Heading to North Beach!

As The Inquirer article mentioned, the last night of our study abroad preparation class was spent in North Beach San Francisco's Italian neighborhood. We all boarded the 3:02 BART train (or thereabouts) in Pleasant Hill and headed for San Francisco. Once everyone arrived, I led them on a walking tour from the Embarcadero BART station, through Sidney Walton Square, and over to North Beach. The weather was cold and damp, but that didn't stop anyone, although some students did think I walked too fast. I told them that they'll have to get used to that in Florence as they'll be walking everywhere!


Along the way we stopped at the Beat Museum, Caffé Trieste, Saints Peter and Paul Church, Washington Square, and, of course, Stella Pasticceria. Why Stella? For our last class meeting on campus, I brought one of Stella's famous Sacripantina cakes. This decadent wonder created with vanilla sponge cake, zabaione, cream, and rum was a hit with everyone. In fact, that was the one stop everyone wanted to make on our walking tour. Approximately 20 of us bombarded the poor woman behind the counter, but she handled our orders with good cheer.


And then we headed across the street to Franchino for our authentic Italian dinner. Franchino, named for its proprietor, is probably the most authentic Italian restaurant in North Beach. Franchino's wife does the cooking, his daughter Franchina waits tables, and Franchino himself schmoozes with the guests and sings opera. It's an amazing experience. Our group of 30 almost completely filled this little restaurant on Columbus Avenue, and Franchino and his family did everything they could to make us feel special. We had an absolutely delicious four-course meal: we started with the pasta course (spaghetti carbonara), moved on the meat course (chicken saltimbocca or veal picatta), then had the insalata mista (in Italy the salad is served after the main course as a sort of palate cleanser), and finally homemade tiramisu. And throughout the meal, Franchino strutted, flirted with the ladies, and sang.

At one point he turned off all the lights and made all the men go out front. He then said, "Ladies, gather around me." We, of course, were wondering what he was up to, and we soon learned. For suddenly Franchino began to serenade little Molly (Toni Fannin's daughter; Toni is the other DVC faculty member going to Florence) with a beautiful Italian aria. What a treat for her!

Several hours later we sadly left Franchino, but with happy memories and very full stomachs! It's an evening none of us will forget, thanks to Franchino and his wonderful family.

If you'd like to see the transcript for the walking tour, complete with historical notes, click here: North Beach Walking Tour.

And, of course, the pictures here say it all. Just think, eight weeks before these were taken, these students didn't even know each other. La vita è bella!