Gray Negatives and Cioccolata Calda

Yesterday morning I woke up frustrated. I have been annoyed lately with one particular etching plate in printmaking my professor will not let me move on from and apparently three rolls of film I developed on Monday were exposed to a crack of light, and therefore are gray (meaning their pretty impossible to develop). Also on Monday, My hearing aid mold broke and I am debating whether or not to get a replacement or wait until I am home. I also have been worried about money, but then again who isn't? 

My photography class started off great. We had a critique and some of my fellow students' photography projects were so creative and made me quite emotional. Unfortunately, after lunch I decided to develop a roll of film I took on spaghetti. I had borrowed my professor's micro lens so I was very excited to see how the photos turned out. Maybe because it was storming all week or just my luck, my film once again turned gray. My professor was so upset he made me show him every step I did: it turned out the "closet", where individuals blindly remove their rolls and put them in tubs, had a crack through the entrance which I did not cover well enough. After looking at negatives, my professor gave me an enormous hug and said "I am so sorry!" Even though I tried developing some of the photos, which was a complete three hour failure, I was not very upset because I developed an even deeper respect for my photography teacher. 

I am going to miss him a lot.

Yesterday was my friend Sara's birthday and a group of us went out for a birthday celebration dinner. Because I usually save my going out to eat money on weekends, I was not planning on spending more than 10 Euros. When I asked one of the fellow celebrators how she was budgeting herself for dinner, she whispered the following magical statement: "Her parents are paying, so you can get anything you want"

And basically everything changed from there. 

I did not converse much doing the entire meal because I was overwhelm and a tad emotional. While in the middle of eating my main course, I had to take a bathroom break to give myself a reality check. I never remember eating a meal where I could get anything I wanted while not feeling stressed by my surrounding peers, worrying about how much money I was costing the payers or how guilty I would feel afterwards. I have eaten many marvelous and delicious meals in my life, but this was the first time I purely enjoyed myself. So all my frustrations and annoyance of this week somehow concluded in one of the 

delicious and visually charming meals 

I have eaten so far in my life: 

Our view from our table. It was right next The Ponte Vecchio Bridge, which is the most famous bridge in Florence. All the stores on the bridge are all jewelry shops which I am excited to browse through in the future. Across the river is the main tourist area of Florence, and luckily for me I live by the river so I did not have to walk very far to get back home afterwards.

The birthday girl Sara and Maddie with second drink of the evening

Bubbles! 

One of our appetizers we shared together. I was not sure how to eat this correctly, so I tasted everything individually. The three honey like sauces were sweet, tangy, and spicy. I couldn't figure out if they were supposed to be sweet or savory.

Closer look at the cheese platter

Apparently this was an appetizer? One of my friends accidentally got her dinner among the appetizer dishes which was the only blimp of the evening.

Julia's appetizer plate

I think these had different kinds of truffle on them, they were interesting

My order and my favorite. I have taken a special liken to prosciutto and melons here. I have never had it before Florence and I find it the most genius combination of sweet and savory.  

Julia's and Sara's main entree: risotto and pawns. The risotto was really creamy, yum! 

The pawn with cool whiskers

Maddie's incredibly eerie looking pasta: spaghetti with lobster

Maddie tackling her lobster

Jordan's dish. I really have no idea what it is.

And finally my dish: tuna steak with grilled onions and pine nuts in a balsamic reduction. I decided if I ever wanted to have fish during my stay here, it would be at Sara's birthday dinner.

And for dessert...

Happy Birthday Sara!

   

Julia, Sara, Maddie, and I all got the same dessert: variazione al cioccolato (three variations made out of chocolate). To explain the amazing power of the chocolate explosion in my mouth the following video should be sufficient:

My dessert was served in three different ways: liquid, cake, and mouse. My favorite was the molten chocolate cake in the middle which size was perfectly to its chocolate power. The chocolate liquid drink was lovely and not too overpowering. The mouse, however, I could not finish. The overall flavor was too heavy and powerful. So instead of eating it I...

... created art with it by spelling my name! The spoons were very long, almost as if they were made to sneak a bit of your neighbor's dessert.

And since I apparently felt like I did not have enough chocolate for the evening, I ordered a hot chocolate (cioccolata calda) as my dessert drink. Somehow, with helps from my friends, I was able to drink the lovely hot rich puddle of deliciousness. 

How many glasses were in front of me when the meal ended. My favorite would be the champaign the restaurant gave us in the beginning (which was charged on the bill, however). I never had dessert wine which turned how to be a combination of very sweet and heavily alcoholic tasting.

Jordan the incredible drank all of our dessert wine for us

And the end to a wonderful birthday evening for Sara!