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Sunday, February 19, 2012

Great Friends, Great Food – A Weekend in Bologna

Last weekend I took my first solo trip of the semester. I went to Bologna, the food capital of Italy and a lively university town, but more importantly, where a couple of my friends from Barnard, Suzannah and Jackie, are studying. 

I almost didn’t go because Bologna was hit by a pretty bad snowstorm.  Even though Florence and Bologna are a half-hour train ride apart, Bologna had been getting snow for the past few weeks while in Florence we’d just been getting flurries.  Ten minutes out of Florence and the world was already completely white, the snow falling down in gusts. Uh-oh, I thought – what had I gotten myself into?! 

The first thing we did was eat lunch at a French & Italian restaurant, Colazione da Bianco.  We all ordered croque monsieur.  The bright and warm atmosphere provided a pleasant contrast to the weather; the walls were painted cheery shades of orange and yellow.  It was an idyllic place to sit, warm up, eat great food, and catch up with my friends, while watching the snow fall outside.


    Watching the snow fall from inside Colazione da Bianco

    Jackie and Suzannah


    Suzannah and me

    Me and Jackie


    We split a strawberry tart 




After lunch we took a passeggiata (walk) around the city, stopping in Piazza Maggiore, the main piazza, and wandering into a beautiful church, San Petronio.    

There was something about Bologna that resonated with me.  Perhaps it was its youthfulness; it seemed most of the people walking around were college-aged.  Or else it could have been the overall feel of the city.  It was a little darker, edgier than Florence…an almost New York feel – yet, still intensely European.     


    The Fountain of Neptune in Piazza Maggiore 

    Piazza Maggiore


    Snow graffiti!


My favorite part of the day was going to Eataly, Mario Batali’s restaurant that has locations in Italy, Japan, and New York City.  In Bologna it is not just a restaurant, but a bookstore as well. Gourmet Italian food plus floor after floor of books equals my kind of a store!

At the wine bar on the top floor Jackie said something along the lines of, “It would be so much fun to come here someday.” 

“Why not today?”  I replied.  We sat down and ordered prosecco.  Mamma mia, they gave generous portions!  (By the way, Italians really do say “mamma mia.” Just a little interesting fact!)  It was the first time in my life getting tipsy in a bookstore.  


    The Wine Bar at Eataly


Another highlight of the day was trying the only kind of salami I will ever eat.  I’ll give you a hint, I got it from a pasticceria, not a salumeria.  If you’re thinking chocolate, you’re correct!  This dessert could easily be mistaken for real salami, but doesn’t contain any meat.  Instead it’s made from dark chocolate, butter, eggs and chopped nuts, and tastes similar to fudge.  

After the pasticceria, we loaded up on groceries, and bought mozzarella from a famous cheese shop, La Baita Formaggi.  We walked to Suzannah’s dorm and cooked a feast!  (It was mainly Suzannah who cooked, while her Italian roommates offered suggestions.)  For an appertivo we snacked on mozzarella and tomatoes.  The main course was tagliatelle with melted mozzarella and tomato sauce. Kinder chocolates (the Hershey’s of Italy – except, it’s a thousand times better than Hershey’s) and fragolina (strawberry wine) topped off a great meal.  




    One of the oldest streets in Bologna, Via delle Pescherie Vecchie. La Baita Formaggi is on this street.  



La Baita Formaggi, where we picked up some mozzarella





At around midnight we all headed to the hotel I found (for just 18 euros a person!) because Suz and Jackie, being the ridiculously nice people they are, didn’t want me to stay there by myself.  The next morning I left after breakfast – it was still snowing and I was afraid if I waited much longer that the trains back to Florence would get canceled.  I would have loved to have stayed all day. Nonetheless, it was the perfect weekend trip! 

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Un Viaggo a Roma


Another busy week!  Once again, I’ll focus on the most memorable events. 


Wednesday afternoon I went with my friend Hannah to Piazzale Michelangelo, a famous square with a panoramic view of Firenze.  To get there we climbed up a steep zigzagging road.  Hmm…steep climbs & rewarding views:  this seems to be the story of my life nowadays!  Literally and figuratively.  At the top we stumbled upon a beautiful wooded trail, surrounded by rolling hills.  It was one of those moments when the colors seem more intense than usual, when life feels cinematic. 


   The view from Piazzale Michelangelo


    The view from another direction.  On the right side of the river is my neighborhood, Gavinana.

     A beautiful trail

Saturday morning my school group (20 students and two of our professors) took the Eurostar to Rome for the weekend.  We got there in just an hour and half! We somehow saw all the most important touristy places in about 30 hours: the Vatican museum (including the Sistine Chapel), St. Peter’s Basilica, the Villa Borghese, the Colosseum, Campidoglio, Fori Imperiali, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, etc.  While I’d seen many of these sites on a previous trip to Rome, some were new to me.  I most enjoyed seeing Bernini’s sculpture, Apollo and Daphne at the Villa Borghese.  It shows the scene from Ovid’s Metamorphoses when Daphne turns into a tree as she tries to escape Apollo, who has been hit by Cupid’s arrow.  I’d learned about it in art history, however, this is one work that you can’t feel the full effect of until you see it in person, until you notice how her toenails are turning into roots! So cool!


We stayed in a 4-star hotel called Homs, (http://www.hotelhoms.it/) located in the historical heart of Rome.  I roomed with the other new students on the program:  Sarah, Rebecca and Hannah.  A memorable  part of the evening was our hour long conversation about whether or not to raid the mini-fridge!  In the end we decided against it, figuring that the program directors wouldn't be too happy with us.


                  The Vatican Museum


    Taken from near St. Peter's Basilica 


    Castel Sant'Angelo

     Most of the students in my school, standing in front of the Trevi Fountain. 


    Sarah, Rebecca and me infront of the Colosseum

On our lunch break Sunday I went with a few friends to Giolitti, the gelateria that set my standard for what gelato should taste like. I’d been there once before on the recommendation of my cousin Beatrice, who lives in Rome, and I’d dreamed of going back ever since!  At Giolitti, you choose three flavors for a small cone.  The serving size is huge, and they put a dollop of homemade whipped cream on top.  I chose gianduija, bacio, and nutella – all combinations of chocolate and hazelnut.  The nutella was the best, and tasted more nutella-y than Nutella itself! It had a lighter density than the other flavors, but the flavor was more intense. 

Before we left Rome we had an hour of free time to wander around, and Rebecca, Hannah and I accidentally (I swear, it really was accidental) stumbled upon Giolitti again!  We took it as a sign that we were meant to return.  This time we ordered hot chocolate.  You know the hot chocolate I wrote about in my last post, that I said was amazing?  Well that might as well be water compared to this.  We ate it standing at the bar, like true Italians. This cioccolato-caldo tasted like a really good dark chocolate bar (think, some fancy European brand…Lindt or Perugina perhaps) melted – but not completely.  At first I thought they’d accidentally forgotten the whipped cream, but then I realized it came with a separate cup piled high with whipped cream, for the three of us to share.  We ate it wordlessly – it was that good. “Grazie mille!!!”  I enthusiastically told the barista. (Literally translated:  thank you a thousand times…it’s actually a pretty common phrase though; I’ve noticed Italian have a tendency towards the dramatic.)


    Gelato at Giolitti 


    Hot chocolate and whipped cream at Giolitti


One more food story:  At breakfast Friday I mentioned to my host mom, Giovanna, that I had a cold.  She asked me if I wanted orange juice, and I replied “si.”  I expected her to open the refrigerator and pull out a container, but instead, she grabbed a few oranges sitting in a bowl on the kitchen table, and made freshly squeezed orange juice!  Everyday this week I’ve had homemade o.j. (called “spremuta” in Italian.) Spremuta is so delicious that  I’m almost sad my cold is going away!

Better go fare i miei compiti (do homework).  Lately I’ve been forgetting about the “studying” part of “studying abroad.”  But perhaps this is a good thing!