I can't believe it, but today is December 1st! I'll be heading home in just 10 days, this semester has gone by so fast. While I'm certainly looking forward to going home because I miss my family and friends, part of me wants to stay. I'm feeling increasingly comfortable here the more I learn the language and the more I get to know my friends and teachers. So I definitely have mixed feelings about coming home in 10 days. But anyway, here's a rundown of what's been going on here.
Last Thursday, we had an amazing Thanksgiving dinner here with all my friends and the faculty at the school, for many of them it was their first Thanksgiving. There were over 20 of us in all, we had 2 turkeys and an excessive amount of other food. Oh, and lots of wine. We went through something like 14 bottles of wine between all of us. It was a really great opportunity to get to know the faculty and my professors on a more personal level. The best part of the night, though, was when everyone said what they were thankful for. We really are like one big family here, even the professors and faculty too. It was great to hear everyone's thoughts on Thanksgiving, the semester, etc. We got the whole thing on video too. It's too long to be uploaded to Facebook, but it's definitely something I will cherish for years to come, and it'll be great to show people when I come home. So Thanksgiving was all in all one of the best experiences I've had here. Oh, and I also made my first turkey. It came out really great, I followed Carlo's (he's my meat guy) directions and used his spices and it came out perfect. Carrying it 20 minutes across town to the party was an adventure though.
Last weekend, I went to Volterra with Chris, Matt, Mike, and Tina. It's been a while since I did any traveling; after that 10 day trip we went on all over Europe I had had enough of traveling for a while. Volterra was really beautiful. It's a really small, ancient city on top of a hill, full of nice views of the Tuscan landscape. There were a lot of ancient Etruscan ruins and artifacts, and we visited a small Etruscan museum. We did a lot of exploring and walking all day, we even climbed some big rocks on the outskirts of the city and got some great pictures of all of us in the process. We also saw our first snow of the season, unfortunately. There was just a trace of snow on some of the grass and the roofs of buildings. Very uncool. I don't miss snow one bit. Another interesting thing about Volterra was that it was the setting for part of the Twilight series. So a lot of the shops sold Twilight memorabilia. Probably the funniest part of our day there was when Matt recreated a scene from Twilight in the main piazza, he told his sister he'd do it because she's such a big fan. In the book, Edward wants to kill himself by stepping out into the sun from one of the archways. So Matt actually took his shirt off in the freezing cold and we got pictures of him standing in the archway. People thought we were nuts. They may have been right.
Just last night, we had our big sustainability seminar at the school. We got a really good turnout from the students thanks to professors offering extra credit if they attended. All of our professors were there, the mayor of Florence came too. We even Skyped a few professors at Penn State so they could watch as well. The presentation couldn't have gone any better. All four groups did a fantastic job presenting their aspect of sustainability. My group was sustainable agriculture, while the other groups spoke about sustainable eating, sustainable energy, and making Palazzo Rucellai more sustainable. After the formal presentations, we had food and drinks and people were able to walk around and talk to us more in depth about each of our topics. The conference was a complete success. Afterwards, all of the students and professors who were involved in the project sat down for dinner at a local restaurant, paid for by the school. We had another great dinner with everyone; all of us are becoming closer and closer each day. The thought that all of this will be ending in only 10 days is actually making me pretty emotional right now. I've formed some great relationships with so many people here, I'll miss them all dearly.
Other random things... I have a recent obsession with scarves. I've bought myself a couple of scarves in the past week or so, and I got some for gifts. Every time I walk through the San Lorenzo market I can't help but buy a scarf. It's bad. They're relatively inexpensive though. I have also bought all of the little things I wanted to get before I go home, like a cap for a bottle of olive oil, a new wallet, a belt. I still have some shopping to do for Christmas gifts, but I'm almost done. Tomorrow is the last day of classes. Then we've got finals next Monday and Tuesday. Then, we have the rest of that week to do whatever we want before we go home on Saturday December 11th. Also, I just finished and handed in my Paleolithic Diet research paper which came out great, despite the fact that since I handed it in I've thought of multiple ways it could have been improved. But it's okay, I'm pretty sure I went above and beyond what Professor Fischer expected. That's it for now, I'll probably only write one more blog post at the end of next week. See you soon family!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
update
Okay, here is what I've been working on for the past couple of weeks, and this is why I haven't updated the blog. Today, I handed in this paper and we did our presentation, so I will have much more free time coming up. Expect a blog post soon about Thanksgiving and this past weekend's trip to Volterra!
Paleolithic Diet Essay
In recent years, there has been an unprecedented rise in America, and across the world, in the prevalence of chronic disease. Human beings have never been so unhealthy in the history of the species. Cancer rates are on the rise, obesity has seemingly spread like the plague, and what used to be known as “Adult-Onset Diabetes” has now been renamed because an increasing number of children have become afflicted. Despite the recommendations of the United States government, which began telling Americans what to eat in 1977 with Senator George McGovern’s publication of Dietary Goals for the United States, chronic disease rates have continued to rise. The recommendations have changed slightly over the years, but they have consistently urged Americans to eat less fat, especially saturated fat, and to eat foods low in cholesterol like grains, fruits, and vegetables. While the science of nutrition can certainly play an important and effective role in determining a healthy diet, it presents some clear problems as well. For one thing, modern mainstream nutrition has created a number of paradoxes. Maybe the most well-known of these is the French Paradox: the nutrition contradiction whereby the French have some of the lowest heart disease rates on the planet, but they eat at least as much saturated fat as Americans do. Even epidemiological evidence has been contradictory; intervention studies have shown that low-carbohydrate, high-fat diets improve cholesterol levels along with other markers for heart disease. In part due to inconsistencies like these, it has become increasingly more popular in recent years to take an evolutionary view of nutrition, looking to human history for insight into what may be the ideal human diet.
The Paleolithic diet, as it is commonly known today, combines the principles of both evolutionary biology and modern nutritional science. Its foundation lies in the idea that human genes have remained largely unchanged since the Neolithic Revolution, marked by the adoption of agriculture approximately 10,000 years ago, and thus humans are maladapted to consume foods that have since then been introduced into our diet. At first glance, this may sound absurd; surely in 10,000 years humans must have had time to evolve; however, experts disagree. While 10,000 years may seem like a long time, in the context of two and a half million years of human history it looks rather insignificant. Most of the leading researchers in the field, such as Loren Cordain and S. Boyd Eaton, agree that the human genome remains unchanged from hunter-gatherer times. Since diseases of civilization like cancer and heart disease were virtually nonexistent in those days, this theory could have profound implications for the increasing incidence of chronic disease. Says Eaton, “Afflictions of affluence are prompted by dissonance between human genes and our current lifestyles, and the prevalence of these diseases may be greatly reduced or eliminated by readopting the nutritional practices of our ancestors.”
The pre-agricultural diet differed drastically from typical diets in the 21st century. A typical hunter-gatherer diet would consist of wild meat, vegetables, fruit, nuts, and seeds, clearly a stark contrast between the diets of modern civilization. Most apparent, there was no consumption of grains, and also no dairy, both of which are staples of many modern diets. Also of note is the large meat and fish consumption. A typical hunter-gatherer would have consumed 56-65% of his calories from meat and fish. Research shows that vegetable and fruit consumption was much higher than in modern diets, even the most vegetable-rich modern diets. In terms of macronutrient ratios, typical hunter-gatherers would consume 25-30% of calories from protein, 30-35% from carbohydrates, and 40-45% from fat. In contrast, modern Americans consume 15% of calories from protein, 55% from carbohydrates, and 34% from fat. There absolutely exists a dissonance between the diet of our ancestors and the diet of the modern world.
Perhaps the most radical feature of the Paleolithic diet, to us, is the absence of grains. Cereal grains, such as wheat, rice, and corn, have become dietary staples around the world. However, it has not always been this way. Before the Neolithic Revolution, grains were not a staple in any human diet. There is some evidence to show that they were eaten as much as 5,000 years before agriculture, but this was most likely only in food shortage situations. Since wild cereal grains are small, difficult to harvest and poorly digested without grinding and cooking, they simply were not worth the trouble. It wasn’t until the adoption of agriculture that cereal grains became an integral part of the diet. Nutritionally there are plenty of reasons to avoid cereal grains. Grains simply do not contribute many nutrients to the diet. They are high in carbohydrates and they are low in bioavailable nutrients, especially minerals. Because of their fiber and phytate content, the bioavailability of important minerals like iron, zinc, copper, and magnesium contained in cereal grains is especially low. Iron deficiency is the most prevalent nutritional problem in the world today, affecting 2.15 billion people worldwide and being severe enough to cause anemia in another 1.2 billion. Grains also do not contain vitamin C or carotenoids, and they may displace foods that do. Foods high in these compounds are associated with a decreased risk for many common cancers and heart disease. Grains that contain gluten, however, may be the most troublesome. Gluten is a protein that is present in wheat, rye, barley, and oats. Only about 1% of the population suffers from gluten intolerance, an autoimmune disease known as celiac disease, but new research shows that gluten may be harming more than just celiac patients. One recent study headed by Dr. Sandro Drago at the University of Maryland was able to show that gliadin, a component in gluten, “activates zonulin signaling irrespective of the genetic expression of autoimmunity, leading to increased intestinal permeability to macromolecules.” This means that, even in non-celiac people, gluten-containing grains may contribute to what is known as leaky gut syndrome, where intact proteins are able to permeate the intestinal lumen without being broken down. This will elicit an immune response, and could lead to autoimmune conditions. Another recent study by Dr. Kenneth Fine examined stool samples to look for anti-gliadin IgA, which is an antibody produced by the body to combat gliadin. To no surprise, 100% of celiac disease patients tested positive for this antibody. However, 29% of healthy, asymptomatic people also tested positive. The only reason anti-gliadin IgA ends up in your stool is because your body sensed an impending threat – gluten. If gluten poses no threat, the anti-gliadin IgA stays in your gut. A food sensitivity like this one can result in a wide range of symptoms, like joint pain, headaches, skin problems, and more. Clearly, grains like wheat are not benefiting the body if it is perceived as a threat. It should be noted that much of this research on gluten is relatively new, due to recent advances in technology which enhance our ability to measure its effects in the body. As a result, the number of studies demonizing gluten-containing grains is very limited, but this is expected to be a major topic of interest in the coming years. In summation, cereal grains present a whole host of potential problems, have low nutrient content, and they displace other nutrient-dense foods in the diet. The human species lived for millennia without eating grains, and nutritionally there is no need to consume them.
Also absent from the pre-agricultural human diet was dairy, which is also extremely common today. At present, humans are the only species that consumes the milk of another animal and the only species that consumes any milk after weaning; except for perhaps pets whose human owners feed them milk. All mammals are born with the enzyme to digest their mother’s milk, but most lose this ability after weaning. Interestingly, many people today are unable to digest lactose, the sugar in milk. A large portion of Africans and Asians are unable to consume dairy products. While people of European descent generally have no problem with lactose, allergies to casein, one of the proteins in milk, are prevalent. Also, like gluten, many undiagnosed people may be sensitive to casein. Testing for food sensitivities is still a young science, since reliable tests like the LEAP-MRT test have only become available recently, and there isn’t a great deal of scientific data on the subject. Also, since symptoms of food sensitivity may not be seen until days after consumption of the food, it is very difficult to pinpoint the culprit. Anecdotal evidence, though, suggests that casein-sensitivity is not all that uncommon. Nutritionally, the main draw of dairy consumption is its high calcium content. Calcium is a vital mineral in the human body, needed to maintain bone density. It is for this reason that the U.S. Government considers it an important part of a healthy diet. But from a historical perspective, it simply doesn’t make sense to consider it so important when for most of human history humans lived healthy lives without it. Fortunately, there are scientific reasons why you’ll get plenty of calcium from other sources. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 1990 found that absorption of calcium from green leafy vegetables, specifically kale, is superior to its absorption from dairy products. We could also get our calcium from traditional foods like bone broth, which is made by simmering animal bones in water. This also produces a very highly bioavailable form of calcium, and it provides a great use for leftover bones, which would otherwise simply be discarded. It may be, though, that we don’t necessarily need as much calcium as is currently recommended. The United States has one of the highest intakes of calcium in the world, but paradoxically Americans also have one of the highest rates of osteoporosis. The calcium content of bones is not only dependent on the intake of calcium, but also net calcium balance. When one’s diet consists of too many acidic foods, the body must counter this with its own alkaline stores to maintain equilibrium. It turns out that one of the body’s main alkaline stores is the calcium in bone. So when a person’s diet consists of too many acid-producing foods, i.e. hard cheeses, cereal grains, salted foods, meat, and legumes, the body must pull calcium from the bone to produce an alkalizing counterpart. This calcium is then excreted from the body. In order to avoid this calcium loss, the alkaline source must come from the diet, and the only base-producing foods are fruits and vegetables. There are also studies, like the one done by Jane Kerstetter in 2007, showing that diets that are high in protein like the Paleolithic diet increase intestinal calcium absorption and improve bone balance. Therefore, rather than blindly consuming dairy just for its calcium content, it may be more prudent to balance acid-producing foods like meat with base-producing foods like fruits and vegetables, especially green leafy ones. This will provide plenty of protein to improve calcium absorption and also limit its loss from the bones, thus reducing dietary need. In addition, evidence from the pre-agricultural era shows that healthy hunter-gatherer bones were consistently stronger and thicker than those of today. While conventional wisdom says dairy is an essential food group, scientific evidence and historical evidence both show that it is unnecessary and, in some cases, may be harmful.
Most of the calories, 55-65% typically, in hunter-gatherer diets came from the fat and protein in meat and fish. The consumption of fish depended largely on geographical location. Looking through the lens of modern nutritional science, you would expect a high-meat diet such as this one to induce cardiac arrest. We are constantly told to reduce red meat intake and avoid animal fat. On the contrary, coronary heart disease was virtually nonexistent among hunter-gatherers, and there are several reasons for this.
Firstly, the meat that was eaten by hunter-gatherers prior to agriculture was different than the meat we eat today. While our meat comes from domesticated animals raised by humans, their meat came from wild animals. Wild meat tends to be lower in total fat, and the proportion of saturated fat is lower. Monounsaturated fat, mostly oleic acid, is higher. Oleic acid has been shown in studies to have anti-atherogenic effects, meaning it prevents cardiovascular disease. As for polyunsaturated fats, wild meats are lower in omega-6 fats and higher in omega-3, close to a ratio of 1:1 between the two. Wild-caught fish is even higher in omega-3 fats; farmed fish is too, to a lesser extent. The ratio of these two fats is becoming increasingly recognized in the medical community as a marker for cardiovascular disease. While omega-6’s promote inflammation, omega-3’s are anti-inflammatory. In the modern American diet, there are too many omega-6 fats, which can cause systemic low-level inflammation and can lead to heart disease. A 1:1 ratio is believed to be ideal. In addition, hunter-gatherers ate all parts of the animal, which is less common in today’s world. They ate all the meat, including all the organs, and they probably preferred the fattier parts.
The other reason meat didn’t cause hunter-gatherers heart disease is that meat is not as atherogenic as it is made out to be. A recent 2010 meta-analysis from Harvard took a comprehensive look at the studies that have been published about red meat. In the past, the blanket term “red meat” included beef, pork, lamb, and processed meats like sausage, hot dogs, and bacon. For this study, the researchers were able to separate the data from the unprocessed meat and the processed meat. The results showed no association of beef, pork, and lamb with heart disease or diabetes; the association existed only with processed meats. Of particular interest, the saturated fat content of the two groups was essentially the same, indicating that no association was found between saturated fat and heart disease or diabetes. The researchers concluded that the added chemicals and sodium in processed meats were what contributed to heart disease, not the saturated fat. This study is very significant because it exposes a fundamental flaw in the studies used in the past to demonize red meat and saturated fat. Recently, more and more studies are showing this lack of association. Although wild meat contains less saturated fat than domesticated meat, the most up-to-date estimates of saturated fat intake in hunter-gatherers say they made up 10-15% of total calories. Anything outside of that range is considered to be the exception rather than the rule, and is likely to be discordant with the human genome. So then, the current USDA recommendation to keep calories from saturated fat under 10% may contradict our evolution, and it has an ever-dwindling body of empirical evidence.
It may still be possible in today’s world to eat meat that is similar to what our ancestors ate. A study published in 2002 by Loren Cordain compares the fatty acid profile of wild North American and African ruminants with that of pasture-fed cattle and grain-fed cattle. Results showed that the fats in wild and pasture-fed meats were similar, but both were dissimilar to grain-fed cattle. The lipid composition of wild ruminant tissues may serve as a model for dietary lipid recommendations in treating and preventing chronic disease. Another recent study published in Nutrition Journal assessed the specific fatty acid differences between grass-fed and grain-fed beef. Cattle have evolved over millennia to eat grass, not grains, like they are typically fed today. There was no difference in total saturated fat content, but the type of saturated fatty acids were different between the two. In grass-fed beef, there was a higher proportion of cholesterol-neutral stearic acid and lower proportions of cholesterol-elevating saturated fatty acids like myristic acid and palmitic acid. Results also showed more omega-3 fats and much higher content of conjugated linoleic acid, which may have anti-cancer properties. In addition, grass-fed beef has been shown to contain more precursors for Vitamin A and E, as well as antioxidants such as gluathione and superoxide dismutase. Opting to purchase beef and other meat that was fed its natural diet would be an excellent way to emulate our ancestors, and science shows it may even have cardio-protective effects.
The Paleolithic diet contained large amounts of fruits and vegetables, far exceeding their consumption in modern societies. In fact, typical hunter-gatherers probably ate more than double the amount of fruits and vegetables that Western Europeans eat. The data on fruit and vegetable consumption is indisputable. High consumption of these foods is associated with lower cholesterol, lower risk of coronary heart disease, lower risk of cancer, lower blood pressure, lower risk of diabetes, longer life; the list goes on and on. It is no surprise that our species evolved eating these foods in high quantities. They are high in a wide range of vitamins and vitamin precursors, beneficial phytochemicals, and fiber. Unfortunately, fruits and vegetables are typically replaced in today’s diet by other less nutrient-dense foods like cereal grains. In Paleolithic times, humans consumed most, if not all, of their carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables. Unlike contemporary refined flour and sugar, fruits and vegetables as a whole are more slowly absorbed in the intestines and don’t produce sharp spikes in insulin secretion. Excessively high insulin levels in the body are not ideal; this promotes fat storage and over time can lead to diabetes. There is no debate about the positive health effects of a high fruit and vegetable diet.
To my knowledge, there are no published intervention studies involving the Paleolithic diet, hence no causality can be shown. However, there is a wealth of other evidence supporting this type of diet as a whole. The earliest of this evidence comes from studies of human remains from before and after the adoption of agriculture. Studies show that early farmers paid a price for their new-found livelihood. Jared Diamond assessed these studies in his classic article “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race.” According to Diamond, “Compared to the hunter-gatherers who preceded them, the farmers had a nearly fifty percent increase in enamel defects indicative of malnutrition, a fourfold increase in iron-deficiency anemia, a threefold rise in bone lesions reflecting infectious disease in general, and an increase in degenerative conditions of the spine.” Studies of bones also showed a significant decrease in height after the Neolithic Revolution. Male hunter-gatherers at the end of the ice ages stood about 5’9”, while women were 5’5” on average. By 3000 BCE, the average heights were 5’3” and 5’ for men and women, respectively. Life expectancy took a hit, too. Before agriculture, life expectancy at birth was about 26 years. But in the post-agricultural community it was 19 years. Athletically, pre-agricultural humans may have been far superior to modern humans. In a new book by Peter McAllister called “Manthropology: the Science of Why the Modern Male Is Not the Man He Used to Be”, McAllister says footprint analysis shows that ice age aborigines in Northern Australia could run long distances at the same speed as modern Olympic sprinters. Clearly, the human race became less healthy after the adoption of agriculture.
Another effective way to learn about our ancestral hunter-gatherers is to study modern hunter-gatherers. There are small tribes scattered throughout the world who still live and eat like pre-agricultural humans, and these provide a fantastic opportunity to gain insight into the health of the Paleolithic diet. A 2007 study published by Michael Gurven and Hillard Kaplan did just that. Their research showed that obesity is rare, hypertension rates are low, and cholesterol and triglycerides are low in modern hunter-gatherers. Subsequently, heart attacks and strokes are rare in these populations. They actually live very long lives, considering they don’t use any modern medicine. The average modal age of adult death was found to be 72 years, not far off from the average of 77.9 in the United States today. Unlike modern Americans however, people in these societies remain very active into their seventh decade of life, another likely contributor to their longevity. Causes of death were found to be as follows: 70% of deaths are from illnesses, 20% are from violence and accidents, and only 9% are from degenerative diseases. Today, in modern westernized societies, the majority of deaths are due to cardiovascular disease. This evidence seems to suggest that we would do well to emulate primitive eating habits, however further investigation in the form of intervention studies is needed to establish concrete scientific evidence.
For better or for worse, we are no longer hunter-gatherers. However, our genetic makeup is still that of a Paleolithic hunter-gatherer, a species whose nutritional requirements are optimally adapted to wild meats, fruits and vegetables, not to cereal grains and dairy. The question is, then, how can we eat like our ancestral history requires us to in today’s society? We do not need to emulate hunter-gatherers exactly, but the principles of their diet should be the principles of ours. We can begin by removing cereal grains and dairy from the diet. Forget about the fact that grains are the basis for the food pyramid, along with the idea that “milk does a body good.” Also, avoid vegetable oils like corn and soybean oil; they are highly processed and were not eaten prior to the mid 1900’s, and they’re extremely high in omega-6 content. These foods conflict with our genetic makeup and can cause all sorts of problems. Next, eat animals that ate their natural diet. Most meat produced today is fed grains, which reduces the nutrient and lipid quality of the food. Buy grass-fed beef and lamb, and pastured chickens, eggs, and pork. Avoid farmed-fish, too, and opt for wild fish. Their omega-3 content is far superior. Eat lots of plants, preferably organic. Hunter-gatherers ate more vegetables than any modern civilization, and they didn’t use pesticides or synthetic fertilizer. Try to include meat and vegetables in every meal. Eat plenty of fruit to satisfy your craving for sweets, and when you want a snack, eat nuts and seeds. As for cooking fats, extra virgin olive oil and lard are as close as it comes to being Paleolithic foods, even though they didn’t exist in that form. They are fine in moderation, especially in comparison to the alternatives like corn and soybean oil. Eating a Paleolithic diet in the modern world is not only possible, but it is quite probably the ideal human diet. It would be an excellent diet to adopt for anyone looking to reduce their risk for all diseases of civilization.
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Friday, November 19, 2010
Olive Oil Week!
Just finished up olive oil week yesterday, where we worked at a farm picking olives for a few days and learned all about the process of making extra virgin olive oil. We visited a farm called Pruneti, just outside Florence in a town called San Polo. In contrast to our week of picking grapes for wine, this week at the farm was much better. Picking olives is much easier work than picking grapes, there really isn't that much to it other than knocking the olives off the tree into a net. We all worked on the same two or three trees too, so we could very easily see each other and communicate. At the vineyard, we only saw one or two people at a time and we were separated by the rows of grapes. We also learned more about the process of making the oil because all of us actively participated in the process. Each day, three of us stayed inside to work the machinery that produces the oil. The process goes like this... first, the olives are dumped into the first machine, which first filters the leaves and sticks out, then sends the olives up a conveyor belt where they are rinsed with water and dumped into the next machine. This machine presses the olives, which results in a thick purple substance. This substance is then separated by the next machine into either oil or a thicker purple gunk. Then the oil is filtered again by the last machine before it is emptied into large containers. There are no chemicals involved in this process, and as far as I can tell there was no heat involved, although the oil was somewhat warm at the end; probably just a byproduct of being sent through so many machines, but definitely not enough heat to ruin any of the constituents in the oil. The result was a beautifully olive-green oil, yes olive-green, much more olive-green than any oil I had ever seen. In addition to pressing their own olives, they also rent the machinery to smaller farmers who don't own the equipment to press their olives. There were constantly people coming in to press their olives, and it was apparent how much pride everyone took in making their olives into oil. It's really an ancient process in the Mediterranean region, dating back to at least the Ancient Greeks and possibly even further, and the tradition is still strong here in Italy. The people who owned the farm, too, took great pride in olive oil. They only press olives about 40-50 days out of the year, and they keep their machinery available for use 24 hours a day. There's only two of them, they're brothers, and in order to ensure a quality product, one of them is always there to monitor the process. They have other employees, but they don't trust anyone else to supervise the process. And because they need someone there all day and all night, they only get about 3 hours of sleep each day for the duration of olive season. Yeah, they clearly take pride in their work. On the last day, we had an olive oil tasting where we tasted four of the olive oils they make, two were from last year and two were from this year. They explained to us how to taste the oil and what to look for, and it was certainly interesting because I didn't know there was so much to olive oil, but I had a hard time discerning the difference between some of them. The only very noticeable difference was between the 2009 oils and the 2010 oils. The newer oils had a stronger flavor, and the color was a deep green, rather than the normal yellowish color. We were also given the opportunity to purchase some of the fresh 2010 olive oil, and I definitely jumped at the opportunity. I bought three bottles to take home with me.
In other news, I saw The Social Network this week as well and I thought it was an instant classic, if you haven't seen it go see it, or maybe I'll go see it with you when I get back because it's worth seeing more than once. Only two weeks of classes left and then we've got finals. I have a lot of work to do between now and the end of the semester, including two minor presentations, one big presentation on sustainable agriculture, and a research paper on the paleolithic diet. Paul and Peter were here for a few weeks and they left a few days ago. It was really nice to spend some time with them and enjoy some great food together. Oh, speaking of great food, I had quite an experience today for lunch. The specialty meal here in Florence is called Bistecca Fiorentina, which is essentially a giant T-bone steak, and I finally tried it this morning. Ohhh boy was it good! I split a 1.75 kg steak with my roommates, Chris and Matt. I'll spare you the math on that, it comes out to about 20 oz of steak each. I honestly didn't think we would finish it but we did. I had the steak, a small salad, and maybe one piece of bread, that was at about 12:30 this afternoon, it's 7:00 now and I'm still full. We got plenty of pictures of the beast, I will be sure to upload pictures as soon as I get them from Matt's camera. That's it for now, Ciao!
In other news, I saw The Social Network this week as well and I thought it was an instant classic, if you haven't seen it go see it, or maybe I'll go see it with you when I get back because it's worth seeing more than once. Only two weeks of classes left and then we've got finals. I have a lot of work to do between now and the end of the semester, including two minor presentations, one big presentation on sustainable agriculture, and a research paper on the paleolithic diet. Paul and Peter were here for a few weeks and they left a few days ago. It was really nice to spend some time with them and enjoy some great food together. Oh, speaking of great food, I had quite an experience today for lunch. The specialty meal here in Florence is called Bistecca Fiorentina, which is essentially a giant T-bone steak, and I finally tried it this morning. Ohhh boy was it good! I split a 1.75 kg steak with my roommates, Chris and Matt. I'll spare you the math on that, it comes out to about 20 oz of steak each. I honestly didn't think we would finish it but we did. I had the steak, a small salad, and maybe one piece of bread, that was at about 12:30 this afternoon, it's 7:00 now and I'm still full. We got plenty of pictures of the beast, I will be sure to upload pictures as soon as I get them from Matt's camera. That's it for now, Ciao!
Oil and Waste
The Final Product
Olive Tree
A Morning's Work
2009 on the left, 2010 on the right
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Only Four Weeks Left!
I can't believe how fast time is flying by here in Florence, we only have four weeks left here. I'm done traveling for the most part, so hopefully I will be able to make the most of my time here in Florence and do everything I want to do before I leave. Here's a review of what's gone on since I last posted...
Two weeks ago, we had a week full of day trips, some of which were more interesting than others. The main highlights were two farm visits. On Wednesday, we visited an area of Tuscany called Mugello, where many of the farms produce beef. We visited a couple of farms and got tours of the facilities. One of the farms was certified organic, but we were told that all of the farms in Mugello were producing their beef organically even if they didn't have the certification to prove it (certification can be expensive). So we met a whole lot of cows that day. Then we had lunch, which was bread with olive oil, an assortment of cured meats including wild boar, pecorino (sheep's milk) cheeses, and an amazing soup that I don't know the name of. After lunch, we had what was certainly one of the most interesting experiences thus far; we went to a slaughterhouse. We were given a thin plastic jacket to put on, masks to cover our mouths, and shoe covers. Although we didn't see the process of slaughtering the animals, we did get a tour of the facilities where they do it, and we saw plenty of meat hanging in each room. They taught us about the labeling process once the meat is packaged, and unlike in America, each package has a set of codes on it which can be traced back to a single cow at a particular farm. Even the ground beef has this labeling, which means that a package of ground beef her in Italy comes from just one cow, whereas in the United States it could contain pieces of 1000 cows. This certainly makes it easier to trace any contamination problems that may arise, and personally, I like the idea of my hamburger containing meat from one cow instead of fragments of cows from 3 different continents.
I thought the slaughterhouse was an incredibly unique experience. The slaughtering of animals for human consumption is something that people don't like to think about too often, but I think it's important to appreciate that this does happen and must happen in order for you to have meat on your plate. Just because we humans no longer need to hunt for food doesn't mean we shouldn't understand the process. It doesn't make eating meat wrong or savage or any other negative spin you can attach to it; it's the cycle of life. In order for us to eat, something else must die. That's how nature works. This experience was also unique because it would NEVER happen in the United States. A slaughterhouse would never let a bunch of students through their doors, let alone give us a tour of the place and teach us how they operate. I'll probably never do it again.
On Friday of that week, we took a 3 hour trip to Maremma, which is another region in Tuscany that is on the shoreline. We visited a very unique farm. While they grow a few crops, like grapes and olives, their main production is an ancient breed of cattle called Maremmana. This breed of cattle has been preserved since the end of the Ice Age, and it was never domesticated. This means that it is still technically a wild animal, and it has thick skin to survive the cold and big horns to protect itself from predators. This farm had a huge amount of land to accommodate these animals needs. They were allowed to roam free within the land for their whole lives, essentially as they would live in the wild, until just a few weeks before slaughter when a cowboy herds them into a smaller area where they're fed hay. I bought a small steak for that night's dinner, and it did not disappoint. While we were there, we had some time to walk on the beach, which felt really great since the weather was perfect that day, and in hindsight it was probably one of the last really nice, warm days I will see until next spring. That's depressing :(
That night after we returned to Florence, I took a train to Rome to meet up with Paul, Peter, and Peter's sister Bev. It was really great to see them, and we had a great day and a half in Rome. I've got work to do and I have already spent too much time writing my blog, but I'll just say that the weather was perfect, we got a fantastic tour of the Vatican, including the Sistine Chapel before it opened in the morning, ate a wonderful dinner outside, and ate some of the best gelato I've had yet. All four of us came back to Florence on that Sunday, and I will have to talk about that another time. Ciao!
Two weeks ago, we had a week full of day trips, some of which were more interesting than others. The main highlights were two farm visits. On Wednesday, we visited an area of Tuscany called Mugello, where many of the farms produce beef. We visited a couple of farms and got tours of the facilities. One of the farms was certified organic, but we were told that all of the farms in Mugello were producing their beef organically even if they didn't have the certification to prove it (certification can be expensive). So we met a whole lot of cows that day. Then we had lunch, which was bread with olive oil, an assortment of cured meats including wild boar, pecorino (sheep's milk) cheeses, and an amazing soup that I don't know the name of. After lunch, we had what was certainly one of the most interesting experiences thus far; we went to a slaughterhouse. We were given a thin plastic jacket to put on, masks to cover our mouths, and shoe covers. Although we didn't see the process of slaughtering the animals, we did get a tour of the facilities where they do it, and we saw plenty of meat hanging in each room. They taught us about the labeling process once the meat is packaged, and unlike in America, each package has a set of codes on it which can be traced back to a single cow at a particular farm. Even the ground beef has this labeling, which means that a package of ground beef her in Italy comes from just one cow, whereas in the United States it could contain pieces of 1000 cows. This certainly makes it easier to trace any contamination problems that may arise, and personally, I like the idea of my hamburger containing meat from one cow instead of fragments of cows from 3 different continents.
I thought the slaughterhouse was an incredibly unique experience. The slaughtering of animals for human consumption is something that people don't like to think about too often, but I think it's important to appreciate that this does happen and must happen in order for you to have meat on your plate. Just because we humans no longer need to hunt for food doesn't mean we shouldn't understand the process. It doesn't make eating meat wrong or savage or any other negative spin you can attach to it; it's the cycle of life. In order for us to eat, something else must die. That's how nature works. This experience was also unique because it would NEVER happen in the United States. A slaughterhouse would never let a bunch of students through their doors, let alone give us a tour of the place and teach us how they operate. I'll probably never do it again.
On Friday of that week, we took a 3 hour trip to Maremma, which is another region in Tuscany that is on the shoreline. We visited a very unique farm. While they grow a few crops, like grapes and olives, their main production is an ancient breed of cattle called Maremmana. This breed of cattle has been preserved since the end of the Ice Age, and it was never domesticated. This means that it is still technically a wild animal, and it has thick skin to survive the cold and big horns to protect itself from predators. This farm had a huge amount of land to accommodate these animals needs. They were allowed to roam free within the land for their whole lives, essentially as they would live in the wild, until just a few weeks before slaughter when a cowboy herds them into a smaller area where they're fed hay. I bought a small steak for that night's dinner, and it did not disappoint. While we were there, we had some time to walk on the beach, which felt really great since the weather was perfect that day, and in hindsight it was probably one of the last really nice, warm days I will see until next spring. That's depressing :(
That night after we returned to Florence, I took a train to Rome to meet up with Paul, Peter, and Peter's sister Bev. It was really great to see them, and we had a great day and a half in Rome. I've got work to do and I have already spent too much time writing my blog, but I'll just say that the weather was perfect, we got a fantastic tour of the Vatican, including the Sistine Chapel before it opened in the morning, ate a wonderful dinner outside, and ate some of the best gelato I've had yet. All four of us came back to Florence on that Sunday, and I will have to talk about that another time. Ciao!
Tuscan Cowboy
Maremmana
Me and My Roommates
Cows at Mugello
Slaughterhouse
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Tour of Europe!
Okay so I'm way behind on the blogs. Instead of writing a long detailed post for each city that I have visited over the past few weeks, I'll just try to sum it up in a short paragraph. On our 10-day break, 6 of us went to Ireland, Barcelona, and Paris. And on the long weekend following that trip (this past weekend, we had Monday off because it was All Saints Day), Matt and I went to Porto, Portugal for a couple of days
So, first stop was Dublin. The first night, we checked into our hostel and immediately went out in the Temple Bar area. We had a few drinks and talked to some people. It was great being in a country where everyone speaks English. We didn't stay out too late the first night because we were getting up early the next day to go to Galway, which is on the west coast of Ireland (Dublin's on the east coast). So we got up the next day and took a bus to Galway. I definitely like Galway more than Dublin. It was a smaller city, there was much more grass, and the culture there was more traditional Irish. Dublin, we learned, has been taken over by just about every country in Western Europe at one time or another, and as a result has a lot of influence from others. Galway, on the other hand, is one of the only parts of Ireland that was rarely, if ever, conquered. When the country was invaded, people would typically invade on the east side, where Dublin is, so everyone tended to flee to the west coast. So, Galway historically was rarely influenced by foreign culture. Everyone there was so incredibly friendly, and we were talking to everyone just because we loved the fact that everyone spoke our language. The second day in Galway, we did a tour of Connemara, which was an area outside of the city along the coast to the north. It was a beautiful area, and we learned all about the history of Ireland and the region of Connemara. That night, after the all-day tour, we went back to Dublin for our last night. The following day, we did a walking tour of Dublin, got an amazing cheap lunch (Guinness stew), and packed our luggage to get on a plane to Barcelona at 10:50!
And this is where things began to get interesting. It turns out our flight didn't leave at 10:50, it left at 20:50... which is 8:50. Somehow, between the six of us, nobody caught our error. So we were stuck in an empty airport at 11pm in Dublin with no way to get to Barcelona that night. There were multiple options at that point, including staying in Dublin for another few days and finding a flight to Paris, or possibly going to another city if we could find a cheap flight. But for me, there was no other option but to go to Barcelona. It was 100 euro fee to take another flight the following day to Reus, which is about an hour outside of Barcelona, and considering it would have cost me 141 euros to buy a ticket for that flight, it wasn't such a bad deal. As it turned out, only Matt and I went to Barcelona, and the other four girls decided to stay in Ireland for a few days. So we all found a cheap hostel to stay in that night, and in the morning, Matt and I departed for Barcelona.
Barcelona didn't start off so well. The flight gave me some time to think, and I all of a sudden realized that I was running out of money. The 100 euros for the flight change, along with another night in a hostel, along with paying for a night in Barcelona that we didn't need, along with the unnecessary transportation to and from the Dublin airport the previous night... it all put a huge dent in my wallet, and I didn't stop and think about how little money I had until the flight to Barcelona. In addition to that, I hadn't eaten any quality food since the Guinness stew from the previous afternoon, I had been surviving on cheap stuff like bread, cereal, crackers, etc. So when I first arrived in Barcelona, I was in a horrible mood. Sort of depressed, really down, and worried about my money situation. I also couldn't get a hold of any of my family in the States because my phone ran out of minutes and I didn't have a computer. And since it was a weekend, nobody was answering my emails that I was able to send from the airport. Finally, once we checked into the hostel in Barcelona, I was able to use Matt's computer to call my mom on Skype and notify her of my money problem. And thanks to Gramps, I now had enough money to get me through Barcelona and Paris. And in addition, my dad finally answered his email and was able to help me out too. I don't know where I'd be without my family, thanks guys!
So... on to happier times. Barcelona turned out to be an awesome time. Before I forget, we found this amazing Japanese buffet the night we got in. Fifteen euros got us all you can eat, including just about every Japanese food you could imagine. That includes sushi, seafood, rice, noodles, dessert, and a whole bunch of stuff I couldn't identify. The best part, though, was the stir-fry guy. We could pick out any raw meat and vegetables we wanted from the huge selection and give it to the stir-fry guy behind the counter, and he would stir fry it in a sauce of our choice. I think I had three plates. Barcelona is a big city, but we pretty much saw everything we wanted to see in the two full days we had there. We bought 2-day bus tour tickets, which allowed us to see the whole city. It was way too big to walk to everything. The bus had two routes, which was perfect because we did one the first day and the other the second day. And we were also able to get off the bus whenever we wanted to walk around somewhere and get back on the next bus. The two highlights of Barcelona were definitely the Sagrada Familia and Park Guell. The Sagrada Familia was a cathedral designed by Gaudi (Gaudi designed many buildings in the city). But this was no ordinary cathedral. If anyone is familiar with Gaudi, any structure designed by him is a completely unique style, unlike anything I've ever seen. Google it to find pictures, or you could check out my Facebook pictures. Park Guell was a park on a mountainside, with a few buildings designed by Gaudi that looked like they belonged in Whoville. It was a fun hike and we were rewarded with a phenomenal view of the city. Once again... Facebook pictures. So that was our first day. On the second day, we toured the Olympic stadium used in the '92 Olympics, visited the soccer stadium that is home to FC Barcelona, among a few other things. That night, Chris and Catherine arrived in Barcelona; they were doing a different tour of Europe, in Paris, Barcelona, then Madrid. So we ate dinner with them at an amazing and cheap restaurant called Les Quinze Nits. The chefs preparing the food, we learned, were culinary students, so they were able to keep the prices very affordable. We had paella, squid, steak, etc., and a whole lot of sangria. The next morning, we checked our flight departure time 46,147 times and made it to the airport in plenty of time to catch a plane to Paris!
I didn't really have high hopes for Paris, probably because going to Paris is extremely cliche and I wanted to be different. But there really wasn't anything in particular I cared to see in Paris. Once we got there though, I was blown away. It ended up being my favorite place on the trip. The Eiffel Tower was amazing, the food was delicious and surprisingly affordable, the pastries and such were amazing, and most importantly, the girls there were better looking than anywhere I've ever been. When we arrived there, we immediately met up with our friends who had stayed in Dublin while we were in Barcelona. One of them had decided to go back to Florence, and another was now staying with a friend she had in Paris. So it was really only two of the girls that we were meeting. It turned out great though, because with only four of us, we could all get a room to ourselves in the hostel. It was nice to be able to keep my stuff out in the open and not worry about someone stealing it. The next morning, we began with the Eiffel Tower. I didn't realize how awesome the Eiffel Tower was until I saw it when we got off the metro. It seemed surreal to be so close to it. I had obviously seen pictures of it all my life, but I had never given it much thought; it was never one of my goals when I came to Europe to see the Eiffel Tower, or even visit Paris for that matter. We climbed up as far as we could using the stairs, which was about 2/3 of the way up, but the only way to get to the top was by elevator. The view was fantastic, we got plenty of pictures. After that, we took the metro to Versailles, which is a historical chateau where many of the important French royalty have lived. It was beautiful and boring at the same time. It reminded me of the mansions in Newport, RI; I felt like I had already seen it. The headset I wore told me about the details of the house, but I really wanted to learn more about the history of France as it relates to Versailles. My favorite part was the gigantic garden in the back of the chateau. It must have been at least a square mile in size. That night we found a cheap crepe stand in the city for dinner. It was my first crepe, I got the chicken and cheese. Lots of cheese. The French love cheese. The next day our first stop was the Louvre, which has to be the biggest museum on earth. It would take you at least 3 days to go through everything in that place. We decided to see the Mona Lisa and then stick to the ancient civilization section. We then walked by Notre Dame, which was nothing special in my opinion, then took the metro to the Arc de Triomphe. The Arc de Triomphe was pretty cool, it's basically a giant arch in the middle of a roundabout, but it was nice to see. Then we walked down the Champs Elysees, which is the famous street with all of the places to spend all your money. The only place we stopped at was a famous pastry shop called Laduree. At first I didn't think I would get anything, but my friend Nicole convinced me to try a macaron. I didn't know what to expect, they look like little colorful cheeseburgers, and they were way overpriced at 1.60 per macaron. But I bought two anyway, and WOW were they good! I've never tasted anything like it, it was crunchy and chewy at the same time, just the right amount of sweet. I immediately wished I bought a dozen of them, and I would have gotten more if the line wasn't so long. That night, we had dinner a nice affordable restaurant, then Matt and I decided to buy a Pinot Noir and walk around the city. It was probably the best wine I've ever had in my short time drinking wine. We walked around the area where our hostel was, got a picture in front of the Moulin Rouge because that's the cool thing to do, and then crashed for the night. In the morning, we again checked our flight departure time 459,418 times and made it in time to get our plane back to Italy. It was a looong 10 days of traveling and at that point, I needed a couple of days to sleep well and eat healthy so I could stop feeling like crap. I only had 5 days before Matt and I went on another trip to Porto for a short weekend trip.
Porto was definitely a much anticipated trip. Matt is Portuguese, his dad was born there, so he was really excited about going. And I was excited myself, just because Portugal isn't somewhere a lot of people go on vacation, and I thought it was cool to go somewhere that's not really a tourist hot spot. Porto ended up being my second favorite city, just behind Paris. The forecast had looked gloomy all week. We checked it every day leading up to the trip and every time we checked the forecast for Friday and Saturday was Heavy Rain / Windy. Not exactly what you want when you'll be walking around the city all day. We arrived there Friday night, we only had Saturday to tour the city, and then we left around noon on Sunday. It wasn't raining too bad when we got there, so went out to dinner at what was considered an "expensive restaurant." As we quickly learned, an expensive restaurant in Porto is MUCH cheaper than an expensive restaurant in Italy or the United States. We ordered soups, sardines for an appetizer, a big order of bacalhau (cod) and potatoes, desserts, and a bottle of wine... the total for both of us was 36 euros, and it's not customary to tip! The food was really great too, I would say it was up there with the best meals I've had in Europe, and that's saying a lot. That night, we went out to a bar and met these nursing students who were out celebrating their graduation... which isn't until June. I'm pretty sure they just wanted a reason to party. But they spoke good English, so we hung out with them for a while before hitting the hay for the night. The next day was our only day to see the city, and we lucked out with the weather. In the morning it was just sprinkling, and that turned into mid 60's and sunny for about 4 hours in the middle of the day. During that time, we saw some of the local churches (I've seen enough churches by now, thank you), visited a famous bookstore, had an authentic Portuguese lunch, then made our way down to the Douro River. The sun really came out when we were down by the river, which was perfect timing because it's absolutely gorgeous down there. We enjoyed the nice weather for a minute, but we were on a tight schedule if we wanted to see all we wanted to see in just one day, so we headed over the bridge to the wine cellars. There are countless wine cellars to tour, and we had time to do two of them. They each gave us a tour of the facility and then gave us some wine to taste afterward. Port wine is different from normal wine. The fermentation of the grapes, which turns the sugar into alcohol, is stopped prematurely by the addition of wine brandy. As a result, the wine contains more sugar and is sweeter, but it also contains more alcohol because of the brandy that was added. This adds up to a wonderful combination of deliciousness. I loved it. After the tours, we were planning on taking a tram to the coast, about a half hour ride, to see the ocean. That was really my number one thing to do (I think I secretly wanted to see home on the other side), but when we stepped outside the wine cellar it was like stepping into a hurricane. Heavy rain and windy had arrived in a big way. We could barely get out of the building to walk around, let alone make it to the coast for sunset, which now would have been significantly less awesome with the clouds. We gradually made it back up the hill to our hostel over the course of the next hour and a half, stopping in shops periodically to look for souvenirs and to dry off. We ate dinner again at the same restaurant, I had veal and Matt got octopus, but we shared them. Oh, and I forgot to mention before the amazing dessert that I had. They had a dessert called Hidden Apple Pie that gives Gram's apple pie a run for its money. It was a pie crust, with a layer of apples, and then on top was a layer of tiramisu-like creamy goodness, with cinnamon on top. If I could only figure out how to make it... So that night Matt wasn't feeling so good, and I was just tired and wanted to drink some wine, so we watched Pulp Fiction at the hostel and called it a night. The next day, we checked our flight departure time about 20 times, a significant reduction from before, and made it safely back to Italy.
The END. That was a long letter. This week we don't have classes, we are doing day trips to farms and other places. I will probably write about that later this week, then I'm meeting Paul and Peter in Rome Friday night until Sunday, so I'm definitely looking forward to that. I still have A's in all my classes, looks like this semester will boost my GPA a bit, and I'm learning a ton too. Coming to Italy was definitely the best idea I've ever had. Ciao tutti!
So, first stop was Dublin. The first night, we checked into our hostel and immediately went out in the Temple Bar area. We had a few drinks and talked to some people. It was great being in a country where everyone speaks English. We didn't stay out too late the first night because we were getting up early the next day to go to Galway, which is on the west coast of Ireland (Dublin's on the east coast). So we got up the next day and took a bus to Galway. I definitely like Galway more than Dublin. It was a smaller city, there was much more grass, and the culture there was more traditional Irish. Dublin, we learned, has been taken over by just about every country in Western Europe at one time or another, and as a result has a lot of influence from others. Galway, on the other hand, is one of the only parts of Ireland that was rarely, if ever, conquered. When the country was invaded, people would typically invade on the east side, where Dublin is, so everyone tended to flee to the west coast. So, Galway historically was rarely influenced by foreign culture. Everyone there was so incredibly friendly, and we were talking to everyone just because we loved the fact that everyone spoke our language. The second day in Galway, we did a tour of Connemara, which was an area outside of the city along the coast to the north. It was a beautiful area, and we learned all about the history of Ireland and the region of Connemara. That night, after the all-day tour, we went back to Dublin for our last night. The following day, we did a walking tour of Dublin, got an amazing cheap lunch (Guinness stew), and packed our luggage to get on a plane to Barcelona at 10:50!
And this is where things began to get interesting. It turns out our flight didn't leave at 10:50, it left at 20:50... which is 8:50. Somehow, between the six of us, nobody caught our error. So we were stuck in an empty airport at 11pm in Dublin with no way to get to Barcelona that night. There were multiple options at that point, including staying in Dublin for another few days and finding a flight to Paris, or possibly going to another city if we could find a cheap flight. But for me, there was no other option but to go to Barcelona. It was 100 euro fee to take another flight the following day to Reus, which is about an hour outside of Barcelona, and considering it would have cost me 141 euros to buy a ticket for that flight, it wasn't such a bad deal. As it turned out, only Matt and I went to Barcelona, and the other four girls decided to stay in Ireland for a few days. So we all found a cheap hostel to stay in that night, and in the morning, Matt and I departed for Barcelona.
Barcelona didn't start off so well. The flight gave me some time to think, and I all of a sudden realized that I was running out of money. The 100 euros for the flight change, along with another night in a hostel, along with paying for a night in Barcelona that we didn't need, along with the unnecessary transportation to and from the Dublin airport the previous night... it all put a huge dent in my wallet, and I didn't stop and think about how little money I had until the flight to Barcelona. In addition to that, I hadn't eaten any quality food since the Guinness stew from the previous afternoon, I had been surviving on cheap stuff like bread, cereal, crackers, etc. So when I first arrived in Barcelona, I was in a horrible mood. Sort of depressed, really down, and worried about my money situation. I also couldn't get a hold of any of my family in the States because my phone ran out of minutes and I didn't have a computer. And since it was a weekend, nobody was answering my emails that I was able to send from the airport. Finally, once we checked into the hostel in Barcelona, I was able to use Matt's computer to call my mom on Skype and notify her of my money problem. And thanks to Gramps, I now had enough money to get me through Barcelona and Paris. And in addition, my dad finally answered his email and was able to help me out too. I don't know where I'd be without my family, thanks guys!
So... on to happier times. Barcelona turned out to be an awesome time. Before I forget, we found this amazing Japanese buffet the night we got in. Fifteen euros got us all you can eat, including just about every Japanese food you could imagine. That includes sushi, seafood, rice, noodles, dessert, and a whole bunch of stuff I couldn't identify. The best part, though, was the stir-fry guy. We could pick out any raw meat and vegetables we wanted from the huge selection and give it to the stir-fry guy behind the counter, and he would stir fry it in a sauce of our choice. I think I had three plates. Barcelona is a big city, but we pretty much saw everything we wanted to see in the two full days we had there. We bought 2-day bus tour tickets, which allowed us to see the whole city. It was way too big to walk to everything. The bus had two routes, which was perfect because we did one the first day and the other the second day. And we were also able to get off the bus whenever we wanted to walk around somewhere and get back on the next bus. The two highlights of Barcelona were definitely the Sagrada Familia and Park Guell. The Sagrada Familia was a cathedral designed by Gaudi (Gaudi designed many buildings in the city). But this was no ordinary cathedral. If anyone is familiar with Gaudi, any structure designed by him is a completely unique style, unlike anything I've ever seen. Google it to find pictures, or you could check out my Facebook pictures. Park Guell was a park on a mountainside, with a few buildings designed by Gaudi that looked like they belonged in Whoville. It was a fun hike and we were rewarded with a phenomenal view of the city. Once again... Facebook pictures. So that was our first day. On the second day, we toured the Olympic stadium used in the '92 Olympics, visited the soccer stadium that is home to FC Barcelona, among a few other things. That night, Chris and Catherine arrived in Barcelona; they were doing a different tour of Europe, in Paris, Barcelona, then Madrid. So we ate dinner with them at an amazing and cheap restaurant called Les Quinze Nits. The chefs preparing the food, we learned, were culinary students, so they were able to keep the prices very affordable. We had paella, squid, steak, etc., and a whole lot of sangria. The next morning, we checked our flight departure time 46,147 times and made it to the airport in plenty of time to catch a plane to Paris!
I didn't really have high hopes for Paris, probably because going to Paris is extremely cliche and I wanted to be different. But there really wasn't anything in particular I cared to see in Paris. Once we got there though, I was blown away. It ended up being my favorite place on the trip. The Eiffel Tower was amazing, the food was delicious and surprisingly affordable, the pastries and such were amazing, and most importantly, the girls there were better looking than anywhere I've ever been. When we arrived there, we immediately met up with our friends who had stayed in Dublin while we were in Barcelona. One of them had decided to go back to Florence, and another was now staying with a friend she had in Paris. So it was really only two of the girls that we were meeting. It turned out great though, because with only four of us, we could all get a room to ourselves in the hostel. It was nice to be able to keep my stuff out in the open and not worry about someone stealing it. The next morning, we began with the Eiffel Tower. I didn't realize how awesome the Eiffel Tower was until I saw it when we got off the metro. It seemed surreal to be so close to it. I had obviously seen pictures of it all my life, but I had never given it much thought; it was never one of my goals when I came to Europe to see the Eiffel Tower, or even visit Paris for that matter. We climbed up as far as we could using the stairs, which was about 2/3 of the way up, but the only way to get to the top was by elevator. The view was fantastic, we got plenty of pictures. After that, we took the metro to Versailles, which is a historical chateau where many of the important French royalty have lived. It was beautiful and boring at the same time. It reminded me of the mansions in Newport, RI; I felt like I had already seen it. The headset I wore told me about the details of the house, but I really wanted to learn more about the history of France as it relates to Versailles. My favorite part was the gigantic garden in the back of the chateau. It must have been at least a square mile in size. That night we found a cheap crepe stand in the city for dinner. It was my first crepe, I got the chicken and cheese. Lots of cheese. The French love cheese. The next day our first stop was the Louvre, which has to be the biggest museum on earth. It would take you at least 3 days to go through everything in that place. We decided to see the Mona Lisa and then stick to the ancient civilization section. We then walked by Notre Dame, which was nothing special in my opinion, then took the metro to the Arc de Triomphe. The Arc de Triomphe was pretty cool, it's basically a giant arch in the middle of a roundabout, but it was nice to see. Then we walked down the Champs Elysees, which is the famous street with all of the places to spend all your money. The only place we stopped at was a famous pastry shop called Laduree. At first I didn't think I would get anything, but my friend Nicole convinced me to try a macaron. I didn't know what to expect, they look like little colorful cheeseburgers, and they were way overpriced at 1.60 per macaron. But I bought two anyway, and WOW were they good! I've never tasted anything like it, it was crunchy and chewy at the same time, just the right amount of sweet. I immediately wished I bought a dozen of them, and I would have gotten more if the line wasn't so long. That night, we had dinner a nice affordable restaurant, then Matt and I decided to buy a Pinot Noir and walk around the city. It was probably the best wine I've ever had in my short time drinking wine. We walked around the area where our hostel was, got a picture in front of the Moulin Rouge because that's the cool thing to do, and then crashed for the night. In the morning, we again checked our flight departure time 459,418 times and made it in time to get our plane back to Italy. It was a looong 10 days of traveling and at that point, I needed a couple of days to sleep well and eat healthy so I could stop feeling like crap. I only had 5 days before Matt and I went on another trip to Porto for a short weekend trip.
Porto was definitely a much anticipated trip. Matt is Portuguese, his dad was born there, so he was really excited about going. And I was excited myself, just because Portugal isn't somewhere a lot of people go on vacation, and I thought it was cool to go somewhere that's not really a tourist hot spot. Porto ended up being my second favorite city, just behind Paris. The forecast had looked gloomy all week. We checked it every day leading up to the trip and every time we checked the forecast for Friday and Saturday was Heavy Rain / Windy. Not exactly what you want when you'll be walking around the city all day. We arrived there Friday night, we only had Saturday to tour the city, and then we left around noon on Sunday. It wasn't raining too bad when we got there, so went out to dinner at what was considered an "expensive restaurant." As we quickly learned, an expensive restaurant in Porto is MUCH cheaper than an expensive restaurant in Italy or the United States. We ordered soups, sardines for an appetizer, a big order of bacalhau (cod) and potatoes, desserts, and a bottle of wine... the total for both of us was 36 euros, and it's not customary to tip! The food was really great too, I would say it was up there with the best meals I've had in Europe, and that's saying a lot. That night, we went out to a bar and met these nursing students who were out celebrating their graduation... which isn't until June. I'm pretty sure they just wanted a reason to party. But they spoke good English, so we hung out with them for a while before hitting the hay for the night. The next day was our only day to see the city, and we lucked out with the weather. In the morning it was just sprinkling, and that turned into mid 60's and sunny for about 4 hours in the middle of the day. During that time, we saw some of the local churches (I've seen enough churches by now, thank you), visited a famous bookstore, had an authentic Portuguese lunch, then made our way down to the Douro River. The sun really came out when we were down by the river, which was perfect timing because it's absolutely gorgeous down there. We enjoyed the nice weather for a minute, but we were on a tight schedule if we wanted to see all we wanted to see in just one day, so we headed over the bridge to the wine cellars. There are countless wine cellars to tour, and we had time to do two of them. They each gave us a tour of the facility and then gave us some wine to taste afterward. Port wine is different from normal wine. The fermentation of the grapes, which turns the sugar into alcohol, is stopped prematurely by the addition of wine brandy. As a result, the wine contains more sugar and is sweeter, but it also contains more alcohol because of the brandy that was added. This adds up to a wonderful combination of deliciousness. I loved it. After the tours, we were planning on taking a tram to the coast, about a half hour ride, to see the ocean. That was really my number one thing to do (I think I secretly wanted to see home on the other side), but when we stepped outside the wine cellar it was like stepping into a hurricane. Heavy rain and windy had arrived in a big way. We could barely get out of the building to walk around, let alone make it to the coast for sunset, which now would have been significantly less awesome with the clouds. We gradually made it back up the hill to our hostel over the course of the next hour and a half, stopping in shops periodically to look for souvenirs and to dry off. We ate dinner again at the same restaurant, I had veal and Matt got octopus, but we shared them. Oh, and I forgot to mention before the amazing dessert that I had. They had a dessert called Hidden Apple Pie that gives Gram's apple pie a run for its money. It was a pie crust, with a layer of apples, and then on top was a layer of tiramisu-like creamy goodness, with cinnamon on top. If I could only figure out how to make it... So that night Matt wasn't feeling so good, and I was just tired and wanted to drink some wine, so we watched Pulp Fiction at the hostel and called it a night. The next day, we checked our flight departure time about 20 times, a significant reduction from before, and made it safely back to Italy.
The END. That was a long letter. This week we don't have classes, we are doing day trips to farms and other places. I will probably write about that later this week, then I'm meeting Paul and Peter in Rome Friday night until Sunday, so I'm definitely looking forward to that. I still have A's in all my classes, looks like this semester will boost my GPA a bit, and I'm learning a ton too. Coming to Italy was definitely the best idea I've ever had. Ciao tutti!
Connemara in Ireland
John Wayne impersonation on the Connemara tour.
From the Eiffel Tower
The garden at Versailles
Sagrada Familia
Park Guell's Whoville structures by Gaudi
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