Aristotelian planetarium, Italian ca. 1600
Day Six was a full day of sightseeing! With only two days left, we really needed to narrow down what we still wanted to do and make choices.
Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower
Day Five Koen and I did a lot of walking and climbing. So sore the following days!
Eggs Florentine on focaccia for breakfast!
Day Four was our first day spent together with everyone. One of the big things everyone wanted to do while in Tuscany was to see the countryside, visit vineyards, and sample Chianti wines. After a bit of searching we decided on the Chianti Afternoon Wine Tour.
Mom and me with Michelangelo’s David
Day Three was a Sunday – the first Sunday of November, sooo all the museums were free! After a bit of discussing, Koen, Tamar, my mom and I decided on Galleria dell’Accademia, most famous for housing Michelangelo’s David. We left early in the morning and luckily the line wasn’t too bad!
Starting the day off great! Fresh ciabatta with grilled tomatoes, eggs sunny side up, and pancetta!
Day Two was my first day waking up in Florence. Koen and I woke up to an empty apartment (my parents left to meet Grayson, Tamar, and Edward at the airport), so we decided to spoil ourselves with brunch. Luckily right across the street is a supermarket, so we bought a few Italian staples like ciabatta and pancetta and other breakfast essentials. I don’t think I mentioned it in my last post, but the weather was in the high 60s, low 70s the whole time so we ate every meal outside on the terrace!
Overlooking Florence from the Piazzale Michelangelo
Just got back from spending a week in Florence, Italy with my family! We don’t get to see each other so often, so why not make it even more special by heading to Tuscany for some family time?
For my birthday I received The Green Kitchen from my sister-in-law Barbara. She knows that I am a fan of the Green Kitchen Stories blog, and surprised me with the cookbook. I am having a great time exploring the recipes – like the Marcarpone Beanotto with Mushrooms and Spinach, a riceless risotto, and the Amaranth and Halloumi-Stuffed Tomatoes. All are delicious! The best recipe by far that I’ve tried is the Sicilian Parmigiana Di Zucchine. Not only is it the best recipe from the book that I’ve tried, but Koen puts it in his Top 10 meals I’ve ever made. Can’t wait to make it again!
Started our day at the NYC Aquarium
After the wedding, Koen and I had a couple of days to explore NYC. Last year we didn’t have time for Coney Island because it was too far from where we were staying, so we wanted to make sure to go this trip. I am so happy we planned it in. Coney Island is unbelievably beautiful and iconic. It was like walking onto a movie set. The sunny weather also helped! Because we were staying in Park Slope in Brooklyn, traveling to the bottom of the borough didn’t take too long. We started our day at the NYC Aquarium. Then we walked along the boardwalk until we found the original Nathan’s Famous that opened in 1916. If you don’t know, the hotdog was invented in Coney Island in 1870, so of course we wanted to have hotdogs for lunch! After lunch we went back to the boardwalk for a cocktail to-go, which we enjoyed on the pier. In the photos you will see the amusement park, but it is only open on the weekends after the summer holiday. Because it wasn’t so busy, we had a nice, relaxing day!
Beginning the day with a picnic in Central Park!
As I mentioned in my last post – Christina got married last! And you can’t get married without a big party to celebrate the last days as a bachelorette. We started out at Di Palo’s to pick out delicious cheeses, meats, antipasti, etc. for a picnic in Central Park. After lunch we headed to the Central Park Loeb Boathouse for a coffee and then rented boats. Luckily we had two guys and two boats 🙂 After rowing, we visited the American Museum of Natural History, exploring Christina’s favorite sections – seeing meteorites, dinosaurs, etc. Before leaving the Upper West Side, we went for a drink at Dive 75. At dinner our number of people doubled! Because I don’t live in NYC, I turned to Christina’s now-husband Rafaël for advice. We needed a restaurant Christina loves that can hold 14 people – Nyonya, a Malaysian restaurant in Chinatown, could not have been a better choice! Christina’s colleagues were working during the day and were able to get to the restaurant before us to set up something embarassing for Christina. It couldn’t have been better. Christina always makes funny faces in photos, and her colleagues made masks of all of her different faces haha. After our dinner, we headed to Asia Roma on Mulberry Street for karaoke!
Birthday cupcakes from Molly’s Cupcakes in Greenwich Village
For the second year in a row I was able to celebrate my birthday in New York City! Christina just happened to be getting married September 14th in NYC, so Koen and I made sure to plan my birthday (September 9th) into the agenda. Unfortunately I didn’t think it out very well, because we arrived on my birthday and we were exhausted. We still made it out to Cocoron, a Japanese soba noodle restaurant in Chinatown, for dinner and to Molly’s Cupcakes, the best cupcakes in NYC located in Greenwich Village, for dessert. After our cupcakes we headed back to Park Slope in Brooklyn, where we were staying for the week, to sleep off our jetlag. Unfortunately our hosts were sick and at their parents’ place most of the trip 😦
An American in Antwerp 