Weekend in Venice

Sorry for the delay in updating! Our internet at the villa crashed and hasn’t worked for a week. Over this past weekend, we all went to Venice! We woke up at 4:00 am Saturday morning to make our 5:20 train. We had a layover in Bologna and arrived in Venice at 11:45 am. After a long day of traveling, we immediately rushed to a café to eat. After fueling up, we walked all over the city. We went to the Basilica, the Rialto, Frari Cathedral, and San Marco Square. We decided to go to our hostel in Mestre to freshen up before dinner- only a five-minute train ride away. For dinner, we went to a restaurant that three local storeowners told us about. From what I remember the first time I was in Venice, their food was my least favorite throughout Italy. This trip did not change my opinion at all. It was reminiscent of the overpriced food one would pay for at Disney World- edible, but sub par. After dinner, we walked around for a little while, but we decided to call it an early night since we had been up for twenty hours. The next morning, we checked out of our hostel and headed back into town. Jocelyn and I decided to head out on our own to explore. We bought way too many souvenirs and walked for hours. In the middle of the day, we took a gondola ride around the city. I always thought they were cheesy and overrated, but it was worth every Euro. We spent the rest of the day exploring the Jewish Ghetto, eating at an Israeli café, and writing next to the water. We met up with our group later that night to head back to Spoleto. Thinking back, I couldn’t believe how much of the city I had forgotten since my first time visiting. It seemed so much more fairytale-esque this time. Even the occasional fish smell didn’t bother me.     

Locanda Rovicciano

Today was, by far, the best day of the trip so far. We went to a restaurant called Locanda Rovicciano in a little town just outside of Spoleto. We drove up the gravel driveway to an enormous and beautiful, stone villa built in the 1600’s that was surrounded by roses, daisies, olive trees, and herb gardens.  The head chef of the restaurant, Andrea, and his wife restored the villa and turned the bottom level the restaurant and the top level their home. Andrea came out to greet us and immediately brought us inside the restaurant and made us cappuccinos. The walls of the restaurant were stone and painted a deep red and golden yellow. Each table was simply decorated with a white tablecloth and long-stemmed wine glasses. It felt warm and inviting while still appearing sophisticated. After we had each downed our cappuccinos, we moved into the kitchen to begin cooking.   

 First, he had us chop onions for the tomato sauce. He brought out three knives than were so large they were reminiscent of machetes, and he showed us how to cut properly. He made it look effortless with smooth, rocking motions that produced diced onions perfectly equal in size. Our results were less than the perfection he created, but he assured us they were beautiful. He threw them into a pan filled with oil and let them simmer for about twenty minutes. The aroma that filled the kitchen was intoxicating. After they were done simmering, we added tomato puree, stock, basil, oil, salt, and pepper. He had me dip a finger in to taste the final product. When he asked me how it was, all I could do was smile. Words couldn’t do it justice. 

Next, he had us work on a béchamel sauce with more butter than even Paula Deen would use. We added the butter, flour, and cream into a large pan and stirred until it was smooth. It’s hard to make something with that much butter taste bad, so, needless to say, it was delicious.

We then moved away from the stove momentarily to the islands in the middle of the kitchen. He handed us each a large bowl filled with flour and had us pour oil, salt, pepper, and cracked eggs into the bowl. We began squeezing it all with our hands making sure it was all mixed. The end result was the pasta we would use for our vegetable lasagna. After we finished making the pasta, we took a short break during which Andrea served us cheese plates (one of my favorite things in the world) with wine (my favorite thing in the world). I was already in Heaven and we hadn’t even eaten lunch yet. 

After our break, we began to cut up eggplant for the eggplant parmesan. We dusted the eggplant with flour and dropped them in a pot filled with a gallon of oil. Once they were slightly browned, we put them on a pan and assembled a small tower made of four eggplant slices each with the tomato sauce, mozzarella, and parmesan cheese in between. We moved on to the assembly of the vegetable lasagna. We cut the noodles into circles four inches in diameter and filled same size metal cylinders that were lined with butter and breadcrumbs with pasta, béchamel, tomato sauce, spinach, zucchini, mozzarella, and parmesan.

We all thought we were done cooking, but then Andrea walked in with an entire lamb. He began trimming the fat and carving out chops. We went into the garden to get herbs for the rub- rosemary, scallion flowers, oregano, and mint. He put the lamb into the scalding hot oven for ten minutes, took them out to sprinkle on the rub, and then put them back in the oven for another ten minutes. While they were cooking, we made pumpkin florets filled with ricotta and sprinkled with parmesan.  With the bulk of the cooking done, we moved outside to begin eating.

We sat on the patio overlooking the gardens at an iron table under enormous, canvas umbrellas. The meal began with the eggplant parmesan and pumpkin florets. Everyone took their first bite, and there was a collective moan from the table. Each of us unconsciously closed our eyes and took a deep breath, savoring each bite. Next came the vegetable lasagna. They each slipped seamlessly from their metal containers onto the round, white plates. No other embellishments were needed; the lasagna was decoration enough. After the first few bites of this little circle of Heaven, I looked around the table and saw smiles of satisfaction painted on everyone’s lips. Andrea then brought out the lamb with a small side salad. It was so tender that no knife was needed. The flavors were perfectly balanced and nothing was overpowering. There was richness from the fat marbled throughout, crispiness from the breadcrumbs, and a beautiful aroma from the herbs- absolute perfection. At this point, everyone began loosening their belts and sinking a little deeper into their seats after a marathon of eating, but we weren’t done yet. We moved back into the kitchen to make dessert- whipped cream and mascarpone with chocolate sauce and nuts. It was light but satisfied my insatiable sweet tooth. After the meal, we sipped limoncello talked with Andrea for another hour. It was a perfect afternoon.

On the way out, Andrea’s wife and two young children drove up, reminding us that he didn’t just invite us into his restaurant, but also his home. He made us feel like we had been friends for years and was generous in every sense of the word. We are going back there tonight, and he is going to take us to his next-door neighbor’s house to make ricotta cheese. Next Tuesday, we are going to have a meal at his restaurant that only he will be cooking. I can’t even imagine how amazing it will be. I don’t know if I will be able to handle it, but I’m sure I’ll manage.

  

    

Florence!

We left for Florence Thursday on the 12:22 train and arrived around 5:00 pm. Our hotel was about a two minute walk from the train station and about a five minute walk from the Duomo.  After we got settled into the hotel, we went to dinner as a group. Jocelyn and I stayed out a little bit after to walk around and explore. On Friday, we had a walking tour of the city. We hit all of the major landmarks in about 4 hours- Accademia, Duomo, Ponte Veccio. It was so interesting to learn the history of this ancient city. We were all pretty exhausted after the tour, so we went back to the hotel to rest for a little. That night, we went to a salon to hear an artist and a wine expert speak. The artist worked with clay, and all of his work was reminiscent of a bad acid trip. I wasn’t very impressed. The wine expert was an encyclopedia of knowledge. He knew everything there was to know about wine, down to the genus of the grape. After the salon, we went to dinner as a group at a restaurant our villa owner suggested, which, of course, was delicious.  Saturday was a free day. Some of us climbed the Duomo and then walked to Palazzo Michelangelo, which overlooks all of Florence. We also saw the cast of the Jersey Shore while we were walking around!! Jocelyn and I spent the rest of the day shopping in the leather market and in the various shops. I came away with a leather jacket and a new purse. Don’t worry, Mom. I spent my own money. We also found Grom, which had the most delicious gelato I have ever had (Thanks for the tip, Zach!). That night, a few of us went to dinner and then to a discotheque called Space Club- not kidding. On Sunday we packed up to leave. Our train had a layover in Orte, a little town about an hour from Spoleto. Our connecting train to Spoleto didn’t show up, so we spent the next three and a half hour in the little grocery store/café in the station playing cards and writing.  When we finally got back to the villa, we all passed out from an exhausting, but exciting, weekend. Tomorrow we have cooking classes!! I’m so excited I can hardly contain myself.       

The First Reading

Yesterday we had classes outside again because it was another beautiful day. In between Lott’s class and Rosko’s class we had a catered lunch. I’m not kidding. They brought pizza, breads, farro salad, homemade pasta with a pasta sauce whose recipe has been passed down through generations, and custard that the chef’s mother made for dessert. It was delicious. After classes some girls and I went into town to write and shop. Last night we had the first reading at the villa. Three students (myself included) and the two professors shared original works. Rosko shared poetry, Raena- also poetry, John- fiction, Lott- an essay, and I shared a nonfiction story. I was really nervous because I’ve never shared anything I’ve written with anyone other than a professor, but it went really well. Today we are going to Florence for the weekend!!! I went there on my trip with Sam, but I am more excited to go now that I have taken history classes at the College about the Renaissance. I feel like I’ll really be able to appreciate it now. I won’t be taking my laptop with me, so I’ll post an update on Sunday night or Monday morning.

Ciao!

Dream Come True

Today was absolutely amazing! We left the villa at 9:00 am to go to Montefalco. The little town was so charming. There were flowers of every color imaginable hanging from windows, climbing up walls, and peaking out of cracks in the streets. They had a section at the bottom of the town called “the balcony”, which was an observation area that looked over the whole countryside. It was absolutely breathtaking. After 15 minutes in town, we moved on to the first winery. The owner of the winery had two vineyards that totaled 15 acres, all of which he and seven workers maintained throughout the year in order to produce 15,000 bottles of wine.  After we toured the vineyard, he took us up to the house to have a tasting of the two wines he produced (both of which were fantastic) along with bruschetta covered in his homemade olive oil, prosciutto, salami, and pecorino. I was in heaven! Next, we moved on to another winery a couple of miles away. This winery was much bigger and more industrial than the other. It had forty acres of vineyards and produced 300,000 bottles of wine each year. We also had a tasting here with three different wines, more salami and pecorino, zucchini torte, baked eggplant, and biscotti. We all felt so spoiled and were on the verge of going into food comas, but it was well worth it.  This might have been my favorite day here so far! So I keep trying to load pictures onto the blog, but the internet is so terrible that they just won’t load; however, everything I’m describing I have taken pictures of and have/will post them on facebook. So hopefully if you are reading this we are friends on facebook and you can see them.

Ciao!

Yesterday

Sorry for this late post. The internet was not functioning at all (not really, the Italians are just rubbing off on me). Yesterday we had classes from 9:00-3:45 (with an hour and a half break), but instead of having them outside like we normally do, we had them inside because of the rain and wind. We were all circled up in the boy’s living room talking about David Sedaris’ travel essay, “Turbulence”, and going over our various poetry assignments.  After classes, we worked in the villa until dinner.  As a group, we all went to a restaurant called La Lanterna. Needless to say, it was delicious. I keep thinking we’ll stumble across a restaurant with terrible food, or even just so-so food. That has yet to happen. Today we are going on a wine tour!!! I am so excited.  I’ll post tonight to let you know how it went!   

Even the rain is better in Italy

            Today was a very lazy day, which I think we all needed.  Most of us woke up mid-day to an overcast sky.  After my coffee and devotional, I went inside (perfect timing because it immediately started to pour) and began to work on my writing assignments for class tomorrow.  As you may know, one of the classes I’m taking here is poetry, ekphrastic poetry to be more precise- the art of description.  I have never taken a poetry class before.  I’ve read poems here and there throughout my English classes, but I’ve never had to write and share my original work.  Come to think of it, I don’t really have any original poems.  I’m more of a story/analytical writer.  The thought of reading something abstract I wrote in front of everybody- something we have to do every class- kind of freaks me out, so I figured I would post a poem here to get it out there but in a setting where I can’t see if anyone is laughing at me. The prompt for this poem was: Write a beautiful thing you’ve seen as “ugly” or an ugly thing you’ve seen as “beautiful.” Here it is!

Fresco

Broken,

Cracked and faded.

Cold,

Rough and crumbling.

Weathered,

Lost and forgotten.

Perfection and completeness, stolen by time,

Yet somehow reveals unseen virtue.

Endurance,

Strength and persistence.

Honor,

Respect and jubilation.

Purity,

Faith and holiness.

Beauty.