L'aperitivo

I'm starting to appreciate my school for their daily organized activities. They advertised "incontro per l'aperitivo" (meeting for appetizers) for tonight at 6:30pm; however, when I arrived at the school, the huge front doors were locked, and I was soon joined by six other students who were wondering the same thing as me: WTML?!

Okay, maybe not the exact same thing.

15 minutes of waiting in the pouring rain later, we decided to make our own destiny. A student from New York said she knew of a good place for aperitivo near the Palazzo Vecchio (the bane of my existence today), but she didn't know exactly where. We set off in search of this place (ChiaroScuro) and arrived within 15-20 minutes. And uauu (wow)! What an awesome idea! This is how it works. You pay for a drink (not necessarily alcoholic) and are privy to an array of delicious appetizers displayed on a bar.

I ordered my first glass of red wine on this trip (!), a Tuscan one that the waiter recommended, and then set off to try my first course of aperitivi. Among the delights were:

• Pane fritto (fried bread)
• Fresh burrata-like cheese
• A platter of cold cuts (salame, mortadella, etc.)
• Three different sauces (one with funghi, a spicy tomato one, and a marinara)
• Roasted red peppers, eggplant, and other vegetables
• Couscous
• Pappardelle with panna (cream), peas, and pancetta
• Croissants and whipped cream

I think the idea was to eat these before going to dinner, but by the end of it, we were all too stuffed for more. 

I was really happy with the way things turned out. I met girls from Ecuador, Belgium, Austria, New York, and Russia, and we spoke in Italian for most of the evening. One of the girls from Ecuador, who was only 17 years old and was there with her 11-year old sister, could speak Spanish, Italian, English, and Japanese fluently, and will go to university in Switzerland where she will then learn French and German. Being a linguaphile myself (in fact, when I was first thinking about starting this blog last year, I had wanted it to be called "linguaphile" but it was taken!), I am in awe of this young lady. 

Final verdict? 

Wine: Good

Food: Good

Company: Great

Evening: A complete success

PS. As I finally caught up on my blogging tonight, I am realizing more and more how difficult writing in English is starting to be. I keep wanting to use Italian words or expressions and have to re-reread statements (because I already used to reread) to make sure they're grammatically correct. 

PPS. I'm sorry I didn't take pictures. This will be an excuse for you to come to Florence.

PPPS. Last one I promise. Maybe it's the wine talking, but I can really see myself living in Italy.