Italy, The Festival of the White Truffle ( la tartoufo)

Hi Everyone,

I just got back today from Italy ! I was very privileged to be invited by my host club here in Belgium to go to Italy with them for the Festival of the White Truffle. The White Truffle is like the Black truffle found in France except the White is more rare, and has a different taste to it and a stronger scent. The truffle is not a chocolate truffle at all nor a mushroom but a type of Fungi and can even be considered as a disease of certain trees. My voyage began early Saturday morning on the 17 of November, and when I say early I mean I was picked up at my house at 3:45 am after sleeping only a few hours. Our flight left around 6:30 from Brussels -Sud or Charleroi on Ryanair. Ryanair is such a great idea and system you can basically fly anywhere in in Europe for around 50 Euros round trip depending on where you are going. We arrived in Pisa after a one hour 30 minute flight. We took the bus to the train station where we deposited our luggage and then took the bus to the old ramparts of Pisa.

There is the Cathedral and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was beautiful ! We had a guide who took us around and showed us and explained the different history. Vincent (a Rotarian) and I were the only one's that went up into the Tower of Pisa while the other's in the group went a visited the old cemetery. There is only allowed to be 35 people in the tour at once, now because they just reinforced it with cables under ground and still has a potential to fall if enough people are on the leaning side at the same time. To get up to the top you take a spiraling staircase with lots of steps. At the top there is an amazing view, with Bells and the Pisa flag at the top. We lucked out because it was a beautiful sunny day ! Afterwards we met up with the group and visited the Dumo and the Baptistery (I think that's what it is called). And we ate lunch in a outside cafe, in the sun and I had fresh cannolis!

Later in the afternoon we took a train to Saint Miniato. We arrived just as the sun was setting it was beautiful! We dropped our baggages off in the Monastery we stayed at, which is still in use and went on a walk. Saint Miniato is based on a hillside so all walking is up and down. It's a beautiful town, and each center square or crossroads had white tents set up where vendors were selling meats, desserts, cheeses and other items. On the very top of the hill was a mass of white tents with all the White truffle vendors inside. Now the white truffle has a very particular scent and is very flavorful. The vendors had everything made out of white truffle from butter to pesto. Vincent bought fresh green olives which were delicious. For dinner we ate with the Rotarians of Saint Miniato and I made two Italian friends Benedetta and Carajauna both my age. We had 4 main plats served all based and garnished with white truffle. It was amazing I have never eaten so well in my life. Afterwards we returned to the Monastery.
Sunday morning we had a guided tour of Saint Miniato and it was a elder Rotarian who lived in Saint Miniato his whole life, and told us a heart breaking story of how he was doing mess in the Cathedral on the top of the hill during WWII and a bomb that was missed fired landed in the church and killed 50 people including his best friend. We ate a restaurant for lunch that served different pate with white truffle of course and then some pasta and white truffle and some liver and white beans. For dessert they served us a traditional dessert which is a strong sweet brandy made in Saint Miniato with dried "fruit cake" type biscotti's which you dipped in your brandy it was quite good. We also had little eclairs type things but round in different flavors. In the afternoon it was free time, and it was very crowded as well.
For our last supper we went to a really chic restaurant underground in old wine cellars and I had of course pasta. Today, Monday, we got up early and we didn't hail the bus when it passed so we missed our train so we ended up taking taxis 40km to Pisa. (Supposedly you have to hail city buses in order for them to stop). And then we took the plane back home. Overall it was an amazing trip and all 11 of us really enjoyed it I'm sure. Italy was gorgeous and warm but then we were welcomed back to Belgium in the cold gray fog. I'm really glad that I was invited and that's it for now.
Ciao
Lizzy

Photos:

http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=71907&l=c829f&id=803190472

http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=71930&l=6bb37&id=803190472

Toussaint Vacation Oct. 27 - Nov. 5

Hi Everyone,

So we just had a week of vacation or Toussaint Vacation, which here is the day of the dead the first of November. Where people take Chrysanthemum to cemeteries and thinks of those dead. And so we get a week off of school. So early the morning of the 27th which was a Saturday, I got on the train with another exchange student from Arizona to go to Tournai , where we meet up with a bus that took us to England!. There were in total 99 exchange students that went on the trip. So there were two charter buses. From Tournai we went to Calais, France where we took the Ferry to England. And of course we saw the beautiful white cliffs of Dover and we stopped in Canterbury for the afternoon to walks around. We arrived in London at night, to have it's bright lights welcoming us. It's was really amazing and I love London now. The next day, the 28th we started of at Madame Toussaud's wax mueseum and then later in the afternoon we went to Windsor castle and the Queen was actually there, even thought I didn't actually see her or anything. We took a bus tour at night which was amaizng and none of my pictures turned out, but oh well. The last day we were in London, we had sunshine the whole day. We started off at the Tower of London, where we took a huge group picture. Then they let us have the rest of the day to ourselves. So me and three other exchange students explored London together. It was great, we were just walking on the street a little lost, but we came to a Church and we entered and it turned out to be the oldest church in England, and I touched it's first walls, which was built around 300. After we took the metro all around London, stopping at Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Hard Rock Cafe London (for dinner), British Museum, walked around London's biggest park and rode on a Double Decker Bus ( for two stops but still). Also we walked across the London Bridge! We spent the whole night of the 29th taking the Ferry and coming back to Belgium and we arrived at Tournai at 5 a.m. ! The 30th I slept the whole day. London was really expensive, because of the exchange rate, but ti truly is a beautiful city and I hope that i get the chance to return someday, maybe even encounter a British man with a nice English accent (:) kidding). For Halloween my family didn't have anything special planned. Here its a begging holiday and most of the kids go treat or treating during the day. So I took the train to Bruxelles and spent the night with two other Rotary Exchange Students and watched movies and ate candy. It makes me said that they don't have the same holidays at back home, but in another way I love celebrating new ones. November the 2nd, Nathalie and Voisin (my host parents) and I went to Koksijde, which is a Flemish town on the 50 km of Belgian Coastline. Voisin has an apartment there which he shares with his parents. It is a cute little town. Before we arrived at the apartment we stopped at another town, and ate lunch in a special restaurant. By saying special I mean more so different. In this restaurant they don't have menus, or utensils and everything is the same price, and you have one option of food, Chicken. This restaurant serves half chicken to people, who are required to use their hands hence no utensils and they give us lots and lots of napkins. I think that it's actually a great idea, and you don't have to do as much washing of dishes. Also the restaurant had Halloween decorations which made me happy. And to make it even better the chicken halves only cost 3,50 euros, how cheap is that!. After that we left for the apartment. We spent the night drinking in outside cafes and I walked on the beach at night and saw the most beautiful thing ever. The tide was coming in and with it, it brought little jellyfishes, but as the water ran over them they turned this brilliant blue, and would literally light up the beach. But as they were left in the air, they slowly died out. It was sucks an amazing site, I have never seen something so pretty in my life. Saturday we just hung out, and at night Voisin's old math teacher had aperitifs with us and his family. For dinner Voisin's Godfather came with his wife and daughter and we went to a really nice restaurant where everyone ate mussels. I tried some, but had a hamburger patty and chocolate mousse to eat. Sunday, my last day of vacation :(, my host mom and I got up early in the morning and walked about 5km on the boardwalk first then on the way back on the beach. It was really nice just walking and let your mind wander. Then we had some of the beaches famous ice cream. Inside of salt water taffy here they have what they call babeluttes which are long stick of sugar and flavored differently. Then in the afternoon we went to Brugge, the Venice of Belgium. Also if very famous for it's lace. It was such a pretty town, and i hope that I can return because we didn't get much time there. They have these beautiful canals and there is a lake at the end of all the canals called the lake of lovers, which lots of swans and beautiful reflections. So that was my vacation of Toussaint. And this week we got our bulletin grades, but here if you get more than 10/20 it is a C+ and more than 16 is impossible. Anyways I did pretty well, I got mostly 14/20 's and 11/20's, but I haven't gotten all my grades yet, but what is amazing is that one a Math test I got 18/20 which is impossible and the rest of the class got less than 5 /20. And in French class we had a test on a French book we read at home and I got 25,5 /20 with a class average of 21 and this is a junior level class here people. So I'm pretty satisfied with myself. The only class I'm really having trouble with is Chemistry class because all the elements are different and it's actually really hard. Also French class is hard, because the teacher dictates all notes, but my French is coming along. Well that's what is up with me right now, life is hard but it's coming along. It's definitely becoming winter here because I come home from school with the sunset and it's quite cold, and it snowed in some parts of Belgium already. It makes me really tired but also working hard makes everyone tired, note look at my pictures. I'm sure winter will be good though. Well I'll write later,

Bisous,

Lizzy


Pictures:

London:

London I: http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=66669&l=f475c&id=803190472

London II: http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=66670&l=2eaa0&id=803190472

London III: http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=66982&l=7e50a&id=803190472

London IV: http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=67008&l=50b6e&id=803190472


Ocean and Brugge:

http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=69837&l=7ffc1&id=803190472