B-O-L-O-G-N-A

Our first full day in Bologna I was craving some alone time 'cause I just was a bit worn out since I have been traveling basically nonstop since May and haven't gone home since the beginning of January. I didn't exactly get my alone time but it rained so we stayed in the apartment and chilled...until that night.

That night was more than a bit stressful because Ally and I had to actually start planning our trip. We had no more time to put it off and it was confusing and dysfunction but we eventually pulled through. The break for some Greek food didn't hurt. Neither one of us have used a Eurail pass before so we weren't completely confident in our knowledge of it, and we started off without a clear idea of the places we were going to go to. But we've cleared that up. 

Our trip in a nutshell: Bologna > Freidburg (camping & hiking in the Black Forest) > Mainz > ferry along the Rhine to Cologne > Amsterdam > Brussels > fly to Barcelona. Our Spain section isn't fully worked out yet but we are going to Barcelona, Madrid, San Sebastián, and Pamplona. 

The next day Ally showed her mom around the university and basically where she lived for 3 months, and my mom and I went to Verona (1-1 & 1/2 hr train). It was probably good to have a day apart and I ended up loving Verona. We went to Juliet's house and I touched her boob for good luck in my love life...I could use the help. We also checked out the market and the city walls and some tombs. Then we went into an arena, think miniature of the Coliseum,  that is still being used. They put on plays and operas there, but unfortunately there were no performances while we were there. Oh, and I got seafood pasta again. In my defense they have all been delicious and different. 

The next day everyone went out but I decided to stay in and get organized because we were leaving the next day. I still needed to pack and just unwind. But don't think the day was wasted 'cause that afternoon/evening we went to this cooking class that Ally had gone to last year and it was a blast. Making pasta is hard work. We learned how to make tagliatelle, gnocchi, and strozzapreti.

Tagliatelle is the most difficult but it looks the most impressive when you are making it. All it is is flour and eggs. 1 egg per 100g of flour and we used 3. You just mix it together ( I know how to do it without using a bowl) and then knead it a bit and wrap it in plastic wrap and let it sit for a bit. Then begins the daunting task or rolling it out. It took us forever because it basically had to be thin enough to see through. You fold it up and cut it and then unroll the pieces and let them dry. If you cut them too thinly they will break so good luck. Then, if you want, you can shape them into little nests, kind of like how you hang rope. 

The other two are much easier. Gnocchi is just potato pasta. You need 100g of boiled, peeled, and mashed potatoes, 300g flour, 3 pinches of salt, and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. You mix that up with your hand  and then. Roll out little snakes of it on a floured board and chop it into bite sized pieces. Then when you cook it it rises to the top when it's ready and you just give it an extra 60 seconds and scoop them out.

For strozzapreti you combine  300g of flour, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, and as much water as needed for the dough. Then you role little pieces between your fingers until they look like turds. And they cook just like the gnocchi. 

We also learned how to make bolognese sauce but I wasn't paying as much attention to it 'cause I was working on my pasta. I think it's equal portions of minced carrots, onions, and celery. You put that in a pot with olive oil and let it kind of stir-fry/caramelize. Then you dice/mince some steak (take out the hard parts) and throw it into the pot and let it brown. Then add 1/2 glass of white wine and let it set for a bit. The add some tomato paste and some water and salt. But that's all I remember.

So we prepared all the food and then Stefano, the owner of the restaurant, and two other guys from the states who are taking a four day cooking class cooked the pasta and made a couple of other sauces. And then we got to eat our food and it was beyond delicious! We all just sat at a big table and ate and talked. I am definitely going to have to make some of those in my apartment next year. And you know what, it was the perfect way to end our time in Italy.