Two nights with the Tonno Chef, or how I didn't realize how bad the camp food was until I got to Italy
Ciao! I write to you all from the train station in Bologna, waiting for the train to take me to Santa Reparata, the farm I am WWOOFing with for three weeks.
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My last glimpse at France |
After a brief stopover in Paris and a visit with my host family the van den Broeks-I used to call them my former host family, but in all honesty they'll always be my family :)- I boarded a 6:30am train which proceeded to zip through misty French countryside, towering Alps (my first glimpse!), and sunny Italian farmland before arriving in Milan. I then took a regional train from Milan to Bologna, where I had my next adventure: my first time Couchsurfing.
The last time I was planning a trip to Europe, I was too scared to Couchsurf, but I have since realized that it’s one of the easiest and most economical ways to get to know a city, its people, and its food.
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Francesco! |

After dinner, we went into the center for gelato at Cremeria Funivia- where I had the BEST ice cream I have ever tasted. It literally brought tears to my eyes, as some desserts are wont to do. It was Marscapone gelato with chocolate hazelnut sauce at the bottom of the cone. I was already crying, but when I stirred up the sauce with the remainder of my ice cream I almost died on the steps of the Università di Bologna.

That night Francesco made ragu, a sauce of carrots, celery, onions, ground meat, and tomato sauce, and together we made tagliatelle. So delicious.
For secondi we coated salvia and zucchini blossoms in egg and breadcrumbs and deep-fried them in pork fat. Take that, state fair.
what to get, and she gave me a cone with chocolate, cream, and ciocosoffio, a flavor similar to Kinder chocolate with rice puffs. I was about to die.
I know not every couchsurfing host will be as friendly and generous as Francesco was, but the past two days were a great introduction to my first time in Italy, and it makes me excited to start working on this farm and learning more about Emilia-Romagnan food. I think I'm really going to like it here.
You are so your mother's daughter! I guess you just inherited especially exquisite tastebuds, kid. A wine palate like your dad would be frosting on the cake. Have fun, and thanks for taking us along! -- Tracy H
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