Bright and early, we awoke to take a four hour long bus ride to Cilento. Little did we know, some UMass students would be joining us. Taking cue from the world’s greatest movie, I used the buddy system and sat next to Jane. Within 15 minutes of boarding the bus, I conked out for some much needed rest. Sure, I did just wake up, but the apartment beds aren’t the greatest and we had a LONG day ahead of us.
The first stop we made was at the Guatemala Coffe factory. We learned how coffee beans turned into coffee and most of us did some taste-testing. As a failed coffee connoisseur, I stuck to the pastries and a green goo beverage. Green goo? Yes, green goo. This flavored ice beverage was very bizarre with a green apple taste and a mint aftertaste.
We then checked into a super nice hotel (with heated towel racks) and an almost human-sized shower. We ate lunch at the hotel, which was catered by Intavola. This is the same company that caters to the Vatican and other prestigious places in Italy. I wasn’t too hungry, but everybody else raved about the meal. I just can’t get over my aversion to pasta al dente, which apparently everyone else on this earth enjoys.
Dinner ended with an olive oil testing. What is that, you ask? It’s a nasty process where you are supposed to take a swig of olive oil, swish it around in your mouth, and swallow it. Gross. I took just a few droplets because the large serving of olive oil was as disgusting as strep throat medicine—and I’m not talking about the pink one. I’m talking about the creamy white glob of medicine that you have to choke down.
We then toured the Intavola kitchen to see how everything was made. It was interesting to see the process by which our food was cooked, but it was a tad bit unsettling to see a group of 30 students standing in the middle of a kitchen were food was being cooked. Sanitary standards are almost non-existent in this country.
We then headed down to the Mediterranean Sea. It was a gorgeous view of green hills, farms and villas, but we had to wait seemingly forever for a fisherman’s boat to dock. They gave us shrimp fresh of the boat and it was so tasty! It didn’t smell fishy and it had the perfect texture. Heck, it didn’t even taste like normal shrimp. It was just so good.
We made our way to a restaurant called Ciri Pizza. On our touring streak, we ventured through their kitchen, did some taste testing, and then sat down for a multi-slice dinner. One of the courses was an antioxidant pizza. The crust was made with three types of flour and eight vegetables. The pizza was also topped with vegetables. The table confirmed that this entire meal was the best pizza we’ve consumed during our time in Italy. All I know is that we had a slice of Nutella dessert pizza and that was the highlight of my day.
On our way back to the hotel, we had a lackluster attempt at a sing-a-long. You think I sing off-key? Try having 30-some people all sing the same song on the same key. It just doesn’t happen. Back at the hotel, I turned into my pull-out couch bed, hoping a good night’s rest could cure my recently formed headache.
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