Sun-tanning and Seafood Eating in Sardinia

My cousin, Rebecca, has been spending her junior year of high school in Viterbo, a small town about an hour and half from Rome. She came to visit me for a few days at the end of March and this weekend we met in Alghero, Sardinia! Sardinia is the other big island off the west coast of Italy above Sicily. I read that Sardinia had the most beautiful beaches in Italy. Unfortunately, april showers struck, and we only had one beach-going-weather day. Despite the bad weather, Alghero was beautiful and this weekend has made me want to come back and discover more of Sardinia.

We arrived Thursday evening (I flew, but it is possible to take a boat from someplace like Genova). It was cloudy, but still warm and plenty humid. Rebecca and I walked into the center of town along Via Lido which overlooks the beach. We ate dinner outside at a restaurant on one of the main shopping streets, Via Carlo Alberto. I had to try one of the most famous dishes of Sardinia: Spaghetti ai Ricci. The waiter looked at me funny when I ordered it and said, "You know ricci is Sea Urchin?" And I said, "Si!" So yes, I ate spaghetti with the red goo of a sea urchin. And it was pretty delicious. Of course we ate gelato for dessert and walked back to our hostel as it started to drizzle.

Friday was beautifully sunny and we wore shorts! Alghero is famous for Neptune's grotto, a stalactite cave. We took a boat which took 30 minutes and cost 15 euros. You can also get there by bus which is 4.50 round trip. The trick is that if you take the bus you have to walk up and down 600 plus stairs. Once we arrived, we kind of wished we had taken the stairs, but the boat ride was really nice. To get into the caves you have to pay 13 euros. So it was an expensive journey, but I'd say it was worth it, probably more adventurous and money better spent if you take the bus, too.

We had planned to rent bikes so we could visit a beach a bit farther from our hostel, but all the bike rental places closed around noon. So we brought our towels out to the beach right in front of our hostel. As soon as we laid down, the wind picked up and soon we were dusted in sand. After about an hour trying not to eat sand, we decided to rent beach chairs for 3 euros each. An hour after that the rain clouds came out. Still, the time we had was sunny and lovely.

When we went back to our hostel, I found out that a 10 page research essay that I thought was due next week was actually due this Monday. So I freaked out for a bit and I freaked out about the rain that was coming, but I decided to forget it and go out to dinner in sandals and a summer dress to spite the weather. We found a delicious place to eat and I ordered pesto pasta with mussels, which is something I would never have done a month ago, but after eating mussels in cuisine class and realizing they weren't as disgusting as I remember them, I decided to give them a chance. The dish was really nice, and the meal was made even better with the tiramisu and friendly service. It was raining when we walked back, but I didn't even care.

Saturday began with drizzle, which disappeared into sun, and turned back into drizzle. We walked more of the old city center and visited the Coral Museum. It was very small but included interesting information about the biology and history of coral (Sardinia is known for its Coral production) and had many pretty rocks and gemstones on display. If you are deciding between spending time at the beach and visiting the coral museum, obviously pick the beach, but if its a rainy day, the museum is a nice option.

After a last lovely dinner of seafood, we watched the Goonies, one of my favorite movies of all time, and life was great.

Those Moments That Make it Hard to Believe I Actually Live Here

Sunset at Piazza Vittorio

Food!

I feel like I have been in Torino long enough to offer up my favorite places to get food. Obviously, I don't have the time or money to try all that Torino has to offer, but below are places that are cheap, so good, and consistent.

First off my favorite gelaterias...because gelato is the most important food group and one place is certainly not enough:

Più Di Un Gelato located by the library and off of Via Garibaldi.
Get Pera della Nonna and Stracciatella con Caffè.
2 euros for a small cone with two flavors.

Alberto Marchetti located on Corso Vittorio Emanuele II.
Get Pistacchio and Zabaione (my favorite Gelato flavor!) and get it in a cone, because they have the very best cones (most places serve the carboard tasting cones/charge extra for the nice ones...not here!).
2 euros for a small cone with two flavors.

Another commonly eaten food among students...Kebabs! My favorite place is:

El Shish Kebab off of Via Madama Christina, near the Nizza metro stop.
Everyone that I have taken here (especially Erin) love it!
The owner and everyone working there are super friendly.
They are expanding now!
Get anything. And especially the hot tea, which comes free anyhow!
3.50 for a Kebab, 5 for a Kebab, drink, and fries.

I have recently become obsessed with focaccia. For those who don't know, focaccia is a thickly baked delicious bread that can be just flavored with olive oil or meat or vegetables. The best focaccia comes from the Ligurian coast, but since that is two hours too far away, I happily settle for focaccia from:

Focaccia Tipica Ligure located near Piazza San Carlo, in Piazza Castello, and a few block down Via Po.
If you like zucchini, get the focaccia with zucchini!
2.50 for a piece with meat or veggies on it, only 1 for a plain piece.

Other yummy places I have eaten:
Eatly (famous for the slow food movement) has very delicious margherita pizza.
The persian restaurant on a side street right off of Via Garibaldi near Piazza Castello. I can't remember its name, but I had the best chicken of my life there and I'm not a huge chicken fan.
Alla Lettera on my street, Via Giuseppe Mazzini! Kyra and I ate in their outside seating in the piazza and it was super amazing! A bit pricey but really delicious and fresh Italian food.
Dear Wendy Sweets also on my street. Amazing Cupcakes! Enough said.

Squid Ink Pasta with Calamari, Asparagus, and Tomatoes
from Alla Lettera

Zucchini Focaccia from Tipica Ligure

Lime cupcake from Dear Wendy Sweets

I'm sure I am missing something or will find a place within the last week, but here are my suggestions for now!

Let's Talk Food!

Hannah and I both decided that we should share some of our favorite places to eat here in Torino. While there are so many places I still want to try, here are some of the best places (in my opinion)!

If you really want to get a feel for traditional Piedmontese cuisine (which you should!), definitely check out L'Osteria di Pierantonio. It's located near to the school at Via Bizozzero 15, right off of the Spezia metro stop. The owner, Pier, is extremely friendly and speaks great English! It's a great place to try a full course Italian meal (that will without a doubt be absolutely delicious) and mingle with the locals.

Another of my favorites is Taverna Rossa, located at Via Valperga Caluso 22, close to the Nizza metro stop (and my apartment!). This is my go-to place for delicious and very affordable food. They have a large selection of brick oven pizzas. My favorite is the margherita, which believe it or not is only three euro! They also have a student special on weekdays; you can get their pasta of the day with a beverage for only five euro!

Now I'm going to let you in on a very exclusive secret. You CAN find good Mexican food in Torino! As a California girl, I'm used to having Mexican on a pretty regular basis; so the sudden burrito detox was kind of a shock to my system. Don't get me wrong, I do love Italian food. But sometimes all I can think about is a giant plate of nachos. If you ever find yourself in the same mindset, make your way over to Mamasita Ristorante & Cantina. This little slice of heaven is located near the Dante metro stop, at the corner of Corso Carlo and Nello Rosselli. The prices are a bit on the higher side, but you get free chips and salsa with your meal and could easily split one of their many large dishes. I recommend the chicken tacos and the nachos! Who would have thought?

Now onto what's really important....gelato! This is tough because there are so many amazing places (I mean, it is Italy after all). The best place I have found is La Romana. There are several locations, but the closest to me is on Via Madama Cristina (conveniently located right where the bus drops me off). It's the creamiest most delicious thing I've ever eaten, and they have a great selection of flavors. To top things off, they have crepes too! What more could a girl want?

I hope this has been helpful and possibly made you drool a little as well. There is a huge selection of restaurants in Torino; I just wish I had time to try them all!

Ciao for now!

Bloom!

As you can probably tell, I am really excited about spring! I can't explain how incredible it is here. I am just hoping the rain that is predicted to fall this weekend changes its corse. Today on my way to cooking class, was really the first day that I noticed trees had leaves on them. And...Torino is in bloom, finally!

Today, was the last cooking class. Very upsetting, but it was one of the best meals! We made fresh pasta and made carbonara and pesto. Then we made quiche, fondue, and amazing semifreddo for dessert! I was full all day. It is going to be weird to eat at an American Italian restaurant when I'm back. 

Gardens, Parks, Pizza, Oh my!

This weekend was another perfectly relaxing one with the best weather Torino has seen yet since I have been here! 

On Saturday, I went with some of my friends to La Reggia di Venaria, which is a royal house of the Savoy family. The palace is simple but gorgeous inside. The property also includes expansive gardens. They were beautiful this weekend so I can only imagine them in full bloom! I had to pay 15 euros because I thought I forgot my museum pass. It turns out that I had it with me the whole time! If you are interested in visiting palaces and multiple museums, I would highly suggest getting a museum pass for 30 euros.

It actually felt "hot" while we were exploring the Gardens. It was amazing!

It is really easy to get there. I took the 11 bus from Via Garibaldi/Piazza Castelllo straight for about half an hour. 

Sunday was just as beautiful. I met up with Sarah and Jen at Parco Valentino. Parco Valentino is a park that lines the river from Corso Vittorio Emmanuelle to around the Nizza metro stop. There were so many families and couples enjoying the weather. We just put down blankets and did homework and relaxed. 

Free cotton candy!

The warm weather continued in to the night. My roommate Rosa and I ate pizza at the very close by La Spaccanapoli and explored a new area behind behind Via Garibaldi and Piazza Castello with a lot of restaurants. Of course, we got gelato. 

 

Sandeman Tours

Hi all! I just wanted to take a moment to say that I do still exist, despite the lack of posts on my end. The semester has definitely gotten a lot busier in the past few weeks, and I feel like I have been traveling and studying nonstop. Since my last post I have gone to Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Munich, and Genoa. It has been an amazing two weeks but I'm completely exhausted from sight-seeing and ready for a relaxing weekend in Nice, France. After this weekend I plan to stay in Torino and spend some time enjoying the warmer weather!

While I could go on and on about the traveling I've done the past few weeks, I wanted to take a minute to recommend an amazing tour company. My boyfriend and I went to Munich this past weekend, and really wanted to get the full experience from the city. A friend had recommended Sandeman's New Europe tours, and after the great experience we had with them I felt I should pass the word along. The company offers tours in 14 cities across Europe and Isreal, including major cities London, Paris, Barcelona, and Amsterdam.

For Munich, the Sandeman's offered five unique and interesting tours. We chose to do the free walking tour of the city, the Third Reich tour, and a tour of the famous beer halls of Munich. The best thing about this company is its tour guides. First of all, they are extremely knowledgeable about the city and its history. On top of that, they make the experience fun and interactive (even when it's freezing and raining). It's hard to have very high expectations when taking a free tour, but I was blown away by how good the experience was. The other two tours were not free, but also not expensive at all. The company also gives a discount to students. The tour of the beer halls was an absolute blast; we had the opportunity to meet other people from all over the world and learn about the history of the beer halls as well as German drinking traditions. I also greatly appreciated that the company offered two very convenient and easy to find meeting places for all of the tours.

The company also offers tours to Dachau concentration camp as well as Neuschwanstein Castle, both a short trip outside the city. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to do these, but from what I've heard they are both definitely worth the trip. It is hard to fit everything this beautiful city has to offer into two short days.

It's great to know that this company operates in so many places; they are a great resource to use if you really want to get the most out of your time in a given city. Traveling has so much more meaning when you also know the history and significance behind everything you see.

Here is the link to Sandeman's website, where you can find information about all of their locations and different tours:

http://www.neweuropetours.eu/

To top it off, here are a few photos from the trip! As always, let me know if you have questions!

To Travel or Not to Travel?

March was absolutely exhausting! As much fun and rewarding traveling is, it can be stressful and tiring when it is done back to back. Not to mention, it drains you of money. I've had an amazing time on the trips I've taken so far and I feel so blessed that I had the chance to go on them, but I am so happy to be back to Torino for a while.

Europe is a fantastic location for studying abroad because it is so convenient to visit other places and experience new cultures. There are plenty of places you can fly or take a train or bus to in only a weekend. Many students in my program have decided to do just that, every weekend. With out a doubt I could find more than enough places I'd like to see while I am here, but I've come to the realization after my trip-packed March, that I want to spend the rest of the time I have in Europe in Torino. (This is not including a long weekend trip to Sardegna with my cousin that I am over the moon about, and the trips I will take with my parents when they visit me at the end of this program.)

Here is why:
1) I am hopefully going to travel to Europe again. I will not, however, "live" again in Torino.
2) There is so much to do here that I haven't done yet!
3) Spring is coming and it is going to be amazing here!
4) There is a lot of school work coming up.
5) My favorite kebab shop is here.

So, for my first after March free weekend I caught up on sleep, walked up to Monte dei Cappucini, shopped, read, and enjoyed time with my roommates. I am looking forward to this coming weekend. There weather should be beautiful and I am planning to visit the Royal Gardens and hike up to Superga.

Overlooking the Po river 

Monte dei Cappucini 

It's Spring!...sort of

We've had two beautiful spring days here in Torino, and of course today it is raining and cold (but I guess that is how spring is throughout Europe). I'm so excited for the warmer weather!

Jen and Diana, who I had a lovely time with over spring break, are also writing blogs for their study abroad experiences. 

Check them out!

Jen: http://jennsommerville.blogspot.it/

Diana: http://dianabrownstein.blogspot.it/

What to do When You Almost Miss Your Flight in the Wee Hours of the Morning and Other Fun From London

I spent the four day easter weekend in London with my best friend who is currently studying in Paris.

It was so lovely and stress free, until I had to leave, but I'll start with all the highlights!

Friday, we took the tube to Picadilly circus and walked from there, through Lester Square to Covent Garden. The tube is London's metro system and it is ridiculously expensive. It costs around 4 pounds for a single ticket. If you spending a short time in London and plan to see a lot of the city, get the day pass which costs 7 pounds and can be used as many times as you like.
Covent Garden is an area with a lot of cute shops, restaurants, and street performers. We ate at Candy Cakes, a cupcake shop I went to in 10th grade where I had the best cupcake in my life. I got the same blueberry one and it was just as amazing.

Saturday, we visited the Victoria Albert museum, which houses everything from metal work, jewelry, and modern photography. Like most museums in London, admission is free except for special exhibits.
Next, we attempted to go to the Natural History Museum, which is right next door, but we didn't feel like waiting in a very cold line for an hour. Kyra, my roommate, who was also in London for the weekend, told me that every last friday of the month, the museum stays open past hours with open exhibits, music, food, and drinks. I wish I had known!

We then peeked our heads into Harrods, a luxury department store that is famous for its Egyptian escalator. We just smelled perfumes, rode up and down the escalator, and left for some more affordable shopping on Oxford street.

Sunday, we saw Buckingham Palace and went on a search for some stereotypical London guards.
We went to the National Gallery, which is at Trafalgar square. I wish I had spent more time there! It had a really impressive collection of art including Van Gough's Sunflowers! Trafalgar square is known for the huge lion statues flanking Nelson's column. We attempted to get pictures on a lion's back, but unlink all the agile kids, we didn't have parents to shove us up a lion's butt.

Close by the National Gallery is the National Portrait Gallery. It was also free, but Rachael and I spent 10 pounds to see the amazing Man Ray photography exhibit, which is staying until the end of May.

Last but not least, we stopped at King's Cross Station so I could see Platform 9 3/4. There was a huge line of people taking photos pretending they were going to Hogwarts. If only I had the time...

The food was great! I had fish and chips twice, Indian, Lebanese and French food, and bagels.

So, my hostel told me that I could call a cab to the easybus pickup two minutes before I had to leave. When I called, I was told it would be 20 minutes. I had the chance to take a later bus, so I said okay, but the cab was another 20 minutes late. I wasn't going to make another bus, and I didn't want to have to change my flight. I knew there wouldn't be another flight with Ryanair, which meant I would have to spend probably way to much money on another. I was panicking. I begged the cab driver to take me all the way to the airport. He said it would cost me 75 pounds! I offered 50. I ended up paying 65, but he speed there and I made my flight. Now, I know to research transportation beyond cab-bus-plane.