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Abshire’s Abroad

March - May 2023
Gabe, Veronica, Andrew and Renee are spending 2 months traveling around Italy. With a few stops along the way. Read more
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  • Abshire’s Abroad
    Day 13

    Travel day to Bologna

    March 26, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    On our drive from Cortina to Bologna, we decided to stop and see Vitto’s mom in Padova. We took a slight 30 minute detour because Google said a road was closed. The switchback road didn’t sit so well with Andrew early in the morning and he threw up. Barfy’s back! Andrew didn’t do very well on the road to Hana in Hawaii. In Padova, we found a street food market going on. There were a ton of people and very long lines. We decided to go get pizza at Vitto’s favorite place. Then we walked to Saint Anthony of Padova’s cathedral and went inside. It was beautiful! It was the kids first “big & impressive” cathedral.
    We got back in the car and I immediately fell asleep. So the drive to Bologna was short and I’m sure scenic. We found a parking spot and walked a short couple of blocks to the apartment. Gabe choose an apartment on the 3rd floor of a building without an elevator. The apartment is Ok. It was a little dusty and missing quite a few household items but we will manage. Gabe and I left and went to the store to get stocked up. We requested a few things from the management company to bring over. I rearranged the kitchen and cleaned up the apartment. Since we are in a big city Gabe decided to look for some Asian food for dinner. It started to rain and the restaurant wouldn’t deliver in the rain. So we got our rain coats on and went for a walk. The Italians in this city were very smart and all the side walks are covered! We hardly even got wet. The food was worth the walk. It was different from all the pasta and delicious. We are excited to get up and walk around this new big city!    Read more

  • Abshire’s Abroad
    Day 14

    Bologna Day 1

    March 27, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    Woke up this morning and climbed the 498 steps to the top of the Asinelli Tower Located in Piazza di Porta Ravegnana. The stairs were very narrow, almost straight up, our feet didn’t fit on some of the stairs and we had to turn around. It was very windy and beautiful once we got to the top. You could see a 360° of the city and outside to the countryside. After we got down from there, we wandered around the streets and looked at all the amazing charcuterie and cheese. Andrew and I split a porkeccta sandwich. Andrew finally got to ride on electric bike around the neighborhood for a little bit while Renee had a fried grilled cheese and ham sandwich. Veronica and the kids ended up going back towards the house and doing some more shopping while I wandered around the streets for a few more hours. I had an amazing lunch by myself of burrata and mortadella. I made it back to the house and started cooking rice and gravy for dinner. It really hit the spot. I needed some down home cooking. We took a walk in a local park which was very over grown and run down. There is graffiti all over the city. It doesn’t appear that anyone is attempting to clean it up. Dinner was amazing and well deserved. You can take the Coon ass out of the country but he will always figure a way to to make rice and gravy.
    Ciao - A Presto - Gabe    Read more

  • Abshire’s Abroad
    Day 15

    Bologna Day 2

    March 28, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 5 °C

    Today, we had to wake up early because we were meeting a tour guide and professional chef to show us around Bologna and help us make homemade bolognese! We met at the Fountain of Neptune, walked around and rode a bus to get to the chef’s workshop, to start cooking! First, we made the meat sauce, then we started making the dough! We started off by taking some flour, and making a hole in the middle of it. Then, we cracked two eggs into the hole. Then, mix up the eggs and start mixing the flour in with the eggs, slowly. Next, start kneeling with your hands until it is not sticky and a light brown. Then, start rolling it out with a rolling pin, so you can cut it into pasta! We made two batches of dough, one for pasta, the other for Tortellini, which is like ravioli, but shaped differently. After we made the pasta, we put it all together and had an amazing lunch. The whole thing took about 4 hours, but it was worth it! After lunch, we found a gelato place and got gelato, then headed home. It was a long day. We rested for a little while, then Mom and Dad went for a walk. After they got back, we made dinner, ramen noddles, which was really good! After dinner, we watched the last episode of Outer Banks, and went to bed.

    Tortellini vs Tortelloni: Tortellini are typically ricotta stuffed, larger ring shaped and served in a ragu, cream or butter sauce. Tortelloni are shaped the same, but much smaller and stuffed with some type of meat. They are typically served in Brodo. Which is a light broth.    Read more

  • Abshire’s Abroad
    Day 16

    Bologna Day 3

    March 29, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Today we explored a lot around Bologna. We started off walking to The University of Bologna. Its the oldest university in continuous operation in the world! It was founded in 1088. It has 6 different museums to tour. We decided to tour the one with a variety of exhibits. Its was very cool. We had to leave early because of a fire drill. After we did that we wandered around for a bit and shopped. We went inside the Basilica di San Petronio in Piazza Maggiore. Saint Petronio is the patron saint of Bologna. The front of the church is unfinished. My dad wanted a mortadella sandwich for lunch Mom, Renee and I went to a 4.9 pizzeria. It was really good. Then we went home and packed up and relaxed. Once it was time we went to dinner at the place below our airbnb. The food was good. After taking the cooking class, I want to learn to make ragu just like we made. It’s been my favorite so far.Read more

  • Abshire’s Abroad
    Day 17

    Travel day to Modena

    March 30, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    After we loaded up the car we drove about 20 minutes outside of Bologna to FICO World. It’s a food amusement park created by Eataly. I was very impressed. It was organized into sections. Each section was devoted to a different food that Italy is known for. Wine. Olives, Cheese, Pasta, Fish, Beef, Risotto, Pizza, Truffles, Vinegar, Gelato, Pastries etc…There were several school field trips there. It was a huge place. They had bicycles for you to ride around. Which seems like a good idea, until there are kids doing it. They offer cooking classes to the public. We took the gelato making class. We all enjoyed it and will be trying out the recipe at home. I thought it would be a good idea for Eataly to have a couple of presentations scheduled during the day about the different foods. It would of been more informative. Some of the sections had videos and very well done interactive touch screens that shared information.
    Italy has many Consortium’s. The Consortium regulates and controls the production and sales of MADE IN ITALY products. It’s purpose is to make sure that, for example, Parmesan Reggiano is made in the same way buy each producer. It helps keep the product special and the price higher for the producer. If you don’t buy Parmesan Reggiano made in the Parma region, you aren’t buying Parmesan Reggiano. You are just buying Parmesan cheese. Which is not the same!
    We arrived at the house we are staying in for the next several days. It’s very cute. It has outdoor spaces and is in more of a neighborhood outside of the city center. We are going to the grocery store and to the laundry to wash clothes. We plan to eat in tonight because Gabe has several work meetings. Ciao!

    *More photos to add later    Read more

  • Abshire’s Abroad
    Day 18

    Modena Day 1

    March 31, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    Today we woke up early because we had a train to catch at 7:37am. It was about a 20 min ride and it was very smooth. Then, we arrived in Parma. We went to a hotel because that is where we met the driver and our tour guide. We drove about 20 min to the parmesan cheese factory. We met with other people and we had to put on hairnets. The tour guides also gave us something that looked like mini walkie-talkies, along with uncomfortable headphones Next, we went to the cow shed, where they make milk for the cheese. It smelled disgusting. Then, we went inside, where the actually made the cheese. They mixed it around in a big bowl, and then we got to try some. It was gross, but it was unsalted. Then, we went to a room with cheese in the water. It was weird. Next, we went to aging room, when thousands of cheese was in there, dating back to 2015! We had some cheese, then we drove to the meat factory. It was on a valley, so we got some pretty pictures. Before we entered the factory, we had to put our hairnets, walkie-talkie things, and a green vest. It was much bigger than the cheese factory, with pigs legs hanging everywhere. After all the factory’s, we went back on the train, which was about 25 min, we picked up the laundry and had lunch. Then, we went out to walk around and had dinner (late lunch). After dinner, dad had calls, so the rest of us relaxed and went to bed.
    Ciao, Renee    Read more

  • Abshire’s Abroad
    Day 19

    Modena Day 2

    April 1, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    Happy April fools day. Today we went to the Lamborghini and Ferrari Museum. Both of the museums had a lot of cars and we got a lot of pictures. My favorite car was the Lamborghini LM002 or the Sian. The LM002 is basically a truck that looks like a Land Rover. There were a lot of engines on display at both museums but at the Ferrari museum they went into more detail about the engines and they also said a lot of stuff about the Founder, Enzo Ferrari. At both of the museums they had driving simulators, we did both of them. At the Ferrari, you could race each other which did not go well for me. (I crashed multiple times). Once we got done with the museums we got lunch at a pizza place and went home for a while. After that we drove up the mountain to eat dinner. The waiter was funny and the food was great.After dinner, we went to a place to get gelato, but it was closed! We went to another place and got gelato. After this, we went home and got ready for bed. Mom and Dad wanted us to watch a Netflix documentary about a fancy restaurant they are going to tomorrow. After we watched it we went to bed. Ciao - ReneeRead more

  • Abshire’s Abroad
    Day 20

    Modena Day 3

    April 2, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Today is Sunday, we slept in and Dad made breakfast. He made eggs and bacon for all of us. We chilled until 12:00, because then Dad started ironing clothes. He is very good at that. Just when we were going to get out and go into downtown, It started to rain. So Mom and Dad went to the grocery store to get food for lunch and dinner. Dad cooked burgers with American cheese and fries. It was awesome! After having a very relaxing day at home, we drove into downtown to see the Duomo. The church was so different from the last few we have seen. It was 2 stories and very dark. We didn’t have any euros to light a candle. But they did have Holy Water. My mom did some shopping and we got frozen yogurt and crepes while we waited for her. My parents are going to a fancy dinner tonight so Andrew and I are going to have pasta and grilled chicken. Andrew and I have been watching “Young Sheldon”. It’s a funny show. Back to Como tomorrow.
    A Presto,
    Renee

    ~Gabe and I were extremely fortunate to get a reservation at Osteria Francescana. It’s owned by Massimo Botura, If you have watched Chefs table: season 1, episode 1. That’s the restaurant. It was an amazing experience. The menu was called “A journey from north to south” of Italy of course. The dishes were so unique. The seating began at 8pm. It was 12 courses and lasted 3.5 hours. There is an option to order a la carte if you don’t want to do the full tasting menu. The a la carte menu features his most famous dishes over the years. We ordered the dish called Parmesan 5 ways. It’s featured on the show. There are only 12 tables in the restaurant and at our dinner each table only had 2 people. I got up to use the restroom and when I was coming back to the table, Chef Botura was coming out of the kitchen. Another guest stopped and talked to him first but I waited so I could say Hello. I shook his hand and said Ciao. He then spoke to me in Italian and I said We are so happy to be here in English. He then smiled and said “we are happy you are here. Thank you for coming”. I said “Grazie Mille”. It was an experience that we will remember forever.    Read more

  • Abshire’s Abroad
    Day 21

    Travel Day to Como

    April 3, 2023 in Italy

    Travel days are the worst days for us. We don’t have a place to eat lunch, we don’t really have a plan, the toll plazas and roundabouts are confusing….Uggh. We are hangry and frustrated. Then we get to Como and everything settles down and relaxes.
    On our drive from Modena to Como, we were going to go to Verona but decided not to because the wine festival they were having was going to be really crowded. So we stopped in Piacenza. It’s surrounded by a wall and what used to be a moat. The moat is now covered with grass and flowers. The blossom trees are blooming along our dive. I need to get some photos of the beautiful trees. We made a quick stop in Milan to pick up my new credit card at FedEx. Chase used to not charge foreign exchange fees but now they are. So I needed another card to use.
    Today is Franchi’s 10th birthday. We met the family and some of their friends for dinner at a pizzeria on the side of the lake. It was really good. I should of taken advantage of the fish on the menu and ordered something different. I did have a poke bowl for lunch. Tomorrow, Franchi is having a birthday party after school. The kids were excited to see them today.

    On the next episode of Euro Laundry Struggles - this washing machine is very different. It has a stainless steel drum inside that you close and it locks. I washed a few things on the shortest cycle and the drum lock wouldn’t release. I had to call the owner and ask for help. Now the clothes smell like mildew. Why do I keep doing this to myself ?    Read more

  • Abshire’s Abroad
    Day 22

    Como v2: Day 1

    April 4, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    Andrew and I slept in while our parents went to go get breakfast. They got us chocolate and crème filled donuts. Then, we got ready and drove around Lake Como, stopped for lunch in Ossuccio, which was very pretty. We had a table right on the water. We were there for about 1hr and 45mins. We then drove back to Como and and went to the store to buy groceries and some candy for Franchi. It’s his party’s today. Then we went to the party. There were all of Franchis classmates, snacks and cake. Andrew and I had fun. After the party, we walked to a barber shop to check it out and see if they spoke English. Andrew wanted to make sure they were young barbers. Dad and Andrew are going to get haircuts tomorrow. On the walk back Mom and Dad decided to stop for apertivo, so Andrew and I went back to the apartment. When Mom and Dad came back, Dad made Andrew and I burgers, which turned out awesome! Mom and Dad went out to eat dinner. My Dad had some work calls so Mom worked on plans for Easter weekend.
    Ciao,
    Renee    Read more

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