Culinary Delights and the Splendor of Pisa

So... I've done a lot since my last post. Pisa, the CHOCOLATE FESTIVAL! Um, ok maybe not too much. It just felt like a lot.

I went to Pisa on Friday by train. Its a lovely little town along the Arno about an hour and a half away from Florence. Riding the train is super sketchy but not too bad and quite cheap. There are gypsies who walk up and down it at the station begging and trying to steal from any open purse or pick any pocket. They aren't always that subtle about it either-- they will get in your face or practically stand on top of you. Yes, I am speaking from experience, no, I had nothing stolen.

Do you want to know something really cool? The leaning tower of Pisa actually leans. As in really leans! We did all the cheesy pictures holding up the tower or pretending to push it on each other.

But before we went to the tower we had lunch at a little place called vineria di piazza (I think). A hidden little gem with such culinary delights! The culinary delight being lentil soup for me and pasta with calimari for everyone else. The soup was so simple. It had lentils, olive oil, and spice (what kinds? bloody heck if I know). But its simplicity made it even more amazing than if it had had vegetables or a complicated sauce. I want to go back there just to eat it again.

The soup was not the end of the wonders that Pisa had in store. I know its sad, but I had my first experience with gelato. (Yes, I am a failure in having waited until my second week in Italy to try gelato.) I had strawberry and cream gelato after agonizing over my choice. Then, now that the gelato dam was broken, I went to Grom the other night and had some more gelato. Dark chocolate and this stuff called crema di grom. It had biscotti in it and chunks of some other deliciousness but I can't say for sure what they were. Besides yummy. I really want to go back and try the expresso flavor or the coffee flavor. No. I think I'll get the extra dark chocolate. Ooh! Ooh! No! I want to try pear. No, not pear, egg cream. Wait. Yes. No. Crap, I forgot about nicciolo (hazlenut but spelled horribly). Bloody hell. Curse you gelato. Why are you amazing?

Oh, the chocolate festival. Again, with the amazing food. Its a good thing I walk all the time here or I would be a blob. There was fudge, assorted truffles, chocolate rum, chocolate covered strawberries, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, chocolate with mint, almonds, hazlenuts, puffed rice, rasberries, cream, more rum, peanuts and this is only covering half the tables. There was chocolate shaped like cell phones, soccer cleats (hard core awesome) bunnies, toads, towers and even a moka next to delicate little flowers and chocolate liquor. My roommate got a "chocolate kebob" which consisted of a pastry of some sort filled with a chocolate sauce (in this case, café) and chocolate shavings. I had a slice of chocolate cake topped with a hot chocolate sauce. I nearly died right there. But I didn't, because if I had, I wouldn't have been able to finish the cake and that would have broken my heart. I did manage some self control and only bought two café truffles. Which were amazing-- I still have one left! Yay, point Marissa!

Then, to culminate this weekend of culinary wonders, I had my first fancy dinner out at Sasso di Dante, near the Duomo. The apperitivo that one night doesn't count and neither does any visit to a café. This was a real dinner. We made a reservation and everything. For this dinner I ordered gnocci in a cream truffle sauce (notice the theme? truffles seem to be my thing here. Don't I live large.) It was exquisite, at least the first bite was. By the end it got to be too rich with the potatoes and the cream and the truffles. Its probably not a dish I would have again, though it was a good experience and taste. The dish I had afterwords I will definitely repeat. Any guesses to what it was? Si! Gelato! After dinner was Grom.

Fa belle tempo! The weather yesterday and today has been great. Sunny and "warm". Much warmer than it has been and definitely warmer than it would be at home. I hear they had snow there? Its already starting to feel like spring. Though, of course, it was a nasty, rainy, freezing day when we went to Pisa and to the chocolate fest. Oh well. At least that meant there were very few tourists to contend with.

Its interesting being here because I'm not sure what I am. I'm not a tourist but I'm also not a true Florentine. I look so American though, I'm sure the Italians can peg me from a mile away. I fit in a little better now that I have boots. Not that I bought them to conform, I bought them because they're awesome. And gorgeous. And badass. And quite cheap. And awesome. Unfortunately I do not have a picture of them.

And we're off to the second week of school. Ciao!