Cold but well-fed and clothed

We're fully inundated now in this strangely beautiful Italian city. My first week here I thought Bologna was a dull, gray medieval city, but I've since found pleasure in some obvious delights-- the climb up the steps of the Torre degli Asinelli and the beautiful view over the red tiled rooftops of the city; warm rice, tomato, cheese fried balls called "arrancini" at Spizzico, a fast-food pizza joint on Via Hugo Bassi; and of course gelato -- pistacchio and nocciola are my favorites. The big difference in experience between Bologna and other big cities we've been to in Italy is that here, when you go out to eat in a restaurant, the tourists don't outnumber the locals. When you speak English on the streets, people still look at you with curiosity and not rude indifference.

Bologna-San Lucca Classic Car Race

Josep Maria is so happy to be a student again. He's doing much better than I am of course, knowing Catalan-- a language even more similar to Italian than Spanish. For example, a strange word like Asciugamano which means towel-- there is a similar word Aixugamans in Catalan. It's not fair! I studied much more than Josep before coming here and they put him in a level two up from mine; but we are both feeling confident with our Italian and can get around quite comfortably. It's uncomfortably difficult I can see for our classmates who only know English-- I'm so glad I know Spanish.

catholic shrine in our hallway

I'm having a very hard time dealing with the cold though. I'm cold day and night. I have a new respect for all cold-weather inhabitants in the word-- this is rough. I always thought San Diego was too cold and would be better off in a place like Hawaii or Florida, but now I realize how blessed we are and why everyone talks about the great weather. And it's only November now-- I could never survive January. I've managed to turn the cold into an acceptable excuse to buy more clothes though and for once JM doesn't complain about having to hang out in clothing shops with me, because he's seen how I suffer. It's not too hard to find good deals here too. I've bought a heavy green fake-fur lined coat for only 19 Euro, and another sleeveless sweather for 15 Euro. Benetton here is not as expensive as in the US and is in fact one of the cheaper Italian stores-- I bought a cozy zip-up sweather there for only 15 Euro.

Dinner at the Ristorante Cavallino in Maranello

People here dress very elegantly and it's a pleasure walking around and seeing the well turned out, fashion plate dressed Italians on the street. Everyone looks like they just came out of a Gucci or Prada ad-- elegant leather jackets, big D&G sunglasses, and tall leather boots. Slick, greased Romeos are everywhere too-- it's not just a stereotype.

Josep has so far dragged me to the car factories of Lamborghini and Ducati, and we go to Ferrari and Maserati this week as well. I'm not too bored though, because while JM admires the fast engines and mechanical assembly lines of his lifetime favorites, I distract myself by watching the strong, well-built Italian men working there. Now THAT's beatiful Italian design.

Ferrari Museum 2

Life is not as easy as it was in Barcelona with JM's mom-- we have to do grocery shopping and carry our bundles of clothes to the laundromat two blocks away. Nobody explains to us the best way to get somewhere, we have to open a map and figure it out ourselves.

On a side note, I've learned a few new easy recipes I'll do once I'm at home in San Diego. I learned the first by accident because our topic in conversation class a few days ago was food and someone said "uova" which means egg, which the teacher went on to explain was on ingredient in spaghetti carbonara, along with pepper, butter, parmesan cheese, and a little cream. I went home and made it that night because we already had all the ingredients in our refrigerator aside from the cream, and it turned out well. It passed the Josep Maria taste test.

Ferrari Museum in Maranello

We also took a cooking class.

My group made the Garganelli con Peperonata-- very easy.

Heat olive oil in a pot and saute onions for a few minutes. Add red and green bell peppers and eggplant (note: peperoni in italian means bell peppers, not what we call the meat on pepperoni pizza), basil, thyme, and salt. Let simmer for 20 minutes until it condenses into a thick rich sauce. Meanwhile, boil the fresh egg pasta called Garganelli, like penne pasta, but you can see the seams from the little rolled up squares of fresh pasta.

I sent Josep to the dessert group that was making Tartufi Al Cocco so he'll have to explain later how they made it, but the ingredients were basically

italian sweeties

Fondue Chocolate

Biscotti

Nocciole

Rum

Milk

Coconut flakes

The result was exquisite little crunchy chocolate balls covered in coconut.

Buon Appetito!!

piazza

ready for Christmas

steps up to torre asinelli

view from top of torre asinelli