Interlaken: Extreme Sport Capital of the World!

That's what they claim at least! Interlaken, Svizzera boasts a variety of "extreme outdoor sports," which change depending on the season. The winter season (which begins in a few weeks) is known as a time for skiing, snowboarding, skydiving (from airplanes or helicopters), paragliding, hang-gliding, night sledding, and canyon jumping.

I enrolled in this weekend adventure with every intention of going skydiving. Ignoring the fact that I'm terrified of heights, I had convinced myself that I would have a fantastic time, and just absolutely love the experience. Bearing that in mind, I promised myself that I would face my fears, and make a memory of a lifetime.

We left Florence around 7pm on Thursday and arrived in Interlaken around 4am. It was a very long bus ride. I was rooming with five other girls from my program in Elon. We stayed at a hostel called Funny Farm. In actuality, the hostel shared its space with a hotel, so our accomodations were fairly nice. I got the bottom bunk; yay!

On Friday, I slept in, and went with our group to the capital of Switzerland, Bern. While in Bern, we went to a little restaurant that smelled absolutely rank, but had delicious rosti. Rosti, in my experience, is basically hash browns/sliced potatoes, covered in your toppings of choice. I may or may not have had a macaroni & cheese rosti for lunch that day. Don't judge.

We arrived back at the hostel and immediately sat down to a traditional Swiss dinner. We had selected our dinner earlier that day; we all picked the obviously delicious choice of cheese fondue. Guess what? That cheese fondue was absolutely, without a doubt, the most vile sort of cheese fondue ever to grace the world. Switzerland is known for its cheese fondue, so we assumed that we would love it. I'm realizing that I love cheddar cheese fondue from the Melting Pot and NOT mountain cheese fondue from the Funny Farm. It was quite the experience. I should mention that the tomato soup we were served before the fondue was the bomb.com. The meal wasn't a complete wash, but it defintely wasn't what I had been expecting!


We tried to go ice skating at the rink next door, but there was a hockey game going on! We went with the flow of things, and decided to attend the hockey game. I.love.hockey. Going out that night was fun, and I met many of the instructors for the "extreme sports" options of Interlaken. Interlaken is a very small town, and the vast majority of the individuals (at the Funny Farm's bar/club as well as those of the other hostel Balmers) were locals! I was sound asleep by 3am, but was woken up at 5am when two of my roommates came home. Some people don't seem to have volume control :)

We slept in a little later on Saturday, before heading to Grindenwald! Doesn't that name just make you think of Harry Potter? It was a quaint little town, and the train ride to get there was certainly worth its price. I absolutely loved that no matter which direction I was looking, I could see mountains. Beautiful. We walked around the town, stopped for some more rosti, and headed back to the hostel. I'm a loser, and spent a few hours working on my Italian language study guide, since I have that exam on Wednesday. (Wish me luck!)

As a group, we went into the "downtown" Interlaken area to see a chocolate demonstration. I was really excited to see them make chocolate, so I was slightly disappointed when I learned that we weren't going to see the process of making chocolate. The multitude of free samples certainly eased my pain. We tried a dark chocolate of 80% cocao, one of 65% cocao, learned how to tell the quality of chocolate (a snap in the chocolate means it is high quality!), sampled some milk chocolate, "white chocoalte" with nougat, Vodka Red Bull chocolate, and a few others. I stocked up on Swiss chocolate for my family, and as I was heading out the door, asked the man what this curious looking package contained. He picked it up, handed it to me, and told me that I could have one, but only if I ate it right away. How was I to argue with that!? I tried the delicious marshmallow coated in chocolate and was in heaven. Who cares that I didn't get to see the chocolatee-making process. Learning how to taste and sample chocolate... infinitely better. We decided to split up for dinner, and I somehow ended up at Hooters, dining on chicken strips (aka, the only food I would eat until I was 12 years old). Hooters in Switzerland was basically the same concept as it is in the U.S.

Sunday was another busy day. We went to the ice rink and were able to ice skate for a few hours. I haven't been ice skating in years, so that was interesting.

Then, it was time for my "extreme activity" of canyon jumping. Two of my friends went with me: Elsa and Jessica. We were all pretty excited, and surprisingly not nervous for the activity! I was pretty stoked that I was able to pay for the activity with my credit card AND use up all the CHF that I had left.

We got all "suited up" in the harness and were led to the platform. Jessica jumped first, then Elsa jumped, and before I knew it, it was my turn. My two friends had already gone, but the group of people waiting to go after me were very supportive, cheering for me, and chanting my name. 1, 2, 3, and I jumped off the platform! You free-fall for about five seconds, and then begin swinging through the canyon. It was an exhilarating experience, though I think I snapped my neck a bit. I feel like I have whiplash. Hopefully the pain will subside in a few days! The memory of how it felt to canyon jump/swing... will last forever! That was an incredibly cheesy statement, but still heartfelt.


I am so absurdly happy that I decided to just go for it, and visit Switzerland. This was a destination that I had in mind before I studied abroad, and I can only imagine how much I would kick myself for not visiting while I had the chance. Without a doubt, this was one of my favorite weekends of the semester. Canyon jumping was definitely the experience of a lifetime.

Playing Catch Up

 As one of my lovely friends pointed out to me, I am VERY behind in my blog posts. I'll be catching up on them over the next week, but will be back-dating them to their appropriate date. Check this post for the links to my post on my first visit to Venice, my fall break trip (including visits to Milan, Athens, and Amsterdam), my parents' visit (including trips to San Gimiagno, Siena, and Venice), and my trip to Rome! I know... I have a lot to recap!

Roma (Nov. 6-7, 2010)

Rome can be overwhelming, but it can also be incredibly inspiring. This past weekend, I traveled to Roma with my school, Accademia Europea di Firenze. We had an obscenely early wake-up call on Saturday  (5am), and were at the train station by 6:15am. The sun hadn't risen by the time we left for Rome! Unfortunately, I missed the sunrise that day, because I immediately passed out on the bus. A short four hours later (we stopped at AutoGrill? Missed that), we had arrived! We spent Saturday morning in the Vatican, and Saturday afternoon in St. Peters. My GST class and I climbed to the top of St. Peters! It was something like 550 steps... definitely my exercise for the weekend :)  It was really lovely to see all of the artwork in the Vatican once again. When I visited the Vatican with my family in 2004, I got an unfortunate case of the hiccups while viewing the Sistine Chapel. Keeping with tradition, I got them once again! My hiccups were much quieter this time.

The view from the dome of St. Peters was, well, breathtaking. I mean that in the literal sense, as we'd just climbed up a LOT of steps and were quite out of breath, as well as the metaphorical sense, as it felt unreal to behold such an amazing view full of such lush landscapes, fall foliage, and ancient buildings.

That evening, I went to the Jewish ghetto for dinner and fell asleep early. It was such a long day! Sunday proved to be an even longer day.






We began our day at the Villa Borghese where we were amazed at the sight of Bernini's work. This one sculpture in particular was astounding to me, Pluto Abducting Persephone, as it was so lifelike.

After the Villa Borghese, we began our Ancient Walk towards the Pantheon. We stopped at the Spanish Steps, and then the Trevi Fountain, taking more pictures than necessary. Right after I snapped the picture to the right, my camera battery died. I'm going to steal pictures from the rest of the day from my roommate.


We later walked to see the Pantheon, which was sadly under massive construction. There is nothing like scaffolding to ruin the beauty of ancient buildings. We briefly stopped by the Roman Forum, but realized we were late for our appointment at the Colosseum. Apparently the latest time to enter was 3:30pm (why so early?), and we got there right at 3:30pm, and the museum guards wouldn't let us enter! After a lengthy phone call, Professor Butler managed to talk our way into the Colosseum.

It was a beautiful day that ended with us watching the sun set as we drove out of Rome.

A Weekend with my Parents!

Surprise! My parents came to visit me in Italy. It was a very welcome visit, as I'm missed them a ridiculous amount and had just begun to feel really homesick. Considering that I am spending the semester studying in Florence, you might assume that they stayed in Florence this past week. That would be an incorrect thought. They chose to return to San Gimiagno, the small town in the Tuscan countryside, right outside of Siena. Luckily, they were able to stay in the exact villa at which we stayed six years ago!

They came into Florence to see me last Monday (October 25), and we had a fantastic lunch together as well as a delicious dinner at Il Gatto e La Volpe! It was so nice to be able to share one of my favorite restaurants in Florence with my parents!

They next returned to Florence to see me on Thursday (October 28). We shopped San Lorenzo Market for a few hours (I got a killer cute brown leather jacket!) and then I went back to Il Cornetto with them. We stopped at the cutest little trattoria (coincidentally it was the only one open) where I had pasta and pizza, a very balanced Italian meal. I was in awe upon returning to the villa; it was just as I remembered it, but more beautiful! As much as I adore my apartment in Florence, the queen-size canopy bed I slept in at this villa certainly was an upgrade.

Friday afternoon, we went into San Gimiagno for a half hour of so, stopping at my favorite restaurant from years ago, as well as a gelato shop which boasted that it was "The World's Best." We then made the drive to Siena for our cooking class!

Our cooking class was absolutely amazing! We made pappa al pomodoro (tomato bread soup), pepe e calcio (a super cheesy/peppery pasta that I can't remember it's name in Italian), a potato souffle, a slow-cooked beef dish, and almond cantucci with orange essence. SO DELICIOUS.

On Saturday, we journeyed to Venezia for the remainder of the weekend. It was fantastic to be able to share my mother's first visit to Venice! It's such an awesome (I use this word in its traditional sense, meaning inspiring awe) place and I know how fortunate I am that I've been able to return so many times! We walked all Venice, eventually stopping for dinner at a fancy little restaurant where I had the extravagant meal of filet mignon. Yes, I ate red meat... and I enjoyed it! Who have I become?? St. Mark's Square was beautiful and bustling with street vendors and slow-walking tourists. I was able to buy a few souvenirs for friends, which was nice, since my prior trip to Venice was overtaken by issues with my eye!

We stayed in a modern hotel right outside of Venice. Sunday, we traveled to Murano, the island of Venice known for it's glass. While in a store picking out glass jewelry, we had the fortune to see an artist blowing glass to make cute little Halloween figurines! The water bus system takes a bit of time, so we had to venture back to the train station so I could travel home to Florence. After retrieving my bag from the luggage holding center, grabbing a quick bite to eat, and saying a long goodbye to my parents (who I'll see again in 3 weeks!), I was on the train, headed for Firenze.

It was a fantastic weekend with my parents, and I'm just so happy that I was able to see them during their visit to Italy!

Fall Break!

I fully intend on doing a few posts about my fall break. Patience is a virtue!

An Unfortunate Series of Events

It has been a few days since I wrote a proper blog post. The reasons/excuses are as follows:

THE EYE INFECTION:
While in Venice, my right eye developed a super nasty infection due to my contact lenses. Saturday night was absurdly fun, as we celebrated Elsa's 20th birthday... but upon returning home, my eye was ridiculously irritated. Fast-forward to Sunday (October 11), and I'm going to the hospital with Dr. D'Amato. Dr. D thoughtfully picked up the medicine I was prescribed.

Monday, I skipped my two classes, and hoped my eye would heal itself. Tuesday, I was convinced I was going blind in that eye, because I could only see blurry color. That day, I went to a general practioner who said the medicine I'd been using was the absolute worst thing and the definite cause of my blurred vision. This Australian (!!) doctor prescribed a new antibiotic and insisted that I see a specialist. Awesome.
Wednesday, I met Edy at 9am, and we traveled to see an opthamologist. There, I was prescribed two additional antibiotics and told I'd need to be seen two more times over fall break. No thank you.

THE DEATH OF MY LAPTOP:
During my super fun time of blurry color vision, I managed to knock over a glass of water while using my computer. Guess where the water went? Right where it shouldn't have gone. Womp womp. There's goes that!

THE BREAKING OF MY GLASSES:
I resolved to only wear glasses. No more eye infections for me, thank you very much. Clearly, it was necessary for me to break them our first night in Athens while we were on the painfully slow taxi ride home from "I have no idea where we are." 10 euros later (thank goodness the taxis are so cheap here!), I was back at the hostel, and a pair of ghetto goggles.

THE STEALTHY STEALING OF MY WALLET:
Today, I stopped at the ATM to withdraw some cash. I wanted to take out 250 euro, but struggled doing so, and I ended up taking out only 180 euro. I next went to get my glasses fixed. It took a good hour and a half to find someone who could fix my glasses, but I managed! Hurray, I can see again! I asked the woman how much I owed her for fixing my glasses, and she said it was free. I tucked away my wallet in the little zippered compartment of my purse, and zipped that up too.

While we were in Milan (October 15th and 16th), one of my friends made a big deal about how I wasn't dressed properly to go to this caliber of bar/club. I hate packing, because I never seem to pack the right things! I wanted to go shopping yesterday, but most stores are closed in Greece on Sundays. So... I went to H&M today! I love how cheap and cute everything they carry seems to be!

I picked out a few things (including an outfit appropriate for Jen's birthday in Milan), went to check out, and realized I didn't have my wallet. I proceeded to frantically search the store. At this time, my wallet hasn't been found, and I don't think that it will be. Yes, I lost around 190 euro, my debit card, my drivers' license, metro card, and various other things... but they didn't take my camera, or phone! Small successes, right? It's definitely time to start counting my blessings.

Venice (Oct. 9-10, 2010)

Venezia: a city of romance; a city of canals; a city of gondolas; a city of alleyways; a city in which to get lost. Venice is truly a beautiful city, and I am so thankful that I was given the opportunity to visit. 


I first visited Italy in 2004 with my family, yet we did not venture to Venice. We had plans to do so, but were so taken with the beauty of San Gimiagno that we decided to stay longer at Il Borgetto, rather than travel to Venice as scheduled. 


I next visited Italy with EF Tours in my sophomore year of high school. This time around, we did visit Venice! The most distinct memory I have of that trip is one my friends being attacked by pigeons in St. Mark's Square. We were doing a whirlwind tour (as I'm sure I've mentioned an annoying number of times), and didn't spend nearly enough time in the city. 

I was absolutely determined to visit Venice one again, and was given ample opportunity to do so during my semester in Florence. I was first given the opportunity to go through the student travel agency (FlorenceForFun), but due to timing issues, that didn't work. I was next given the opportunity to go with my school; that definitely worked! I was later given the opportunity to visit Venice with my parents, but more about that later.


Going to Venice with the Accademia Europea di Firenze was so easy. Like all school-planned trips, we simply met at the train station, and our transportation was waiting to whisk us away. We were all amazed at the city on the water, and took pictures every step of the way from the train station to the hotel we were staying at (Hotel Basilea). After settling into the hotel, we went as a group of 40 to several museums, including one on Leonardo da Vinci! It was really interesting to see his sketches turned into actual inventions! One hot chocolate later, we entered an amazing museum (Sala delo Scrutino) which had breathtaking paintings all along the ceiling of the second level. My neck began to hurt from craning my head backwards for so long!

It was Elsa's birthday on October 9, so we just had to celebrate it. I bought a bottle of Bellini to split with Elsa before our delicious dinner at improntacafe. I am still salivating (gross, I know) at how delicious that meal was. I had spaghetti carbonara (only one of my favorite pasta dishes ever), accompanied by vegetable tempora. There is nothing like coating and frying something to turn something from healthy to fattening, aka delicious.

After dinner, we went out to a bar and met up with the rest of the people in our program. It was a lot of fun, and I talked the bartender into giving Elsa many free shots/drinks, including a flaming shot of absinthe! She really wanted to go to a club for her birthday (it was only her 20th birthday), so we began the journey to find a club in Venice. I later found out that there is a grand total of TWO clubs on all of Venice! Luckily, we were able to find one, Piccolo Mondo. It was over-priced to enter, empty and dead in the beginning of the evening, too crowded by the end of the evening, and just not my scene. I would've left, but I promised Elsa that I would 'take care of her.' I say that in quotes because at the end of the night, Elsa was the one who led us home! She has an amazing sense of direction (direct contrast to me!).

As the evening wore on, I began to grow more and more weary of getting hit on by random Italian men, and my eye began to feel more and more irritated. I sat in a chair by myself waiting for my friends to grow tired of their new 'friends.' Eventually, one of them found me and said that she was ready to leave. Elsa's navigation skills are unparalleled and she led us home without any issues. Well, without any issues other than the increasingly painful sensation in my right eye.

By the time I got back to my hotel room, the pain was unbearable. I immediately took out my contacts and tried to flush out my eyes. I inspected  (I use this word because I was intensely looking at the contact lens for any rips or debris that would've caused the pain) the contact lens but found nothing. I tried to go to sleep, but the pain kept me awake. When I got dressed for Sunday's activities, the pain was simply unbearable, my eye was horrifyingly red and incredibly sensitive to light. If you're thinking what everyone else was thinking... I'll repeat myself, No, it didn't feel like 'pink eye'/conjuntivitis. I've had that in the past and know what it feels like. This was something entirely different.

I've had a ridiculous number of eye issues in the past, but this was without a doubt the most traumatizing.  My friends insisted that I show Dr. D my disgusting looking eye, so I did, with the intention that we could make a pit-stop at a pharmacy to pick up some eye drops. He agreed that I needed some eye drops and that a pit-stop could be made. Rather, a pit-stop could have been made, were pharmacies open on Sundays! I truly miss the convenience of 24/7 CVC & Walgreens. We rejoined the group and got on a water bus to head towards one of the islands of Venice... or so I thought! Dr. D had other plans, and when the water bus made it's stop at the hospital, I was informed that this was where I was getting off.

Despite my protests for hours on end, he maintained his position that I needed to be seen by a doctor immediately, and that he pulled rank and so I would be staying put. As a 21-year-old individual, it was fairly grounding to be told by an adult that I was to do something "because [he] said so." I thought that those days were long over. False statement. Long (yes, this story could be more drawn-out) story short, I had a massive eye infection from my contact lens in my right eye. The ointment that was prescribed to me by the emergency room doctor was later deemed to have been the worst treatment for my condition and the reason my vision had been reduced to blurred color. Two weeks later, and three bottles of antibiotic eyedrops later, my vision was all cleared up. Contact lenses will NOT be worn by me for the rest of my time in Italy.

Clearly, my time in Venice was dominated by my eye issue, so I felt it was necessary to return once more... with my parents. See this post for details on that trip to Venice!

The Italian Mail System isn't a Complete Failure!

The long-awaited package from my parents!

So ridiculously excited to find that the Italian mail system did NOT lose the package from my parents.  A month later... it arrived! Woo-hoo! I wonder what is inside? A little birdy told me there may be a ziplock baggie or two lurking within...

The beautiful birthday cards!

I also received a birthday card (the green one) from my grandmother today! I love how the celebration of my 21st birthday has spanned so many weeks! Everyone is spoiling me! Her card is pictured with the super cute birthday card my parents sent me earlier.





EDIT:

My birthday package!

After a particularly lovely skype session with my mother, I now know what was in the mystery birthday package! A warning: the spoiling has continued. Aside from some super awesome and amazingly beautiful birthday presents, my parents were thoughtful and included "some of life's necessities." 


"Some of life's necessities" meaning gladware, gallon-sized ziplock bags, cold medicine, eye drops, etc. Hey, those are necessities in MY life. Don't judge.

And then... there was the candy! If you're reading this, you know me (hopefully). And if you know me, then you know that I LOVE candy. I'm not the biggest fan of chocolate; I'm much more into sweet candy. However, when peanut butter is paired with chocolate, I make an exception. Reese's Cups are absolutely my favorite chocolate treat EVER. Like I said, I love sweets, and my mother did not disappoint on that front. In my birthday package, I received approximately 2,405 PixyStix. This amount of sugar makes me very happy.

On my blog a few weeks back, I mentioned how much I missed certain foods from the U.S. My parents took note of that post, and included the things that could travel. Example: Reese's Cups and Craisins! Yum.

I REALLY like pearls.

And now... the beautiful elements of my birthday package. No words. Just pictures. Which one is your favorite? Though it's really difficult to pick one, I like the third best.

I've had the best 21st birthday a girl could ask for! I spent it in Italy, with some amazing friends, had a delicious birthday dinner, received an amazing birthday package with all of my favorite things, and got to skype with some of my favorite people. Oh yes, I'm told there was champagne too.

Unnecessarily Stressed

Wait... you're telling me that I'm actually here to study? That I'm not just on one really extended vacation?


I'm only taking three classes this semester. What could possibly be stressing me? Oh... that's right: my first exam in Italian Politics. I tend to get extremely frazzled when I take essay exams, and am nervous that is going to happen again.

Tomorrow, I'll have Italian class 11am-12:30pm, then my Italian Politics class (where I'll take my exam (!!!)) from 1:30pm-3:15pm, and then my GST class (where I'll turn in my second paper on Nicolas Copernicus) from 3:30pm-5:15pm. A completely manageable day. It's really just the first hint of stress in my life in Italy.

Where are you, Wednesday?

It's a Beautiful Day

Take your pick: I'm either quoting U2 or Queen. I have to admit, I prefer the U2 version. Don't hate me!

I woke up obscenely early (for a Sunday morning) today. My alarm began sounding right at 6:45am. I really didn't want to pry myself out of bed at that time; I was warm and comfortable and was in the middle of a good dream.

However, I'd decided the night before that I wanted to spend more time out-and-about in Firenze. Specifically, I'd decided that I would wake up before sunrise, go up to Piazzale Michelangelo to watch the sunrise, and then go on a run around the city before it got to be too bustling with action.

I'm so glad that I stuck to my plan and went for my early morning run! I'm not one to forgo sleep... so after I returned from my run, I went back to bed. I know, I know, that's disgusting that I climbed back into my bed after going for a run. It's my bed though!

This afternoon, I wrote my thing for ICLP (whoops, I know that was late!), caught up on my blog entries from last week, and did my Italian homework. I then went back to the Boboli Gardens to study for the exam I have on Tuesday in Italian Politics.

The gardens are such a beautiful place to study; I'm thankful that they're so nearby. The wait to enter the gardens (between waiting in line to get my ticket, and then to enter) was only about ten minutes long, which isn't bad at all! I love love love that I have a "friends of uffizi" card, so I don't have to pay to enter each time. Ten euros a pop would really add up. I think I'm going to try to go the gardens three times a week!

Canceled: French Riviera Trip

So upsetting: Florence4Fun canceled the trip to French Riviera for this coming weekend. Boo.

Cooking Class #2: Fresh Pasta

Tonight, I went to my second cooking class of the semester, a class dedicated to the art and styling of fresh pasta. This class was, in a word, YUM! We made two types of fresh pasta, two different sauces, and a dessert. Recipies to follow:

Fresh Egg Pasta (Pasta all'Uova)
2 eggs
50 g. wheat flour
150 g. white flour
salt to taste

Put the flour in a mount on a large wooden pastry board, making a large well in teh center of the mound. Break the eggs into the hold, add a generous pinch of salt.
Break the eggs, salt well then slowly begin incorporating the flour from the inside perimeter of the well into the mixture with a fork. Knead well until smooth and elastic.
Gather the dough into a ball, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let rest for at least 30 minutes before using.

With the pasta machine:

Cut the ball of dough into two equal parts. Working with one half at a time, flour the dough, and fold in three and roll with a rolling pin. Repeat two times. Run the dough through the machine at settings 1, 3, and 4, folding and repeating until the pasta is the desired consistency. For ravioli, finish on setting 6.

Fresh Water Pasta
50 g. white flour
100 g. wheat flour
75 g. water
salt

Prepare a well on the work surface, add a pinch of salt and slowly add the water, mixing with your free hand. Put all but a few drops of the water to avoid over wetting the dough. Knead the dough vigorously until smooth and elastic and dry to the touch. Cover with cling film or a cloth and allow to rest for at least 20 minutes. 

Follow procedure indicated previously for using with pasta machine.

Meat Sauce Bolognese (Ragu alla Bolognese)
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, minced
1-2 carrots, minced
250 g. ground beeg
1/2 cup red wine
500 g. fresh or canned tomatoes, peeled
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat.

Add the onion, carrots and celery; cook until the onion is slightly browned and the carrot and celery have begun to soften (about 2-3 minutes); add the ground beef and cook until browned.

Add the wine, cook until reduced; add the tomatoes, tomato paste, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and cook for two hours with teh pot half covered witha  lid. If the ragu appears to be drying up, add a little bit of warm water.

Yields 4 servings.

Spinach Ravioli (Ravioli di Ricotta e Spinaci)
450 g. fresh pasta
250 g. Ricotta cheese
500 g. spinach
1 egg
60 g. parmesea
salt
pepper
nutmeg



Clean the spinach, boil it, let it cool, squeeze out the water, and then chop finely.

Strain the ricotta cheese and place in a mixing bowl with the spinach, Parmesan, egg, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

Roll the dough into a thin layer and cut with the ravioli cutter.

Place small teaspoons of filling along the line of dough, leaving about one finger's width of room between them. Seal the dough along the edges, taking care to press out excess air, and to firmly close the edges.

Panna Cotta con Strawberry Sauce

6 g. of gelatin
40 mL of milk
200 mL of whipping cream
40 g. of sugar
1/2 vanilla bean

300 g. fresh strawberries
180 g. sugar

Whisk together the cream, vanilla, and sugar. Put the gelatin in a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes.
Heat the milk in a saucepan over medium-low heat until hot, but do NOT boil.
Dry the gelatin and put into the warm milk; stir until gelatin is dissolved.
In a saucepan, warm the cream mixture over low heat, stirring continuously until just boiling; remove from heat and add the milk/gelatin to the cream and stir to mix.
Run individual-serving foil cups or ramekins under cold water. Shake out water, but do not dry cups.
Fill each cup with the panna cotta until full, being sure the tops are level; refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
Top with chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, or fruit sauce as desired.

My 21st Birthday!

IT'S MY 21ST BIRTHDAY! WOO-HOO!

Pompeii/Vesuvius

Note: If you're reading this post for the sole purpose of hearing about Vesuvius... don't waste your time. We didn't make it there.




Pompeii
I visited Pompeii with the EF Tours group I traveled with during my second year of high school. The only distinct memory I have of Pompeii during that trip, was the tour guide joking that he and I were married, and that this was our humble abode. Italians can be pretty creepy. Or I'm easily creeped out. Anyway, moving along...

Pompeii is gigantic! I'm sure that most of you realize and know this, but I didn't. I elected to have a tour guide show me around the grounds, and she informed us that it would take four or five days to cover the great expanse of Pompeii. Rather than spend five days there, we only spent a few hours!

One unique site that definitely sticks out in my memory was the brothel. Yes, I said brothel. There was a menu of sorts up on the walls depicting the various services that a man could pay for. There were maybe 5 little rooms on the first floor, each with a large (the size of a twin bed, maybe) stone slab that constituted as a bed. There was a large crowd waiting to pass through there, and our tour guide had to go argue with the other tour guides to let us pass through. If we had been without a tour guide, I don't think that we would've made it through!



It was also interesting to see the bodies which had been perfectly preserved due to the eruption of Vesuvius. There were several bodies in contorted positions, as well as the body of a pregnant woman, and the body of a dog!





Sadly, we were unable to visit Vesuvius that day. It's considered a national park, and the national park was closed that day, due to unforeseen weather conditions. Boo.

Positano

Visiting Positano was - by far - the highlight of my weekend trip. Quite possibly the highlight of my time in Italy so far! The day started off extremely overcast, and fairly rainy. Luckily, I had my umbrella that day. The day prior, in Capri, I didn't have the same forethought. In Positano, I was prepared. I had my swimsuit on, jeans, a tank top, a sweatshirt, and an umbrella. Of course, I was still rocking the flip flops (not optimal footwear for wet cobblestones), but when am I not rocking the flip flops!? Because of the constant rainfall, we moved leisurely from shop to shop. Literally, we moved from one store, to the next immediate one, even if we had no interest in buying anything from that store. I had purchased so many things in Capri, that I was trying to limit the number of things I purchased that day.

The store owner making my sandals!

In the end, I ended up purchasing a beach towel (a necessary purchase for the day, and one which I will use as an extra bath towel, and when I visit Milan/Greece/Amsterdam over fall break), a pair of custom made sandals with gold braiding (a must-purchase item in Capri/Positano), and a beautiful white dress (it was only 15 euro and came in very handy later in the day).

We stopped for lunch at the recommended spot for panini. We walked over to the church to sit down to eat our lunch, but Angela refused to sit with Lisa and I since there were pigeons gathering at our feet. Lisa kicked one (!!!) and they scattered, so Angela begrudgingly sat with us, only to discover that her lunch was not all that good. I was super satisfied with my sandwich. Angela and Lisa, however, were not fans of their panini. Hey, I'm easy to please I guess!

The sun had come out by that point, so we headed to the beach!

It was the perfect opportunity to use my new beach towel. It was definitely more appropriate for the sand than the little white towels Angela and Lisa had "borrowed" from our hotel. :) We laid out for a while, and built a small rock tower (we're 5 years old, it's fine), and then decided to go splashing in the waves.

The sea was beautiful, not too cold, but just the right temperature. We got dragged into the deeper part of the ocean, and at once point, I was overtaken by a wave and lost my sunglasses! Oh well. I lose sunglasses fairly easy, so I know to never spend more than $20 on a pair.

We ended the beautiful day with the long walk back up the island to await our bus. Once back in Sorrento, we had dinner, and went out as a group to a local bar. An absolutely beautiful, perfect, don't-wanna-forget it day.