Italy, Chapter I-Leather Jackets, Cappuccino and Gelato in the Rain

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Note: All the events in this entry occurred back in late February 2007. For more updated trips and entries, please refer back to this blog at a later date. An updated entry or trip will NOT include a note like this. Thanks and enjoy!

Late February, 2007- Everything was going well for me in my new study abroad program. I was enjoying myself because for once I was getting something intellectually from my classes and also getting along famously with my host mother. Even better, my new program helped me to get my carte au sejour updated and sent to me, which probably would not have happened without their aid! This meant that now I could travel outside of France again without fear, which was good since there was a 10 day vacation period coming up. I knew exactly where I wanted to go, and that was Italy. Italy is actually the country that inspired me to want to visit the European continent, not France initially because of my love of its food, the Ancient Romans, and its music! My family, especially my maternal grandmother, knew a lot of Italian immigrants who taught them recipes and invited them over to dinner. My mom and grandmother would cook these items often, like spaghetti and meat sauce, and lasagna. I also grew up watching cooking shows like Chao Italia with Mary Eposito on PBS, Molto Mario with Mario Batali on Food Network, and Everyday Italian with Giada de Lorentis as well as Lidia's cooking show on PBS. These shows inspired me to want to eat Italian food and also travel to Italy to have some! I used to read a lot about Greco-Roman mythology, and also about Ancient Rome, in particular the 1st Century BC and the time of Julius Ceaser. I even did a report on him while I was in Middle School, and have continued my reading on the Romans ever since. I am a musician (violinists) with enough training to become a professional if I wanted to, and of course most of the artists I performed or studied were Italian: Vivaldi, Corelli, Verdi, Monteverdi, Puccini, Landini, Pagannini and the list goes on. Therefore, Italy was a destination that I was passionate about visiting.

However, now I needed to figure out where to go in Italy. In order to help me, I decided to buy a Lonely Planet guidebook on the subject, my first ever actually. I looked at some of the itineraries inside, especially the one on "Classic Italy" for inspiration, however I actually decided to read up on the destinations located in regions I was interested in, as well as get recommendations on where to go from Camille, my host mother, who had gone to Italy with her husband on honeymoon. I had a lot of recommendations from everyone I consulted, including Lonely Planet that Florence should be on my itinerary. Since I love art, Florence was a good place to go to because it was an art center and also the birth of the renaissance. It was also the capital of the region of Tuscany, which is celebrated for its wines. Florence is also interesting because of the Medicis and was also the seat of a very powerful principality during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the Kingdom of Florence. I despirately wanted to visit Rome because of my love of Roman history, however since it was my first time to Italy and I only had 10 days, I realized that I had to choose between three destinations or just to visit Rome. Therefore, I chose three destinations and to save Rome for a future trip.

In addition to Florence, I also decided that I wanted to visit Venice for the art, history, architecture, culture and aesthetics, but also because it was Antonio Vivaldi's hometown! Now, I needed to visit a third destination. I wanted to visit a smaller, less touristy destination than the other two however I also wanted to somewhere that had a celebrated gastronomic culture. My guidebook said that the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy was well known for its food and for bringing to the world classics like proscutto di parma, parmagiano reggiano, balsamic vinager, tortellini, salsa bolognese (or meat sauce), lasagna, and mortadella (aka bologne!) Therefore I deduced that this region was a must see because all of my favorite Italian classics came from here! I decided to choose Bologna because it's the capital of the region, had lots of history but also was home to most of these classics. However, I did keep in mind to add Parma and maybe even Modena, because of their contributions of proscutto di parma, parmagiano reggiano, balsamic vinager and also Luciano Pavoratti!

Now that I had my destinations I now needed to purchase my tickets to Italy. I decide to take a Eurolines bus from Aix-en-Provence to Florence and then for my return trip one from Venice back to France. I couldn't purchase my tickets online, so I ended up traveling to Marseilles via shuttle from Aix-en-Provence from the Eurolines boutique there. the trip was arduous because I end up getting caught in the middle of a greve (what strikes are called in France) that caused my shuttle to stay parked for two hours, in addition to the fact that I got lost because of all the construction that was going on in centre ville. However, it was worth it to buy my tickets.

February 22, 2007-The day of my trip finally arrives. Camille graciously drives me to the bus station and I leave with her my itinerary and my cell phone number. After bidding her goodbye, I am now left to waiting at the bus station. My bus ends up being late, 2 hours late however it does show up at around 9 PM GMT. I get on of course, and put my backpack under the seat and sit back in an effort to sleep. There's nothing really to see outside the windows because its night time, however the most incredible thing happened once the bus stopped in Nice. Two passengers got on, one in particular who looked familiar. When we neared the Italian border the girl turned to me and asked me in French, "Excuse me but are you Danielle, from CIEF in Dijon? I'm Aya, you and I were in class together remember?"
"yes I do remember you! I saw you and I just thought wow, you look so familiar. So are you still studying at CIEF?"
"Yeah," she replies, "I'm just on vacation with my boyfriend here, who just flew all the way from Japan to see me." She then introduces me to him, and has to translate for us because he only speaks Japanese.
"So are you still at CIEF?" She asks me,"
"No, I'm actually living in Aix-en-Provence now in a different program. I'm on vacation too, but it's only 10 days. I'm strictly going to Italy. So where are you going to visit in Italy?"
"Florence!" she replies.
"Oh my God, me too!" I exclaim jubilantly, "where are you two staying?"
"The Archi Rossi Hostel-my boyfriend has already been to Italy and he wanted to show me his favorite places. He stayed at the Archi Rossi during his first visit and liked it so that's why we're staying there."
"No way this so cool! I'm staying at the Archi Rossi as well!"
"Really?" She exclaimed jovially. We spend a few minutes chuckling like giddy little school girls who shared stories about what boys we were crushing on.
Our conversation is briefly interrupted once we reach the Italian border because we have to get out of the bus and show the officers our passports. However, while we're standing outside of the bus, I ask her about her travels with her boyfriend thus far. "So far we've been to Paris and we've spent a few days in Nice."
I asked them about their trip and told them a little about my experiences there (for more information, please refer to blog entries entitled "Christmas in Nice," and "IAU Trip to Nice, Monaco/Monte Carlo, St. Paul de Vince and Cannes.")

It's around 2 AM GMT, so I decide to get some rest on the bus. The next time I wake up, around 6 AM GMT, I begin to see the famous rolling hills of the Tuscan region envelop before me. We make a stop in Pisa, which gives me a chance to see what the city is like. Around 8 AM GMT, we finally arrive in Florence. I follow Aya and her boyfriend to find Archi Rossi. After checking in, I put my luggage in my locker, eat a humble breakfast of store-bought waffles and head out.

The first thing I do is head towards the indoor market where I have my first, authentic cappuccino at a stand-up only coffee bar. I then take my time to tour all the shops and stands inside the market. First, I visit a store selling local olive oil and balsamic vinegar from Modena. I then go to a wine store selling Tuscan wines. I get advice on which bottle of wine to buy from the sales clerk, who recommends a Moltapulcino, which is a red wine. Next, I head to a deli where I buy some bresciola, or cured, dried beef loin and pecorino toscano for my dinner later on that night. For lunch, I end up eating at a stall selling pasta and "bruschetta" or what Americans commonly refer to as French bread pizza. I decided to order one with grilled eggplant, fresh mozzarella slices, simple tomato sauce and minced garlic. With it, I had a glass of spumanti. My bruschetta was very delicious-it was obvious that every ingredient was fresh and prepared from scratch earlier that day. My only complaint was that there was a lot of garlic-however for 5 euros for both wine and lunch I was not disappointed.

I finally leave the market, and walk down some nearby streets to explore some of the shops there. I come across a lot of shops with the title "Pelateria" in it. I decided to go in some of these shops and look at their merchandise. Pelateria's are basically leather shops, normally owned by families or an individual who cures, designs and creates leather jackets, handbags, wallets and other clothing items and accessories associated with leather. I went into 10 different ones that day all within a block away from the indoor market. In the first one, I actually became friendly with the owner, with whom I shared him my stories and experiences living in France and traveling through Europe. He wanted to sell me a leather jacket but unfortunately I couldn't afford 200-300 euros. I finally found a retail boutique (as opposed to an artisan's boutique) where I could buy a leather jacket for 110 euros after bartering for a price and also asking my mom's permission to buy one. Because of my short stature I have to wait 2 hours for the shop to adjust the sleeves. In the meantime, I decide to explore the outdoor leather market. While exploring I all of a sudden hear someone shout to me "Hey Florida!" I turn around and I see it's the first shop keeper. "How are you? good to see you again! Listen, I have some friends that I spoke to and they said they would be willing to sell you a jacket at 120 euros, are you interested?" I decide to live it up and just follow the shop keeper to his friend's boutique. I am greeted by a husband and wife team, who show me around their precious little shop. Even though I had already bought one jacket, I couldn't turn down this offer, not only for the price but this jacket was not ordinary. The wife told me that her husband makes all of the leather jackets: first he buys sheep skin from India and cures it himself! Then he designs the jackets, cuts and sews them by hand! His wife acts as retail clerk for her husband. "My husband can do the same exact work designs and quality of Armani, Gucci or Valentino but for half the price. We get clients from all over the world, but also many locals come to us because they are looking for that designer look."
Once again, I have to wait for my jacket to be altered to fit my body better at no extra charge, however I am entertained by his wife. I tell her about my life in the US, my life as a student in France, and my first impressions of Florence and my future travel plans in Italy. I then ask her, "I'm curious-how would you describe Italian culture to a foreigner like myself?"
She simply replies, "We Italians love to be friendly and interact with people, however we will shy away from someone if they wish not to compromise. You are a good customer because you were willing to compromise and you respected us. Not all tourists are like you in this respect and I'm thankful for that." My jacket finally arrives and I thank her for her time and hospitality and I wish her and her husband the best with their future.

I decide to wander around a little more and take pictures of some of the buildings and statues I encounter. Eventually I head back to the hostel, where I enjoy my humble dinner of pecorino toscano, bresciola with moltapulcino to drink on the side. I found the bresciola to be quite delightful because it was like having refined beef jerky that was the texture of prosciutto. Pecorino toscano is a hard cheese, cow's milk I think. It had a zippy, tangy nutty flavor however had a smoother, creamier texture. I found the Moltapulcino to be a delightful red wine because it was full bodied, with strong tannic but also notes of blackberries, blue berries, raspberries and chocolate. I could taste and smell the sun and the limestone cliffs the grapes were grown on. It had a lovely burgundy-royal purple hue, just to me a gorgeous, gorgeous wine!

I end my day by getting into a conversation with some of my roommates in my dorm room. The name of my friends are Natasha, a sociology student from Brazil and another young lady from Germany who was a classicists major. We spent the entire night talking about art, culture, Italian history, and Florence. We also talk about each others travel and life experiences in our home countries. We also talk about our universities the whole night through. Even though it begins to rain a bit and is 9 PM GMT, we decide to get gelato together at a nearby gelateria. There is no seating so we are forced to stand outside and eat our gelato despite the rain and the cold. However, our laughter filled the streets like a catchy, feel-good song. Homeward bound we were, and plans were made between Natasha and I to visit some art museums tomorrow. Unfortunately our German friend was leaving to go back home tomorrow, so Natasha and I would be touring Florence on our own.

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Photos

Indoor Market facade and Leather Market
All the stalls on the outside of the market are connected to the leather market which is held during most weekends and I think also Fridays in Florence.