Ciao Italia, Hello UK

Wow, so my last week in Italy was a busy one. I can't believe it went by so quickly, yet when I think about being at Newark Airport it seems like a million years ago. Of course as always the highlight of my week was the dishes we made in class, but I also gained 2 classmates this week. We still all made our own dishes, so it was nice having some company in the class. Monday in my Italian Regional Class and we studied the region of Piemonte. We made Agliata (Fresh Pasta with Walnut Cream Sauce), Cipolle Ripiene (Onions stuffed with Pork, Bread and Cheese) and Bonet (kinda like a Chocolate and Amaretti Caramel Flan). Tuesday for our Tuscany class we looked at the town of Pistoia and made Gnocchi Alla Pistoiese (Gnocchi made out of Spinach and Ricotta Cheese), Uccelli Scappati (a Stuffed Cabbage dish) and Ciambellone di Castagne (a chewy chocolate and marsala cake made with chestnut flour). And in my Vegetarian Class,my last cooking class:( we made Gnocchi di Carote al Rosmarino (Potato and Carrot Gnocchi with a Rosemary Sauce), Spuma di Carote al Bitto (a kinda carrot and cheese soufflé) and Torta di Carote (a very different then our American Carrot Cake). And on Thursday in wine class I tasted some really interesting wines from Southern Italy, particularly one from Sardinia where the fact that the grape are grown on an island really comes through in the saltiness of the wine. I'm going to add a recipe from each day over the course of this week starting with the Cipolle Ripiene. Also above is a picture from my last class with Chef Desy, we will pretend like its a good picture of me bc its the only picture I got in the kitchen. Also, also I should probably explain that the look on my face is bc I didn't know the picture was being taken not because he is grabbing my wrist. He was showing how to do that flippy thing with the pasta in the pan.

And sadly on Friday I had my last meal in Italy, and this morning I headed to England. And boy am I glad my return trip is not the same! My morning started with waking up at 4:30 am, getting picked up by a car service at 5 am (because I didn't trust I would find a taxi that early), getting a 2 hour flight from Florence to London-Gatwick, taking a shuttle to the train station, taking the Gatwick Express to Victoria, taking the Victoria metro line to King's Cross, not having the energy to drag my heavy bags over to platform 9 3/4 (but I will make myself on the way back), taking a train from King's Cross to Newcastle, taking a local train to Sunderland and getting in a cab to my dorms here. So needless to say if none of what I'm writing now makes sense, you understand why. Here in Sunderland I am in a 10 room dorm building with my 9 classmates at brewing school. So yes, that is me and 9 dudes. I have my own room and sink, but there is 1 toilet on each floor and 1 shower on each floor and one kitchen total (which BrewLab has completely stocked with food). I'm really glad I brought my shower flip flops. Some of my dorm mates have arrived but there is a big soccer game on right now, so they are not here and I haven't met them yet. After I settled in I went to the closest place to grab a pizza for dinner, and let's just say, I'm not in Italy anymore. I guess I will meet my dorm mates tomorrow because pathetically I'll probably be in bed by 8, I'm sooo exhausted.