Eating With Alexis

My friend Alexis came to visit me this past weekend!

We had a fabulous time, going from food place to food place in Modena and then the same in Bologna (Bologna was supplemented with a few historical sights though).

I didn't get a photo of all the food we ate in Modena, probably because I was distracted by eating, but I swear a lot of food went into our tummies.

First we got various pastries at a fabulous cafe in Modena. In addition to these two lovely treats, we had a chocolate sandwich cookie and a lemon-y ricotta one. And a gnocco fritto. And cappuccino.

We had bread for lunch--Alexis discovered that you can get like four loaves of bread for 2 euros at the market. It's part of what has been encouraging my all-carb diet...

Then, for a mid-afternoon snack, gelato. I didn't get a picture of the gelato, but I did get a picture of those crazy roosters in the park where we ate the gelato.

Also not pictured: a few cocktails and a whole lot of food from aperitivo.

We started our day in Bologna with what other than fancy croissants. For me, a pistachio cream and chocolate chip croissant. Mmmmmmmmm.

For Alexis, a custard-y mini pie and a croissant stuffed with a ricotta filling.

As we walked around Bologna, we came across this guy in the main piazza who was playing "Angie." I still find it funny when I hear American music playing all over the place.

Then we decided to climb one of the two towers of Bologna. There were many many steps.

And there were a bunch of holes in the wall where you could look out as you made the climb. My camera couldn't quite capture the image of the world beyond the brick. Take my word for it, it was pretty cool.

We made it too the top!

Amazing.

I took a thousand pictures.

Your welcome for sparing you the 997 other pictures of the same thing.

The tower belonged to the Asinelli family.

As we had totally burned a billion calories climbing the tower, it was time for hot chocolate. Alexis and I agree that the hot chocolate in Italy might be the greatest thing ever invented.

I got Venezuelan dark hot chocolate.

Alexis got pistachio hot chocolate.

For lunch, we went to a cute little restaurant on a side street.

I got Passatelli in broth. I know it doesn't look appetizing, but it was really good! The pasta is made from bread crumbs, eggs, grated parmigiano cheese, lemon, and nutmeg and is then cooked in chicken broth. A very comforting meal.

Alexis got pasta alla bolognese, as one should in Bologna.

Then I had to drop Alexis at the train station :(

I hope to see her in Rome soon (oh, she's studying in Rome right now, by the way).

[I've actually got a few other things to post about, but my internet is so terrible that it's becoming very difficult to tell you about my many adventures (usually involving food) in Italy. Soon to come though!]

-Meri