque Terre this weekend, so I'm pretty excited about that.

Ciao,

ae

Song of the Day

Germany's too cool for a clever title.

I tried for a while to think of a clever title for today's post, but there's too many:

Ze Germans
How Do You Say "It's cold and raining" in German?
Lukas Podolski Is My Hero

Lu-lu-lu Luaks Podolski
Deutchland could be my homeland.

Brautwerst Is Too Good

Etc... So, in other words, Germany is great. We came here having no idea what to do, but we've ended up having a great time. We started in the city center, wandered around a bit trying the brakutwurst and pretzels, had some beer. Yesterday night we went to the Olympic Stadium and watched the game with at least 10,000 Germans. It was probably the greatest night we've had in Europe, and it all started by a split second decision by Eli to follow a group of Germans. Today we wandered some more, went to the BMW museum, and ate our weight in brautwerst and pork knuckle. It was amazing. I didn't think Switzerland could be beat, but Germany proved that the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach.

That's it for now. I'll have to run miles and miles in Florence to work off what I ate in Munich. Tomorrow we take a plane to Barcelona. So long for now.

ae

I love Switzerland.

Hello from Lucerne.

Yesterday was full of trains, but it was a good time, except Eli's unfortunate loss of his laptop...

Today was a lot of fun though, we woke up early, had breakfast, then went to the top of Mt. Pilatus. The view is amazing. I'll post picture's when I'm back in Florence. The afternoon was spent wandering around town, then tonight we watched the US vs England game of the World Cup. We watched it on a big screen near the river surrounded by a huge crowd. It was a great enviornment to watch the game, I was pleased with how many people were cheering for the US. The game ended up 1-1, but we should have won. Tomorrow morning we're headed to Munich, just in time to catch Germany's first game of the cup.

I'm almost out of internet time, so that's all for now.

ae

So long Florence.

Sorry it's been a while seen my last post. Not too much has happened this past week, it was the last week of class so I had to study for my test on Friday. I also had a presentation to do, so in all 75% of my grade came from the last day of class. I'm pretty confident that I did well though.

But now, we are off. Today we're headed to Lucerne, Switzerland, one of my favorite places in Europe. We're there for two nights, then it's another train to Munich, Germany. The afternoon we get there is Germany's first game of the World Cup, so that will be pretty great to watch. Two nights in Munich, then we're catching a plane to Barcelona, Spain. Staying there for the rest of the trip, then flying back to Pisa on Saturday. All in all, it should be a great week. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures.

Well I have a train to catch, I'll try to post a couple times this next week.

ae

Some Pictures from the Weekend:

What a Weekend

This post will probably be rather long, I'll go ahead and say that now.

First, a couple nights ago we went to the gelato place my sister has been recommending to me since before we even left for the trip. Now that we've gone, I'm upset it took us so long to go. It's by far the best gelato I've had in Florence. There will be many return trips. Thanks Ash.

Yesterday we went on Viareggio for take two of the beach and getting there ended up becoming an adventure in itself. Eli, Trent and I were running a little late, so we missed the train that the rest of the group took. The next train directly to Viareggio was over a hour later, so we asked someone at an information booth if there was some other earlier train that would stop in Viareggio. He quickly gave us an answer and we were on our way. After a few stops, Trent and I noticed that the track we were on wasn't one that would get us where we wanted to go. Eli made the executive decision to get off the train at the next stop, which was a little town that started with an E that I can't remember for the life of me. We've decided that the information guy simply lied to us, and was laughing as we walked away. We go buy a new ticket that will for sure get us to Viareggio, and hop on our new train. While in Pisa, I notice that we have to get off and get on a different train 4 minutes before the train leaves. What followed was a rather comical sprint to the other train, with Eli yelling "Run Forest run!" as motivation. After that it was just a quick 15 minute trip to actually get to Viareggio, followed by a 15 minute walk to the beach. One thing I found interesting was that we spent less time on the train than we did the first time, when we took the train straight to Viareggio. We stayed at the beach for about 5 hours, and it was a great time. The water was cold, but felt great. It wasn't too hot, so just sitting out in the sun was pleasant. Of course, we all ended up getting sunburned, but it was totally worth it. Everyone seemed to really enjoy their time on the beach. That night was pretty quiet.

Lessons of the day:

1. Train people are liars.

2. A straight line isn't always the fastest way to get somewhere.

3. Rides that look like they were made for 3 year olds, are meant for 3 year olds.

On Sunday we decided to go to the nearby town of Lucca, where we were told you can rent bicycles to ride around the city walls on. We all thought this was a great idea and decided to try it out. The train ride there was a sweltering 80 degrees, but the bike ride was worth it. Bikes were only 2.50 Euro for an hour, and we got our money's worth out of it. The wall was huge, with a wide road lined with trees on top. It provided a great view of the city and the surrounding area. We rode two laps around the wall. The general consensus was that it was one of our best days here, it was a really great Sunday afternoon. For dinner, after getting back to Florence, we went to The Diner, an American diner in the middle of Florence. Everyone was able to satisfy their burger and fried chicken cravings. I got the Ari's Burger, with gorgonzola and caramelized onions. Bacon cheeseburgers were also a popular choice. They even had fries and real ketchup. It was by far the fastest I've ever seen our group eat. Everything was delicious.

That's about it for now, the last week of the first session starts tomorrow.

ae

"I don't think the heavy stuff's gonna come down for quite a while"

Today, June 2nd, is a national holiday in Italy. It's called the Festa della Repubblica, and is the celebration of Italy becoming a republic in 1946. June 2nd was the day that the citizens of Italy were called to the polls to decide what form of government the country would have instead of fascism. The vote was 12,717,923 for republic and 10,719,284 for monarchy. So there's a little history lesson for you.

Since we were given the day off from school, we decided to go to Viareggio, a town not too far from Florence and on the beach. When we checked the weather last night it said there was a 90% chance of rain, but we decided to go anyway, convinced that the weathermen didn't know what they were talking about. Even while riding in the train towards the beach and we saw the dark clouds in the direction we were going we still didn't think it was going to rain, believing our overwhelming optimism would keep the rain away. When we got to the town, it was about a 15 minute walk to the beach. We all took off our shoes and started to walk on the sand, then it started to rain. We ran to a nearby restaurant and ate, again hoping the rain would blow over while we were inside. When we came out we thought we were right, but then it started to monsoon. After some more walking in the rain we stopped at a gelato place to try and wait out the rain. "I think it's starting to let up" was a common phrase, but it never came true. After about an hour of waiting, we finally accepted it wasn't going to stop. It was another 15 minute walk back to the train station, made much more exciting by the pouring rain. And of course, the sun came out right as we got on the train.

It wasn't exactly the day trip we imagined, but we all still had a good time. We might be going back this weekend when the weather is better. It's back to school tomorrow. It's crazy to think the first session is halfway over.

ae

Movie Clip Of The Day