Beautiful Views and Delicious Food

     The weekend after Fall Break, Caitlin and I explored Florence and visited the nearby cities of Parma and Modena.

     On Friday afternoon, Caitlin and I climbed to the top of Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral (the Duomo) for one of the best views of the city. The climb up was a constant spiral and thus a little dizzying, but it was really amazing. At two points we entered the inside of the church and were right below the beautiful frescoes that cover the inside of the dome. It was incredible. Not only could you see the church below, but you were so close to the fresco's that you could see the individual brush strokes. Everything painted in the scene was so much bigger from this point of view than from looking up into the dome from the floor of the church.



Climbing the stairs

Right below the frescoe!



      When we finished admiring the fresco we continued our climb. After a few more flights of stairs we finally reached the top. The view was spectacular. Because it was a nice clear day you could see for miles. You could see all the major monuments in Florence, the hills surrounding the city, and Caitlin and I were even able to spot our apartment. We took tons of pictures and were lucky enough to see the sun set behind the Tuscan hills. It was a great experience and if you ever visit Florence I would definitely recommend climbing to the top of the Duomo.



  

View from the top- Santa Croce in the background

     On Saturday Caitlin and I went on a school trip to Parma and Modena to learn about the production of some of Italy's delicacies. Parma is famous for their prosciutto and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and Modena is famous for their balsamic vinegar.
     Our day began very early... at 4 in the morning to be exact. We had to be in Parma at 8:00am so we had to leave Florence by 5:30am. Caitlin and I weren't too thrilled about getting up this early (especially me since I had to register for classes at 2 in the morning!), but our trip ended up being well worth our lack of sleep.
     Our first stop was a Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese factory in Parma. When we arrived we were given
 cute little biohazard suits to wear into the factory so that none of our germs got into the cheese. Next, we went inside to see and learn about the cheese making process. Some interesting things I learned were that the vats in which the cheese is made cost 10,000 Euros each (this factory had 4), the cheese must age for a minimum of 2 years to be considered Parmigiano-Reggiano, and one wheel of cheese costs 480 Euros and weights about 85lbs. Once we had finished with our tour we were able to taste some Parmigiano-Reggiano that had aged for 22 years and had some nice wine to go with it. It was delicious.

Caitlin and I in our biohazard suits

Rows and rows of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

     Our next stop was a prosciutto factory in Parma. We saw each stage that the prosciutto goes through before it can be eaten. It must be salted, washed, hung to dry, and then aired for a period of up to 18 months. As we were walking through the factory there were thousands of prosciutto legs hanging everywhere. The owner told us that his factory produces 50,000 every year. When we asked him if any of his prosciutto was shipped overseas to the United States he replied, "No, this prosciutto is too good for America." lol. Some interesting facts I learned while there was that a leg of prosciutto costs around 130-150 Euros, and that the region of Parma produces about 10 million legs of prosciutto each year.
     After we toured the factory we were treated to a nice lunch which consisted of some of the factory's prosciutto. Of course it was delicious and proved to intensify my love for one of my favorite Italian dishes.

Prosciutto legs everywhere!

Lunch after our tour

  

   Our last stop was the city of Modena. Here we got to tour a balsamic vinegar factory. Balsamic vinegar is made from the juice of grapes, boiled down to create a concentrate, and then placed in wooden barrels where it is fermented through a slow aging process. In order to be considered traditional balsamic vinegar it must be aged for a minimum of 12 years. This balsamic vinegar is more expensive (The more it ages the more expensive it is). They also have balsamic vinegar that has been aged for less than 12 years (For example, 6, 4, and 2 years). Although it is not considered "traditional" balsamic vinegar and is not as expensive, it is still very tasty. After our tour we got to taste a variety of balsamic vinegar ranging in age and flavor. We tried an orange and apple flavored balsamic vinegar, as well as balsamic vinegar ranging in age from 6- 50 years. The older the vinegar the more thick and sweet it was.

    Being able to tour the different factories in Parma and Modena was such an awesome experience. It was really cool being able to see how such staples of Italian food are made. It definitely made me appreciate Italian food so much more... and is perhaps part of the reason I have gained a few pounds!

Paris: The City of Lights

     For the second half of Fall Break (October 28-November 1) I went to Paris with Caitlin, Katrina and Ashley. Ashley has family that lives in Paris and they were kind enough to let us stay with them for the weekend. Despite having issues with flights being cancelled and figuring out how to get from the airport to Ashley's family's apartment we eventually all made it to Paris late Thursday night. After eating a delicious meal prepared by Ashley's aunt, we socialized for a bit, showered and then went to bed.
     On our first day in Paris, Ashley's cousin Sonia took us all around the city. Our first stop was the Eiffel Tower. We took the metro there and on our way I caught my first glimpse of the tower as it flashed behind some buildings. I started clapping and jumping up and down like a little girl. lol I was so excited! When we finally arrived in front of the Eiffel Tower I took my time admiring the famous monument. It was so big and I couldn't believe that it wasn't planned to be a permanent structure at the time it was built. (It served as the entrance arch to the World Fair in 1889 and was supposed to be dismantled afterwards.)



     After taking plenty of pictures in front of the Eiffel Tower, we headed to Champs Elysees. Champs Elysees is a very famous street in Paris and is known by the French as "La Plus Belle Avenue du Monde" (The Most Beautiful Street in the World). It is 1.25 miles long, is lined with cafes and designer stores and is home to the Arc de Triumph. While we were there we admired the beautiful shops and buildings, grabbed a sandwich to go and then continued toward the Arc de Triumph. The Arc was big and beautiful and was surrounded by a huge round-about where a lot of traffic was passing through. We walked around the entire thing and got a view of every angle before we made our way to our next stop: Notre Dame Cathedral.



Arc de Triumph

    
     As we were making our way to Notre Dame we decided to make a detour... for some nutella crepes. The French are famous for their crepes and we all knew that we could not leave Paris without having at least one so we stopped at one of the many crepe stands in the area and each got a nutella crepe. We got to watch them being made and before they could even cool down we had devoured them. 

    

     Once we got to the cathedral we admired the beautiful architecture, took a few pictures, and then Katrina and I split off from Ashley, Caitlin and Sonia (they have all already seen the church) and went inside.  

     The outside of Notre Dame was beautiful, but the inside was absolutely magnificent. There were gorgeous stained glassed windows everywhere, beautiful gothic arches, and although it was dark, there was choir music playing in the background and I found it to be very peaceful. It was one of the most beautiful churches (if not the most) I have ever been in and it was the perfect way to end our first day in Paris.

     On our second day in Paris Katrina and I woke up early to visit the Louvre Museum. The line wasn't very long and once we were inside we put Rick Steves on my ipod, put our headphones in and let him show us around. We saw some very famous pieces of art including the Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss, Michelangelo's slaves, and of course the Mona Lisa. My favorite piece was Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss. It is carved out of a flawless white marble and the way Cupid and Psyche embrace each other is absolutely beautiful. After two hours of touring the museum we decided it was time to leave. The museum was packed with people and Rick Steve's kept leading us astray. On our way out we stopped to take a few pictures in front of the famous pyramid.

    
     After we visited the Louvre we made our way to Sacre-Couer (Sacred Heart) Basilica. It is a beautiful church on top of a hill that overlooks the city of Paris. The church was beautiful, but not nearly as beautiful as the view. The sky was blue with puffy white clouds, there was a light breeze and you could see for miles. When we had finished looking around the church we went outside and decided to enjoy the scenery. We joined a group of people sitting on a large set of steps right outside the basilica and listened to a man sing and play his guitar and watched street entertainers juggle soccer balls while climbing lamp posts. Out of all the street performers I have seen throughout Europe, they were the most impressive and if I wasn't a poor college student I would have given them a tip. After 15 minutes of relaxation we made our way back to the apartment.

Sacre-Couer from the bottom of the hill

It's hard to see, but he's juggling a soccer ball!

    
     That night Caitlin, Katrina, Ashley, her two cousins Sonia and Bina, and their two friends, and I all went to dinner together. We went to a popular creperie for some savory crepes. I had a crepe with tomatoes, sausage and cheese. It was yummy, but nearly as delicious as the crepes we ordered for dessert. We shared a nutella crepe and a honey crepe. Ohh they were soooo good. I think I might have even liked the honey crepe better than the nutella (shocking right? lol).
     The next day Trina and I made a day trip to Versailles. We took a 45 minute train ride out of Paris, arrived at 11, waited in line for 2 hours (I'm not exaggerating-not even a little) for 25 Euro tickets, and if we wouldn't have cut in line (I know, I'm bad) to enter Versailles, we probably would have waited another 2 hours. Thankfully it was all worth it. For starters, after getting our tickets we met up with our friend Jess and her friend Katie. Because we had bought their tickets they were kind enough to bring us Starbucks. I had my first caramel frappuchino in 2 months (They don't have Starbucks in Italy) and I was introduced to these delicious mini pancakes that we dipped in a warm caramel sauce. They were to die for and immediately turned my mood around from cranky to chipper. Secondly, the palace and it's gardens were absolutely AMAZING. Probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.
     Once we were inside the gates the first thing we did was tour the palace. It was spectacular. We walked through so many rooms and all of them were so detailed and ornate.

        After touring the inside of the palace we went outside to see the famous Versailles gardens. I thought the palace was huge but the gardens must have been at least 1000 times bigger. It was incredible. There were many fountains, lakes, smaller residences, and thousands of trees and other types of shrubbery, all of which were very intricately designed and placed throughout the gardens. We explored for a few hours and enjoyed the beautiful grounds. My favorite part was the changing colors of the leaves on the trees and the spectacular sunset we saw while we were at Marie Antoinette's house.

Looking out over all the gardens

Marie Antoinette's House

    

     When we left Versailles it was completely dark outside. We had spent the entire day there and despite the rough start, it ended up being my favorite day in Paris. When we got back to the apartment Caitlin, Ashley, her two cousins Bina and Sonia, Katrina and I made homemade enchiladas, rice, and guacamole for dinner. They were delicious and it was nice getting a little taste of home and having a break from all the Italian and Spanish food we had been eating.

     After dinner we decided to head to the Eiffel Tower to see the light show. Once we got there we found a spot to watch the show and then waited for it to begin. At 11:00pm the Eiffel Tower began to sparkle. It was absolutely beautiful and was the perfect explanation for why Paris is known as the City of Lights. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful weekend in Paris.