Post for Sonia

I recently had a class on Italian Food Designs and was asked to create a blog post on what I think Italian Cuisine is and include a picture I have taken personally. I am going to do this in two parts. The first part is going to include a picture and description of my views on Italian cuisine before coming to study in Rome and one after spending 4 months here.


BEFORE







BEFORE.....Heavy Pasta!
My experiences with Italian cuisine prior to coming here heavily depended on my family traditions that had been adapted over the years over people living in the United States. My great Grandfather Giuseppe Torri came to the United States right around 1900, all 5'4 115 pounds of him (or so his immigration papers say). I never met him, but I did have a great relationship with his son, my grandfather- Thomas Rudolph Turey. American Italian cuisine is a lot different from the dishes and attitude I encountered here. I really expected several heavy pasta dishes served in a thick red sauce, much like the gnocchi I had in Florence. I should have known better than to order from a place with a "tourist menu." The minestrone soup is another dish that I have had at several places, including my favorite American-Italian restaurant - Olive Garden.


AFTER 4 MONTHS



After spending 4 months in Italy, learning about Italian cuisine and food culture, and after one moderately successful weekend in Cilento- I have surmised a much different view on Italian Cuisine and specifically the Mediterranean Diet. I know realize how important seafood is the many Italian diets as a fresh, healthy, and viable source of protein. It is often cooked in olive oil, another staple to the Italian diet. Fresh produce is also very important. I have participated in this, because I buy fresh fruit and vegetables at a small market store on the same street as my apartment. I now see fruit as a desert and a great snack.

Cinque Terre

I had heard nothing about Cinque Terre before coming to Italy. Everyone was talking about it in the first few weeks so I decided to do some research. When I found out that it is 5 small villages connected by hiking trails through cliffs along the Mediterranean coast, I knew I wanted to go. I am so happy that I was able to find out about this place.
We caught a train around 10AM Friday and got to the city of Riomaggiore, where we were staying. We had to hike up an impossible about of stone uneven stairs to get to where we were staying. It was just a warm up for the hiking to come. After we dropped our stuff off we wandered off to find a beach. We got to a rock beach and laid out for awhile. I finally got the nerve to get into the chilly water. Some other people had gone further down the beach to some large rocks and I swam over there. We found an awesome spot to jump off the rocks into the water, with some help from people from the UofArizona. I was scared at first and it took me some time to gain the courage to jump, but it was really fun when I finally did it. I scraped my legs up pretty badly while climbing up on the rocks, but the battle wounds were worth it. We then swam over to a cave and went all the way into the back and chilled on the rocks. It was such a cool experience. It started to get chilly and dark so we went back to our place and got ready for dinner. There were 20ish people in our place and only 1 bathroom- showering was an interesting experience.
We went to a place Rick Steves suggests in one of his books. I got some pesto pasta, which the region is known for. It was pretty good and I would like to try some seafood the next time I go up there. The pasta was different from anything else I've had. Some people got a seafood dish that I literally think was bad...nasty taste. We stopped at a little shop on the way home the second day that sold Facchiata Pizza that was amazing!
The next day we got up early and started our hike. The hike from Riomaggiore to the second town was short and an easy walk. We strolled down Via Amour <3, the next hike was a little longer and included a trek up 356 stairs- one for each day of the year. The last two hikes are the hardest were much more of what I was expecting. There were a lot of narrow passage ways and uphill climbs on loose rocks. I made it without too much trouble. The views of the ocean and cliffs were so beautiful. It was intense at some points, but I am so happy that I made it despite the major headache I ended up with.
We took an 8pm train back to Rome. It was Labor Day in Italy so the bus and trains were a little crazy late at night. People were pushing and literally smashing into the buses. At one point the bus took off with the doors open. We saw a lady talking to flowers who pulled a giunea pig out of her purse at one point, Rome attracts some weridos.
Over all it was an amazing weekend. I would love to go back someday :-)

Cooking Classes and Exam

I am not completly incompotent in a kitchen. I can use a George Forman and steam some rice, but I am no Bobby Flay and I am certainly not ready for a throw down. Over the second half of the semester here in Rome, I have been able to attend four cooking session and put it all together for an exam. Our teacher is Cristina Bowerman, and amazing chef who owns the restaurant "Glass" in the neighborhood of Trastevere in Rome. I hope to eat there with some friends next week.
Our first class was on the traditional Roman Dish of Carbonara, which I ate at my first dinner here in Italy. While the thought of eggs and bacon with pasta did sound too appealing to me at first, I really loved the dish when I tried it. I plan on making this for my family when I return home next month. My first try at this dish turned out pretty well and I was proud of myself for not completly messing it up.

• 7 oz spaghetti or rigatoni
  
• 3 oz guanciale cut in small pieces
  
• 2egg yolks
  
• 2 oz grated parmesan cheese and pecorino cheese
  
• black pepper

While you have the pot for pasta going, place guanciale to melt in a pan. In a bowl mix eggs, cheese and pepper.
Cook the pasta. Once ready, mix it very quickly with pasta and in the end, pour the guanciale and mix one more time. Serve immediately.

In our first class we also made a risotto starting with creating our own vegatable brooth. I have a rice steamer at home, so adding the liquid slowly was new to me. The texture of my risotto turned out almost perfect on this first attempt- much better than the exam.

5 cups vegetable broth (2 parts onion, 1 carrot, 1 celery, 1L water. Bring to a simmer for 45 minutes)
3 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1 1/2 cups Carnaroli Rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon saffron
1 tablespoon butter
1/3 cup freshly-grated parmesan cheese
Salt and freshly-ground pepper to taste
Parmesan Cheese

Heating the broth or liquid: All the flavors that the cooking liquid starts out with become more concentrated and intense as it evaporates.

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the broth to a slow, steady simmer (the liquid should stay hot but not simmer).

Place this pot on a burner, over low heat, next to the burner you will be using to make the risotto. Keep the broth simmering slowly.

Toasting the rice: Cooking the rice in hot butter or oil before adding liquid helps the rice to absorb the liquids slowly with becoming soggy. This is called "Toasting the Rice."

In a large heavy 4-quart pan over medium heat, melt the butter; add onion and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes or until soft (be careful not to brown the onions).

Add the rice. Using a wooden spoon, stir for about 2 to 3 minutes, making sure all the grains are well coated (toasting the rice in melted butter keeps it from getting mushy). Toasting the rice quickly heats up the grain's exterior (toast until the rice is hot to the touch and the color should remain pearly white, not turn brown.

Add the wine and stir until completely absorbed, 2 to 3 minutes.

Add liquid in increments: The quantity of liquid suggested in the recipes is always approximate. In actual cooking, you should be prepared to use more, or sometimes less, as the risotto itself requires. All the flavors that the cooking liquid starts out with become more concentrated and intense as it evaporates.

Add the hot chicken broth (1/2 cup at a time), stirring frequently. Add liquid slowly and stirring frequently are the keys to making perfect risotto.

Run your wooden spoon across the bottom of the pot to determine when each addition of broth is almost completely absorbed. Wait until each addition is almost completely absorbed before adding the next 1/2 cup, reserving about 1/4 cup to add at the end. Stir frequently to prevent sticking.

Risotto doesn't need constant attention during its 18 minute cooking time. You'll just need to check on the pan every few minutes, give the rice a stir to keep it from sticking, and add more stock.

Adding saffron:

When the rice has cooked for 15 minutes, add saffron.

Finishing the risotto:

After approximately 18 minutes, when the rice is tender but still firm, add the 1/4 cup reserved hot broth.

When cooking with broth, if you have used up the broth before the rice is fully cooked, continue with simmering water.

The rice is done when it is tender, but firm to the bite. The total amount of cooking time may vary within 2 to 3 minutes. To test the risotto for proper consistency, spoon a little into a bowl and shake it lightly from side to side. The risotto should spread out very gently of its own accord. If the rice just stands still, it's too dry, so add a little more stock. If a puddle of liquid forms around the rice, you've added too much stock. Spoon some liquid off, or just let the risotto sit for a few more seconds off the heat to absorb the excess stock.

Turn off the heat and immediately add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and the parmesan cheese, stirring vigorously to combine with the rice. Add salt and pepper to taste

tOur Second class began with a trip to a fresh market to pick our the meat we would be working with. The process of buying meat is so much different than in the US. Fishermen bring their proucts fresh each day and some of the fish being laid out onto the ice blocks were still alive. This was a little to graphic for me and ruined any appetite I may have had. We bought some mackeral and some cuts of veal.

I feel that meat is best served simple because I like to enjoy the natural taste and texture of it which is why I was happy to know we only used a basic breading on the veal and mackerel. These dishes turned out pretty well although we had some issues deboning our fish. I will have to practice that task.

1 slice of veal 1/4 in thick.

1 shot of marsala
2 tbs flour
salt
pepper
olive oil
butter

• To insure tender scaloppine, you will want slices of veal about 1/4 inch thick (1/2 cm) thick. Thinner scaloppine will dry out and toughen as they cook. Thicker scaloppine will instead require a longer cooking time and become chewy.
• To keep scaloppine from curling in the pan, make 3 to 4 equally spaced nicks in the edges of the slices, and remove bits of gristle that will shrink as the meat cooks.
• To keep the drippings (which become the sauce) from becoming lumpy, after flouring the scaloppine shake off all excess flour.

With these premises:
1) flour meat with salt and pepper. Dust off excess
2) in a pan, place a little oil and butter
3) cook the scaloppine for few minutes
4) deglaze with marsala wine
5) take the meat off the pan and reduce sauce
6) place the meat on a plate and pour sauce on top.

1 slice of panbrioche, bread or white sliced bread
1 mackerel
1 tbs of stracciatella cheese
2 sundried tomatoes, cut julienne (long thin strips)
1 tbs oil
salt

Clean the fish and obtain two filets
In a hot pan, pour 1 tbs oil and place the file, skin side down, keeping it down with your finger to avoid curling.
Once the skin is crispy, flip it and take off the burner. Let it finish cooking.
In the meanwhile, toast the bread either in the oven, high temp or in a pan. Top it with stracciatella cheese, sundried tomatoes and then the mackerel, skin side up. Complete with some finishing salt. Serve with apple, possibly.


Our Third Session was based on deserts- a favorite of mine. I really think that both of these turned out well. Tirumisu is a favorite of mine and always has been so it was an interesting experience to make it myself. We also made pastry cream, and I somehow overwhipped my cream into butter.
In a medium-sized stainless steel bowl, mix the sugar and egg yolks together with a wooden spoon. (Never let the mixture sit too long or you will get pieces of egg forming.) Add the flour and then add to the egg mixture, mixing until you get a smooth paste. Set aside.

Meanwhile in a saucepan combine the milk on medium heat until boiling. (The milk will foam up to the top of pan when done, so watch carefully.) Remove from heat and add slowly to egg mixture, whisking constantly to prevent curdling. (If you get a few pieces of egg (curdling) in the mixture, pour through a strainer.) Add the seeds to the egg mixture.

Place the egg mixture back into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until boiling, whisking constantly. When it boils, whisk mixture constantly for another 30 - 60 seconds until it becomes very thick and it is hard to stir.

Remove from heat and immediately whisk in the chocolate.

1 1/4 cups (300 ml) milk

1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

3 large egg yolks

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar

1/8 cup (30 grams) all-purpose flour

Our final instructional sessional was taught me a professional pizza making consultant. We gathered that the ingredients used and yeast present are very important tools for creating a great pizza- and apparently funny sound effects from the chef don't hurt either. Some of us even rolled our own dough. I hope to make my own pizza when I get home.




THE EXAM...AHHHHHHH
Due to an illness there were an odd number of us for the exam and I ended up having to cook by myself, which can be a little scary since everything else was done in pairs throughout the semester. I man'ed up and did the best I could. I feel that my pastry cream turned out pretty well depsite my nagging fear that I was doing it wrong the entire time. I feel like I used to much egg yolk and may cut back on that aspect the next time I am being graded on homemade pastry cream...

The rissotto was a complete mess and I will fully admit that. It was really disappointing since it turned out so well the first time. I over cooked. I over cooked it to mush. I added too much broth close to end and had to wait for it cook off. I was in a rush to serve it before it got even more mushy and it was underseasoned as well :-(

The Land of Uncle J --- Greece

Since my spring break plans changed, I didn't think I would make it to Greece. I luckily found out that a few other girls wanted to go and got to plan an extended weekend. We left Rome late Wednesday night and camped out in the airport in Athens until out 5:30AM flight to the island Santorini. The airport was pretty nice and there were a lot of people sleeping in various places, despite this fact a cafe worker felt it necessary to yell at the 5 of us about laying down. The flight to Santorni was less than an hour and the sun was rising over the ocean as we landed...welcome to paradise. Our hotel picked us up at the airport and was nice enough to put us in a room to sleep for a few hours before we checked in, we even got upgraded to a bigger room. Our place was right by the beach and had several cute restaurants right around the area. Thursday we spent the day on the beach and Jenny and Me had dinner by the ocean. After our lunch we got free beers and after dinner we got some free cinnamon liquor= we were loving Greece. Friday we rented ATVS and went to the red beach, the lookout poiunt of the lighthouse, and cruised around. Friday night we went out to dinner in Fira, the main city, and then went to a bar and danced for a few hours, it was good night complete with free shots---see a theme? Saturday we took a boat tour to a volcano and hiked up that. The water was still pretty cold but Jenny and me decided to make the 50 meter swim through the cold water to the hot springs...which were not even warm, but I am to have done it. We flew back to Athens thats night and stayed in the Mariott. I took a nice long hot relazxing shower before sleeping in the most comfortable bed I've had the pleasure of inhabiting since coming to Europe. The next day we went to see Hadrian's Arch and the Acropolis. It was of course on top of hill, like everything else in europe.
The food In Greece was amazing and I think I may addicted to Greek yogurt with honey, the salads were so fresh, and even the tradtional saganoka and mosaka that I tried were really good. I truly hope to go back and spend more time in Greece someday :-)

Program trip to Cilento

Cilento is a Coastal region of Italy South of Rome and home to the Mediterranean diet. I will say this right now- I did not enjoy this trip as much as I thought I would. I feel like we spent more time on the bus than doing anything of value, there were some positives for the weekend though so I'll starter there

POSITIVES

- We visited a buffalo farm where they make cheese and dairy products. It was a very clean and updated facility. As an Animal Science/Pre-Vet Major I do have some background on milk production and was really interested in seeing how it is done here in Italy. This was a very high end place and they even had automatic backstractchers for the cows. They are humanely treated and I always love being close to any type of animal. I tried extremly fresh mozzerella di buffaloa and decided that warm hunks of gooey cheese are not to me, but the gelato was to die for.

- We visited a fishermen as he was coming back to dock with the daily catch. A few people ate raw shrimp and I got to see some interesting fishies- althought i prefer to see them living then dead on a block of ice. We got some free time by the water shortly after and I got to put my feet into the water.
-The kiwi plantation was interesting to me because I have previously visited agricultural sites in other countries on study abroad experiences in the Dominican Republic and Thailand..plus we got to eat yummy kiwi

Not so great times

-We went to a "museum of the sea" which was basically a house with some fish tanks in it and a closed library, I did get to touch a sea cucumber, but still much more impressed with the Shedd.
-We visited some ruins, that were in no way cooler than Pompeii or Rome and had a guide with a picture book and unintelligeable english...not a good time, neither was the boring museum follwoing it, and I love history...this was torture

-We went to an herb garden which was the biggest bunch of bunk I have ever expereinced in my life. Saying that if your stomach is having problems you must use a warm humid herb because the stomach is dry and cold? What stomach is dry and cold? I'm sorry, I don't buy into that herbal stuff....

- LUNCH UNDER AN OVERPASS LIKE A HOMELESS MAN! It rained while we were supposed to have lunch outside, did they have a backup plan or let us eat on the bus? nope, like a bunch of hobos under a bride...

-I did try a lot of food over the weekend and those of you who knows me well understand that I am not a fan of seafood, but I tried Squid, Octopus, and anchioves...which will never be happening again so sorry if you missed that one.

-We went out Saturday NIght and it was nice to be out with everything including Carla and Sonia, even if the local men were toothless and creepy.

Great SCOT! Adventures in Glasgow, Edinbugh, and a search for Nessie

We didn't have power in my apartment for the two days before I was leaving for Scotland, which made packing an interesting adventure. Our school eventually took pity on us and put up in a bed and breakfast on the second night. This meant I had to carry my bags for a full day of school and a weekend trip to Scotland around...oh joy. Thursday we had Layers of Rome, Italian, and then a 4 hour shooting of our project on Coffee- and had to go straight to the airport from there.
We finally landed in Prestwick around midnight and took a taxi to a close hotel. It was really nice, and people were so polite. It's always comforting to be in an English speaking country. We woke up fairly early the next morning and took a train to Glasgow. OUr hostel was in a great location right by the Clyde river. We ended up doing some shopping- ouch on my bank account, but had a good time. We got all ready to go out and started at the hostel bar-and never left. It def was a good night from what I can remember.
The next day we slept in a bit, and took a train to Edinburgh. Our hostel was right next to the castle, which was a really cool thing to look out the window while in bed. We dropped off our stuff and went inside the castle complex. There was so much more there than i expected- a war prison, chapels, crown jewels, war memorials, dog cemetery, and just really cool architecture. We took a ton of pictures. We were soo tired, we ended up not going out too late Saturday night.
Sunday we got up around 630 to catch the bus for a day trip to Loch Ness and around the highlands. It was such a great idea- I'm really happy we did it. We made some stops in smaller towns and got to see some amazing landscape. GlenCoe may be the most beautiful place I have ever seen. The hills and creeks look like a movie. We met a highland cow, called harry coos there, named Hamich. He was huge and very friendly. He ate squash and celery from out hands. We took a boat cruise around Loch Ness and stopped at a small waterfall on the way back. We went out to dinner and met some American military guys at the restaurant and hung out with them for awhile. Since our flight was at 6AM we decided to pull an all nighter- rather then sleep for a few hours and get up. We went to a bar and then a dingy/dirty club- but it was an experience. They were playing oldies rock music and fists were pumping so all in all a good time. We missed the bus we were supposed to take to the airport, but caught the next one. We ended up cutting it pretty close-but we made it so no worries. I had to rush to make it class on time because our airport bus took forever. Whilst walking away from the train station, on a sidewalk mind you, i was hit by a car. HIT BY A CAR ON THE SIDEWALK- that was my rude awaking that I wasn't in Scotland anymore but back in Rome, Italy.

I really loved Scotland and want to go back and spend a significant amount of time there.

Like the lost Catacombs of Roma

So now that I'm getting down for my last month or so in Europe- so sad, I am trying to do small things in Rome that I have been putting off. I went to see the Catacombs one day after school with a few friends. It was a rally nice day and I was excited to be out doing something. The catacombs were used as tombs for Christians and Jews from 100-500 AD. These people did not cremate bodies, like many Romans. They were outside the city walls and stretch for over 7 miles underground. Most are small tombs that are sealed with an inscription on them. Many/most of the bodies have since been removed from this area. The tunnels wind all over the place. It was really cool to be down there, but the guide rushed us through which was upsetting. I really wanted to look around and have Paul tell me awesome things.

Easter Mass at the Vatican

We were lucky enough to get tickets to mass, thanks to Jackie :-) I got up around 6 and shower and got myself ready and met some girls at St. Peter's station. We ended up getting the to Vatican around 7:30-7:45AM. There was already a line forming but we weren't too far back, but then again this Italy. So what started as a line ended up as a giant mass of people. When they started letting people go through secruity at 8:30 all choas broke loose and people were pushing foward and I even saw nuns climbing over people. Apartently, a race started once you get through the metal detectors to get the best seats, who knew priests could run so fast. Some of us got separated but 5 of us made it through and ended up in the first baracade of seats and were somewhere around 30-35 rows back. Which was awesome, I could actually see the Pope without looking on the big screen. Mass was really cool even though it mostly in Italian and Latin, there was a reading from Paul in english. I stayed until the end despite the rain and utter coldness of the day. The entire square ended up full as well some of the side streets leading up to the Vatican. I am so happy I went and can cross this off my bucket list.

Stations of the Cross

Stations of the Cross.

On Good Friday we had an education lunch followed by camera framing that finished up around 5PM. Beth and I decided to go straight over to by the Coleseum so we would get a good spot for Stations of the Cross done by the Pope at 9PM. We wanted to grab some food and a found a place with Calzones to go, even though we promised they only had cheese on the inside, mine had mushrooms and Beth's had ham- oh well. We purchased some Roma hoodies, since it got really cold as the sun went down and scoped out a spot on a rock with a view of the hill the Pope would be on. They passed our programs that had pictures and the words for all fourteen stations, and even though it was in Italian, it was pretty easy to follow the story. They also gave everyone candles which looked really cool at night. It got soo crowded by the time it started. The Pope was on a hill overlooking the crowd and the Coleseum with a giant cross covered in candles behind him. It was a cool experience and I'm happy I went and stayed for the whole thing. Beth and I walked most of the way home, and it amazed me how well I am getting to know this city and my way around it. Rome you are really starting to feel like home, what a cheesy rhyme.

Cliffs, Guinness, and the Little People ...Must be Ireland

One of our trains leaving London was late, so we missed our next train and then had to take a slower and later ferry, so we lost almost a half day in Ireland- which made me quite sad. We really did jam a lot into short time in Ireland. We took a bus from the ferry to the center of Dublin and some patrolling officers pointed us in the right direction of our hostel. The hostel St. John Gogarty's was right in the temple bar region and had its own three story pub attached that played live Irish music from 2:30-2:30 every day so we got to enjoy that pretty much whenever we were in our room. We spent our first night enjoying Guinness and corned beef cabbage at said pub. The next morning we caught a bus at 7am for a day trip to Galway and the Cliffs of Moyer. I am so happy we did this tour, it was an amazing experience. We first stopped at an old castle on a hill by a lake from the 13th century and took a ton of pictures. Our second stop was at an area where people lives thousands of years ago. It was built up on a hill with surround fields. The third stop was an anicent burial/site temple that almost looked like stonehenge on a smaller scale. We then saw the famous crosses of Ireland and then made it the Cliff Of Moyer which are so impressive. They are so high and the water just crashes against the rocks. I was suprised by how blue the water was and grateful to have such a sunny day. Our tour guide then took us to some "baby cliffs" where you can get right up to the edge without a wall. Our last stop was at a twelth century Abby= really cool inscriptions and artwork into the building. It was a really long day, but it was definalty my favorite of spring break.

The next morning we made up the lost time due the train/ferry debacle and went to the Guinness factory. It was cool, but def not as fun at the Hieneken one in Amsterdam. Cold and fresh Guinness is pretty damn awesome though There is a really cool bar at the top with an awesome view of Dublin. We then decided the check our email and make sure everything with our flight was still good by going to an internet cafe on the third floor of a building. While walking up the staircare, I see two men huddle in a corner with a light, tin foil, and a straw- I bet you can guess what they were doing and if you can't it's prolly best you don't know. But there you go, right in the stairway of an internet cafe in Dublin. I really loved Ireland and want to go back sometime when I have more time to enjoy the scenery and more cities!

You Sound Like You're From London

We decided to take an overnight ferry from Holland to England instead of dealing with the hassle of flying. We took a train from Amsterdam to the Hook of Holland and waited until we could board the boat. It was really empty, there had to be less than thirty people on it and it was fairly large ship. It was almost erie being that empty. We had a cabin with a porthole view though, so that was nice. We were set to dock around 6:30, so defintely an early morning. We just got something to eat and went to bed, what else is there to do? I set a wake up call for an hour before we dock so we would have time to get everything together- well aparently we got there early because I got a wake up call at 3:30AM. Not pleasent. I finally figured out that we may have docked at 4:30, but didn't have to get off the ship until 6:30. We were Harwich and took a train to London and got there around 9:30- wondered around the station for a bit before finding an info booth. We booked a trip to stonehenge, got some london passes, and day passes for the public transit. We finally made it to our hostel- it was hard with no map bc the directions were a bit confusing. We dropped off our bags, got some lunch-yummy Thai food, and took the bus to stonehenge. The bus was pretty jumpy and within five mins a guy puked all over himself and the seat next to him- did not smell very nice. When we finally made it out there it was sleeting and really windy. In a strange way I didn't mind because I always picture stonehenge covered in mist and mystery, I like illiteration-sue me. There were a lot of sheep around the area- which always makes me happy. The stones were bigger than what I pictured, but they don't let you get too close. I took a lot of cool pictures, walked all the way around it, got some hot coco and got my frozen ass back on the bus.

We got an early start the next day and began at Westminster Abby and walked around the block to get pics of Big Ben and the House of Parliment. I thought I had left Rome, the land of protests for everything, and was greated by a civil workers protest/strike. We then treked through St. James Park, which was really pretty and had all kinds of cool looking birds and ended up at Buckingham Palace. We got to see the guards and walked over by the stables before heading over the St. Paul's Catherdral. It was massive and has a basillica that is only second in size to St. Peter's in Rome. It was really pretty and I got some yummy soup in the cafe there. Our next stop was the Tower of London, which is more of a castle complex than a single Tower. We caught up on a tour with a really good guide. It was pretty cool to see where Anne Boylen lost her head- poor girl. I also really liked reading all inscriptions prisnors left on the walls. Our last stop was the London Bridge Experinece- which is a cheesy explanation about the bridge throughout the years followed by a haunted house filled with the lost souls of Plague victims. Ha it was entertaining and included in the London Pass. I would love to spend more time in London and not be so rushed. I could have easily spent an entire day at the Tower. Hoping to see more when I go back with my mom :-)

AmsterHOTdam

Oh the wonders of RyanAir. Our flight was not right into Amsterdam, but Eindhoven which is about 2 hours South so we got take a wonderful bus ride. The time passes pretty quickly though, so no worries. When we got to the city it was almost dark and starting to drizzle, but we found out hostel pretty quickly. It right in the middle of the red light district (which will be RLD from hence forth) and was insanely nice- the best place I've stayed yet. The first floor had a pretty cool, and we got discounted food and drinks since we were staying there- score! My main goal in Amsterdam was to find chicken wings, since they the thing I have been craving the most since leaving the US and lo and behold- the hostel had them. They were an asiany-sauce...but hey it's been so long that they were still amazing to me. The first night we just had some drinks and walked around the RLD some.

I wanted to get an early start the next morning, but some people would not get out of bed...grrr. Eventually we made it to the Anne Frank house which was a really sobering experience. It was bigger than I thought, but to think that they spent over two years confined to those rooms is overwhelming. We then walked across the city center to the Van Gogh Museum which was really cool. It had a lot of his early artwork as well as that of his contemporaries. We then went to a huge park and saw the huge IAMSTERDAM letters.

We finished the day the Hieneken Experence which was really interactive and fun. I got a few extra beer tokens for knowing the yeast ferments sugar into alcohol- thank you Ken Chapman. That night we went to a comedy club, after I consumed space cake, and it was really funny. A mix of improve and skits. The next day we took it kinda easy and did a canal cruise of the city and had lunch. We then caught a train to the Hook of Holland and got on our ferry to England. The ship was huge, but pretty empty- maybe because it was Monday night.

Recent Life in Rome

I have been rather horrid at updating this as of late, so this is going to be a rather all emcompassing entry. Some highlights of the past couple weeks have included catching the last 15 mins of an AS Roma vs AC Milan game. I may have pre-gamed a little too hard and getting to the stadium turned into a treck that could only be beaten by the epic adventure hope. I was a modern day Oddesys, wrought with distractions and challenges. It took me three hours to get home rather than ten years, but still- it was a journey.

In one of my classes we also went to a place where cheese is made. It is part of an agrotourism network. They have 700 sheep, we still have not found out who is the shepard though. I was able to touch some goats- which after being so animal deprieved for two months made me week. I churnched some fresh cheese and even got to try some of the made product. It was unofficial at home and some people here decided to celebrate which made the day all the more interesting for those of us who were sober.

Layers of Rome has continued to be interesting and my favorite class. This past week I was lucky enough to spend a two days with Paul. One in the church of St Peter in Moritorio- which is quite prominent in Angels and Demons and in the Chiesa Nuova while a mass was going on. He is so interesting and I may be in love with him..mildy haha

I am really excited for my upcoming trips and am really enjoying the wonderful weather in Rome.

Castllo Della Regine

While being from Chicago has made me immune to most snow, ice, wind, hail, and blizzards I did feel particually intriqued by the fact that I saw snow in Rome. The time frame varies by who you talk to but it has not snowed in Rome in at least a decade. Now this was not by any means a blizzard, but it sure closed down roads and delayed public transportion for quite awhile so we were of coarse late to the vineyard- I believe we have yet to ever leave on time for a trip. It will be a sad day when that happens.

Castello Della Regine is a vineyard located in the small town of Amelia, Italy that emcompasses around 300 acres of land. The vineyard has existed for around fifty years but was founded with strong italian traditions. In addition to producing several varities of wine it also makes olive oil. My intial reaction was that this area was pretty, but would be breathtaking in the spring, fall, or summer. Due to winter all the of branches and trees were barren and snow is not high up on my beauty list. When we got off the bus to see the areas where the grapes were grown, I wanted to venture out into the fields, but a gust of wind peppered with hail pretty much killed that idea.

We were greated by our guide, Guiseppe, who took us around the different growing areas as well as inside the fermentation areas. The grapes are destemmed before being crushed to make red wines. The skin is also removed before the crushing process to make white wine, and removed after a short period to make rose wine. The mixture is then put into a vat, where the size is inversely related to the quality of price of the wine. The best wines are aged in barrels for at least a year before being bottled.

We were lucky enough to get to sample some of the wine and even create a mixture of our. We chose a sweeter red mixed with a very dry red to create a strong tannin affect. After this adventure we got to enjoy lunch at a beautiful site at the vineyard.

While this day was cold and snowy, I was still able to see the beauty in the region and gain an appreciation of the vinification process. Guiseppe was very helpful and even sadly told us that he and his girlfriend had recently broken up. He also told us that if we invite him to a party, he will bring twelve bottles of wine. :-) I would have loved to have seen the area closer to summer or even the harvest season, but am still happy to have had the experience.

Florence...Firenze...whatever

So we decided fairly last minute to spend the weekend in Florence. I was looking for a relxed weekend because I had already been to Florence four years earlier on a high school trip. I did want to see DAVID in all his naked glory. That was my main goal for this weekend and I happily acomplished it on Saturday. It was so much bigger than I imagined and I will not lie- pretty hot. Ah I sound like Bella Swan, a cold hard piece of marble was sexy to me. We met some really nice guys who were staying at out hostel and first told us they were commercial pilots and later admitted to being in the National Guard stationed in Kosovo. I am not sure why they felt the need to hide that, but it made me sad that they were afraid of being judged. There may have been an incident with vomit- but it did not involve me at all. I actually did quite a bit of shopping in Florence, ha my bank account loves me for that one. I did go over the Medici Palace and to the bridge. All in all it is a very pretty city and I'm happy I went back for a few days. I got too see the main church and dome again and reminisence to the days where I shared some Gilato with an Italian boy with a Euro Mullet when I was 17...ohh Antonio haha

I also have to admit how much I enjoyed the food over this weekend. I had some of the most amazing minestrone soup and gnocci ever. I know the Florence isn't known for it's food, but i def loved it.

Venice for Carnivale

Due to some internet issues a few of these posts have been backlogged- but I am working on getting them all up.

Well rule one I learned during this trip- Do not take night trains in Italy- it is not worth the money saved. It was as scary as everyone made it out to be. Thirty one of us from the program decided to go to Venice this weekend, and 7 of us bought a train tickets together. There are supposed to be 6 people in a cabin, but for safety reasons, we decided to all cram into one and take shifts sleeping.

We finally got into Venice around 5am. Venice is a confusing place to navigate- from what I understand even a lot of the locals do not know the the streets and simply meander in the general direction of their destination. It was still dark when we left the train station, but the canals and bridges were really pretty. We found our way to our hostel eventually, only to learn we couldn't even drop our stuff off until 9am. We found a little cafe where i had some of the most amazing fresh juice my lucky lips have ever met. We then decided to enjoy the sunrising over the main square - San Marco and were greated by the first of the people that dress up in elaborate costumes. A vendor explained to us that people come from all over to wear these costumes that they spend all year designing and creating. They love taking pictures with people and are really hoping to get noticed by professional photographers. After stumbling back to hostel from sheer exhaustion we were informed that we couldnt even check into our rooms until after 5pm- not cool, but it was carnivale so what can ya do? We decided to then take over their common room by sleeping all over the floors and couches- do not think they were too found of us. Jess and me booked together and got put in one room where I made the bed and laid out all of my things to later be told that i needed to move to another room- 4 hours later. This hostel really did not know how to deal with having this many people, they were nice but really understaffed. They did make us free pasta though :-) On Saturday we ventered to Morano- where they are famous for making hand blown glass. We watched a demonstration and shopped around the cute island. The ferry ride to and from the island was really pretty. I am so proud of Jess- she did not throw up once.

We then walked through the crazy crowded San Marco square again before heading back to our hostel for dinner. We got ready and went out and saw some live music in our masks. I wore a silver and pink cat mask in honor of my beloved Rico back home :-) It really was not as crazy as I thought it would be. There were a lot of families out. I was expecting crazy/party/mardi gras in new orleans type of party- but this was much more tame. I still really enjoyed the atmosphere and all the costumes. Sunday was Valentine's day and we even went on a romantic sunset gondola ride around some of the canals. It was so romantic and I got share it with Jessica...awww. I really loved Venice and would like to go back some day when it isn't so crowded with the Carnivale tourists- which I was most certainly a part of. The train ride home was pretty intense too. When we first arrived at the train station there was a DJ and a party going on-which was a great farewell from the city, I like to think it was just for me. When we got onto the train there were three men in our cabin, who did not want to move out of it and then came back ten mins to look for something they has lost. They then proceded to sit outside our door for a majority of the night. But we all made it home with everything in tow. All in all a great and beautiful weekend.