Un bambino del cibo

Salmon tartar. It's like a sashimi cake. And yes, I realize the picture above is steak tartar...

Salivation, French food is thy name. During our trip, we found the most amazing restaurant ever, thanks again to NYTimes travel section. Bistrot Victoires is fantastic, and has a very down to earth, every-day arrondissement-ers feel. There were French families and couples there eating. It was so fantastic that we went back a second night. Some of the others got this steak that had flaming thyme on top of it. My salmon tartar was insane... I've had tartar before, but never in a lump. Usually I've seen it in slices. For the arabs in the bunch, it was like Kibbey Neyeh, only made with salmon. Mom, you have to try to make that for Pascha this year.

I also have to confess, I caved again. I had duck. You can't go to Paris and NOT have Confit de Canard!  It was fantastic. Cooked so well it fell off the bone. Don't worry though. I used the prayer my Mosu taught me: "Dear Lord, grant me this wish. Turn this duck into a fish." I like to think he heard me.

It's also been a crazy couple of days here in Firenze. Jamie and I decided to try our hand at deep frying. We made Fiore di Zucche, or zucchini flowers. AMAZING. If you've never had zucchini flowers before, you need to go out right now and eat them. I don't even know how to begin to explain what they're like. I mean, they're flowers, but they're very vegetably? We also fried eggplant and zucchini sticks.

Which brings us to this morning. Jamie and I went to a cooking class on campus. The guy leading the session kept calling me "chef Matteo", so that was fun. And I learned that whenever you're making the base for a sauce, using white wine will clean the bottom of the pan (of burnt bits of pancetta and onion for example). Eggplant parm was also on the menu. The secret is to sprinkle the eggplant slices with salt and let them set for 2 hours before frying them. It gets all the extra water out of them. But what the people didn't do today, was adjust the rest of the recipe for the extra salt. YOU DON'T NEED ANY MORE SALT AFTER THE EGGPLANT! MY KIDNEYS ARE GOING INTO FAILURE! But still, it was delicious.

Ciao Bella!

"Chef Matteo" Yazge

Non e' Nancy!

That's not Nancy!

I was walking down the street today, and this totally happened to me. Someone started waiving, and I thought it was someone I knew. It wasn't. At all. I'm pretty sure she looked at me like I was a moron.

Speaking of seeing something familiar and then looking like a moron...

We found an American Apparel, and I promise that while in the picture it says American "pperal", it's the real deal. And because AA is part of our photo scavenger hunt, a photo shoot ensued... I promise that this pose is what one of the mannequins was doing in the window. Speaking of fashion though, everyone in Paris was very well dressed. Always. Even the babies. They looked like a bunch of midget J Crew models. I felt mildly underdressed the entire time we were in Paris.

BUT! I did find new shoes! Suede shoes! They're not blue though. So don't start singing or anything. Don't want to get over excited.

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Pparel Posin'" Yazge

Non l'ho fatto...

Me, using my greatest asset to hold the tower up...

I completely forgot about my mini-excursion to Pisa! Our flight to Paris didn't leave until halfway through the day, so Trieste and I spent the morning in Pisa. There isn't a whole lot to the city. Just the tower, and a church that you have to pay to see the inside of. I think the outside is pretty enough...

The tower also costs money. Everything costs money. Money, money, money. And it's in euros, so that means that it costs at least a million US dollars just to breathe the air. It reminded me of the Cake Boss episode where they make the cake that is an exact replica of the Leaning Tower? It was reminiscent because all there was to see for an hour was a tower, and it cost a lot of money. So instead we just sat on the steps and watched all the people taking pictures. It's really funny to watch people pose for the pushing-over/hold-up the tower pictures when you're at the wrong angle.

It's also funny to try to explain to Asian tourists that they didn't actually take a picture of you... especially when they're seriously convinced that they did take a picture. On the bright side, as long as you say "scusa" they think you're Italian, and not American.

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Tower-topplin'" Yazge

Paris, je t'aime

Look how photogenic we are! Oh, and the Tower doesn't look that bad either...

OK. So it's late, I realize, but I needed to start blogging. Otherwise it might not ever happen. My sinuses have been acting up ever since we first left Florence, coughing, sneezing, drippy, phlegm phlegm phlegm... Attractive, no? So I just took some cough syrup and a Zyrtec, and should be passed out in roughly 10 minutes. So let's do this fast!

I figured I'd start with the most easily recognizable part of our trip: La Tour Eiffel! It was the first part of Paris I saw as our bus from the airport rounded the corner at night. It was all lit up and just as romantic as everyone has ever described it. It was ironic, because I was reading My Life in France, the Julia Child memoir, and she was describing her first view of Paris. We share that. I also like to think we also share a God-given talent for cooking and a charisma that wins over the masses...

While we were taking pictures with the tower, we spotted these two wedding couples taking pictures in front of the tower. You know how I mentioned a while back that we were doing a photo scavenger hunt? Well one of the tasks was to get a picture with a bride and groom. One was to get a picture with Asian tourists (with points proportional to the number of Asians). Another extra 3 points for a picture in a foreign country. 2 bonus points if the picture is taken outside Italy. Because the two bridal parties were entirely Asian, and standing in front of the Eiffel Tower, Jamie and I scored SERIOUS points.

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Tower Touring and Point Scoring" Yazge

P.S. - I regret to announce that the trip to Barcelona has been cancelled. Meridiana cancelled our flight, and there was no way to reschedule in a cost- or time-efficient manner. So we are taking suggestions for what I should do that weekend. Current options include Torino, Geneva, stay in Florence and recreate our own Barcelona complete with tapas and lisps. Whoever comes up with the best plan of action (including an itinerary of exciting activities) gets an all-expense paid trip to join me!

Just kidding! But I'll bake you some cookies? That sound good enough? Awesome.

Bella Firenze, Ti Amo

Oh Florence, how I've missed thee...

I'm falling in love with this city all over again. Fall break was wonderful, and there will be many a blog post about it. But I'm so glad to be back home. I'm not cut out for jumping from one city to the next in rapid-fire succession. Nor do I particularly enjoy hostels... So glad I stayed with friends for two of the stops (thanks Liz and Emma!)

Also, I would never recommend to anyone trying to spend anything less than an entire week in Paris. Or London for that matter. There's so much to see that you really can't do it in just 3 or 4 days. When I go back to Paris I want to make sure I make it to the Luxembourg Gardens and the cemetery - the one where Oscar Wilde is buried. I know there are other people there too, but his name is the only one that jumps out at me.

You'd also be very proud of me for traveling with just one very small bag and a tote bag for an entire weeks worth of travel plus souvenirs. Such a good packer.

But I'm so tired, and just content to be "home". There's some outdoor concert going on one piazza over from us, and you can hear it if you leave our windows open. It's all classical choral and orchestral music, and stunningly beautiful. Jamie and I are just staring out at the Duomo from our window, listening to the music, sipping our champagne, and celebrating a job well done on an amazing week of travel.

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Fiorentino" Yazge

Mi ha derubato

Ugh... I'm so ANGRY!

Seriously?! SERIOUSLY!? I got pick pocketed... In a FARMER'S MARKET! I know I wasn't going to blog while I was on break, but this warrants it. I was walking through the green market here in London, trying to find things for Liz and I to make dinner with. And I got pick pocketed.

I've laughed at all the people from NYU Florence that have gotten pick pocketed, mainly because most of them were drunk when it happened. Of COURSE you're going to get pick pocketed. DUH. But I don't have an excuse. I just got robbed. Blind. They took my Flip Camera. So angry right now. I wasn't even dancing around like a drunken fool asking to be robbed. I was buying salmon. SALMON. I knew something smelled fishy...

So, this means that videos from both Paris and London are lost. But the good news is I still have my Nikon camera - which also takes video! So we'll just have to reenact the scenes from Paris and London. I'm working on it. I'm just too busy being angry. But I think God is trying to teach me a lesson in humility, because shortly after I got pick pocketed, I saw a man with no legs. I really didn't have much room to complain after that.

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Furioso" Yazge

CIAO CIAO!

I'm off!!!

I just tried to send things in the mail, but I couldn't figure out the mailbox. Go figure.

Really, I need to leave now. So, bye! See you all in a week!


Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Gypsy at Heart" Yazge