Bologna to Ravenna
Ciao! Mi chiamo Ashley. Io sono Americana. Io sono studentessa di UNIMORE. Dove sei le toilette?
Hi! My name is Ashley. I am American. I am a student at UNIMORE. Where is the bathroom?
It has officially been two weeks since I moved to Reggio, and that's all the Italian I know. You would think I would have learned more in my 12+ hours of Italian class this week... but that is not the case.
This week, was my first full week of classes in Italy. I am mostly taking Italian classes focusing on language, culture, and food. Fun fact: I learned that mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese are exactly the same cheeses. Made with the same ingredients, from the same animal, etc. The only difference is mozzarella is fresh and usually consumed within a couple of weeks of being made, while parmesan is preserved for 5-10 years before it's able to be consumed. Bet you didn't know that!
This was one of our first weekends to travel outside Reggio. We took a class field trip to Bologna, Italy on Friday, then my friends Emily, Ciara, Christina, and I spent the night in Bologna. We went to the world famous "Eataly" for dinner. Apparently it's known as "the Disneyland of pasta," but it felt more like a little sliver of Portland. Imagine Powell's books meets, Pastaworks, and yummy food all in one place. It was fun, cute, and had the most amazing food!
After dinner, we happened upon this cool bar in downtown Bologna called Habanero. The bartenders looked like they were having fun dancing and singing, so we stopped in for a drink. We started making friends with the bartenders and the locals at the bar, and everyone wanted to talk to the "American girls." It was so fun just to get the chance to meet people outside our program and outside Reggio Emilia. We did meet some questionable old men who tried to buy us drinks at a different bar, but we told them we were married, and that our husbands were waiting for us down the street. They left us alone after that. ;)
Saturday morning Emily and Ciara went to Pisa, and Christina and I took a quick 45 minute train to Ravenna, Italy. After getting off the train, we just happened to find a cathedral that had the most amazing mosaics that lined the ceiling. Ravenna is known for all the different mosaics throughout the city. Anyway, Christina and I spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the city, looking at beautiful mosaics, and eating pizza.
Our trip home was quite the adventure though. A train ride that was supposed to take a total of an hour and a half ended up taking 4 hours. There was an accident on the tracks and all trains were delayed by at least an hour. At one point, our train stopped and completely shut off the engine for 45 minutes. It was crazy! Luckily, Christina and I were prepared, we had half a bottle of wine, a granola bar, two cups of yogurt (but no spoons), and a mint from the hotel. We were ready for anything! Anyway, we made it home safely and had a great weekend exploring Italy! On to week #3!
Hi! My name is Ashley. I am American. I am a student at UNIMORE. Where is the bathroom?
It has officially been two weeks since I moved to Reggio, and that's all the Italian I know. You would think I would have learned more in my 12+ hours of Italian class this week... but that is not the case.
This week, was my first full week of classes in Italy. I am mostly taking Italian classes focusing on language, culture, and food. Fun fact: I learned that mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese are exactly the same cheeses. Made with the same ingredients, from the same animal, etc. The only difference is mozzarella is fresh and usually consumed within a couple of weeks of being made, while parmesan is preserved for 5-10 years before it's able to be consumed. Bet you didn't know that!
This was one of our first weekends to travel outside Reggio. We took a class field trip to Bologna, Italy on Friday, then my friends Emily, Ciara, Christina, and I spent the night in Bologna. We went to the world famous "Eataly" for dinner. Apparently it's known as "the Disneyland of pasta," but it felt more like a little sliver of Portland. Imagine Powell's books meets, Pastaworks, and yummy food all in one place. It was fun, cute, and had the most amazing food!
After dinner, we happened upon this cool bar in downtown Bologna called Habanero. The bartenders looked like they were having fun dancing and singing, so we stopped in for a drink. We started making friends with the bartenders and the locals at the bar, and everyone wanted to talk to the "American girls." It was so fun just to get the chance to meet people outside our program and outside Reggio Emilia. We did meet some questionable old men who tried to buy us drinks at a different bar, but we told them we were married, and that our husbands were waiting for us down the street. They left us alone after that. ;)
Saturday morning Emily and Ciara went to Pisa, and Christina and I took a quick 45 minute train to Ravenna, Italy. After getting off the train, we just happened to find a cathedral that had the most amazing mosaics that lined the ceiling. Ravenna is known for all the different mosaics throughout the city. Anyway, Christina and I spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the city, looking at beautiful mosaics, and eating pizza.
Our trip home was quite the adventure though. A train ride that was supposed to take a total of an hour and a half ended up taking 4 hours. There was an accident on the tracks and all trains were delayed by at least an hour. At one point, our train stopped and completely shut off the engine for 45 minutes. It was crazy! Luckily, Christina and I were prepared, we had half a bottle of wine, a granola bar, two cups of yogurt (but no spoons), and a mint from the hotel. We were ready for anything! Anyway, we made it home safely and had a great weekend exploring Italy! On to week #3!
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