Day 8: Mangia bene, ridi spesso, ama molto. – Eat well, laugh often, love much.

       Monday began with a trip to Pasta Laboratory San Michele a Torri. Here, we met a man named Christian who spoke about the fresh pasta that he makes at the laboratory daily. He also spoke about wine, and the estate where the popular Chianti Classico is produced, and that the laboratory is named after. Fattoria San Michele a Torri is a large area of land where they produce not only the Chianti wine from vineyards, but also olive oil. After speaking, Christian showed us how he makes the pasta. First, he takes a piece of dough after is been rolled in a ball, and flattens it out. Once it’s flattened, he makes it longer and thinner by putting it through a pasta roller. 

After the pasta is long and thin enough, you cut it into a few rectangular pieces. Next, you can put one piece at a time through a different machine that slices it into long strands. The machine allows you to adjust for different types of pasta. It was pretty cool to watch!

       Christian was so down to earth and funny; you could tell he is passionate about what he does which made it very enjoyable to watch and learn. After making pasta, he was nice enough to let us try their specialty olive oil called Laudemio. He drizzled it over fresh bread and it was so incredibly delicious. My one regret is that I didn't bring any home with me. Sadly, he only sold big bottles and I knew I didn't have enough room in my suitcase. Fun fact: You know it’s a good olive oil when its green instead of yellow! We also got to try a little bit of red wine that was in a barrel right in the shop!
                                                

      Next up was the chocolate laboratory! How did we get so lucky to visit a pasta lab and chocolate lab in the same day? The chocolate shop was called Vestri and we were given tastings of their different chocolates. We also got to try their homemade gelato which was pretty good! As expected, most of us bought a little chocolate to take home. 

          Later that night, we took the advice of the people we met and decided to hike up to the hill to watch the sunset. The top of the hill is called Piazzale Michelangelo. We were warned that its a bit of a hike, and it definitely was. The walk up was such an incline that halfway up I was struggling, but determination won out and we all made it to the top in no time.

       And the view took our breath away (not that we had any breath after the hike). I can’t even try to describe the view. The pictures are pretty, but there’s nothing like just being there and seeing it in person. There were tons of people everywhere just relaxing and the atmosphere was peaceful and happy- nobody yelling and being obnoxious, everyone was respectful to each other because we were all there to appreciate the view. There were vendors to buy hot food and cold drinks and you could either stand by the railings or sit down on steps. The sun was beginning to set so we took as many pictures as we could while it lasted. After I took a million photos, I sat with some of the other girls and sipped on some wine out of coffee cups we got from our hotel lobby (classy right?!). One of the coolest moments of being there was as the sun began to set, half of the crowd started counting down. For a second, it felt like New Years Eve. “10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5…” And as they reached one, the sun went below the Ponte Vecchio bridge, and everyone began to clap. Such an amazing moment, and I was able to catch the last couple seconds of the countdown and cheering on video. (I would upload it to the blog, but for some reason google wont let me.)

      As silly as it may sound, looking at that sunset and seeing all of Florence below, was one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had. I think we all had a moment where we just sat there quietly, soaking it all in. It personally made me appreciate the trip so much more. Everyday was exhausting; between constant walking, early mornings and late nights that allowed for little sleep. But seeing that sunset reminded me of how fortunate I am to have had this opportunity.