Italia: Day Twelve

This morning we got up at seven so that we could make it to the local cheese production site and watch them produce the cheese. There isn’t much that they do differently between types of cheese, so it was similar to the production we saw previously. Today we saw parmesan regano, specifically, which I don’t even like because it’s a little bit too sharp for me.

Metal canisters allow the cheese to harden to the traditional shape

The cheese then soaks in saltwater

We were able to taste the cheese straight from the vat - it was very soupy

We also tasted some of the aged cheese from the warehouse

We got done with the tour early, so we walked around the town of Novellara for a little bit.We poked around inside one of the grocery stores, but they didn't have anything very interesting to buy, so we joined the rest of the group and got back on the bus. We went to Andrea's for a lecture on balsamic vinegar. The production site has been in his family for generations. He walked us through the buildings and explained how balsamic vinegar is produced. Afterword, the group tasted varying kinds of vinegar that differed by the amount of time they were aged.

Lecture on the production before tasting the vinegar

The vinegar ages on site

It was a full morning packed with lectures, and even though I wasn’t hungry, I was happy to go sit for lunch at a restaurant in town. However, this lunch turned out to be very similar to the dinner we had yesterday where there didn’t seem to actually be a main course, but instead involved a lot of passing of plates. I didn’t particularly like the food, but at least it was less complicated. I was able to gorge on ham and bread while avoiding the melon and desert foods.

We came back to the hotel to nap after we ate. I did my journal entry when I woke up and then it was time to leave and go back to Andrea's house. After everyone had made their purchases from his in-house store, we settled into the dining room and listened to a guy tell us about how you can tell if cheese is correctly produced. He is part of the group that assigns certification labels to cheese products within Italy.

It was really boring and I was starving by the time it was over, so I was glad when the bus picked us up to go to a local restaurant for pumpkin stuffed pasta, rissota, and ham sandwiches with a desert of chocolate cake shaped like salami. It was actually a pretty good meal even though none of it is something I would typically eat.

Italia: Day Eleven

With yesterday’s incident behind me, I got up at 6:15 to run this morning and try to see a different side of Florence. I ran in the opposite direction of downtown because that’s where we walked around yesterday and ended up getting lost because I couldn’t find the river to follow along. I was endlessly relieved when I stumbled upon a familiar looking place and, soon after, the hotel. I wanted to hug it. Miraculously, I still managed to make it back in time, so I wasn’t late meeting the group at 8:15 to walk over to the Ufizzi Art Museum.

I don’t know why I went to the art museum though. It was sooooo boring. We had a guided tour that included a headset so that you could listen to the tour guide anywhere within the same room. I ended up sitting on benches and listening to him talk while reading a book. I just got up and switched rooms every time they moved. I definitely do not appreciate art or visiting museums when I'm travelling.

Locks of Love, symbolizing the everlasting love of the couples whose names are inscribed on each lock, located on the river

I was so glad when we finally left. Pam, Chelsea, and I walked over to the Boboli Gardens and explored a bit. The gardens are actually a lot like the University of Michigan arboretum. I was surprised at how similar. The main difference was the six euro entrance fee. We took a lot of pictures while we were wandering around. I found an empty statue post near an overlook, so we all pretended to pose for some photos too. 

Inside the gardens

A view from the gardens of Florence rooftops

The statue post

After buying some more Bacardi breezers, we walked back across the Ponte Vicchio, a bridge with expensive storefronts on it, and along a pathway where artists had set up stands selling original paintings and sketches. I purchased a picture of one of the bridges on the river before we headed back to the hotel.

Dr. Fink and Kimberlie showed up at the last second to give us enough money for a meal at a nearby pizzeria. We all got sandwiches and water before picking up our bags at the hotel and loading them onto the bus to Novellara. The bus ride was really long, but it was through scenic countryside so when I wasn’t writing my journal entries or reading, I was entertained.

The hotel in Novellara is really cute. It’s small and quaint, stuck in the countryside but a small town is within walking distance. It is the picturesque Italian village that you read about. After arriving at the hotel, we hung out in the room for a few hours before Pam and I walked into town to get our daily gelato. I’m really getting sick of ice cream in general, but I just discovered the amazing flavor combination of fragola and ciccolato, which is strawberries and chocolate.

After desert, we gathered with the group to go to a dinner hosted at the local production site of balsamic vinegar. The dinner was really weird though. The wine kept coming and the food was very different. We passed all of the plates, so it never really seemed like there was a main course, just a series of appetizers. Pam and I ended up pretty tipsy at the end of the three hour meal. Her having five glasses of the white wine and me six. It would have been fine if only there had been more food.

The group before dinner at our host, Andrea's

Dinner

We came back to the hotel after dinner and passed out.