Somebody mail me cheesecake.

Well happy Monday to you all Americans.

Sorry I got lazy this weekend and haven’t blogged but here you go with a long one—it’ll keep you occupied for a bit.

Well Thursday night, all of us girls went to Dante’s for pizza and wine! It was a lot of fun and of course the food was so good! I just love my prosioutto pizza I always get! Then we all got the most delightful gelato we have ever had! I got this cookie gelato that was insanely amazing! Def. taking Nikki there when she comes J!

I can’t tell you how lucky I am to have met Haleigh, Briana, Sam, Amy, and Ainsley like I did in Rome/on the tour! I don’t know what I would be doing here without them! We are already planning out how to come visit each other this summer! Haleigh, Briana, and Amy are all from Texas, so it won’t be too bad for me to go visit this summer. And it will give me a reason to somehow get to Georgia because I am dyiiiiiing to go to Paula Deen’s Restaurant. But Ainsley and Sam are both from Boston, soooo that trip with ESD in the fall to New York is going to pay off for me J! HAHA!

Anyways, then Friday morning 4am wake-up call for Alexa and I to get ready for Parma and Modena! It was a day trip we prepaid for before we came here and I have been EXCITED like no other ever since I signed up for it. Alexa and I both thought we were just going to the parmesan cheese factory and the balsamic vinegar factory, but we went to both of the those and went to the procioutto factory. Plus, I didn’t know we were going to get an awesome lunch too!

So Haleigh, Ainsley, Alexa, and I all got on the bus to take a mini nap at 5:30 am! We arrived in Parma at about 9 or so and went into the room before touring the factory where we all had to put on these plastic coats, booties over our shoes (which I thought was the hat L haha), face masks, and a hat. It was soooo funny! We all looked like doctors prepping for surgery! Apparently with my sunglasses still on everyone told me I looked like either a terrorist or a KKK member. Whoopsies L! It was funny though!

So we all walked into the factory and OMG I never in my life have seen so much cheese!! It was not a very big factory, but we went into the main cheese making room where a lady began to tell us what is going on. The first room was where the cheese was actually made. Parmesan cheese is actually only made of a few things and aged for years. So what we saw was the fresh milk being poured in and then heated up until the pro cheese maker decided it was time to use this special tool to break up the curdling process. It was so neat to watch! Then we went into a room where some of the cheese was being stored and the lady explained to us what special stamps and tools are used-- which makes it legit parmesan cheese. Then we went into a room where the cheese was put into big pools to soak in salt water for a long time! And then we went into a room filled with towers of cheese that could probably solve world hunger. I am not even kidding, Ainsley and I counted like 840? Or so HUGE bricks of parmesan cheese on just one side one of the columns! It was ridiculous! This was the room where all the cheeses were stored to age for years upon years! Seriously though, there were so many rows, so if you times like 840 by like 30+ columns= start of world hunger to be over. HAHA. But it was super neat to hear what makes parmesan cheese legit. Then the lady took us back into the big room to watch the workers use HUGE cheese cloths to pull the actual parts of the cheese together! It was super cool! But there is so much milk mixture left over that they use for a variety of things, for example- butter. The whole process of how parmesan cheese is made is so fascinating and so time consuming but so worth it! I was like someone give me some spaghetti J! Haha! Either that or a big plate of my Aunt Lisa’s ravioli from The Hill J! But then we all walked back into the room we started out in and got rid of our gowns and what not and waited to try the cheeses! The lady brought us a brick of cheese that was 2 years old and another that was 5; therefore we could taste the difference. I definitely liked the 2 year old cheese better and boy let me tell ya, that stuff doesn’t taste like any parmesan cheese in America. HAHA! But then they also gave us “goodie bags” filled with pamphlets about parmesan cheese and how it is made and cool yellow snap bracelets (which we all decided we will wear out to a club one night), a pen, and this legit parmesan cheese breaker-upper knife. J totally awesome! Then we all walked out to the fresh air!!!! It smelled so funny inside obviously with everything going on! But we also went into the mini store they had which was pretty neat, but expensive of course! REAL cheese is pretty pricey! I def. have a new appreciation for parmesan cheese after all of that!!

But then we all got back on the bus so we could head to the procioutto factory!! We all took another mini nap on the bus towards Mondena, which I didn’t even remember falling asleep! IT WAS FREEZING when we got there. When I left STL, I was leaving snow behind I thought. NOPE! Snow everywhere. Haleigh somehow champed walking the whole day in a sweater. I was so cold though!

But we walked in and Ainsley and I automatically decided the owner was going to be our new boyfriend! He was precious! It was so neat because he didn’t speak any English, so one our supervisors had to translate the whole time. The place smelled so funny and there were pig everywhere!!!!! Another way to solve world hunger could have been found in that factory too!! The factory was very interesting but smelled really funny and was super cold in some parts! Procioutto is such a long process too!

Then we all headed up to the restaurant attached to the factory for lunch! We walked in and it totally felt like we were back on the way to Rome where we got that “light lunch”. We were all careful at how much bread we consumed this time just in case! Alexa said she wore her leggings that day just in case we were eating like that again! HAHA! But they had parmesan cheese chunks, walnuts, bread, bread with meats on top, water, and wine ready for us! It was all so good, besides the wine. Then they came out with the pasta dish and parmesan cheese J which was SOOOOO good. Then they came out with a big plate of procioutto for everyone.. It was okay, for some reason I didn’t like it as much as usual. Then they came out with salad. I MISS MY AMERICAN SALADS! I MISS SALAD DRESSING! Vinegar and oil on top of lettuce and tomato chunks is not a salad for me L! Then they came out with a plate of mixed deserts that were DELICIOUS! We don’t even really know what was in any of the things but they were good! The one lemon thing was absolutely amazing! They also had something that reminded me of banana chocolate chip cake that was good too! Overall lunch was filling and the bread was amazing of course. Ainsley and I def. got a photo with our boyfriend before leaving and he was so excited! HAHA!

Then we left and were off to the balsamic vinegar factory! Took another mini nap on the bus of course! We got there and literally the factory looked like a house! It was really pretty on the inside and one of the head ladies brought us upstairs to show us the barrels full of balsamic vinegar. I am not a big vinegar fan so I didn’t really know any of the info she was telling us. True Modena balsamic vinegar actually is only sold in special bottles by the heads of Modena and basically all supermarket/anyone else’s bottles are made with so many different ingredients and preservatives + wine. True balsamic vinegar is strictly only cooked grapes and then aged for 12+ years. There were 2 kinds this place sold and it was the 12-25 year old bottle and then the 25+ year old bottle. They can both be found at William Sonoma (my home away from home) for 200+$ I think. This stuff is legit. There are a few families in Modena that make the vinegars but only the heads of Modena can bottle the true balsamic vinegar in the special bottle and then stamp it. The place also sold other types of vinegar that we tried but it wasn’t considered true because they were all under 12 years old. The barrels they use are never washed due to flavoring and worth thousands of dollars. The one she told us was worth 30000 euros aka 41400+ dollars because it had been used for over 100 years. We were trying to figure out their security rules because it didn’t seem like they had many and for that thing to be worth so much, I would be shocked at no one trying to steal it. Balsamic vinegar takes over 12 years to make and takes a lot of work because the vinegar has to transfer a barrel like every year. Each barrel is left with an open square and with the evaporation that happens, each barrel has to keep being refilled with a certain amount from another barrel and then the last BIG barrel in the row gets the new stuff to be aged for many years. The oldest bottle they had was almost like 150 years old I think. The vinegar in the glass bottle once opened can be used forever pretty much and you only need like a drop or so because it is so strong! It was really neat to learn all of this being the food junkie I am. But then we all went downstairs for a tasting. They gave us all spoons and brought around 4 of their not-true vinegars and then they let us try the 12 and 25 year old ones. My favorite was a white grape vinegar because it was slightly sweet and didn’t have such a tang! Then they let us all buy any if we wanted to at a discount! HAHA for that. But then they gave us these chocolate cookies that were delightful!

Then we all got on the bus to come back to Florence. We all fell asleep and when we woke up, we ended up being stuck in a traffic jam for like a half hour bumper to bumper. It was horrible. No one knew why we were stopped and then they turned on Madagascar and we knew we’d probably be stuck there for a while. Eventually we started moving and then when we did, we never saw an accident or found out the reason for why we were stuck L! I hate when that happens!! We finally made it home and Alexa and I were exhausted and stayed in and went to bed pretty early obviously after waking up at 4am!

Saturday…..oh Saturday, what a day it was! Woke up and showered and straightened my hair for a horribly long amount of time. I miss my Chi too much these days!!

Finally met up with Haleigh, Briana, and Amy at the train station for our train leaving at 12:18. Supposed to be there by 2:30………not at all. We have absolutely not one bit of a single clue how we messed up. NOT A CLUE. We ended up at the end of this one train’s stops and realized we had to get on another train, then we had to get on another train. It was RIDICULOUS and we were so frustrated. I texted my mom and was like this better be worth it!! Haha! But we FINALLY made it to Assisi about 4pm and it was cold and rainy. All of us just wanted to go home- we were so annoyed, but then we checked return trains and the one left at 5:17, the other at 7:17. So we all were like we’re making the 5 one because if it took that long to get home, we were leaving early. So we raced to the St. Frances church, which was absolutely gorgeous and huge! I got a few photos, but I am waiting to get the ones Haleigh took because I know my mom wants them! The church was huge and so cool to go look at! I picked up a rosary for my mom’s teacher aide and then a key chain for my mom because I didn’t know what else to get since she has so many rosaries! But then we tried to race back to the bus to make it to the station.. totally failed. So we all went to McDonalds for dinner. I haven’t had McDonalds in like 3 years, so they all witnessed a historic moment. Seigs knows there was only one reason why I would ever eat McDonalds again, but I had no option this time! It was good though! Then Haleigh and I split the Brownie McFlurry that I said America was slacking on, which isn’t true because it wasn’t that good and their ice cream tastes whipped-creamish. NOT okay, everyone knows I hate whipped cream! So then we all sat around for a bit and chatted. We realized they had wifi so Briana and I went up to ask for the code to login and the guy looked at us and said it was only for Italian customers really rudely and walked away. Briana and I were like did that just happen? And I go could I have said discrimination? HAHA! We both found it hilarious but at the same time we were both like WHAT!?!? SO then we left and walked around to try and find wine to drink on the way back……..long day, we deserved it. Totally failed at that! So we went to the train station and waited by the fire for our train to come! Somehow this one was straight to Florence and we made it back about 9:45.

I raced home to get ready to go out because we weren’t going to let our day damper our night we had planned. I made it back over to their apartment and we all then went out to this club called Space, which is one of those things that you have to go to experience at least once if you’re here. I didn’t really want to go, but Amy and Briana convinced me to! And yes, I know everyone wants to know this, yes I also danced with the hottest Italian ever but he was from Milan so no he is not my boyfriend now. HAHA!

Then it quickly became 3:30 am and it was time for SECRET BAKERY! Every other time they have all gone, I usually am home in bed by then but I said this time I was going to go! The Secret Bakeries are the bakeries around town that are literally a secret and you just have to luckily know people who will tell you where they are. They are open in the middle of the night because they actually are making the pastries and what not for the cafes around time. It was so worth staying up for! I got a plain croissant and then Briana got a chocolate one and Amy got pizza and Haleigh got a croissant too. I swear I could have eaten like 17 of those things, they were to die for!! I cannot wait to go back probably this weekend! Haha! Cannot wait to bring Nikki to one too!!

Then we all went to bed and I woke up at about 11. Shelley Santel slept till 11 and stayed out till 430? Historic moment.

So I showered and did laundry. Then it was absolutely gorgeous outside so I walked around for a bit and then went over to their apartment again because we all were going walk around and shop! It was so nice outside-- we wish everyday would be like that! I finally wore capris and my sperries legitly because it was so nice out!!

SO we walked around for a bit and I found some really adorable shoes I am going to get! Then Briana and Haleigh were going to a church service at 6:30, so they wanted a snack. There are these things Alexa and I are waiting to get on National Waffle Day, they are these waffles you can get filled with gelato, nutella, syrup, or other things that when you walk by the stores, the smell of them automatically makes you want one! I can’t wait to get one soon!

Amy and I however wanted dinner and definitely, finally Kebab-ed it again! I had a mad craving for meat, def had to be filled. OMG it was so good as always!

Then I came home and skyped my mother and father, once we got it to work and I got to skype with Krystal, from my work, and her son Luke too! It was precious! I cannot believe how big he has gotten and I am so glad skype finally worked!!

This morning was rough. I am starting to get sick and I hate it. Special Events was a disaster because I was so out of it. This is review week since mid-terms are next week so I better start studying L! How do I do that again? Someone want to come help me?

Then I had Italian, which was dreadful cause I was so tired once again. Then I somehow made it through my workout and raced back for Customer Relations! Then I came home to finally eat dinner and start writing this! Haha!

Overall it was a pretty legit weekend spent with good friends! Yes Assisi was like an epic fail, but I hope to go back someday with better plans of getting there and on a day with better weather of course! I am so done with the cold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Assisi looked really pretty and everyone else said it is amazing, so hopefully one day soon we will return!

As for this week, hopefully my sickness goes away and Wednesday night we decided this past weekend, we are going to finally all watch Shindler’s List because both Briana and I are huge World War 2 history buffs. Then Thursday we are all going to the best pizza place apparently. Alexa described it to me and I am so excited for it! Then we are all going go out for my friend Chris’s birthday apparently! Sam and I possibly might go to Lucca on Saturday. Monday I have 2 midterms so I avoided planning anything big for the weekend!

Less than 2 weeks till NICOLE AUSTIN arrives in Florence!!!! Kleenex boxes are ready!

Almost a month till Sicily, less than a month for the still being booked Dublin!

St. Patty’s Day in Florence is planned and ready to be celebrated with shots of Jameson just for Pat Hogan J! I am so sad I am missing trivia night this weekend L!

But otherwise, more to come, this is getting long and I really want to watch the Amanda Knox movie Alexa told me about!!

More tomorrow. I AM SO BEYOND EXCITED for my baking class tomorrow and I don’t even know why J! But Valerie and I might be going to her bakery afterwards for canoli- that is only if I don’t eat too much in class J! HAHA! So doubtful that I will be getting canoli!

Miss you Americans J!

Tomorrow I will discuss baking and how I have completely planned out how to better my cheesecake making lifestyle. YAAAAAA I miss my kitchen-aid, my orange one.