Cooking Class: According to Hailie G.

Just got my hands messy making some home made raviolis with spinach and cheese, with an artichoke quiche appitizer (not sure if that's what it was called) and panna cotta with chocolate for dessert. Mmmm!

Don't tell my mom that I am learning how to cook.. or that I know how to cook. 

We had to meet on the middle of the Ponte Vecchio (view shown below). This is that bridge with all that snazzy gold on it *sparkle in my eye* 

Anyway, that isn't the topic. So from there we went to this little restaurant/caffe where we were learned to make this lovely meal.

The chefs were amazing! They were very funny and totally entertaining. The main one, Francesco loved my friend Melodie's name. He even started singing to her a little bit *chuckle.*

I just threw this one in here because it was cool.

I am not sure what to say about this other than it was such a good experience. I had never made raviolis before, let alone home made pasta. It was quite the accomplishment! We didn't use any egg white or water to close the ravioli either like you see on tv, but still it tasted marvelous! We had to use a lot of team work though because once we got the pasta rolling everything sped up. We had a little assembly line going. I am getting a little sick, so in all honesty everything was a bit of a fog, but luckily they gave us the recipes so I can continue to make it when I get home. Yay! So, take a look at our wonderful food and be jealous :)

Read more ...

Shoe Shopping in Florence: According to Fiona

Like most people visiting Florence, I wanted to buy some nice Italian shoes. I went online and simply googled “10 best shoe stores in Florence,” and after some clicking around I ended up on TripAdvisor.com, where I found two promising shops.

The one I decided to visit first is called Goccia, which is on Via Pellicceria in Florence (really close to the Piazza de Repubblica). It’s a pretty tiny shop, but it’s worth finding for sure! I was there during the last few days of their winter collection sale. (The TripAdvisor review that convinced me to go)

I bought 3 pairs of shoes there! 

Petra, me and Nino. They’re both very nice, and speak English really well. They’re really helpful; just tell them what you’re looking for and they’ll be able to assist you.

My roommates Elizabeth V. and Kat L. tagged along, and they both bought shoes there too. Elizabeth V. ordered this style of shoes to be made for her.

Elizabeth V.

Read more ...

Weekly Round-Up: According to Elizabeth M.

Elizabeth M. shares a few photos and talks about pizza making, the hunt for the perfect gelato, and more...

Ciao! It’s been about a week and a half now that I’ve been in Florence, and it’s hard to believe that it’s still only the beginning of the trip! I feel like I’ve done so much already, and there’s still so much more for me to do! This is a photo of the pizza that I made yesterday (and ate half of right then because yum, it was delicious) and a lovely glass of complimentary wine! Today I have a wine tasting class after our ILC (Italian Life & Culture) class, and I’m so excited to try out all the delicious wines!  :)

Kaitlin and I have been wandering around trying to find the best gelato, and so far we have found two delicious places! The first is located across the Ponte Vecchio and is named Gelateria della Passera. It’s located at Via Toscanella, 15R, and has an amazing Earl Grey flavor. Plus, it’s only 1 euro for a scoop in a cup, and yummmm. The second place we found is called Le Botteghe di Leonardo and is located on Via Valori, 12. We got a scoop in a cone, and it was SO delicious. This is Kaitlin’s scoop of nocciola (hazelnut) and she said it was amaaazing.

This is us at a lovely pizzeria in Lucca. I ordered the ‘fortuna’ pizza and it was delicious, I ate the entire thing, and it was a large pizza!

And a ‘lovely’ photo of me and my roomies in front of the leaning tower of Pisa! Hahaha!

We’re all enjoying Florence so much, hope you’re all doing well! xo

Read more ...

Visiting Pisa & Lucca

It was a rather wet and rainy weekend here in Florence, but we didn't let that stop us from heading west to the small towns of Pisa & Lucca for the day.  Although there had been some concern about flooding in Pisa, the day ended up being clear but cloudy until late afternoon.  Our students from NCSAC and Mount St. Mary's had a guided walking tour in the morning around Pisa, then headed off to the medieval town of Lucca for some lunch and time to explore the ancient walls surrounding the city.

Here's one student's take on how the day went:
Fiona O-Young's Tips on Visiting Pisa & Lucca

Read more ...

Spring Semester Has Begun-Meet Some of Our New Student Ambassadors!

Last Sunday, 97 students from Northern California jetted across the pond to join us here in bella Italia for a semester of studying, traveling and discovering everything there is to know about Italian culture and how life works here in Firenze.  Throughout the semester, we'll be having guest posts from some of our AIFS students.  In their own words, they'll be showing you what it's like to study abroad in Florence, Italy.

Meet our student ambassadors and check out their individual blogs to see what its like to be an American student living in Florence:

Fiona's Blog: Fiona in Florence
Hailie's Sunset in Firenze
Adventures with Brigitte
Numinous Lands
Bizzie in Firenze
Zach's Adventures in Florence
Spring in Firenze
Follow Firenze

Read more ...