the cooking lesson

so today was my big cooking lesson. and all i can say is that it was fabulous. we made a fava bean and mint bruschetta (pronounced brew-SKAY-tah), homemade gnocchi with pesto sauce, veal and artichokes and for dessert an orange custart tart with almonds.

there were three students in the class, including me. the other two were a couple from denver, who were very nice. the chef, barbara, was also great. she was, of course, fluent in italian, but she also spoke english with barely an accent. we complimented her on her english and she said, "it could be better." then she used the word oxidized.

our little palace in firenze is not all it is cracked up to be. there was no hot water this morning. that is one of the primary things that can turn my mood in a snap. and i ran into the table and chairs in the middle of the night on my way to the bathroom and nearly scared tim out of the bed. but, now we have learned how to turn the water heater on, so we are hoping for a warm shower soon.

we also visited the academia museum today. it was very anticlimactic. the david was, of course, awe inspiring, as were the prisoners, but the rest of the museum only rates an eh. most of the paintings are copies. i should probably explain the prisoners. they are unfinished marble statues michelangelo did not complete before his death. many look like humans trying to emerge from the rock, but cannot. hence the name the prisoners.

tim is well on his way to becoming a gelatto connesiour. he is talking about having a well rounded gelatto experience, so no more chocolate for him. he is on to the unpronouncable flavors.

time for some beauty sleep. we have to be at the uffizi early tomorrow. we are also going to try to get to the medici palace and the piti palace.

caio!