Modena:
After Florence, we went to Modena. Now, tell me, have you ever heard anything EVER about Modena? I'm going to say probably not, and that's exactly how the town is.
Our purpose of being in Modena was to try traditional balsamic vinegar. I know what you are thinking, "EEW!", because that's exactly what we were thinking too. But the balsamic vinegar of the States and the balsamic vinegar of Modena is completely, 100% different. Like wine, this vinegar is made from aged grapes, but in a warmer environment and by a different process. It takes two years to age, and the end result is a thick, syrupy sweet liquid. It is SO GOOD. So good, in fact, that people put a few drops on ice cream. I was going to get some until I was told that a half liter was 67 Euro. No thank you.
One our way to check into our hotel, our busdriver got pulled over. Now, to get pulled over in Italy means someone did something horrible seeing as how no one follows the rules of the road (hence Chris getting hit our third day here). Turns out he ran a red light. What an interesting fellow. He didn't come back the next day; we had a different driver...
After that adventure, we had a free afternoon in Modena. I was really bitter about that because we skipped out on Florence, one of the greatest cities in the world for art, to come to a po-dunk town and try and find something to do. So, like Florence, we went shopping, and like Pienza, we exhausted the town. I got a shirt from a Sri Lankan woman, and a swimswuit from an Italian department store. That's all I could afford because, although there is a lack of things to do, Modena has money. This is where Ferarri and Lambourghini originated, so they are still flying high off of that. The ironic part is that it's very socialist, but functions well. Explain that to me.
Annie, Sahira and I tried going into the biggest church in the town square, but some elderly Italian woman started yelling and us because Annie was wearing a tanktop (you can't enter a church if your knees or shoulders are showing). No big deal, she put on my coat . Lies- to this Italian lady, it was very big deal. Even with the coat on, the lady followed us and continued yelling at us. Luckily, we could outwalk her. We eventually just went into the museum, which really scared me because I don't understand Catholicism at all. In fact, after coming to Italy, I have a very negative outlook about it that I hope a Catholic can change when I come home.
Since Annie, Sahira I were still missing home and Rome, we went to a cafe and got Arizona teas that cost 5 Euro. Then we stumbled upon the most beautiful park which helped us feel connected to home. There were flowers everywhere, a pond, the happiest dogs you have ever seen, and the things that made me the happiest: ducks (!!!), and one maple tree :). That's all I needed to feel okay. Plus, there were little kids throwing food to the ducks and geese which was adorable. Then I thought about child-mother relationships and I got all warm and fuzzy inside. I think every female hits a point in life when kids just make their heart melt. Point has been hit.
That night we had yet another million course meal, but it lasted 2.5 hours this time. As Steven says, how can a society function when they have such long meals? Well, they can't. Take a look at Italy's recent history. This meal was so fun though because all 26 of us were sitting at the same table just having a good time. One of our teachers thought we had been drinking a tad too much and tried to help us with his subtle suggestion of, "Does anyone want more bread?" I don't know why, because later Dr. Probart came to talk to us and it was obvious that she had been drinking the whole 2.5 hours. "Okay guys, heres the deal about tomorrow. Wait, I just forgot. One second" She was all of 5 steps away from Rambling Romolo...
Parma:
So when you see "Parma", I'm sure the first thing you think of is Parmesan cheese. And you'd be right. This is where Parmesan cheese was created, and we were blessed enough to see the whole entire process because we got up at 6 a.m. to go. It's made with fresh milk that is agitated then separated, put into a mold, dunked in salt water, sits on a shelf, and then is sold for 400-500 Euros per wheel. Granted, it was good stuff, but really? In their storeroom they had about 30,000 wheels. Do the math- that thing is a goldmine, complete with 5 levels of security linked directly to the police. We ended our tour with Champagne and cheese- there's nothing like Champagne at 10 in the morning...
Then we went to a prosciutto factory. That was kind of gross. Prosciutto is salt-cured pig that's aged and dehydrated to perfection and sliced very thinly. Once again, good stuff, but it gives me the heebie-jeebies. So the pig gets butchered, it's legs dismembered, it's cleaned, salted, salted, aged and aged for about 600 days until it's ready to be eaten. One leg is about 100 Euro, and their storeroom had about 30,000 legs. Italians are serious about their food.
THE TRAIN:
After we left that place smelling like pig fat, Annie and I needed to get back to Rome. Brace yourself for this. Before we left on our northern trip, we were trying to buy tickets online for about an hour and a half. Their credit card thing wasn't working, and we got so frustrated and mad that we just gave up. We should have known this was going to be a horrible trip.
So we were dropped off at the train station in Modena and went to talk to an employee who was selling tickets. He didn't speak English. After awhile, we pulled an African out of line to translate for us because he was the only one who spoke English and Italian. The employee just ended up being really rude to us, but we had our tickets. Luckily we found Romolo and his wife, and his wife explained to us the basics of how the train system in Italy works. We found our platform and went there to wait for the train. By chance, Dr. Probart and her lackies came up and she asked, "Did you guys stamp your ticket?" Blank stares. "OH NO!", she exclaimed. "Come with me!" So we went with her across the platform, down the steps in a brisk walk in search for a machine to stamp our ticket.
Okay, back to the platform. The train finally comes and we hop on. In Italy, there is a 3-5 minute loading and unloading time, so if you aren't ready, you are toast. We get on the train, which is about a 30 minute ride to Bologna where we will catch our train to Rome. With about 5 minutes left in the ride, the conductor comes over to check our tickets to make sure they were stamped (if they weren't stamped, it would have been a fine). All of a sudden he starts talking very loud and very fast and charging us 27 Euro. For what? We didn't know! By chance, the Italian girls sitting across from Annie spoke broken Spanish, and Annie and I speak Spanish, so they explained to us that we got on the wrong train. We were supposed to be on the train that had a lot of stops, not the direct one. And for that we were fined anyway.
So we get off, and at this point we're a little flustered. We just want to go to the bathroom and go to our next platform. In Italy, unlike in America, it is not required to have a public bathroom in public places. Translated: the train station didn't have a bathroom. So we leave the train station and walk to a 3-story McDonald's, because McDonald's always let's you use the bathroom without asking questions. Not this McDonald's! In fact, there was no bathroom. So we had to cross a very busy 5 lane street to get to a cafe. We had to buy water to use their bathroom, but at least they had one. It was gross, but it wasn't a hole in the ground, so whatever.
We finally make it back to the platform for the train to Rome. We're waiting and waiting, and nothing is happening. About 5 minutes before our scheduled department time, they changed the platform, and the only reason we found out was by chance- Romolo just happened to be there. So we had to run to the next platform to catch our train. We made it, and luckily it was smooth sailing the rest of the way. No fines, no yelling, no rudeness.
When we got to Rome, we had to find a way back to our convent in Trestevere. We were going to call a taxi, but I didn't have enough money that's to the fine in Bologna. Some weird-not-funny-at-all man with incredible B.O. told us to take the H bus, and we decided that although he is weird, not funny, and needs to shower, he might be trustworthy. So we walk through the dumps of Rome to get to the bus (the area near the train station is disgusting, complete with disgusting men), and it turned out to be the right one! We missed our desired stop due to the doors being open for about 15 seconds, but we got off at the next one.
That night we went for groceries and to get some awesome Indian food. I have this whole apartment to myself which is really strange. Luckily, Annie is upstairs, so we have been pow-wowwing now and then.
But that's Italy, culture, and learning. This is what I signed up for, and although some aspects have a lot to be desired, I wouldn't change anything about it.
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