Submitted by Amanda Legotte on the 2016 spring semester program in Rome, Italy…
This weekend was nothing short of amazing. On Thursday, I took a cooking class with a professional Italian chef. SO COOL. We made an artichoke salad, pasta carbonara and for dessert, chocolate and ricotta cake. We made everything from scratch including the pasta, which was definitely my favorite part. There were about 15 of us in the cooking class and the chef who was running it was hilarious. I learned a lot – like that the pasta dishes that originated in Trastevere (the part of Rome that I live in) are carbonara, amatriciana and cacio e pepe. He said eating these dishes while you’re here is the equivalent of seeing the Vatican, the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain. Good to know.
On Friday, I took a trip to Tuscany. We visited two different places – Montepulciano and Montalcino. I didn’t want to miss one second of the beautiful scenery. The views that we saw on the trip were like something out of a movie – only better. Those views were honestly the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I still can’t get over it. I wish my camera did a better job of capturing it because I really want to share this.
