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

All We Do Is Eat

Alex and I have accomplished quite a bit in Modena in these last few days. Some of it involves getting souvenirs for family and friends. Most of it involves eating.

I of course had to get more hot chocolate at my favorite bar. This stuff is beyond words. And this time they gave me a little side of whipped cream!

When I was paying, the man behind the counter kept calling me "la ragazza americana." The American girl. I guess I kind of stick out like a sore thumb here a little bit...

Last night, we dined at Da Danilo, a little restaurant in the center of town. With our antipasto, they served gnocco fritto. It's a local treat that they serve in practically every bar. It's basically fried pasta dough (and has nothing to do with gnocchi). I love it!

Our server recommended that we stuff the gnocco with some prosciutto crudo. Excellent idea.

Our antipasto with prosciutto crudo, salami, some kind of cheese, and fig spread.

First course: vegetable soup. Mmmmmm nice and hearty.

Second course: omelette with prosciutto (not crudo). I need to learn that if the word crudo is not attached, it means that I'm probably getting ham--something I don't like nearly as much. Plus, the eggs were kind of overcooked...

Dessert: gelato with balsamic vinegar drizzled on top. If there's one thing Modena does well, it's balsamic. This dessert was awesome. We went to a balsamic store in town and the guy had 100-year balsamic for sale (the older it is, the sweeter it is). 220 euros for a bottle the size of golfball.

Today, January 31st, was the Festival of San Geminiano, Modena's saint.

My pictures don't do it justice, but there are tons of vendors spreading out from the center of town. Hundreds and hundreds of them, selling everything from socks to baby toys to amaretti cookies.

Alex bought truffle salami and truffle cheese. Our family loves everything truffle.

We also hit up some candy stations. I looooooooove black licorice; they sell giant strands of the stuff. And they had candy apples!

We also got some goodies for Alex to bring home. Oh, and those things that look like fruit in the bottom left hand corner of this picture are actually giant gummy candies.

For lunch, we ordered a local delicacy--piadino. It's like an italian tortilla. They use it here in replacement of ciabbata for a panino. Our piadino had prosciutto crudo, cheese, and eggplant. Delicious!

And I got a hat at the market. I forgot to bring a hat to Modena so my head has been quite chilly some days. The top is big enough for my to fit my giant head of hair into which is also useful.

Tonight, we had a fixed menu dinner next door to my residence. It was tagliatelle with cinghiali. Cinghiale is--according to my italian dictionary--wild boar.

Next course, more wild boar with polenta.

Oh yeah, by the way: I'm taking a 7-month break from being a vegetarian if you haven't noticed. I'm going to take full advantage of the wonderful food around me and return to my fruit and veggie lifestyle when I get back home.

I have to say, the prosciutto crudo here is INCREDIBLE. Oh, and the guy at the salami stand in the Mercato Albinelli knows me now. I went three days in a row to buy salame napoli for Alex.

Salami guy: "Hai finito tutto?" (You finished everything?)
Me: *face turns red* "Si. Mio fratello amo il salame." (Yes. My brother loves salami)
Then I proceed to buy an absurd amount of salami and prosciutto.
Hopefully I'll be friends with the produce people soon too.

-Meri

Green Cards, Hot Chocolate, and Harry Potter

Today I went to ACLI to start the process for getting my "permesso di soggiorno" (a green card sort of thing). I successfully got to the building (which I was proud of) only to find out that I then had to go to il Poste (post office).

You know how waiting at the post office is kind of horrible when there are a lot of people? Well, Italy might just be worse. It's one of those take-a-number systems--I was 223 and they were on 200. They started with four people taking customers. Slowly but surely three of them got up to leave. Great.

Street in the University area

Anyways, I was eventually successful and must get my fingerprints taken on April 15th. I feel like they might have wanted those prints a little earlier since there was such a rush to get the ACLI and post office stuff done today...

Part of my success was buying Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in Italian. I inherited this buying trait from my mom. She will buy anything Phillies-related at the drop of a hat. For me, it's Harry Potter stuff.

And I mustered up the courage to go into a food establishment by myself! I got a piece of Margherita pizza. It was soooooo good. The crust was amazing, as were the toppings.

And then I had a HUGE craving for hot chocolate. So I went and found some.

This is the best hot chocolate I ever had. It was like drinking melted chocolate.

And guess what! It came with little cookies (they called them biscuits). When I dipped a cookie in the chocolate, it was completely coated as if I had dipped it in melting chocolate.

Random note: you pay AFTER you eat/drink in Italy.

I find this odd.

-Meri