Cooking Vacation Istituto Galilei

I went to Florence, Italy to go to cooking school for one week for Istituto Galilei's Cooking Course at "I 4 AMICI". This is what I was looking for. Hands-on. Intensive. Serious. The chef was funny, exacting, and professional. The restaurant was known throughout Florence as "the" place to have seafood. Their seafood is shipped in from the coast on a daily basis. I learned a lot of things that I may never have to do back home. Like clean squid. How to gring octopus tentacles. Something that I have carried with me is to taste, taste, taste. I learned how to make a great seafood soup/stew. It was like bouillabaisse, but with an Italian twist. I could have that 3 times a day and be happy. The chef (and I and a helper) prepped for his dinner service of 250 with huge batches of salads, gravlax and risotto. We also made many items just to teach me how to do it. He kept sticking his pinkie in the food and tasting. He kept pouring us wine to go with the dish. What I gained the most was a sense of confidence. The chef would say "try this. If you no like, put this or this." "Taste! You like?" He never followed a recipe, and cooked 30 dishes or so for/with me. It was all about tasting and adjusting. I would stumble home after 5 hours of drinking and cooking and prepping. I couldn't have been happier.