Bergamo: Not Just a Hub for Cheap Flights

I’ve realized a few things about myself while writing this blog. 1. I like writing, and love when people tell me that they like reading what I write (no, I’m not fishing for compliments!). 2. Sometimes I forget to write... for a really, really long time. On that note, I have trips that I haven’t shared with you, and some stories to make you laugh!

In early December, my Canadian and I trekked off to visit my friend Monica in Bergamo for the day. I've been to Bergamo a few times to take advantage of a cheap flight with RyanAir, but for most of us, that’s the only time we go to Bergamo. After this day, I'd go back in a heartbeat. There’s the modern lower town, and the historic upper town. On top of that, there’s even San Vigilio with views that you can’t even imagine. Mind you, my view for weeks before going there was pretty much just the sidewalks of Milan because so much time is spent looking down to avoid stepping in dog poo! So, I might be exaggerating the views... but we did also get lucky with a spectacularly beautiful sunny day. 

People from Bergamo are known for never leaving Bergamo. After this visit, I understand why.

You should try to make a point in life of going to Bergamo - all three areas mentioned above. We wanted to take the cable-car (is that the right word?) to San Vigilio for lunch, and we asked the closest ticket vendor for three tickets. You would think (and this is a phrase you should NEVER use in Italy) that he would tell us that it doesn’t run during the lunch break. You would think. Instead, we go back to the cable-car, tickets in hand, to find out that it doesn’t run between 1pm and 3pm (ish). No problem, we take the bus. Again, you would think that with only a handful of people on the bus, the bus driver might announce the stop in San Vigilio. But, once we start going back down the hill we realize that almost all of us aboard have missed the San Vigilio stop. Luckily we got off not too far away and wandered back up where we had a delicious lunch and even more delicious views. It was a great break from everyday life in Milan, and I’d definitely go back to wander around some more.

Would you like a little view with your coffee?

Adoro Alba

You know how they say that Disneyland is the happiest place on earth? Whoever said that hasn't been to Alba. I thank my Canadian friend (whom I also happened to steal photos from, and who also makes baked goods like you've never tasted before) for discovering this gem of a town, and for making sure that we went during the annual truffle festival. We only spent a couple of days there; day one was for exploring the town, and day two was for the truffle fair. 

Alba is tiny and very walkable, so right after we got there we wandered off in search of somewhere to eat truffles. We finally got settled, and planned to order three dishes with truffles so that we could taste a bit of everything. Each dish was only 8€, so it was logical to order three, right? We ask for the first dish, and the server tells us, "Ok, so that's 8€ for the dish, and today's market price for the white truffles is 30€. So 38€ for that dish." "ABORT. We'll only take two dishes, and truffles on only one."

With our bellies full, we kept exploring the city. We saw countless people walking around with wine glasses around their necks (best invention ever) and we finally had to ask where one goes to obtain such a lifetime of joy. The Truffle Fair, obviously! But as not to go into sensory overload, we postponed that trip until day two. Day one ended with unintentional aperitivo, and dinner at Osteria dei Sognatori. What's unintentional aperitivo? Oh, well that's when you buy a glass of prosecco for 3.50, and then they bring you each a plate of pasta to go with it. Life is full of beautiful surprises. Also, if you go to Alba, you must go to Osteria dei Sognatori for dinner. I don't care if you have to wait, do it and thank me later. And when they ask you if they can just bring a mix of appetizers that you might like? Smile and nod.

The next day, we were off to the Truffle Fair. This was the moment where I wished I had brought a bigger suitcase. We spent the next few hours on a tasting spree. Cheeses, meats, pastas, sauces, dips, spreads, WINES. And then a few more wines. People had their truffles out in display cases, but with price tags like 320€ attached, I avoided those. All in all I came home with truffled versions of the following: cheese, olive oil, balsamic, parmesan cream, honey, pasta, salt, tomato sauce, rice, and polenta. No regrets, just a meal plan for the next year. 

Lessons learned:
1. White truffles are WAY more expensive than black truffles, but WAY more tastier.
2. Carne cruda is melt-in-your-mouth amazing. 
3. If you spend enough time around truffles, people will begin to compliment you on your perfume.
4. Wine.

Truffle products galore. And a wine necklace.

Photo Credit: Christine

Sapete come si dice che Disneyland è il posto più felice del mondo? Mi dispiace, ma chi ha detto questo, non è mai stato ad Alba. Ringrazio la mia amica canadese (da cui ho rubato delle foto, e anche che fa i dolci più buoni di milano) per aver scoperto questa gioia di città, e per aver organizzato il nostro viaggio durante la fiera dei tartufi. Eravamo lì solo un paio di giorni. Un giorno per fare un giro della città, e l'altro per la fiera.

Alba è piccolissima, e subito dopo siamo arrivate, siamo andate a cercare un posto per mangiare i tartufi. Dopo un po' di tempo, eravamo a tavola con la decisione di prendere tre piatti con i tartufi per provare un po' di tutto. Ogni piatto costava solo 8€ più il costo dei tartufi, quindi abbiamo deciso di prenderne tre. Giusto, no? Chiediamo il primo piatto e il cameriere ci dice' «Allora, sono 8€ per il piatto, e il prezzo oggi per i tartufi è 30€. Quindi quel piatto sarà 38€.» «STOP. Prendiamo solo due piatti, e solo uno con i tartufi.»

Sazie, abbiamo fatto un giro della città. Vedendo così tante persone con un bicchiere di vino come collana, dovevamo chiedere dove trovarle. La Fiera dei Tartufi, ovviamente! Però visto che sembrava un'avventura per una giornata, abbiamo deciso di andare il giorno prossimo. Il primo giorno è finito con un aperitivo sconosciuto, e la cena all'Osteria dei Sognatori. Cos'è un'aperitivo sconosciuto? Beh, è quando prendi un bicchiere di prosecco a 3,50€ e ti portano un piatto di pasta. Che bella sorpresa! Se andate ad Alba, dovete andare all'Osteria dei Sognatori per la cena. Non me ne frega se dovete aspettare un'ora, andate e ringraziatemi dopo. E quando vi chiedono se possono portarvi un misto degli antipasti? Dite di sì.

Il giorno prossimo, la Fiera dei Tartufi! Era al questo momento che volevo avere una valigia più grande. Le prossime ore erano passate assaggiando tutto. Formaggi, salumi, pasta, sughi, creme, vini. E poi più vini. C'erano i tartufi esposti, ma quando costano 320€ ciascuno è meglio comprarti qualcosa profumata di tartufo. Alla fine sono tornata a Milano con formaggio, olio, balsamico, crema di parmeggiano, miele, pasta, sale, sugo, riso e polenta. No cambierei niente, e almeno così so cosa mangio per il prossimo anno.

Cosa ho imparato?
1. I tartufi bianchi costano MOLTO di più che quelli neri, ma hanno un sapore MOLTO più buono.
2. Carne cruda è da sognare.
3. Se passi abbastanza tempo con i tartufi, la gente inizia a dirti «Ma che bel profumo!»
4. Vino.

There's No Place Like Where Wine is Cheaper Than Water.

A quick trip back home, and before I knew it I was on a plane back to Milan. I had to get back for VFNO, fashion week, and my internship! I had one day to run all my errands before going to work for the next three weeks straight. One major errand was turning my visa into a permesso, which really shouldn't be that hard. But, as you all remember from last September, everyone likes to know nothing about anything, and I was sent in so many circles. Here's a play-by-play:

Olivia: "Excuse me, but are you sure that this is where I have to go when I get back to Italy? Because last year this was wrong."
Woman at Vancouver Italian Consulate: "Boh. I only know what they tell me."

Olivia: "Excuse me, but is this the package I need to fill out for my working holiday permesso?
Post Office Dude #1: "How should I know? You should know. I just take the package and send it off."

Olivia: "Excuse me, I'm here on a working holiday visa, but no one seems to know what I need to do now to get my permesso. Can you help me?"
Woman at Canadian Consulate in Milan: "How should I know? The consulate where you picked it up should tell you. I work for Italians who want to go to Canada."

Olivia: "Excuse me, can you tell me what to do to turn my visa into a permesso?"
Man at Questura #2: "How should I know? What is this? This type of visa doesn't exist."

Olivia: "Excuse me, is this the right place to make my appointment at the questura?"
Post Office Dude #2: "Sure, no problem, I'll just need you to go here to get a stamp, pay for three other different receipts here, stand on your head, and here's your appointment for two weeks from now."
Olivia: "I am forever grateful."

Olivia: "I'm here for my appointment."
Man at Questura #2: "The system isn't working. I have never seen this type of visa before. You obviously made an appointment for the wrong questura. Go to this other place in a couple of weeks."

It took 30 days (and 30 nights), and countless people and questions to finally meet someone who knew exactly what my visa was for and what to do. I will marry him one day. That said, it's three weeks later and I'm still waiting for said permesso to be ready... in case you haven't already read this article, every word is true. And number 4. NUMBER 4.

But, let's finish this on a positive note. The other night I had a pizza and a half litre of wine for $10. In a restaurant. I win!

There's No Place Like Home

After our whirlwind trip (seriously, everyone who heard about our travels accused me of not letting my dad have a vacation because we spend so much time travelling!), I hopped on a plane back to the homeland. This trip had two purposes: 1. A new visa so Italy can't kick me out just yet. 2. Welcome my new sister to the family at my brother's wedding.

Now I love Italy, but Vancouver (the West Coast really) is in a class of its own, and after a year away I was really looking forward to getting back for a few weeks. The first stop upon my arrival was sushi. No joke. Even though I was jet-lagged to the point of slurring my words and occasionally going cross-eyed. Because this:

The rest of the trip was a whirlwind of Japadog, overly helpful bus drivers, me apologizing like a good Canadian when doing something like asking for a glass of water at Starbucks, randomly bumping in to people I haven't seen in ages, going to see the hilariously inappropriate Avenue Q (if you ever get the opportunity, SEE IT), dining with the geese in Powell River, evening swims, whale watching from the patio, thai food, boozy brunch, seeing everyone's new babies, taking 8 (yes, EIGHT) ferry rides, getting my auntie fill with my two adorable nephews, and watching the wedding of the year.

What is a Leg Horn?

Last stop on the great seaside tour of 2013? Livorno! Or, Leghorn in English, and we all know how I feel about that. I spent a solid half an hour looking at a map wondering what Leghorn meant.

This town was entirely new to me, and I was a bit nervous after a friend's review. Actually, her exact comment was, "Why on earth are you staying in Livorno? It's soooo boring!" Livorno served as a home base for the Le Spiagge Bianche in Rosignano, and a day trip to Pisa.

Le Spiagge Bianche was a different beach experience than what we were used to. Blue water, white sand, and nary a beach umbrella in sight. I'm a bit fuzzy on the details, but the white sand is a by-product of the factory located right behind it, and/or a gift from the factory owners to make people forget about the related polution. There's no life to be found in the water, and the first thing my dad noticed is that it doesn't smell like the ocean. At all. Creepy, but once you move past that then it's pretty easy to enjoy the day there. It's just such a different experience from the other beaches where you're crammed on to one small strip of public beach - 4kms of public beach in Italy is a rare find in my opinion!

Balanced out with this local experience was a super-tourist day in Pisa. You can look at as many photos as you want, but nothing quite prepares you for how weird it is to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. And all of the people taking photos!

All in all, Livorno as a home base worked well. And they have some goooooooooood seafood. Try the fish stew!

 

 

L'ultima fermata del grande viaggio al mare di 2013? Livorno! Ma chi ha deciso che si deve dire Leghorn in inglese? Perchè non possiamo dire Livorno tutti?

Questa città era completamente nuova per me, ma ero un po' nervosa dopo che una mia amica ha detto che ero pazza stare a Livorno. Non c'è niente da fare! Secondo lei... ci siamo fermati lì però per andare alle spiagge bianche a Rosignano, e poi a Pisa.

Le spiagge bianche sono come nient'altro che ho visto in italia. L'acqua azzurra, la sabbia bianca, e nessun ombrellone. Non mi ricordo benissimo, ma mi sa che la sabbia bianca viene da una fabbrica dietro, ed è stata forse un regalo dalla fabbrica per far dimenticare alla gente che la fabbrica danneggia l'ambiente. Non vive nessun pesce nell'acqua, e la prima cosa che ha detto mio padre è che non si sente l'odore del mare. Per niente. Stranissimo. Ma quando si dimentica di questo è molto facile godersi la giornata là. È un mondo diverso dalle altre spiagge dove la spiaggia pubblica è un metro quadrato con 200 persone - trovare 4km di spiaggia pubblica in italia non è facile!

Dopo una giornata italiana (pochi turisti alle spiagge bianche), siamo andati a Pisa per un giorno turistichississississimo. Puoi guardare mille foto del torre di Pisa ma non ti preparano mai a vederlo di persona. E poi tutte le persone facendo le foto è una cosa troppo divertente da guardare!

Insomma, Livorno come un posto centrale è funzionato bene. E si mangia il pesce fresco e buonooooo. Provate il Cacciucco!

Would you like a slice of lard with that?

Mmm hmmm... a whole post about LARD. Nope, not that hard white stuff you find in a jar, but we're talking thinly sliced, considered delicious, part of your meat and cheese plate, lard.

For our second night in La Spezia, we ventured off in search of a really Italian restaurant.The night before we had been caught in a total tourist trap where they served my dad what looked like a frozen pizza, and so we wanted something real. Something delicious. Wandering away from the main drag, we turned the corner and found this little hub of activity, full of Italians eating delicious-looking food. We checked out the menu, and for the first time since I've been here I noticed that lots of things were listed with lardo. I was so confused that I had to double check. "Scusa, cos'è lardo?" "Lardo. Lard." Weird.

Anyway, it all looked delightful so we stayed and ordered an assortment of food, one being the meat and cheese plate. Well, when the board arrived, it looked like two types of cheese, and four different types of meat. We dove in and after a few pieces I went in for the thinly sliced piece of white cheese. In my defense, you can buy thinly sliced white cheese at the grocery store. I put it in my mouth and the next few moments were something shocking. It was salty. It started to melt in my mouth. Then a flavour party exploded while I was still trying to figure out what kind of cheese I was eating. This all happened within seconds, after which I swallowed, looked at my dad, and said, "I think I just ate fat." We confirmed this with the server, and really, if I had looked closer, I would've noted the barely-there rind on the outside. But why would I inspect my cheese so closely??

True, fat equals flavour, and this was like a flavour rave in my mouth. But, the idea of voluntarily chowing down on pieces of pure fat is just so bizarre that I can honestly say I'll probably try to avoid it in the future.

Non so come scrivere questa storia in italiano per voi italiani, piuttosto perchè per voi, non è strano mangiare lardo! Quindi, secondo me dovete leggerla in inglese. Beh, no. Per forza dovete leggerla in inglese, perchè non la scrivo in italiano! 

La Spezia and Le Cinque Terre (NOT the 5 Lands)

In case you don't know this already, translating names is a pet peeve of mine. I just found out this year (from a 12-year old), that Christopher Columbus' name was actually Cristoforo Colombo! WHAT! Needless to say, every time an Italian talked to my Dad and me about the Five Lands (Le Cinque Terre) a piece of me died.

Now that I have that off my chest, let's get back to the fun times! We put down roots for a couple of nights in La Spezia, in a great location, and explored from our new home base. On the first day we jetted off on a boat cruise over to Portovenere which I'd highly recommend to all.

The next day we hit the "Five Lands." I have never seen so many people. In. My. Life. We started off at the most Northern town and then worked our way back down towards the end of the day, ending up for a few drinks in this cute mountainside bar in the last town. A good day trip, but in my opinion it's more enjoyable to stay in La Spezia and train out to Le Cinque Terre instead of staying in one of them.

Nel caso in cui non sapevate già, tradurre i nomi è una cosa che ODIO. Ho scoperto quest'anno (grazie a una ragazza di 12 anni), che Christopher Columbus si chiamava Cristoforo Colombo. PAZZESCO! Quindi, ovviamente, ogni volta che un'italiano ci parlava delle Five Lands (Le Cinque Terre) un pezzetino di me si è morto.

Adesso che sono un po' più calma, torniamo al divertimento! Ci siamo fermati un paio di notti a La Spezia, in centro, e da lì abbiamo visto un po' della città, e siamo anche andati a Portovenere (da non perdere se siete in zona!). 

Il giorno prossimo, "The Five Lands." Non ho mai visto così tanta gente. Mai, mai, mai. Abbiamo iniziato nella "Land" più nord, tornando piano piano a La Spezia. Perfetto per un giorno, ma secondo me è più piacevole stare a La Spezia e andare col treno alle Cinque Terre invece di prenotare un albergo lì.