Florence & Pisa

-
We had a very busy weekend because not only did we go to FICO, we also went to Pisa and Florence! 
Pisa is a very beautiful city, but there is not much to do in it. If I was to suggest the way to see Pisa to someone, it would be to stay in Florence and take a train for 1 hour to Pisa. It is definitely a place that you want to see, mainly because of the Leaning Tower, but it would not be a place that I would want to spend too much time in. 




We also went to Florence, which is absolutely breathtaking. The Duomo is the largest that we have seen and it is so detailed and colorful. Pictures do not do it justice! 




Also in Florence, there are a lot of pastry shops! I was definitely in my glory because every time we turned a corner, there was another one. It was hard to resist the temptation, but I did it! From torrone to chocolates to cupcakes and everything in between, there is something for everyone's sweet tooth. We went to one bakery and it was so gorgeous inside and everything was so detailed. The cookies were decorated as animals and they had "Macaral," which is a macaron that the chef changed the name to put his own twist on it. I thought this was something creative and really made me think about different pastries you could do that with. I, of course, needed to get one and see what they tasted like. The shell was perfect, with a nice crunch, but also a bit of a chewiness to it. I was not a fan of the filling as it tasted like an under whipped buttercream that had no other flavor than butter. There was also no jam or ganache inside, also disappointing, considering it was supposed to be rose'. Italy is definitely not known for macarons, but I had to give it a try!


Florence was beautiful with a rich history and wonderful restaurants. I wish we had been able to spend a whole weekend there, but 5 hours was all that we got. At least we were able to see it and try the cuisine of Tuscany!

With love,
Baylee

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Before our Adventure

-
Hello everyone! I wanted the first post to be a little background of Logan and I to let you see where it all started. We are both excited to share our journey in Italy with you! While attending The Culinary Institute of America, I met my best friend, Logan. We were lucky enough to have each other throughout the very vigorous programs that we were apart of. I received my degree in Baking & Pastry Arts and Logan received his in Culinary Arts of March 2017. Now, we are both working towards our Bachelor's degree in Business Management with an Italian Concentration. I am originally from Massachusetts and Logan is from Missouri (I know, they are far apart!). We both come from culinary backgrounds that we obtained at our high schools. I attended Taunton High School where I had some of the greatest chef instructors, Erin Carerra and Sarah Gibson, that helped push me to be the person I am today. I was a ProStart student, therefore a part of the MRA. I did more than just culinary...
Read more

First Weekend Adventure: Ugento & Torre di San Giovanni

-
Image
Today was a fun-filled adventure to say the least! This will be a long post, but I promise it is worth the read!      We started off our day around nine in the morning when we went to the marcato di frutta (fruit market - food market). This posed to be more difficult than we thought, but we were able to get lost in Ugento! We came to a market that was composed of clothes, shoes, different housing goods, and beautiful flowers. We realized that saying "Dov'e' il marcato?" brought us to this huge market, rather than the food one. Italian Phrase of the Day: Dov'e' (il marcato)_______? Means where (is the market)? I was finally able to buy a water bottle though which was a great find! We ended up finding the food market, just a little ways from the other one. We walked into the pescheria (fish shop/area) and walked into Chef Odette and Dominico (he worked with Chef Odette in NYC and is now the purchaser of all the ingredients daily for class). They brough...
Read more

Our trip to Milan

-
Image
Logan and I traveled to Milan this weekend, a mini weekend gateway! It was really nice for just the both of us to travel the two of us. On our trip, we had a lot of delicious food and experiences. I wanted to share a bit of our journey through photos below!  First stop: L'ov Milano  This was a small little restaurant/cafe' with excellent food, staff, and atmosphere.  Pasta cabonara: No it was not really the way Chef taught us in class, but it was absolutely delicious. Seasoned to perfection, al dente pasta, and an egg "sauce" like no other.   Logan & I shared a ceasar salad... no this was not like any other ceasar salad that I have ever had, but it was very tasty. There was chicken, apple, and dill on both radicchio and lettuce. The dressing was a creamy dill, which had a very fresh and fragrant taste.   This was a "flourless chocolate torta," but really it should be named best dessert in Italy. The bottom was more of a cookie cr...
Read more