Wine & Cheese Night

One of my favorite things that we have done as a class has been our Wine and Cheese Night on May 20th. We got to taste 5 different wines and 5 different cheeses!
Cheese Tasting!
It's been estimated that there is about 700 Italian cheeses! One important aspect of cheese tasting is to taste the cheese at room temperature to appreciate the flavors and aromas. I tasted the cheese in order from mild to strong so that the overpowering cheeses did not alter the flavor of the more mild ones.

1. Bel Paese: from cow's milk. It is made in Lombardy and also in the US. Fairly mild & buttery. Great  with fruity wines!
2. Pecorino Romano: from sheep's milk. Originated in Rome. Extremely, hard, salty and dry. Often grated on pasta. I did not like this one very much-- too salty for me!
3. Fontina Val D'Aosta: from cow's milk. Comes from Val d' Aosta in northern Italy. Often melted for Italian Fondue. Favorite!
4. Gorgonzola Dolce: (soft) from cow's milk. From Gorgonzola and it is a veined blue cheese that is aged for 3 months. Appreciated the cheese but would not choose to eat it again.
5. Gorgonzola Piccante: (spicy) from cow's milk. From Gorgonzola and it is aged for longer and it is harder. Definitely a stronger and sharper flavor than the Dolce and much more pungent.

Wine Tasting!
We tasted 5 varieties of white wines. We mostly tried to become better educated on the white-grape varieties in Italy, understand the art of wine tasting and see what we like the best! :)

1. Prosecco: sparkling italian wine (dry/extra dry). Very similar to French Champagne but Prosecco does not undergo a second fermentation in the bottle. The process for Prosecco is cheaper. Personally, I did not really like the Prosecco very much because it was too sweet for me.
2. Pinot Grigio: Italian name for French variety (Pinot Gris). Very popular and produces light-bodied, pale, high acid wines. Other varieties-- verdicchio, vernaccio and tocai friulano.
3. Trebbiano: most common variety in Italy. Makes light-bodied, crisp and usually neutral/bland wines. If I had to pick one I would chose this type of white wine.

We also learned how to read wine labels and understand the 5 s's of wine tasting
see, swirl, sniff, sip & savor!

I am not the biggest fan of white wines-- they're too sweet for me. We are planning on doing a few more wine tastings and I'm hoping they include red wines because that is what I prefer! :)

Trevi Fountain

So sorry for the lack of update! It seems that internet access in Rome is not as reliable as it is in the States.. We've been extremely busy with school work-- our nutrition professor has kept us extra busy over the past week. I have a 30 minute presentation due tomorrow on Population Growth, Family Planning, and Nutrition so that has been taking up most of my time.

Last week, Katie and I took a trip to the Trevi Fountain in the afternoon. I'm hoping that we can visit the fountain at night when it is lit up! The fountain is one of the most famous fountains in the entire world and it is the largest Baroque fountain in Rome (85 ft tall & 65 ft wide). Baroque architecture is during the time of the counter reformation. As our professor explained, this type of architecture appeals to the masses, the senses and is much more visionary when compared to Renaissance architecture.. Nicolo Salvi created the design but died when the fountain was half finished. Guiseppe Pannini finished the fountain.

As many of you probably know, it is tradition to throw a coin into the fountain to ensure you return to Rome! So naturally, Katie and I both did this. It was difficult to get any pictures there due to the ridiculous amount of people congregating around the fountain but we still managed!!

Villa Adriana

On Friday for our architecture class, we traveled to the Villa Adriana (also known as Hadrian's Villa). It took us approximately 45 minutes to make our way to Tivoli mainly because of the terrible traffic in Rome. Hadrian's Villa was built during the 2nd century AD and it's purpose was to be a place for the emperor Hadrian to relax. **Random fact: Emperor Hadrian built the Pantheon** The property spans about 250 acres and all that remains today is the ruins of his elaborate villa.
Upon entering the villa, we first looked at the "model" of it-- which is just a guess at how the villa used to look. It's estimated that the model of the villa is only half of the actual villa.

Most everything left of the villa is made of concrete or marble. The concrete was really critical because of the nature of the material, it allowed Hadrian to construct such intricate artifices. The wall pictured above, as you might notice, has long empty indentations in it. Our architecture professor told us that it used to be filled with marble. Also, at the top of the wall are large holes which went across the pathway to provide shade for people.

After walking along the wall we came across "The Maritime Theater" of the villa. This was probably one of the prettiest places. A moat surround the little island and Hadrian would often come here to escape the rest of his villa.

 Above is the Greek Library. In his villa, Hadrian had two libraries-- the Greek Library and the Latin Library. The Latin Library is pictured below.

There were also a few remnants of the floor in various remains of buildings. They were extremely beautiful and colorful.

Here is the place where Hadrian's guests stayed that were lower class. Kind of like dormitories.

Below is the entrance to one of the places where they often ate. It was very long and had statues lining the body of water.

They would eat on this raised area, laying down and most likely on silk.

These are just some of the highlights from Hadrian's Villa. If any of you travel to Rome be sure to make a stop here. It was also very helpful that our two architecture professors knew everything about this place. Perhaps a tour guide would be helpful. 

Miss you all !! 

xo ali

Roma!

The last few days have been a bit of a blur due to my lack of sleep & complete exhaustion from walking everywhere.. we have a half an hour walk to class !! As far as my classes are concerned...

Mon-Thurs from 12:30-3 International Nutrition Education and Program Planning

*This class only lasts until the end of May. It's extremely interesting to me and may become my       specific area of interest with Nutrition but I'm still not sure. My Professor has traveled all around the world with a specific organization, creating programs for individuals who are severely malnourished.

Tues & Thurs from 3-5 Explorations in Italian Architecture and Urban Form

*This is basically the sightseeing course. We've already been inside the Pantheon, Coloseum and the Forum thus far. The length of the course will be the length of my stay here in Rome. Some of the other places we are going are the Trevi Fountain, Pompei, Paestum, Pienza, Firenze, Modena and various churches.

We've had some delicious food over the past few days...
Picture 1: Pizza ! with some strange meat on it (I think it's pork). I just picked a random pizza on the menu that I couldn't pronounce and this was the product!
Picture 2: Caprese-- absolutely delicious
Picture 3: Vegetarian Sandwich-- olives, artichokes, lettuce & other
Picture 4: Pistachio Gelato

Also got risotto at a restaurant but I was pretty disappointed.. I had the impression that it would be the best I've ever had but our Professor said that it's best in Venice.

Here some more pictures!

Picture 1- Out to eat w/ fellow Nutrition Majors!
Picture 2- Tempio di Romolo
Picture 3- The Coloseum
Picture 4- Katie & I at the Coloseum

*I'll upload my pictures to facebook after the weekend! Sites to be seen this weekend:
-Villa Adriana, The Vatican & we are going to a large open air market that's only open twice a month!

First Impressions

Feeling so thankful, happy and blessed to have arrived safely in gorgeous Rome. Although I can usually sleep through anything, I didn't sleep a wink on my 8 hour plane ride to Italy. Mom, Julia and I had gone to the outlets right before my departure to pick up some enjoyable books to read.. I started The Da Vinci Code (a must read that has been on my list for far too long & now I can finally indulge!) on my flight and ended up reading 300 pages. I seriously could not stop reading it.

When we arrived in Rome at baggage pickup I was extremely paranoid that my luggage was going to be lost.. All of my fellow Nutrition majors had retrieved their bags & I was literally the last person to receive my luggage ... 20 minutes later haha.

Some noteable things about Rome so far..
1) Every single taxi was a Mercedes. All of the taxi drivers were dressed in their finest suits and they drove us back to the Pantheon Institute in Mercedes Benz Vans? I'm guessing this is the norm over here but when I think of taxi drivers I usually think about yellow, disease-infested cabs..

2) Couldn't help but notice that the bushes & trees are absolutely gorgeous here. I'm not sure what kind of trees they plant here or how they meticulously maintain them. They are immaculate. It's honestly one of the first things I noticed. Maybe we should plant one of those in our backyard dad? hhaha

The Pantheon Institute (Our Apartment!)

                                                                Living Room

                                                                  Kitchen

                                              4 bedrooms (total) in our Apartment. 

                                          Katie & I are in a quad (w/2 other people)

                                                         Our bathroom for our quad

                                                        Courtyard of the Institute

A few of us decided to go on an adventure to find some lunch ... Went to this outdoor cafe where we got our own wine, pizza,  appetizer and dessert for 10 euros each! It was incredible & a great first meal here...








Also found the perfect place to run :) very long
trail that follows the Tiber River which is a block or two from our apartment. Testing it out tomorrow!



Just thought I'd give a shortened version of some of today!! Tomorrow is orientation when we finally get our itinerary (crossing my fingers). Hope all is well at home, everyone. miss you all!

xox ali

I couldn't help myself ..

5 DAYS! Okay, okay.. so I said I wouldn't update until the day before I leave but this is a good distraction and break from studying for finals ;)

Yesterday, I received an email from my professor, Dr. Probart, concerning our Mediterranean Diet class! Thankfully she provided some important information regarding our week-long trips to various locations around Europe.

Rough outline of Itinerary:
1st weekend in June: COOKING CLASS! :)
2nd week in June: Travel South- Pompii, Greek Temples on the Med Sea
Return to Rome (1 or 2 nights)
3rd week in June: Travel North- Florence, Modena and Parms

Looks like we've got a lot planned so far & it makes it extremely difficult to concentrate haha. Wish I could provide some more info but that's all I know so far. Can't wait!
* if anyone has a twitter feel free to request to follow me! @asmit18 :)

xo Ali

- Also, I've been following a lot of blogs lately and one of my favorites is called, Clean Green Simple
She has so many wonderful recipes (and she is a professional photographer so that makes the food look even more enticing). In addition, almost all of her recipes are vegan and gluten free ;)  Recent post that I MUST try this summer.

Grilled Eggplant Stacks (Vegan, Gluten Free, Soy Free, Low Fat, Refined Sugar Free)

Makes about 8 stacks
Ingredients:

• 1 large eggplant, sliced into 1/4-1/2 inch slices
• 2 tomatoes, sliced into 1/4-1/2 inch slices
• 1 (15 oz) can of white kidney (cannellini) beans
• 1 tsp salt plus about 2 Tbsp for sweating the eggplants
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp fresh basil (about four large leaves) plus several sprigs or leaves for garnish
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder (or about half a clove of fresh garlic)

Direction:
1- Spread eggplant slices out in a single layer on cutting board. Sprinkle both sides with salt and let sit for 30-60 minutes.
2- In a blender/food processor, combine beans, 1 tsp salt, lemon juice, basil, olive oil, and garlic powder. Blend until well combined.
3- Preheat grill or boiler to medium-high. Once eggplants are finished sweating, rinse salt off and place on the grill/broiler for about 3 minutes per side, until softened.
4- Assemble stacks by laying a slice of eggplant, a slice of tomato, another slice of eggplant, and about a tablespoon of the bean spread. Top with a sprig of basil.
(picture & recipe from Clean Green Simple Blog)