Week 2: Cooking and Florence

This has been a fantastic week of glorious sun, wonderful food, and travels.

Before our Neighborhoods class on Monday, Nicole and I did a brief site visit to one of the neighborhoods we are supposed to investigate on our own. It's called Trionfale, which is conveniently located right on the edge of the Prati neighborhood, where our apartment is located. This is an interesting neighborhood very similar to Prati in that it is very residential and there seems to be a large focus on automobile traffic. It was cold, so we didn't spend more time than necessary there, but we walked the streets for a while, and eventually happened upon the Trionfale market! I had been wanting to visit this market anyways because I had heard good things about it, and here we were! It must have been fate. I love it when I just inadvertently stumble upon a place I've been wanting to visit. Somehow, its worth is elevated when its discovery is a surprise. In any case, despite the cold, I greatly enjoyed this market. It has more of a traditional local market feel. Everyone speaks Italian and the goods are local and artisan. I got some fresh fish, some chickpeas (which seem to be extremely popular here), and a bunch of fresh vegetables. I basically used up all the cash I had on me, to the point that when I got to one of the last vendors, I realized I didn't have enough money to buy the kale I wanted. The man was so nice--he gave me a bundle of kale for free! I guess that is the sort of thing that encourages devoted customers because I definitely want to return. On my way out, I couldn't avoid a little shop giving out free taste tests of specialty Italian cheeses. They were so good! He sucked me in. I had to buy some (with my card). I'm not even sure what kind I ended up buying. It's some Italian name I'm not familiar with, but it was delicious, and I'm so excited to eat it!

We had our first on site walk for "Neighborhoods of Modern Rome," in which Antonella took us from Piazza Nazionale to the monument of Victor Emmanuel. Our focus was the master plan of Rome created by Viviani in 1883, which represented the secularization of church and state. This area is a great representation of this emphasis on state power. The Chiesa Santa Maria Degli Angeli by Michelangelo is actually a part of the Baths of Diocletian that was redesigned for Pope Pius IX. This is located at the very end of what is now Via Nazionale. The entrance of the church, which once faced the road Via Pia, was completely remade to face Via Nazionale, and Via Pia was renamed Via September 20th to represent the day of unification of Italy in 1870. We had a lot of great discussions with Antonella about the importance of the master plan to understanding the layout of Rome today, and it was so great being able to actually see first-hand and walk through examples of topics we were discussing. For example, we talked about how the planners of modern Rome disregarded topography. Then, we walked down to a place where there was a valley between two hills and a long steep staircase linking the entrance of a church to the street. That staircase is evidence of their disregard for topography.

Santa Maria Degli Angeli by Michelangelo

Original Marble Column from the Baths of Diocletian

Outside the church

Via Nazionale

The Ecstasy of Santa Teresa by Bernini

Remaining dome from the Baths of Diocletian

View from the bottom of the stairs showing the change in topography

Tuesday morning, I had my first day at my internship! This was a lot of fun. I love my firm, Aka Architects. Everyone there is extremely friendly! When I first met Federica at my interview, I thought she was one of the nicest people I've ever met. She is always smiling and laughing. Everyone at the firm knows English, and it makes me feel guilty that I'm still terrible at Italian! I'm hoping that people at the firm will help me learn more quickly.

The office is located in Trastevere near the river and the old Papal walls which once enclosed the city. The office is actually built right up against the wall, and the ceiling is structured from old railway tracks. It is a small but very open space, with lots of light from the large glass doors and skylights in the ceiling. I like the open atmosphere because everyone always knows what is going on, it is easier to collaborate on things, and one is more open to asking advice of others or sharing ideas.

Today, Federica had me start on an architecture competition, which focuses on re-designing a neighborhood to the north of Piazza del Popolo near where the old Olympic Stadium buildings and the Maxxi Museum by Zaha Hadid are located. Right now, I'm working on simply updating the plans we were given by the competition. They are quite old and don't include the Hadid Museum or the new bridge that leads across the Tiber River. These aspects of the neighborhood are extremely important in trying to revitalize and unify this area. I think when I'm done with the plan, she's going to have me start working on creating a 3D model of the space. It looks like I'm going to get quite good at using AutoCAD and Rhino very quickly!

Around lunch time, almost everyone at the firm went out to get coffee, so I got to meet some of them. They are all very friendly. I already forgot their names, but hopefully I will get better and remember them next time. One of the girls is actually from Spain. She has only been here since last September, but she isn't sure if she will be able to stay because the job situation in Rome keeps fluctuating, and they might not have a need for her in the future. I think that would be terrifying not knowing if you will still have a job from one week to the next. For me, being in school, I have security, but I can see how the workforce can be very stressful.

The neighborhood in this area of Trastevere is also very run down. The government neglects it, so there are a lot of old warehouses with piles of junk, trash, and squatters who don't have permits to use the land. I'm lucky because we are studying this area for a competition in my "As if People Mattered Class," finding ways of improving or redesigning the area to make it more vibrant and successful. I actually went straight from my internship to my architecture class on Tuesday, and we walked straight back to the same place where my internship is located for class. The class got a mini-tour of the studio, then we also got to tour the charming little apartment next door because Andrew, my professor, is friends and actually works with the owner. I want a home like this some day! They designed and rebuilt most of it themselves. It includes a wall with built-in bookshelves in the living room, a mini inner-courtyard with glass walls and cobblestone flooring, and a loft up above where they have two terraces that look out over Trastevere and across the river to Testaccio. The view really is beautiful from up there. They are even thinking of starting a garden in the back.

I find it ridiculous that this area can be so neglected, yet so beautiful at the same time. There is a lot of potential here, and although we get to submit proposals for improving it for the competition, part of me wishes our proposals would actually have a chance of being implemented (Andrew said this never happens because we are just students). The winning proposal for the competition with Aka Architects, on the other hand, will definitely be implemented. No pressure!

On Wedensday, we had our first cooking class and we made dishes traditional to Milan: Osso Bucco, Risotto alla Milanese, and Tiramisu. We also had Frappe, a traditional sweet of Carnival, which are basically fried egg batter with honey and/or powdered sugar on top. They are delicious! We met early at the market in Campo di Fiori to buy our veal chops, some Mascarpone and some fresh bread from one of the best bakeries in Rome. If anything else, this was a great opportunity to see where the best chefs in Rome shop for their groceries--Fiore, our professor's personal chef, used to work at the second best restaurant in Rome. He really seems to know his food! We all went back to Sergio's (my professor) apartment for the cooking. This apartment is grand. It is just a block away from Campo di Fiori and overlooks practically all of Rome. In addition, he has two or three walls of bookcases filled with books, a gorgeous balcony with lemon trees, Hawaiian flowering plants, tomatoes, and herbs and he has furniture that is all designed by famous designers. We used the upstairs kitchen to cook (he has two). We started with the tiramisu so it could chill. Then we moved onto the Osso bucco and finally the risotto. We were also lucky enough to use good quality saffron for the risotto(!) I had never made Osso bucco before, but it is basically the lower part of the leg of veal, which includes the bone. The most unique part of the dish is getting to spoon the bone marrow out of the bone with a small spoon they nickname the "tax collector." It is served in a tomato based sauce with white wine, and it is served alongside risotto. Everything was so delicious. The red wine we had with it complemented the saffron in the risotto and the richness of the Osso bucco beautifully with a very fresh, crisp taste. It was a great meal that I will remember for a long time, and it was made even better because I had a great group of people to enjoy it with.  Both Sergio and Fiore are some of the most charming and adorable people I have ever met. I love them because they are just as passionate, if not more so, about food as I am.

Osso Bucco with Risotto alla Milanese

Fiore, our handsome chef

Tiramisu!

Thursday was very cold and rainy, which made it kind of miserable, but I got to volunteer at a soup kitchen giving out breakfast to those in need in the morning. Despite the fact that I couldn't feel my hands, it was a lot of fun. Everyone was so friendly, and the people getting the food really seemed to appreciate it. They do this every Tuesday and Thursday, so I'm thinking about going back.

For architecture class, we took a very wet and cold walk through Testaccio, where Andrew lives. Even in the rain, I could tell this really is a beautiful area. There is a wonderful indoor market with charming bakeries and coffee shops, and it is right next door to the old slaughterhouse, which has been converted into a museum, an architecture school, and a hub for slow food advocates and organic food markets. What a transformation! The parks and piazzas on this side of the river are also great. Testaccio really sets the precedent for transforming Trastevere into a more vibrant neighborhood.

Just as a side-note, I made a delicious roasted cauliflower and fish stew with my findings from the market, and it was delicious!

 

 

I worked most of the day before leaving for Florence on Friday. My hours were reduced this week because of cooking class and volunteering for my internship class, so I wanted to make up some of them. I managed to finish redrawing the map of the city for the competition. It was basically a very outdated map, so I just went into AutoCAD and updated it a bit. It just took a little while because one of the buildings I had to add in was Zaha  Hadid's Maxxi Museum, and it isn't exactly orthogonally shaped! Next week, I will begin modeling this area of the neighborhood in 3D using Rhino. I've never modeled part of a city before, but this should be good experience for me.

 

I went out with some of the girls for lunch in Trastevere. Blanca is from Spain. She's very nice and so impressive because she knows Spanish, Italian, and English. Unfortunately, it was her last day. She is going back home to Spain next week. I wish I could have gotten to know her better, but I think we are going to try and stay in touch. The other girl was Maria Rita. She doesn't know much English, but she's trying to learn, and I'm desperately trying to learn Italian, so we've agreed to try and teach each other as much as we can. We went to this cute little bar in Trastevere, and we ordered the hot chocolate with whipped cream. It was great! Hot chocolate in Italy is not like in America. It is so thick that it is almost like drinking pure melted chocolate! And the cream is never sweetened.

 

I caught the bus and then the tram to get to Termini station. Nicole and Kristin had left early in the morning and spent the day in Florence to shop, so I was on my own, but everything went smoothly except that the bus was 20 minutes late. It's a good thing I left an hour early. Luckily, I ran into Kayla, Sarah and Sarah at the station, and we sat together for the hour-and-a-half train ride. The ride went very smoothly, and the terrain was just gorgeous. Out the window we saw hills upon hills of gorgeous vinyards and charming country houses, rambling streams, and little towns in the distance. We even got to watch the sunset.

 

We got a little lost trying to find our apartments because we went the wrong way out of the station in Florence, but we eventually found our way (with just a little help from google maps--thanks, smart phones!). What we discovered on our little romp around Florence was that it was quite chilly out. The temperature dropped about 10 degrees as we went north. I went out to dinner with Nicole, Shelbie, Tessa, and Katie who were all staying in the same hotel as Nicole and I. Kristin was staying with her friend Shannon who is studying in Florence, and they came with us. The place was one we just stumbled upon, but the food was actually quite good. I got a mediterranean chicken with olives and tomatoes. The ravioli with gorgonzola and walnuts also sounded fantastic, but the wine was the highlight. We got a good Tuscan Chianti, and it was delicious!

 

 

 

Day 2 was jam-packed with museum visits. We made our way through both the Accademia where the real David is located and the Uffizi. We also had experience with our first scam. In order to be prepared, we pre-ordered our tickets online through Florence-tickets.com. Well, what we didn't realize was that they were going to charge us a booking fee plus a reservation fee on top of the actual charge of entry. Our tickets ended up being almost 20 Euros instead of 8...grr. I suppose the service might have been useful if we had gone on a busy day when the lines were long, but on Saturday when we went, there were no lines, so buying tickets at the door would have been a lot cheaper. Oh well. You live and you learn. Regardless, both museums were well worth the money, in my opinion.

 

Along with the David statue, the museum also had a musical instrument museum with a collection of Stradivarius instruments as well as many very early instruments and some of the first pianos.

 

 

One of the first grand pianos ever made

The first upright piano

Model of how a keyboard works

 

 

Leading up to the David are a series of unfinished sculptures by Michelangelo, so one can see the process of his sculpting. It almost looks as though the figures are emerging from these blocks of stone, gradually awakening from their slumber and shedding their rocky veils. It looks as though he typically worked from the bottom up. One can see the different sizes of chisel marks in the marble suggesting that he started with a large chisel to remove the bigger chucks, and he gradually worked his way down to a very small, fine chisel so that the marble became smooth and polished.

 

Seeing the real David in person was breathtaking. He is so much larger in person! His head and his hands are disproportionately large, but the veins along the forearm and the bone structure of the face are perfectly represented. We stood there for ages just looking at him--truly mesmerizing.

 

At the Accademia, we also saw a room full of plaster casts for statues. It's really neat getting to see how the sculptures were made, and even though they weren't the final product, they were still amazing.

"The Inconsolable"

Room of Plaster Statues

On our way to the Uffizi from the Accademia, we were snagged by a few stores that were too tempting to ignore. Because Nicole and Kristin had already spent yesterday shopping, they knew which shops were good for buying shoes and leather jackets. Florence, of course, is known for their leather, and sure enough, their leather jackets were spectacular. We went into this shop called, Sabani. Kristin, Shannon, and Nicole were already familiar customers. I tried on a few different jackets, but fell in love pretty quickly with a dark brown jacket that has an asymmetrical zipper and a pop-up collar, which is the "Italian style." I wasn't the only one enamored. We met up with Sara, Sarah, and Kayla, and of the group, everyone except Kristin and Sarah found a coat they loved. Now, that is good retail if I do say so myself. The price tag for mine said 480 Euros, which I wasn't about to pay (don't worry, Mom and Dad), but they said they were giving 50% discounts to students. That brought us down to 240. However, the owner was extremely nice and offered the coats to us for 160 each, a considerable reduction from the original price. Not only did we actually meet on of the tailors of the coats, but he also told us that the coats were hand-dying, and because of the extra labor associated with dying the coats, they couldn't offer them to us for less than that. However, because our group had already brought them a lot of good business, they were nice enough to lower the price to 150. I call that a good purchase. I am so happy with my coat! Not only is it waterproof, but it's also fireproof because it is real leather. It is super smooth, comfortable, stylish, and I will treasure it forever :)

 

 

 

New coats on our backs, we made our way to the Uffizi and spent most of the rest of the day there. It is a very large museum, and there is a lot to see, so I definitely hope to go back some day, but we were able to hit most of the highlights before getting too exhausted. Pictures can't do any of the pieces justice, especially the ones protected by glass, but the memories are eternal. We started on the second floor, which had works by Michelangelo, Leonardo di Vinci, and, of course, Botticelli.

On the lower floor, we ran into Rembrandt, Carvaggio, and countless others. Another highlight was the architecture of the Uffizi itself. Not only are the halls grand, but there are a few rooms designed by famous architects that are art in and of themselves. I loved the exhibits. However, I can't deny that by the end of the day, I was tired of seeing "Madonna and Child's" and "Jesus on the Cross" and portraits of other religious patrons who I was unfamiliar with. There were just so many different versions of the same religious scenes, and because none of the paintings really breached the Renaissance period, they were all done in similar styles.

 

Outside of the Uffizi

Hall #3 on second floor

Niobe Room

Michelangelo

Michelangelo

Ancient Roman Coffin

Aristotle

Medici Villa where an ancient sculpture garden was kept

Hall #2

Lamentation over the body of Christ, Bellini

Luini

Boccaccino

Tribune to the Uffizi

 

Leonardo Da Vinci

Spring, Botticelli

The Birth of Venus, Botticelli

Allegory of Vanity, Pereda

 

Lelienbergh

Verne

Distorted Perspective

Rembrandt

 

 

We went out to a lovely little restaurant called "Mama Gina's" on the other side of the river for dinner. It was very good. I got the Minestrone because I hadn't tried it yet and I was cold, and it was delicious. They even have the recipe for it online, so I can replicate it. Hooray! They totally ripped us off on bread, though. We were told to watch out for the bread and that you shouldn't eat it in case they charge you for it, but this time we just dug in, and we paid the price. The bread alone cost us all 21 Euros! And we only had 2 baskets! Of course, we split it among 8 people, but that is still a ridiculous price for 2 baskets of bread. I guess it shows that it's impossible to escape the tourist traps sometimes. Afterwards, we went out to a Florentine club, and it was actually really fun, but it was extremely crowded. About halfway through the night, the group got split up, and it was almost impossible to find one another among the crowds. Luckily, we all eventually escaped in one piece and with all our belongings, but I wouldn't say I want to go clubbing very often if that's the way it's going to turn out.

 

Sunday, we checked out of our hotel early and headed over to Shannon's apartment where we were going to store our stuff for the day. Saturday, it had rained most of the day (which is why we decided to stick to museums), but today it was gorgeous! The sun was shining, and although it was a bit nippy, it was quite comfortable for walking around. Nicole and Kristin needed some extra time to get ready and sleep, so I walked around exploring for a little while. On my excursion, I ran into the Florentine Synagogue. I also stumbled upon Brunelleschi's Piazza and a small baptistery near the Duoma.

 

Brunelleschi Piazza

 

Church of Santa Croce

 

Once Nicole and Kristin were ready, we headed for the Florence dome and climbed to the top. What a view! and what a dome! It is so tall. I can't even imagine coming up with the means to build such a thing, and to think that it is still standing today. We can hardly build buildings that last more than 5 years nowadays, let alone almost 1,000 years. We also climbed the bell tower, and we were lucky enough to be in the tower when the bells started ringing--what perfect timing! We had also really wanted to visit the Baptistery right next door and the Laurentian Library with the famous staircase by Michelangelo, but both were closed! We were so disappointed. Not to mention the fact that the Baptistery was under scaffolding, so not only were we unable to see the inside, but we couldn't even get a glimpse of the real façade. I guess I will just have to return some day!

 

 

Bad picture of the inside of the dome

The closest I will ever get

 

We finished our lovely day with a climb up to Michelangelo's Piazza in the hills across the river. On the way, we stopped for gelato, and it was one of the best gelatos I have had so far (which is a lot). I got yogurt honey and pistachio, and they were simply to die for. We were told that the best gelato places don't display their gelato; they always cover them. That's the sign that the gelato is really homemade, and these ones were covered. The pistachio one tasted just like ground up creamy pistachios, and the yogurt honey was simply heaven. I wasn't going to get any because I was already cold, but tasting a bite of Kristin's, I had to give in.

 

We got to the top just in time to catch the sun setting, and it was absolutely gorgeous. Florence truly is spectacular. We sat on the steps listening to some really great live music, and just a few paces away, a class was having a square dancing lesson. With the beautiful music playing in the background, the gorgeous view, the merry dancers, the twinkling lights of the city down below, and the towering Florence Cathedral dome looming in the distance, I couldn't help thinking that I was entering into one of my dreams. It was an experience that I had hoped to have during my stay in Italy, and it was just as great, if not better, than my expectations.

 

 

 

 

Our train left at 22:05, so we stopped briefly for an Aperitivo dinner on our way to pick up our bags. This was by far the best dinner I have had so far on my trip. For 8 Euros, we received a glass of wine and a buffet. I went back for fourths. They had artichokes sauteed in balsamic vinegar, a tomato and zucchini pilaf with cheese, chicken curry, spinach quiche, grilled sausages, roasted eggplant, cauliflower, and broccoli, and penne pasta with tomatoes and cheese. It was all so good, I had to try a little (or a lot) of everything. Then, at the end, they brought out crostinis with melted cheese, sausage and tomatoes over the top of deliciously toasted bread. We finished it off with a Florentine delicacy, which we were recommended to try by our Sustainable Foods professor: torta della Nona, a tart with a soft, flaky crust and a lemon custard filling. It was delicious. I ate far too much, but it kept me satisfied for the trip back to Rome. It was sad to leave Florence. I could have used at least another week there, but at the same time, it felt so good to be returning to Rome, which is really starting to feel like my home. Florence was great, but I am happy with my decision to spend the entire semester in Rome.