Italy likes wine. I kind of love wine.

I feel like I owe an update but I don't even know where to start writing. Too much going on in Florence! I have been told I am fairly long-winded when I write anyway. Sorryyy.

Half our dinner party with birthday boy in the center

This past weekend was a really fun four days. Thursday was Ricky's birthday and we celebrated by going out to a traditional (read: 4 course meal) Italian restaurant. We were ushered into the restaurant through the huge crowd of people standing outside waiting to get in (thanks to Marissa for brilliantly making reservations) and walked through the seemingly endless restaurant to our table on the back patio/piazza. We sat down at a table at which I was happy to see about 8 bottles of red wine for us twelve friends. This is the kind of restaurant where there are no menus, they just come out and tell you what you're about to get and you get minimal choices for what they bring. Doesn't matter though, EVERYTHING is delicious. Our first course was bread with oil, bread topped with liver, some prosciutto crudo (essentially uncooked ham, it's yum), and a Caprese salad. I had to be careful to not fill up on the antipasti because I knew how much food was still coming. Second course: pasta. Penne with delicous meat sauce, ravioli stuff with spinach and ricotta, and bread and tomato soup that I really loved. Third course: meat. The waiters brought to our table the most varietal spread of meat I have ever seen. There was everything from chicken to veal to prime rib to rabbit and everything in between. I had been craving red meat, so I ate the prime rib which was as delicious as you'd expect from such a fancy restaurant, and I tried the rabbit. Rabbit tastes like chicken. By the time our dessert came out we had already been at the restaurant for about three hours. That's how they eat in Italy, it's just one enormous social gathering and they don't care how long you stay. Our dessert was biscotti and an extremely sweet dessert wine which I had trouble drinking. It was good, but it was like drinking thin maple syrup after I've already been stuffed from three other courses. I was not about to let a single bit of that dinner go to waste though, so I finished it. We had arrived at that restaurant for our 7:30 reservation and didn't end up leaving until around 11:30. That's how we do it in Italy.

The best part about the dinner, though, was when our table was presented with a bottle of wine sent to us from the table behind ours. It was a table of older Americans, mostly men and a few women. Through chit chatting with one of our friends in the bathroom, one of the men had found out that our friend Giancarlo is of the Altamura winery in Napa, from which he had just bought a case of wine the week before. Before they sent the wine he had come over to shake his hand. When they sent us that bottle, we cheers'd-ed? to them and slowly got up one by one to thank their table. They said they sent it to us because it was so nice to see young people appreciating wine. Might I mention that the bottle of wine they sent us was supposedly the fifth best wine in the world. Extremely friendly people. Between that table's gesture to us and how excellent and generous the waiters and the restaurant was, it was the first time I've ever been treated as a young person with so much respect. I'll never forget it.

Wine tasting in Montespertoli

I didn't realize until I was telling my dad on the phone about my weekend a few days ago, but almost my whole weekend essentially circled around wine. Friday I took a trip with my Food and Wine class to Lari, a town near Pisa to visit a pasta making factory, and then to Montespertoli to visit, of course, a winery. Learning how pasta is made was so interesting, I've always wanted to know, but the winery was my favorite part of the day. After our tour, we were once again spoiled with a "light" lunch that was no way "light" in any sense of the word. Oh Italians. Three courses again, and the highlights were the garlic bread and pasta. I watched the guy making garlic bread and picked up on how he did it. It was delicious, I love learning how to cook that way.

Wine tasting in Florence

Saturday, once again, wine all day. Florence was having a wine festival all over the city and we participated. There were wine points all over, but by the time we had only hit two spots, we were out of credits and, well, let's be honest, none of us needed any more. We got to taste wine from different parts of the world but of course my favorite was the good ol' Italian wine. German wine is interesting and Port is (still) not my favorite. It was a lovely day with my friends.

I experienced my first European soccer match in person on Sunday! I have always wanted to, I'm pretty sure it is on my bucket list. It's every bit intense as they say it is. Let's just say you can learn the Italian words that they won't teach you in class at an Italian soccer match. The opponent's fans had a section walled off for them, but some were sitting in the section over from us. Things got so rowdy that the stadium had to assign a security guard to stand on every other step the whole way up the bleachers to create a barrier between Palermo's section and Fiorentina's fans, and after the game the rumbles began. There were a couple particular men screaming at each other the entire game and were in each other's faces after, and there were Carabinieri (Italian military police) waiting underneath the stadium. Nothing ended up happening but I wasn't surprised.

Most of my Italian family at the Fiorentina game

Some etcetera things I can tell you about:
- I've now seen the Statue of David 4 times and it is spectacular every single time.
- My creepy date from two weeks ago won't stop calling me (five times in a row last night). I never answer.
- I am the last person on earth to see Inception, but I saw it at the English theater last night.
- Hannah and I have pretty much moved in over at the boys' apartment.
- Mexican Monday is getting better and better every week.
- I had class at the fresh market yesterday and learned which counter serves only horse meat (might have to try it).
- I got to skype briefly with my cousin in Africa and that was so lovely.
- Last night I went to Palazzo Strozzi to see a fancy art exhibit which included photography and I was pleasantly surprised and quite thrilled to see Annie Leibovitz's portraits of the Queen on display. I really really miss my life being defined by photography and it felt good to just be standing near photographs again.
- It is now October and the postseason begins tonight and I can't even believe it. I don't know where the heck the season went and I slightly feel like a giant piece of me is missing in Italy because it's hard for me to find time to watch. I'm sad. My prediction: Yankees and Giants. Oh you know I would love that.
- My Italian is improving. I ordered sliced ham at the market in all Italian last week!
- I'm headed to Bologna this weekend! I love trips with my friends, should be so fun.

Amo Italia. Ciao!