Why Are All The Stores Closed?

Yeah, they definitely won't be happy about that picture. I'm not doing well with taking flattering photos lately. Well, anyways, this is Brad and Melissa enjoying their first ever gnocco fritto! And they totally doubted me when I said it was really yummy. They thought it would be greasy and disgusting.

Which begs the question, do I usually enjoy food that is greasy and disgusting???

Considering that half of my diet consists of apples and pearled barley, I think not.

Most of Melissa and Brad's visit to Modena involved eating. And not necessarily because that's the only thing to do here. More because it was snowing and we were freezing and soaking wet and just wanted somewhere warm to sit.

For lunch, we went to Pizza Al Taglio.

They got pizza. I got a salami and parmigiano panino. I've had so much pizza that I usually go for a sandwich.

Those are faces of joy.

Around 3 o'clock, Melissa and Brad discovered what it's like to live in Modena. We were cold and full and wanted to do some shopping.

I didn't realize that it had not reached 3:30 yet. As we walked around and saw all the shops that were closed up, I mentioned that a lot of stores are closed Thursday afternoons.

Melissa said, "Meri, it looks like everything is closed."

Me: "Oh, wait, what time is it?"

Brad: "3"

Me: "Oh. Okay, the stores will be open in a half hour."

Melissa and Brad: * stare at me looking dumbfounded *

Me: "Yeah. They have a 3 hour lunch break usually. Closed from 12:30 to 3:30."

I'm pretty used to the schedule now, but these guys could not believe it.

We eventually got to go to aperitivo, Brad's new favorite thing on the planet. Basically, you pay for a beverage and then get access to the buffet of finger foods for free.

Good deal.

Melissa had Lambrusco wine and Brad had a vodka martini I believe.

I had Planter's Punch. Melissa called it the "lollipop drink." Yeah, it was pretty sugary.

Free food! Sort of.

Then we went to Da Danilo for dinner--the same place I went with Alex. They were impressed.

I got the gnocchi.

Melissa, the house made tortelloni.

And Brad the radicchio risotto.

For dessert, this thing. Sort of like a semi freddo with a lot of crumbled candy in it, and doused in hot chocolate. One of Brad's favorite desserts of all time!

And of course, gelato with balsamic vinegar.

I hope Melissa and Brad have fun during their final days in Italy!

-Meri

I'm In Italy Right Now. How Did That Happen?

Yup. Here I am. In Modena, Italy.

I'm by myself. There are no other students from my university here. In fact, there are no other students here. I'm in a massive residence style building, with the staff that works at the desk. And they're barely ever around.

My building is the taller one on the right. It's huge, right? Well, I have the place to myself.

So yeah. I'm alone. Getting kinda lonely over here. But I have been making some progress each day I guess.

I took an overnight flight here on Monday with a layover in London. As I sat there, I thought, "wow, everything is in English here. Everyone has a cool accent. Everything makes sense. What the hell am I doing going to a city where no one speaks English?" I'm currently still in that mindset but I'm trying to work myself out of it.

I asked for red wine on the plane for the heck of it, and they gave it to me! It tasted bad, but I still found it exciting.

This is what the water looks like in London. I accidentally bought six 2-liter bottles of "frizzante" water at the supermarket in Italy thinking it was still water. It's like drinking seltzer every time I want water. Blech.

One of my first adventures (after trying to navigate the public transit system and then giving up and getting a taxi the first day) was to go to the supermarket, realizing that I did in fact need to eat.

Look how cute the little carts are!

My second day here I went to the market above the supermarket to buy boots after soaking two pairs of shoes. It's been snowing like crazy here! And they apparently don't shovel any walkways either...

The best I could find were mens shoes that are too big for me, but they do the job.

Today was a little more exciting. After visiting the campus a second time (still snowing), I discovered a really cool market that I guess comes on Thursdays? My favorite was the vendor guy selling vacuum cleaners. Who would think to buy that at a farmer's market-type thing?

I got a vegetable and cheese panino. Yummy! They were confused by the fact that I didn't want meat (They have hamburgers and hotdogs as options to put on the panini--I guess to please us Americans). I wonder how many vegetarians there are in Italy...

And I went to the supermarket again only to find pineapple, orange, carrot, and lemon juice. It was exciting. I'm mixing it with all my god-dammed fizzy water.

More tales to come. Hopefully I'll find a friend at some point...

-Meri