Day 9: Becoming Chefs in Italy

     We met in the hotel lobby at 8:30 am to depart for Apicius International School of Hospitality. Once we arrived, they gave us each an apron and papers with cooking instructions on them. We were told to enter the beginner kitchen and stand by a cooking station. There were about 6 different stations with 3 different dishes. I happened to pick the station that was making pasta, and I was happy I got this station. We just went to the pasta lab and saw how pasta was made, and now I got to do it myself! Turns out, making pasta from scratch is no joke. There’s so much work that goes into it, but Im happy I can say that I made pasta from scratch in Italy! The other two stations made the sauce for the pasta, and a berry and cream dessert. The finished product was a delicious lunch that we were able to enjoy with some white wine! 

And the finished product...

       Later that afternoon, we met for our hotel tour. We toured the Lungarno Collections Hotels. They had to be some of the most unique hotels I’ve ever been in. The first Lungarno Hotel we visited was Portrait. Portrait is set right along the Ponte Vecchio, but it’s beautiful views arent the only thing that makes it special. Portrait believes in building the suite around the guest, making them feel more at home and more comfortable. They ask their guests for photos of themselves and their family before their stay, and when the guest arrives, those photos are put in frames all around their suite. I thought it was a really great idea to make guests feel more welcomed and comfortable.
      The next hotel was a short walk away, and called Continentale. This one might've been my favorite because I loved the open airy feel of it, and it was just overall really cool. I mean, their elevator had a couch in it!!! After seeing some beautiful rooms, we were taken to the rooftop bar area that had an awesome view.

Elevator with couch that fit all 14 of us!

        The last Lungarno Collection we saw was Gallery Hotel Art. There were black and white photos of celebrities on the walls (I took a picture of Christopher Walken). The outside of the hotel had spoons all over it, and one giant spoon on the ground. The spoons are a part of the new art installation called “Spoon, I eat Earth”. The spoons are a tribute to the Expo going on in Milan (that I mentioned in my second post) and the theme of the Expo is feeding the planet, giving energy for life. The designer, Simone D’Auria, stated “The Spoon is a perfect metaphor for the concept of nourishment, being the first utensil used to feed babies.” Overall, it was really cool seeing the Lungarno Collections Hotels. They were each unique in their own way, and it was interesting learning about their philosophy of their brand and guest satisfaction. 

       In the evening, we met in our hotel lobby for a happy hour. The guys that own the Hotel Arizona who had already been so great to us, wanted to give us some wine and snacks for our second to last night in Florence. (They were seriously so nice to us our whole stay!) We were so tired from the day that Kristina and I missed the first half of the happy hour, but we made it down for the last half and were able to have a glass of wine and a couple snacks.

Courtesy of Hotel Arizona!

      

    Since we had another free night to do whatever we wanted, half of us wanted to see the sunset at Piazzale Michelangelo again. The sunset was too good to just see once, and its a shame that the rest of the girls didn’t want to join us! Your loss ladies ;)  We left a little later than the previous night, and got up to the hill right as the sun was setting. We were basically sprinting to catch it. It was beautiful and we all sat on the steps and enjoyed some wine. It was more relaxing being there the second night, because the first night I was so concerned about getting photos. We sat on the steps until it got dark, then decided to check out the restaurant that was near the steps. 

       Our waiter was very friendly and excited to have us; he was so excited that when I asked him to take a picture of all of us, he wouldn't do it unless he was in it. Oh Italian men love attention and American women ;). We just shared appetizers, because the prices were a little much. After that we walked back down to the center of Florence and found a little restaurant on the side of the street and ate there. We tried to go out to our favorite bar Oibo, but when we got there we were all too tired to enjoy ourselves. Plus it was a Tuesday night and nobody was really out anyway. But I managed to get some pictures of Oibo, so you all can see! Sadly, one more day left in Florence. But dont worry, the fun isn't over yet!