La Cucina Italiana

The food so far has been amazing, just as I expected it to be in Italy. I was, however, a little disappointed at our first group dinner when all of us arrived last Friday. The hotel served us overcooked pasta, not so great chicken, salad and potatoes. I am glad that every other meal I've had has been delicious and not like our first "Italian" meal at the Hotel Gio. A lot of the restaurants in Perugia, and elsewhere, have pre fixe menu's consisting of at least two courses, some up to seven, of local Italian fare. My roommates and I ate at a very small restaurant by our apartment, a small Osteria, that served us three courses for 15 euro. The pasta to start was amazing. It was a rich sauce with pancetta in it. The second course, was a slice of stuffed pork with spinach inside. It was perfectly cooked and had amazing flavor. We were all discussing the difference in the culture of food in Italy vs. that of the United States. In Italy, you don't just pick up a cappuccino to go on your way to class. You sit down and actually enjoy it. You savor your courses at dinner, enjoying the leisure in a three hour meal. Italians smell their wine, stir it, savor it. It's something that is very different in the U.S.. We are all guilty of just picking up a quick meal before class or an event. Americans eat to live, Italians live to eat. It's a lifestyle I am enjoying more and more every day. It teaches me to slow down in every aspect of my life. I don't have to rush to class, I slow down and enjoy the things around me. The waiters and waitresses here also don't hound you to see how the food is or when you need your bill. You eat on your own time and tell them when you are ready to leave.
Another huge difference is the quality of the food. Without an FDA to take everything out of food that made it delicious and healthy in the first place, the food is fresher, and not stuffed with preservatives. There is the tiniest pasta store on the way to and from class that has the only pasta I plan on buying outside of a restaurant for the remainder of my stay here. One man makes about 25 different types of pasta, fresh, every day, with his own two hands. The only English you will see in the store is, "We use no preservatives in our pasta. You must eat it fresh." Fine with me-the soft pillows of raviolini hardly make it back to my apartment untouched. The pasta is still soft from making it, and the ricotta is the freshest and smoothest I've ever had. I am smiling the entire time I cook it (a whopping three minutes) and enjoy every single bite of artisanal perfection.
This small caffe shop in Perugia makes cappuccino con panna, which, if you've never had it, I suggest you book the next flight out to Italy, because this whipped cream is to. die. for. I have always made my own homemade whipped cream with my mom, but this is cream on a whole new level. The cream is super dense and extremely rich, and makes the dark, intense espresso absolutely perfect. I absolutely plan on eating my way through the regional culinary varieties throughout Italy. I believe it's the best way to experience their past and present in one moment. Italian's don't just put a dish together. They are based on regional food, fresh ingredients, and the history of the area (which may be the most influential aspect of their meals).
Many, many, MANY pictures of the food to follow!

This pastry shop is inconveniently located on my walk to school. They have miniature versions of this chocolate pastry shell with vanilla custard and fresh berries on top. These will be the sole reason I need to buy "Italian" (aka fat) jeans.

Our primo course at a restaurant in Assisi. Pancetta with egg in pasta. Delicious.

Second course at the same restaurant. A small leg of pork that was deliciously moist in the center, and had the crispiest skin. Perfection. Sad to say, I ate everything on both of my plates.

Caroline and I passed this small shop on our way up a hill in Assisi. The sign was right- you don't want to make a second trip up those hills. He convinced us to buy a small bottle of the "best" olive oil and balsamic vinegar. This adorable old man gets checks sent to him from all over the world with the quantity of balsamic bottles the customer wants and their address. He fills in the rest and sends them to you by the end of the week. I'm going back to get his address. The balsamic was so rich and flavorful. It was aged for a longer period than grocery store balsamic, so it gives the flavors more time to meld and mellow out (especially the acidity).

Vacanza

This was my first weekend in Perugia, and Italy, but already, we were out seeing more. I went to Assisi one day with my roommate Cara, and one day with my friend studying in Florence, Caroline. Assisi is only a 30 minute train ride away, so it is conveniently close. Both days were wonderful; beautiful weather, lovely buildings, and delicious food. Saturdays trip was a bit more adventurous. Caroline and I spent most of the day seeing the small hillside town, its churches, and eating at a "slow food" shop that Rick Steeve's recommends. The remainder of the day was spent hiking to the very top of Assisi to a 1000 year old fortress that overlooks Assisi as well as the surrounding countryside. From the center, it took probably an hour up steep hills in the hot weather (in a dress too!). But once we made it to the top, it was so worth it. The view was spectacular, and not making it all the way to the top would have been a mistake.

After we got back to the apartment, we decided to go to Cortona on Sunday. I wrote three papers on Pietro da Cortona, and wanted to see some work by him in his hometown. Cortona is similar to Assisi-small, intimate, beautiful, but it has even steeper hills and is less touristic. Sunday morning, we took off on the train with two friends in my program, Grant and Adam. We didn't really know what to expect from the day. We realized quickly enough that the buses were not running until mid afternoon, so we just started hiking up towards Cortona, which is set much higher on a bigger mountain than Assisi. We hiked for probably an hour and a half and finally made it into the center where we had a delicious lunch outside. Also like Assisi, Cortona has a fortress on the top of the mountain, and since Caroline and I had such a wonderful time on the top of Assisi, we couldn't pass up Cortona. The hills were steeper than San Francisco's, but it was an amazing experience. Grant and Adam are in the Marines, so Caroline and I were proud of ourselves for being able to keep up with them. The fortress was housing an art exhibit, which was a very interesting juxtaposition to the old stone walls. We are planning a trip to Amalfi and Capri next weekend, and are thinking about hiking Vesuvius. This time, I will not be in flip flops or a dress. 

This was the map drawn for us at the very bottom of the hill, telling us how to get to Cortona. Clearly we couldn't have gotten there without it. Courtesy of Caroline.

Outside of St. Margaret's. A gorgeous church.

The wall that extended out of the fortress and into the hillside.

The view of the lake from the top.

It is so easy to travel around Italy. The trains are convenient, and the public transportation is fairly simple. This coming weekend will be a blast along the Amalfi coast. Hopefully we will see Pompeii as well! It has been a whirlwind of a week in Italy so far, and I am so excited to see what else it has to offer.

Ciao, Perugia!

Italy has been a whirlwind so far. Arriving in Rome went well, but I felt immediate culture shock, in the bathrooms no less! Once we all figured it out, we realized that in Italy, the air conditioning in buses don't work to the same degree that American ones do. Driving two hours in a 90+ degree van was pretty miserable. The view and the drive were amazingly beautiful. The dry mountains around Rome and leading into Perugia looked like the western United States. Dry, dusty colors, broken up by the silver-green leaves of olive trees, were familiar features of the landscape. Arriving at the Hotel Gio on the outskirts of the city center was exciting, but nerve racking. However, my stress eased once I started meeting people. Everyone in the program is so nice and welcoming. Getting to know people is, and will be, very exciting.

The second day they took everyone to the apartments where we will be living for the next three and a half months. The courage it takes to drive on these meandering, extremely narrow side streets astounds me. Our van barely fit! But driving through the densely constructed side streets made me finally realize where I was. The apartment my two roommates and I are in is probably around 200 years old. It's quaint, with a small kitchen and eating area, a tiny corner bathroom, and two bedrooms. It's the perfect size, and being on the top floor gives us a great urban view of the terra cotta roof line. In the distance we can see a bell tower, and beyond that, the Tuscan mountain hills that surround us. I am blown away by the age and beauty of this city.