Lago di Garda

Friday I headed up to Lago di Garda which is the largest lake in Italy, touching three regions, Lombardia, Veneto, and Trentino-Alto Adige. It was magnificent. It is a taste of paradise. 

It is a touristy area with more germans than italians, but it is a gorgeous swim in the lake surrounded by the Gruppo del Baldo mountains. 

Toscana

Early Thursday morning, BCSP headed off into the Tuscan hills for a 2 day holiday organized by the program. We stopped at Monteriggioni, Siena, Sant'Anna in Camprena, Pienza, Montelcino, and Sant Antimo. It was a busy two days, full of friends, laughter, and sun.

In Siena, we had a tour and got to the Duomo and learned all about the culture of the Palio of Siena which takes place two times a year, once  July2nd  and again August 16th .

Thursday night we stayed in an old monastery that is now an Agriturismo. The grounds were beautiful, we watched the sunset, and ate a delicious traditional Tuscan meal.

Friday morning we stopped at Pienza and we're excited to see the trapazoidial piazza which influenced Renaissance urban design. We continued on to Montelcino, where we stopped to pick up lunch for our 8 kilometer hike, but we're surprised with a grocery store strike. 

Continuing on through the beautiful country side we stopped at a contadina to see and learn how they make the famous Brunello wine. We got to taste test two different wines, bask in the sun, and relax before we continued on the hike to Sant Antimo.

Turkish Delight

Two weeks ago, right after I finished taking my exams for Art History and Food and Culture and had attempted to take my Cultural Anthropology exam, I headed off to Istanbul, Turkey for four days.  Turkey was absolutely wonderful, and was much more Western and American than I had expected. 

 

One of the first things we did was get a Turkish coffee, which is like drinking mud, and remember NOT to stir your coffee otherwise you'll be drinking coffee grounds, and a kebab. And of course after the infamous scene from the Chronicles of Narnia, in which Edmund devours Turkish Delight, it was necessary to indulge as well. 

There is a lot of street food being sold which is all delicious, bagel-like rolls, honey drenched churros, roasted corn, taffy, nuts, tabacco, freshly squeezed pomegranate and orange juice... 

Istanbul is also crawling with cats. There are cats everywhere. Some of them are adorable, others are missing eyes and clumps of fur from cat fights. 

We stopped in various mosques and also went into the Hagia Sofia, which was first an Orthodox Patriarchal Basilica (350-1453) and then a mosque (1453-1931) and now it serves as a museum. It's gorgeous and incredibly interesting as you clearly see signs of both religions- the Madonna right next to Qu'ran scripture. The Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque) is across from Hagia Sofia and is said to have been built to be bigger, and more beautiful than Hagia Sofia which had been the largest Mosque in the Ottoman Empire. The Sultan Ahmed Mosque was criticized for having 6 minarets, which was the same number of minarets in Mecca, so the sultan resolved the problem by ordering a 7th minaret at Mecca. 

New Mosque        Blue Mosque  

And of course we stopped at the spice market and got all sorts of dried fruit, teas, spices, coffee, and candies. 

A Weekend in March Part III

POMPEI/SORRENTO

The last day of our weekend trip down south was to see the ruins at Pompei. Visiting Pompei was a completely different experience than I had expected. There really isn't that much to see. You get off the little train and walk about 30 meters to the site entrance and that's it. So we walked around for a few hours and it was only 2 in the afternoon so we decided to randomly hop the little train  until the end of line- Sorrento. 

Sorrento is a quaint little town right on the sea. It reminds me of the Cinque Terre with lemon and orange trees everywhere, a beautiful view of the sea with cute little shops with hand painted ceramics and embroidered dish towels .... for all the tourists. 

We didn't have a lot of time, but we made sure to stop at a caffé where we got strawberry torts and chocolate covered profiteroles, and coffee while we looked over the water. 

A Weekend in March Part II

ROMA

The main reason we took this weekend trip was to visit the Necroplis, the tombs underneath Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. They only allow 50 people to go under a day, in groups of 12-15 people and you need to make an appointment a least a month in advance, so naturally we were really excited. 

It was very impressive and apparently I saw the bones of Saint Peter.

This was my fourth visit to Rome, but the first time that I actually stepped foot into Saint Peter's Basilica and saw Michealangelo's Pietà and Bernini's Baldacchino. 

After our afternoon at the Vatican, we headed on over to the Trevi Fountain and dipped inside a Chinese restaurant to get out of the pouring rain. We had a very friendly, unexpected, incredible surprise. The only other customers in the restaurant, another American family, bought our dinner for us without saying a word. Pay it forward.

We ended our stay in Rome by getting mojitos and hanging out in Campo di Fiori which is apparently the student hot spot on a Saturday night.

A Weekend in March Part I

NAPOLI

Bright and early Thursday Meghan, Kylie and I headed on down to Napoli. We started the day trip out right by getting the infamous vera pizza napoletana (it's better than Punch's).

 

Afterward we wondered around the historical center. It's hard to describe the atmosphere of Napoli, but I would say it is a rustic Barcelona. It seems very artsy and heavily influenced by underground culture but also stark honest with a somewhat "dirty" look. March 17th being the 150th year celebration of Italy's unification there was a lot of Italian pride- flags, music, posters, confetti...

We also made sure to stop at Scaturchio in Piazza San Domenico and get delicious Neapolitan pastries- a Zeppole and a 
Sfogliatelle. 

 Unfortunately we only had one day and saw only a small fraction of the city. It is Napoli so there is garbage on the streets, but I was surprised at the cleanliness- I thought it would be worse. I am definitely hoping to return very soon and stay a lot longer.

Carnevale

Carnevale this year started February 26th and ends March 8th. I headed out to Venice with a few friends to celebrate this Friday and it was incredibly fun and an unforgettable experience.

We were lucky to have missed the snow the day before, and we arrived for a beautiful sunny day which we started out by grabbing a venetian spritz. 

Later we headed into the heart of Venice, to Piazza San Marco where it was bustling with all sorts of beautiful, elegant, costumes.  Everyone is dressed up unrecognizable and if not wearing at least a mask they would get their face painted.

We met up with some other friends at the Ponte Rialto where we eventually joined a traveling dance party (which consisted of one large speaker in a shopping cart, an ipod, and two Italians leading the cart and mob of dancing people) through the narrow streets of Venice frequently stopping so we could dance in the little piazzas between the bridges.

We stayed up all night and waited for the first train back to Bologna at 5:57 am. We were chilled to the bone and exhausted, but it was completely worth it.

Balsamic Vinegar

On Friday I took trip North West to Modena, Spilamberto, and Levizzano to learn all about balsamic vinegar as part of my internship with Taste of Italy. I had no idea how delicious true, real balsamic vinegar is and how long and delicate the process is to produce just one of bottle of vinegar. 

We stopped by an acetaia (home where they produce balsamic vinegar) which was in a 500 year old house and where they had been making balsamic vinegar for at least 200 years, the tradition being passed down through the family.

The process of making true  Traditional Balsamic Vinegar from Modena starts with collecting the two types of grapes from the Emilia- Romagna region, Lambrusco and Trebbiano, and gently pressing them, then stewing over 90º C just below boiling for 12- 15 hours until all that remains is the concentrated juice known as grape must. 

Once there only remains the must, it is placed into what is called a "mother barrel" where it must sit for 1 year. After the year is passed, the juice is divided into various barrels of 7 different wood varieties- ash, oak, cherry, mulberry,  juniper, chestnut, and acacia. This is where the aging starts and will last between at least 12 years to 25 years if not more!

In order to produce a 12 year balsamic vinegar you need a minimum of 5 barrels starting with a significantly large one, gradually getting smaller. This where different varieties of vinegar come from. You can choose to have 5 barrels of the same wood such as juniper, or you can have a mix of wood types to give a blend of flavors.  The barrel is only ever filled 3/4 of the way and after 1 year of fermentation the liquid from the 2nd smallest barrel with be transferred into the smallest, then from the 3rd smallest barrel into the 2nd smallest so on and so on.

This process always takes place in the attic of the acetaia, because the fermentation process needs both the heat from summer and the cold from winter. The final result will produce a rich, glossy, smooth, dark brown vinegar with a complex flavor which balances between the sweetness and sourness of the grapes and the different aromas from the wood caskets. 

But that still isn't the end of the process. For the balsamic vinegar to be deemed as Traditional Balsamic Vinegar from Modena with D.O.P mark it must go through an anonymous judging process where the vinegar will be graded on scale of 400 on density, color, brightness, intensity, fineness, acidity, fullness, flavor, and aroma. 

It is truly a remarkable process with a delectable result.