This post has been a long time coming! I think I've been subconsciously putting it off because it signals the end of last semester, which was life-changingly incredible, and it's the last time (for a while at least) that I'll get to include my friend Ari in a "we." If you've read the last post, you'll know that my fellow foodie friend and I went down to Napoli and the Amalfi coast for Thanksgiving. Having decided that we needed more travel, more food, and more time together, we packed our bags for a relaxing four-day trip to Bolzano the second week of December.
Bolzano is a fascinating town in the region of Trentino-Alto Adige in the northeast of Italy. It is one of the only towns in the German-influenced area that speaks Italian, and it has been rated the Italian city with the highest quality of life for the past three years. When we arrived through the spiky Dolomite mountains to a picturesque little gingerbread town, I remarked that it reminded me of Lord Farquaad's town of Duloc in Shrek, except 100% less creepy and 300% more charming.
As with most of my posts/life, this is mostly about food.
We checked into the beautiful Bolzano youth hostel (link here, and if you go, make reservations in advance as they are very popular!) to discover that our absent roommates had taken both of the bottom bunks. Outrageous! After passive aggressively taking one of them back and discovering that they had also stolen the good pillows, we left to explore the city.
The largest central Christmas market in the main piazza was absolutely beautiful. Painted red and white wooden stalls held sumptuous displays of ornaments, candles, reindeer hats, fuzzy slippers, artisanal chocolates, and so much cheese. For our first quick meal we stopped at a pretzel and sausage stall. I got a bratwurst and sauerkraut sandwich and Ari munched on a pretzel with cheese and speck (a delicious type of Italian cured meat, similar to prosciutto. It comes from this region, which is always a sign that something will be incredible).
After lunch we walked around some more, sipping on rich hot chocolate (literally thick, heated chocolate) with fresh whipped cream. The sun was out and aside from the main market, there were tons of stalls and smaller markets throughout the streets. The whole city was decorated, even the trees!
We got back to our hostel for an afternoon nap and a viewing of Eloise at Christmastime (don't ask) to discover that our mysterious roommates had taken back the bottom bunk on our side of the room, put all of my things on the second top bunk, and put their pajamas out with notes that said "Occupied." After some loud cursing we decided to cut our losses and head out for a nice dinner. On our way we saw some adorable Shetland ponies in the square!
For dinner we went to Birreria Forst, which we had passed earlier that day in our explorations. Ari had the local specialty of spinach canederli (dumplings) and I had a large beer with some INCREDIBLE pumpkin, ginger, and shrimp spaghetti. We got back and finally met our roommates, who turned out to be some very sweet and plump old ladies who literally couldn't make it to the top bunks. We were especially nice to them, feeling quite guilty about all the things we'd yelled in the room earlier.
Day two was just as sunny and beautiful as the first. We slept in late and then headed to the main market for lunch. This day of days marked our discovery of Hans and the cheese sandwiches. Hans is an attractive mountain man, made irresistible by his expert handling of wheels of hot melted cheese. Large rounds of cheese are rotated underneath iron-like contraptions, that melt the top layer of cheese as they simultaneously toast artisanal bread. Hans puts some slices of speck onto a toasty fennel bun, and then scrapes a generous portion of scalding hot cheese on top, handing it to you with a smoldering gaze (imagine this, but German and reserved). I asked him to marry me a few times but he only spoke Deutsch. Dessert was a raspberry chocolate tart.
We looked around bookstores, bought chocolates and bottles of apple balsamic vinegar and spicy olive oil for our families, and made fun of furry window displays. Basically passing time until we could eat again. For dinner we went to Walther's on the main piazza. As an appetizer we had smoked salmon and chive butter on warm toast. Dinner for Ari was a twist on pasta puttanesca- spaghetti with olives, capers, tomatoes, and chicken. I had delicious potato gnocchi with a rabbit ragù. We paired our food with some sweet prosecco and afterwards had a lovely walk home under the Christmas lights.
The next day meant another opportunity for lunch with Hans. This time he gave us warm, giant pretzel rolls! We ate them around tree trunk tables, licking gooey cheese off of our fingers and sighing with joy. Dessert was apricot strudel.
That afternoon we took a train to the nearby town of Merano to swim in the thermal pools. It was amazing! I wish I had taken pictures, but we checked all our things into the lockers. The thermal baths were like a water park for adults: there were different temperatured pools, massage jets, hot tubs, current pools, and my favorite, the mermaid pool. The mermaid pool had speakers underwater that played classical music- you could only hear it when you put your head under! We swam for three straight hours and then walked through Merano's Christmas market before heading to a famous cafe for cake.
Cherry cream ganache for Ari and chocolate rum mousse for me.
Hello again Hans, future father of my cheesy children! I believe this is sandwich number three. I miss it (you) so much writing this two months later. After lunch we went to a gourmet tea shop and then a lovely bakery, where Ari bought a giant bag of pretzel rolls and I got a strawberry and ricotta-filled honeycomb pastry.
Walking home we found the Bolzano Waldorf School stall! Years later I still love finding Waldorf people around the world, it's such a great community. They know I wasn't allowed to watch TV.
For our last dinner we went to the locals' favorite restaurant, Cavallino Bianco. Because it was so full, we got seated at a table with a lovely older couple, and we ended up talking to them for the entire two hour dinner! For our last meal we started with the famous ghoulash, and then Ari got pasta with feta, tomatoes, and basil and I got the house pasta with tomato cream sauce, prosciutto, mushrooms, and onions.
Bolzano is a beautiful, fairytale little place and I recommend that you go (and eat) just as soon as you can!
No comments:
Post a Comment