'when in nemi!' -courtney b.

my home sweet home!
the palace is the white building on the left.

first few days 'at home' in the palace. LOVE it! i didnt take any pictures before everyone got here - guess i need to steal some from someone. class has been - well class. yesterday was SLOW with lectures about the same stuff that we learned before we left auburn...but today was a field trip! i had an 'expert of the day' assignment due. we are assigned something, like i was assigned castel gondolfo for today, and have to research it and present it to our peers on the field trip. basically you are an 'expert' tour guide.

1st italian gelato (yesterday 2.3.2010)
the left is courtney's she had some chocolate concoction, and i had lemon!
YUM! best in this area - only a 5 minute walk up the hill.

sleeping picture!
cyd fell asleep on skype.

today the field trip began with a stop in franscati. this area has a infamous cookie that depicts a woman with 3 breasts (two for milk and then the middle one for wine). they are also popular for white wine (look for it when you go out to eat next time!)

the cookie of the infamous 3-breasted woman.

soon a local spotted us and came to say hello (or i guess 'caio!' - not many people speak english in these smaller towns), and would not leave us alone! he even followed us into the bakery telling us that he was 'a george clooney.'

cydney (pre-proposal, yes this loser got down on one knee and serenaded her in the store!) and her 'wannabe' george clooney.

next stop on the field trip was castel gondolfo. this was my turn to be the tour giude! i got up on the microphone at the front of the bus and began 'free styling,' because my document would not print last night from the printer (duh- technology hates me). i mean not that much goes on in castel gondolfo anyways.
*it is where the pope has 'summered' since the 1600's
*when rome hosted the summer olympics, the center for canoeing and kayaking was constructed here (and still used today for training)
*and they have a big peach festival at the end of the july

but basically people only come in the summer months for a chance to see the pope.

some 'scars' from WWII on a building in castel gondolfo.

first gelato of thursday (2.4.2010). ironically called 'malaga.' it is creme with dried fruit, sadly it was grain-y. but i did wonder, does the pope ever eat gelato from here? it was right in the piazza.

using the first mail box EVER! sending my dad a postcard from where the pope summers!

once we were done at castel gondolfo we headed to nemi for lunch. nemi was great. it had great lunch at a local little place on the lake and then we had some mini-strawberries. these strawberries are typically harvested during the months of may and june, and the variety we had today were hydroponically grown - still great! although our teacher swears they are better when in season (i don't see how he can can be correct!)

tarts in nemi with the MINI strawberries.

the tart i had for dessert.
AMAZING. the filling tasted almost like banana custard. and the strawberries were VERY sweet. yummmmmmmmmm

the trout i had for lunch. came from the lake in nemi. very tasty, but i was also VERY hungry.

last 'desert' of the day (it was barely 4:00 and i was already up to 3!), i had been hunting for banana flavored gelato and unable to find it. so since i found it at the same place as the tart, courtney convinced me to 'go big, or go home.' and reminded me that when in nemi, i should so as the nemi-ans do. so i opted for the second dessert :)

banana gelato! yay! i found you.
more like the first gelato i had. it even had little pieces of banana!

i fell like this blog is going to be turning into the 'gelato diaries.' one of my goals while i am in italy for the next few months is to have gelato every day (yes every day) and try as many flavors as possible and then tell you about them. hope that you enjoy...