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!)