And so it begins…

• By Johanna Nuding+
• Posted in Italy
• On July 1, 2012
• 2 Comments.

With flight delays and longer layovers, my travel day was 22 hours, but I made it to Bologna safe and sound Friday around 7a Austin time. (Bologna is 7 hours ahead, so 2p here.)

I was invited to a BBQ that evening by my new roommate, Francesco, and his girlfriend Consuelo. It was an eclectic group of people from around the world. (Venezuela, Switzerland, Spain, Sicily, Italy and Texas, of course.) There were conversations taking place in Spanish, Italian and English…my head was spinning trying to take it all in and make sense of what people were saying. Eli, the guy that hosted the BBQ was great about translating a lot of it for me, but it was definitely fuel to get my butt in gear and learn the language.

The food was great! All of the veggies (eggplant, zucchini, lettuce, tomato, onion) came from Consuelo’s orto (garden) or the marketino biological (farmer’s market). Consuelo mixed fresh olive oil, dried sage and lemon juice to make a sauce that was drizzled over the veggies before grilling and also drizzled over the grilled Italian sausage after it was served. It was really amazing. The steaks were also delicious and organic from the marketino biological. Half way through the meal, Eli said he can’t eat meat without bread (which made me think of my Joyce Bear) and went inside and whipped us some flat bread from scratch and brought it out to the table 15 minutes later. It was like a thin, spongey pancake and tasted a bit like rye bread, although he said he didn’t know what rye bread was. It reminded me of the bread served in Ethiopian restaurants. We had fresh pineapple as an apperitivo and fresh peaches for dessert. It was really healthy and delicious.

And the wine! I went with Francesco to a local wine producer’s retail location to pick up a case of wine for the BBQ. I was shocked to see that it was only 4 euros for a fantastic bottle of vino rosso. And the icing on the cake…there’s no tax on wine in Italy. Heaven!

Emilia Romagna is experiencing an uncharacteristically hot summer. (Of course! There’s no chance of me escaping the heat.) I arrived at the onset of this current heatwave. It’s 100 degrees today. There’s no a/c in most homes here…where I’m staying included. We went to a “mall” and Pipo bought me an oscillating fan upon my arrival, but it really just blows hot air around. Don’t get me wrong, I’m f’n thankful to have it. Some relief is better than none. That being said, my first night I woke up around 3am hot as hell so I took a sleeping pill. It seemed like the only thing to do. I can’t sleep when I’m that hot. And then I woke up. AND IT WAS 2 O’CLOCK IN THE FUCKING AFTERNOON!!!!!!!!! I will never doubt the power of Ambien and a pitch-black bedroom. hahahah
But seriously…it’s so hot I don’t turn lights on and I take cold showers. As soon as I get out of the shower and towel off I immediately begin to sweat again. (Silver lining: I may get back to Texas skinny as hell!)

Francesco’s 32nd birthday is today. Italy beat Germany to make it to the Euro Soccer Finals so Pippo (that’s Francesco’s nickname) canceled his party as the entire country will be glued to the television when the Italia vs. Spain championship match begins.

For those that keep asking for pics, I promise to take lots of photos (and video) this evening as the entire country anticipates their first European Championship since 1968. There’s a fondness between the people of Spain and Italy, from what I have seen, so this is going to be fun to watch. And my friends here have assured me that we’ll be celebrating no matter what the outcome! (I believe them, but I’m competitive…and I traveled halfway across the world…so I want Italia to WIN!)