Tourin' Turin

(My apologies for the corny title.)

This past Friday and Saturday was our overnight trip to Turin, a city in the northeastern part of Italy, in the region of Piedmont. You might recognize the name because it was the host city of the 2006 Winter Olympics. The ECCO program sponsored the trip, so everything was paid for, including our hotel, which was actually really nice. Despite the cold and rainy weather on Friday, and the fact that I started getting a sore throat Friday morning (that has now developed into a head cold...blech), I loved Turin. It was very different from any of the Italian cities I've seen so far, which makes sense, because it's the farthest north I've been in Italy. The architecture was very Baroque, and the buildings were made of white and gray stone, as opposed to the reds and browns of medieval/Renaissance cities like Bologna and Florence. It almost reminded me of a French or Swiss chalet village, which might not be too far off since northern Italy borders both France and Switzerland.

Our weekend started off with some Halloween candy on the bus ride. Adri and I bought pumpkin-shaped marzipans from a café in Bologna, and our professor gave out Lindt Halloween chocolates on the bus.

Pumpkin-shaped marzipan

Lindt Halloween chocolates - a pumpkin and a ghost

We arrived in Turin in the afternoon, and our first stop was the Mole Antonelliana, a large domed structure whose spire dominates Turin's skyline. It was originally built to be a synagogue in 1863, but now houses the city's Museum of Cinema. The museum itself is very eccentric, beginning with exhibits on the origins and development of film technology, ending with film screening rooms like a 1960s living room and a gigantic refrigerator with toilets for seats. (I kid you not.) A glass elevator that runs through the middle of the building (so you can see the entire central area of the museum, and inside of the dome, as you ascend) leads to the observation deck at the top. I was really hoping to get a glimpse of the mountains surrounding Turin, but aside from the fact that it was already dusk, the rain had brought clouds to the city, and the elevator operator said the mountains wouldn't be visible all week. Despite that disappointment, it was still a beautiful view. 

The dome of the Mole Antonelliana

The door of the men's room at the Museum of Cinema

The door of the women's room at the Museum of Cinema

The view of Turin from the top of the dome

Now seems like a good place to mention that Turin is famous for chocolate. On Friday, we went to a café known for its hot chocolate and bicerin, Turin's signature drink made with chocolate, espresso, and whipped cream. Both were delicious, although the hot chocolate was too intense to even drink half of. Think Spanish hot chocolate - melted dark chocolate in a cup. My guidebook says that this café, Caffe Gelateria Fiorio, is also famous for its gelato (although it was far too cold to have gelato), and that Mark Twain and Herman Melville both frequented it when they were in Turin. Turin is also famous for hazelnut chocolates called gianduiotto. They were invented during Napoleonic times when chocolate was rationed, so they had to stretch out the chocolate with something...and what better to mix in than hazelnut? This combination is actually what eventually turned into nutella. Yes, that's right, Turin is the birthplace of nutella. So on Saturday, we made sure to pick up a few gianduiotto chocolates to take with us. 

Emily with her bicerin

My hot chocolate

Friday night we went out to dinner at a great restaurant for our group dinner. I assume we were served traditional Piemontese food...there were so many courses that I don't even know where to begin. Basically, we gorged ourselves on food and wine, and then walked a lot afterwards!

On Saturday, which was nice and sunny, we did a short walking tour of Turin, ending in the large and very beautiful Parco del Valentino, and then had the afternoon free. We decided to go to the Egyptian Museum, which houses the third-largest Egyptian collection in the world, after Cairo and London. We had intended to go to the Duomo to see the Holy Shroud of Turin (said to be the burial cloth of Christ), but the cathedral was closed for the afternoon pausa, and by the time we were done with the Egyptian Museum, we were all exhausted and more than ready to head back to Bologna. We also had wanted to see a smaller gallery in the same building as the Egyptian Museum that has a collection of Dutch and Flemish paintings from the 14th-18th centuries, but sadly, it closed for the day at 2pm. So there will have to be a next time in Turin...I still have to see those mountains, too!

Palazzo Madama in Turin's central piazza

Palazzo Reale (Palazzo Madama would be on the right if this picture continued, same piazza)

The Duomo, Turin's main cathedral

Fake façade of the Duomo

Parco del Valentino

The Po River that runs through Turin

A pretty street that reminded me of a French or Swiss chalet village

Back in Bologna, a few of us went out for Indian food last night. I hadn't had Indian food in months, and while it certainly didn't compare to any of the restaurants in the East Village, it was very enjoyable, and the spices were just what I needed for my head cold. I know it probably sounds ridiculous to be eating Indian food in Italy, but it was actually a nice change of tastes!

Tomorrow night we're going to the main library in Bologna to watch the election coverage live, sponsored by Democrats Abroad. If you weren't aware, and are in the US, Starbucks is giving out free coffee to everyone who votes tomorrow! So go vote and then get your free coffee!!

Pumpkin Carving Adventures

I didn't expect to post again until next week, but this is just a mini post to update on yesterday evening. (If you didn't read the post before this one, I'd recommend going back and reading it. It's much more informative.)

Two of my friends from the ECCO program bought a PUMPKIN (they're pretty scarce in Italy) and we decided to take on the task of carving it last night. We did this in the communal kitchen in our dorm, much to the delight and amazement of the other Italian students who were there at the time. They took pictures and asked lots of questions about jack-o-lanterns (what is the history of that tradition, anyway?) and were overall very impressed. We knew we were being uber-American, but it was a little bit of home and Halloween, and it even prompted us to socialize with some Italians we hadn't talked with before.

We named our little orange friend "Giac-o-Lanterna" since Giacomo is the Italian version of Jack, but Giac-o-Lanterna just seems to flow better. For some reason, these pictures uploaded in reverse order, but here's a photo account of our carving.

To Stay Or Not To Stay (that is the question, and here is the answer)

You might be wondering whether or not I’m going to stay in Bologna next semester. Or maybe you didn’t even know that it was something I was considering – before I came to Italy I got a full-year student visa in case I decided to stay for the spring semester as well. I decided to leave my options open and make my final decision once I got to Bologna, since I was given until the beginning of November to decide.

And I’ve decided to return to Vassar next semester.

This probably surprises some of you who may have thought I would run away to Italy and never come home. Well, to be honest, it surprised me too. But as much as I love Italy, I definitely feel like I’m making the right decision. There are many classes at Vassar I want to take, many extra-curriculars I want to do, many many friends I want to see again…and maybe it’s cliché, but I miss New York like crazy! As one of our family friends said to me - you can always go back to Italy, but you can’t always be a Vassar student. I think that pretty much sums up my sentiments exactly.

So there you have it. The parents are coming to Italy for Christmas and New Year’s, and then I’ll be back in the good ole’ US of A on January 3rd!

In other news, I passed Roberto Benigni, the Italian actor of Life Is Beautiful fame, on the street the other evening. We made eye contact as we walked past each other because I was staring at him, trying to figure out who he was, since he looked older than he did in Life Is Beautiful, and I couldn’t place him immediately. I think I recognized him because he looked back at me, like he knew I was yet another person who recognized him. Also, I remembered seeing signs that he was in Bologna for a big concert on Saturday night, and I was sure that it was him when the Italian couple next to me recognized him too.

He was participating in a concert series by the Orchestra Mozart ensemble, and their big concert with all of the big choirs and orchestras was Saturday night (and of course, sold out) but a few of us went to the Sunday night performance of the series. It was a smaller concert, in the same venue that we saw the opera Il Trovatore a few weeks ago, consisting of two movements, one by Schubert, and one by Mendelssohn. There were eight instruments in the Schubert piece, and nine in the Mendelssohn (the Mendelssohn was only string instruments.) I haven't been to a lot of orchestra concerts, but I love classical music so of course it was wonderful to just sit and listen to beautiful live music for an hour and a half.

And now on to what you’ve really been waiting for, cooking class #3! This was our last cooking class, and it consisted of farro, a type of grain whose name doesn’t translate to English but looks a lot like barley, with beans, celery, carrots, and leeks. It was similar to risotto. We also had lightly fried vegetables: sage leaves – that was new, and surprisingly good – and artichoke hearts. The second course was oven-baked fish and potatoes with onions, served with white wine. And for dessert, the grand finale, we had tiramisu. I learned to make tiramisu in my intro-Italian class freshman year, but this was a slightly different way to make it, and of course, incredibly delicious.

Lastly, Christmas came early to Bologna this year, at least for me. I made two essential purchases this weekend, but one of them was my Christmas present to myself, and one was my Christmas present from my parents. The first purchase was my Italian leather boots. I have been searching for a great pair of boots since I got here, and I finally found them, and at not a bad price, either. I think we will be very happy together. (In the picture below, I’m wearing the boots pulled up, but the top part can be folded down, and they can be scrunched down lower.) My second acquisition was my beautiful new winter coat. I didn’t bring a coat with me to Bologna, because my peacoat from last year is dying, and I certainly wasn’t about to bring my down, ankle-length, it’s-20-degrees-below-zero-in-Poughkeepsie winter coat, that resembles a sleeping bag, to Italy. So when I (or rather, Nicole) found this green coat, we knew it was meant to be.

Note: I took this picture to email to my parents to show them just what they bought me for Christmas…I promise, I didn’t take it just to put on the blog.

We have a busy weekend coming up, with an overnight trip to Turin with the group, so look for a recap of that sometime next week. Happy Halloween!

Cooking Class #2

Not much to report on, but I thought I'd give a quick recap of our second cooking class, for all of you foodies. (Warning: You might not want to read this post when you're hungry.)

Our meal from Monday's cooking class seemed a lot more like something I could try to recreate at home. For the primo piatto (first course) made tagliatelle by hand (okay, that's the one thing that I would be way too impatient to make again), served with ragù sauce (also known as Bolognese sauce...as in, from Bologna). The ragù we made was with chopped onions, carrots, celery, ground sausage, ground pancetta (similar to bacon), ground beef, red wine, and tomato sauce. You can use any type of meat. This sauce was simple and very college-friendly, so I'll definitely be making it again.

For the secondo piatto, we made pork cutlets, and a salad consisting of baby spinach, fennel, parmesan, orange slices, and raisins, with a viniagrette dressing. Both courses were served with red wine. For il dolce, dessert, we made fior di latte bolognese, almost exactly the same as flan, except that it's made with milk instead of cream. That was served with that delicious bubbly dessert wine from last week.

And then, we rolled home, vowing never to eat again.

But in all honesty, it's really fun learning how to make traditional bolognese dishes, and hopefully I can retain most of this information and bring it back with me!

I'll end with an anecdote that was embarrassing for me, but certainly humorous for anyone else, which happened when I was telling my language exchange partner, Alessandra, about what we made last week at cooking class. You must understand that in Italian, one pronounces double consonants, so that the words tono (tone) and tonno (tuna) would sound different. So I was telling her that we made penne with zucchini and tomatoes, but instead of saying pennnnnnnne, I apparently said pene, which means penis.

Like in France (see August 28th), I yet again embarrass myself with what I swear are subtle nuances of the language, and easily-made mistakes. But at least now I understand the importance of articulating double consonants in Italian.