Thursday, October 14, 2010

Family Marathon, Part 1

We’ve been quiet recently on the blog, but in real life it has been the busiest and most fun stretch we have had so far. Toward the end of the summer, our families started to visit: first Paul’s cousin, then my parents, then his mom. Simultaneously, the working world came back to life after the long summer vacation, and things really started happening with my research study in Verona. Now that our families have gone back, we have a little more time to catch you up on the last month or two.

Paul’s cousin Beth kicked off our family marathon by visiting for a week with her boyfriend Brian.



They came at the perfect time – it was toward middle of August when it was starting to seem not only a little depressing around Bologna but also even a little eerie. Everyone had gone on vacation to the beach, and even though we had already taken a week’s vacation to Sicily in July and are living on a small stipend, we were wondering why we hadn’t gone away again too. After all, vacation here is more like a month, if not more. To give you a sense of how vacant the city is: when we asked our landlord what August in Bologna is like, she replied that in the 10 plus years she has lived in Bologna, she has never once set foot in the city in August. So we were happy to have Brian and Beth here to keep us company. We spent a few days showing them around as much of Bologna as we could find open. Some of the best things to see never close, like San Luca, the church on the hill, which you hike to on a path covered entirely by porticos.



There are 666 arches along the path, not the most appropriate number for a religious site, but perfect for those looking to take a little pilgrimage and get a serious dose of exercise at the same time. The 1.5 hour walk is what we call the free gym.


Beth and Brian also cooked us dinner as a thank you for hosting them. It was strange to sit back and watch them cook while we took pictures, but very much appreciated!!

Deciding that we should join the masses and head for the beach too, we went to Cinque Terre for a few days. It rained quite a bit, but we still felt like we got a nice dose of summer vacation.

In my opinion, Cinque Terre deserves all of the attention it gets as an ideal vacation destination. The “cinque terre,” or 5 lands, are 5 towns along the cliffs that overlook the ocean, and they are connected by a long, lush, hiking path with a continuous view of the water.


Walking along the path at night was magical -- during our trip there were meteor showers, so we saw shooting stars everywhere. As a city girl, I had forgotten about these just like I had forgotten about fireflies. The whole scene seemed too picturesque to be real.


It's fitting that part of the path is called Via Dell'Amore, and the thing to do is to engrave a lock and leave it along the trail to symbolize your love.

The train also runs between them, so you can hike us much as you want, and hop on the train when you are tired.

In each of the towns, we stopped to swim (when it was warm enough).

Above are Beth and Brian, about to jump. Below look for Paul in mid-air.


Cinque Terre, like many parts of Italy, is like a big garden. There are things growing absolutely everywhere, from the famous basil used to make pesto Genovese, a specialty of the region, to berries, figs, tomatoes, grapes, etc etc.



Beth embarked on what she named her “no pesto left behind” tour -- she couldn't have picked a better place to do it!

Pesto pasta is oven served with the addition on potatoes and/or green beans, which are often cooked in the same pot as the pasta and mixed into the dish.


Pesto is EVERYWHERE. We couldn't help but think that even the rocks were covered with it.


One afternoon we took a break from hiking and shared a bench with 2 local sisters in their 80s and 90s, and they gave us all of their tips on how to make a good pesto.

Our favorite dinner was at a little place in Corniglia called A Cantina de Manana.
Paul and I ordered the pasta frutti di mare, and were surprised to find it nothing like one we have ever had before. Instead of the usual pre-planned mix of seafood, this was composed of literally whatever happened to be in the net that day, including sea snails and razor clams.
For dessert we had two types of panna cotta, one with lemon zest, and one with honey, and also grapes soaked in grappa.


When Beth and Brian left, it seemed to be the end of summer, yet there were still a few more weeks of 90 degree weather in Bologna (mind you as I write this I am shivering here in the apartment as it is around 50 degrees out and I am thinking of turning on the heater). Despite the heat, we were back to work, trying to get as much done as we could before my parents arrived at the start of September. More to come soon in Family Marathon, Parts 2 and 3.