Eventful Italy

Mamma Mia! So much has been going on here in Calabria!
Yesterday while I was blogging I had a peach, and a handful of nuts before we went off to visit a local church. It was nice, lots of history, beautiful mosaics and frescos. Oh yea, and then we went mountain climbing.
I am NOT kidding when I say running 10 miles did not compare to these steep, steep slippery hills- in FLIP FLOPS nonetheless! Nothing could prepare our group for the intense workout we got during that 30 minute hike! Whew! At least we got to see a very unique fresco at the end of our hike- it's hidden, only seen when splashed with water. As magnificant as it was, the fresco, the view... I was exhausted.


I drank SO much water, and immediately reached for a big piece of soft, spongy bread from the basket at the table when dinner started. The first course was very interesting- Antipasti Tipici per Calabria- typical appetizer plate in Calabria. Mine had some cheese, eggplant, sundried tomato, fried veggies, and cippole- onions. I ate all but a few vegetables and one piece of cheese, the walk gave me a BIG appetite!

So big, I almost finished the secondo piatto- shells with herbed ricotta and green beans. Delicioso! They also served us some caprese salad, which I had 1 piece of.


Dessert was macedonia- fruit salad. It was tasty, but our sweet teeth weren't satisfied yet! We stopped across the street at Bar Centrale to get some gelato (mine was Tiramisu!) for the way home.


On the way home we had a quite interesting experiance when a group of Italian boys began following us down the road! We ran all the way up the stairs to the apartment, and they STILL came to our door asking us to let them in! Obviously we refused- it was both scary and amusing at the same time! Oh, italian boys... hehe

This morning, we were tired from yesterday's intense walk so Carolyn and I decided to do a 20-minute yoga session I downloaded from Yoga Download- it was GREAT! We both felt awake and strengthened after. What an easy way to get a great, calming workout!
After yoga, we ate some breakfast- muesli with a tiny bit of leftover soy milk, and a fruit/coconut yogurt.

I snacked during class- a mini clif bar, and a big apple on the way to our lab. The lab was the best so far- it was a cooking lab at Bar Stilla- they taught us how to make decorations with zucchini, carrots, and cocomelo- watermelon! It was so great, I even made a zucchini flower myself!

They gave us a treat while were there- the best pistachio macaroon I have EVER tasted, fresh out of the oven!

For lunch, we were very hungry so instead of trekking home we stopped at Bar Centrale for Panini- I had my favorite mozzarella/tomato/basil and was satisfied.

This afternoon, after studying for my first quiz tomorrow, Danielle and I were CRAVING gelato, so we said what the heck! Today is a sweet day- it's hot here, so it was a great way to cool down. I'm sitting here with my amarena and nevena, happily blogging and emailing until we watch a movie at the bar and have another great dinner.

I hope all is well in the states, Ciao per oggi!