Day Three.

Ciao!

Today was a cold and dreary day full of down time, which was nice. I woke up at 9 and took a shower and then headed over to the Campus Center with Kate to make photocopies of my passport around 10ish. After that we walked to Bosca's, a grocery store, and walked around. It was a really impressive grocery store and I'll definitely be back but it was a little overwhelming the first time. I did buy a elephant ear-like pastry outside of the store, though. It was, naturally, delicious.

After that we walked around Alba, finding the train station and a restaurant on our meal plan that we will go to tomorrow night for dinner. We were still early for lunch (the Mensa opens at 12) so we walked around the neighborhood surrounding the Mensa. We wandered down a residential street into the hills and saw ducks, dogs, and chickens. Behind fences, of course.

Around 12 we headed back and then waited outside until it opened. Erica and Jordan had the same idea to come to lunch early so that was fun to have a little group there. It was delicious as always. Towards the end of lunch Dan came in and sat with us so we talked to him for a little bit. He told us about a park nearby where we could run (some people want to start running because of all the eating we're doing. Naturally, I didn't bring my running shoes...).

After lunch we decided to check out the park so we walked there. It being a dreary day, it wasn't all that pretty but it has potential. We walked around (cold!) by the river the park runs next to and it was a nice walk, especially after eating a big lunch. After that we headed back towards our apartment, stopping at a cafe for cappuccinos and hot cocoa. Kate, who ordered the hot cocoa, learned that their idea of hot cocoa here is different than our idea of it. It's basically melted chocolate in a cup. Not my thing.

(OH! I forgot to tell you! In the afternoons the air smells like chocolate because we are so close to the Ferrero factory which makes Nutella and Ferrero Roche and Tic-Tacs!)

After the cafe we went back to the apartment and hung out. I read for a bit and then took a nap. When I woke up people had gone off running and exploring so I hung around reading a bit more and then went to the grocery store for pasta sauce and trash bags. Around 6 we headed over to the boys to hang out and drink wine before dinner.

At 8 we headed to dinner at Osteria Nuova which is our new favorite place. Basically you get a table and they bring you whatever they have that night and it's delicious! We got veal slices (tasted like roast beef) and this salad-type thing that tasted like a thick vegetable soup. Yum! Our main course was gnocchi with alfredo sauce and it was AMAZING. The sauce tasted like a really good White Cheddar Mac and Cheese sauce and then with the gnocchi it was the best thing I've had so far. I've always loved gnocchi. They also brought us dessert of a chocolate pudding bread thing and an orange cake. Definitely coming here a lot. We have to make reservations if all of us go together, though. 10 is a large group here. They have trouble accommodating us in their little stores.

After dinner we headed back to the boys' place and talked for a while. The boys' shared some interesting stories and made us laugh a lot. There were so many good lines and now I've forgotten them all. Oh well. I headed out around 10:30 and walked back to the apartment. The rest of the girls followed in a few minutes.

Tomorrow we have a big day! It's supposed to snow/rain tonight and tomorrow morning but we're still planning on going to the Saturday market. It's a pretty big deal here and takes up the length of the main street (which is long) and extends to other streets. I'm excited to look for stuff. At 12 we're going to lunch at Akash, one of our meal plan restaurants (no Mensa on the weekends) and at 8 we're going to dinner at the last restaurant. At 9 we're going to a series of concerts at a bar near the train station. I think there are three bands playing including one called Go o'Clock. It should be a fun time. Hopefully a FREE fun time! I'll keep you posted.

No pictures today! It was too dreary and nothing photo-worthy really happened except for the cute outfit I wore to dinner and I'm not vain enough to photograph that and then show you all but there IS a picture on Facebook that I'm tagged in, though you don't see much of my outfit in it.

Until tomorrow: buona notte!