Foodie Friday

     So here comes parte due (like my italian?) of Courtney pretending she is a Food Network correspondent. I mean a girl can dream right? I literally cannot rave enough about the food I have eaten today and it has put me in the greatest of moods. As mildly pathetic as I just made myself sound, my hope is that by sharing my food finds, other people will try it out for themselves and have their own little pick-me-up. So up first: The Oil Shoppe.

I have heard a lot of great things about this place so it has definitely been at the top of my hit list. And awesome news guys...it's only ten minutes from my apartment. The Oil Shoppe has an endless amount of possibilities. They have over 20 preset paninis to choose from but you can even make your own if you want. You have a choice of one meat, one cheese, three vegetables and a sauce. Amazing, right? I literally had the hardest time deciding what to order because everything sounded just so good. I finally chose to have a panini with chicken, mozzarella, pesto, lettuce and tomato. You get a choice of 3 different breads as well. Like usual I opted for the whole wheat. They also have salads, fries, onion rings and desserts there too if you aren't in the mood for a panini, but anyway back to my sandwich.

look at that baby.

As expected the panini was delicious and the pesto really made it wonderful. It was quickly inhaled, no doggy bag needed. What made it taste even better was that it was just 4 euro for such a generous portion. Err Panera Bread who? I was also given a frequent user card aka after you buy 10 paninis you get one free. Sadly, for my body's sake that free panini may not be too far away from my future. I already know that the next time I go, I am ordering the grilled cheese with sauteed mushrooms and truffle sauce. Oh yeah.

Even though I was so satisfied from my lunch at the Oil Shoppe...my next target was the Florence Chocolate Festival. I have been anticipating the start of this all week. It is ten days long. TEN DAYS. I'm screwed.

It was free samples galore and I was loving every second of it. I tried chocolate liquor, basil chocolate (awesome), lavender chocolate, hazelnut cream chocolate, yadda, yadda, yadda. Everything was so tempting. Basically a girl's dream come true. They had fondue, dried fruit covered in chocolate, hot chocolate aka melted chocolate in a cup. Once again I had the hardest time trying to figure out what to purchase but THEN I spotted some girls eating this beauty.

DONE AND DONE.

Lauren and I quickly pounced and ordered our own. It was a fudgey brownie/cake with an orange jelly in the middle and steaming chocolate poured all over the top. I can't even put into words how absolutely delicious this was. There was chocolate on my face, chocolate on my hands/gloves/ teeth...basically all over EVERYTHING. Apparently I turned into an animal and could not control myself. I can only imagine what I looked like eating this thing but sadly I'm kind of okay with that. It is a blessing and a curse that I pass this festival on the way to my classes...but I mean lets be real...it's mostly a blessing.

(that's the face of the happiest girl in the world)

Ciao!

When in France...Eat Fries?

     You know those moments in life that are so completely ridiculous that you think to yourself "this can't possibly be happening right now" and thus it leaves you questioning all reality? Well...I think it's safe to say that I had quite my fill of those moments this weekend. As part of the study abroad package I guess you could call it, we are granted the opportunity to go on two different excursions. My first excursion was this past weekend and we made the trip to Monaco, Nice and the French Riviera. Let me start by saying that a 4AM wake-up call is rough, and even more so when you resemble a pack mule and it takes you over 20 minutes to walk to the bus. Once we were on the bus, everyone passed out and to be honest the 5-hour trip to Monaco flew by. We picked up our tour guide Bernadette along the way (although I swear the bus never completely stopped moving) and she pointed out some pretty cool stuff, ie: the exact spot Grace Kelly met her demise, morbid huh?  Once we were off of the bus, we also walked by a place of happier times for Grace Kelly, the Cathedral where her and Prince Rainier III of Monaco got married, and then we saw the changing of the guards. As you can imagine Monaco is absolutely stunning.

Unfortunately, we didn't have the opportunity to walk around Monte Carlo and channel the Selena Gomez movie because we were starving and lets just say it took us awhile, and by awhile I actually mean the whole time, to find a place that would serve the nine of us. BUT hey I got to eat a crepe and I mean we did get this view of it. Better than nothing, right?

    So next destination: Nice. This is where our second stop and hotel was for the night. We could not be more excited for a HOT SHOWER and French television. I immediately flipped on any channel. Ironically, the Amanda Knox lifetime movie was on, but I didn't care because it was TELEVISION and well I haven't seen that invention since I left America. It was also so so nice to be able to steam up a bathroom and have water pressure that consisted of more than a dribble. We all lied around until it was time to go to the dinner that LDM set up for us...this is where it gets good. We were told that we were going to be served a traditional French dinner, with an appetizer, entree and dessert. Being hungry college kids who have been stuck on a bus for hours, we were delighted with the prospect of promised vegetables and a free French meal. In reality the restaurant moved us all in and out within 30 minutes, our vegetables were French Fries, the wine may have actually been balsamic vinegar and the dessert was a pastry made of an ambiguous fruit (maybe pineapple? maybe mango?). It was the most absurd experience ever and our table was dumbfounded. Let me illustrate the scene for you with some pictures.

So all in all Nice was a bust and not nice at all (get it? heh). Well actually I shouldn't say that because we went to a casino and it was so pretty on the beach in the morning.

But our next stop was Saint Paul and then Cannes and I loved both especially Cannes. In Cannes, Amanda and I got separated from everyone and decided to eat at a real French restaurant and avoid any form of a french fry. Let me tell you, french fries were on every menu. Who knew they were so popular in France? I mean I know the word "french" is in the name and all but I really thought it was just an American thing, whoops. Anyway, we found this lovely restaurant called "La Plage" where everyone was so sweet. We ended up eating things I would never eat in America aka fried baby fish and sea bass (err desperate times???).

Trust me they tasted a lot better then they look (try to ignore the eyes). It was also really cool to go to the red carpet where the Cannes film festival is held. 

So afterwards we made a couple of more stops in France and then finally made our journey back to Firenze. They played "Me, Myself & Irene" for us on the bus, which I'm pretty sure is the strangest choice ever but I'm not complaining. So all in all, despite the "wtf" moments, the trip was beautiful, cold (emphasis on the cold) and something we are all going to look back on and laugh about.

Avoir!

Gusta Pizza

     If you are as big of a fan of the Food Network as I am, then surely you have seen the show "The Best Thing I Ever Ate." For those of you who aren't familiar, please turn on your televisions now. It is basically a show where everyone's favorite Food Network stars and chefs, like Bobby Flay, Ted Allen and Giada De Laurentiis (just to name a few) share their favorite dishes from restaurants all across America. Each show is catered to a theme like "Best Fried Chicken" or "Best Dessert." The concept is simple yet brilliant. It is easily one of my favorites to watch and it always leaves me hungry a.k.a I've learned to never watch it at night.

     So as you all know, I am Food Network deprived here in Florence. My hours of watching "Diners. Drive-In's and Dives," "Paula's Home Cooking" and "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" are no more, at least for now. So, my solution you ask? Pretend I'm in my own version of the show...PIZZA edition. Before I even arrived here I was told to go to Gusta Pizza. Everyone assured me that it would be the best pizza I would ever eat so I knew I had to make it my mission to go as soon as possible...and well today my mission was complete guys. Despite the fact that it was flurrying outside, five of my housemates and I (with wrist wallet strapped on) made our journey across the river. It was about a 10-15 minute walk and I may have lost feeling in my face but it was worth every second of it.

There was a bit of a long line when we first arrived since Gusta has made quite the name for itself. When it was our turn, we ordered six Margherita pizzas and waited anxiously since we were all starving (and excited). Finally, our number was called and I'm pretty sure we immediately started scarfing down our food, once pictures were finished of course.

The pizzas were such a generous portion. Everything about it was just delicious. The pizza tasted so so fresh and was light on the stomach. PERFECTION. All of the flavors were just so in sync with each other. I sound crazy trying to describe it but I wish I could share a piece with all of you. I could have easily finished the whole thing in one sitting but I decided to take half of it home to enjoy another time...or in about an hour from now. I will definitely be making a trip back very soon. And hey if you ever find yourself in Firenze definitely check it out, you won't be disappointed!