Thursday was Activity Day. :). We had a reservation with the Roman Food Tour for a pasta and tiramisu cooking class at noon. We took our time in the morning, grabbed some coffees and hot chocolate, and made our way across the river to a restaurant that is closed during the off season for most guests – only open for cooking classes. Our guide, Sarah, was French and full of energy. She made everyone in our group feel like gourmet chefs.

We started by making the tiramisu. Did you know it means “pick me up” and was used by the military to help the soldiers find some energy to finish their shift? Lily and Ty mixed the egg whites and sugar. Sarah whipped together the egg yolks and mascarpone. Then we all took a turn at folding the mascarpone into the egg white mixture. It is a slow process, and now I have more appreciation for the dessert! We all began our layering process. With the lady fingers and the coffee, “first you dip it, then you flip it, then you dip it, then that’s it.” :).

Once our dessert was prepped and put in the refrigerator, we moved to pasta making. We made a spinach ricotta ravioli and tagliatelle noodles, served with a tomato sauce. It was delicious!! We enjoyed our individual tiramisu desserts. Yummy!!

It was a super fun way to spend a couple hours in the afternoon, doing a very Italian thing. And the best part? I didn’t have to clean up or actually cook it – we just got to do the fun part!

Lily and I decided to make a reservation for a Paint & Sip experience (more painting than sipping for her). The group chose to have the instructor walk us through a Vespa painting. Lily really wanted to do the beach painting, so she, being a professional artist, painted on her own and helped me. It was a fun couple hours of girl time.

The painting on the right is her model
Shockingly my sketch actually resembles a Vespa! There are lots of talented artists in my family and I did not inherit that gene.
Lilyonardo DaVinci and Nicolangelo. One of a kind Florentine artists. Bidding begins at $500,000.

The boys wandered around the city and had an OK dinner at Ristorante Romantico Il Paiolo. Shearer Party of 2 gave it 1 Thumbs Up. Ribeye was tough. Ty’s steak had way too much truffle sauce. We are pretty much food experts now.

On Friday we will check out of the Grand Hotel Baglioni and catch a train to Venice. Hotel review: it is a grand old building, lots of character. It needs some TLC and updating, though. And thankfully we were here in winter – no air conditioning. That means that we had to have the windows open all night – Florence is not a quiet city. I wouldn’t recommend it, unless you really value the historical experience.

Florence is a beautiful, energetic, clean city. But the Shearer’s all liked Rome better. In Rome there were “wow” moments everywhere you looked. Not so much in Florence. We will see where Venice ranks!