Carnivale

I’m back from Venice!

Saturday morning I got up really early to get ready and pack for Venice. It was a weekend trip organized by the school, and Kate, Lindsey, and I had all signed up for it. Kate and I left our room at 5:45 and walked to the place where our buses were waiting. It was pretty far from our apartment so it took a while. The buses left at 6:30 and it’s about a four hour drive. We stopped at a rest stop along the way that had GIANT jars of Nutella. Like, they were more than € 30, which is like 50 dollars.

This would last about a week, maybe ;)

When we got as far as we could drive, we got on a boat that took us to the main island. We had a few hours to do whatever we wanted. Lindsey and I walked around and found the Rialto Bridge and took pictures there. Venice has so many twists and turns and little bridges and it’s very easy to get lost. It’s also very easy to find your way back to St. Mark’s square (near where we were supposed to meet the group), so we weren’t too worried. After a while we met Meghan, Hannah, and Brittni who were there on their own. We hung out with them for a little while but we didn’t have a lot of time before we had to leave. Lindsey and I grabbed lunch at a sandwich shop and we sat in the square outside and listened to an accordion player. Saturday was perfect weather. It was cool but it was very sunny and the sky was really blue.

Perfect weather

Side note: You know those paintings you see everywhere of Venice? They look like they’re not really real, because the old buildings are all different colors and they’re all so small and tall and literally touching the water. Well, that’s actually what Venice looks like. Every street and every bridge and every building is so perfect. The vines and the window boxes and the chipped and peeling paint add to the charm of the city. The gondoliers look just like they should. Most of them wear black and white striped shirts and hats. It is without a doubt a tourist trap. It costs so much to live on the island that the actual population of Venice is only a fraction of what it used to be. But there is a reason it is such a tourist trap. It’s really, really lovely.

Pretty building, pretty sky

Anyway, we got on the boat again that afternoon and rode to the island of Murano. It’s an island famous for its glass factories. The reason all the glass factories are on Murano goes back many years. Glass making requires furnaces that are VERY hot, and back in the day, the wooden buildings often burned down. So the Venetians decided to put all the glass makers on one island, Murano. We stopped at one glass factory where we got to see a demonstration. We watched the glass maker make a vase and a horse. It was very neat to see him work. Our tour guide said that when you buy glass in Venice, you aren’t paying so much for the materials. You’re paying for the labor, because to become a glass maker takes 10 years of training and costs quite a bit. They gave us a 50% discount on the glass in the factory store. I bought a Christmas ornament and two bracelets. One for me; one for Mom.

We left Murano and took the boat to Burano. The island of Burano is famous for its lace. It’s equally famous for its brightly colored buildings. It’s a very sleepy little island and the people were all very friendly. The bell tower on that island leans, like the tower in Pisa. We didn’t have a lot of time in Burano. I would have liked to explore it a little more; it was very nice. I think most people come to Venice and only go to the Venice part. They skip the other, smaller islands which are just as wonderful.

Burano

From Burano, we boated and then bused to our hotel. The hotel was small, but clean and comfortable. The shower was about 1 square foot. (I exaggerate, but it was VERY tiny.) Europeans are strange. If they would just get rid of the bidet, they’d have plenty of room for a decent sized shower. I don’t get it.

We left the hotel around 8 to go to dinner. The restaurant was about 20 minutes away. (I forgot what it was called.) We had a traditional Carnivale dinner.

We started with wine and bread. Then for the appetizer we had sausage, and pancetta (It’s like bacon)/zucchini wrapped up on a stick served with polenta. First courses: risotto and gnocci. (I was so excited about this little pasta made with potatoes. I didn’t like it, though. Disappointment.) Second course: roasted pork, served with potatoes and spinach. Dessert: Traditional Carnival “donuts” with raisins (I forgot the technical term), and chiacchiere. Finally, coffee. The meal itself took about three hours, and then the DJ played a bunch of songs and everyone danced with their masks on. It was a lot of fun.

Masks!

Sunday was the actual opening day of Carnivale. We ate breakfast at the hotel and then left around 8. It took a while to get to Venice because we had to take the bus and then wait for our 9 o’clock boat. We got to Venice and it. was. CROWDED.

We walked to the Peggy Guggenheim museum of contemporary art. We had a tour there and saw works by Picasso, Pollock, and many others. At 11:30, we had to leave the museum even though our tour wasn’t finished, because we wanted to make it back to St. Mark’s square by noon to see the “Flight of the Angel” opening ceremony of Carnivale. I have never been in that big of a crowd in my life. There were people EVERYWHERE. We couldn’t get into the square, but we had a pretty good view from the side. Dramatic music played as the “Angel” slid down a cable from the top of the bell tower to a stage on the other side of the square. Then everyone basically tried to get out of the square at once. There was lots of pushing and shoving and chaos, and for at least a block I barely had to walk because I was pretty much being carried down the street by so many people. The police attempted crowd control, but it wasn’t very effective.

Flight of the Angel

We didn’t bring our masks with us on Sunday because we were worried they would get ruined if it rained. Instead, we got our faces painted! I sat down and told the lady I wanted blue, on the right side of my face. She started painting my face, and then all these tourists (French, Asian, Dutch. . .) started coming up and taking pictures of me. I felt like a model. And I’ll probably end up in a bunch of people’s scrapbooks all over the world. So that was a weird experience. Then an old Italian man standing there kept trying to explain something to me, but I couldn’t understand him. He found someone to translate. He wanted to tell me that with my face painted, it would look better if I took my earrings off. So I did. I trust old Italian men when it comes to style, obviously.

Faces painted, it was time for lunch. I had a calzone and Lindsey had something with spinach and ricotta. Naturally, we went to the bakery afterwards for dessert. I bought a DELICIOUS Carnivale fritter filled with creamy pudding stuff. And I bought something that looked like a brownie, but it definitely wasn’t. It had a flavor in it that sort of reminded me of poison. I threw it out.

Then we went to the Duke’s Palace (Doge's Palace). It was really huge. Lindsey and I decided to have fun with this. So instead of reading the descriptions of each room, what they were used for, etc, and solemnly looking at the artwork on the walls, we pretended we were the Duke. And this was our house. And we were giving a tour of it. At one point we were both laughing so hard I almost cried. It wouldn’t really be funny if I tried to explain it now; you just had to be there.

The Duke’s Palace was pretty much the last thing we did. We browsed through some other stores and then met up with the group. We got on the boat, then got on the bus, and rode back to Florence. We got home around 10pm, completely exhausted.

Carnivale was a lot of fun. We got to be there and see all the costumes and masks and bright colors. We heard the music and the noise of the crowds. We tasted the traditional celebratory food of the region, and we fell in love with the magic of Venice. It gives you sort of the same feeling as Disney World, only better. Since we were there during Carnivale, there were several things we didn’t get to do/see because of crowds. We might go back to Venice sometime in April on our own when it isn’t so crazy.

This is definitely a weekend I’ll remember forever.

Stuck

I just got back from a shopping trip with Lindsey. She had been in love with a gorgeous red dress for more than a week now, but hadn't tried it on yet. We went to the "gorgeous red dress" store today and we both tried on several things. She didn't get the dress because they didn't have a size small enough (what a horrible problem), but she did find the cutest pair of shorts for super cheap. While we were there, she convinced me to try on this little number.

It LOOKS inncoent enough

When I put it on, I couldn't really get the side zipper to unzip all the way, but it went down far enough for me to squeeze the dress on over my shoulders. Barely. It zipped up nicely, and I really liked it! But when I went to take it off, I encountered a problem. I unzipped the side as far down as it would go, like I had when I put it on. But it just would not come off. I pulled and pulled and gave up. I asked the lady if she could help me with the zipper. She tried. Then she came in to the room with me and we both pulled and pulled and it still wouldn't come off. After that, 2 other women (one a worker and one a nice British lady in the room next to mine) tried messing with the zipper. It's not that the dress didn't fit, because it did! But the zipper was not sewn in correctly. Finally, Lindsey came in and together, slowly but surely, we got it off. FREE AT LAST. I was in that thing way too long.

Here are my goodies from the rest of the shopping trip.

I've always wanted a shirt like this!
And obviously, it has to go with a purple belt.

Ready for Spring Break!

A shirt-dress to wear with leggings

And this shirt, to go with this scarf I got in Pisa

I have completed my first real shopping trip in Florence! I'm just afraid of trying on dresses from now on. :)

Sorry, Squid.

It's FOOD class again! My favorite!

Yesterday we studied Veneto, the region including the towns of Verona (from Romeo and Juliet) and Venice (where I'll be in 24 hours!). The cooking in this region uses lots of spices and vegetables, so it's similar to Southern Italy. They eat a lot of rice and polenta here. They also eat risotto, but they make it a little different from some other regions. Theirs is creamier. Because this region borders the Adriatic Sea, they eat a lot of fish. Like squid. Like calamari. Which we made, and I was really excited about it. But more on that in a minute.

Like I said, they eat a lot of veggies. They have white asparagus there, and it's sweeter than green asparagus because it doesn't grow in direct sunlight. They also eat lots of radicchio. Did you know there are five different types of radicchio? They are each used for different things.

Gnocci is a pasta traditionally made from potatoes. It is called "little ears" pasta because it is shaped like little ears. In October, there is a huge Gnocci Festival in Veneto!

Tiramisu also came from Veneto and literally means "pick me up." Another sweet from Veneto is Zaleti, cookies made with corn flour and raisins. Yesterday's menu was:

"Calamari ripieni alle erbe aromatiche and Zaleti"

Stuffed calamari, and cookies

Until yesterday, I had never had calamari. I was never one to eat seafood of any kind (except tuna, for some reason) until recently. I used to get sick every time I'd eat it, and even the smell of it sort of made me nauseous. At seafood places, I always ordered chicken.

But I have branched out in the past year. I like tilapia; I love shrimp, and I even kind of like mahi mahi, but not enough to finish a whole plate of it. Calamari just sounds so fancy and pretty and yummy that I couldn't wait to try it! I was sure I'd love it!

In order to make sure the fish is fresh, our teacher buys fish with the heads still on. So task number one was to. . . I guess there's no easier way to say it. . . rip the heads off the squid. Next, pull out the bone inside. Finally, grab the skin by the eyes, pull it off to separate the head from the tentacles, and pop out the little round thing inside. (If the eyes squirt black ink everywhere? No big deal.)

Me and my squid friend

Decapitated squids

After we cleaned and washed the squid, we prepared the stuffing. Toasted bread, lemon zest, oregano, wild fennel, marjoram, basil, mint, and celery leaves were combined in a blender. We sauted onion with garlic and chopped up tentacles. (I did the tentacle chopping.) Then we added lemon juice and white wine and then the toast mixture. It looked like this.

Stuffing!

The next step was to stuff the calamari. Basically, you pack as much of that stuff into their little bodies as you can, and close it with a toothpick. Then you put them in a baking pan and drizzle some oil on top. They bake 10 to 15 minutes at 200 degrees (celcius).

Time for Zaleti! I don't feel like typing the whole recipe, but I found a very similar one here. Since they're made with corn flour, they have an interesting texture. I liked them, but I have never not liked a cookie. I guess corn bread is to cake like zaleti is to cookies. (By the way, this recipe for Golden Sweet Cornbread is incredibly delicious and easy.) Here's what the cookies look like.

Raisiny, sugary, buttery deliciousness

I had to fill up on the cookies because this beautiful calamari. . .

. . .did not live up to my expectations.

It tasted like rubber. And the filling was too lemony, or something. I was totally fine preparing the slimy dish. I didn't have a problem with the decapitating and stuffing part. But I felt a little sick after I ate it. So, I'm not a calamari fan. I am, however, a muffin fan. And as I type this, I'm devouring one of these delicious Banana Crumb Muffins I just made.

This definitely makes up for the yesterday's disappointing squid incident.

(Can you believe I've been here a month now?!)

Art and Renaissance Lesson for the Day

I know I just blogged last night (I guess it was afternoon for most of you), but I want to tell you about two places I have been recently. The first is the Church of Santa Croce (CRO-chay). I went with my architecture class. Built between 1294 and 1442, it's one of Florence's biggest and oldest churches. The beautiful facade wasn't finished until the 1850s. Here's what it looks like.

The square in front is where the Chocolate Festival took place :)

The star of David on the top is there because the designer of the facade was half Jewish and half Christian. It's interesting; my teacher said there is really no history of antisemitizam here, and the star of David is found in quite a few Christian churches.

In 1966, the Arno flooded and the churched was submerged halfway up the center doorway.

Inside the church, there are many tombs of well-known people. You can find here the tomb of Galileo (Because he was considered a heretic, his body was not originally allowed in the church when he died; it was moved there later.), Michelangelo, Machiavelli, and Gioacchino Rossini, the composer of the William Tell Overture.

Michelangelo's tomb

Galileo's tomb

Santa Croce was really interesting. There are many more churches here I want to visit, though! Today I met Lindsey and we went to the Accademia Gallery, home to Michelangelo's David. You know, the naked one that's all over Florence. Postcards, little statues, aprons. . . I never really was a fan of David until today. It's really incredible to see it in real life. The statue is 17 feet tall and was carved when Michelangelo was 26 years old. He had been given a piece of marble that had been rejected by other sculptors as too tall and shallow to be of any use.

Michelangelo believed that as a sculptor, he was a tool of God. He was simply revealing the figures encased in the marble, not creating them. I am truly in awe at the talent of these Renaissance figures. If you mess up while painting, you can paint over it. If you mess up while carving a statue, you can't really glue the piece back on and start over. (This was pointed out to Lindsey and I as we were eavesdropping on a nearby guided tour, but it's really amazing to think about.) David looks like he could start walking around any minute; he's that real.

The Accademia Gallery also houses a really neat collection of musical instruments. Here you can find the oldest upright piano in existence! It was small. And it was very cute. And I love pianos so I loved this part of the museum. I'm very disappointed that photography is prohibited at the Accademia, and that they don't have any postcards of this piano in the gift shop, and that I couldn't even find a picture of it online.

However, the pass I bought when I first came to Florence gives me unlimited admission to places like the Accademia. I could always go back and try to sneakily take a picture. . .

Ode to the US Postal Service (kind of)

I have always been a little obsessed with mail. When I was younger, I wrote letters to a lot of people: my grandma, my friends, my cousin Whitni, the cast of ZOOM, the President, and so on. I loved getting mail just as much as sending mail. Sometimes I would get mad if someone else, like Mom, got the mail out of the box before I did. Something about the uncertainty of opening the box and not knowing what's going to be inside, whom (who?) it's going to be from, if it's going to be for you, or if there will be anything at all, is just wonderful. It's sort of like a mini Christmas every day. You don't know if there are going to be any presents under the tree until you wake up. It's like that. I didn't like Sundays and holidays (the lame holidays, like labor day) for this particular reason. The mailman didn't deliver.

Since I've been in Florence, I knew that there was a building I could go to to pick up mail. I just hadn't checked because I wasn't expecting anything. Today, I got an email that I had a package ready to pick up! (They email you for packages, but you have to check on your own for just regular mail, letters, etc.) I found the building where the mail for LdM students is sent. Just for fun, I checked the regular mail section. I had not one, not two, but THREE letters. PLUS a package. It was like Christmas, times four! Which is a lot, considering how much I love Christmas.

The pink envelope is full of Valentine's cards from my Sigma Kappa sisters at Truman. Let me tell you something, if you didn't know already. When you're living on the other side of the world from your best friends, and you aren't going to see them again for several more months, you sometimes wonder if things will be the same when you get back or if they will forget you. This was the best reminder of how much they mean to me. SLAM, ladies. I miss you.

The smaller envelope is a letter from my Sigma Kappa Little, Ginger. If you aren't familiar with the Big-Little system, it's like a small family tree within the sorority. When you join, you get someone who has already been in the sorority for a year or more to be your Big. Your Big's Big is your Grandbig. My Big is Val. My little is Ginger. Val is Ginger's Grandbig. Get it? Anyway, you don't really have to understand all this if it's confusing you. But the point is that my adorable Little sent me an adorable homemade birthday card with booger jokes inside. (Where did the nose go when it was hungry? Booger King! . . .and so on.) She also wrote me a letter. And she threw in some temporary tattoos as well.

The last envelope is a card from my aunt Sue. I love Sue. I have dubbed her Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Maker and Best Chicken Maker. . . although not best bacon maker, unless you like it black and crunchy ;) I love stopping by Sue's house in Jeff City on my trips between Kirksville and Republic and she is always happy to feed me and/or give me a place to sleep. All of my aunts are wonderful. Sue's letter made me miss all of them. Not that I am ready to come home yet. But I would LOVE some visitors. Anyone want to come?

Last but not least is the package from my mom. It wasn't a surprise because I knew what she had sent me. It was surprising that it got here so soon, though! I was expecting it sometime in March, maybe. I now have measuring cups, baking soda, baking powder, and vanilla and almond extract. Let the baking begin! I also have chili and taco seasonings, oatmeal, hot chocolate, plenty of peanut butter, index cards, ear plugs, and my beloved Converse sneakers. I was under the impression that people in Europe don't wear Converse, so I left them at home. I was wrong, and now they are here. I can't wait to wear them again.

If you're tired of hearing about my mail, I don't blame you. I think I'm the only one who gets that excited about me getting mail. So if you've read this far into my post, I truly appreciate it. :)

Here are my earrings I started last night in Jewelry Making class.

In the process of cutting them out

After shaping the flower part

I started with a simple drawing for my design. I traced it on tracing paper, and then rubbed that face down on to my sanded, and oiled-with-clay silver sheet. Then I used a steel point to draw over the pencil marks because the marks rub off easily. I used a punch with a tiny drill to make the small holes. Then I put the holes through a saw blade and hand-sawed the holes out. After that, I sawed around the outside of the design. Then I sanded the edges. The flowers are 3-D because I used a round metal thingy (I don't know the technical term) with a hammer on a tar block to make the petals bend out. Then I had to turn them over and use a straight thingy to make the lines separating the petals.

Next week I am going to texturize the leaves and work on the tiny chain links that hold the pieces together. That's going to be the hard part. It involves soldering. I'm afraid it will also involve crying if I can't get it to work right. But we'll deal with that later.

One more thing! This weekend is the official opening of the Carnival in Venice. I am going as part of a school field trip. Kate and Lindsey are also going, so it will be lots of fun! We're leaving early Saturday morning and traveling by a combination of buses and boats. We'll have a tour of the main part of the city, stay in a nice hotel, eat a traditional Carnival feast for dinner, and witness the opening ceremonies on Sunday. We come home Sunday night.

One of the coolest things about Carnival is the masks. You can't go to Carnival and not get a mask; that would just be wrong. We heard from a lot of people that the masks are much cheaper to buy in Florence, though. And they're the exact same as the ones in Venice. Yesterday, Hannah, Meghan, and I went to buy ours. (Hannah and Meghan are going to Carnival too, but not with the school group.)

My beaufiful purple and gold Carnival mask;
see the bells hanging on the top three things?

It was only €7. It's so pretty! There is a loop on the back of it, too, so you can hang it on the wall when you're done wearing it. How fun!

A Birthday (weekend) to Remember

I'm 20! My birthday was Friday. (Thanks to all of you who wished me a Happy Birthday. You made it a wonderful day.) We wanted to go out and celebrate, but we also wanted to take a trip to Siena this weekend. We decided to go to Siena on Friday and then go out Saturday night to celebrate. If we went out Friday night, we'd be too tired for a trip on Saturday. And Thursday night was rainy so we stayed in. I watched No Reservations on my computer, and it is now one of my favorite movies of all time. I loved it. It was about food. And love. It was sad; I cried. So obviously, it was great.

Friday morning I woke up and got ready. The rest of my apartment was asleep, but I walked across the river to Mama's Bakery to get breakfast. It's an American bakery where they have bagels, muffins, and American coffee. (I don't like Italian coffee. It's very strong and served in a very tiny cup and takes two seconds to finish drinking.) They also serve sandwiches for lunch, and cupcakes, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, all the good stuff that's harder to find in Italy. I ordered a plain bagel with plain cream cheese. (I would have ordered blueberry or something, but besides plain they only had like onion and other savory, not sweet flavors.) The guy was really nice. He toasted and cream-cheesed it and put it in a bag for me to go, because I didn't want to eat there by myself. I also got a coffee. It was seriously the best coffee I have ever tasted. I drank almost all of it on the walk back home. When I got home, I ate my bagel. The guy had put sooooo much cream cheese on it! I'm not complaining. It was delicious. I was in bagel heaven for a good ten minutes. This is going to become a weekly tradition.

When I got back, the roomies were up and getting ready. We met Lindsey and Brittni at the train station and took the 10:10 train to Siena. It took about an hour and a half to get there. There is a mall in Siena right next to the train station, so we did some shopping. No one bought anything, though. From there we walked a pretty long walk to the city center instead of taking a bus. We made our way to Siena's main square, Il Campo. It's enormous. It's the heart of the city, with the City Hall and a 330 foot tower (more on that later), and a fountain.

Me, in the Middle of Il Campo

There are no cars on the square, only pedestrians. In the afternoon and evening, the people of Siena walk around town and the square is a popular place to just sit. It's like a giant playground for everyone.

(We were very lucky to have gorgeous weather. It was warm and sunny during most of the day and I didn't even wear my coat for a while.)

Once we finished taking pictures of the square (which don't really help; you have to just go there and see it in person), we set off to find Osteria la Chiacchera, a hole-in-the-wall restaurant from my Rick Steves' book. After walking right past it a couple of times, we realized that it literally is a hole in the wall. It's very easy to miss. The lady inside was very nice. The menu was hand written, and she explained to us what each thing was in English. I ordered spaghetti bolognese, spaghetti with meat sauce.

Spaghetti!

After a delicious lunch, we were ready to try a Sienese specialty, panforte. It's "a rich, chewy concotion of nuts, honey, and candied fruits that impresses even fruitcake-haters" (Rick Steves' Florence and Tuscany 2011). We found the cutest little bakery with very cheap treats. Hannah and Brittni got chocolate-filled croissants. I forgot what Kate and Lindsey got. (Sorry, I was kind of in my own little world here.) Meghan and I tried a chocolate panforte. I ate mine. And half of Meghan's.

Chocolate, Chewy Deliciousness

After dessert, we went to some shops. Clothes, home decor, books. Hannah bought a new white dress that she wore out Saturday night. When we had walked around a while, we headed back to the square to climb the tower. It costs 8 euros to climb. It is worth every penny. The 300 steps to the top have some pretty narrow and short areas to squeeze through. The view from the top of the tower is breathtaking. You can see for miles up there. I took tons of pictures. If you want to see them, click on the "Siena" album on the right of this page.

We had to hurry up and down the tower because we got there about 20 minutes before they close for the day. I'm so glad we decided to go ahead and do it, even if we didn't have much time. It was the best part of the trip to Siena.

Second best was the Duomo. Siena's Duomo sort of makes Florence's Duomo look plain. It's a 13th century Gothic cathedral with a six story striped bell tower.

Front View of Siena's Duomo

The inside is incredible. This picture doesn't really capture what it's like seeing it in real life. But here it is, anyway:

Main Part of the Cathedral

After seeing the Duomo, we were tired. We walked back to the train station and took the 6:30 train back home to Florence. Friday night, Hannah, Meghan, and I booked our flights to Athens for spring break! We plan on taking a train to Rome to spend a few days there, with a day trip to Naples and Capri, and then we're flying to Greece for the last half of the break. It's going to be so much fun!

Saturday morning I woke up and made my birthday cake. I didn't have/don't know where to find all the ingredients to make a "from scratch" cake, so with help from my roommates, we bought a ridiculously expensive Duncan Hines cake mix and frosting from a specialty grocery store with things that are harder to find in Italian stores. My cake turned out well, but I ran out of frosting for the sides. (There was a lot of frosting in the middle and on top.)

Meghan and I went for a run and then we came back and showered and got ready to go meet Lindsey, Brittni, and their roommate Alexis at the food market. I bought a loaf of freshly baked bread. I don't know what kind it was because there are so many different kinds to choose from! It's wheat and is has some seeds on it, but there were a lot of loaves like that. Whatever it is, it is delicious. I'm going to buy more. After this semester, I won't be able to go back to buying Sara Lee bread in a bag from Walmart. The real fresh bread that you have to cut yourself is just so much. . . better.

After grocery shopping, we went to my favorite gelato place so far where I had my favorite flavor I've had so far, cookies and cream. But it wasn't like oreo cookies and cream. It was like chocolate chip cookies and cream. I also got a chocolate kind. It was the most chocolatey thing I've ever had in my life. It was almost too much. But just almost.

Saturday night we had reservations at Tijuana, a Mexican restaurant in Florence. We had all been craving Mexican food because we've had so much pasta. I had chicken fajitas. That meal hit the spot. It was perfect with the margarita pitcher we shared.

After Stuffing Ourselves with Delicious Food

We came back to our apartment and watched YouTube videos together for a while. Then we decided it was time for cake. We didn't have any candles, but they sang Happy Birthday to me anyway.

My Wonderful Roommates and Friends

The Cake!

Then it was time for some celebratory drinks and getting ready to go out. We went to Space Club. It's a discoteca, a dance club. There were lots of people there. Lots of boys. Lots of Italian boys. We stayed out late and danced the night away. 20th birthday celebration: Success.

A 20th Birthday to Remember

Another Week of School, and Some Recipes

It has been a wonderful week of classes. Monday, I finished my ring in Jewelry Making!

Finished!  Look how shiny it is!

Tuesday in my architecture class, The Built Environment of Florence, we took a field trip to the Church of San Miniato. We took a bus to the church, which is on a hill on the other side of the river. Check out the view of Florence, from the church.

The church itself is incredible, both outside and in, but my pictures don't really do it justice.

Today I had food, wine, and Italian classes. We had our first Italian quiz! I think I got like 100%, because the pre-quiz our teacher gave us on Tuesday was almost the exact same thing as the real quiz.

Okay, here's what this post is really about.

Risotto alla Milanese, Ossobucco, and Caramelle alle Mele.

This lesson was about the food found in the regions of Lombardy and Trentino-Alto Adige. Last week we were in the Northwest of Italy; today we were closer to the center of the Northern part. Trentino-Alto Adige is the part that borders Germany. There is a very strong German influence on the food and on the culture. Both German and Italian are spoken here. Their main foods are polenta, rice, and soup. (Not so much pasta as in Southern Italy)

Risotta alla milanese is safron risotto. It is yellow in color and delicous in flavor. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 small onion, chopped (yellow onion, not red)

Small piece of marrow from a beef bone (optional, but we used it)

50g (2oz) butter

1 litre (1 3/4 pints) meat or chicken stock (We used vegetable/beef stock)

150ml (5fl oz) dry white or red wine (We used white)

300g (10oz) Arborio rice

Salt

1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, or 1/4 teaspoon powdered saffron

50g (2oz) grated parmesan

Melt half the butter in a pan, and fry the onion and marrow until the onion is soft. Heat the stock in a separate pan. Add the wine to the fried onion and boil. Add the rice and stir to coat. Add a pinch of salt. Add the stock gradually, ladleful by ladleful, stirring constantly as it becomes absorbed. It takes about 20 minutes for the rice to cook. Then, add the saffron diluted in some of the stock. When the rice is done (There should be enough liquid to make it creamy, but the grains must still be firm), add the rest of the butter, and the parmesan. Buon appetito!

Ossobucco alla milanese is braised shin of veal.

Ingredients:

4 thick slices of shin of veal, cut with a piece of marrow bone

Flour

50g (2oz) butter

120ml (4fl oz) white wine

250g (8oz) tomatoes, peeled and chopped (We used tomato sauce)

Meat stock or water (We used stock)

Salt and pepper

4 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon rind

1 small clove garlic, crushed

1 anchovy, finely chopped (optional, but we used it)

Melt butter in a pan. Coat the meat with the flour and brown in butter on both sides. Add the wine and simmer for 10 minutes, then add the tomatoes and stock or water to cover and season with salt and peper. Cook, covered, for 1 and a half to 2 hours, stirring occasionally to make sure the meat does not stick, until it is so tender it comes away from the bone. Add stock or water to keep the meat covered at first. The sauce should be thick at the end.

Make what is called a gremolata: mix together the parsley, grated lemon rind, garlic and anchovy, if you like. Place a little on each piece of meat and cook a few minutes longer.

Here is the risotto and ossobucco, once we finished and put it on the serving plate:

The risotto was really creamy and yummy. I could definitely taste the wine flavor in it, but it was really good. The meat was also very good. It was kind of chewy, and I think it would have been better cooked a little while longer, but we ran out of time.

This was the best part of the meal: Caramelle alle mele

Ingredients:

250g Flour

2 Apples (We used Granny Smith)

2 Eggs

Pine nuts

140g Butter

200g Apricot jam

Powdered sugar

Sugar

Let the butter soften and cut into pieces. Work the flour with the butter; add the eggs and a pinch of salt. If needed, add up to 2 tablespoons of water. (We didn't add any) Wrap it up and put it in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.

Peel the apples, cut in slices, and saute with 1 tablespoon of butter until gold. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of sugar and saute a few more minutes. Let cool.

Roll the dough and cut it in rectangular shapes. Place in the middle of each rectangle a teaspoon of jam, a few pine nuts, and a slice of apple. Close the edges. Bake for 15 minutes at 180 degrees (celsius). Once they finish baking, sprinkle them with lots of powdered sugar. Here they are, beautifully plated:

I'm not going to tell you how good they were. I will tell you I had three of them. =)

Oh, Just Another Trip to the Grocery Store. . .

This morning I slept in after going out last night with the same girls I went to Pisa and Lucca with. The weather this morning was drizzly but due to the excessive amount of carbohydrates I've been consuming, I figured I should probably go for a run. And really, what better place to go for a run than along the beautiful Arno River? I ran for only about 20 minutes before I had splashed in too many puddles and my shoes were wet, and I needed to walk. I headed back home, but before I got there it started really raining, and I ended up running again just to get inside before my ipod was completely soaked. It was a lovely run, though, and I need to do that more often.

After lunch and chocolate and napping, I decided it was time to go buy groceries. I was out of milk and yogurt and fruit and I also needed contact solution. While I was out, I found oatmeal! I hadn't seen it at any of the grocery stores I had been to, yet. Today I went to a HUGE grocery store. (well, huge by Florence standards.) I ended up buying more things than I had on my list, as usual, and I had three pretty heavy bags to carry home. It was a bit of a walk but I thought I'd be back in 10 or so minutes. Yeah, right.

I had noticed quite a few people standing around in the main square near our apartment when I left, and a bunch of people holding signs near the Duomo when I walked by, but I didn't really think anything of it. Little did I know, the crowd grew while I was inside shopping, and it literally took me forever to get home. I was stuck in a GIGANTIC crowd of people. I could barely squeeze my way through the streets, especially with my big bags of groceries. People were taking pictures and videos, clapping, chanting, holding signs, wearing weird costumes. . . It was ridiculous! I thought I'd never make it back home with my groceries and self in tact.

Thanks to Google, I found out what the protests are all about. Click here if you want to read about it. Basically, people (mostly women) are protesting the Prime Minister because he's been accused of some pretty bad things.

I wanted to go to some cute shops I had seen on the way to buy groceries. I figured I'd go back after dropping my stuff off at home. But after nearly being trampled to death by protesters, I think I should probably stay inside the rest of the day.

That's Amore

I’m in love. That’s right, folks. LOVE. “With whom?” you might ask. With Lucca. Yeah. . . it’s a town. Not a human. But that’s okay. Anyway, I’ll talk about that later. But first I’ll talk about Pisa.

My roommates, Kate, Meghan, and Hannah, and I, plus the other girls from Truman, Brittni and Lindsey, took our very first trip out of Florence today. We got up early(ish) in the morning and walked to the train station. It was sort of chaotic and crowded and we weren’t exactly sure what to do at first, but we saw some ticket-printing machines with screens and they were pretty self-explanatory once we got the language to English. We printed our tickets, figured out how to validate them, finally found the right platform to go to, and climbed aboard the train. IT WAS MY FIRST EVER TRAIN RIDE. It left exactly at 8:52 and took about an hour (maybe more) to get there.

My first train ticket

Once we got off the train in Pisa, we had a “guided walk” from the train station to the Field of Miracles thanks to Rick Steves. (What would I do here without him? Seriously. Best guide books ever. Buy them if you ever travel in Europe.) The town of Pisa is small, only about 100,000 people. The walk through the town was fun. We saw several statues, some paintings on walls, Pisa’s best gelato place (Of course we stopped for a nutritious, delicious brunch there!), some small markets, lots of clothing stores (We shopped a few of them but didn’t buy anything), a bridge across the Arno (same river that runs through Florence), and even street-side venders. I couldn’t resist. I bought a scarf. Okay. No more. I’ve reached my limit on scarves.

The town was really nice, overall. The only part that feels touristy is the Field of Miracles: home to a cathedral, baptistery, museum, cemetery, and the famous Leaning Tower. We didn’t climb the tower because it costs 15 euros and none of us wanted to pay that much. But we did stop to take some stereotypical Pisan Tourist Holding Up The Tower pictures. (Duh. Who could resist?)

Then we spent a while frolicking in the grass and walking around taking pictures of the sights on the field. We caught a bus to Lucca from Pisa when we were done looking around. We knew we were supposed to buy bus tickets for 3 euros once we got on the bus, because my guide book said so. But the driver told us to get them when we got to Lucca. When we got to Lucca (after a very pretty ride through the countryside), we asked where to pay. He told us to pay inside, and he drove off.

. . . inside? We didn’t really see an “inside.” Eventually we realized the thing we thought was a bank was a ticket office. We went in and paid for our trip to Lucca, but the lady told us to show our tickets to the driver. He was long gone by then. Haha. Weird. We probably could have gotten a free ride. . .

By then it was almost 1:45. The pizza place we wanted to go to was only open until 2:30 so we had to hurry to find it! I had the map so I led the way . . . in the opposite direction of where we were supposed to go. Oops. Luckily, we still made it there by 2:15 thanks to Meghan taking over the map. The people there were really nice. They stayed open for us to eat. The food was great. They make wood-fired pizzas and the atmosphere was really cozy and comfortable. We were all starving by then, so my entire pizza disappeared pretty fast.



Before



After



After our lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon strolling around town. We went to a few shops. We went to a 130 year old bakery to buy some buccellato. This Lucca specialty is a lightly sweetened bread with raisins, and flavored with anise. It is usually shaped like a wreath. According to my book, an old proverb says, “Coming to Lucca without eating the buccellato is like not having come at all.” It was very good, not really like anything I’ve tasted before. Sort of like licorice bread? But better than that sounds. We actually went back to the bakery for round two an hour or so later. Ha.

130 year old bakery

The thing I love about Lucca is that it’s so charming. It’s quiet. Most of the restaurants and shops close in the afternoon for a “nap time” before opening again. The town is surrounded by a wall that seems to keep out most of the traffic. There were very few vehicles around. Definitely way different from Florence, where it’s hard to sleep at night because of all the noises. You can walk or bike around the wall, and it just seems that people there are very friendly and more relaxed than in the city. I do love Florence, but I guess I like the charming small-town Italy just as much. It was a wonderful break from all the busyness.

Fun fact: Lucca is Europe’s leading producer of toilet paper and
Kleenex and has a monopoly on the special machinery that makes it.

Back to the cute-ness of Lucca: If I could live anywhere in the world (not that I’ve actually been to that many places yet. . .) I would live in Lucca. There aren’t any particular tourist attractions here, besides lots of pretty, old churches and a big brick wall, but if you’re ever in Italy and you go to Pisa, do not leave without at least one afternoon in Lucca.



I love Lucca!



One more thing. I linked my blog to my Facebook photos, so if you want to see almost all of my pictures, just click on either “Florence Photos” or “Pisa and Lucca” on the right side of the page.

Trenette Alle Noci and Crepes Suzette

Today was the day I had been waiting for, the first real cooking day in my Italian food class! We studied three regions in the Northwest of Italy: Piedmont, Valle d'Aosta, and Liguria.

We divide the class into three groups of four people each. Each group makes the same dishes, but this way everyone gets to help with every part of the process. First, we made trenette alle noci, fresh pasta with walnut sauce. Here's how: We measured out 300 grams of flour and dumped it on the table, making a hole in the middle. We cracked three eggs into the hole. (Use 1 egg per 100 grams of flour) Then add just a few drops of oil and a pinch of salt. Mix the eggs with your fingers, slowly working the flour in, and kneeding the dough for about ten minutes, until smooth and elastic. Then we wrapped the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest for a while while we started on. . .

Crepes Suzette. These were wonderful. First, mix two eggs with 20 grams of sugar; add 75 grams of flour, 1.3 dL (I'm not sure what dL is, but she told us to measure 130 grams) of milk, and 20 grams of melted butter. Grease a frying pan with butter, and make it very hot. Pour in only a little batter and swirl it around, waiting for it to cook.

Here's the real chef-y part. Toss it up in the air to flip it! I was really nervous. I envisioned crepes flying across the room, getting stuck to the ceiling, etc. No need to worry, though. It worked perfectly. I'm a pro.

Now, while those were cooking, it was back to the pasta and getting things ready for the sauce. This was the most fun part.

Using the pasta press!

Perfect! We've got to get one of these at home. . .

The walnut sauce was just:

• 300g (10oz) shelled walnuts
• 1 clove garlic (It was a really big clove)
• 2 slices country bread, crusts removed
• 300ml (1/2 pint) milk
• 50g (2oz) freshly grated parmesan
• 5-6 tablespoons light olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Soak the bread in the milk while you're doing other things. . . and when you're ready to make the sauce, put all the ingredients in a blender. Push the button. Voila.

Back to the crepes.

Melt 80 grams of butter in a big frying pan. Add 60 grams powdered sugar and zest of both a lemon and an orange. Add the crepes, folded in fourths to look like triangles, the juice from the orange, and four tablespoons of cointreau. Saute for a minute. Add four tablespoons of cognac, and fire it. (The teacher did most of our "firing")

Here's how our crepes turned out.

Our noodles cooked in boiling, salted water for just a few minutes. Here are the noodles being mixed with the walnut sauce.

Finally, we got to eat! The crepes were sweet and orangey and delicious. The closest thing I've had to the pasta is alfredo. It was definitely a different texture than alfredo (because of the walnuts), but it was really creamy and heavy and satisfying. Mmm. . .

I might have to buy a scale to measure food in grams for when I get home. I will probably want to recreate some of these recipes!

Stay tuned for next week: Risotto alla Milanese, Ossobuco and Caramelle alle mele. I forgot what exactly that is. But doesn't it just sound good?

Souvenirs Thus Far

I've been in Italy two weeks now. Wow! It feels like forever, and only a day, at the same time. I'm starting to feel like I'm living in a bubble. From my apartment, I've only been as far as (at most) a 25 minute walk. It's weird not driving, and having everything I need in walking distance from where I live. It's weird that there are so many streets nearby I haven't yet been down, so many stores and sights left to see and explore. Which isn't to say I haven't found my fair share of treasures. Here are the souvenirs I've collected the past two weeks.

Two scarves. I think I may limit myself to a total of three. I also refuse to pay more than 5 euros for each.



Earrings!



Florence scrapbook! I will need this when I get home.

BEAUTIFUL ceramic ornament made in Florence, with scenes from the city on it.
Is it just me or does this photo look profesh? I just surprised myself with my photograhy skills.

The cutest thing in the world. Seriously.

Now I'll elaborate on the last two pictures. I saw these at the most adorable little kitchen-y home store ever. I wanted them a few days ago, but decided I didn't want to impulsively buy them. (I wanted those, and a polka-dot cutlery set, and a clock, and a toaster that looks like a cow. . .) I went back today to look again. They were half off, so I paid 8 euros for the whole set, plus they're dishwasher and microwave safe. I am so excited about them! I can't stop looking at them. There is also a blue set and an orange set. I thought these were the cutest, though.

I did return to the chocolate festival for round 2. There seemed to be a few different venders than we saw last time, but a lot of the same ones. I bought some more of my favorites from last time, though I'm still not quite sure what they are. (Other than AMAZING.)

After leaving the chocolate festival this afternoon, Kate and I went to Gelateria de Neri, one I have been wanting to try. I got a big cone of two kinds: nutella, and cream. My tummy couldn't be happier right now.