This morning we had to switch from our guesthouse (due to an insect infestation) down the street to a local apartment which we consider an upgrade.
Guesthouse:
New apartment:
Since I have time on my hands from being sick I can give you an inside on our day trip to Parma and Modena (if I can remember)
I'm not quite sure what we did that Friday during the day but I do remember that Chef told us not to go out because of the drive to Parma... little did some of us listen. Our struggle bus took us to Parmiggiano Reggiano factory, (not as big as I imagined) in Parma, Italy. We had to wear plastic on our heads, a poncho over our clothes, plastic on our shoes and masks, pretty intense.
And that's how they make the famous Parmesan cheese! Next we
went over to the families museum where we had a tasting of the cheese.
(Kari, Brynn and I .. it was bright)
(A mistress's castle built from a king)
Our next stop was the Parma known for their prosciutto.We met Stefano
Fanti, a very well-known and he gave
us a tour of how prosciutto is made in his factory
Most of the group, ready for the photo op! The two oldest people
in this group picture are Alumnis. I thought this was really cool because I
didn't know that WSU offers a study abroad program for Alumni to partake; I
will definitely look into that once I'm graduated.
Danielle and I.
I don't remember the specific details that he told us. He has
rooms on rooms on rooms filled with pig thighs. They hang there for months on
end (I believe) and he does a stick test to see if the smell is perfect or
something along those lines. The rooms smelt horrid of raw meat sitting there,
the stench became unbearable. After the tour, his crew and himself set up a
lunch for us with red wine, prosciutto of course, cheese and penne pasta.
Stefano is a very busy man, he helped with serving our meal as well helping out
his crew, he is very devoted.
Our next stop was the town of Modena! Home of the balsamic
vinegar: 
Our tour guide for this tour didn't show us exactly how it was
made but led us to an attic where they store multiple barrels of balsamic
vinegar to age that her family produces. It was a small attic but there was
tons of barrels, maybe 100. The oldest barrel they had was from the 1800s. We
had a tasting outside in their backyard of multiple, different
balsamic vinegar. I bought 2 of them. I shipped them home a week ago and
they made it safely to my house along with a extra dry virgin olive oil. I
cannot wait to come home and start cooking all the things I've learned
here.
After Modena, we left and went back to Florence. I went out with
the guys and we met some girls from Florida. There were about five of them that
were extremely nice and tons of fun. The next day a few of us found a local flee-market that only happens on
the last Sunday of every month. It has a bunch of knick-knacks and random
gadgets that the local Florentines were selling. Here are a few shots of
the market I took:
After the market we found some sort of festival which reminded me of the Puyallup fair-minus all the rides.
And that was Parma weekend... I finished this blog pretty late. Not sure
if blogging is for me but it helps to keep track of the days and look back what
I have done here in Italy. I cannot believe I have 2 full days left. It feels
like just yesterday I was being followed by some creeper in Amsterdam. This
was definitely the best decision of my life and I think everyone should
live abroad at some point in theirs. Never get comfortable in your environment
and learn how to live in a complete stranger’s shoes is truly gratifying. Looking back, five years ago or even two, I
never saw myself living in Italy or even thought about visiting Italy. I have learned so much and gained so much respect
not only for Italians but for America and WSU too. This has been a life
changing experience. I must go to bed; Alessandro is picking us up
bright in early for our new adventures tomorrow! Ciao Ciao!
No comments:
Post a Comment