A week with my parents!

Finally another post! Sorry its been so long - luckily I have lots to report from the week's adventures while my parents were in Italy. We started off here in Florence, and I got to show them all the great places I've discovered around my new home. I think their favorite meal was Zeb, which is probably my favorite place as well. The pesto on my dad's pasta was fantastic, unfortunately I have no idea what made it so good so it will be hard to replicate. After a few days here, we headed to Torino (Turin in Italian) the first capital of Italy. My dad had some work to do there, so my mom and I had a great tour of some of the city and got to go to a palace of the Savoy's a little ways out from the city. Lucky for us, there was an exhibit of the Faberge eggs at the palace. The Faberge eggs (52 in total) were made for the Russian Czar in the early 1900's, using minerals found throughout the region. They are truly fantastic. Now only 31 of the eggs can be found and are held by various people, we only got to see 9 of the eggs, but Faberge also designed MANY other things for the royal families and they were on display as well. Here's a picture of one of some eggs so you can get an idea of what they are, in case you've never heard of them. They all had surprises in them also! I've never seen something so elegant and detailed. 

Torino is also known for its chocolate, of which we made sure we tried the best! Gianduja is the type they are known for, it is cut in a triangle shape. We tried about every kind and then got some to bring home! Its so creamy and unlike any chocolate you can find in the US, I don't think I'll ever be able to pick up a candy bar again. We also visited Eataly - a market that sells the best quality of the best Italian products. They feature the products that encompass the true Italian traditions. We got some things to bring home and sat down to have dinner with my dad's friend in Torino. It was a great meal! My mom also found her new favorite wine here. 

Say cheese!

Alberto showing us some wine and my mom's dish of cardo (a relative of celery) that was roasted with cheese and bread crumbs.

We came back to Florence so that Saturday we could go to the 42nd Annual Truffle Festival in San Miniato.  Not chocolate this time, but truffles as in the underground mushroom. These delicacies are at a high price point, so these kinds of festivals are great to get some of the products for a discounted rate! We also got to eat some dishes made with them by vendors. It was a great last day to spend with my parents and seeing a little bit of the countryside after the cities was great. 

Haha, visibly excited

My pasta was made with truffle butter and freshly grated truffle :) It was incredibly creamy and flavorful, so my mom and I ran back and got some butter to bring home!

Great pic of my parents and beautiful view!

A few things I forgot to mention: 

We also got to stop by and see my family in Chiavari on our way to Torino. Between my Italian and Valeria's English we did alright!

I also got some real Italian leather boots! Haha not huge news but I love them and had to share. Picked up lots of gifts and sent them back with my parents. I had a wonderful time with them and was sad to see them go. Partly because now I know that my time here is short - just 3 more weeks!

This coming weekend, Sicily! Stay tuned.

One love,

VA