Penne, Farfalle and Tagliatelle Oh My!

BCSP organized a pasta making night at Osteria La Traviata.

We were tutored by an adorable old italian lady who has been making pasta by hand for her restaurant for 70 years.


eggs, eggs, eggs and some flour

We made all sorts of different pasta: tagliatelle, farfalle, penne, tortellini, tortelloni which was followed by a delicious meal.

Rivaling Neptunes

In the early 16th Century Florence desired a beautiful statue of the god Neptune in Piazza della Signora for Francesco I de Medici's wedding with the grand duchess Johanna of Austria . Artists came and presented their ideas and one of Bologna's very own artists Jean di Bologna, otherwise known as Giambologna, presented his miniature statue to the city of Florence but it wasn't good enough.

Giambologna was not given the job and instead artist Baccio Bandinelli won the competition. Unfortunately, Bandinelli died before he started carving the piece and so Bartolomeo Ammannati sculpted the Neptune that still stands there today in 1565.


Giambologna was very unhappy about this outcome and when the people of Bologna heard about it they commissioned Giambologna to sculpt his version of Neptune and even give him it's own little piazza- Piazza Nettuno.

Our Neptune (that being Bologna's) is of course much better than Florence's Neptune.
The poor statue in Florence has suffered quite a bit.
- It was used as a wash bin in the 16th Century
- In 1830 a satyr was stolen during a carnival
-In 1580, 2005, and 2007 the statue was a target of vandalism

Piazza Nettuno is the meeting spot of young and old in Bologna. Giambologna's work stands tall for everyone to see.

Colors of Firenze

Sunday lent a beautiful day trip to Florence.
Florence is one of the more romantic cites in Italy- it offers its magnificent Duomo, famous Ponte Vecchio, Arno river, and genuine leather at a good price.



(Piazza Michelangelo)

Left Turn

Madonna San Luca is a church on the top of a little mountain, which in order to get there you need to walk through 666 porticoes.

Over the weekend I set out with a friend to try to climb through the beautiful arches to San Luca. We started walking in the correct direction, however we ended up on a completely different road heading in a completely different direction after we had mistakenly taken a left at a fork in the road.

This wrong turn was very serendipitous in the end.

After walking for a little over an hour we arrived at some steps that lead up a hill. It was very picturesque with apple and pear trees and a breathtaking view at the top. Once at the top we realized that we ended up behind San Luca.


Even though the walk outside of Bologna was long and did not bring us to our planned destination, it was more than worth the adventure, and now this week we will try to actually make it to Madonna San Luca

France in Italy

Last night my friend Meghan and I made crêpes for dinner and they turned out great!

It was a last minute idea so we through together some eggs, flour, water, butter, and salt and mixed up a double batch of batter.

We had savory crêpes with salami milano and havarti like cheese and also sweet crêpes with nutella and banana! Mmmmm

Pasta e Pane

When one thinks of Italy it's safe to say that pasta and bread are two of the first things that come to mind.

Yesterday the BCSP group had a guided tour through some of longest lasting bakeries and delis in Bologna.

During the middle ages, if you were a butcher, you were considered high class, because in Bologna cuisine is centered around the meat. If you're meal is not going to consist of mortadella (known to Americans as bolgona), proscuitto, or salami you might as well not eat.

Paolo Atti & Figli is a wonderful bakery that has been passed down through four generations. It opened in 1880 and has survived the great depression and WWII. At the beginning to mid 20th century the Atti family hired prostitutes, giving them a job that paid fairly and gave them dignity. During the depression, to prevent them from eating the rich inside of tortellini (ricotta cheese, meat or grains) they would sing. So, when you would walk into the bakery to buy your fresh pasta and daily loaf of bread you were greeted with beautiful singing women.




At the end of WWII, Bologna was heavily bombed, and it so happened that a bomb fell in the Atti bakery, however it landed on some dough which softened the fall and so it didn't explode. The grandmother at the time, wrapped the bomb up in the middle of the bread dough and put it on a cart that was heading outside of Bologna- saving the bakery from being blown to pieces.

After trying various breads, cheeses and desserts at Paolo Atti & Figli we went to Tamburini. , an old Bolognese Salsamenteria. We were offered a delicious meat and cheese platter.


Tamburini was founded in 1887 and is famous for their salami and tortellini. The little shop is always full of people and they offer a great lunch cafeteria style, worth the money and crazy atmosphere.

Home Sweet Home

I have a home in Italy!

The past week has been very stressful for everyone in the program. Since the second day of the program (Aug. 31) everyone has been on the search for an apartment. At the end of June I made an account on a housing site for Bologna. I received around 40 emails a week advertising these great apartments in the center of the city for a reasonable price. I canceled my account since it was obvious that there were many options and I was looking 2 months early.

However, as many options there may seems to be, it is actually a very difficult, long, stressful search.

Here, in Bologna (I can't say if it is like this in all of Italy) when looking for an apartment is like going in for a job interview. Not only are you looking for a home where that is clean, in a good location and has friendly italian housemates, they are also looking for someone who they think they will get along with and will fit into their lifestyle.

No matter how much you like an apartment, you have no say or choice. It ultimately comes down to the people renting out the room.

The first day of the search I went to 7 apartments. The following day 3, the day after that 4.
There was a smaller quaint apartment I visited on Wednesday. There were two very nice girls who greeted me and offered me a coffee and showed me around the apartment. There was a little terrace with a hammock and a tree growing over half of it. The apartment was filled with sunshine and there couldn't have been anything better.
I decided that was the place to live. I wrote them an email the following day expressing my interest in the apartment. They said they had to wait until Sunday. Those were the longest 4 days of my life. I had to keep looking in case they were going to say no.
Saturday morning I went to go look at yet another apartment. That one was also very beautiful and that evening they offered me the room. But I wanted to live in the first apartment. I was torn between the two. Do I choose the place that is a little bigger, closer to the center, but a little more expensive but I haven't met the girls I'd be living with or do I choose the one that is a little smaller, but with an awesome terrace, and the friendliest girls?
Sunday night, I stopped by my first choice apartment and met the third girl I'd be living with- my roommate. She was amazing. And then .... they offered me the room!
Monday I packed up my things from the hotel that had become my home for over a week and brought half of it over to my new, "real" home. Tuesday I took an adventurous trip to Ikea and by Tuesday night I was in the apartment eating homemade pizza with my house mates.