1. Parma and the surrounding area- Dickinson took us on an excursion to Parma and some surrounding towns. We first stopped in Langhirano at a castle on this huge hill. The castle itself was pretty cool but was mostly empty. The view on the other hand was unreal. We decided that it would be a great castle to have if you didn't want to be invaded or attacked. It is a defensive castle (sorry history major moment). In the same town but a little further towards Parma was the Prosciutto Museum. The museum itself was really small and looked sort of temporary although it wasn't. At the end of the museum tour we got to try fresh Parma Prosciutto. That stuff was delicious.
Then we headed to Parma where we wandered the city for a little and then met up at the main church which was one of the cooler churches I have visited. There were these incredible paintings along the upper walls that depicted different biblical scenes. My favorite one was definitely the one of Peter walking on the stormy water towards Jesus. I have always felt sooo connected to Peter. Like there is something in him that reminds me of something in myself. If that is a good thing I don't know but at least I can learn from what Jesus taught him specifically. :) From there we headed to an adjacent building, I think it was the baptistry, which had some really cool designs on the inside. It is amazing how many mythical creatures can be found in religious works. I have decided that all of those mythical creatures existed at one point :) yes dragons, griffins, unicorns, etc. REAL. Then Dickinson treated us to a delicious dinner and we went to sleep.
The next morning we went to this theater in Parma that was built completely out of wood and was literally built to impress a princess that the prince in Parma wanted to marry. Man, I want someone to build a theater and put on a show just to impress ME. Just kidding, I mean I would appreciate the gesture, but that's a little much. Anyway, the theater was soooo cool and standing on the slanted stage looking out made me miss theater sooo much. I seriously would have burst into song if no one had been in the room. After that we headed to Fontanellato to another castle. The castle itself was kind of lackluster but the inside had a game room and some cool medieval weapons. I really liked the artwork inside as well. (Unfortunately no pictures were allowed :( ) There was this one room that was absolutely gorgeous. It was painted by a famous artist right when he was starting out and the room was really well preserved because there was only one door in and that was sealed until recently (for protection reasons by the family). The ceiling was this scene from Mythology about how a hunter accidentally saw Artemis (Goddess of the Hunt) bathing. She caught him and turned him into a stag as his hunting party was coming. In the end his favorite dog was the one that killed him. Sad. But a truly beautiful piece of art. After getting some food and gelato in Fontanellato we headed to Roncole where Verdi's house was. Unfortunately, due to time we were only able to see the house from the outside. From there we went to the Verdi Museum in Busseto. Each room had paintings and music from Verdi's operas. Rigoletto, Othello, Aida, etc. There was also one room that had parts of his operas playing. Seeing some of the original Aida was one of the best parts of the museum. Then we headed back to Bologna!
2. Parco del Conero by Sirolo which is by Ancona (aka the beach)-
There is this beautiful, hidden beach about 3.5 hours south of Bologna so Cassi, Taylor, Ed, Markus (Ed's German friend) and I headed there! It was cheap and really fun. It wasn't a super hot day and the sun was playing peek-a-boo with us but overall I really enjoyed it. The water was freezing though... but I went in anyway, as did the boys. Oh! and we skipped a lot of rocks... and tried to skip massive ones as well. And we took naps! Wooo! Funny story, on the train home, Lindsay and her friends got on and out of all the cars in the two story train... they found ours... weird.
3. Florence to visit Rachel-
So, Thursday afternoon, three midterms complete, go to Florence? OK! Just kidding Rachel and I planned me visiting a long time ago. Anyway, I took a train to Florence while Rachel was in class and once I got there I wandered around the Duomo, by the Medici Fortress thing, past the University of Florence, by the Botanical Gardens, and back to find Rachel once her class was over. From there we headed to her adorable apartment over the Pontevecchio Bridge, made chicken parm for dinner (after getting delicious gelato... or as Rachel called it "ice cream", twice), and hung out with her roomies until we all got ready to go to the Old Stove, their tiny little Irish Pub where they know the bartenders really well. Laughter and good times were had by all. We didn't pay for a single drink and stayed three hours after the bar had closed just joking around, taking pictures, eating spicy kabab, cleaning up (well the employees did... well I mopped at least!), and just hanging out having a good ole time... then we realized it was 5 am and I had to get up at 7.40 to catch a train back to Bologna so I could go to my class trip to Casa Artusi and Dozza. Needless to say, 2.5 hours is not a lot... and that's what I am running on here... haha
4. CasArtusi and Dozza-
Dickinson took us on a day trip to the Cultural Center "CasArtusi" which is a place in Forlimpopoli that basically educates people about Pellegrino Artusi the "Father of Gastronomy" aka he took recipes from all over Italy, from every region, tried them all then published multiple volumes of a recipe book. The center had the original copies of those volumes and some of Artusi's furniture. Upstairs there is a Civil Library and a Cooking School! They have 20 fully equipped kitchens for people to watch and learn. As Artusi would say, "The best teacher is experience." I definitely agree with that!
Then we ate. And man did we eat. There was soup, then bread, then a mushroom souffle thingy, then ravioli del'Emilia Romagna (similar to gnocchi with cheese) , then veal, and finally chocolate cake and coffee. Oh and of course two different wines and water. I don't think I will be eating again for a week.
After eating for forever, we headed to Dozza, the town with the Enoteca of Emilia Romagna. We got a tour of the wines then people bought wine and we headed back to Bologna. I'm not really sure we did much on this trip but it was fun! And I really enjoyed getting to spend some time with people I usually don't see.
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