Orientalism

Love lost and lust gained by the river

Shady business

Firenze's best...la giostra

So Erik and both of his parents have told me about this amazing restaraunt in Florence called La Goistra.  They warned me that it was a little pricy, but worth every penny.  I know why I heard about this places reputation now.  6 of us just got back from dinner at La Giostra which is a little north east of the duomo.  It's a hole in the wall place with a great candle and christmas lit atmosphere.  The camerieri (waiters) were all friendly and really outgoing.  We got to meet and explain the meaning of "legit" to the co-owner of the restaraunt who is this middle-aged guy with very long hair and upwards of 80 bracelets and 20 necklaces.  It was the best food I have ever eaten, period.  I had pear ravioli with a Florentine cheese that were out of this world.  When we sat down they brought complimentary spumante (champagne) and the biggest platter of antipasti I have ever been involved with.  After we all finished they brought me an espresso (un cafe') and a bottle of homemade limoncella (Italian lemon liquor) on the house.  Every one was in heaven and we will definitely be heading back in the next week because we only spent 20Euros each on a 3 course dinner with champagne, espresso, and limoncella.  Next time any one is in Florence, La Giostra is an obligatory stop.  A domani.  

Tourists getting vecchio

4 leoni e jazz club

So last night we went to dinner across the river to this small restaurant that was amazing!  There were 11 of us at first and then Will Pupa, the program director, met us there half way through.  We ordered family style and everything was ridiculous.  We started off with some mozzarella di buffala, pomodori, patte, and salad.  Of course we had a coupe giant bottles of house wine and then the main dishes came: pear ravioli with asparagus, spaghetti with truffles, and Floretine crepes with spinach and ricotta cheese.  These were like 100X better than they sound, and it was really well priced, too.  So we walked back to the apartment and got ready and headed over to the Jazz Club, another recommendation from Erik, which was so unique and wonderful.  We were the only Americans in the place, we have membership cards for life there now, and the jazz was legit.  I'm looking forward to going back there at least 2 or 3 times a week while I am here.  We don't have class on Monday because of a big Florentine holiday so a couple of us might go to Rimini,  after the suggestion of an Italian friend back in LA, on Saturday for a night.  A presto.  

 

New blog

I am currently in Florence, Italy taking two classes through LMU's Summer Study Abroad program.  I arrived in Rome last Friday night (16.5.2008), and directly went to Munich on Saturday for a night.  Some friends and I stayed at one of my best friend's apartments in Rome and took the train up to Florence on Sunday.  I am so glad that I'm actually able to spend five weeks in this city because its history and culture is second to none.  The 2 classes that I am taking are Art of the Renaissance, which is an interactive class that goes throughout the city with a native Florentine guide named Marco, and Digital Photography, with Diane Meyer.  My best friend has been extremely influenced by both photography, Diane, and Florence, so it is really exciting to be engaging in all three of these things.  For the class, we have to have a blog where we make 4 weekly posts of pictures and themes we want to explore while we are in Florence.  Personally, I have been highly influenced by another blogspot user's webpage, thesartorialist.blogspot.com, that explores fashions on normal people in some of the biggest and chic cities in the world.  I will be including some of my own fashion pictures from everyday people in Florence.  I hope that you all enjoy the pictures and some stories, and please feel free to comment, but I beg you no trolling! ;)