Buona Pasqua!!

So, just when I had accepted the fact that my family left Florence...I got to reunite with my mom and dad in Roma this weekend! I took the train in on Thursday all by myself and didn't even freak out too much! My friend Alex, who is studying in Rome, met me right at the train station so I had nothing to worry about:) Alex's mom was also visiting her in Rome for her spring break for the week so immediately Al and I walked to the church Santa Maria Maggiore where mass had just begun for Holy Thursday. I'm not sure who was the presider, but it was definitely some important bishops and cardinals because it was nearly a 2 hour mass! After the mass, there was a large procession throughout the church that was really moving and beautiful. What a way to be welcomed into Roma:)

Santa Maria Maggiore Holy Thursday Mass

After mass, we were hungry so we took the Metro (you have to take the metro to get almost everywhere in Rome) back to Al's apartment so I could put my stuff down. Then we went to this little neighborhood trattoria near her apartment where they know Al very well. We had a delicious antipasto of eggplant, zucchini, potatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, beans, and artichokes. For my meal, I had a chicken with a light olive sauce. Everything there was delicious and of course we finished off the meal with cantuccini with Limoncello. My parents had done a day trip to Pompeii today so we decided we would just all meet up the next morning at the Basilica of St. John Lateran, which is another church of the four patriarchal churches in Rome, including Santa Maria Maggiore. We met my parents there at 9am where we then walked around a bit inside the church. It was a beautiful church inside and so massive! One really cool thing in this church is that is has two statues of Saints Peter and Paul right above the altar. I was even able to go to confession today, which was an amazing experience. Right after that, we walked across the street to climb the Santa Scala steps. Nothing can really prepare you mentally or physically for this. There were 28 steps to climb up on your knees. These steps are the steps that Jesus had to climb in order to be crucified. It was very emotional and painful but what was really cool was that there a few spots on the steps that were covered with glass and apparently traces of Jesus' blood are still stained on the steps. I was very glad we did it in the end though, especially on a day of fasting on Good Friday. After that, we separated from Alex and her mom and went to get a light bite before we continued our day. Then we began doing the 'heart of Rome' walk according to Rick Steves, who was our personal tour guide throughout much of this trip. We walked all the way to Campo di Fiori which has an open market, then continued to Piazza Novona. Then we found the Pantheon, followed by the Trevi Fountain, and ended at the Spanish Steps. It was quite the walk but it was a beautiful day!

Basilica of St. John Lateran

St. Bartholomew 

Santa Scala Steps

Judas betraying Jesus with a kiss

Piazza Navona

Mom and Dad

Pantheon

Spanish Steps

Trevi Fountain

That night, we met Al and her mom at a restaurant in Trestevere, where Mrs. Steadman's hotel was. It was called La Mani a Pasta. We had been fasting all day so we were starving. We got a bunch of seafood pastas that were delicious and some Prosecco. After that, Al took us to a gelato place near the Pantheon that had over 150 flavors including Basil and Pecorino! I had my favorite: Banana and Coconut.

Al and I at dinner

The next morning my parents met Al and I at her apartment and then we took the metro with Al so she could meet her mom. Then mom and dad and I went off on our own. We started with the church called St. Paul outside the walls, which was another very large, but different looking church. Mom and Dad were also able to attend confession here. 

St. Paul Outside the Walls

After that, we got cappuccinos at a bar and then continued on. We went to St. Peter in Chains where you can actually see Peter's chains that held him captive in the Mamertine prison, and also Michelangelo's sculpture of Moses. We got there just in time at 12:20 because it closed again at 12:30! We didn't know, but alot of churches close from about 12:30-3 in Rome. So after that we walked around some more and stopped at a church near the Repubblica which was a church for Angels and Martyrs which actually used to be connected to the Roman baths. This church was so unique and actually had a zodiac pattern built into the floor. After that, we headed over to the church Santa Maria della Vittoria which is where Bernini's sculpture of the Ecstasy of Saint Theresa. After that, we headed back to my parents hotel to take a nap before the Easter vigil mass.

Nothing could have possibly prepared me for the mass. First of all, it was pouring rain while we tried to figure out how to get into the main square of the vatican. It was literally crazy and sort of a free-for-all. People were jumping (including us) the fence in order to get into the main line in the square. Once we got into the mosh pit that was supposed to be a line, we stayed on the outskirts so we wouldn't get trampled. I'm not being dramatic when I say I was very scared! The only time I had a panic attack was to attend Easter mass and I was with my parents! But I don't want to make it sound like it was a bad experience because it was quite the opposite. Once we got through security and had our seats inside St. Peter's, it was breathtaking. The mass itself was beautiful and seeing the pope process down the aisle was so amazing. What a way to finish off my time in Rome. The mass began at 8:30 and was done around 11:30. We met up with Al and her mom after the mass where we then hailed a cab to take us all back home. Saying bye to my parents was sad but I know I will see them again in no time:) And they were kind enough to let me take some of their leftover Euros off their hands...I wonder what I will do with those????

St. Peter in Chains

Peter's Chains

Michelangelo's Moses

Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Easter Vigil Mass

St. Peter's after mass

Mom and I inside St. Peter's..we made it!

Anyways, this last paragraph is just a shout out to them: I love you so much Mom and Dad and am so lucky to have you both in my life. Thank you for allowing me to be on this incredible journey in my life and for being a part of it with me these past two weeks. I don't know what I would do without you! I hope you are landing safely home soon. Mom, I'm sure you're happy you don't have to walk in the rain anymore so your hair doesn't look flat. And Dad I hope you enjoy a nice cup of cheetos and a diet mountain dew when you get home! Give Darbs a kiss for me:)

As for everyone else, I hope you all have a blessed Easter with all your families:) Stay tuned...I leave for Barcelona on Thursday! 

xoxo

Alli

A Gottwalt Family Vacation

La Giostra

Lion's Fountain

Ciao a tutti!!! I'm sorry I haven't blogged in so long but I have been very busy with my family. It has been quite an adventurous 10 days to say the very least. My mom, dad, and Anne arrived on Sunday, March 17th just in time for St. Patrick's Day. When they arrived, I first took them to one of my favorite panini shops, Antico Noe. We hung out for a bit and I showed them my apartment, but then they all wanted to take a nap. We went to mass that night at Santa Croce and then went to an Irish pub called Lion's fountain for a few beers before we had dinner at Baldovino. It was a great first day/night and I was so happy to have my family with me in Florence and it was fun that my sister could stay with me at my apartment. Monday was our first day out in Florence and of course, it rained. But we still managed to do a lot of stuff. Anne and I went on a run first, then met my parents and walked up to a church across the river near the Piazzale Michelangelo called San Miniato. It is quite a hike with so many stairs but the view is so worth it! Then after that, we walked back across to the other side where I took them across the Ponte Vecchio to look at all the shops. Then we went to lunch at Frattelini which is one of my favorite places as well. The rain sort of made it tough to do a lot outside but we still made the most of the day! That night, we ate at La Giostra, one of the many really nice restaurants in Florence, and its right near my apartment.

Lion's Fountain

Tuesday morning we left for Cinque Terra. And after a rather hectic and stressful train experience, we made it to Monterosso al Mare, one of the 5 towns of Cinque Terra. Tuesday it was actually so beautiful and sunny. We walked around the town, enjoyed some drinks while looking into the Ligurian sea, and it was a gorgeous first day. We ate dinner at a local place where I had delicious sea bass and we all shared mussels. So, the first day was great. Then Wednesday came. It poured all day Wednesday which was supposed to be our day of hiking. Unfortunately, because of the rain, they shut down a lot of the hiking trails that connect all 5 towns. But we were determined to do our hiking. But instead of walking to each town, we would take the trains to the towns and then hike at each one. It was cold and wet but we still tried to enjoy how beautiful it was! Our hotel was in Monterosso and the other four towns are called: Vernazza, Manorola, Corniglia, and Riomaggiore. We made it to every one!

Riomaggiore

Monterosso al Mare

Riomaggiore

Dad at a Post Office in Corniglia

Monerola

That night we ate at Belvedere, another great seafood restaurant where I had a fish soup and mom got delicious pesto. The next day, Thursday, we left. That night there had been a landslide so the trail to the train station was closed. So instead, our hotel got us a boat to take us to the train station. So we did get to enjoy the nice weather from a boat for a brief moment!

Anne enjoying the boat ride:)

When we arrived back in Florence, it was a beautiful day! We were hungry so I took the fam to another one of my favorite panini shops called Pino's. After that, we climbed the duomo, which I have now done 3 times in my life! It gets a little less stressful everytime. We took pictures at the top and enjoyed the beautiful sights of Florence. After that, we shopped for a bit, and then that night I really wanted to take them to the Piazzale Michelangelo to watch the sunset. So, we got a bottle of wine and made our way up the steps across the river. The piazzale Michelangelo is pretty much a big area of leveled stairs that overlooks the whole city of Florence. On this night, there was a guy singing and playing guitar so we had a little concert while we enjoyed our wine. After the sunset, we went and had dinner at one of my favorite Trattorias called Trattoria Anita. It's a really authentic and cute restaurant with all traditional tuscan recipes. After that, I took them back across the river for gelato at Santa Trinita which has the best banana gelato ever.

Mom and I at the top of the Duomo!

Dad and I at the top!

View from Piazzale Michelangelo

The whole fam:)

 Friday was my favorite day of the whole trip. We did our vespa tour through Tuscany! Mom and Dad rode on one vespa, while Anne and I drove on another one. I think you can guess who drove each one....:) We had the funniest tour guides named Steve and Jacopo and they were hysterical and so much fun. We got to see where Machiavelli lived after he was exiled by the Medici family. Then we got to stop at a bar to have some cappuccinos and espressos and we had some of the best views of the Chianti vineyards. We ended the day at one of the vineyards where we got to learn about the wine production as well as olive oil and got a traditional tuscan lunch and got to taste many wines. It was such a great day filled with many laughs and the weather was great! No rain! That night, we went to dinner at Il Latini which was supposed to be my birthday dinner but Anne started to feel sick so she stayed at the hotel while we went to dinner. This restaurant probably wouldn't have been good for her anyways. It had no menus and they just offer you what they have that day, such a cool dining experience! We started with an antipasto platter of prosciutto, sausage, chicken liver pate, polenta with mushroom ragu, and a barley salad. Then for the primi piatti, we got one serving of spinach and ricotta ravioli with tomato sauce to share amongst the three of us. Then for the secondi, mom and I split roast chicken, while Dad got sausage and white beans. For dessert, mom and I got torte della nonna which is an almond cream cake and dad got a chocolate tart. The meal was so good and I loved the element of surprise we got since we didn't have a menu to look at!

Anne and I getting ready!

Anne and me

Lookin' good Anne

Chianti Vineyard

On Saturday, Anne was supposed to leave to come home that morning but was too sick that night so she had to change her flight to leave on Monday which was a bummer but it was nice to have her for a few more days. On Saturday, Mom and Dad were exhausted from their night up with Anne being sick so my mom really wanted a sit down lunch and didn't really want Italian. So where did I take her? The diner of course! I could not believe I took my mom and dad to such an American tourist place but it was what my mom wanted. She got her omelette and american coffee and was happy. Then, we met up with Anne where we then walked to the Accademia where we had reservations to go see the David. The Accademia was actually a lot smaller than I expected and the main reason to go there is really the David, there isn't much else. They are really strict about pictures but I managed to sneak a selfy in...you can see David's head in it.

Hey David

Saturday night Colleen was already back from her spring break in the French Riviera with her family so she joined us for dinner at Gusta pizza, one of my favorite pizza places across the river. Think of punch pizza only better.

Perfect Meal at Gusta

Then Sunday morning was Palm Sunday. I met them at the duomo for mass which was so beautiful and so cool to experience. After mass, we headed over to the Uffizi to see some art. And it was supposed to rain today so we wanted to be inside. The Uffizi was awesome and my mom had the great idea to have us download Rick Steve's podcast on our iphones so that we could put in headphones and listen to it as we walked through the museum. It helped Anne and I focus a lot, even though we did get the giggles a few times and got some dirty looks, haha. After the Uffizi we did some more shopping and I took the family to Casini, one of the nicest leather shops in Florence where I had bought a wallet a month ago. The salesladies remembered me because the last time I came in there, they made me try on at least 3000 euros worth of leather. This time, Anne was the one being overloaded with leather. She did end up splurging and buying the coolest leather jacket. It's blue and looks so great on her, and she deserved it after the trip she'd had so far with being sick and everything. Here is a pic of her trying on another jacket....

 Then that night, Mikey and Dana got back from the spring break trips as well so we all went out to dinner at Osteria Cinghiale Bianco. We had a fabulous meal and afterwards we went to Gelateria De Neri, one of my favorites as well. And that was Anne's last night:( I was so happy she got to stay for a few more days even if she was sick. I'm glad she is home now and starting to feel better (we think she must have had the flu or something because none of us got sick!)

Monday was back to school for me and mom and dad took a day trip to Venice where it rained the whole time:( I felt bad for them but you can't control the weather in Europe! It rains alot. Anyways, I got to meet my parents for dinner that night one more time before they left for Rome Tuesday morning. I am looking forward to meeting them in Rome tomorrow for Easter weekend! I am taking the train to Rome tomorrow and will be able to spend some time with my best friend Alex as well. Can't believe how fast time is flying by! And April will be busier than ever with trips to Barcelona, Amalfi Coast, Paris (for my birthday) and finally Munich!! Stay tuned for more exciting updates:) Happy Easter everyone!!

xoxo
Alli

Culinary Adventures Part 2

I hope you're hungry because I have more pictures of what I have been up to in class recently. This week was midterms so the recipes were slightly more simple but still so delicious! I don't think I have made something I havent loved so far....

Food, Culture, and Society: Last week we made a traditional spring primi piatti course, which would be a starchy first course. We made risotto agli asparigi. So easy, and so fresh and delicious. Then we also made a traditional secondi course, which is a meat preparation. We prepared Cotoletto alla milanese, which was veal milanese. I'm not a big beef person so I didn't have the veal but it looked great!

Cotoletta alla Milanese

Risotto Agli Asparigi

Then, the next week was my midterm so we didn't really have time to prepare a detailed recipe. Instead, we took our exam while our teacher prepared a tasting for us. This tasting consisted of speck, a traditional cured and smoked pork meat similar to prosciutto, salame milano which is a traditional salami from the Lombardy region. And then we tasted two cheeses: a gorgonzola which is made from cow's milk and a cheese called caprino, which is a goat's cheese. All were delicious!

Casual Tasting after a very difficult exam:)

Chocolates: So last week we had an entire workshop that was all about the production of "cremino" which is essentially homemade nutella. This was my absolute favorite day. We learned all about the history of nutella and how in Italy, any chocolate or gelato that is called "gianduja" is nutella flavored. This is what the chocolate was first called when it was first invented in Turin back in the 1800's. The name gianduja comes from a carnivale character and that is what the chocolate hazelnut flavor is still called in many parts of Italy. We made homemade nutella by simply grinding toasted hazelnuts to make a butter and then adding dark chocolate. We made chocolates out of this mixture in molds, and also made little cookies to make nutella sandwiches. We also made a pistachio 'nutella' by using ground pistachios and white chocolate. The color was so vibrant!

Then this week was all about truffles. Our truffles started out by the preparation of a coffee flavored ganache. We first infused the cream with coffee before adding it to dark chocolate for ganache. Then we let the ganache sit while we took our exam. Talk about torture......then after the exam we rolled the ganache into balls and dipped them in melted tempered dark chocolate before covering some of them with chopped hazelnuts and some of them with cocoa powder. Take a look....

Mini Cookies

Cremino with Sea Salt 

Cremino with chopped hazelnuts 

Pistachio and White Chocolate Cremino

Nutella Cookie Sandwich

Coffee Truffles with Chopped Hazelnuts

Coffee Truffles with Cocoa Powder

Pastas: Last week we focused on dried pastas. We made two preparations that are typically found in the Lazio region of Italy, which is where Rome is. We made penne all' Arrabbiata and Spaghetti alla Carbonara. I much preferred the arrabbiata because carbonara is so rich but both were delicious. The arrabbiata started with garlic and olive oil, then crushed tomatoes were added along with crushed pepperoncino which are hot dried peppers, and parsley and basil as well. Then the penne is added and you have the best spicy tomato sauce ever! For the carbonara, you start with pork cheek again like in the Amatriciana recipe. You render the fat from the guanciale and in the meantime mix together egg yolks, parmesan cheese and black pepper. Then you boil the spaghetti and when it is almost cooked you add it to the pan with the guanciale and take it off the heat while you quickly add the egg yolk mixture. The egg yolks get cooked delicately from the warmth of the pasta. This was so rich but oh so good! Then this week we took our exam and afterwards made a very quick and tasty recipe! Spaghetti aglio olio e pepperoncino. This was simply spaghetti cooked and then mixed with a light sauce of garlic infused olive oil, dried pepperoncini, and lots of chopped parsley. Fresh and light!

Penne All' Arrabbiata

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

Spaghetti Aglio Olio e Pepperoncini

Contemporary Cooking: I forgot to mention in my last post that 3 weeks ago our teacher for this class was fired unexpectedly. Definitely something sketchy happened but we heard there may have been an incident with a student. It was a great surprise though because we didn't really care for our old teacher anyway. Now we have this adorable Polish chef who is so brilliant in the kitchen and is so nice! Anyways, last week we learned about two famous chefs who were a father and son duo named Ezio and Mauritzio Santin who opened up a restaurant in Milano called Antico Osteria del Ponte and soon became famous Michelin star winning chefs for their simple, quality, and delicious preparations. We replicated one of their dishes which was called Lasagnetta di Melanzane, Quatirolo e Basilico. This was such a cool preparation and twist on lasagna. It started with fresh egg pasta dough made into sheets. They were filled with a puree of sauteed eggplant, quatirolo (similar to feta) and parmesan cheese, homemade oven-dried tomatoes, and basil. Then they were rolled up and cut into disks and then wrapped individually in plastic wrap for us to steam them. It sounds sort of tedious but really it was so easy! Then we served them over a pureed vegetable sauce and a homemade tomato sauce and shaved parmesan.

Lasagnetta di Melanzane

Another plating

And then this week was all about chef Claudio Sadler who was also from Milano who is known for his modern twists on old Italian classics. His restaurant has 3 Michelin forks and 1 star. For this preparation we made Budino di Limone e mandorle con Salsa di frutti di Bosco. These were little individual lemon cakes made from egg whites, egg yolks, lemons, and ground almonds rather than flour. Then we served them with a raspberry and strawberry sauce and lime slices. So tart and light!

Budino di Limone e Mandorle

I hope I got you salivating again, even I am just writing all about it! Today was my last midterm exam, I had my Italian exam this morning and now all I do is sit and wait for my family to arrive on Sunday! I cannot believe how lucky I am to spend time with them for 2 whole weeks. We are doing a vespa tour of Tuscany on Monday, going to Cinque Terra on Tuesday and Wednesday and then I will be joining my parents in Rome for Easter weekend! So much to look forward to right now, I couldn't be happier! Thank you for all of my dedicated readers...stay tuned as I'm sure there will be many more exciting posts.

Con amore,
Alli