This wine is strong, you should chase it with biscotti

Another week has flown by here in Firenze! I'm sorry I'm so bad at keeping up to date with this blog. This is what I've been up to:

Tuesday
There's nothing too exciting about Tuesday, other than the fact that I took some fabulous advice from my smart mother and aunts. We weren't in the mood to "go out" so instead we bought a bottle of cheap prosecco (frizzy as we call it) and walked around the city at night. This led to riding the carousel at Piazza de la Republica! It's silly, but I've been wanting to do this since I got here:

Thursday
Thursday was our 3rd annual TIGER THURSDAY. I can't remember if I've written about Tiger Thursdays before, but it's a tradition that seven of us from Clemson (plus our roommates and friends who are "honorary tigers") have started every Thursday. We rotate apartments and cook a huge dinner, drink wine, play a drinking game, and then all go out together. It's so much fun to look forward to at the end of the week! After dinner that Mindy & Ashley hosted, we went to Lion's Fountain, my favorite American bar. There is a Clemson t-shirt on the ceiling right when you walk in, and we have been begging the bartenders to let us sign it. We came prepared with sharpies in hand this time, and after some persistent begging they let us all climb up on bar stools to sign the shirt! I love seeing a little piece of Tiger Town in Firenze when I go out :) The rest of Tiger Thursday was a fun night, and I spent the next day sleeping in and doing laundry.

Saturday - Chianti!
Saturday we went wine tasting and hiking in Chianti! Seven of us went with a group of about twenty students through one of the student travel agencies here. We had two tour guides who took us on a bus to the heart of Chianti, and then on a three hour hike through the vineyards and villages. They were so knowledgable about how wine is produced and the history of the region. It is directly in the center of the two rivaling cities, Florence and Siena, so it is an area that has been fought over many times. We also got to see what is assumed to be the landscape painted in the background of the Mona Lisa! Chianti is easily the most beautiful place I've ever seen in my life, even on a freezing cold day like we had.

After the hike, our guides took us to the Sassolini family villa. The place is enormous and is only the family's "villa" not their actual house. The family has been producing wine and olive oil in the Chianti region since the 1200's! They were one of the rivaling families with the Medici and moved to Chianti for that reason. The villa was filled with century old paintings of the family members. While we were there, the owner and his sister cooked us a full, family-style Italian lunch. We got to taste three of the wines that they made right there in Chianti, as well as their olive oil. This lunch was done in a true Italian way...it took about three hours. At the end they let us try this really strong wine that I could barely stomach without chasing it with a biscotti! We got to explore outside of the villa for a little while and learn more about the family. It was such a cool experience to see inside of a real Italian villa. I've decided I need to find out if the owners have any sons. That way I can live a privileged life in both the city and the country of Italy. Perfect life plan. I bought a bottle of their olive oil before we left (as a souvenir, and because it was sooooo good) and then we headed back to Florence, so excited to come home to our warm apartment!

Sunday - Venice Carnival!
Meg, Alana, and I got up bright and early the next day to head to Venice for Carnival. We went with the same travel company that we went to Chianti with, and ran into one of our Tiger Thursday friends Eric. The ride was three hours, but luckily I slept through the entire thing. I woke up at one point and there was snow everywhere! For a split second I was afraid I was in New Jersey again. Ahh! Unfortunately, we had terrible weather, but we still made the best of the rain and cold. Once we arrived we had to take a ferry boat to the main island where Piazza San Marco is. That's the site for the main event. Our first order of business was a nice, warm lunch, so we wandered until we found a place that wasn't very touristy. It was delicious, but a bit expensive for a plate of spaghetti. Then again, everything in Venice is expensive during Carnival. After lunch, we headed to Piazza San Marco to see the main event. The skinny streets of Venice were so crowded with strange looking people. Some of the costumes are so intricate and impressive. You don't realize what a huge deal this celebration is until you experience it! We bought really pretty masks (I got a green one) and two bags of confetti to join in the festivities. There were tons of people to take pictures with, and live music in the center.

After wandering around the party for a while, we decided it was time to take a famous gondola ride! We found a nice guy who gave us a "student discount" and showed us a place to buy wine. We got our favorite prosecco (ps, Mom & Aunties, Bellini's are the official drink of Venice!) and hopped on the gondola for a 30 minute ride through the canals of Venice. While on our little tour, we passed Marco Polo's house, Mozart's house, and the real Casanova's house. Our gondola man told us that Casanova's house on the canal sold for 30,000 euro per square meter! Insane. There were a ton of beautiful homes and hotels that we could see into while sailing around. It is amazing how people live right there in the heart of venice. They must get sick of the touristy gondola riders like us!

After our gondola ride we wandered and let ourselves get lost for a while, got some cappuccino and hot chocolate, and headed back to the dock where our boat was supposed to be. It was a half an hour late so we had to stand outside in the rain and cold for a while. Needless to say, the prosecco warmth wore off. I fell asleep again on the bus ride home (I'm starting to come to the conclusion that I'm very sleep deprived here). Overall, it was an amazing weekend despite the weather! I didn't think I would be here for an entire month without even leaving the country, but I've realized there are so many places to see here. This weekend I'm staying home in Florence and hosting a few Clemson visitors, and after that my jam-packed travel schedule takes off. I'll try my best to keep this updated!

Ciao