Sometimes I think I should rename my blog to “Turning the Next Page in the Recipe Book” or “Turning Yet Another Page in Meaghan’s Epic Calorie Consumption Blog.” I feel like I write and talk more about food in this blog than what I actually have been doing. In reality, I have not taken this year abroad to indulge in every chocolate, tort and roll that I set eyes on, but Christmas is Christmas and Italy is Italy. And traveling to Italy and not trying, in my opinion, some of the finest foods in the world, is nothing but blasphemy. We could say that my attitude towards Italy and food aligns well with the attitude of Liz Gilbert, the author of Eat Pray Love, who travels to Italy for three months with the sole purpose of therapy by means of the Italian kitchen.
With that disclaimer, let me say, I was excited to go to Italy and stay with an Italian family my family knows. During the preparation stages of planning my trip, my host, Stefano (who studied in Bow, New Hampshire three years ago), called me to discuss what we would do. I told him plainly, “I don’t really have any ideas of what to do. All I really care about is eating good Italian food.” After five days in Torino, which lies at the foot of the Italian Alps in the northwestern corner of the country, I am waiting for my flight back to Bremen, reminiscing happily on the food. I can’t say I ate anything really out of the ordinary this week, but everything I ate was good. For a half-hour after dinner last night I was still thinking about the amazing tiramisu I guiltlessly ate after eating an entire brick-over pizza. Now, before you all think, “Oh my goodness, Meaghan has really lost her grip on nutrition,” let me assure you that this was not a 3-pound-19-inch pizza from Sal’s Pizza. I did, however, find reasons that didn’t exist to eat gelato: As of Friday I had only eaten gelato once and I decided that it was absolutely shameful to only eat gelato once while in Italy and, since Saturday we were going skiing, that I absolutely had to eat it even though dinner was not far away.
But, because this isn’t a food diary, I will move on to what I did in between meals, which, actually, was quite a lot and involved much walking.
To start at the beginning…Thanks to my limited budget, Ryan Air is my sole airline choice and thanks to Ryan Air’s unbelievable knack for being the most difficult and inconvenient airline or all time, I woke up on Monday morning at 3:30 to be at the airport in enough time for my 6:50 flight (which really means 6:20 because of Ryan Air’s rules). After facing the harsh Ryan Air-created reality that my bag, which was nowhere close to full, was too heavy, I was treated to a 40-euro bag fee. An hour-and-a-half later, I arrive at Stansted London Airport for my 11 hour layover until my evening flight to Torino. The wait was made easier by plotting my revenge against Ryan Air’s bag policy and with some creative smuggling of my laptop, I was able to beat Ryan Air at it’s own game and evade the bag fee.
Transportation aside, I arrived in Torino at night and Stefano and his sister, Elisabetta, picked me up at the airport. On the way to their apartment we picked up some Italian pizza! Very yum.
The next morning Stefano started his tour around his city and in the next several days I saw multiple palaces, Roman ruins and sketches/exhibitions from some of the most influential minds and artists of our civilization, such as Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. No matter how many palaces I see, I am still impressed by the extravagance the royal families of the past indulged in. The rooms are so ornate with so much detail that if the rooms belonged to me, I would not be able to feel at ease; however, they certainly do leave an impressive legacy.
Through visiting historical sites like the palaces, I learned a lot about Italy’s history and path to democracy. Little did I know that Torino, which was a convenient destination for me, is one of the more important cities in Italian history: For almost 1,000 years the same family ruled the Piedmonte region of Italy (the area Torino is in), and throughout the rein gained military and monetary power and thus became the first and only royal family of Italy when it unified in 1861. Until 1946, the Savoy family ruled as the monarchial branch of the Italian government until the country voted to become Parliamentary Democracy and forever shed the monarchy. The Piedmonte region was also one of the first in Italy to industrialize, such as through the development of the famous Italian car brand Fiat (which now, coincidentally, owns Chrysler).
At each of the three palaces were also art exhibitions—one was a gallery of modern-day photos of Italy, its people and traditions to show the progress and evolution of the country; one was an exhibition of Michelangelo’s “Pieta” (Mother and Child) unfinished sketch; and at the third castle in a small town outside of Torino was a display of several da Vinci sketches, which he used to conduct his research of “how things work.” I found it so exciting and interesting to so casually get to see these exhibits. I left the various historic places with feelings of awe and a bit of jealousy: The Italian history is amazingly deep and the country has been home to some of the most important people and civilizations that our world as ever seen—and Italians get to live among it every day and claim it as their own! I have always loved history and this trip gave me the feeling, once again, that no matter how much I study European history, I will always have something more to learn. I am truly continually awestruck by the complexity and lasting influence of European history.
Another highlight of my time in Northern Italy was a day trip to Milan. Our day was cut short, but not before we saw the Duomo (the generic name of the main cathedral of an Italian city) and walked extensively around the shopping district of the city. One of Milan’s most important industries was historically the production of cloth and specialty fabrics. This industry lent itself easily to the worldwide most-high fashion hotspot. Walking through the perfect Italian streets modernized by the fancy window displays of all of the most well known designers, I was again and again dumbfounded by the amount of money that must be spent on those streets: Each store had people leaving with those beautiful, glossy shopping bags with something, which is probably worth what I have left in the bank, tucked neatly inside, wrapped in tissue paper. I was suddenly struck by a thought—What is the most expensive item of clothing I own? I realized, I have few things worth more than 50 dollars and the most expensive thing I have is definitely my pair of boots, which I got after season from DSW—I’m not exactly flaunting Prada, here. And my scarf was 3 euros—definitely not from Hermes.
The beautiful Italian fashion, as it turns out, also translates to the slopes of the Alps, which I had the privilege of skiing on Friday. The pretty and stylish ski clothing worn paled, though, in comparison to the vistas all around. The last time I went downhill skiing was in North Carolina and while that was pretty, it’s completely laughable in comparison to the beauty of the Italian Alps. The conditions were also wonderful and it was scary, exciting and satisfying skiing at a level I never had before. To be honest, I skied absolutely horrendously (which is actually how I always ski), but I feel accomplished for only falling once and not once panicking at how much steeper the slopes were compared to what I very timidly make myself ski back home. I know I probably was one of the worst looking skiers on the mountain that day (between my attire and ski form), but I enjoyed the experience and it was very refreshing seeing snow and smelling clean mountain air after spending so much time in urban areas.
After seven days away from Germany and Bremen I am now returning from my vacation back to what is my home this year. Everything about my time in Italy was refreshing—from a change in pace, new architecture, delicious menus, and lastly, five straight days of sun. It would be nice to spend life perpetually on vacation (and I know it seems sometimes like I do), but I am happy to go back to Bremen and continue developing my life there. I could not have asked for a more ideal setup in Italy and just like any good European country, despite an eventful, packed stay, I am leaving only with a “try-me taste” and am looking forward to whenever I go back for more food, incredible sites and awe-inspiring history. Arrivederci Italia!
