Reggio Emilia, Italy
Well... the time has come, this is my last week here in Reggio Emilia. It is bitter sweet to see this semester come to an end. I am ready for classes to be done and for summer to come, but I am not ready to say goodbye to my home away from home. Reggio has brought me so much happiness with new friendships and adventures and it is going to be hard to say goodbye. Luckily I have 5 more days full of finals and "dates" with some of my favorite people, before it's on to the next adventure.
This weekend, I again chose to stay in the Emilia Romagna Region. On Friday, Emily and I made one of our favorite meals. We made Italian nachos... ok, I know what you're thinking. What are Italian nachos and why is this a thing? Well a few weeks into the semester, Emily and I were really craving nachos, so we went to the store to buy chips and all the makings for some bomb nachos. The problem was that we couldn't really find any cheese that would melt and be good on our chips, so we bought mozzarella. Hence the name "Italian nachos". The taste and texture was a little weird at first, but ended up being pretty good. So we ate our nachos and went out for gelato at our favorite gelatoria, Emilia. When we came home, everyone from our program was hanging out on Margaritaville (our cute little terrace) and was dancing and singing and having a grand ol' time. So we joined our friends for a pre-final/ last weekend in Italy celebration. It was actually really fun!
On Saturday, our Italian friends Andrea and Roberto picked Emily and I up to go to their favorite beach. The best part of the drive was the guys' music choices. Apparently American music that was popular circa 2010 is really popular in Italy right now. So we listened to a lot of throwbacks and a lot of Justin Bieber. I cannot describe to you how excited these guys got when Justin Bieber came on. It was like they were 10 year old girls at his concert for the first time. It was so funny! They knew every word to every song and were clapping along with the beat. Emily and I were laughing so hard. It was hilarious! We drove about 2 hours to Cervia, Italy. Cervia is this quiet little beach town where the locals vacation. We had the best day just hanging out with the guys on the beach. We played a lot of "tennis" which was more like racketball on the sand... but it was really fun. For lunch we had a piadina which basically means we had a tortilla with your choice of cheese and meat folded into a sandwich. I was actually really good. After our lunch, we went back to the beach, were we all accidentally fell asleep. Emily and I got a nice tan... the boys on the other hand were completely fried. I felt so bad for poor Roberto his entire chest and shoulders were so red. He cringed a little every time he put his backpack on. Poor guy... but I guess that's what happens when you're in the sun all day and refuse sunscreen.
That afternoon, we stopped at Andrea's favorite ice-cream shop. They sold actual ice-cream sundaes, and they were unbelievable. We got three huge sundaes and split them between the four of us. It was so good! And the fruit on top was so fresh and so delicious! I haven't had blueberries since I have been here, and they were so good! Almost tops Goodie's Ice-cream in Boise...
On Sunday, our friend Riccardo picked Emily, Lauren, Ciara and I up to spend the day exploring Parma and the surrounding areas. Our first stop was at a beautiful castle in Parma. Apparently a married man built this castle for his mistress during the Renaissance, and this was where they would escape to for their secret romantic meetings. It was pretty interesting. Each of the rooms were filled with beautiful paintings that completely covered the ceiling and they were so detailed, it was insane! As we were leaving the castle, we visited the wine cellar that was inside the castle walls. The cute old man that worked in the cellar made the wine himself and he named one of the bottles in particular after his mom. He was so sweet. We got to taste his wines and then he was telling us all about his wines and their production, about the history of the castle, and how he was in some movie? I'm not really sure about that, but it was really fun getting to talk to him and hear all his stories.
For lunch, we went to a local winery just over the hill from the castle. It was beautiful, the wine was great, and the food was delicious. We shared a meat plate with the best gnoco fritto (Italian fried bread), then we each had our own pasta dish that was paired with a wine. It was so good and we were so happy! As we were standing around waiting to pay our bill, this group of little Italian kids started running around playing tag. It was so cute! At one point they started staring at Lauren and I and one of the boys was trying to flirt with us. Apparently he has been watching way too many movies, because he kept giving us finger guns and winking at us. It was funny! We started asking the oldest girl questions like what her name was and how old she was, and it was cute to hear her try to respond in english (It was clear she was just learning). It was fun to work on our Italian and teach them a little bit of english.
After leaving the winery, we drove to the small town of Fontanellato, Italy where we found yet another castle. This one wasn't as big or as grand, but it was surrounded by a moat and had some really pretty views of the city. After exploring and taking a bunch of pictures, we stopped for some gelato and granitas (basically a slushy). We hung out for awhile and just enjoyed spending the afternoon in the little village. We even met an older couple that wanted to know about our program and why we were in Italy. We also got to pet a dog. So that was fun!
This weekend was honestly the best way to end our study abroad experience. We got to see more of our city and all the beautiful things this region has to offer. It is going to be really hard to part with this place, but I know this isn't goodbye forever. I know I will one day be back in Reggio!
Ps. The adventures don't end here.. I have a whole month of exploring yet to come.
This weekend, I again chose to stay in the Emilia Romagna Region. On Friday, Emily and I made one of our favorite meals. We made Italian nachos... ok, I know what you're thinking. What are Italian nachos and why is this a thing? Well a few weeks into the semester, Emily and I were really craving nachos, so we went to the store to buy chips and all the makings for some bomb nachos. The problem was that we couldn't really find any cheese that would melt and be good on our chips, so we bought mozzarella. Hence the name "Italian nachos". The taste and texture was a little weird at first, but ended up being pretty good. So we ate our nachos and went out for gelato at our favorite gelatoria, Emilia. When we came home, everyone from our program was hanging out on Margaritaville (our cute little terrace) and was dancing and singing and having a grand ol' time. So we joined our friends for a pre-final/ last weekend in Italy celebration. It was actually really fun!
On Saturday, our Italian friends Andrea and Roberto picked Emily and I up to go to their favorite beach. The best part of the drive was the guys' music choices. Apparently American music that was popular circa 2010 is really popular in Italy right now. So we listened to a lot of throwbacks and a lot of Justin Bieber. I cannot describe to you how excited these guys got when Justin Bieber came on. It was like they were 10 year old girls at his concert for the first time. It was so funny! They knew every word to every song and were clapping along with the beat. Emily and I were laughing so hard. It was hilarious! We drove about 2 hours to Cervia, Italy. Cervia is this quiet little beach town where the locals vacation. We had the best day just hanging out with the guys on the beach. We played a lot of "tennis" which was more like racketball on the sand... but it was really fun. For lunch we had a piadina which basically means we had a tortilla with your choice of cheese and meat folded into a sandwich. I was actually really good. After our lunch, we went back to the beach, were we all accidentally fell asleep. Emily and I got a nice tan... the boys on the other hand were completely fried. I felt so bad for poor Roberto his entire chest and shoulders were so red. He cringed a little every time he put his backpack on. Poor guy... but I guess that's what happens when you're in the sun all day and refuse sunscreen.
That afternoon, we stopped at Andrea's favorite ice-cream shop. They sold actual ice-cream sundaes, and they were unbelievable. We got three huge sundaes and split them between the four of us. It was so good! And the fruit on top was so fresh and so delicious! I haven't had blueberries since I have been here, and they were so good! Almost tops Goodie's Ice-cream in Boise...
On Sunday, our friend Riccardo picked Emily, Lauren, Ciara and I up to spend the day exploring Parma and the surrounding areas. Our first stop was at a beautiful castle in Parma. Apparently a married man built this castle for his mistress during the Renaissance, and this was where they would escape to for their secret romantic meetings. It was pretty interesting. Each of the rooms were filled with beautiful paintings that completely covered the ceiling and they were so detailed, it was insane! As we were leaving the castle, we visited the wine cellar that was inside the castle walls. The cute old man that worked in the cellar made the wine himself and he named one of the bottles in particular after his mom. He was so sweet. We got to taste his wines and then he was telling us all about his wines and their production, about the history of the castle, and how he was in some movie? I'm not really sure about that, but it was really fun getting to talk to him and hear all his stories.
For lunch, we went to a local winery just over the hill from the castle. It was beautiful, the wine was great, and the food was delicious. We shared a meat plate with the best gnoco fritto (Italian fried bread), then we each had our own pasta dish that was paired with a wine. It was so good and we were so happy! As we were standing around waiting to pay our bill, this group of little Italian kids started running around playing tag. It was so cute! At one point they started staring at Lauren and I and one of the boys was trying to flirt with us. Apparently he has been watching way too many movies, because he kept giving us finger guns and winking at us. It was funny! We started asking the oldest girl questions like what her name was and how old she was, and it was cute to hear her try to respond in english (It was clear she was just learning). It was fun to work on our Italian and teach them a little bit of english.
After leaving the winery, we drove to the small town of Fontanellato, Italy where we found yet another castle. This one wasn't as big or as grand, but it was surrounded by a moat and had some really pretty views of the city. After exploring and taking a bunch of pictures, we stopped for some gelato and granitas (basically a slushy). We hung out for awhile and just enjoyed spending the afternoon in the little village. We even met an older couple that wanted to know about our program and why we were in Italy. We also got to pet a dog. So that was fun!
This weekend was honestly the best way to end our study abroad experience. We got to see more of our city and all the beautiful things this region has to offer. It is going to be really hard to part with this place, but I know this isn't goodbye forever. I know I will one day be back in Reggio!
Ps. The adventures don't end here.. I have a whole month of exploring yet to come.
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