Italy: I obviously came for the food.

Ciao! I've been in Italy for almost a week now and I'm starting to get acclimated. I've learned a little bit of Italian, like how to buy bus tickets, and so far I've managed not to make a total fool of myself (as far as I know). It's hard to get by here without speaking Italian, since most people over the age of 25 don't speak English. Hopefully I'll get a little bit better with time.

I've been eating a lot. One of my first meals in Italy was, strangely enough, Chinese food. It was good and comforting since it reminded me of generic Chinese food at home. I had asparagus and "crab" soup and some sort of chicken with bamboo shoots which I ate too quickly to take a picture of.

That night dinner was prosciutto and bread. Yep, that's it! The prosciutto was so cheap compared to the US - something like 3 euro. At home this prosciutto would be like $10!

I tried my first Italian pizza on the first day of orientation. It was yummy but not memorable. Still, I love that Italians put eggplant on pizza. I think I need to start cooking with eggplant because it's ridiculously abundant here. I also cooked myself a little pasta dinner with pancetta, mushrooms, and zucchini. Yummm.

I went to coffee and lunch with my Hastings buddies. My first try of Italian coffee was a learning experience in two ways. First, coffee with milk is called a caffe macchiato here, and comes in a tiny little cup. Second, Italian public restrooms are often just a hole in the floor, and you probably won't have anywhere to hang up your purse.

For lunch we went to a nice restaurant around the corner from our school. Jenn and Joan had pizzas, I had gnocchi, and Pam had tagliatelle. I didn't taste anyone else's food, but my gnocchi was delicious and so filling! I didn't even want dinner that night because I was so stuffed. Oh, and of course Joan and I had to sample the house wine.

That afternoon I went with some people from school to see the migration museum in Torino. It was the first time I had strolled through the city center, and it's so beautiful! We walked through a lot of covered walkways that looked like this.

Learning about the history of immigration in Torino was really interesting. As a Californian I take diversity for granted, but people have only been immigrating into Torino for 30 years! Unfortunately, there was a lot of racism during the 1980s, and non-Italian people were seen as "outsiders." Apparently the view of immigrants has gotten better in recent years, and now 1/7 residents of Torino are from outside of Italy.

I also tasted some delicious gelato from Grom, which is a chain - there's one located right across the street from our school! Uh oh. I got salted caramel and hazelnut con panna (whipped cream). OK, it was a little bit indulgent - but it was my first gelato in Italy so I had to just go for it. And yeah, it was worth it.

Yesterday our school threw a barbecue for all of its students (there are only about 30 of us total). We had chicken, sausages, lamb, salad, bread, and of course wine. Although the menu was a little different from your traditional American BBQ, I noticed that some things are universal... for example, men will always stand around staring at the grill.

We've also been making new friends! Here's Jenn, Joan, and Pam with our new friend Abby and me with one of my roomies, Dara.

Tonight I'm going to my first Italian aperetivo. Exciting!

xo,
R

Spain leftovers and first days in Italy

I can't believe I forgot about our first dinner in Barcelona! I tried two new things thanks to Irene: squid ink and foie gras. Yes, I'm an official foodie now. I don't think I'll ever feel like it's normal to eat something that's pitch black and that stains everything it touches, but it definitely tasted good. Our first foray into the world of tapas was really fun. We ordered patatas bravas (of course), some croquettes, lamb skewers, squid ink paella, some sort of beef stew... Everything rocked. Nom nom nom.

After dinner we went to buy wine and had a bit of a mishap. Poor Irene slipped on the floor (classic slip and fall case, I want to sue), dropped a bottle of wine, and sliced open her hand on the glass. She's pretty sensitive to losing blood so at first she looked pretty upset. Luckily after pumping her with apple juice and putting a cool, damp cloth on her forehead (that trick comes from my mom) she rallied like a champ.

I made it to Torino on Friday night and spent Saturday exploring the city. One of the first things I did was stop by Eataly, which is a fancy market that also serves various food. The produce was so beautiful!

There was also meat and cheese as far as the eye can see.

I treated to myself to a plate of assorted meats and cheeses followed by pasta. It would not be misleading to tell you that the pasta was easily in the top 5 things I've eaten in my life, ever. The sauce was ragu of sausage, chicken, and mushrooms. There was such depth of flavor and every time I bit into a mushroom it was like a little burst of joy in my mouth. And it was only 7.50!

On the bad side, I got a million bedbug bites from the hotel I stayed at this weekend. Not only do I look like a leper, but I'm really itchy. It was a relief to move into my new home today and wash everything I own in very, very hot water.

Speaking of my new home, I live in the Olympic Village. It's near Olympic Bridge, which connects OV to an area called Lingotto. It looks like this:

Apparently the youth of Torino caught on to the French hobby of declaring their undying love by locking padlocks to bridges.

Here's a picture of my room! OK, it seems a little drab in this picture, but I got some sassy new sheets and soon I'll have decorations. Let's just say it's shabby-chic. Despite being a bit plain, it's huge and airy and has a cool view of the bridge.

So far I have three roommates and we're all from different countries. They all seem very sweet and laid back, and I think living here will be just fine. Orientation is this week - I'll let you know how it goes!

xo,
R

PS. Everyone please check out my best broads' travel blog. Sanaz and Natalie are in Leiden this semester!

Barthelona

Barcelona was the last stop of my Euro tour. The weather here is sooo warm and beautiful, which is really refreshing after the time we spent in rainy Prague. Plus, the food here is the BEST of anywhere I've been so far. I am addicted to cured meat.

On our first day we want to La Boqueria Market, which is an oldschool Spanish market full of meat, cheese, tapas, fruit, juice, and other random vendors. I immediately ordered a strawberry/pineapple juice. It was really cool because the market was packed with random people shopping for their groceries.

Nadia and I bought packs of fruit for 1 euro! It was sooo delicious.

After the market we stopped for sangria and cured meat.

Then we strolled through the city to see the sights. I got a fresh melon popsicle. I kinda ate a lot in Barcelona...

Most of the things you worry about won't ever happen. Be happy!

We found my house in Barcelona!

We strolled down to the harbor and walked along the water to get to a big park/mountain. We climbed to the top of the mountain (so athletic) and of course got some sangria and patatas bravas. I made it my mission to eat as many potatoes as possible. After our recuperative sangria Irene and I shared two sandwiches: one with salami and cheese and one with prosciutto and cheese. Simple and delicious.

We stopped by the Olympic Stadium during the sunset.

Earlier today we went to La Sagrada Familia, a beautiful cathedral designed by Gaudi. The inside was beautiful and so intricate.

This afternoon we spent a few hours at the beach lazing in the sun. It was so nice to be in the heat for awhile. It reminded me of Santa Cruz!

Tonight we had a great going away dinner. Me, Irene, and Nadia will be separated for the rest of the semester, so we had to do it right. We ordered patatas bravas, baby octopus, asparagus, garlic prawns, foie gras, sardines, and of course paella. Usually I'm not a big fan of bivalves but I tried some mussels tonight and they were delicious!

YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

Tomorrow I finally leave for Italy. Although I've enjoyed traveling, I'm really looking forward to being in the same place for awhile, using a full sized towel, and oh yeah, being able to shower in a REAL shower. Plus it'll be so nice to have my own room again! No offense, Nadia and Irene.

xo,
R