La festa di laurea

I think I am getting used to the schedule here and am realizing that a little nap or "pisolino" in the afternoon is pretty much mandatory if I am going to go out until late and get up at eight.


So, last night I went to the graduation party I had metnioned, which was a lot of fun. We started at a place called Caffe Cocoa, and had several bottles of white wine among the group, though not a ton of food (just a few appetizers of the prosciutto, mortadella variety). Below, in the group photo, you will find Francesco, Niccola, Alessandro, Andrea, Angela and more guy whose name I forget (let's call him Lewie). In the other photo, Francesco, looking....stunned. He was one of the first guys I met, studies engineering here in Bologna, and speaks Italian, English and Spanish fluently.


After Cocoa, we went to a bar near my house called Bounty, which is where I met this group the other week. Next to Bounty is a crepe/piadina place. I was all set to get a piadina, kind of like a flour tortilla filled with items of your choosing, but was advised that the crepes at this place were really good. And so, as can be seen below, I ordered a crepe with prosciutto crudo, mozzarella, oregano and olive oil. It was so good, I ended up having a second crepe with prosciutto cotto (cooked as opposed to cured) and mozzarella. This was at 12:30 AM or so, mind you. By 1:30 , I called it a night, but these youngsters were still going strong, and said that we should meet up tomorrow (i.e., today) at a new disco that is opening. They are going to be there starting from 1:00 AM, so I'm not sure if I will make it.....
Below is a photo of the first meal I have "cooked" in Bologna, in quotations, because all I did was boil some water for the tortellini, use a jar (gasp!) of tomato sauce and cut up some tomatoes with zucchini, mozzarella, etc. I do have to say that the ingredients, as you can imagine, make a huge difference in the taste of the food, and you do not have to be an expert chef by an stretch of the imagination to make things taste good. In fact, a lot of the art itself is in the simplicity of many of the dishes I have tried.

Now, I am on my way out to the grand opening party for Stefano's business center, and am running a bit late, so I must say arrivederci amici....ciao!