On Thursday, my Italian class went to a market to practice ordering in Italian. The market was down the street from our school and it's open everyday from 7 am-7 pm. Everything is inside and it definitely reminded me of the market that I go to in Toronto with my Aunt Maria. They have stands with fresh fruit and vegetables and places that specialize in pasta or fish. We had to complete an assignment in groups of 3 and then each group was given 5 euros to spend. I got an apple, a tomato, and a peach: all so fresh and delicious! That night, I definitely went to the BEST restaurant yet with Rachel and Emmy. It is called Dar Poeta and it is in a non-busy area right behind our apartment. Rachel had gone here with her family 2 years ago and had been dying to go back ever since we got to Rome. I'm so glad we finally made it! I had the best pizza I have ever had at this restaurant: zucchine pizza with mozzarella and courgettes. It was so amazing that I ate the whole thing! In addition, what Rachel had been craving since her last visit was their nutella and ricotta calzone. The three of us split this and it was so delicious. Even though I don't want to repeat many restaurants, I definitely want to go back to Dar Poeta many more times!!
On Friday, my program had a make-up day for classes that will be canceled in November for Thanksgiving. My Italian class went to a bar (or caffe) on this day to practice speaking in Italian again. Once again, my teacher paid for everything. I got a biscotto and a cappuccino. It's so awesome that we get to go on so many cool excursions with my classes. That would never happen at home! Friday night, my roommates and I went to a cool club called Gilda where we danced all night! We got home at 3:30 am and then had to be up again at 7 for our Taste of Tuscany tour.
Barista made a cool design on my cappuccino
Saturday, my roommates and I left for a bus2alps Taste of Tuscany trip. First, we went to Montepulciano for a tour of a wine cellar and some wine tasting. Honestly, I liked the cheese and bread better than the wine, but it was really cool to see the big barrels where they store all of the wine. Here, we also had the treat of seeing one area where New Moon was filmed in Piazza Grande. Although I have never seen the movie, I read all of the books and it was pretty cool to be in the same place where Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart filmed the movie. This area reminded me more of what I expected Rome to look like, with narrow steep roads and lots of little shops and restaurants. After walking around, Rachel, Emmy, and I went for lunch at a place with a beautiful view of the Tuscan scenery. Then, we got back on the bus and went to Altesino. This was a really pretty wine vineyard where we saw some more modern containers that hold the wine. We tasted another three red wines here and walked around in the vineyard before heading back to Rome.
View at the restaurant
Wine barrels
View at our restaurant
New Moon tower
Roommates at the vineyard
On Sunday, we got up early again for a program-sponsored trip to the President's house. Sadly, it was closed for the day, which I guess is very rare. Instead, we went inside Trajan's market. It is basically what inspired our modern day malls and department stores. It also had some great views of the main area of Rome with the Forum and the Wedding Cake. After the tour, some of us went back to T-Bone, the American resaurant behind my apartment. They have some Mexican options on their menu and people were still craving it since our failed attempt at finding it last week. This was my third time there already and I got a super burrito.. Not that good and I am hoping to not go back to that restaurant anytime soon. I am perfectly content with having Italian every day (even though it's not always the healthiest option).
View from top of Trajan's market
Yesterday, I just had a regular, boring day of classes. And pretty much the same thing today. Tonight, I cooked some more pasta with pesto and I also made myself zucchini for the first time. Cooking for myself is actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. Also, Shelby has officially booked her trip to Rome, which is very exciting. She will be here in 9 days, so soon! Then, the following weekend of October 11, Rachel, Emmy, and I will be meeting up with Shelby again in Paris! We booked our flights last week and we also went through WSA Student Adventures so our whole weekend will be full of included tours and activities. I can't wait to go somewhere where I can speak the language and know my way around a little better.
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