First Homemade Italian Pizza

Although I cooked this bad boy a few weeks ago, I haven't had a chance to blog about it.

Working on what was available at the local supermarkets, I developed this masterpiece in culinary:

Since everything used to cook this mouthwatering dish was Italian (even the oven!), I can officially dub this an authentic Italian pizza!

I did end up overcooking it a bit though, leaving a slightly burned flavor. Oh well, you learn by practice, right?

Just to say you made an Italian pizza is enough to make you one of the cool kids!

I like being a cool kid...

San Gimignano

Ever heard of San Gimignano before?

Don't worry, neither had I, until one of my friends mentioned it to me. While he described it as beautiful small town, nestled in the countryside of Tuscany, the second part of description is what really grabbed my attention.

It's an open location you can explore in the 2009 video game, Assassin's Creed II:

I'm hoping to play through Assassin's Creed II when I return to the States. But, here's the twist. I'm going to try and travel to all the locations in the game while here in Italy, so when I do play the game, my experience will be that much more involving.

Some of the spots I've already visited, such as Giotto's Campanile and Santa Maria Novella, but there are others a little further out, that have yet to be charted.

Considered this plan, a secondary mission.

The weekend approached, and just like every other excursion, Saturday was the chosen day.

Stupidly, I'd forgotten to bring my camera. Luckily, my friend didn't, so the following pictures were taken with his camera. His camera has the ability to capture panoramic shots, which turned to be utterly wicked!

We hopped on the train to Siena, but stopped at the small city of Poggibonsi in order to catch a 20 minute bus ride to San Gimignano.

As we took the bus towards San Gimignano, slowly all sense of modernism began to evaporate. Soon, proper Tuscany presented itself. A natural and organic atmosphere pervaded all around us. Beautiful trees, lush hilltops, and vast amounts of open bliss:

We continued to spiral up, until the little fort of San Gimignano revealed itself.

One of the main sights in San Gimignano are the four classical square towers centered in the middle of the fort.

San Gimignano used to be a stopping point for Catholic pilgrims traveling to Rome. It garnered much success through its development in agriculture and trade during this time.

Unfortunately, it fell under serious constraints when the Black Death ravaged throughout Europe. San Gimignano was forced to assimilate to Florence and has been under Florentine rule ever since.

The bus dropped us off right in the front of the fort:

We decided to trek through the outer rim, to catch some of fantastic views from such a height.

This was the Tuscany I'd heard about:

I was drowning in a sea of nature.

We continued on, and found an ancient well tucked beneath the path.

After exploring the outer rim, we ventured forth into the actual fort.

As you would expect, cobbled streets along with ancient building surrounded us.

Since we could see the towers from almost any part of the fort, we gradually gravitated towards the colossus towers.

We traveled through a very beautiful garden during our ascent, which gave access to some gorgeous views.

Also in the inside the garden was a local Harpist, playing classical melodies.

She played beautifully and just seeing her strike each cord right before my very eyes, was utterly entrancing.

We recorded her performance of Scarborough Fair:

Scarborough Fair

After such a graceful spectacle, we continued on our march towards the towers.

Finally, they stood right before us:

But our hike was not over...We had to climb to the top.

Nightmares from the Duomo soon enveloped my thoughts.

Oh well, you only live once right?

I noticed a very uplifting sign just before beginning:

At least it was only half the length of the Duomo.

We started at ground zero and began our spiral to the top.

With each turn, endless steps mocked me.

After a year of climbing, we finally reached a small ladder which lead us to the top of the tower.

As I crawled and stood up straight to take in the sights, I was immediately drained by the encompassing view.

It was astonishing, astounding, and most importantly, alive.

I could feel Tuscany's pulse.

I must have spent about 25 minutes up there, just taking in every ounce of it all.

I could just imagine myself as Ezio, climbing and battling through such incredible heights in ancient Italy.

After experiencing such a encompassing landscape, my friend forcefully pulled me back down to reality. Grudgingly, I succumbed and descended from what was going to be my new home.

Once we reached the bottom, we toured through a small gallery near the towers. Much of the artwork on display was focused on the city's history. It was quite interesting to see how the citizens viewed their own fort.

Afterwards, we exited onto the cobbled streets, where I felt oddly little in comparison to the colossus experience I'd just experienced.

We wandered through the Piazza della Cisterna, where tourists encompassed the entire area. I picked up a gelato while exploring the inner city.

We stumbled passed this very authentic blacksmith shop:

I couldn't see the blacksmith himself anywhere the shop, but something told me that was a good thing. We hurriedly moved on.

Conquering the towers was the most important aspect of San Gimignano, and if we wanted to return to Florence, we'd have to catch our bus back to the train station in Poggibonsi relativity soon.

We picked up our bus tickets for the 5:30 ride back.

But just like usual, nothing ever goes according to plan. For some reason or another, the bus never arrived. Plain and simple.

So we stood waiting for about 45 minutes for the next bus. As we waited, twice the amount of travelers also stood, anticipating the arrival of the next bus.

Here's a shot of me looking sarcastically odd with my ticket, while waiting for our bus:

The next bus finally arrived.

The entire crowd swarmed the bus mercilessly. Babies were trampled on, elderly were stomped on, with only the young and strong (me!) fighting ruthlessly for a seat on the cherished bus.

Ok, it wasn't that bad. But it was still a push fest.

We traveled back to the train station and found that a bus to Florence was going to be leaving earlier than the train.

We decided on the coach and returned to Florence early in the evening.

San Gimignano may have the reputation of showcasing Tuscany like no other town, but for me, it's true success lies in its ability to bring out my ultimate fantasy of experiencing Assassin's Creed in reality.

Excuse me, while I go find a tower to climb...

My Vaio Brother

While furiously working on updating my blog in a nearby cafe, I notice that a certain fellow across from me boasts a Sony Vaio.

While his looks to be from the F series, the bigger brother to my own Z, I still feel the comradeship.

Us Vaio users have to stick together...

Sony rules, even in Italy!

Ferrari Factory

Cars are not my thing. Plain and simple. I've never understood the fascination with them and just find it odd to salivate over dream cars which probably never make it your driveway. Cars are meant to get you from A to B, simple as that.

Yet, when my friend mentioned he'd be interested in traveling over to Maranello, the Ferrari Capital of the world, I was curiously intrigued. Ferrari is considered one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world and boasts an incredible amount of prestige. I thought that visiting Maranello would be a very different and eventful experience to the stuff I'm into.

So...why not?

We planned out that our day trip to Maranello would be on a forthcoming Saturday.

Soon the weekend arrived and with that, the time to venture to the Ferrari capital.

We had to take two trains (a connecting train in Bologna) + 1 bus to arrive to the tiny town of Maranello.

You could immediately tell you were in Maranello just by the crazy amount of Ferrari stores, memorabilia, and symbols placed all over.

The bus dropped us right outside of the actual factory of Ferrari automobiles. This is where they design, develop, and ultimately manufacture some of the most sought-after and expensive cars in the world.

Admittance into the factory is prohibited from the general public, but if you actually own a Ferrari, you're presented with a personal tour of the exclusive site.

While as you might have guessed by now, neither I nor my friend have keys to a Ferrari.

But we did grab some shots of our pilgrimage to the actual factory:

Afterward, we continued on and found the Ferrari museum located just down the road.

The museum was quite busy, attracting many tourists from all over the world. Here am I just outside with the iconic symbol:

As we walked towards the entrance, we were greeted by a lady offering a very intriguing deal.

For 75-100 euro, you'd be able ride an actual Ferrari. I guess if you're into such things, this would be a dream come true.

Anyways, we continued on.

We picked up our tickets and began the exploring the extensive history of Ferrari.

Ferrari started out in the early 1900s as a racing company, representing Italy throughout the world.

Through their dynamic designs and revolutionary designs, Ferrari slowly dominated the racing scene, outclassing such titan companies as Honda, Mercedes, and Toyota.

They owned the Formula 1 racing circuit with their developments.

As we delved further in, we presented with some of the many modern day Formula 1 cars that have won some serious recognition:

They had some fun memorabilia:

Along with some tires that represented a tough a win for the team during a specific year:

Many signed historical team outfits were on display:

They also had showcased interior engines of revolutionary designs they had developed over the years:

Here are some general pictures of the Formula 1 floor:

We grabbed a rather interesting interior shot of one of the older models:

There was also this random model oddly situated straight up:

It was just plain weird...

They also had this very unique sound room.

You'd step in and by choosing the desired model and style of driving; you could actually hear the visceral sounds of a Ferrari as if you were in the driving seat.

I messed around with it and found it to be quite a thrill. The sounds were booming!

Further in was the prestigious trophy room:

Probably their most treasured item, the Formula 1 trophy.

I recorded some footage of the racing/trophy exhibition:

Ferrari Exhibit

Ferrari enjoyed racing success for quite some time, but reached true public popularity when they invested in manufacturing domestic cars.

On the second floor lay the sexier side of Ferrari:

 

Their road cars were placed on the second floor, showing off some wicked car designs:

During the tour, I noticed that an employee would actually attend to the cars every so often, making sure the cars when in spotless condition:

Talk about dedication!

They housed this quite interesting model:

The essential point is this: For Italy, Ferrari represents speed. So, when NASA prepped for their forthcoming escapade to mars, the Italian government presented Ferrari with the opportunity to symbolize their country. Ferrari responded by giving NASA its famous red dye in a small, clear marble to place onto the shuttle.

Although extremely odd, it was fascinating to learn about.

They also had a collection of the classical dyes:

After the tour, I ended up picking some cool Ferrari memorabilia. They had some outrageous items for sale, including $1000 jackets and a $200 blackberry cover!

I just picked a warm hat and a tiny magnet. Oh yeah, I spent big at the Ferrari store!

On the way out we were presented with another lady, offering us the same chance to ride a Ferrari. After exploring the museum and finally understanding what the Ferrari brand  meant to people, I felt oddly tempted. But, my better instincts prevailed and I declined. If I was more zoned into such things, I'm sure my response would have different. But for me, exploring the history of Ferrari was cool enough.

We actually had trouble leaving Maranello since the bus timetables were screwed up. It didn't help that the streets were practically deserted, with only a few people in sight, none of whom could speak a lisp of English.

Luckily, a bus, with the destination "train station" plastered on the front, turned up. We took our chances, and by good fortune, soon found ourselves back at the train station.

Our return train was going to arrive in about an hour's time, so we decided to explore the local town of Modena (where the train station was located.)

They were some quite pleasant sights to take in:

Modena is a military town and houses a gigantic war memorial:

In the front of the memorial, these two statues stand quite domineering:

But as time evaporated, we decided to head back to the station in order to catch our return train to Florence.

After taking the journey to Maranello, I've come to fully understand and apperciate the art of car manufacturing. Although I'm nowhere near as obsessed or fascinated by the culture of automobiles as many others, I fully respect the hobby.

And after charting the Ferrari world, I've come out with sincere allegiance towards the Ferrari symbol. So, when I see a Ferrari in the racing world or watch as one drives past (not very often, BTW) my heartily support goes with them.

I captured two company defining quotes that I'll leave you with: