La Spezia, Italy

Allora... this week marks the halfway point in my study abroad experience. It’s bitter sweet in the sense that I have exactly 61 days left if my program and there’s still so much I want to see and do, but I’m excited for the weeks to come, as I have some exciting adventures planned. 

This week was the first week of my new class schedule without Italian and I feel like a whole new person!! I have so much free time and you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll be taking more day trips and short adventures during the week. 

Thursday and Friday this week were probably the nicest days we have had since moving to Italy. It was a wonderful 65 degrees with sunshine! We were so happy to have nice weather for once. Friday, my Italian hospitality class took a field trip to a family owned salumeria where they butcher, treat, and sell various types of prosciutto and salami. We got to wear these really attractive blue smocks and explore the back rooms where they treat and hang the meat. Our tour guide was lead by the daughter of the owner and she was really excited to meet us and tell us about her family business. It was actually really cool. We learned that prosciutto is made by taking the hind hips of the pig, covering them in salt and spices, and left to dry for 12-14 months. Some other types of cured meats are covered in pig fat or left in the skin or bladder of the pig to be dried and treated. It was so interesting, and of course we got to have samples (we love free food). Next we went to a local winery for a short tour and tasting of wine and homemade balsamic vinegar. This particular winery produces more than 200,000 bottles of wine a year, and makes the famous Emilia Romagna Lambrusco wine; a sparkling red wine that is only found in this region. Apparently Lambrusco wine has a bad name in the US, as a winery in Italy (outside the Emilia Romagna region) tried to make Lambrusco, but didn't use the freshest grapes and didn't follow the right fermentation process, causing the wine taste horrible. So what did he do? He shipped it to the United States, encouraging Americans to try this "delicious wine". After tasting it, we decided it was horrible wine and gave it the reputation of being horrible, low quality wine. Bet you didn't know that... Some other fun facts we learned include: red wine is made by fermenting the grapes with the red skin causing the wine to turn red, white wine can be made from red grapes, they just skip the fermentation of the skin step, and balsamic vinegar is red wine that has been fermented and aged for 12-24 years.  So there ya go. There’s some fun wine facts for you. 

When we got back on Friday afternoon, Christina, Emily, and I decided we wanted to take a weekend trip and get out of Reggio. At 4:30pm we spontaneously booked an Air Bnb and train tickets to La Spezia, Italy. The train we booked left at 5:10pm... (ya stupid choice, I know) so we quickly packed our stuff and ran to the train station. We broke records that day getting to the train station. We got there in less than 10 minutes. It was crazy! Amongst the chaos of planning, packing, and getting to the train station, I somehow forgot to pack my toothbrush.. rookie mistake, I know. Three hours later we were in La Spezia checking into our air Bnb and walking the streets. It was so spontaneous, yet so perfect! For dinner, our host recommended a local pizzeria, where we ordered cheap pizza and drank cheap wine. Emily made the mistake of ordering Neopolitan pizza which consisted of cheese and anchovies. She couldn’t get over the fishy taste of her pizza, so she told the waiter that she was vegetarian and couldn’t eat her pizza (Italian cuisine 1. Emily 0.) It was so funny! After dinner we walked down to the pier and got to see some of the most expensive and beautiful yachts I have ever seen. They completely lined the pier; it was insane! We returned to our cute little apartment and sat on our balcony overlooking the city. We drank wine and had the most amazing time just hanging out the three of us girls. 

Saturday morning, our friend Jordan joined us in La Spezia. We had a somewhat relaxing morning and made french toast for breakfast before heading out for our adventures. La Spezia is about 45 minutes by bus from Cinque Terre one of the top tourist destinations in Italy. For our day’s adventures, we decided to explore the town of Porto Venere, a small coastal town that’s close to Cinque Terre, but is not actually considered one of the five cities. Porto Venere is a well kept secret; we got to explore the entire city without the masses of people, it was perfect. One of the running jokes we have had all semester is the fact that everyone tells us to, “come back in June”, “everything is prettier and better in the summer”, but for the first time, we were happy with the weather and how nice the day turned out to be. It was cloudy, but no longer cold and rainy. It was so nice. For lunch, we ate at a restaurant along the beach and had seafood and pasta. I had a really good spaghetti and clam dish, but Emily ordered pasta and scampi which she expected to be baby shrimp mixed in with her pasta, but no... she got a plate of pasta with a hand full of shrimp. Legs, antennas, eyes and all. She was not impressed (Italian cuisine 2. Emily 0.). After lunch we explored Porto Venere’s neighboring cities and saw some amazing views. We took the bus back to La Spezia in the late afternoon and walked the streets looking for a place to eat. After finishing a large pizza, we stopped by the grocery store for some wine, snacks, and gummy bears to take back to our air Bnb. We had drinks and hung out on the balcony of our apartment all night as it rained around us. It was the perfect end to a great day! 

Sunday morning we slept in, made breakfast, and checked out of our air Bnb. We walked around the city in the pouring rain. We climbed a set of stairs that lead us to a great viewpoint overlooking the city and got completely soaked. On our way to the train station we stopped to enjoy a nice local cup of coffee. It was so nice to sit and relax for a weekend after all the craziness of 8 weeks of school, travel, and study abroad. 

Although this weekend was super spontaneous and last minute, it might have been one of my favorite weekends yet. We got to explore a beautiful city and relax for awhile. It was the perfect weekend!