Tante Cose (So many things!)

Oh dear.

I should be better about this whole blogging thing. I'm kind of intimidated now by all that I should be sharing. So. I'm going to do a few quick summaries of the biggest things to happen recently, toss in some necessary information about my life here, and end with a COUPLE different foods.. since it looks like I owe quite a few now. So let's start!

I'll get the necessary details out of the way... I finally figured out my class schedule! I have to take 4 credits worth of class, or just 4 classes. And I have to take a writing workshop (with the most fabulous professor ever, IVAN [pronounced ee-VAHN]). Then, I'm taking a Modern Italian Art history class through my program. And fiiinally, I'm doing a poli sci class through the university called "History and Institutions of Countries in the Mediterranean"... but basically it's just about the Middle East, starting around the Ottoman period. And it's worth 2 credits so I have all my credits taken care of with 3 classes! Woo.

Alright here we go:

SAN MARINO

Alright I'll start here. The weekend after going to Ferrara (see last post!) a group of us went to San Marino, very close to Bologna - another one of those silly country within a country deals. Seriously though. You know how the Vatican is it's own country? So is San Marino. Official language is Italian (who would have thought?), and the old part of the city, the part worth seeing, is literally just a collection of old buildings perched on top of a hill-mountain. Is this worth it, you might ask? To see a little city perched on top of a hill-mountain? I wouldn't go for the food (I got a hamburger for lunch.. bo) but aside from that, I daresay it is. This is by far one of the prettiest places I've ever seen. If you like mountains, cliffs, and fairytale looking castles, this place is for you. There's actually a cool collection of museums, too. Torture museum, vampires and werewolves museum, Museo di Curiosita (went there.. if you're a Ripley's Believe It or Not person, you'll like this), and also a small art gallery currently exhibiting some Impressionist works. San Marino? Win.

Sorry for the awkward positioning of the pics. I'm too lazy to fix it right now..

RAVENNA

WHO LIKES ART?! If you don't then you can skip this section because that's all it's really going to cover...

In honor of the all the people fighting against the Republican's, but mainly Tea Party's, "War on Women," I'm picturing the mosaic of Theodora over Justinian. Girl power!

Dante's memorial/tomb

NOT a cistern - old part of the church!

So we took a little day trip to Ravenna with my program, and got a lovely tour of the city. Did you know that Ravenna was once the capital of the Roman Empire, Ostrogothic kingdom, and the Byzantine Empire? I didn't realize that about the first two.. but anywho. Ravenna houses some of the most BEAUTIFUL Byzantine mosaics you can find. And for those of you who took art history, remember dear Theodora and Justinian? I was lucky enough to see them in San Vitale. They are absolutely stunning. And I'm not sure why, but I thought that San Vitale was relatively small. It surprised me how big it was. Oh, and FUN FACT. Ravenna used to be a city like Venice, with canals and waterways and everything, but the water receded long ago. So the ground that everything was built on is pretty much sand, so over the centuries all the old buildings started sinking into the ground. So the church San Vitale is actually pretty low down in the ground.. you have to walk down a flight of steps to get into it. Also (I'm showing you a picture ^^) we saw a church that had sunk, but there had been construction done to raise it above the water level (the problem with all the buildings sinking was water leaked in) but I guess the people decided to give up on the last part of the church, where the altar is, and just build a new part. So in front of the altar, you could go down some steps (it was kind of odd construction, but looked like the kind of church architecture able to house reliquaries/tombs near the altar) but instead of this said reliquary or tomb, there was an opening into what looked like a cistern! But was really the old part of the church submerged under water. How cool!

MODENA

Balsamic vinegar barrels

Frittatas with balsamic vinegar anyone?

This is getting to be a lot. Ha. I'm going to make this short. David came to see me this weekend! heeey. We didn't really see any of Modena except this lady's house who makes balsamic vinegar, since Zoe booked us a balsamic vinegar tour!! The women who's house it was made having your attic devoted to barrels upon barrels of balsamic vinegar in a 19th century house in the midst of a vineyard look reaaal appealing. As if it weren't already. Did you know that the balsamic vinegar we usually use (on salads, bread, etc) is actually the non-traditional type and aged for only 12 years (minimum)? Well! The real (or just traditional) stuff is actually aged for at least 25 years, and has the consistency almost of syrup, and is also sweeter. And absolutely delicious. Oh boy. 

VENEZIA

Alright. Venice. I only spent the day and most of the night there (no hostel) and went to see Carnevale!! Only the coolest thing ever. Carnevale lasts about 2 weeks and ends with Mardi Gras, or Martedi Grasso. The two weeks leading up to Martedi Grasso, the humongous day, are basically just full of celebrations of all sorts - masquerades, dances, concerts, etc. But we're not just talking about just some little ol' masquerade. The venetians go ALL OUT. We basically walked around all day, so I won't bore you with describing it, I'll just give you some pictures. The other cool thing we did in Venice was go to the Guggenheim. Can anyone hook me up with that family so I can be a part of it? I didn't know it was possible to be that wealthy.. Peggy Guggenheim literally had the money to build a palace of sorts on one of the large canals in Venice (in itself QUITE a project) but then inside there was the absolute most incredible art! We're not just talking some unknown follower of some student of Braque or something. We're talking beautiful pieces by Picasso, Pollock, Max Ernst, Kandinsky, Francis Bacon, Brancusi, Salvador Dali, de Chirico, should I go on? It was absolutely stunning. Every piece was beautiful (they don't let you take pictures in there... sorry).

Again, I apologize

for the really goofy

formatting

Alright, that covers just about everything! Before I get to the food section, I must also add that my parents came to visit me a few days after my birthday!! They didn't get to stay for long, sadly, but it was really awesome being able to show them around the city, show them where I'm living! And also give them a break from all those museums and sit down and enjoy the food :) Which leads me to my next section...

FOOD(S) OF THE WEEK

Lasagna... handmade 

SCHERZO! Joke ha

My friend and I were looking for a quick bite to eat.. and for some reason all the bars serving slices of pizza and panini seemed to be evading us. So we found this place that had pasta at a really cheap price! And when we asked the guy how long it would take to get our food, he said only about 5-6 minutes. Can anyone guess why that would be? Well we didn't, and thought that sounded like an awesome deal so we should eat there! Well, after ordering we sit down. The guy goes behind the counter, pulls two trays out of the fridge, unwraps them, and proceeds to heat them in the microwave for 5-6 minutes. Brrnt.

Here's the real stuff...

Polenta with mushrooms

Dolci... desserts

So, while in Ravenna we decided to eat at a restaurant that our professors recommended for us. And it was easy to see why this was recommended. The first picture is of polenta with sauteed mushrooms on top, covered with yet more mushrooms, but this time fried. If you like mushrooms as much as I do, you'd like this a lot.

We saw other people with desserts and decided we couldn't pass it up, so some friends and I split this beauty of a plate. That little thing on the bottom right of the plate is the Italian version of flan. I usually don't like flan, but this was incredible. Going clockwise, the next little guy is actually a noodle stuffed with chocolate - similar to Nutella. To die for. Behind that is a little spoon with chocolate mousse, and next to that is a fried doughy piece of deliciousness. And in the middle is the requisite tiramisu. Win win win.

I thought I'd wrap up the food section with something of my class' own creation! With the incredible guidance/teachings of Signora Rita. The most amazing woman ever. The first picture is of her frying the artichokes we had prepared in a beer-batter. *Heaven* Seriously, those were super addictive and delicious and lucky enough very easy to make! So... I'll be making that at home.

And last but not least, our homemade tiramisu. Heavy on the chocolate, heavy on the love. This was divine. An excellent way to finish a meal. And an excellent way to finish a blog post :) Til next time! (hopefully not too long!)

Ferrara

Ciao tutti!

So let's see, a couple things that have happened this week that are exciting!

There was an event this weekend where all the museums in the city were open at night, and the piazzas had concerts and events happening. So Friday, a group of us went to the medieval art museum to check out what they had (actually a pretty extensive collection.. pretty cool). And then went over to the Palazzo Fava!! This place was amazing... they had this exhibit of some Italians who went to China and had kids there.. and all their adventures documented in some old photos. Had some traditional musicians playing too. Also, the bottom floor had a modern art of exhibit of surrealist/futurist artists. Whoa that was awesome! They also had this absolutely incredible pianist playing this really fast, intense piece that made you feel tense and on edge.. so perfect for the art that was in the room, I loved it.

Este Castle

This weekend though! Gah it was exciting. I went with a group to Ferrara! A little town about 30 minutes outside of Bologna. And no, I looked it up, and this is not where the name "Ferrari" comes from for the car brand (the manufacturers are based in a different city and apparently the guy who invented the car was named "Ferrari"). Ferrara, though, is a pretty residential town but with a really amazing 'centro.' It has a beautiful castle (-->) that was owned by a really rich family and continually added too. It also had a pretty famous prison/dungeon area that was crazy to see! And exactly how you would expect a dungeon to look/smell/feel like. Cold and cavernous. We were also able to climb to the top of the tower to get a view of Ferrara which was gooorgeous. Seriously beautiful. Ferrara looks a little like Bologna in that there's a lot of the red coloring with the buildings, so it was fantastic.

View from the torre of the Castle Este

The picture on the left is pretty much the center of town, and to the very right you can see a bit of the PO RIVER surrounding the castle we were on. Cobble stone streets, old Renaissance buildings, the works. Also, in the upper left hand corner is the absolutely gorgeous cathedral in Ferrara that had the most incredible facade. And who would I be if I didn't show you what that looks like.

Facade of Cathedral in Ferrara

Anywho. Ferrara was incredibly beautiful. More quaint and manageable than Bologna, and so super easy to get to so I'm glad I did it. I'm going to try to be better about blogging because I have a little preview for the next post - San Marino, third smallest country in Europe! The best. Til next time! A presto!

FOOD OF THE WEEK:

Cappellacci

My plate, with the ragu sauce

This week's special food comes from the adorable town of Ferrara, which I told you about above. When we went to a restaurant for lunch, my friend's friends living there told us that the "Cappellacci" is a specialty of Ferrara, so of course we had to try it. I looked up some things about Cappellacci and apparently in the ferrarese dialect, it's also called "Caplaz." Anywho. It gets its name from its shape - apparently whoever named it thought it looked like the straw hats that peasants used to wear in the 19th century. It's like ravioli, or an oversized tortellone. Basically, this delicious (usually fresh) pasta is filled with a pumpkin puree, and then topped with either a ragu (meat) sauce or else, at this restaurant, a butter and sage sauce. I got the meat one. Sounds a little strange, with the pumpkin filling, but it was incredible. Ooh dear lord. I would definitely order this again.

La prima mese! First month!

Ooo ciaooo tutti!!

Whoa so I'm in Italia right now!! How crazy is that. The city I'm in, Bologna, is an awesome location too - I'm an hour away from Florence, 2 hours from Venice, and 2 hours from Milan. If I plan enough in advance I could get some super cheap tickets to Sicilia or something, so hopefully I'll get a chance to go there this semester.

So I guess I should introduce the blog a little bit. I'll start with the name! Last semester was Morocco, so this semester is Italia time, hence ciao time. But most people I've told about my semester in Italy have told me to make sure I EAT good food, so I figured in tribute to everyone who wants to make sure I'm tasting the best of Italy (and because whoa it's just so fun), instead of doing a "Word of the Day" section I'll have a "Food of the Week" section. Hence, 'chow' time. Corny? Maybe. But I think it's cute.

I should tell you a little bit about the living situation too. So I'm living in the dorms this semester, but apartment style. I'm in a double with a girl from the south of Italy, and there are two other girls in a double next to me. We have a kitchen, common room-ish area attached, and a bathroom (I'm also a spoiled brat and have a washing machine in the bathroom). It's cool to finally be able to cook for myself, especially since it can be super cheap! But it's also kind of daunting that... I have to cook for myself all the time now. Oh well, it'll be a semester of experimenting.

So I don't know about the rest of you, but I really didn't know that much about Bologna before applying to the program (we all know Rome, Florence, Venice, etc. But Bologna? Definitely not talked about much). But whoa! Bologna is so cool!! I knew I'd be living in a city but figured it would be relatively small, St. Louis-feeling at best. But this city is alive. There's a lot to do at night and just a lot of people walking around all day. It's very clearly a college city, with tons and tons of young people that are actually pretty easy to meet. And it's also kind of refreshing - the college students are pretty active in the city. I've been here for about 2 weeks and have already seen several protests, and people passing out pamphlets and everything. It's one thing to hear people complaining about problems in our society all the time, blah blah, but to see people actually taking an active stance and protesting about it? Ahh I could get used to this.

Ahh yeah and the whole bologna thing. There is a type of meat here that our precious Oscar Mayer bologna is based off of - it's called "mortadella" here. It was pretty good but not my favorite. But I'm not a huge bologna fan to begin with. You'll find below my new obsession though, at least as far as meats are concerned.

Last thing before I wrap this up is class situation - I've got to figure out what I'm taking soon! I think I'm taking 2 classes with my program - Modern Italian Art History and a poli sci course (figured that I've never taken one, won't have the time once I'm back at Vassar, and it's focusing on an interesting time period so why not). Then I'm taking a class through Unibo, Universita di Bologna. It's between a Religions of the Classical World and a couple art classes, so we'll see what ends up happening. Gah everything is going to be in Italian though. Scary. I think it'll take some time but it'll be good.

So, plenty happening this week so more to come soon!!

FOOD OF THE WEEK

Prosciutto

Alright, I've been bad with taking pictures and haven't loaded them on my comp yet, so I'm cheating this week with the picture. And sorry to all the vegetarians out there for this week's pick. But doesn't that just make your mouth water? God I'm hungry now. Anyways, PROSCIUTTO! I knew it was good but I've been obseeessed ever since I got here. How can you go wrong? Prosciutto literally means ham, so you have to specify either cooked or dry-smoked. I've been getting the dry-smoked, or 'crudo' kind. For those who don't know, I adore bacon. And this definitely gives me that salty, chewy-ish meat fix that bacon does. It's so good. Most bars (more of a little cafe than American bar) that sell little lunch things and pastries and coffee sell these types of sandwiches, or you can get them on little 'crostini,' - toast with prosciutto. So simple. And so delicious