Day one and two...

We flew out of Twin Falls Saturday October 13 around 1 pm.  Close to 20 hours later we arrived in Italy after a layovers in Salt Lake City and Paris.   It was mid afternoon when we stepped off the plane in Bologna.  

I was in culture shock exaggerated with extreme fatigue and all I could venture of Bologna was scary, brown and smoky.  We took a shuttle bus from the airport to the train station and by the time we arrived I though for sure we would be killed. (jet lag makes me paranoid)  I wish now I would have taken pictures of the train station, but I was too afraid to open my bags on asurety I would be mugged.  The crowds were stifling and the train station filthy.  What had I gotten myself into???

The train ride to Florence was uneventful, but stepping off the train brought back the feelings of uneasiness and fear.  We walked maybe three quarters of a mile to our hotel through swarms of people.    I'm claustrophobic...to say the least...and walking with my luggage with hundreds of people made my blood pressure skyrocket.  Surprisingly to me, we were surrounded with high-end shops the entire walk to the hotel.  We were buzzed into the large double doors that led to our hotel, a bed and breakfast on the 4th and 5th floors of a tall building, right next to a large baby and maternity store.  I thought it was fitting.  

Walking into the "lobby" of the building, once again I thought I was being led to my death.  The entry way was dark and dingy, the elevator was itty bitty- barely held two people with luggage, and we were shoved out by a lady I affectionately named "the creeper"... honestly the scariest lady I have ever seen.  

We got to the bed and breakfast and were greeted by a friendly balding man wearing pants three sized too small.  I had to look at the floor the entire time.  I probably looked horrified when he asked for our passports.  What the?  I found out later this is standard practice in Europe.  Still, I don't like handing over my passport for anyone.

We were showed to our room, passports in hand, and I was happy with our very small but very clean room.  It did smell like old lady perfume but this fact was made up by the fact that the owner, feeling bad I couldn't eat the complimentary breakfast, bought me three boxes of gluten free crackers and cookies with jam.  They were all better than anything I have had in the States.  This hotel also had wifi so Steve and I were able to text my mom and facetime our kids.  

It was past 6pm when we checked into our hotel, even though we had been up for over 24 hours, we showered and got dressed up to attend a fancy meet and greet dinner for Steve's dental convention.  It was held at the hotel where the meetings were which also housed a 5 star resturant.  I was exhausted, but wasn't about to pass up a meal like that.  It turned out to be a five course meal that included broccoli and lobster soup (I ate Steve's lobster), pasta with truffles (my first time eating truffles- delicious!), fish, lamb chops (rare as rare can be, and I loved them) and fresh fruit for dessert.  Which, any fruit that I do not have to buy and cut up is dessert enough for me.  

After dinner there was a small concert by a husband and wife piano/trumpet duo from Salt Lake City.  They were wonderful, but we did leave early on account of both of us being ready to fall asleep on the table.

After a sketchy nights sleep (can't sleep smelling old lady perfume), we woke up early to venture off to Steve's first meeting and my cooking class.  But before we left, I checked out our view.  This was taken looking left out our hotel window.  The building back center is part of a the famous Piazza dell Repubblic square in Florence.  Our hotel was right downtown next to this square and one block away from the Duomo cathedral.

This was the building directly in front of our window.  I thought the details on the building were really beautiful.

To catch a taxi up to the dental conference, we had to walk a mile away from our hotel.  Part of the walk included walking over the Ponte Vecchio bridge.  Here is a view of the Arno River as the sun came up.  The white balance on my camera is not wrong, the river is indeed brown.

I turned around from taking the last picture, and took this one. 

Turned right and took this shot.  This was the view heading the direction back to our hotel.

During the day, this bridge is crawling with people and the shops, which consisted only of jewelry stores, are all open.

I moved over and took a picture looking up.  I love that all the shops had houses and apartments above them.

(Really glad I don't live in one of them!)

After a  short and slightly expensive taxi ride (they ranged from 15 to 28 euro depending on the taxi and the time of day), we arrived at the Ville la Massa where Steve's meetings were being held.  It was out of the city on a hillside and was beautifully maintained. 

Here is the view from the back of the hotel.  

We were able to eat breakfast at the hotel every morning Steve had meetings.  Breakfast consisted of fruits, breads, cereals, juice (the fresh squeezed orange was my favorite), cold meats, bacon and eggs (which were a little runny for me- Steve loved them).  After breakfast the first day Steve started meetings and I went to my cooking class.  It was in the kitchen of the five star restaurant and taught by the Italian chef who didn't speak English.  His interpreter spoke extremely good English and between listening to her and watching the chef work I can't believe how much I learend.  We were taught how to make pasta from scratch.  I of course asked about gluten free pasta and the chef left the room and came back with a bag of gluten free flour which he said as he handed it to me, "For you."  He then told me how to adjust the recipe to make it work gluten free.  What he showed me was more crepe-like than pasta, but who cares...it was delicious!  We learned how to shape many different pastas, make a spinach ricotta cheese filling, and three different sauces to serve with them.  I made one of them last night and my kids gobbled it up and Carter even said, "Mom, this is delicious!"  It consisted of chopped fresh tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, fresh basil and a generous amount of fresh parmesen cheese.  It was super easy and fast.  My next favorite sauce included baking the spinich stuffed pasta in straight cream with parmesean cheese.  Um...yes, how could it not be good?  The last sauce was butter, fresh sage and parmesean. (I think I gained 5 lbs just writing that down.)  I'm planning on making all three sauces sooner than later, taking pictures and writing down the recipe on this blog so I don't forget!  

After my class, even though I had eaten enough in class, I joined Steve for lunch at the restaurant.  Who passes up a free five star lunch?  The chef again altered the meal to make it gluten free and we had shrimp and greens salad, pasta and then ice cream for dessert.  

After lunch I joined Steve for his afternoon class.  I gained a new respect for Steve and what he has learned for a profession and the stress it entails.  One of the topics of the lecture was how to take care of emergency bleeds during implant surgery...it included pictures.  I regretted part of my lunch at one point.  I think my husband and his knowledge and dental skills are amazing.   I'm grateful he is willing to work everyday for our family.

I'm also grateful he didn't mind me listening over his shoulder during his classes and drinking more diet coke than my faire share!   

Other than the food and the classes, our favorite part of the hotel was the...

Ferraris!

The hotel had three Ferraris for rent.  It cost 200 euro an hour with a 10,000 euro deposit. The exhange rate while we were there was $1.30 for 1 euro.  Yikes.

The drive may have been WAY out of our price range, but the pictures were free.

So...for our boys who are obsessed with cherry red Ferraris...these pictures are for you!

Steve looked good sitting on this car.  

(I gasped when he sat down...are you really going to sit on it?)

I might have to get this picture blown up poster size and hang it on my ceiling!  :)

However, I think I look even better!

Maybe my next car will have to be red. 

(Although a red Honda doesn't seem quite so cool.)