One more little thing…

While I was in lovely Torino this weekend, most of my friends were in Ireland. How I wish I could’ve been on that trip…

My roommate, Stephanie, brought me back a traditional Irish Claddagh ring, which I am absolutely in love with. The ring symbolizes friendship, love and loyalty…it’s beautiful. The ring also represents my Irish heritage which I’ve never known much about.

Claddagh Ring-Mine is silver

Thanks Steph! I love it (-:

Milano, Lucca and Torino…oh my!

I’m a little behind on the posts here, so I am going to clump a couple different trips into one post and tell more details about the story when I get home in less than three short weeks.

A couple weekends ago my friends and I were lucky enough to travel to Milano, the city of high fashion. A dear friend of ours, Patricia (who lived with us here in Siena for a couple weeks at the beginning of our stay), lives in Milano now and so we had a free (and great!) place to stay. I took this trip with three of my dearest friends here and was relieved to have a small, familiar group.

Being silly in Milan

So, we mostly shopped around (I bought two pairs of shoes…pretty much my only purchases in Italy so far) and looked at beautiful things. The duomo in Milan was absolutely beautiful, but because it was covered in pigeons, it was a little hard to enjoy.

Steph, the Duomo and I

The weekend after we went to Milan, we were lucky enough to take another amazing trip…this one organized completely by our program here. When we get these trips it is such a treat because we don’t have to worry about anything: we are fed, entertained, transported…we just have fun.

This particular weekend, we got to go see a very famous opera called Manon Lescaut. Mind you, it wasn’t my first choice of a Puccini opera to see but beggars can’t be choosers. So, we went to Lucca and saw a famous Puccini opera in a charming little opera house with a beautiful chandelier and red velvet seats.

Notice the lovely background

It was really fun getting dressed up and going out since so often here we are focused on going to and from class…in the cold. It isn’t always very pretty or exciting. So, this was a nice change.

Katie and I inside

We felt very fortunate to have done such a monumental thing…and opera! In Italy! Lucky us!

For this Thanksgiving weekend Billie hopped the pond to come visit me. What a lucky girl I am. We took a very lovely trip to Torino (a town in the north of Italy at the base of the Italian alps).  The winter olympics were in Torino a couple years ago so they are quite adept at dealing with tourists, but there were hardly any tourists around. A great mix, if you ask me. It snowed the second day we were there, which was a nice treat.

Snow on Thanksgiving!

This is the view from our hotel room on Thanksgiving. We were right next to the River Dora and there were a couple different walking bridges across the (disgustingly murky) water. However, when it’s covered in snow…the water doesn’t seem so bad. (-:

We also found an amazing restaurant just across this bridge and ate there two nights in a row. I exercised my Italian skills and asked our cab driver for a recommendation and he sent us here for a “traditional Piemontese meal…” how could we not go? It was a little family run place where the menu changed every night and was written on a plain little notebook. Through the kitchen door we could see the old Italian grandmother in the back tending to every dish.

The blurry menu

The architecture in Torino was something amazing. Every building in the downtown area was beautiful. We walked around the city a lot and while we saw the famous Egyptian Museum (amazing!), we mostly just explored the city.

Royal Palace

This was an old Royal Palace that over-looked a beautiful piazza with lots of kids, dogs and water fountains. Torino was a beautiful city a little off the beaten track and I’m glad I got to see it. In the end, we headed back to Florence and Billie left on a plane headed for California (well, technically headed to Frankfurt, then London, then California) and I headed back to Siena.

When I got back to Siena I was happy to see that the streets were lined with Christmas lights and the whole city was glowing with holiday cheer. Seeing Billie, walking in the snow and seeing the streets of Siena lit up so completely had made me miss home more than ever. I have two weeks of instruction here, including finals, and I will be very ready to come home.

I know I will miss this beautiful place but I am also looking forward to returning to everything I know and love so dearly.

Signing off from Siena…

Naples Pizza and Rome Gelato

It’s hard to begin this post because I know it is going to be incredibly long. However, it’s better than doing my homework and I want to make sure I recount my experiences before they are too fuzzy in my mind.

My roommate Stephanie, hallmate Liz and I ventured off to Naples and Rome this weekend. They were amazing travel partners…I feel so lucky to have them both.

We left Siena for Naples (a 7 hour bus ride) at 11:59pm, which is the only option. I, of course, didn’t sleep. For those of you who have never had to travel or live with me and won’t know, I cannot sleep in moving vehicles. Cars, trains, buses…even planes. I’m hopeless. So, when we arrived in Naples at 6:00am (1 hour earlier than we were supposed to), I hadn’t slept at all. Of course, nothing was open in Naples yet so we had to sit in the cold, dark, deserted train station for a while before we moved to a warm, well-lit McDonalds before we could go anywhere in the city.

Cold and lonely

Our main goal of our visit to Naples was Pizza. Now, it is important to note that the best pizza in the world lives in Naples. Pizza was invented in Naples and as everyone here has read the “Italy Bible” (AKA “Eat, Pray, Love”), we had a great recommendation for pizza. But, more about that later…

Before the pizzeria opened, we had to busy ourselves to contain our excitement, so we did some sightseeing. Walking along the main street in Naples, we found a beautiful castle, “Castel Nuovo,” which was majestically perched overlooking the water. It was a gorgeous sight but it was also a bit funny because it was in the middle of a sea of industry, traffic, parking lots and cruise ships.

After the castle it still wasn’t time for pizza–time on this day consisted of B.P. and A.P. (Before Pizza and After Pizza)…and I think my life time-line may actually be split in that way now. So, we ventured over toward the Duomo of Naples (it just happened to be next to the pizzeria). Now, maybe it was too early in the morning to appreciate the Duomo but I actually think we are just spoiled here in Siena. The Naples Duomo PALED in comparison to Siena Duomo. It was in the middle of a normal street and just wasn’t very…exciting. So, we used the steps in front as a resting place more than anything. When it was FINALLY 10:00, we started walking toward the pizzeria which took a huge amount of effort to find.

Napoli Duomo

The effort was worth it. I would’ve walked down 5,000 more streets if that’s what it took. It’s important to understand the book “Eat, Pray, Love” to understand how important this pizza is. In the novel, a Naples resident and friend of the author gave her (and therefore gave us) more than a recommendation:

“Please go to this pizzeria. order the margherita pizza with double mozzarella. If you do not eat this pizza when you are in Naples, please lie to me later and tell me that you did.”

THE pizza

So, what were three girls in search of the best food in Italy to do? Order the margherita pizza with double mozzarella, of course. Which wasn’t difficult since the place really had about 2 things on the menu.

THE menu

You just eat the pizza. And eating the pizza is sort of like a transcendental experience. She describes the pizza so amazingly in the book that we were afraid it wouldn’t live up to our expectations. There was no reason to worry. The pizza at L’Antica Pizzeria Da Michele changed the way I think about food, I think. It was perfect. And, sometimes when I eat what I think is perfect food I want more and more and more and am sad when it is gone or I can’t have it. Eating this pizza though made me so blissfully happy.

THE master

THE helper

It was what pizza should be like: warm and fluffy but still a little crispy with natural, fresh ingredients simply combined and perfectly baked in a brick oven. I am just happy to have experienced this little pizzeria’s art. After the pizza, we were satisfied beyond belief and made our way back to the train station to get out of Naples (it isn’t the most pleasant city) and head to Rome.

THE empty plate

The walk was exciting because there was a student protest all down the main street of Naples…it was huge. There were so many students there. There is a bit of political unease here in Italy right now over the school system, and to see such a huge turnout for students rights and free speech was really exciting. We also stopped along the way to get a pastry called Sfogliatelle, which Naples is famous for. It’s pretty much ricotta cheese wrapped in puff pastry and is about as heavy as break. Shortly after walking the crowded streets of chanting students, we were aboard another train headed to Rome. The Sfogliatelle was a nice treat for the train ride.

Protest

Sadly, the train ride didn’t have any sleep in store for me (surprise, surprise) but we were all so excited to have just eaten heaven in pizza form that all was right with the world.

Happy on the train

When we got to Rome we had a little trouble finding our hotel but finally settled in an took a nap once we got there. An hour and a half later we were up and getting ready to see Rome.

At this point it was about 6:00pm and we wanted to explore the city at night as some of the attractions are most beautiful when they are lit up. Our first night-time stroll stop was the Colosseum. I am lucky enough to have seen then Colosseum before in my life and I have to say that the Colosseum at night is like nothing else. The tourists are mostly gone and the lighting is gorgeous. The structure is so much more defined when it isn’t surrounded by a million people. It was an amazingly beautiful sight.

Liz and I

Steph and I

Ugly, I know

And so, after we finished with that beautiful structure we decided to make our way to another: The Pantheon. On the way we encountered an absolutely beautiful sight: Piazza Venezia. It was an absolutely surprise because we didn’t know it was there or what it was, but it was breath-taking. The picture says it all.

Beauty

When we arrived at the bustling Pantheon, the energy was exciting. There are restaurants surrounding the piazza in front of the building, so there was excited chatter everywhere. After we took a couple pictures and sat on the steps to appreciate the existence of The Pantheon, we went to a highly recommended restaurant right down the street.

Steph and I

We found good reviews for the restaurant in a guidebook and when we double checked the reviews online, they were glowing as well. Our waiter was funny and the food was delicious. Stephanie and I had eggplant-wrapped pasta with red sauce (sounds weird, but was very good) and Liz had lasagne which was also divine. We got some house wine to share and when we were done with our meal and wine the waiter brought us some complimentary strawberry wine, which was fabulously and surprisingly good. Not too sweet or cheap tasting…it was a great way to end our meal.

Sipping Strawberry Wine

When we were finished, we continued our night of exploration and headed to the Trevi Fountain. There is nothing like the Trevi Fountain at night. The lighting is perfect, the water is crystal-clear and the statues are lit up just enough to give a clear depiction of the scene. The Trevi Fountain was absolutely one of my favorite places. There were a TON of people there and yet the fountain was still calm and serene. I made a wish, threw a coin in and felt that if any fountain could grant a wish…it would be this one.

Girls and the fountain

Trevi Fountain at Night

Made my wish!

And so then a wish of mine did come true: we got gelato. But, we didn’t just get any gelato. We got San Crispino gelato. This place takes their gelato so seriously that they won’t give you a cone or whipped cream because they think it takes away from the flavor of the gelato. On this visit (yes, there was another visit) I got two scoops: Crema (CREAM ice cream) and Chocolate Meringue…which were everything I hoped they would be.

Lots of Gelato

With gelato in hand (but not for long) we went to meet some friends who happened to be in Rome as well. Oh, but where to meet? Oh, how about the Spanish Steps. Now, here’s the thing about the Spanish Steps…they’re just steps. And they aren’t Spanish, they’re in Rome….Now, I know the historical reason they are “Spanish” (I do! I just looked it up on Wikipedia!) and they were quite beautiful, but…they’re just steps! The Trevi Fountain was better. I said it. I’m not a guide book, I’m just writing a blog…I can make judgements.

Night time steps

After the Spanish Steps we went somewhere far more exciting: an ICE BAR. Okay, this is so not like me. I paid money to go stand in a freezing cold room. You walk in, they give you a sort of poncho and then you get to go into a room completely made of ice until you can’t stand it anymore. The only thing inside is other freezing tourists and a bar which makes intriguing drinks to warm people up. It was a really exciting experience but I was freezing when I got out. We lasted one hour, by the way. The one positive aspect of being in an ice cave for an hour was that the really cold Rome night didn’t seem so bad after we’d been in the 22° room.

Steph and I lounging

After a short night of sleep we got an early start to see the Vatican shenanigans. We figured out the Rome metro system and took our short ride to St. Peter’s Basilica. Outside, the sun was shining. We couldn’t have asked for a better day, which is good since we had to stand in line for a bit to see the Basilica. Entrance is free, so we roamed for a while and rubbed St. Peter’s foot for good luck.

In front of St. Peter

Good luck!

And, it turns out St. Peter’s foot is rubbed down all the way to half its normal size for a reason. That luck really helps, because when we got to the Vatican Museum we didn’t have to wait in line for a second. We just walked right in…on a Saturday! I was shocked in the best kind of way. So, we spent a fair amount of time in the Vatican walking through the rooms (everyone spends a fair amount of time because you’re crammed in like cows in a cattle truck). The Vatican is impossible to describe in words and although I had witnessed its treasures before it was no less exciting or awe inspiring. After the procession through the Vatican ended, we ended up on the cold, rainy steps outside…starving. So, we found a nearby restaurant that wasn’t too touristy and had a very delicious pasta lunch. I had Rigatoni with Cacio e Pepe sauce, one of our new favorites…it is just cheese and pepper. Liz had a pasta with cream sauce and sausage (very close to my sister Sam’s very favorite pasta…).

After food we inevitably needed gelato…and so my second trip to San Crispino was in order. A trip back for gelato meant another view of the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain (can’t complain about the scenery) and so we took the opportunity to get a couple more pictures and see the sights at a different time of day.

Day Steps from the Top

Trevi during the day

After we were finished with the sights, we headed over to the most important attraction. This time I got Brandy and Concord Grape flavors…which were absolutely amazing. Even better, I think, than the flavors I devoured the day before. Happily slurping our gelato, we set out for the Metro station back to the train station. When we arrived at the train station we had a major time crunch and very nearly missed our train. Luckily we jumped on the train just before it left and we relaxed until our train transfer in the middle of nowhere. When we switched trains, we ended up on a two car train. It was a conductor’s car with a small space for him and some seats for passengers and a caboose. I’ve never seen anything like it. Right before the train pulled away from the station it started smoking and so our departure was delayed…but everyone was pretty nonchalant about the smoking car, so we stayed on the train.

Smoking train

And so we had an eventful end to our journey south. We got a taxi back to our apartment (a luxury around here, but well worth it) and were very happy to be off our feet when we collapsed onto our beds. I wouldn’t say the trip was relaxing, but it was definitely worth it. Plus, we were smart and planned to come home Saturday night and so I’ve had all today (Sunday) to relax and get ready for another week of school. What an exciting adventure.

Travel Buddies

Obama, Naples and Rome

Well, I’m off to Naples (to eat the best pizza of my life) and Rome (to soak up some godliness) this weekend, but before I left I wanted to just write a little message…

YAY OBAMA.

We’ve been really worried about the election over here, even though we are so far away. Everyone voted absentee…and I am glad to hear that everyone at home voted too…and for the right candidate! This is a very exciting time and, for the first time I can remember I am actually proud of Americans as a whole.

However, with good news comes bad…what is UP with California? The fact that Prop. 8 passed is absolutely disturbing to me. However, I was thinking I was going to have to move to Canada…now I just want to move to…Massachusetts? Some place where people have equal rights…I thought this was an old issue. So sad.

The U.S. needs change, being abroad has made that even more clear to me…and I am glad Barack Obama has stepped up to the plate. And that we have accepted his help.

Yay, yay, yay!

I’ll let you know how the pizza and religion goes (-;

A delicious meal…

I already posted today, but I felt the need to share with everyone the delicious meal that Stephanie and I made tonight.

Fresh pumpkin ravioli with a balsamic and browned butter reduction.

Read it again, just to make sure you understand. I was so impressed with us. It rivaled some of the food that we had in Bologna…that good.

Deliciousness

We also made some grilled veggies with zucchini, red bell pepper, tomatoes, onion and garlic. We are known as the garlic girls around here. The vegetables were delicious but they paled in comparison…

The balsamic and brown butter reduction was perfectly simple with the fresh pumpkin ravioli.

Ravioli. Balsamic. Butter. Veggies. Yum.

Stephanie and I are still, 2 hours later, talking about how amazing it was. YUM!

Just thought I’d share… (-:

Nature in Siena

Well, as I have mentioned before…Siena is a walled city. That means that nature is kind of hard to come by. But, there are two pretty beautiful parks that Stephanie and I were introduced to today. Our friend Antonio showed us both of them. From one there is a beautiful view of Siena and of the surrounding Tuscan countryside and in the other there are lots of different animals.

The first park is a little walk away from our apartment. It has a little path running through and is quite small, but the views are spectacular.

Tuscany

The view outside the walls was a nice break from our everyday experiences inside the walls of the city. Notice the sky in the background, too. It is a beautiful day today. We are very lucky, as it is going to rain all next week.

Beautiful Siena

We really do live in the city on the hill. I liked this view a lot because it made it so apparent how secluded Siena is. It’s a nice little home.

Then we ventured over to another park which has lots of little wildlife…cats, rabbits, chickens, ducks, geese, goats and a lonely but very cute donkey.

Campo from the Garden

This is a cool view of the Campo in Siena, which is usually seen from the Piazza below it, looking up.

Cute cat

I miss cats! When Stephanie and I are lonely here we both sit and talk about how we want a cat to live with us. I wouldn’t have touched this cat, as it probably would’ve scratched me…but I will continue with my delusion of this cat coming to live with me.

Goats, Chickens and Ducks, oh my!

Above is a little tiny area with two goats (I think that’s what they were), numerous chickens, some ducks and geese…I don’t think they really know what to do with all the animals so they just put them all in one place. They seemed to be coexisting quite well, though. It doesn’t look like much, but this is as close to a nature preserve as it gets in Siena.

To the left of this cage was a very cute, and very dirty, donkey. I named him Frank. He was really sweet, but he really wanted me to have food…and I didn’t. I vowed to him that I would bring a whole bag of carrots next time.

He wanted a carrot

So, then we decided to venture back home and we got a great surprise on the way out! There were a bunch of little bunnies hopping around in the trees. They were kind of hard to capture with a camera, but I did my best.

Peter Rabbit

Anyway, that was my day of exploring…it’s amazing the things you discover when you are avoiding studying for finals.

On Monday (tomorrow) we are taking a class trip to hot springs and I am really looking forward to that. After that, on Wednesday and Thursday, we have written finals and oral finals…so, we’ll see how that goes. Should be an interesting week. I think I’ll end it with less hair than I started with.

Hope all is well!

Bologna!

Ohhh Bologna. I can’t even believe I am about to make this into one blog post. So much happened in this one weekend that it is hard to believe it was only 3 days. Bologna is known for…food. It is known around Italy as one of the best places to eat. Dangerous place for an Italian food lover.

We left Siena on Friday morning and got to Bologna by lunch time. Since we went with the entire program, everything was figured out for us. We didn’t have to think about transportation, restaurants, hotels…anything. So, quite a relaxing trip really. The first thing we did when we got to Bologna was…eat. We went to a cute little restaurant with good food and delicious wine. That’s kind of the theme of this trip, I guess.

Drinking wine...as usual.

There is wine with every meal here in Italy, and I don’t think I’ve had a bad glass yet. I mean, there is bad wine here, I’m sure…I just haven’t encountered any. So, we stuffed ourselves full of yummy food and drink only to realize that…

We had to go on a city tour. Now, generally I am all about city tours. Bologna is quite beautiful and interesting, but after all that eating and drinking…it’s tough to waddle around and act interested in another church (in some ways Italy is not the country for me).

In front of the UN office

The walking tour was historically and religiously interesting, but we didn’t stay for very long because we had other pressing engagements…namely, H&M. There are no cheap clothing stores in Siena to speak of, so we were very exciting to go to H&M, a famously cheap store, to get some sweaters for the cold cold Siena weather. So, we ditched the tour and went shopping. What can I say? I’m not perfect. (-:

After our full day, we had another meal to go to. I’m not complaining, but recounting these numerous meals is a little ridiculous. And, I must say, it felt that way at the time. We definitely felt like we just ate our way through the whole trip…no better way to experience a city, in my personal experience.

So, we had dinner at yet another fantastic restaurant.

Girls and Food

Every meal here has multiple courses, and there are always alternative options for vegetarians. The most notable part of this delicious meal was the bruschetta and the chocolate cake (big surprise from me, I know).

Delicious Bruschetta

The tomatoes on this Bruschetta were so….perfect. It was so pure tasting. It didn’t need any doctoring, just bread, olive oil and tomatoes. Delicious.

Rich Chocolate Cake

I know the pictures are blurry, but…you get the point. Stephanie and I ate about 3 pieces of this chocolate cake…each. Nobody else wanted it. I’m not sure what was wrong with them. Oh, yeah…they probably have self control. Well, I say Italy is no place for self control.

As the night wound down, my stomach didn’t get less full. When food is this good, I think my body doesn’t want to stop eating it. Anyway, we probably went to sleep a little larger than usual that night. The next morning we got to experience one of my favorite things…Balsamic Vinegar.

We went on a tour of a very old Balsamic Vinegar factory called Acetaia Malpighi. One family has owned this operation for years. It was quite a treat to see and taste the different vinegars (at different ages), hear about the operations, etc. Some of the barrels they use here are worth 20,000 euro…about 30,000-35,000 dollars. For one barrel. They produce vinegars aged for various lengths of time, some far more affordable than others. The most expensive vinegar they sell here is aged about 24 years and is worth about 200-400 euro. For a little teeny tiny bottle. We didn’t get to taste that one.

Vinegar Barrels and Bottles

The vinegar here was so delicious. They leave the tops off, like you can see above, so that the vinegar can breathe. They just cover the hole with a small white towel so nothing gets in there. Imagine how delicious it smelled.

After we tasted a bunch of vinegars, some of which I never knew existed, we all went to a winery to taste some wines and eat some more food. The food at this winery was some of the best I have ever had in my life. I won’t do it justice in trying to explain it with words, and pictures are a little hit and miss because everybody ate everything so fast that the cameras couldn’t keep up.

Wine soaked pears, walnuts, cheese, honey.

Pears. Soaked in wine. It was delightful. The mixture of textures and flavors in this dish was sublime. Plus, doesn’t it just look beautiful?

Mushroom thing

Okay, this one is hard to explain. It tasted like mushrooms. It was definitely made out of mushrooms. But the texture was a bit like a condensed Ethiopian bread called Injera. I realize that doesn’t help very much. it was chewy, but not too chewy. It was chewy pasta made with mushrooms. Might not sounds very good, but it really was.

Notice that we are at a winery and I am not talking about the wine at all. The food at this winery was so amazing…the wine was good too, but it could not compare to the food.

Beautiful Vineyard

So it wasn’t too bad to look at, either. When we finished eating all this amazing food, I laid on the grass out front and looked around at the beautiful Tuscan countryside…Doesn’t get much better than a full stomach and beautiful views.

We had free time for the rest of this day. They probably assumed that everyone would be too full and happy to do anything organized. So, we kind of lounged around all day, walked around Bologna a little bit…and then thought about dinner. Hey, we were in the Bologna state of mind…what can I say?

So, me and a couple of my friends here went to an Indian restaurant. I know I said that casually, but there is nothing casual about it. There are few alternative food choices here in Siena, and I was way too spoiled by the wide array of food choices in Berkeley before I came. Indian food is some of my very favorite food, so I was very excited about indulging in some non-Italian cuisine. Plus, the food was so good! Who would’ve thought…Indian food in Italy. It exists!

Indian Food!

Don’t get me wrong…I’m not sick of Italian food by any means. But, this was a nice change of pace.

The next morning, on our last day in Bologna, we visited a Parmesan cheese factory. It was interesting to see the interworkings of the factory, but…it. smelled. so. bad. So, I would’ve been okay with having a cheese TASTING rather than walking around in a horrible smelling factory. But I am glad I did it.

More cheese please

SO MUCH CHEESE. It was amazing. I don’t know what else to say about it…the picture says it all.

After we left the Parmesan cheese factory, we had some of the most amazing pizza I have had here in Italy. It was so amazing because it had these little delicious onions roasted on top and balsamic vinegar drizzled on at the end. It was one of the most heavenly flavors I have ever tasted in my life.

So, that is what we ended the trip on…delicious pizza. Then we all waddled onto the bus and passed out for the three hour bus ride back to Siena. Except yours truly, who cannot sleep in moving vehicles and therefore was forced to watch the passing countryside (boohoo, so sad for me…not).

Italy is so beautiful and I feel very lucky to be exploring different parts of the country. Next week we are headed to Naples and Rome for…more eating and a little religion.

Hope all is well back in the U.S. I’ll be seeing everyone soon enough, unless McCain wins in which case I am staying here or moving to Canada. Anyone who wants to join is welcome. (-:

Ciao Ciao!