COW STOMACH..SURE SOUNDS YUMMY!

    So for some reason I can't post pictures on here but I'm working on it....

    Today, for my cooking class, we went on a walking tour of different places to buy great food.  You know, those hidden little places where all the locals go!  So we started off heading to the Mercato Centrale, this market is where they have absolutely everything fresh.  You can get wine, pasta, fish, veggies, everything!  So our cooking teacher took us to a olive oil and balsamic vinegar stand.  We got to taste three different balsamic vinegars, one which was 24 years old.  It was absolutley amazing!
     Next we stopped at a little place that had tripe sandwich, the famous sandwich here in Florence.  Bet you can't guess what that is....it's the inside lining of a cows stomach...yep that's what I said!  I tried it and and it actually didn't taste bad, but the texture was too much to handle.  It was spongy and rubbery...ew!  But now I can say I have eaten cow stomach! 
    Next we walked a ways to a snack bar that specialized in truffles, not the chocolate, the mushrooms.  They are these fungi that grow underground and then dug up.  They have a very strong taste that won't leave your mouth for a least an hour!  Anyway, we stopped in this little snack bar and they let us all try a small roll with truffle spread on them.  It wasn't bad, just a little to much for me.  I might get some to bring back, they are seen as a very special food here.

   Then we walked to the Il Due Fratenelli, meaning the two brothers.  It is the little sandwich shop just down the road from my apartment, I literally go there almost every day.  But we got to stop and have a sandwich and glass of wine, which was nice.  After there, we walked a little some more to this place called Alessi, which is kind of like a small market.  They have a HUGE wine cellar downstairs that has bottles from all the regions of Italy, however, there is a whole room just for the Toscana wines!  It was so cool to walk around  and see all the different kinds of wine! Last but not least we went to Grom, a world famous gelateria.  They make all thier gelato right there and is fresh daily.  Ali, Shandie, and I have been there so many times already, it is just so good! It was a great way to end our tour of food!  Yummy!