To Travel

First of all, the quote of the week:

In breads class the other day chef was playing around with some decorating bread (able to be shaped into braids etc.) and made one into the shape of a fish. After tweaking some part of it, a fellow student said, "Ah no chef! What are you doing? It looked better before!" and so on and after a moment or two of thought chef said, "...eets just a fucking feesh!"

Anywho, this weekend was a nice change of pace because I really haven't been out of the city much yet. On Saturday we signed up for a trip through our school that took us through Parma and Modena to go see Parmesan being made, a Prosciutto factory and a place that makes fancy Balsamic Vinegar. Being a bunch of nerdy foodies, we were pretty stoked. Parma is about 3 hours away by bus. The countryside was lovely and the little Parmesan establishment in Parma was pretty adorable. It was small and the cheese makers wore cute little cheese making outfits and there was oh so much cheese. Thousands of pounds of cheese. We saw them cooking and stirring and shaping it and then how it was cured and stored for the 2 years before it is sold. At the Prosciutto factory, we walked into what was actually an impeccably clean facility. They showed us the different storage rooms at different temps where the meat goes before/ after/ during the curing process etc. I have never and will never again see that much meat in all my life. A vegetarian's nightmare, behind each door were racks sky high with Thousands of legs of pig. They said they ship aprox 50,000 (what do you call them... pig butt/leg combos?) around the world each year. They then led us upstairs to our lunch where (a vegetarian would pass out) each table setting was complete with a plate entirely covered in meat. Different kinds of prosciutto, salami etc piled in front of every chair. Full to our throats with meat, we then headed to Modena where they make a special kind of balsamic that takes years to ferment. There is nothing in the vinegar but grapes. No sugars no added acids, no wine, just grape juice and time. We tasted vinegars that were aged up to 25 yrs and sold for 78 euros for a tiny bottle.

So the trip was interesting and informative- BUT may I now point out its downfalls. It contained a few of us who had chosen to come on the trip + about 50 who were forced to be there. 80% 18 yr old girls who said things like, "it doesn't even taste good" after tasting just about the most perfectly made Parmesan cheese that can be made. Or girls who would walk into a meat factory (which smelled surprisingly little) and would plug their noses in disgust as the tour leader/ owner was proudly showing us around. Turns out I can't stand American teenage girls. Yeah I was one not long ago... but whatareyougonnado.

Sunday was a welcomed relief. My friends Michelle, Kim and I took a hour and 40 min train south west to a town called Castiglioncello. An adorable little beachy getaway, there were lots of people on the beach but actually almost no tourists. Almost everyone was Italian. The beaches were beautiful but you simply HAD to purchase a lounge chair/ umbrella to sit on. Not because it was required but because the sand was so hot that even while sitting on your towel, the sand would literally burn you. Now granted, my threadbare, Snorkelsaurus towel was probably made in 1982 and has been used generously since then, but I wasn't about to try to tough it out. And something about this sun makes you sweat more intensely than sun usually does. Moments after getting out of the water you would be dry and a single moment later you would be dripping again.. but with sweat. Wonderful and relaxing though regardless of some horrid tan lines I acquired. But there will be time to even those out next week when I'm in GREECE!

Friday marks our last day of Italian 1 with Francesca (I'm actually gonna miss her) and breads with Chef Gabriele. We then have a week break in which me and two friends are going to the Greek island Kos for half the week then parting ways to do a little more European sight seeing before school starts. I'll be coming back to Florence because my dear friend Jenny from Seattle will be in town! And I'm oh so excited to show her around.

But now it's time to study and get things ready for the trip. Wish me luck! (Pictures from last weekend are up on my snapfish for anyone curious).