Snowy Sunday

Cioccolato

From Wednesday the 24th to Sunday the 28th Bologna hosted its 7th annual chocolate festival Cioccoshow: " the magic of chocolate"

They started setting up the stands in Piazza Maggiore, through Via degli Orefici to Via Santo Stefano over a week ago and when they finally opened they were filled with chocolate delight.

I enjoyed all sorts of delicious treats throughout the weekend-

chocolate truffles in pistachio, coffee, rum, caramel, honey, hazelnut ... hot chocolate, which is more like dark chocolate melted- so rich, filling, and almost sickening. Also chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate liqueur.

Along with lots of chocolate, there was lots of rain, sun, and snow. This makes winter now official.

An Italian Thanksgiving

This is definitely the best Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving meal I've had away from home. BCSP was very kind and helped us Americans celebrate one of our favorite holidays. We ate at Trattoria Scacco Matto, with all the students, and the professors from the pre-session and other people who have played an important role in making it possible for us to study abroad in Bologna this year.

We started out with a delicious pumpkin soup which tasted like the fresh innards of a pumpkin, flavorful but yet a light texture. Then they brought out the turkey, and the director and his son made the first cut. It was a turkey stuffed with a blend of ground turkey, onion, and other spices, it was rich and creamy. And they did it just right by serving mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, green beans, and a salad. To finish off the meal we had apple pie in a sweet cinnamon sauce.

It was a delicious meal in the company of good friends made while in Bologna, full of laughter, and some embarrassment of our knowledge in U.S. history as one girl continued on her family tradition with a Thanksgiving quiz.

Giardini Margherita

The Giardini Margherita a beautiful large garden on the south side of Bologna. This is usually the hot spot come spring- but at the end of November it shows the last signs of autumn and the budding signs of winter.

The temperature has turned rather rainy and chilly, and the scarves, boots, hats, and mittens oh and umbrellas have come out to greet us.

This past week, the second half of the second of the semester started, so some classes have ended, others have just started, and some have changed their focus to be on something new.

and bologna is still beautiful.

Cafè Americano

ITIT is probably the only coffee shop in Bologna that sells American drip coffee.

Not only does it have American style black watery brewed coffee, they also have homemade soup daily, a plethora of sandwiches, comfy arm chairs and a little bon iver or buena vista social club playing.


I think this is going to be the new place to hit the books.

Modena

Saturday I took a short day trip to Modena with the intent on buying the famous modenese balsamic vinegar. Unfortunately it wasn't as easy to find as we thought it would be, and it was rather on the expensive side. The trip was still worth it. Modena is significantly smaller than Bologna, but has beautiful gardens and is bursting with autumn color.

San Luca

This time, for real, I made it to San Luca.
It was a beautiful day in Bologna, 60 degrees and sunny, which meant that it was time to treck 2 miles through the 666 porticoes that lead to the Santuario Madonna di San Luca.

The basilica is known for an icon of the Madonna and is visited by many pilgrims.
The porticoes were built as a form of protection for transportation of the icon. Construction started in 1674 and ended in 1732.

It's an uphill climb but with beautiful views left and right. It's a little (big) charm of Bologna.

Soup

As the days are starting to get cooler, more soup recipes are coming out in the kitchen. But soup isn't such an easy translated word from English into Italian. If you go to wordreference and do a search for soup you get three results:

1. Minestra
2. Zuppa
3. Minestrone

So whats the difference?

The answer is debatable and often comes up at the dinner table with my roomates while we're eating a delicious warm bowl of minestra/zuppa/minestrone.

Minestra: is a soup served typically as a main dish with a dry base such as pasta.

Zuppa: is a type of minestra with mostly bread and vegetables. Bread with boiled vegetables gives a semi-solid composition therefore differing from minestra.

Minestrone: again- a type of minestra except with lots of vegetables and broth. Pasta or rice can be added. This variation is known to be made with the vegetables that are available in the house, maybe not the most fresh.

I wouldn't say there really is a great difference between these- add a few more vegetables and your minestra becomes a zuppa. And we can't forget a vellutata which would be like a creamy asparagus soup or cream of potato. Who knew that a bowl of soup could be so complicated and complex?

Concerts and Costumes

Thankfully this is a long weekend in Bologna, since today is All Saints Days, everything is closed and there are no classes, perfect for the day after Halloween.

Friday night, I headed out to Teatro Perla with my roommates to see Italian singer Brunori S.a.s. It was an exciting, interactive concert which ended with everyone singing an Italian classic together.

And Sunday being Halloween, I dressed up as cat and headed out to quite an international party to celebrate right.