Emiligia Romagna

Our friend Evan is visiting this week, so today we took a whirlwind food tour of the region of Emiligia Romagna.  We started in Parma and sampled some delicious parmeggiano reggiano cheese:

And of course, prosciutto di Parma:

Also, oranges are now in season in Italy!

After shopping all morning, we were ready for some lunch.  We went to Trattoria Corrieri for some amazing home-made pasta (see my blog on Parma).

On the way home from Parma, we stopped in Modena, which is known for the best balsamic vinagrette in Italy.  At a local enoteca, we learned a little about the aging process of balsamico and the owner allowed us to sample some!   

Modena has some beautiful churches as well- I was too busy searching for food to explore them, so I will have to go back at some point.

At the end of the day we came back, exhausted but satisfied, and were able to sample our souvenirs!

Halloween!

The annual SAIS Halloween party was a success!  It was held in the beautiful Palazzo Gnudo, right in the center of Bologna.  I was impressed by the creativity of everyone's costumes- especially considering how busy the students are, and how hard it can be to find costume supplies.  We partied into the early hours of the morning, and enjoyed great music, costume contests, and bobbing for apples!  David and I went as the Joker and his girlfriend Harley Quinn, from the Batman comics.

I thought it was hilarious that Jag, a young man from India, dressed up as an American Indian!

Meaghan is dressed as Salvatore La Ferlita, our eccentric housing supervisor
(she's wearing David's polo shirt!)

Week in Photos

Hey all!  Here's a photo recap of how my week went:

1.  The Chinese students hosted some people for a traditional Chinese meal.  We had rice, chicken with vegetables, spicy potatoes, noodles, sauteed cabbage, and more!

Great job ladies!

2.  After 5 rainy, foggy days in a row, the sun finally came out!  My friend Bryn and I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and go for a hike.

3.  Bologna had it's first ever mortadella festival!  Surprising, since this is the city that invented this tasty meat!  Of course I just had to sample some!

4.  Piazza Nettuno is in the center of the city, so I pass it frequently.  I just had to take a quick photo of this guy on my way to get groceries:

5.  David and I ended the week with a quiet dinner at home.  I made pasta with chick peas and tomatoes, another great recipe courtesy of Pasta Harvest.

Coffee Craze

For those of you that know me well, you know that I love coffee.  That I am addicted to coffee, in fact.  So after 6 weeks of living in Italy, I have finally come to terms with Italian coffee.  Coffee is a huge part of Italian culture, and there are many norms associated with ordering/drinking coffee.  Some things I knew before I moved here- I read Rick Steves and learned that ordering 'un caffe' will get you a teeny cup of espresso.  If you want a more standard size, you need to order 'un caffe americano'.  I also had read about Italians' aversion to drinking coffee with a meal- it is only appropriate to order coffee after you have finished your sandwich.

But some things I had to learn the hard way- such as: never EVER drink milk with your coffee after 11:00.  Milk is to be enjoyed at breakfast time, and only at breakfast time.  After that- it's straight espresso.  This was hard for me to come to terms with since I love cappuccino.  But, it was also a motivation for me to get out of bed early- I did not want to miss my morning cappuccino at the bar next door!  I've also learned that 'latte' is the Italian word for milk, and if you order a 'latte' here, that is what you will get- a cup of steamed milk.  A 'latte macchiato' is steamed milk with espresso.  Conversely, a 'caffe macchiato' is espresso with a little bit of milk.  Macchiato literally means 'stained' in Italian.

Italians for the most part drink their coffee standing up at a bar- a quick sip of espresso and then they continue on their way.  Or they will leisurely sit with a cup of cappuccino and a brioche at a cafe table while reading the paper or chatting with friends.  But they do not have coffee to go- no Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts here.  I think that is what I miss the most- being able to carry around a hot cup of coffee with me as I walk to school.  Now, as the weather is changing and autumn is here, I also miss pumpkin spice coffee.  So sit back and enjoy a Dunkin Donuts Pumpkin Spice Coffee with cream and think of me :)