Stuzzica Gente!

This past Sunday was a kind of food fair in Modena, called Stuzzica Gente. You paid 13 euros for a ticket and got to try an array of foods from different participating restaurants around the center of town.

I was so distracted by the idea of food that I forgot to take a picture of our first taste: gnocco fritto. Thankfully, Victoria eats slowly enough that I got a picture of her last bite.

I swear Magda is not in pain in this next photo. She's displaying our second stop which included water, naturale o frizzante.

She went with classic naturale. Good choice.

Next, pizza tricolor: a pizza with a pesto crust, tomato sauce and mozzarella.

Then we had some artisanal beers.

At La Mamma Pizzeria, we had pasta with a sausage and cream ragu.

I think this a half smile indicating happiness to be eating, but a little bit of disappointment with serving size...

Next, we headed over to L'Erba del Re, one of the three restaurants in Modena to have at least one Michelin Star.

I was pretty excited, until I saw the so-called "hamburger" they were giving out.

It was so dang small!!!

So small you could eat it in one bite.

That is not a hamburger.

I thought that it was pretty good, but Victoria was not as impressed.

Lambrusco! You chose between two kinds--I got amabile, the sweeter one. I loved it. Mostly because it tasted like cranberry juice.

Gelato was next on the list, but I forgot to take a picture. It wasn't very exciting because we had to get "fior di latte" and "crema"which are basically two kinds of gelato that both taste like frozen cream. I mean, it's good, but I want exciting gelato.

Then, I took the first successful shot of my life. Mostly because I think there may have been two drops of vodka in the whole shot. The rest was juice.

But look at me go! I'll totally be ready to turn 21 by the time I get back in the US...

That was it. Then I continued to make my way through the newest season of Arrested Development!

Good day.

-Meri

Wait, Your Family Is Still Visiting???

Yes.

My family comes in droves. You think we're traveling in a large group, and then we add some more.

Last Friday, my aunt Beth and uncle David arrived in Bologna and we've been having fun ever since. My parents left on Tuesday, but in the meantime we accomplished a lot. And ate a lot of food.

Our first meal was made up of pizza and panini. It was my parents' first experience of an italian panino--they were surprised it wasn't grilled on a panini press.

Then we got some gelato at K2.

They were all quite pleased.

Beth, mommy, and I went to my favorite cafe to get some mammolini--a fabulous beverage.

We went out to dinner with my friend, Federico!

Bethy is trying to add her cat, Pi, into this next picture by showing her photo on her iPad. Can you see her?

On my parents' last night, we got aperitivo...

Then we went out to Pepperoncino for some delicious pizza with Federico and his parents.

We also got gelato after having aperitivo, antipasti, mussels and clams, and pizza. I didn't take a picture because I was in too much of a food-coma.

Beth and David are leaving Monday morning. I don't know what I'm going to do without having a massive group of people around me...

-Meri

Farewell, Amanda

I know. I can't believe it either. Right now, Amanda is on her way back to the United States. Crazy.

But, in between the last post and this morning, we accomplished quite a bit! Here is a short summary.

We went to Parma.

It was a cute little town.

It had gelato. So we of course took advantage of that. You know, it's not like gelato is easy to find in Italy...

Cool clock tower.

It was also just absolutely beautiful out. Probably the best weather we had.

You can't really tell from this picture, but there is a sundial on this building.

And this is a horrible picture, but I was really excited to see Prosciutto di Parma hanging in all of the restaurants!

Tiny beer! I swear I'm not drunk in this photo.

Antipasto: prosciutto di Parma and parmigiano. Could life get any better?

(Answer: no.)

My pizza: prosciutto cotto, parmigiano, and an egg! I love eggs on my pizza and this was the first time I saw it available in Italy!

I bought a block of parmigiano because, well, I was in Parma. I had a whole conversation with the young man who worked at the store. Before I bought it, I asked if this parmigiano was good to eat plain or with bread, etc. Well. It was as if I had uttered the most blasphemous comment known to man.

Dude in store: "Con pane???" *insert utterly confused face*

I just stood there and nodded while my face turned bright red.

Then he said: "Oh, anch'io." ("Me too.")

Well, sir, if you're going to taunt me, at least don't admit to committing the same act yourself.

I'll give him a break though. He was very cute.

The next day was super rainy and our time in Reggio-Emilia was generally unsuccessful because we basically just sat in a cafe the whole time. Not that cafe sitting isn't awesome. It's just not great for photo-taking.

When we got back, we went to Cafe Concerto to dry off for a few hours.

Mmmmmmmm aperitivo.

Amanda got a Cosmopolitan.

I got a Long Island Iced Tea. It was absolutely disgusting.

Friday, we went to Florence!

Adorable pony.

Ponte Vecchio!

Cat on a leash. Our favorite part of Florence.

My favorite site in Florence--the church on a hill.

I don't have any pictures, but Ana showed us around later in the day. Thanks Ana!

Saturday we headed over to Bologna. The flowers behind Amanda were purple so I had to take a picture.

These are the tops of the tents of the massive flea market in Bologna. I got myself a 3-euro sweater.

When we got to the center of town, we saw this guy and his show. He was pretty great.

His dog was even better.

That is one talented chin.

This morning I met Amanda at the bus station to say a final goodbye.

I was sad to see Amanda go. I will see her in four months...

-Meri