Eataly-Adventures in the Land of Ice Cream and Sunlight

I have been trapped indoors quite a bit this week thanks to bad weather that has officially rained on my parade and dampened my mood (see what I did there?). It inevitably made me miss Italy more than I already did, and I while bitterly looking at the photos from my time there, I realized I forgot to brag about it! :)

So, as I mentioned in an earlier post, Punky's 2-wk visit overlapped my week of spring vacation, so he and I joined forces with Claude and hit Italy together. We flew Ryanair (budget line used by poor students across Europe) to Pisa, where we saw the Torre Pendente...and quickly realized there was not much else to do there. That was the only part of the trip that was really planned, so we hustled to a café for wifi, messaged my friend Jujube who is doing her semester in Florence, and BOOM! Like the DAB that she is, she hosted us that night...and for like the next 4....

Gelato and the tower! We waste no time :)

The view from Julia's beautiful apartment, which she shares with 2 great girls

Julia leads her ducklings allovadaplace *note her knowledgeable finger-pointing

Gusta Pizza, a dive place on a corner & the BEST pizza I have ever had

Lemon trees in the pretty gardens, en route to the piazzale michelangelo

View from the top! You can even see the old city walls winding down the hillside

There was a pretty church at the top of the hill, and if that wasn't magical enough, there was a wedding there! You could still walk along the sides, so we creeped for sure.

During one of our days in Florence, we got up early and got out of Julia's hair for the day to knock of my pick of the trip: the Cinque Terre, the string of mountainside villages on the coast. Usually, you can hike between them, but due to bad weather, only the most difficult was open. Undaunted, we hiked from Monterrosso to Vernazza...and it was amazing.

My PICs, partners in crime til the end

HEY lookie here we found a bridge! On the slippery slopes of the mountain path

Vernazza comes into view after ~90 min. So worth it.

My secret rock chair. Having finished the hike, my thighs were shaking, so I had a sit.

Our day in Cinque Terre was amazing and I will never forget it. But it was so nice to get to return to our temporary "home base" chez Julia, in Florence. And to continue our adventures there; Claude was to move on to Istanbul to meet friends, and Jared and I decided to prolong our stay in Florence for an extra day to go to Notte Bianche, an all-night cultural festival & party. In our remaining time with Claude, we made the most of Florence, hitting the food market (we got ingredients to cook dinner for our hosts to thank them on Claude's last night), and the infamous Secret Bakery.

Pizza slices at the food market. We arrived having just eaten breakfast...and obviously got some anyway.

This picture pretty much defines what I see when I think of Italy. Classic, beautiful, rustic.

See no bakery, speak no bakery, hear no bakery? EAT DA BAKERY

After the marvel that was the white night festival, Jared and I finally kicked rocks, and did a day trip to Prato (20 min. from Florence, but the 2nd largest city in Toscana) before sleeping that night with our hosts in Modena, who we found on Couchsurfing. Gabi, Bob, and Eddy took amazing care of us--and I finally got the pizza with an egg on it I had been craving all trip!!! Modena is a small student city, like Bologna's little brother. It was so beautiful. We stayed two nights and one day there, before a day trip to Bologna and an evening flight back to Paris. Such an amazing trip, especially considering how haphazardly it was thrown together/how much could have gone so terribly wrong.

Immediate best friends :)

"OMG this is SO good!" Gabi works in a bakery, and brought us back BOXES of dangerously delicious noms.

Bob and Eddy make us a Lebanese FEAST....And now I know Lebanon is my next travel destination...

As I said, we had our last day in Bologna because it was cheapest to fly out from there, but I am so glad I got to see it! I plan to return there some day; we didn't have nearly enough time in the city, which I was pleasantly surprised to find out is a foodie's paradise. Bologna is all about their food, as Jared discovered in a market street in the old part of town off the Piazza Maggiore, where we got a ton of food. We took it to this cool place called Osteria del Sole, where they serve only wine but let you bring in stuff from the market so you can have an impromptu picnic with glasses of their wine (which is exactly what we did). Get ready to drool...

Meat+cheese. Sold.

Famous bolognaise sauce, a childhood favorite of mine! Jare and I asked for a little container full, and the man asked if we were making pasta, then laughed when I replied "Nope, just eatin' it with a spoon..."

Fresh pasta, filled with deliciousness

#1 thing I have learned from dining out/buying food in Europe: meats hanging from the ceiling is ALWAYS  a sign of good things to come.

MOZZARELLA

mozzarella....wrapped in meat. Did I mention I love Italy?

We did well.

RED

 Aside from the market street/Osteria del Sole, I had done very little Bologna research, so then Jare and I pretty much spent the rest of the day following a suggested walk in the city map we got at the tourism office, called "3 Hours in the Heart of our City." It was great, taking us past pretty churches and beautiful cobbled pedestrian streets, but my favorite part was the "secret window" off a random street that lets you have a peek at an old canal that still remains. It was so beautiful to see this hidden gem:

Basically, this was the one big trip of my semester. I could not have done a better itinerary, but it was especially amazing because of the great company (love you, Claude and Punky!). Until next time, Italy. And sunshine, apparently (SOMEONE MAKE THE RAIN STOP/WHY DOESN'T PARIS LOVE ME AS MUCH AS I LOVE HER?!)

Ciao!