Here are some of the awesome dishes I’ve eaten in Italy so far:
Ragu with handmade pasta
Risotto
Incredible homemade pizzas
Amatriciana, my favourite!
Roberta’s epic strudel
Bionda (custard pastry), and the only thing so far that I’ve eaten out (there really is no need to go to restaurants, Roberta is an incredible cook!).
Well it’s the 24th December here, and even though there’s no snow, it does feel like Christmas! Roberta (Patrick’s Mum) is making my new favourite biscotti in the kitchen (she’s teaching me so I can mass produce them at home!!!) and yesterday Patrick and I decorated the (real) Christmas tree! Tonight we’re going to a Christmas service at the local church, which will be a first for me. In the meantime (have to wait until 12am for the service), here’s what’s been going on!
On Wednesday night we made pizza for dinner (YUM), and Patrick and I helped Roberta with the toppings (we made 3 – tuna and onion, proscuitto and mushroom, and gorganzola and olive paste). Katrin and Bruno came around for dinner and we tried different beers from Austria and Italy. It was really nice and I felt so at home with everyone laughing and joking. Bruno, Katrin and Patrick provided joint translations for me so that I was included in the conversation. I love the way that the family is the centre of life here, and that everything important seems to happen around the kitchen table.
Yesterday, after a failed attempt on Wednesday, we went to see the bell of Rovereto, which is the largest working bell in the world. It was made from the canons of World War One melted down in a wish for peace. The weather has been a bit uncooperative (it has rained every day since I arrived,), so you couldn’t see the town through the clouds, but Patrick assures me that it’s there!
We then went to meet Valentina at the Mart (Modern Art Museum) which seems to be famous across the country for its architecture. Valentina’s Dad is somehow involved with the gallery (Patrick jokes that he’s the boss) so we got in for free and saw a exhibition of sculpted, angular heads by an Italian artist who worked in Paris. I still find it hard to appreciate modern art, but it was good to look around before browsing in town a bit and going home for dinner.
After dinner, Patrick, Valentina and I went to the local pub for a drink and to play Jenga. Patrick is quite daring so he ended up toppling the tower the most times, but we had fun. I also tried Marzemino, a local grape variety, for the first time (it was quite nice, but a bit spirity). This morning after something of an ordeal at the post office (I don’t recommend posting parcels from Italy), we had bionde, a custard pastry, for breakfast. I also had the hot chocolate to end all hot chocolates – it was literally like drinking hot, thick chocolate mousse – perfetta!
Today, after lunch at Katrin’s house, Patrick drove us to Lake Garda, the biggest lake in Italy. Not a bad way to spend Christmas Eve! The Lake is surrounded by stunning mountains, and the view is just spectacular. I took sooooo many pictures! We even had 2 white swans come up close for their portrait shots!
I think that’s about it so far. I’m picking up bits and pieces of Italian, much to Patrick’s amusement. The bit of Spanish that I know is really useful, especially when it comes to numbers and adjectives, but I’m trying to learn some local phrases too. Anyway, to everyone at home, I hope that you have a Merry Christmas and lots of love from this part of the world! Buon Natale! xox
So I finally made it to Patrick’s in Italy! This past week has been so busy travelling with limited internet, so now I can post a bit about Austria.
From Zurich, it took us nearly 6 hours by train to Salzburg, but the view was incredble! We loved the Alps, all coated in snow looking like something out of a fairytale, so the journey wasn’t too much of a hardship. And Salzburg itself is simply lovely! We had light snow when we arrived, and the city was blanketed in white. On our first full day we visited the Residenceplatz state rooms, and went up to the fortress overlooking the city. It was -6 degrees and our cheeks were pink from the cold, but the view was worth it!
Our new joke is to try and speak ‘German’, which basically involves us saying ‘Jasmin/Sharon, now mit (insert random object here)’. E.g. Jasmin, now mit fortress! So we’re slowly learning! We also spent a lot of time at the Christmas markets there, where we heard carols and ate yummy food. Speaking of food, we found a great chain store called My Indigo which did delicious curries for 6 euros, so we ate there twice for dinner and once for lunch!
The next morning we checked out and went to the old city to see Mozart’s birthplace. Jasmin pretended to throw food at the seagulls and I got this shot – talk about teamwork! Definitely one of the best from the trip so far.
After seeing the Mozart house (and his original child-sized violin), we left for Vienna. Our train was unexpectedly delaye, so Jasmin organised new tickets for us and we eventually made it! Eva met us on the platform and we met Anna Maria for dinner at a local Chinese place (yum!). In the morning, Jasmin and I went to the Schonbrun Palace (another freezing cold day), and toured the rooms where Marie Therese had held court, and where Marie Antoinette had grown up. The gardens were stunning in the snow, but I have never been more cold in my life!!! We were exposed to the wind, but took photos bravely!
We met Eva and Anna Maria for lunch (Wiener schintzel!), and by the time we’s finished it was dark, so we wandered around the city. We were amazed when the snow started to fall – it was exactly as I’d imagined snow, in clumps of little snowflakes that you could see! It was so perfect that we forgot about how cold it was and just enjoyed the beauty of it.
We walked past the main cathedral in Stephensplatz, the Parliament and City Hall, where there was a huge Christmas market (which Jasmin and I went back to 2 days later).
The second day was pretty much spent shopping (after moving Jasmin to a new hotel because her flight was cancelled), and in te evening we went to see the Vienna Hofburg Orchestra perform pieces by Mozart and Straus. They were so cool, making jokes with the audience, and at the end, we couldn’t get the Waltz of the Blue Danube out of our heads!
Our last day was spent seeing the city sights by daylight, then having lunch which turned into dinner at Eva’s place with Karl (her boyfriend), Anna Maria and Suzanne (their friend who I’d actually met in Japan). We ate Kaiserschm… (I can’t actually remember the full name) and strudel (YUM), then spend the night watching Chaser’s on YouTube!
In the morning Jasmin and I went to the airport and said goodbye – she flew to London and I went to Milan, where I caught 3 trains to reach Rovereto! From what I’v seen, this is a beautiful place! It was soooo lovely to see Patrick again after all these years, and to finally meet his family. I saw the historical centre of the city today (it was raining but not too cold), and spent this evening looking at Katrin and Bruno’s wedding photos with them. It’s getting late so I’l put up a couple more photos and write again later. Night!
I am off to Europe in just over a month now, and wanted a place online where I can share my experiences with my family and friends, hence “Adventures in Winterland”. I’m counting down the days until I hop on a plane and explore Hong Kong, England, France, Switzerland, Austria and Italy. This will be my first trip to Europe, and it is my graduation present to myself after 5 long years of uni.
One of the things that I am most looking forward to about this trip is spending time with my amazing friends who live in Europe, most of whom I studied with in Tokyo in 2009. I can’t wait to have yum cha with Kawin in HK; sit down for a pint with Will, Luke, Joe and Fred in the UK; devour pastries with Amandine in France; sip cocktails with Chris in Switzerland; explore the sights of Vienna with Anna-Maria and Eva; and muck around in the snow with Patrick in Italy.
39 days to go.
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes" - Marcel Proust
"In the universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between, there are doors" - William Blake
