Well i am in my final week in florence, i wake up today to find a full on thunder storm happening in the garden, (and elsewhere..) but at least my clothes are getting a double washing..
as you might imagine i am making this week as near a perfect gastronomical treat as i can manage, i had one of my favourite sandwiches for lunch, a mini baguette with prosciutto and buratta (a creamy mozzarella like cheese), sausage pasta for dinner, and many more treats to come this week, including the special apple cake, many porchetta panini, and gnocchi with peposa (peppered steak in a red wine sauce..)
So over the last few weeks i have had some culinary delights, most recently we went to Perseus on saturday, where we had the famous bistecca fiorentine, a massive nearly 2-inch t-bone steak, which is a feast for any mortal...
the night before we had dinner cooked by the neighbours, they cooked roman food, with four cheese risotto, (should be crunchy apparently) and then many nibbles including my favourite, deep fried mozzarella stuffed courgette flowers... very special , followed by cheese, and then my recent speciality- lemon meringue pie..
The weekend before we went to Roma for a long weekend, stayed in a very fancy hotel, and ate like Romans! i was particularly enamoured with the Trevi fountain, and a place called Nemi in the hills, where i ate hare stew, wild strawberry tiramisu, and found my new favourite snack, spicy pork jerky...
The weekend before that was a real gluttonous experience... (compared to the rest of time...) we went to a festival called Pitti Taste. You pay 12euros to get in, 5euros as a deposit for a wine glass, and then walk around the 150 odd stalls and taste the food. You cant buy anything there, there's a shop at the end where you can, it's all about the tasting, we tasted everything, 6 hours of prosciutto and parma, tiramisu and tagliatelle, pecorino and prosecco, beer and biscotti, the list is endless, as was the food. There were chocolates, biscuits, cakes, sweets, every possible meat and drink imaginable... We only just managed to get out alive, one of the strangest things i tried was 20 year old balsamic vinegar with molasses in...
Further back, i am afraid has been relegated to a different part of my brain that is for thbe moment inaccessible...
Apart from eating i have been visiting things, saw the magnificent David, and realised for the first time, that it is David of david and goliath fame... whoops...also saw the birth of venus and the primavera, by Botticelli, both pretty beautiful paintings..
I also got a new laptop, a mini one, on which i am currently writing, it's amazing, i took off all the useless programs, and made the graphics really basic, and it works as well as any other laptop.. It was only £200!
I am currently packing, i have to move out of my room on wednesday, and i am slowly realising quite how much stuff i have... Ooh pancake day, i hope everyone else had plenty, i made the best pancakes i have ever tasted... and i have kept my modesty intact too..
