What have I been up to lately? Eating pretzels with my new best friend, robiola cheese. We tried it in my food class a few weeks ago and I can't get enough of it now. I have one of my housemates, Bri in love with it also. I have been learning a lot in my food class, about what foods to try as well as many things about the different Italian regions, one of which I visited this past weekend.
On Thursday I had a little something special happen... Nora, my crazy Wisconsin roomie who is studying in London, was in Florence on her spring break, so I got to grab dinner with her, Caimyn, and some of her traveling companions! (We went to the central market, naturally, and I ate un arrancine, which is a fried rice ball, a glass of the delicious Murphy's Irish Stout, and caramel rum gelato.) It was bizarre seeing someone from school that isn't here all the time.
The next day I left for my first all-weekend adventure to the Piedmont region! It was a field trip for a couple classes, but I was able to book it as well even though I didn't have to go for class, so I was with many other FUA students. We took a train to the fancy hotel we stayed at in Torino (Turin) and also spent one of the days in the Langhe area, which is part of the countryside, well known for its prestigious wines.
The first evening in Turin was a little tiring after the three-hour train ride and a physically-cramped dinner that lasted from about 9:30pm to 12:30am. We did get to have a wide variety of foods, including gnocchi and some funky appetizers including cow tongue. I was rather cranky by the time we were done, but we got to go back to our beautiful, comfy hotel, so I can't complain much.
When I woke up the next morning I had a surprise waiting for me as I looked out the window: it was trying to decide whether it wanted to rain or snow. By the time we got outside after breakfast it had definitely decided on snow! I was a little irritated at first, just thinking I wasn’t well prepared for the cold, but we got outside and soon my mind was changed. The flakes were massive and wet and everything was beautiful, even though it was kind of coming down like a blizzard. I never thought I would say this, but I had actually missed the snow a bit since we didn't get any at home until later in the season. When we arrived at our destination, I was so thrilled; there was snow EVERYWHERE and it was SO PRETTY. We were taking a little tour of Castello di Grinzane Cavour, a castle in Langhe, and to get to it we had to “hike” up this little hill, covered in about six inches or more of snow, naturally. I could not have been happier I brought and wore my rain boots.
(Yard surrounding the castle-overlooking the Langhe area)
(Bri and I enjoying the snow, along with the rest of our group)
I had an absolute blast just walking up the hill to get to the little castle. It was incredibly beautiful. It was also great because it wasn’t all that cold, and it was much better than the rain. We eventually all ended up inside the castle, where we got a little tour of everything. The castle was beautiful but not in a typical way. It was not very elegant or full of fancy things, but you could tell how old and genuine it was. One of the big rooms upstairs had all this information about wine. They had a nice exhibit up in there with lots of fascinating information and interesting artifacts, including an ancient wine press called Il Torchio.
(Castello di Grinzane Cavour)
We had a little drive and then arrived at our next location, which was a winery that I literally don’t think they ever told us the name of. It was very different from the other wineries I’ve had tastings at so far. It was much less geared toward tastings and tourists, and much more about producing a whole lot of wine. The guy who gave us our little tour was really sweet and cute because he was just beaming pride and excitement of his work, and you could tell how passionate he was almost instantly. He told us lots of little stories, including one of his sister, who was with us also, and how she could blind taste wines with the best of them. We got to try three different wines, a Dolcetto, a Barolo (the most prestigious, nebbiolo grape wine from the region) and a Moscato.
(Wine barrels everywhere, big and tiny, which is a big deal)
We were running about a half hour late to lunch due to our guide, Izzidoro's enthusiasm. We had it nearby in a lovely little place in the quiet town surrounding us. All of the food was incredible. Even the grissini (the skinny breadsticks served at most sit-down meals) was different and delicious. We started with this crazy-good vegetable flan thing that had warm cheesy sauce over it. I wanted another four of them, which wasn't an option, but it just got better. Next we had risotto al Barolo, a creamy, cheesy risotto that had the region's famous wine cooked into it. I will literally be dreaming about that risotto for ages, it was so good. Next we had this skinny fettuccini-like noodle with sage. But that's not all... After that I was lucky enough to have a second massive helping of the risotto! I was so excited it was ridiculous. For dessert we had a hazelnut cake, which was more like bread, with a warm eggnog-like sauce. What a wonderful meal.
Despite having a great time in Langhe at the castle, the winery, and at lunch, the next day back in Turin was even better. That morning, after another great breakfast buffet, we walked a little ways in the crisp but sunny morning over to this tower I was hoping to see! I originally thought it was the Turin duomo but it was definitely not, and to my surprise, it houses what we were going to see, the Museum of Cinema! The building was beautiful and the museum was actually very interesting and educational.
(Outside of the museum)
(Inside the Museum of Cinema)
We had a formal tour of the museum for a while, and then had a little free time to walk around the big, open area inside, under the actual dome. Soon we went for the most exciting part of the attraction: to the top of the tower! I freaked out slightly on our way up in the clear elevator (which you can see the cables of in the photo above) but we got out and it was amazing.
(Far right: Palazzo Reale, which we would be visiting next)
(Amazed by the views of Torino)
After the museum we had free time, and the first place we went was the Palazzo Reale (royal palace). We even got in for free again because it was the first Sunday of the month! It would have been worth the money anyway because it was absolutely gorgeous.
The rooms were covered in unbelievable detail and old furniture and all I kept doing was imagining it back when royal families actually lived in it.
When we left the palace we literally walked down the street to this little place called Master Sandwich. It may not sound very good, but trust me, it was fantastic. I decided on a sandwich with parmesan, walnut sauce, speck (similar to our bacon), and some kind of greens. Caimyn and I tried each others and hers was just as good. We wandered for a while and eventually I got some flavored, gourmet popcorn (can't resist the popcorn) as well as stopped into a chocolate shop, which is a product famous in Turin as well. Our afternoon quickly came to an end and we had to check out of our fancy hotel and hop on the train back to Firenze.
In the last couple weeks I have been learning quite a bit in my Developing Mind Potential class, (aka my Happy Class). I have also been addicted to going to il mercato centrale, whether it's to get groceries, hang out and eat, or spend too much money on olive oil products. This upcoming weekend will be Milan Round 1, along with Lake Como! I have heard wonderful things about the trip, which is actually free with my program, so I am quite excited.
I will have more photos of the beautiful views of Langhe, Turin, inside the Palazzo Reale, and more, posted soon, and many more adventures to explain in the next few weeks. Also for those of you who may not know, Wisconsin has been catching up and beating the temperatures here in Florence some days. So don't forget to be happy when it's nice out there, even if the snow doesn't seem to ever stop. :)
Love, abbie