Been a Crazy week and I am very far behind on this. But it seems today that the crazy Americans made the newspaper. Last week we were invited to meet the Mayor or Orvieto. And well today we were in the Newspaper. La Nazione For October 29th. I picked up a couple of copies. I wish my Italian was better but I think the headline was something like Soon to be evicted Student Chefs meet Mayor. Okay just kidding. But I can't seem to find a link to the article on the web. So I will have to save a copy and do a color scan of it when I can.
Anyway I have a bit of updating to do when I get time I dont really have and was just told that i have another long day ahead of me tomorrow as well.
Be safe all
Tony
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Busy week quick update Parma
This weekend we took an amazing field trip. Chef Polegri had set up a trip for us to go to Parma and Tuscany. I was really looking forward to this trip. The plan was to go to a parmesan cheese factory a prosciutto factory and spend a night in Parma. This for me was a trip I was looking forward to.
We started the day with a long bus ride starting at four in the morning. We slept on the bus on the way there. When we woke up we were almost to the first stop of the day, the parmesan cheese factory. This itself was a real treat. I will admit it was not the place I was looking forward to the most but it became one of the top two places we visited for me. The amount of care ad time that our guide spent in explaining the cheese itself made the trip worthwhile.
The day before we left, there was a cheese seminar with John at Zeppelin. The information that he provided along with what was provided to us by our guide was a treasure trove. The nuisances of the flavors and how it was explained to us was helpful for the day ahead.
While there we were shown the entire process of making the cheese, for start to finish. We were allowed to taste some of the cheese fresh from the vat. After we were shown the other steps to the cheese making process, we were taken to the tasting room. In the tasting room we were given three samples of cheese to taste, these were a 12 month aged, a 24 month and a 30 month. You could really tell the difference between the flavors in each. One of the things I liked was that each was very distinctly flavored and even the difference between the 24 and the 30 month was discernible.
Our next stop was to a prosciutto factory. This was a stop I had high hopes for. I must say that our guide offered a lot of valuable information; the stop was overall a letdown. While our tour guide was still amazing for this leg of the trip, the location we went to was not so much. The staff seemed to have the attitude that us being there was more of a nuisance.
Then we stopped at a balsamic vinegar production facility. This stop was amazing. I had never known the flavor profiles of balsamic could be so intense. I am so used to the Americanized version. The amount of work and love that goes into it is right up there with wine. How the flavor profiles can be adjusted and played with.
The final stop of our day was Parma itself. I had the opportunity to walk to and around the city before dinner. It was really an amazing place. It was explained to me that Parma itself is a wealthy town because it has three of the major exports of the county, prosciutto, cheese and vinegar. The town was one of a kind. And a place I would love to visit again. This was just day one of the trip and it was amazing. Day two was amazing as well but for now the story ends.
We started the day with a long bus ride starting at four in the morning. We slept on the bus on the way there. When we woke up we were almost to the first stop of the day, the parmesan cheese factory. This itself was a real treat. I will admit it was not the place I was looking forward to the most but it became one of the top two places we visited for me. The amount of care ad time that our guide spent in explaining the cheese itself made the trip worthwhile.
The day before we left, there was a cheese seminar with John at Zeppelin. The information that he provided along with what was provided to us by our guide was a treasure trove. The nuisances of the flavors and how it was explained to us was helpful for the day ahead.
While there we were shown the entire process of making the cheese, for start to finish. We were allowed to taste some of the cheese fresh from the vat. After we were shown the other steps to the cheese making process, we were taken to the tasting room. In the tasting room we were given three samples of cheese to taste, these were a 12 month aged, a 24 month and a 30 month. You could really tell the difference between the flavors in each. One of the things I liked was that each was very distinctly flavored and even the difference between the 24 and the 30 month was discernible.
Our next stop was to a prosciutto factory. This was a stop I had high hopes for. I must say that our guide offered a lot of valuable information; the stop was overall a letdown. While our tour guide was still amazing for this leg of the trip, the location we went to was not so much. The staff seemed to have the attitude that us being there was more of a nuisance.
Then we stopped at a balsamic vinegar production facility. This stop was amazing. I had never known the flavor profiles of balsamic could be so intense. I am so used to the Americanized version. The amount of work and love that goes into it is right up there with wine. How the flavor profiles can be adjusted and played with.
The final stop of our day was Parma itself. I had the opportunity to walk to and around the city before dinner. It was really an amazing place. It was explained to me that Parma itself is a wealthy town because it has three of the major exports of the county, prosciutto, cheese and vinegar. The town was one of a kind. And a place I would love to visit again. This was just day one of the trip and it was amazing. Day two was amazing as well but for now the story ends.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Pisa the Adventure begins.....
Pisa is a place I decided that had decided would be an excellent place for a first day trip. A three hour train ride coupled with the fact that al of the tourist attractions are all close to each other. Andrew, Rachel and Macey thought that this would be a fun trip as well so we agreed to head up there.
The night before I went to bed early enough, that a couple people thought I was upset at them. I knew it was going to be a long day. Little did I know exactly how long it would be….I mean what could go wrong we were just on a three hour tour, nothing ever goes wrong on those. I awoke at 0600 and was out the door along with Andrew at 0630. Well it appeared the girls were not ready. What a surprise……girls not being ready.
Andrew walked the streets and met a cat that will forever be referred to as “Ciao Cat”. This cat walked up the street saying “Ciao, Ciao”. I wish I was joking. We said Ciao and return and walked off looking for hidden cameras. The discussions from there were all over the place from architecture of the buildings and how you could see the deepness of the Italian culture from the respect they show for their history. We headed over to meet the girls, the down the hill to the funicular. The plans were loose at this point. Grab the next train to Florence, then to Pisa. See the sights and be done in time to catch the last train home to Orvieto. Good plan? Yea we thought so as well. But as the saying goes not plan survives the first shots of battle.
It had been many years since I had been on a train. The last time I was in Mexico. On the way to Mexico City. But that was at night and I slept a good part of the way. This was far different and much more memorable. The ride was almost hypnotic. The train was flowing very smoothly, almost floating. Looking out the window you see the scenery go by pastures, fields, old abandoned buildings and ruins here and there. As we pulled into Castiglion de Lago I looked out the window and saw a large lake with a hilltop “fortress” overlooking it.
This keeps bringing me back to my question of the people that love in these towns. This stuff is like their back yard. They see it every day. It must be rather unremarkable to them. To them is it just something in their back yard. I thought the same thing about Pisa as well.
We made it to Florence and realized we had a few minutes till our train to so we walked around and saw a local piazza till our train was ready. We then boarded our train to Pisa and were on our way. This is where the adventure really begins for this trip, and so in taking after a tv show….
TO BE CONTINUED……
The night before I went to bed early enough, that a couple people thought I was upset at them. I knew it was going to be a long day. Little did I know exactly how long it would be….I mean what could go wrong we were just on a three hour tour, nothing ever goes wrong on those. I awoke at 0600 and was out the door along with Andrew at 0630. Well it appeared the girls were not ready. What a surprise……girls not being ready.
Andrew walked the streets and met a cat that will forever be referred to as “Ciao Cat”. This cat walked up the street saying “Ciao, Ciao”. I wish I was joking. We said Ciao and return and walked off looking for hidden cameras. The discussions from there were all over the place from architecture of the buildings and how you could see the deepness of the Italian culture from the respect they show for their history. We headed over to meet the girls, the down the hill to the funicular. The plans were loose at this point. Grab the next train to Florence, then to Pisa. See the sights and be done in time to catch the last train home to Orvieto. Good plan? Yea we thought so as well. But as the saying goes not plan survives the first shots of battle.
It had been many years since I had been on a train. The last time I was in Mexico. On the way to Mexico City. But that was at night and I slept a good part of the way. This was far different and much more memorable. The ride was almost hypnotic. The train was flowing very smoothly, almost floating. Looking out the window you see the scenery go by pastures, fields, old abandoned buildings and ruins here and there. As we pulled into Castiglion de Lago I looked out the window and saw a large lake with a hilltop “fortress” overlooking it.
This keeps bringing me back to my question of the people that love in these towns. This stuff is like their back yard. They see it every day. It must be rather unremarkable to them. To them is it just something in their back yard. I thought the same thing about Pisa as well.
We made it to Florence and realized we had a few minutes till our train to so we walked around and saw a local piazza till our train was ready. We then boarded our train to Pisa and were on our way. This is where the adventure really begins for this trip, and so in taking after a tv show….
TO BE CONTINUED……
Monday, October 12, 2009
Pisa....the intro
Pisa turned out to be a wonderful place. Far more than expected. The trip was truly an adventure, that I will have to go into later today. Lesson learned today was that while we all know Italian stop signs are optional, so apparently are bus schedules. This leads us to our next lesson. NEVER plan to take the last train to your destination, when you are relying on other forms of transportation to get to it. So adventure is complete, we are all safe at hame. And Macey, Rachel and Andrew you guys are great travel partners. I will post the complete story when I have time later today.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Almost Two Weeks Already.....
Hard to believe I have been here two weeks now. I have learned so much in the time. I also have much more to learn. As I had told people back home I have tried to immerse myself. I have a few others on the trip that feel the same way. And due to this we have met many great people.
Chef Polegri, teaches us everything we want to know about Italian cuisine, and has really an amazing energy in the kitchen. John, who teaches us the finer points of the culture, and behavior that he has learned, as well as making sure the kitchen and the food are shown proper respect. Eris is the one who lets us know the proper way to do things, when we are out in public. Vito Paulo is a great teacher of all things having to do with Italy, although some have expressed concern about the “content” of our lessons. Veronica, is a local barista, who is hilarious with a wonderful laugh, that teaches us more of the dialectical way of speaking. This is just a handful of the people that help us out every day. They watch to see who is taking their lessons to heart then help those out a little more, while the others are left more to their own devices.
So this Sunday is my first open day. I have put some thought into it and have decided that I will be heading to Pisa. While there are many sights to see there, I think that since I will most likely be going alone, or with one other person. I should be able to see some of the sights I want to see. These of course include the Leaning Tower, Paizza del Duomo and well this is the birthplace of Galileo.
The rest of the group are heading to Rome Sunday, but I think I will go off the beaten path for my first day trip. And have turned in my travel form to inform our instructor that I will be heading there this Sunday.
I am still up in the air as for my other trips. Sicily is on the list for my first long weekend, and I will be making those arrangements today with a couple other people that want to go. But after that I am open. Sardinia, Florence, Venice and Greece are thoughts. If I go to Venice I can stop through Verona on the way home and visit the statue of Juliet, and well…..look it up yourself if you want to know. For Florence I have to go visit a pig and give him a good nose rubbing (thank you Melissa for telling me about that one). For anywhere that I can train to, I will most likely go and see what I can see in a day. Or make multiple day trips to. Florence and Rome are on that list. I am about an hour and a half from each by train and the tickets are around 7 euro each way.
It is now noon here, and it is getting time to clean up for lunch, and I have class afterwards.
Ciao and Vito Bella,
Tony
Chef Polegri, teaches us everything we want to know about Italian cuisine, and has really an amazing energy in the kitchen. John, who teaches us the finer points of the culture, and behavior that he has learned, as well as making sure the kitchen and the food are shown proper respect. Eris is the one who lets us know the proper way to do things, when we are out in public. Vito Paulo is a great teacher of all things having to do with Italy, although some have expressed concern about the “content” of our lessons. Veronica, is a local barista, who is hilarious with a wonderful laugh, that teaches us more of the dialectical way of speaking. This is just a handful of the people that help us out every day. They watch to see who is taking their lessons to heart then help those out a little more, while the others are left more to their own devices.
So this Sunday is my first open day. I have put some thought into it and have decided that I will be heading to Pisa. While there are many sights to see there, I think that since I will most likely be going alone, or with one other person. I should be able to see some of the sights I want to see. These of course include the Leaning Tower, Paizza del Duomo and well this is the birthplace of Galileo.
The rest of the group are heading to Rome Sunday, but I think I will go off the beaten path for my first day trip. And have turned in my travel form to inform our instructor that I will be heading there this Sunday.
I am still up in the air as for my other trips. Sicily is on the list for my first long weekend, and I will be making those arrangements today with a couple other people that want to go. But after that I am open. Sardinia, Florence, Venice and Greece are thoughts. If I go to Venice I can stop through Verona on the way home and visit the statue of Juliet, and well…..look it up yourself if you want to know. For Florence I have to go visit a pig and give him a good nose rubbing (thank you Melissa for telling me about that one). For anywhere that I can train to, I will most likely go and see what I can see in a day. Or make multiple day trips to. Florence and Rome are on that list. I am about an hour and a half from each by train and the tickets are around 7 euro each way.
It is now noon here, and it is getting time to clean up for lunch, and I have class afterwards.
Ciao and Vito Bella,
Tony
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
First Impressions
As I type this I am sitting on my bed in a room I share with two other roommates. Below us there is a music store. I have my window. The breeze is flowing in. The sound of people talking as they walk by mixes with cars and motorcycles. Amazing enough this is all being fed by its own soundtrack. There is a music store in the building below us and I can hear them playing right now. I do not think that this can be shared.
The culture here is amazing. It is so deep and rich it would take a lifetime to learn it. Experiencing it is the chance of a lifetime. As I had stated before I am taking every chance to experience it and not stand out too much. It is nice to see that there are others on the trip that feels the same way as I do. There are some that you can walk around the city and let everything flow. Try to take it in. Everyone here will be walking away with their own experiences. That is something that is obvious.
I will say this the wine here is amazing. Enough on that subject.
Our actual classes have started today. While I am here I will be getting credit in the US for World Cuisine, Classical European, Internship and Italian History and Culture, which will count as my history credit. I actually had an off day today, so spent the morning walking around with one person and when they headed to class after lunch I walked around with another. The sight sounds and flavors are still overwhelming at times.
So there are some I like to hang out with. We were sitting at a bar last night having fun. I was sitting with them talking and joking about things in general. And she said to me. I want to talk to yall but I wish my English was better. This lead to a four hour Italian lesson from her. And a really good time.
It is really late here right now and I started this yesterday. So want to get something up. I have about four or five that I have started but not finished.
So for tonight, That you for this translation Bonnie. “Vita Bela”
The culture here is amazing. It is so deep and rich it would take a lifetime to learn it. Experiencing it is the chance of a lifetime. As I had stated before I am taking every chance to experience it and not stand out too much. It is nice to see that there are others on the trip that feels the same way as I do. There are some that you can walk around the city and let everything flow. Try to take it in. Everyone here will be walking away with their own experiences. That is something that is obvious.
I will say this the wine here is amazing. Enough on that subject.
Our actual classes have started today. While I am here I will be getting credit in the US for World Cuisine, Classical European, Internship and Italian History and Culture, which will count as my history credit. I actually had an off day today, so spent the morning walking around with one person and when they headed to class after lunch I walked around with another. The sight sounds and flavors are still overwhelming at times.
So there are some I like to hang out with. We were sitting at a bar last night having fun. I was sitting with them talking and joking about things in general. And she said to me. I want to talk to yall but I wish my English was better. This lead to a four hour Italian lesson from her. And a really good time.
It is really late here right now and I started this yesterday. So want to get something up. I have about four or five that I have started but not finished.
So for tonight, That you for this translation Bonnie. “Vita Bela”
Friday, October 2, 2009
Getting around in Italy
Waking up here, in Orvieto Italy is truly surreal. I am here with a group of 17 including our Chef from Dallas, Texas. We have been here three days and before heading over I took the effort to try and learn a few key phrases and such. I will say this though. A few weeks of Rosetta Stone help a little. It is very expensive though, so I glad someone allowed me to "borrow" their copy.
Typical day, for the three we have been here, starts off with waking up, taking a shower, and heading to the local cafe for an espresso. This I will walk around and enjoy until it is time for me to be in class.
Sometimes I sit down and just am amazed that I am actually really here, and sometimes I just take it in. While having my drink this morning, I decided to create this blog. This is more for my memories than anything else, but I think I have friends and family that would like to "share" my experience. I have a family that is really supportive of this as well.
So I am here with 15 other students and one Chef instructor. I am going to try each day and get out on my own and walk around. Orvieto, is not a huge place at all. The number of residents we have been told always hovers around 25,000. And 16 culinary students from the U.S. stick out a saint bernard at a beagle convention. Coming from Houston it is a hugely different experience. Cars zip down streets that would be considered alleys where I am from.
I will not try to explain the experiences of past three days for now though; there will be plenty of time for that. One of the things I decided to do was to take a little time each day to walk around and try to experience things. This has been mostly in the mornings as I am usually the first one up in the house. This has been an experience in itself. Walking around by myself in this city, watching people and the world go by you can learn a lot about them and yourself. The locals here are really great so far. You can tell that they are used to a lot of tourist that come through and have no intention of attempting interaction with them, so they seem very appreciative and patient when you try and are showing the real effort.
I was walking down the street the other day, and have noticed a gentleman outside. He has always had a stern face when it came to the group of guys. I was by myself and when he looked at me with the stern face just said, “buon giorno”, He got a huge smile on his face and said “buon giorno”. But the look on his face said a lot. Same at the cleaners this morning I was trying to drop off a few shirts, and well the lady and I tried to discuss it. I think we got our conversation to the point of bring them back on Tuesday and they will be ready Wednesday afternoon. I will let you know Tuesday.
Well need to head out to try and take care of some things. So ciao till later.
Typical day, for the three we have been here, starts off with waking up, taking a shower, and heading to the local cafe for an espresso. This I will walk around and enjoy until it is time for me to be in class.
Sometimes I sit down and just am amazed that I am actually really here, and sometimes I just take it in. While having my drink this morning, I decided to create this blog. This is more for my memories than anything else, but I think I have friends and family that would like to "share" my experience. I have a family that is really supportive of this as well.
So I am here with 15 other students and one Chef instructor. I am going to try each day and get out on my own and walk around. Orvieto, is not a huge place at all. The number of residents we have been told always hovers around 25,000. And 16 culinary students from the U.S. stick out a saint bernard at a beagle convention. Coming from Houston it is a hugely different experience. Cars zip down streets that would be considered alleys where I am from.
I will not try to explain the experiences of past three days for now though; there will be plenty of time for that. One of the things I decided to do was to take a little time each day to walk around and try to experience things. This has been mostly in the mornings as I am usually the first one up in the house. This has been an experience in itself. Walking around by myself in this city, watching people and the world go by you can learn a lot about them and yourself. The locals here are really great so far. You can tell that they are used to a lot of tourist that come through and have no intention of attempting interaction with them, so they seem very appreciative and patient when you try and are showing the real effort.
I was walking down the street the other day, and have noticed a gentleman outside. He has always had a stern face when it came to the group of guys. I was by myself and when he looked at me with the stern face just said, “buon giorno”, He got a huge smile on his face and said “buon giorno”. But the look on his face said a lot. Same at the cleaners this morning I was trying to drop off a few shirts, and well the lady and I tried to discuss it. I think we got our conversation to the point of bring them back on Tuesday and they will be ready Wednesday afternoon. I will let you know Tuesday.
Well need to head out to try and take care of some things. So ciao till later.
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