Mille Miglia

La Corsa Più Bella del Mondo

                                                                                        

Mille Miglia, " Thousand Miles" passed through Bologna today. This is an endurance race that starts in Brescia goes to Rome and and back up to Brescia in the shape of a figure eight. The race started in 1927 in Brescia by a group of wealthy people, after two Italian racers lost the Grand Prix. 







375 cars can participate in the race, and they must be the same make as one of the original cars raced in the rally from 1927-1957.






It was a lot of fun walking the streets of Bologna on a Saturday afternoon, seeing classic car after classic car!

Culinary Alterations

Cooking in Italy isn't always as easy as you think 

it would be. You can't easily find things like vanilla, brown sugar, measuring cups, tablespoons/teaspoons, and many ingredients come packaged very differently making it difficult to know how much you should buy in order to have the right quantity. 

With my mom we made cinnamon bread tweaked and altered to fit the ingredients we had at hand. I'd say it turned out pretty good despite all the changes! 

                                                                              

I also made some lemon quick bread I saw on a blog. I didn't have vanilla, wasn't able to add the salt and baking soda with the exact measures, wasn't even if sure if I actually used baking soda, and just guesstimated the amount of yogurt I was supposed to add, and it wasn't even the right kind. However again here it was quite delicious and eaten up quickly!

Here is an Italian version of macaroni and cheese inspired by mom. Gramigna pasta, some butter, "sottiletto" cheese, some fresh artisan cheese, and milk. No cheddar or velveeta here! 

Napoli / Capri

May 1st was Italy's Labor Day.  It happened to fall on a Tuesday, so we took a long weekend trip down south to Napoli and Capri. I had been to Napoli before two other times, and I can say now after being a third I don't need to go back for quite some time and if I never return it'll be ok. 

Napoli is rustic, earthy, natural, and real. It's true that there is garbage everywhere,  they don't paint the buildings every year so the paint is peeling, the graffiti isn't cleaned up... it's raw society. 

Capri is a large theme park for adults. The population is only 10,000 an they have more visitors than that every day. You have to wait 30 minutes to get a bus ticket, then 45 minutes to get on the bus, and a small lemon granita costs $6. Despite the tourism, it is a very beautiful island with gorgeous views.

A Visit

This past week my Mom was able to come visit it me for a few days in Bologna. Since she was in Spain it was relatively close and so we got to spend 4 days together. I picked her up in Rome and we were busy, busy, busy shopping, baking, and traveling down to Poggibonsi, stopping at San Gimignano, and experiencing Italian culture. It was fun having her here and always sad to say goodbye.

"It's Not Quite Over Yet"

There is a very exciting piece of news which I haven't written about yet, but I think now is just the perfect time to share the good news! During my trip to Malta, on my birthday Luca got down on one knee and asked me one of the most important questions that can be asked in life " mi vuoi sposare?" translated " Do you want to marry me?" I responded with many "si, si, si!" yes' before he barely even finished his question. 

It had been a beautiful, relaxing day starting out right with pecan pie and coffee, walking around the historical city of Valletta. Luca took me out for a nice dinner and we were absolutely stuffed to the brim. We headed back to our hotel. I was in the bathroom and when I came out I couldn't find Luca. The only logical place left was the terrace. 

I stepped out onto the terrace and sure enough, there he was. The city of Sliema light up the night sky and across the way we could also see the city lights of Valletta. As we looked out into the night sky and over the island, he held me and kissed my forehead and asked if I had had a good birthday. I responded "yes" and around 11:55 pm he says "Well it's not quite over yet and there is still one thing left..." He pulled out a little dark blue, white stitched box and got down his left knee and uttered the words that girls wait and hope to hear at just the right time. And in fact it's not quite over yet at all, it's just the beginning of a very beautiful story. 

We have set the wedding date in July in Italy, and August in Minnesota. 

Friends in Bo

This past weekend I had a few friends come visit me - a girl I met back at University in one of my Italian classes, and two girls who took me under their wing when I studied abroad in Italy during high school in the small town of Saluzzo in the North West region of Italy, Piemonte.  I hadn't seen this girls in two years or more and it was wonderful catching up with them!

It was a crazy, busy, but very fun weekend even if it rained every day!

(View from the Asinelli Tower, 3 euros to climb the 498 steps to the spectacular view)

Malta

For my birthday, Luca gifted me a trip to Malta. I had actually wanted to go to Malta for a few years now and really wanted to go the last time I was studying abroad in Italy, but never had the chance. So it was quite serendipitous! I had just started teaching in a private language school and didn't have my hours yet. Luca kept telling me to keep Thursday and Friday free and I didn't understand why I would need to keep two whole days free... then he showed me the plane tickets early and I understood :) 

We stayed in Sliema, visited the island of Gozo, the Blue Lagoon and Comino, and the city of Valleta. Malta has quite a lot of character and the most interesting part is the mix of cultures. They speak Maltese which sounds like a mix of Italian and Arabic, they were ruled by the English for up until the 1970's so they all speak a form a of English with heavy southern Italian accents, and their cuisine has a strong English influence. 

We had a great time, and it was absolutely beautiful!