Fiesole

We had the town of Fiesole on our bucket list that was recommended to us, but were unsure what was there and why it was special. On our way to our field trip last wednesday with our anthropology of fashion class, I asked our teacher about it, and ironically she said where we were going is actually on the way to this town, where you can see all of Florence from atop a mountain. So we ended up leaving the field trip to go up to Fiesole, with the intention of coming back on the way down. We found bus #7 and took it all the way up the mountain. We tool beautiful pictures of Florence and then ate dinner at the best Indian restaurant in all of Europe! We were the first customers of the night and we got to see how they cook naan bread (see picture). It was a great decision to go up there and see that view, it was hard to believe it was so close to where we were leaving.

Ciao,
Tarra

Verona and Valpolicella Wine Vineyard

Juliet's balcony

Sunday, June 10th, we left our hotel in Padova and went to Verona, the home of Romeo and Juliet. We went on a tour around the town, where we cheered on marathon runners that ran past us. We went into the garden where we could see Juliet's balcony and touched the infamous breast for good luck to fall in love. For lunch, Catherine, Kasey, and I went to a restaurant called Beauty Food that we passed on our tour and it was exactly what we were craving. We had a hard time understanding what anything was, but we got a salad and picked 4 ingredients to go in it. I also got a spritz bianco which was so refreshing on such a hot day.

Tour group in Verona

We then went to the long-awaited Valpolicella wine vineyard called Novaia where we got to taste a Valpolicella, Amarone, and a dessert wine paired with cheeses and breads. A lady who has worked with API for the last 7 years explained to us proper wine tasting techniques and a little about the wine while her father and husband helped pour the wine and pass out food. (PS dad...I couldn't help but think about how perfect this would be for us in a few years, I got inspired). We walked out to the vineyard, where the son of the owner explained to us the process they make wine in their vineyard. I bought two Amarones and one Valpolicella to bring back home. We took pictures with the beautiful vineyards below us and were sad when we finally had to leave. Of course on the long walk down the vineyard to the buses, it started raining. We picked cherries off the trees to eat on the way down the path and they were the best cherries I've ever had! It was a wonderful weekend API planned for us, I am so glad I picked such a wonderful program.

Valpolicella Wine Vineyard

Ciao,
Tarra