Back Home- Pics Up, Finally!.

Our last day in Tunisia we checked out of our hotel and walked around the city killing time. We had booked passage on a ship that went all the way to Rome but it didnt leave until 10pm that night. The hotel let us leave our luggage there so we were able to walk around easily. We had some “joo”, the fresh orange juice and headed toward the Medina. There were about 7 entrances to the medina, all with large stone arches in front. Behind the arch was a open courtyard with a fountain in the middle. Once you were past the courtyard and into the medina you were in these tiny little streets filled with people. Lining the streets was shop after shop with every single owner standing in their entyway calling out to people to buy their goods. It got very annoying because if you stopped for just one second to look at something interesting they were all over you trying to sell it. And they definitely do not take no for an answer. Little Abduls. It was good to see because there were alot of interesting things but the mystique wore off quickly, due to the hassling owners. The crowds were so thick down the tiny streets that it was hard to go where you wanted. You kind of had to go with the flow. it was almost single file, with people wanting to go the other direction waiting for an opening. They were all locals too, only the rare foreigner. Dad and I got out after a little bit and sat down in outdoor cafe in the courtyard right outside of the Medina. We ordered coffee and people watched for a while. After that we decided to head to where the ship left from, the area where we stayed the first night in Africa. We picked up our bags and headed to the train station. We waited for a train that wasnt full so we could have a seat and took the 15 minute ride to “Le Goullette”. We walked to the hotel that we had stayed in and I asked if I could use their wireless, as we still had about 3 and a half hours to kill. I was able to put the last post on there but not pictures. I also got to Skype a little bit. With about an hour and a half to go we walked along the beach to the port. It was the same street that we had first came upon after getting to Africa. That night it had seemed so dark and foreign but now it was just another street with palm trees. We went to the station and turned our vouchers into tickets and then sat down to wait. Tunisia had blown Italy out of the water for about of smoke you had to put up with. After living in the US, Europe and Italy especially was shocking with the amount of smoking there was in public areas and in general. Tunisia was way worse. Everywhere you went there were people smoking. In restaurants, joo bars, in every building pretty much. In Italy at least you cannot smoke in buildings, except trainstations and airports. Anyway we were sitting there waiting and half the people in the room were smoking. And you couldnt go anywhere, you had to wait in the room. After a while they opened the doors and we headed out to board the ship. This one was actually bigger than the one from Naples to Palermo. It was huge. We walked to the loading area and waited in line for a while before taking the elevator up to the registration area. This one was much fancier than the previous one, and included a swimming pool and jacuzzi. We settled in the shared room but soon the noise, smell and smoke of the Tunisians drove us out. We found these doorways that were like compartments with doors on both sides and settled in there. We awoke a little bit before arriving in Palermo (one stop before Rome) and headed up to the deck to look. My dad realized his camera was missing and we searched for it. We never found it and how it disappeared is a mystery. Poor Poppa! I told him he could use my camera for the rest of the trip, as we were going to my city and I didnt need to take pictures. We walked around Palermo for a while and picked up some goodies for the cruise to Rome. The ship food is very expensive and we got some pizza, a panino and eggplant parm. I watched some movies on my laptop for a little while and then found my dad. We had coffee and played scopa for a while in the cafe. Almost all the tunisians had been replaced by Italians so there was no more smoke or noise on the ship. The wind picked up and the seas got a little high but the ship was so massive you couldnt tell the difference. We arrived in Cittivechio, which was a 30 minute train ride from Rome early that morning and set off to find a way to get to Rome. A shuttle driver was kind enough to drop us off near the station, so that was easy. The next train was there right when we got tickets so we didnt have to wait and were on our way to Rome. Once in Rome we decided that it would be easiest if I went by myself to Hotel Lodi to get the bags we had left there before we went to Africa. I left dad my phone so he could try to call Jackie and all the bags to guard and took the subway to where the hotel was. I grabbed the bags and headed back, taking a bus this time, as the subway station was a ways away. I found poppa safe and still in possession of all our bags and we bought tickets to Florence. An excitement began to build up. I was going home! The train didnt leave for about an hour so we had some pizza and patate frittes with mayo and were hassled by about 6 different gypsies. We settled into the train (the right one this time) and prepared for the 2+ hour ride. This train was one of the older ones but not in too bad a shape. It took a different route than I had taken before but was very scenic and went through alot of cool little villages and near many castles. Dad was snapping away with the camera and seemed to enjoy the Tuscan landscape. Seeing the red roofs of florence was a great feeling. I love my city and I had missed her. I was also very excited to shoe her beauty to my dad. It was about 4 or 5 pm and we decided to look for a place to stay so we wouldnt have to carry the bags around. As we were leaving we were approached a few times by guys with broschures about hotels. Some of them were pretty reasonable but dad had one he wanted to look at. I took him to the street and it turned out to be not such a great deal. We tried a couple more but they werent very good either. We decided to head off and try one of the ones recommended by the people at the trainstation. We found one right behind the trainstation called Hotel Montreal that was a good price and actually pretty nice. We settled in then went out for a walk. We went pretty much straight to the Duomo, and a couple streets from it I told him to just walk straight so he wouldnt know it was coming. Like I wrte when I saw it is an awe-inspiring building. He walked around it for a while and we looked at the gates of paradise that are across from the duomo, in the baptistry. We then walked along the river and down to the other major church or Florence, Santa croce. It was getting dark but I gave him a good tour and we stopped at the student favorite Oil Shop for sandwiches and homemade fries and homemade barbeque sauce. We walked the longway home so I could show him some more of my city and the places I go. I showed him my old street and the place that I get homemade wine at. We settled back in the hotel room and watched some Italian tv. The next morning I went to checkin at the study abroad office and get my keys. I dropped some stuff off at my new apartment and then went to the hotel to get dad so we could bring the rest of my stuff back. My new apartment was a couple blocks away from my old place and 1 block away from the central market. My new place was much nicer than my old one and I only had to share it with 3 other people, instead of the six of last semester. I share a room with Scott and we have our own bathroom, complete with a towel heater. The kitchen is very nice with a large breakfast bar that will be nice to make pasta with. The next few days were great, I showed him the little shops and restaurants and areas I hang out at along with taking him to see the David, the top of the Duomo and my favorite church. We also became regulars at my little bakery where we got pizza, bread and bomboloni’s everyday. Con crema of course. We had a great time in Florence and it was a lot more laid back than some of the other parts of our trip because we had a long time to see things and Florence is such an easy city to walk around. We had a great side trip to Pisa to see the tower and I finally got to take him out when I took him to my favorite trattatoria, the one I wrote about last semester. We had risotto, gnochi, the truffle ravioli and a nice caprese. We had gotten along great the whole trip, which usually doesnt happen when you add the stresses of traveling to being with the same person 24/7 for 3 weeks. It was great to have no really set plans, just general things we wanted to do. Because of the excentricities of Italy that is a great way to travel. He had to catch a 5:45 train to Rome where he was flying out of so I met him at his hotel at 5:15 and walked him there. It was sad to loose my traveling partner and I had definitely had an adventure Ill always treasure because it was just me and my dad and we did so much. That weekend my school and our sister school, FUA had the welcoming party at the same discotech they rented for the going away party. Good food and music and alot of friends I had missed. We (me and my roommates) also went to an American rap concert with Lil Flip. Monday was our first day of school and we had our Baking and pastry class. The chef is named Maximillian and he’s a younger little man that is serious about his pastry. We made some Italian cookies that have half the ingredients that american cookies have and tasted like shortbread cookies. We also made batches of pastry dough that we would use next class for pies and cakes. Tuesday I have my advanced introduction to wines class with the same teacher as last semester, carlotta. After that I have restaurant management with Francesco the wise old man that Mario and I had our sauna adventure with last semester. Wednesday I had class taught by Damiano, my friend that I play basketball with. That was traditions of Italian food 2 and we made spinach dough and rolled it very thin and baked it on top of an upside down tin cup so it formed a bowl. We then made polenta and then sauteed beaf, veal and chicken with onion, garlic, wine and at the end sliced truffles. When it was all done we made a bed of polenta and placed the spinach break bowl on top filled with the meat and truffle mixture. I was told that mine was the best, which is always good. I liked that this semester we were the larger kitchen and we had enough space so everyone made everything themselves. After that class I had a couple hours before Italian intermediate which is about a 30 minute walk away. Thursday I had food design where we learn how to plate food and about artistic cooking. That was something that I had never had any experience with so I was excited. We made a few things. First we made saffron mingon (small and round) bread then made a liver mousse pate. To do that we made the Pate the normal way only passed through a strainer with tiny holes then made whipped cream (unsweetened) and mixed them together. Finally we made an onion and cherry balsamic jam by cooking down the onion and balsamic with bayleaf for a long time on low heat. When we were ready to plate he talked about how you can use the plate as a guide and how to make canals (like a shaped line for thick sauces or foods) and other designs. The food was excellent too, especially the jam. This week we made a few different kinds of cakes and pies in baking class then a truffle risotto with veal rolls that we stuffed with truffles and some cheese then rolled in egg and breadcrumbs and fried in Damiano’s class. He also gave us a lesson about cheesemaking that was very interesting and then made a really good fondue out of fresh fontina cheese. In class thursday (food design) we seared some red tuna (we were told it is rare and expensive) that we had rolled in sesame seeds until just the outside was cooked. They were excellent. I also tried some raw and that was very good too. The chef, Fabio, talked about the rules of plating and the connection between presentation and the brains reaction. We then made a pretty cool dish. We boiled a potato each and scooped out the inside. After that we made a cream sauce out of bechamel, fontina cheese, a little brandy and worchester and sale pepe. We then mixed truffle cream with ricotta cheese and seasoning. We put a layer of ricotta cheese inside the potato then a raw egg yolk and then sealed it in with another layer of ricotta and truffle. We then placed it in a tin and cooked it bem marie (SP?) style (where you have a layer of water) in the oven for about 10 minutes. When we plated I made a circle of the cream sauce then placed the filled potato half in the middle. I placed pieced of sage around it and It turned out pretty well. The dish was really cool to eat because when you cut into the potato the egg yolk started erupting out like a volcano down the sides. Definitely a visually stimulating dish. This semester all my classes are interesting so far and it should be another good semester. In my spare time Ive been walking around the city and playing basketball when I can. Ive been shopping for a bike so the journey to the basketball court doesnt take so long. (Dad you saw how long it was) I actually just got back from playing. Its good to be home.