Ciao From Rome...

Cilento

This past weekend was our class trip to Cilento.  Cilento is located in Salerno and is the birthplace of the Mediterranean Diet.  We left from Trastevere Station on Friday morning.  It was a 4 hour bus ride to our first destination.  Luckily for us it was a coach bus and it made it super easy for all of us to go back to sleep since most of us were tired from going out the night before.

Our first stop was a place that does the catering for big events all over Italy.  We had lunch there which consisted of past in red sauce with some cheese on top, fish and squid, and it ended with fruit.  Most people were not big fans of how the fish looked and as a result didn’t want to try it.  I tried it and it wasn’t that bad.  I think I ate two pieces but it just had more of a fish flavor than I generally care for.  I did eat all of my calamari though. I love calamari!  After we had eaten the owner taught us about olive oil and took us through how you do a tasting.  For the sampling he had us hold our nose and put the olive oil in our mouth and then let go of our nose.  If it was good olive oil it was suppose to produce a puckering sensation and it did. Then he showed us around the kitchen downstairs and told us about what all the different areas are used for, the number of events they have a year, and the range in the number of people that will be attending the events they are preparing for. 

After lunch we went to a fruit farm.  The owner took us around his grounds which were beautiful especially were you entered there were flowers everywhere.  He told us about the fruit he would be growing (kiwi, necterines, olives, peaches) and some of the plants had even started having little flowers or pieces of fruit growing.  He also told us about the maintenance involved in growing each type.  I found it interesting that he has to pay people to come pick some of the little fruits off the trees because otherwise they will not be the optimal size for selling to maximize profits.  Afterwards we got to sample some kiwi that had been grown on the farm and it was the most amazing kiwi I had ever eaten!!!! 

Next we headed to a fishing dock where the fishermen bring their fish and people from local restaurants to come to pick the fish they would like to have on their menu.  A fisherman was waiting there for us with his days catch.  He held up and showed us a lot of interesting fish.  There was even when that he opened the mouth of and you could see all the little fish inside of it that the big fish had eaten.  Then they were offering for people to try raw shrimp they had caught for the day. It looked disgusting but after watching a few people do it I naturally felt the need to try it because as with everything in life when else was I going to have the chance to do it.  It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be but I still think I will stick with my shrimp that are cooked.  Afterwards, we went over to the beach, it was a rock beach not a sand beach, and we all just chilled and talked with people.  It was close to sunset when we needed to get back on the bus to head to the place we were having dinner L.

Our dinner was being served at a fancy hotel.  We had pasta in red sauce again followed by a pork chop and potato. I was hoping for some dessert because I was really craving some tiramisu at the time but sadly it didn’t happen.  After dinner we loaded up the bus again to head for the hotel we were staying at.  On the way Sonia got volunteers for karaoke which was pretty hysterical.  The hotel we stayed at was really nice.  It had a TV, WiFi, and a huge bathroom. I was in a room with Krista, Jess, and Claire so it was the same living situation as in Rome. We all got ready for bed watched a little TV together and then went to sleep.

We had an early start on Saturday.  We had to be up at 7 am to eat breakfast and then we loaded up the bus and went to a buffalo farm.  Our tour guide here was fluent in English and she was super funny, especially when she was telling us about the names they have for the buffalo.  We got to see how the buffalo were kept and they had awesome facilities there for them.  There was a device there that would rub them down and get milk was done at the buffalo’s leisure on its way to the feeding area and/or on the way back the resting area.  She told us about how this type of facility creates a low stress environment for the animal which increases their milk production.  Next the tour took us to the spot where we were able to watch all these guys forming the cheese.  Our guide told us the water is super hot and I couldn’t believe they could repeatedly stick their hands in there.  Then we got to sample some of this famous mozzarella di buffalo.  I was really excited about that part because I hadn’t tried it yet.  It was delicious!  I wish we had cheese like that at home.  Then we went to a shop were we could purchase fresh made gelato, yogurt, cheese or anything else they use the buffalo milk for.  I bought gelato and split a yogurt with Bree.  Both were super amazing and you could definitely taste the difference from the stuff we have back home.

The next stop on our journey was a fish museum and the place where the Mediterranean Diet had been researched and had its health benefits discovered.  The fish museum was kind of small but the first tank was really cool because it had fish people could hold if they wanted to.  I held the starfish and a sea cucumber.  The sea cucumber felt and looked really weird but it was fun.  After we walked through the room were the research had been conducted out on to a balcony looking out onto a beach.  We went down to the beach and spent some time all trying to see how many times we could get a rock to skip.  Frank was amazing at it!

Our next stop was at some ruins.  I thought they were cool to look at but after about 10 minutes on the tour I was bored of it.  Unless I have an extremely captivating tour guide I don’t last long looking at historical sites or in museums.  My favorite part of the tour was watching the stray dog that was following us because it loved our tour guide.  I wish I could have taken the dog home!!!! 

Next we bored the bus yet again, to go to a pizza place for dinner.  They showed us were they stored their ingredients and they showed us how they made several of their pizzas that we later sampled during dinner.  They even had a Nutella Pizza which was amazing!  With dinner we also drank a lot of beer which made for a fun bus ride to the hotel.  Once we were back at the hotel we all got ready to go out for the night with Sonia and Carla.  It was a pretty fun time out especially since that is the closest we ever came to having our whole group be out together at once. 

Sunday we had to get up somewhat early so we could head to an herb museum at 9:30 am.  They took us around a garden full of herbs that were used for different medicinal and culinary purposes.  I didn’t find it that interesting because like historical sites there is only so much you can look at before it kind of starts blending together.  We did get to sample some tea at the end of the tour though that was really good.  Afterwards we had free time so we headed to the herb festival that was going on in the town.  It started raining while we were waiting for the bus to come get us.  The bus driver told us we would not be able to each lunch on the bus and so would have to go out into the rain for lunch and dine under an overpass.  This was one of those moments where you just can’t believe what is happening is real and you can do nothing but laugh.  It actually ended up being a really funny dining experience and at one point Katie Perrone was taking pictures and she told everyone to “Smile and say homeless”.  After our fine dining experience under the overpass, we boarded the bus one last time for the ride back to Rome.

Overall, I thought the weekend was very informative perhaps a little too much so.  I felt like we spent more time riding on the bus then at the actual places and that we kind of rushed through some of the places.  I think some things should be removed to allow for a little more free time during the day and so things aren’t so rushed.  For example, although it was cool to see the ruins I didn’t feel it related that much to the focus of the weekend, the Mediterranean Diet, and so it could have been left out.  I really liked the buffalo farm.  I thought it was really cool to see, the guide was really good, and there was a lot to sample there.  My favorite dining experience was definitely the pizza place where I had my first sample of Nutella Pizza.