my thoughts as i travel through this thing called life...: the past few days...

The past few days have been quite eventful... I hope you have some time to read through all of this!

So I’ve been a little lax-a-dasical when it comes to updating my blog this past week or so. With a school field trip at least one weekend day every week and our own adventures it’s hard to find spare time to do homework, keep in contact with family and friends back home and update my bog.

Let’s start at June 26^th. We went to Verriago beach with school. I previously mentioned this but had no pictures to share with you.

First Double Decker Bus I rode.

Busiest beach I have ever been too. That’s April in the Photo by the way. I guess she didn’t realize that I took a picture.

The next Monday we made Chicken, Fillet and Pork Loin.

Here is our chef for our coking class. Don’t ask me his name because he never introduced himself on the first day. But apparently he is the big cheese at the school because his email is exeuctivechef@apicius.it

We made pork roast with Roasted Potatoes. The Potatoes needed to be roasted more but they were delicious. I love this class because we don’t have to buy lunch.

Roasted Chicken we made on the same day.

This was taken one morning we set out to have an American breakfast. We succeeded but when we found out that it was 18 Euros, we decided to come home and make our own pancakes. We topped them with Nutella. Have you ever had it? It’s pretty much the best stuff on Earth. It goes well in crapes too.

In our Quest to see all of Florence before we return to the states we decided we needed to take quick trips in the mornings before we go to class. This time we went to the Piti Palace Gardens. When I hear Garden I think of a nice sized backyard. Well in Apparently in Europe a garden means acres and acres of land. Boy were we tired by the time we got to class.

Top of the Garden Looking down. If you look closely you can see the back of the Palace and the Cityscape behind that. What an amazing view, but Im sure I did have to mow those lawns or Hike up that hill Everyday

What a view!

View from the backside of the garden.

Me in the garden!

Another View of the Garden when the Family had a whole Pond and Water Fountain.

Another View of Florence from the Top of the Garden. Who knew the city was so large?

The Lookout Tower in the Garden. Too bad it was closed and we couldn’t go in.

That day in Class we made Balsamic Steak. Chef said it was the best Balsamic Sauce he has tasted in a while. Too bad I cooked the meat to well done. He said its better Medium, but I like it well so; it’s all good in my World.

We also made pizza another day in class.

This Past Saturday we visited both the Parmesan Cheese area of Italy called “Parma” hence the name of the Cheese Parmigana Regiano, and the Prochutto Producing Area of Italy called Langhirano near Parma. Both factories were interesting and I don’t think Ill ever look at cheese or cured ham the same ever again.

The Bins that the cheese are made in.

Removing the cheese from the cooked milk!

The Barrels that the cheese are aged in.

An Empty Barrel- This goes below ground level so it’s easier to work with.

Beginning stages of the Curing of the ham. (Freezing)

Refrigerated. Curing.

One of the Professors and the Owner of the Company.

Me at the Factory

Death Bus- The Hottest Bus I have ever ridden in. The Driver said the A/C did work, the windows didn’t roll down, and the driver got lost to all three of the destinations we were headed too. What a day! Oh yeah, it was most likely over 95 deg. F and 40-50% humidity.

On the 4^th of July we had the best FUN day we have had so far. We traveled on the train to Chinque Terra. This is the city with 5 beach cities that you hike through. After arriving to the last city we quickly ate and hiked form the last to the next to last city. What an amazing adventure. 3 plus hours of hiking.