"Someday a man will look at me like I look at cannolis"

Today was mostly a travel day from Modena to Venice! Besides being the large group of Americans lugging hundreds of pounds of stuff behind us, it was fairly uneventful. No train line standoffs this time! The hardest part of the trip was walking from the train station to our hotel in Venice. There isn't enough room for cars to drive on roads here, so most of the transportation is by foot (or water if you want to pay a water taxi. But even that only gets you so far). Our group hauled all of our luggage 0.8 miles in Venice to our hotel through narrow and uneven streets. My arms sure got a workout! It took us about 30 minutes to get to the hotel, so once we arrived, we were so excited it has air conditioning! It's the little things.
We got a short break before heading out again, this time to see the Murano Glass Production Factory. Murano is the name of a series of islands in the larger city of Venice and is known for their glass making. If you want to be wowed by handmade glass chandeliers, I highly suggest looking them up! Seriously it's amazing. I found it really interesting that to make colored glass, you add different components to it. You use amethyst to make purple, cobalt to make blue, and liquid gold to make red! The demonstration was fairly short but really cool! Then we had the opportunity to shop their official merchandise and I ended up getting a couple of really cool things from there!
From there, we found a nice restaurant to eat dinner. They're big on seafood here, and I'm really not but luckily it's Italy so pasta is always an option! I tried something different tonight - risotto primavera (vegetable risotto). It was decently good, but probably not the best thing I've had here. It was good to get some veggies in my diet (do Italians know about vegetables? They're so hard to find here!) I had a peach bellini to drink which is peach puree and Prosecco so it's light and fruity! It was really fun to try some new things and find a great drink!
After dinner, we walked around and found St. Mark's Basilica, the famous basilica in Venice! We're planning on going there for mass tomorrow if it works out. Afterwards, we found sicilian cannolis! They're basically a standard cannoli with a chocolate coating on the inside of the shell and a ricotta cream filling with chocolate chips. IT WAS SO GOOD!!! Allie pointed out that I was smiling and staring longingly at it while I was eating so I laughed and said, "someday a man will look at me like I look at cannolis." It's every Italian girls' dream. I broke the gelato-every-day trend today, but the cannoli more than made up for it. Here's to more delicious food for the last half of my trip!

Found my perfect travel outfit today

One of the many Murano glass chandeliers 

Peach bellini

Risotto primavera

St. Mark's Basilica

The best cannoli in the world

"You cannot say no to wine and food"

Today, we were in Modena! We started our itinerary at the BioHombre Cheese Farm. They are famous for making Parmagiano-Reggiano and have perfected the craft for generations. The farm makes about fifteen 100kg wheels of cheese each day, which turns out to be about 4,000 per year. They place the newly curdled cheese in a circular mold to push the excess water out before putting it in a salt water brine solution. Then they age the cheese for at least 12 months, and then longer for a more flavorful cheese. They've found most people enjoy 12-36 month aged Parmagiano-Reggiano. We got to sample the 24-month aged cheese, and it was really good! It tasted like Parmesan but was fairly mild. You could really taste the "freshness" (It was two years old but it didn't have preservatives so what do you call that?). Then on the same tour, we got to see the farm owners' Masarati car collection! I want to say he had about 30 cars and 30 motorcycles/bikes/mopeds! I mean we just walked around millions and millions of dollars worth of cars. I'm thinking about moving here and starting my own cheese farm...the dreams continue.
Our next stop was a balsamic vinegar farm(?)...It was basically a family run business that had been making balsamic vinegar for over 150 years! And forget everything you've every known about balsamic vinegar. We've been lied to over in the US and Modena knows the secret. Apparently the only ingredient in true balsamic vinegar is grape must or acidified grape must (the two are interchangeable). Check your bottle at home! It most likely has wine vinegar, grape juice, thickening agents, and colorings. We got to try the real stuff and it was so interesting! It did have a little acidic flavor to it but it was much more complex. Each one is aged for at least ten years, and then an additional amount to produce different flavors. One batch has been aging for the ten years plus 150 years! Our tour guide explained that you make balsamic vinegar to work for the next generation, not your own. How differently I tend to think...We got to try several different ages, a standard 5 year, 16 year in cherry barrels, 16 year in juniper, and the 100 year. The standard 5 year is good for daily use on veggies, salad, meats, etc. The cherry aged is good on ice cream and cheesecake! (And yes it actually would be good on those. Real balsamic vinegar blew my mind.) The juniper has a sharpness to it perfect for meats, and the 100 year doesn't go with anything. A spoonful is a pleasure. We also got a complimentary lunch afterwards with different foods to try with balsamic vinegar including sliced meats, salad, pizza, cheese, and bread. As our tour guide said "One rule in Italy: You cannot say no to wine and food!" She just gets me. I ended up buying a 16 year cherry vinegar and 10 year for daily use. I guess I'm ruined for American balsamic vinegar now, because there's no way I could go back now.  Well I could, but I just don't really want to! The real stuff is just too good! My wallet may tell me otherwise though. To be continued.
Our final stop of the tour day was the Ferrari museum. I will admit I'm not really into cars so I don't know much about the amazing engineering feats that Ferrari was able to accomplish with their engines and why it hadn't been done before. I can say that the cars were SO COOL! I wanted to just hop in one and drive away. Some of them could go up to 300mph! So while I don't know exactly how the engines work, I can say that something is special about them. My favorite room in the museum was the race display room. At least a hundred trophies lined the walls and each racing model was displayed in a circle around the room. They even had championship music playing in the background to give you the full effect of a win in a legendary Ferrari. It was awesome.
After heading back to the hotel, we went out again for dinner. It's not that Modena is small (although it definitely is compared to Rome), but it's much different than Rome. We could walk down the block and pass four restaurants, and here we have to search a bit more. Also, the people here know much less English, which should not be expected of them, but definitely makes our lives a little more confusing. Our first stop was a little restaurant that seemed cute enough. Our group of 12 sat down outside and when the waitress came over, she realized how little Italian we spoke, even combined. She was also not a fan of our putting tables together so we got the stink eye. Then she told us that they only had about one of each entree left (and there were six...). We weren't up for rationing our food so some of us left to go find another restaurant (we again go the stink eye. I'm kind of getting used to it now, since it seems to be the most common look I get here!). If we could speak Italian, we would've explained that we wanted more food and so were going to just go somewhere else but since we didn't, we probably seemed rude for just getting up and walking out. Oh well, the price you pay to eat sometimes. We ended up finding the cutest little restaurant with fun colored glasses and a more modern feel than the typical ristorante. I got a Margherita pizza which was a bit too saucy for me this time, but I'm glad I tried it. The basil was much more evenly spread this time! It was interesting to see how different the same thing was in two different cities. We also tried a frizzante vino bianco (fizzy white wine) that was pretty tasty! The name was something like Pigmentto Frizzante but I can't remember exactly. I also got to try a bite of someone's cheese tortellini with parmesan and balsamic vingear. I can't say I loved it right off the bat because the balsamic really threw me off with the cheesy pasta but as I kept eating, it was surprisingly delicious! We of course finished the night with some creamy gelato - I got stracciatella (because I can't not) and cannoli. There were literally bits of cannoli sheel and mini chocolate chips in a sweet ricotta gelato. It was so yummy! It's the first time I've seen that flavor in Europe but I want to have it again! Here's hoping Venice has some too.
My day in pictures:

CHEESE

The view of cars from the balcony of Mr. Panini's Masarati collection

Aging balsamic vinegar

Ferrari museum

My new favorite food - stracciatella and cannoli gelato

"Everyone is so friendly here!"

This morning, we woke up to a hectic day. After getting ready modestly (knees and shoulders covered), eating breakfast, and packing up my many bags, we were out the door and headed to the Vatican by 8am!
Our tour there started with the art and sculpture museums. I wish I could convey the beauty of the intricate ceilings and beautiful paintings with words, but I'd never do it justice. Check out the pictures to get a glimpse of the beauty that I could fit in a small rectangle. One thing that amazed me was the Gallery of Maps. It had paintings of many Italian cities as well as the Renaissance Italy and modern Italy. I even found my last name on one of the city maps! Not only that, but the ceiling had tons of realism paintings decorated with gold plating and sculptured frames. Again, I can't do it justice, so just take a look at the pictures!
After visiting the museums, we went to the Sistine Chapel. Oh how I wish I could've taken pictures to remember that beautiful chapel. (I actually tried but then got yelled at in Italian. Oops.) The details were striking! I can't believe Michelangelo painted it upside down, only in candle light. I loved that it told the whole story of the Bible, from creation to the Final Judgement, in a way that appealed to any person - Christian or not. It was breathtaking to say the least and what an honor it was to be able to witness it in person.
Then, it was onto St. Peter's Basilica and St. Peter's Square. The Basilica was massive! If something wasn't made out of marble, it was made out of gold. The altar had a beautiful canopy type structure over it with several gold tabernacles behind it. Large sculptures surrounded each vestibule. There was nothing I didn't want to take a picture of! Out in St. Peter's Square, I got to see the massiveness of the Basilica and Vatican from the outside. I loved seeing the obelisk and statues on top of the columns out in the square. It looked like a town center, except everything around it was statues and chapels.
After visiting the Vatican, we picked up our luggage at the hotel and walked four blocks to the train station to head to Modena. Luckily we figured out the train station in time to eat lunch and make our train. We committed an Italian faux pas on the train where we waited until the train stopped to get our luggage down from the overhead bins and then started to exit (like on an airplane). This apparently was not the correct way to do it. We ended up having a standoff with a line of Italians trying to get on the train as we were trying to get off, and no one was moving. Finally, between our very broken Italian and his English skills, the Italian man in front of the stand off line told all the others in Italian to move out of the way so we could get off. This whole situation probably only lasted 60 seconds but staring down a line of confused and frustrated Italians made it feel like an hour. Anyway, we made it off and onto our next train without much of a problem. This time we stopped, we were prepared five minutes early at the door with all of our luggage! At least we try to be quick learners...
We finally made it to Modena and wow, what a different city it is from Rome! Rome was every man for himself, getting run over in the middle of the sidewalk by people trying to get places, and was just so crowded. It's a big city, so it wasn't a surprise but Modena is a quaint town with more bicyclists than drivers and locally owned boutiques than corporate chains. People stop and wave at us on the streets even though we clearly don't belong. It's just a friendly, calm atmosphere where wine and friendship are plenty. We even met a young couple, the man from Sicily and woman from New Orleans! We talked with them for about 15 minutes just on our way to dinner. We walked away talking about how everyone is just so friendly here in Modena!
We went to a small restaurant in a plaza square with great outdoor seating for the perfect cool night we had! It reminded me of Kirkwood, only less crowded. I ordered a sweet, sparkling red wine, gnocco (a puff pastry) and meat platter for an appetizer, tagliatelle (basically flat spaghetti) with bolognese sauce, and tiramisu for dessert. We hadn't had a solid meal all day, so I made up for it at dinner. Everything was perfectly portioned, and made with such fresh ingredients. I have not had a bad meal here yet, and I'm not sure I will! It was the perfect relaxing night after a long day of hauling everything I own around the streets of Italy.

The gallery of maps ceiling of paintings

Close-up of the ceiling!

My name on a map!

St. Peter's Basilica alter

Overlooking St. Peter's square (left side) from the Basilica

St. Peter's Basilica from St. Peter's square

Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro (Sweet sparkling red wine)

Meat platter and puff pastries - you rip the pastry in half and put the meat in the pastry. So good! 

Fancy  spaghetti 

Tiramisu

Life as a Wannabe Travel Blogger

Hello friends!
I'm back after (almost) a year to post about a few things I find interesting - details about the wonderful country of Italia! Actually, I'm assuming it's wonderful because I don't get there until tomorrow! But that's where architecture, wine, and carbs meet a beautiful romance language, so I don't know what could be wrong with that combination. For the next two weeks, I'll be posting every day about what I've been doing in Italy including but not limited to seeing beautiful architectural phenomenons, drinking cappuccinos until it's acceptable to drink wine, eating as many carbs as possible, and some inevitable Italian faux pas the loud, obnoxious American (me) will commit.

I'm technically blogging for my class credit (think of this as a two week field trip to Italy) but I also dream of being a travel blogger as I'm falling asleep after studying electromagnetic fields and embedded computing all day...oh I dream...anyway, for two weeks I get to be that travel blogger as 13 engineering students and I visit five major cities in Italy! We'll be going to Rome, Modena, Venice, Milan, and Florence in that order. I won't tell you the rest of my itinerary to keep the surprise alive but I can tell you it's going to be AWESOME!
On that note, I'll see you in Italy! Ciao!