DAY 53 - Leo the “lion-hearted” or Leo “needs a vacation”

May 11 – 1^st Class Rail Into Tuscany

Our next destination....Firenze (Florence, Italy). We had gotten a special deal on railroad tickets, so we rode in style! 
 

Italy RR serves juice and snacks - YUM!

We got a taste of Tuscany seeing grape vineyards everywhere. Tuscany is Italy's third most planted region, but it is eighth in production volume. This is partly because the soil of Tuscany is very poor, and producers emphasize low yields and higher quality levels in their wine.

We arrived at Leo's Place (no...Idaho Falls residents – not the Pizza Parlor) around 8:00 (20:00). Good thing because dinner is served at 21:10 and we are not to be late. Leo has strict rules and everyone staying there must abide by them. He runs a “couch-surfing hostel” in that he accepts between 4 – 8 guests each evening. Florence is VERY popular with the tourists, so we were happy to be accepted by Leo as all other of our requests were declined. In order to be accepted we had to read all of his rules (2 pages of them) and assure him that we would abide by them.  Below are some excerpts of these "rules."   If you read them, you'll understand what kind of person Leo is. :)

Usually i try to have at home at the same time two groups from differently countries, to increase experience exchanging opportunities, however i cannot assure until your arrival what other groups would be here, neither that i will be alone or will be also other members of the family.
 In your request please state clearly the exact date and approximate time you expect to arrive, and also date and time you plan to leave.
You will ease avoiding error if you include arrival date in the subject of the e-mail.
Include also the list with complete names, e-mail and phone numbers of all the people in the party, and -very important- an indication if some of you have dietary costraints. 
I will consider the request complete only when i will have all these informations

 Breakfast is at 740(MTuWF)/845(ThSS), Leo provided cookie biscuits and tea for breakfast)

A couple from Rome had come with these cakes already prepared for breakfast.

Meet Patricia & Alexander, from Rome, (on the ends), Mathilde and Perin, from France  (Leo in the middle), and Ari from Pennysylvania.  We all had breakfast together our 1st morning.

Omnivore diet. Vegetarian friendly weeks are the ones that begin with the evening of the first sunday of the month. All other weeks expect, but not pretend, any kind of food.
The person that cooks decide what to cook !
 
Shower cannot be used from 40 minutes before until 20 minutes after
breakfast time, this to avoid queues at critical time.

 Lights out at 23:00 – no exceptions! Dinner is strictly at 21:10 and you must give 3 day's notice if you won't be staying for dinner. If you don't show up in time, you will pay for the meal. If you come and you say ahead you won't be coming, there will be a can of beans for you.

This was our mattress on the floor.  There are two other beds in the room, but they were vacant.

 If you arrive at my home before the arranged time please do not wait on the door or sitting on the stairs. there are many benches in the parks in front
and behind the house where you can freely wait.

• Send always a SMS message of confirm 3-4 days in advance, including your estimated time of arrival, if you don't not only i cannot help with logistics, but i will cancel your request.
  I will reply ASAP, if for some reason you do not get a reply within two hours please call me on voice since sometimes roaming sim do not work correctly with SMS.
• on Mon Tue Wed (from 15/7) Fri i have to leave to work at 08:05. guests leave with me.
  Do not make me late
• if you plan not to stay with me for dinner one of the evenings please tell me at least 3 days in advance. (preparation of certain typical food need some days and i don't want to throw away food). for last minute request of course people should be ready to get what has been prepared, so if you have alimentary costraints tell me when you send the first request.       if you do not come when you did not told that you won't, you will make me unhappy and you will have to pay for your unused share of dinner; however if you say that won't be here and then arrive at last minute, some cans of beans are always ready for such events.
  
• We will share expense for food; people that stay 3 or more days or are a group of 3 or more even just for two days is expected to cook at least one day. think about your recipe and try to stay under 3 EUR per person as respect for other guests that could be traveling on thight budget. (average expense in 2012 has been 2,14 eur)
  Think about a recipe from your region, and take a list of ingredients with quantities in grams, this would help in buying the right quantity and adapt according the number of people that evening.
• do not smoke in the house, nor in the balcony
• The guests have one bathroom all for them. also cleaning is left to them, so keep it clean, for the people that come after you.

• do not contaminate recycle bins (or you have to clean it too)
• do not take anything out of kitchen (glasses can be get lost or broken in strange places, food could have been a key ingredient for next dinner)
• if you help cleaning in the kitchen never put knives in dishwasher, on the other part plastic and glass cannot be safely washed by hand
• do not open the window in the dining room unless you are inside that room ready to close it. (if there is just a bit of wind current will be strong and internal doors can slam and be damaged)

Remember when you send arrival and leaving dates that, unless differently written, one assume that you arrive around 2030 on the arrival day, and leave around 0800 on departure date (too many people set as end day the last night, so actually end requesting a day less than they expect).

WHEW!  So that is only a portion of his rules, but I wanted to remember them because they were quite funny.  We have lots of stories about his quirks, like how he re-cycled things, how he loaded his dishwasher, how he wanted everything done just so, and how he re-acted when we didn't handle things the way he wanted, but you'll have to ask me personally if you want to be entertained by those stories.

Our first dinner was provided by the French couple (which we forgot to take a picture of).  It was crepes with mushrooms and other vegetables.  It was tasty.  The 2nd evening, Leo cooked for us.  He explained that it is tradition in Tuscany to have three courses.  

1st course was his home-made bread with a cold-cut on top (later explained to us that it was ground-up pig's ear, neck, and other?) - ewww!  I do appreciate how the Tuscan's don't like to waste any portions of the animals.

2nd course was rice with cooked, slivered artichokes (not very tasty - sorry!)

3rd & last (thank goodness) course was Tripe (cow's stomach) Lampredotto  with some kind of sauce with herbs on top.  Mathilde and I looked at each other and gasped.  There was no way we were going to eat it.  I did take a teeny tiny bite with a piece of bread while Leo was watching me.  It was rubbery and smelly.  eww! (again)  So Mathilde and I cut off pieces and pretended to eat, but when Leo wasn't looking, we put them in our lap in a napkin.  Rich was between us and didn't even know what we were doing.  We would giggle uncontrollably and silently, but we managed to get rid of it that way. 

 The 3rd night we were at Leo's Place, we made the "Famous Idaho Potato Bar."  Rich & I baked potatoes (not quite as big as Idaho spuds), then spread out toppingsof cauliflower with cheese sauce, brocolli, two kinds of beans, grated cheese, chopped tomatoes, sour cream, and green onions.  We also had baked apples with cinnamon and honey for dessert.  Two others joined us for this meal - Sunny and her mom from Bulgaria.  They were loads of fun!

An Idaho Potato right here in Florence - enjoyed by all!

Arianne - I kept thinking about you while in Firenze because every seat on the buses had your name on them!

The meat shops hang the piece of ham for you to pick out which one you want.

GELATO - the stores put them in such beautiful colors and shapes.

My favorite has been stracciatella (vanilla with hardened chocolate mixed in.  I also like the apples and cinnammon.

 Gelato is an age-old delicacy that dates back thousands of years. The earliest beginnings of frozen desserts are recorded in 3000 B.C. when Asian cultures discovered they could consume crushed ice and flavorings. 500 years later, it became a custom for Egyptian pharaohs to offer their guests a cup of ice sweetened with fruit juices. Italians joined in as the Romans began the ritual of eating the ice of the volcanoes Etna and Vesuvius, and covering it with honey.
It was during the Italian Renaissance when the great tradition of Italian gelato began. The famed Medici family in Florence sponsored a contest, searching for the greatest frozen dessert. A man named Ruggeri, a chicken farmer and cook in his spare time, took part in the competition.

This store had cute animals and fruits in the gelato - very creative!

Ruggeri’s tasty frozen dessert of sweet fruit juice and ice (similar to today’s sorbet) won the coveted award, which immediately put Ruggeri in the spotlight.

In the late 1500s, the Medici family commissioned famous artist and architect Bernardo Buontalenti to prepare a beautiful feast for the visiting King of Spain. Using his culinary skills to present an elaborate and visually pleasing display, Buontalenti presented the King of Spain with a creamy frozen dessert that we now call gelato. Buontalenti is considered the inventor of gelato.
But it was Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli, a famous restaurateur, who made gelato famous all over Europe. Procopio moved from Palermo to Paris and opened a café that soon became the hub for every novelty, from exotic coffee, to chocolate, to a refined gelato served in small glasses that resembled egg cups. The Procope, as the café was known, soon became hugely successful and gelato spread throughout France and into other parts of Europe.

Interesting flavors, too!

Donovan - I tried to fit this in my backpack to bring home to you, but sorry....  :(