Spicy noodles, Fried Fish and Figs

Tonight was a night of nights. A nigh of exotic foods, the craziest dinner I think I have ever eaten. And it was good. So good.
After tonight I have a sneaking suspicion that Carmen could get us to eat liver and we would probably like it. But no need to get any crazy ideas.
Tonight we had friend baby octopuses and calamari. And we liked it. A lot.
The dinner started out with spicy spaghetti. I don't know if it had a special name or anything but it was basically spaghetti noodles in a spicy olive oil and it was so so so yummy.
Second course was the biggest surprise of our life. Carmen came out with a plate which she pronounced "fried feeeesh". And then left to go do something else in the kitchen. Christian took the plate and proceeded to take some fish when she came across a rather oddly shaped one. She asked me what I thought it was and I sassiliy replied it was baby octopus, to busy making my arugula, tomato, and carrot salad to actually pay attention to the fact that that might in fact be what we were eating. We traded salad bowl for plate of fish and I actually got a look at the little circles of fish and the wads of fish with what looked like legs. Continuing with my sassy streak, I picked one up, popped it in my mouth, proceeded to tell her it was good and move on with my dinner.
When Carmen came back a few minutes later, we asked her what the fish actually was. She paused for a moment and told us in Italian making hand motions that went with an octopus. So, we both took deep breaths, and took a bit only to find we liked it.
As the meal progressed we found out it was not only small octopuses but calamari as well. It was a little chewy and we both agree, if it wasn't friend we don't think we could do it. But drenched in fresh squeezed lemon, hot out of the frying pan, it was a rich, delicious meal that we couldn't stop raving about. And that wasn't all. There was also fried potatoes, salad, and the thinly sliced salmon with mozzarella with arugula with lemon drizzled over it and red wine. Then there was the fruit/desert course.
Normally we just have fruit for dessert and the plan had originally been some of Carmen's "stewed" peaches that are cooked until caramelized in a sugar sauce. But one of her friends stopped over and surprised her with a whole box of fresh figs. So Christian and I were introduced to fresh figs too!
Also this just in. Christian looked up the lable she saw in the kitchen and found out the other fish we ate was cuttlefish. Don't worry. We had to Google what it was too.
Back to the figs. We had to ask Carmen how to eat them, because the figgest either of us had ever gotten have been fignutons. For those of you who were in the figdarkness like us, you take the fig and pinch the top like a banana and just kind of open it and suck the middle out. They were yummy too.
Currently the two of us are sitting full and feeling fat like turkeys on Thanksgiving mulling over how amazing and bizarre dinner was (and how lucky we are to have Carmen who can make things like rabbit and cuttlefish taste so amazing) Bellow are the pictures I snapped from dinner and you can see from the basically empty plate, we really did like the fried fish!

And then we went to Pisa

Yesterday our group traveled by train all the way to the iconic city of Pisa. Pisa, which is close to the Arno as well, is slowly sinking due to the silty sandy earth that the city is built on (hence the leaning of its most famous tower.) Modern technology has allowed the city to stabilize, but the tower was in danger of falling at the beginning of the century. In fact, as they were building the tower, they knew it was sinking and they tried to even it out.
We were not there to see the tower though. Once again, we toured the Cathedral of the city and the Baptistery both of which were pretty but in my mind, not nearly as pretty as the Baptistery here in Florence or the Cathedral in Sienna.
The inside of the Baptistery was quiet plane in comparison with the others we have toured, yet the baptismal font was still in the center of the building. It was a huge octagonal font contrasting with the circular building. The Baptistery also had an intricately carved pulpit which we ended up comparing to the pulpit in the Cathedral. Both pulpits depicted scenes of the life of Christ but in different ways. The pulpit in the Cathedral was much more interact in design with Atlantids and Carotids for pillars rather than just plane columns.
After our tours of the Baptistery and the Cathedral we toured the Campo Santo, a open air building that housed many tombs of multiple important and influential people in Pisa's history. Soil from the holy land was imported into the garden area, so that those laid to rest, were in fact laying on holy ground. It had frescoed walls from the 14th century that were accidentally damaged during the second world war, yet many were able to be restored.
After the tours, we were set free on the city with train tickets to return on our own and the flexibility to stop where we wanted on the way home. I spent the afternoon with Anicka and Megan. The three of us stumbled apon a lovely sandwich shop (where we had some of the best sandwiches of our lives) for lunch. The bread was absolutely fantastic.  It was fresh and with a good crust. My sandwich had thinly sliced turkey, tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with oregano. After lunch, the three of us stumbled on a fairy tale wedding, took some cheesy tourist pictures and then caught a train to Luca, a stop Jodi recommended to us.
Jodi wasn't really clear as to why any of us should stop in Luca, so Anicka, Megan and I stepped off the train and proceeded to explore the city on our own. We were not disappointed as we discovered a walled of area with lots of grass and trees that one could hike up through to over look the city. We also stumbled across a very impressive gymnastic competition which we stood and watched a while before catching a late train home to Florence making it home in time for supper. All around it was a busy day, but we got to see one  the most iconic cities in all of Italy. I can officially strike the leaning tower of Pisa off my bucket list!

Cappella Brancacci and Carmen

The photo's that will be posted today are not mine, nor are they pictures from classmates. Unfortunately, I have to resort to the internet because I was told I could not use my camera in the Brancacci Chapel and so I left it at school and the said story is, I totally could have snapped some shots. The reason that I am resorting to the internet, is that I have to brag about the famous frescoes that I've finally gotten to see. I distinctly remember a number of these fresco's from my classes (shout out to Jessica Belich and AP Art History my senior year of high school!) The point of the visit yesterday to the Brancacci Chapel, was to expose our class to another rich and powerful family (the Brancacci) who commissioned work in addition to the Medici. The chapel was painted by Masolino who enlisted in the help of a young Massaccio and was finished by Filippion Lippi when Massaccio was called to Rome to for another commission. By comparing the fresco of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with the Serpent, to the one where they are expelled from paradise, viewers can see the difference in paintings styles of the different artists. The pictures I chose to upload are the ones I specifically remember from my classes and just got a warm fuzzy feeling when I saw them for real. Its so surreal to me that I am actually getting to see these pieces of work in real life as to appose to the glossy color photos in the 200 dollar text book I have for college classes.

Then, yesterday evening, we crossed the Arno, all dolled up, to go to the Opera. Because when one is in Italy, and the Opera that takes place in Spain, which is sung in French, preformed in an American Church in Italy, is only 15 Euro, one must simple spend an evening at the Opera. The show was Carmen, a story of a women named Carmen who makes cigarettes and gets arrested for fighting at work and ends up falling in love with and seducing her jailer Don Jose (who is supposed to marry a nice girl his mother picks out) and a love square ensues (Don Jose, some bull fighter, the nice girl Don Jose is supposed to marry and Carmen, make up this love mess.)  The singing was really quiet impressive, and I've never been to an Opera so I enjoyed the experience despite the nice pillar that slightly blocked my view. The show was preformed in the middle of the church and red cushioned chairs surrounded the area that was blocked off for the performance. The "I have a father and sister in theater" part of me appreciated the small, personal setting of the show despite the fact that I know my father would have set the seating up better (risers people.) But over all it was a lovely evening out with the girls (and pictures were taken, just not on my camera so I'll get them from Marit and post them later.) 

Capella Brancacci (the Brancacci Chapel) and the Opera were the high lights of the week other than a number of us coming down with colds. Tomorrow we take on Pisa and maybe another beach!

Carmen Creations

Tonight left Christian and I wondering if there is anything Carmen can't do.
She came into our room, just before dinner to tell us that we would be eating by ourselves because she was going out to meet a friend. And we were absolutely floored when she called us out to dinner before she left. Of course she out did herself again with a first course of pesto dumplings (yum) and a second course of what she called "Fake Feeeesh". Its was a sort of tuna casserole made with oil and not mayo in the shape of a fish. It was so dang cute we had to take pictures of it (it was also really hard to dig into because it was so cute, but it was so delicious.)
Yes. We are living the life.

La Spiaggia

Today was a free day for us, so eleven of us girls got up early to catch a train west to Viareggio, Italy so we could spend the day on the coast and at the beach. To say it was a day that all of us needed is an understatement. While none of us are really stressed out per say, it was a heavenly relaxing day where we lounged around doing nothing and walking the beach rather than running all over the city. It was about an hour and a half by train, and the beach was a couple of blocks from the station so it was super easy to get to. Over here in Europe, you have what are called private beaches which are owned by a resort where you can go and rent a section of beach with a chair and an umbrella rather than a public beach where you go just claim a spot if you can find one (like what we have in the states) We decided to go to the private beach because it was 60 euros total for all 11 of us (which broke down to a little over 5 each). It was heavenly. We were close to the water, and we had tones of non crowded space to spread out and lounge in chairs or sprawl on the sand. 

And side note. Europe is so freaking clean! The beach was clean (no glass, not to many cigarette butts or trash or even like ocean wash up), the train was clean, the streets are clean. Only the bathrooms at the bars are gross, but I feel like that just goes with the territory. 

Anyways I spent most of my day in the water (once my sunscrene had soaked in.) We couldn't go out too deep because the tide was strong and the wave were huge today, but going in up to your waste was plenty spashy and satisfactory and I really enjoyed wadding in the water and wandering along the shore line looking and collecting a couple hand fulls of shells. Katie, Anicka, Marit and I walked all the way along the shore down to one of the board walks and Katie, Anicka and I spent a good amount of time hunting for shells in the waves before lunch while everyone else got their sun tan on and laied on the beach. 

We got home just in time for dinner which was a fantastic dish of buratini noodles (giant spaghetti noodles) in a Philadelphia cream cheese, onion and chicken sauce, with fried chicken (breaded in corn meal) and stewed pepper with arugula salad and fresh fruit for dessert. Yum. 

All around it was a simply fantastic and beautiful day and Viareggio is a little slice of heaven. So today I leave you with more pictures than words about our weekend trip.