2-28-06

I’m sick of the cold, I’m sick of the rain and, pretty soon, I’ll just be plain sick. My last two weekends I have been up north in the cold and wet mountain areas and Rome hasn’t gotten any better as far as warmer, dryer weather is concerned. I was originally planning to go up to Milan over this coming weekend, but I can’t take anymore of this cold, I’m already fighting to keep from getting sick again. So, I’m heading south! I’ll be going down to Bari, a major port city on the eastern coast of Italy’s peninsula. I’m hoping that it will be a tad bit warmer, I’m not looking for bathing suit weather, I would just like to wander around without my trench coat and a sweatshirt. I don’t really know what there is to see in Bari. A lot of the ferries for Greece dock there so I’m sure there will be a lot of Greek influences about... as well as a lot of tourists. If the town is too dull I may take a train down to Italy’s heel (you know, the country is shaped like a boot) and see Lecce, Brindisi or Gallipoli. Or I might just spend the weekend walking on the beach in an attempt to release the cold that seems to have permanently sunk into my skin. I’ll need to store up as much warmth as I can because next weekend I will be off to Venice and the following week will be Spring Break where I’ll be skipping around Switzerland, Germany and Austria.
So, happy Fat Tuesday to you all. I don’t know what New Orleans is going to be up for today, but here in Rome there is a whole lotta shakin’ going on. As soon as I got off the bus from my ski weekend there were flyers plastered everywhere for masquerade balls, live music, drink specials, etc. I’m probably going to end up missing it due to the never ending homework I’m currently buried under. Plus, I’m trying to stay healthy so that I can enjoy my time on the beach this weekend. Still, I’m sure it would be a blast to see.


2-27-06

Well, I made it back to Rome last night around 3am after a 12 hour bus ride. It wasn't as bad as the all nighter we had to take on the way out to Switzerland though. The first bus was just non stop noise from all of the other American students who were getting drunk in the back... and in the front... my group was in the middle somewhere and we were the only ones without bottles in our hands. It wasn't until about 3 or 4am that the drunken students passed out and we were able to get some sleep.
We arrived in Interlaken around 9am on Friday where we checked into Balmer's Herberge, changed into our snow clothes, picked up our rental equipment and then immediately hopped on a train to take us up into the Alps. It was a really long and steep climb up the mountain. It took a good thrity minutes from the base to get up to Kleine Scheidegg where the ski lifts were. We decided to take the easiest route down the mountain which, in Switzerland, is a blue course. I quickly found out that "easy" in the Alps is not like "easy" in the States. I crashed and burned on the very first descent, and the next one... and the next one... you get the idea. The course was so steep and narrow and crowded with people and I'm from flatland and have only been skiing once. It was not pretty. I ended up crashing my way down to the very first lift back up to Kleine Scheidegg and then taking the train back down the mountain.
I had originally planned on skiing on Friday and then trying to snowboard on Saturday, but, after getting the feel for "easy" in the Alps, I decided that it would be best to try my hand at snowboarding somewhere in the States where bunny hills exist. So, I wound up strapping my skis back on and heading over to a different part of the mountain in the hopes of finding a flatter, wider course. I ended up in a ski resort town up on the mountain called Wengen. It was a very nice little place and it had small, handle bar lifts (you know, the ones where you just grab on and let it pull you up the slope) and they took you up on some pretty decent hills that you could practice on. They were far too steep to be called bunny hills, but they were just what I was looking for. So after a few test runs down without falling I stopped for lunch and had my first Swiss burger, which was mighty tasty. After lunch I took a gondola up the mountain to a route that was a little longer and would take me back down to Wengen where I could catch a train back to Interlaken.
That night, a group of us went back out to the mountains to do some night sledding. We rode a gondola up yet another mountain to a restaurant where we feasted on fondue. We then picked up our sleds and followed our guide to the course. It was then that we were informed that the courses were not lit, you just try to stay on the inside of these dim orange lights to avoid falling off the mountain. So, we were each given a glowstick to wear on our backs so that we could tell where we all were and took off down the mountain. It was extremely intense, you can't see anything but the glowsticks floating in front of you and the occasional dim orange light. And it wasn't a straight course either, there were hairpin turns and serpentines and all sorts of crazy stuff. I think we all wiped out at least once before the 40 minute trail ended.
The next day we decided to walk around Interlaken since we didn't have enough time to make it back up the mountain. Unfortunately, most of the shops were closed (like all of the chocolate shops) and it was incredibly cloudy and cold and snowing. You couldn't even tell that we were in the Alps because the cloud ceiling was so low. Also, we were ridiculously sore from the previous two days. So, we went into a few souvenir places and then stopped into a Thai restaurant for lunch. I have to say, it was really weird to be eating Thai food in Switzerland. The food was great, it just seemed weird. After lunch we packed up our stuff, got on the bus and headed back to Rome.
I can honestly say that I'm surprised to not have broken anything, especially after going down that first course and my exhilirating pitch into blackness during night sledding. I am incredibly sore though, I can barely lift my arms up and my legs are dead. So, I will leave you with some pictures and a new song.


2-23-06

Well, tonight I will be leaving at 8:30 on an all night charter bus to Interlaken, Switzerland. I think we will be arriving at 9 or 10 the next morning and then it will probably be straight to the slopes. I found my ski pants the other night so all I will need to do is rent my skis and other equipment and I'll be good to go.
I almost stopped by the ATM this morning to pick up some cash for the trip, and then remembered that Switzerland is not on the Euro. They have their own money 'cause they think they're sooooooo special. So, I'll just have to stop by an ATM when I get out there and get myself some of them Swiss Franks... yes, that's money and not food... mmmm... Swiss Franks...
Ok, that's all, if I have internet access in Switzerland I'll leave a tally up of how many bones I've broken.


2-22-06

Huzzah! I got my Permesso di Soggiorno done! I walked up to the police station yesterday afternoon where I was informed that they only do the permesso's between 8:30-10:30 in the morning. So, I returned very early this morning so that I could be at the front of the line and, of course, it was raining, but I did see my first Italian rainbow. Anyway, I was at the station this morning for three hours and missed my statistics class, but, I have my permesso and I can safely travel to Interlaken, Switzerland tomorrow.
Last night I went to see a screening of the film Caterina va in Città. It was wonderful and I'm hoping that it will be available on DVD in the States when I get back. I'll be writing a review of it for the JCU newspaper and also one in Italian for my Italian class, so I'll be posting both of those up when I'm done.
The director of the film, Paolo Virzì, was at the screening and held a brief Q&A session after word. He came from a small town to study how to become a screenwriter in Rome and after writing for several films he became a director. The Q&A session was rather short because Paolo had to leave to shoot a commercial, but he said he needed extras. So, I ended up being an extra in an Italian commercial. I have absolutely no idea what the ad was for, I didn't see any products and I was too far away from the actual dialogue to be able to hear what they were plugging. I was just a body in the background, but it was still cool to be on an Italian set and see how filming was done.


2-21-06

Happy Tuesday everybody. I’ve been in Rome for a little over a month and time seems very short right now. My weekends are just flying right by and it feels as though May is looming ever closer. Midterms are only two weeks away, then it’s Spring Break, then Easter, Italian Independence Day and then finals. No! I don’t want to go back to Kansas... you can’t make me!
Last night I went out and bought a plethora of vegetables with which to make broth out of. I got onions, carrots, potatoes, celery... well, actually, that was it, but there were a lot of them! I cleaned them, chopped them, boiled them, strained them and then reduced the liquid. After two hours I had a really good stock made up. I then portioned some out and threw in some tiny, rice sized pasta and twelve minutes later I had a dish very similar to the one I had in Florence. It wasn’t exactly the same, but it was definitely a good effort and a close match.
Today I will be back at the police station to wait for hours to get my permesso di soggiorno. I absolutely have to get it today because I leave the country on Thursday and I would like to be able to get back in. I’m hoping that I will be done by about 4:30pm because there is a screening of an Italian film at 5 that I would like to attend. The director will be there and there will be a short Q&A session after word along with free wine and other refreshments. I’ll fill you in tomorrow with all of the details of the film.
And now, I must depart for I have to go listen to my awesome Roman Literature teacher lecture about cool Italian influences on English writers. Huzzah and other such jubilation!


2-20-06

I’m back once again, nestled here in Trastevere... I really do like Trastevere. Anyway, it was a rather eventful weekend, so let’s go through it day by day, shall we?

Thursday
I finished up with class and headed back to my apartment to get my things together for my permesso di soggiorno. I then walked up to the police station, but there was some problem going on up there, so I dropped my stuff back at the apartment and returned to my search for an “Italia” ski jacket. The closest thing I managed to find in Rome was an “Italia” wind breaker for 90 euro and an “Italia” coat vest for 80 euro, needless to say, I bought neither. Instead, I settled for a black ski jacket at a sport store (54 euro marked down from 114) an “Italia” hoodie sweatshirt and a giant Italy flag.
I returned home to make dinner for New Ian and Lindsey who were going to come over that evening. I made chicken parmigiana, they brought wine and chocolate ice cream, a good time was had by all. Much later that night we walked down to the Cosmopolitan to take in that whole discoteca experience. I was not very taken by it, unfortunately. The place was fairly small, about the size of three one-car garages (and this was their idea of three dance floors). It was already incredibly warm when we walked in and the club was barely half full at that point. By the time the full crowd showed up it was suffocatingly hot and impossible to move, let alone dance. So, we pushed and shoved and prodded our way to the door and squeezed out just as they were letting in more people. I doubt that I will end up going back there.

Friday
I woke up around 9am and took the tram over to Trastevere Station to hop on a train to the airport. I don’t know how I managed to do it, but I got off at the wrong stop and ended up having to wait a half hour for the next train to come by. By the time I made it to the airport I only had about a half hour to navigate my way to the departure gate (which was, of course, in the farthest terminal from the trains). Luckily, security isn’t as insane as it is in the States and I made it to the gate with about 5 minutes to spare. The gate for my flight didn’t actually go straight to the plane, you had to check in and then load onto a shuttle bus that took you out to the tarmac where you could climb up into the plane.
Flying over large bodies of water is a really strange sight. First of all, you can’t tell where the water ends and the sky begins, you can tell that they are two separate things, but the horizon is just a fuzzy shade of blue. Second, when you look down, it looks like time is standing still. You can see the white crests from the waves and the ships with their wakes, but they don’t look like they’re moving at all. It wasn’t until we started our descent that I began to notice the swells and such.
So, I landed in Genova around 1:20pm, arrived at my hotel around 2pm, got checked into my room by 2:15pm and at 2:25pm I was on a train to Torino. I arrived in Torino about 2 hours later and tried to hunt down the Cosport ticket office to pick up the tickets I had bought way back in November. I had a hell of a time finding the place. The instructions they gave me said that they were very close to the Porta Susa train station and at the intersection of Cittadella and Assoriti. So, I went to Porta Susa and then spent a good forty minutes walking around all of the streets within a five block radius without spotting either of the two streets. I ended up returning to Porta Susa, approaching one of the information desks and asking, in my fractured Italian, if they could help a poor lost American girl who’s about to cry. The people there were very nice and managed to look up the streets on a map for me. There were two major errors in the directions given to me. First, saying that their office is close to Porta Susa is like telling someone that Times Square is close to Laguardia, they’re not. Also, there is no street in Torino called Assoriti, but there was an Assarotti (which I had noticed while walking earlier but disregarded after checking my instructions about a dozen times). Anyway, I made it out there, picked up my tickets, hopped on a bus back to the Porta Nuova station and caught a train to Pinerolo where the Men’s Curling competition was being held. The train was about 45 minutes and I wound up getting to the event about an hour late (I would have been on time if I had found the ticket office sooner!). Luckily, the whole event was three hours long and I only missed about 3 rounds out of the 10.
I was really not all that interested in curling, I just bought the tickets so that I could go see speed skating. But, it was actually quite enjoyable. There were four matches being played at the same time, England v. Sweden, Canada v. Finland, Italy v. New Zealand and America v. Switzerland. The spectators were seated according to their nationality, so I was in with the Americans, naturally. Everybody there was decked out in patriotic garb with whistles and bells and air horns. The Swiss were seated right across the stadium from the US and they had brought drums with them and would play cadences with their chants. For the most part, very little interest was taken in the actual game, but the whole event turned into a competition between the grouped spectators as to who could come up with the best cheers for their country. The British fans had actually rewritten song lyrics from famous English tunes for their team. Some of the Americans came up with the great tune:

Jeepers, creepers, where’d you get those sweepers
Jeepers, creepers, where’d you get those guys
In the end, the victors were the Brits, the Fins, the Italians (in overtime) and the Americans.
I took the train back into Torino so that I could get back to Genova for the night. But, when I arrived at the Lingotto station I discovered that there wasn’t going to be another train until 5:30 the next morning. Luckily, I met two other American gentlemen who were having the same dilemma. We got on a train back to the main station, Porta Nuova, hoping that maybe there were more options available there. We managed to find a train that was going to Salerno (a city way past Napoli) that stopped in Genova and we grabbed it. That train actually was the last option for getting to Genova until 5:30am. So, I got back to my hotel around 2am and passed out.

Saturday
I woke up around 8, ate breakfast at the hotel and decided to walk around Genova for an hour or so before heading up to Torino. I don’t know if I’ll be able to go back out to Genova during my semester in Italy, so I wanted to see some of it while I was there. I walked to a few of the piazzas and then down to the port. The port was amazing and I wish it had been a better day for it, the clouds had been moving in and looking mighty ominous. There was an aquarium positioned on the docks and if I had had more time I would have gone in. As I was heading back up to the train station to make my way to Torino I got caught in a torrential downpour. I sprinted up the slippery cobblestone streets (damn you cobblestones!) and arrived at the station very cold and soaking wet. The station wasn’t heated and my cabin on the train was pumping cold air through the vent. So, I was absolutely miserable when I finally got in to Torino.
Torino wasn’t much better. It was raining and it was much colder than Genova. Sightseeing was pretty much impossible for me at that point. The few pictures that I managed to take in the rain didn’t turn out at all, so I decided to just go walk over to the Olympic Superstore and look at all of the merchandise I couldn’t afford. The walk proved to be much farther than originally anticipated (the maps in the Olympic guide books were incredibly small) and I was starting to develop a limp. I finally made it to the large, temporary, heated (thank you!) building and stepped inside. Oh man, it was craziness in there. There were at least 200 people speaking a dozen languages, tearing through stacks of T-shirts, sweatshirts, mugs, hats, watches, stuffed toys, wine, chocolate... well, you get the idea. I stumbled through the thick crowds of people to look at the various items for sale. Everything was, of course, ludicrously expensive. I really wanted to buy a sweatshirt there (mostly because I was freezing) but the only one that I liked was 50 euro and they only had XXL’s left. I also tried to find an American flag to take to the event that night and, oddly enough, that was one of the only countries without any flags. They weren’t sold out, they just weren’t available. So, I bought two pins, one for curling and one for speed skating, each cost 7 euro.
After the superstore I made my way back towards Porta Nuova to catch a bus out to the Oval Lingotto stadium for the Men’s 1000m Speed Skating event. On the way I found a store that sold flags and banners and such, so I bought an American flag there. The rain was clearing up a bit, but it was still freezing and I was still wet, limping and, at that point, starving. I didn’t see any quick eats other than gelato on my way back to the station so I just grabbed a prosciutto and mozzarella sandwich when I arrived at the stadium. It was expensive, but I think anywhere I would have gone would have been equally as expensive.
The speed skating arena was a sea of orange from the ridiculous amounts of fans from the Netherlands. They even brought with them their own oompah band that played before the event, during the break and after the flower ceremony. This event was much more intense than the curling match had been. I stood there in my Italy sweatshirt (still wet) with my Italian flag tied to one arm and my USA flag tied to the other. I was actually questioned by a few Italians wondering about the American flag. I explained to them (in Italian) that I was American, but that Italy was my home right now and this was my way of staying true to my country while supporting my host country. They seemed pleased to have met an American with my attitude and I was offered many beers because of it, which I gracefully turned down... I don’t like beer...
As I said, the matches were very intense. My heart sank when the Italian skater fell on the last lap, just a few meters from the finish. I joined in with the group cringe as the Polish skater collided with the Chinese skater and both went careening into the padded border. And, I cheered when two of the Americans took the gold and silver. All in all, it was a great competition, a great experience and a great finish.
I had intended on going to the medal ceremonies that night in Torino along with the night long entertainment. But, feeling as horrible as I did and still limping around in wet clothes I decided to just go back to Genova. Besides, if I had stuck around for any of the night events I ran the good chance of missing the last train and spending the night in Torino cold, wet, tired and having to catch the first train out in the morning just to make it to my flight home from Genova on time.

Sunday
Not much to say about Sunday. I got up, went to the airport, flew back into Rome around noon and spent the rest of the afternoon reading Giulio Cesare, snacking and watching the Olympics on TV in the hopes that I might see myself during a recap of the events from the previous nights.

Today I’m going out in search of wind pants and cheap jeans to wear skiing this weekend. I’m also going to stop by the supermercato to pick up some veggies and attempt to make that awesome Italian soup I had in Florence. I’ve been attempting to eat more veggies because last week I realized that I hadn’t eaten any since I had been in Rome (sorry mom). Back in Kansas I’m used to just picking up some baby carrots and some ranch dressing and turning that into a snack, but neither of those items exists here. Carrots are here, just not in baby form. If you get them from the supermercati you have to buy a huge bundle of them, but if you just want one or two you need to stop by one of the many fresh fruit and vegetable stands. So, I’ve been incorporating broccoli into my home cooked pasta dishes and I found some really good vinaigrette for salads... so all is good and no scolding emails should be sent!
Ok, now that you’ve read through all of that, here’s what you really came for. There are pictures galore from Genova, the Olympics and the few that turned out from Torino. There are also new songs up from a rather unique Italian band. Now, you’ve got something to look at and listen to and I’ve got to run off to class.


2-16-06

Well, it’s Thursday, and not just any Thursday, it’s the Thursday before I leave for the Olympics in Torino. I will be taking off around 9am for the airport in Rome, my flight doesn’t leave until noon, but I don’t know how long it’s going to take me to get there or what the crowds are going to be like. Anyway, I will be landing in Genova around 1pm, checking into my hotel and then immediately heading to the train station to catch the two hour train to Torino to pick up my pre-ordered tickets. From there I will then have to take a 45 minute train out to Pinerolo where the Curling matches are being held and hopefully I’ll get there by 5. Afterward I will get on a train back to Genova to get some sleep.
The next day I will be heading out early for Torino to take in as much of the Olympic vibe as I can. I have to be at the Oval Lingotto stadium by 3pm for the Men’s 1000m Speed Skating. Once the event is over I will have another two hours or so before the medal ceremonies for that evening take place. Apparently after all of the ceremonies are finished there is going to be a full night of entertainment happening throughout the city up until dawn. So, we’ll see if I end up making it back down to my hotel in Genova or not.
Today I am going to attempt to get my permesso di soggiorno since I didn’t have the chance on Tuesday. I’m in a much bigger hurry to get it now since I will be leaving the country next weekend. I will be going up to Interlaken, Switzerland to go skiing in the Alps and if I don’t have my permesso they won’t let me back into Italy and I will have to be shipped back to the US, and none of us want that. So, I need to go stand in line at the police station for hours and hours to turn in my info and get that little slip of paper.
If I get done at the police station early enough I will be going back out into the streets of Rome in search of my “Italia” ski jacket. I would really like to have it before I leave tomorrow. I’m going to head out towards Termini Station and see what they have to offer on the Via Nazionale. I will definitely need some sort of ski jacket before next weekend because I don’t want to try skiing/snowboarding in my long black trench coat. I also don’t want to buy one in Torino because they are ridiculously expensive.
So, I’ll be on my quest until 8pm when I need to be back at my apartment because New Ian and Lindsey are coming over. They will be bringing wine, bread and a dessert of some sort and I will be cooking a giant meal... maybe horse (you can get horse meat at the supermercati here). We’re going to eat, relax, watch some of the Olympics and then go out clubbing. Well, actually, we’re just going to one discoteca. There’s a place about a block away from my apartment called The Cosmopolitan which is apparently the best place to go on a Thursday night, but since I’m usually hopping on a train right after class on Thursdays, I never get to go check it out. So, since I’m actually in town, we’re all going to walk down there and see what it’s like.
Well, you folks won’t actually be hearing from me until Monday, my weekend is rather full and I don’t think my hotel has internet access. So, hopefully everything will go well until then and I won’t have any problems with Friday the 17 (it’s the Italian version of Friday the 13). You might be able to see me jumping around in the stands at the games, so, look sharp. If anyone tapes the games and can send me a still shot of myself in the crowd, I will send you... um... I don’t know... either some chocolate, some coffee or a tacky souvenir, whichever you prefer.


2-15-06

My feet are killing me! I was wandering around all over the city yesterday in search of a copy of Julius Caesar for my Shakespeare class. JCU doesn’t actually have their own student bookstore, they order their books through the Anglo-American Bookstore which is the only bookstore in Rome that sells nothing but English books. Some bookstores here have an international section where you can find a few books in English, but, the Anglo-American Bookstore is basically the only place where you would be able to find books for class, and they know it too. The first Shakespeare play I bought there cost me 6,60 euro, which is not that bad, but then I looked on the back of the book where it lists the price in American and Canadian dollars. The price in US dollars was $4.95, which would be about 4 euro. And, not only do they rip you off, they also don’t even have the right amount of textbooks ordered by the school. They don’t even have any copies of Julius Caesar or Catullus (a book I need for my Roman Lit. class).
Anyway, Shakespeare plays are actually fairly easy to find in translation here. The only problem is trying to find specific plays. King Lear, The Merchant of Venice, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet are all over the place... but plays like Much Ado about Nothing, A Winter’s Tale and Julius Caesar aren’t so popular. So, I walked from my place in Trastevere, to the Torre Argentina (where the Cat Sanctuary is), over to the Piazza Venezia, up the Via del Corso and then all the way back home trying to find the illusive literary work. I actually was about to give up and buy the Italian translation thinking that I could at least figure out some of the text, especially having read the play twice in highschool. So, I picked up a copy of Giulio Cesare and was incredibly pleased to find that it had the original English text along side the translated Italian. Now, not only did I get a copy of Julius Caesar for half the price but I also get to look really smart while reading it!
After my trek across Rome I had to head back up to JCU to meet with my statistics partners, then back home for dinner, then back up to JCU to meet one of my roommates, then back towards the Viale di Trastevere and finally back home. My feet are so sore. Cobblestone streets really do a number on your feet. They’re awkward and uneven and they like to jut out and grab your shoes and send you tumbling to the ground (cobblestone streets are also uncomfortable to fall on). I don’t see too many Italians stumbling through the streets (not the sober ones anyway) so that’s another way to distinguish the tourists.
During my hike along the Via del Corso I kept my eyes open for a winter/ski coat with “Italia” written on it. You would think that something like that would be easy to find here, but no such luck. I was hoping to find one to wear to the Olympics this weekend. Yes, I know I’m American, but I don’t really want to broadcast that, especially since most of the European countries, like Italy, aren’t too pleased with America. Well, mostly they aren’t too pleased with our president, which I’m totally on their side with. I wear a shirt with “Kerry Us” written on it to bed and during my two hostel stays I had a lot of folks from other countries stating their approval of it. It’s sort of a white flag in a way. Anyway, I want to wear something to support the Italians since I am living in their country, but I’ll probably pick up a small American flag as well. So, if you happen to be watching the 1000m Men’s Speedskating this Saturday and you notice some strange woman with red and black hair wearing Italian colors but waving an American flag, that’s probably me.
I just have one really quick thing to say about JCU. If it wasn’t in Rome, it would not be worth studying at. It is the most unorganized, troublesome and aggrivating institution I have ever experienced. I thought that I was having problems with the NYU folks when I went to study there for ten days, but this school wins the gold medal for hassle! I do realize that it is relatively young, but, still, 30 years should give you enough time to work out a good portion of the kinks. I could go into all of the many reasons for why this school infuriates me, but I just don’t have the time right now.


2-14-06

Happy Valentine’s Day to all you couples out there. Of course, you don’t need me to tell you that, you’ve already got somebody to do that for you. But, if you’re desperately single like me, which there seems to be very few of you out there, today is not going to be a very happy day. Especially when you happen to be in one of the most romantic places in the world where PDAs are hardly few and far between.
However, I am fairly happy to have left for Rome without leaving any significant other behind. One of my roommates has already been through about 4 phone cards since we’ve been here because she has to call her boyfriend everyday. I wouldn’t be able to really enjoy my experience out here if I was constantly thinking about the boy I left behind, missing him and wondering what he might be up to (i.e. who he might be with). But, still, it would be nice to be able to have somebody to share the day with.
Now, don't you go chiming in with that "Oh, you'll find somebody someday, don't you worry" nonsense. You aren't Miss Cleo and you don't know that for sure. I'd rather not rely on false hope.
So, what are my plans for today? Well, they are very exciting. First, I have class, then I have to go to the police station to obtain my permesso di soggiorno, then I have to meet with my partners for our statistics project and then I’ll spend the rest of the evening doing my Italian homework, reading Shakespeare and studying for my first statistics midterm. Maybe if I have time I’ll watch some of the Olympics. I’ll probably also overdose on chocolate blood orange gelato and Disaronno, because it’s what people like me do in situations like this!


2-13-06

I'm back! Florence was wonderful. I liked the hostel in Napoli a little bit better than the one in Firenze, but Florence was definitely better than Naples. There was so much to see and so little time, so much shopping to do and so little money! Well, I actually ended up buying a new sweatshirt/jacket and a black fedora, both of which I am wearing right now. The fedora is great, I've been wanting a black fedora since I was in the sixth grade, I just could never find one that would fit my freakishly small head. And now, I found one and it only cost me 12 euro!
Friday I went out to Pisa to see the tower, which was pretty much the only thing to see in Pisa. It's a fairly good sized city with lots of shopping and what not, but I could do my shopping in Florence. I wanted to go up into the tower, but it was 15 euro and the Duomo in Florence only cost me 6. So, I just took a train over to Lucca. I actually didn't know what was in Lucca, I had just heard that I should probably go see it. Well, it was awesome! It was a city enclosed in this giant fortress-like wall. I ended up renting a bicycle there and riding around the quiet little closed off town for the rest of the afternoon. I even rode along the top of the wall. I had intended on going out to Livorno as well, but it was getting too late and I was incredibly tired. That evening I went out with some of the other hostel folks to the Fish Pub to watch the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics.
On Saturday I spent the day walking around Florence. I climbed up to Michelangelo's Plaza where I saw another great view of the city along with about 4 different weddings that were taking place at the same time. As I was walking back to my hostel later that day I succumbed to the sweet smell of waffles. The gelato places in Florence make these Belgium waffles out of their waffle cone mix, then they put a scoop of gelato on top of the hot treat. The gelato that you can't eat melts into the waffle and then you get to eat this marinated cake that somehow manages to stay warm. It was so good!
That night I watched more of the games as I ate this amazing Italian soup that the owner of the hostel made for us. Well, it started out as soup, but then rice sized pasta is added at the end and it turns into a very liquidy pasta dish. I need to learn how to make it because it was incredible and I've been craving anything close to soup since I got sick back before my trip to Napoli.
Watching the Olympics here in Italy is so much better than watching it in the States, you know why? Because you actually get to watch the events instead of hours of sappy backstory. "Suzy's mother has cerebral palsy but she still got up every morning at 3am to drive Suzy 4 hours to the ice skating rink to practice." Yeah, we don't get that over here. Yesterday I watched the full hour and a half of the 15+15km cross country ski race. There were a few commercials, but you got to see about 95% of the event. In about 5 days I will be up in Torino to see two events live and to experience the craziness of thousands of people from all over the world assembled in one place.
Alright, I've got to be heading off to class now. So, there are some new pictures up from Florence, Pisa and Lucca and there is also a new song for everybody. Ciao!


2-10-06

Greetings from Florence! I got in to town about 3pm yesterday, arrived at my hostel around 3:15, and by 3:30 I was out wandering the town with two Australians, a guy from Canada and another guy from Seatle. We saw Michelangelo's David, the Uffizi and then climbed to the top of the Duomo to see the city at sunset (which was amazing!).
Today, I will be off to see Pisa, Livorno and Lucca. Most of my hostel-mates are going on a guided tour of Tuscany provided by the hostel, but I already did my trip through Tuscany (although it would be nice to go out there without 200 noisy and drunk Americans).
Anyway, we will all be meeting up back at the hostel later tonight and then going out to a bar to watch the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics. And, if that's too boring, we're going to hit a discoteca instead.


2-9-06 (Part 2)

A penny for your thoughts:
"I am making this statement as an act of willful defiance of military authority, because I believe that the war is being deliberately prolonged by those who have the power to end it. I am a soldier, convinced that I am acting on behalf of all soldiers. I believe that this war, upon which I entered as a war of defence and liberation, has now become a war of aggression and conquest. I believe that the purposes for which I and my fellow soldiers entered upon this war should have been so clearly stated as to have made it impossible for them to be changed without our knowledge, and that, had this been done, the object which actuated us would now be attainable by negotiation.
I have seen and endured the sufferings of the troops, and I can no longer be a party to prolonging those sufferings for ends which I believe to be evil and unjust. I am not protesting against the military conduct of the war, but against the political errors and insincerities for which the fighting men are being sacrificed.
On behalf of those who are suffering now, I make this protest against the deception which is being practised upon them. Also I believe that it may help to destroy the callous complacence with which the majority of those at home regard the continuance of agonies which they do not share, and which they have no sufficient imagination to realise."

This was written by a British soldier during the first World War. I just found it interesting how one could easily read this as an American soldier coming back from Iraq. It's a pity that the darker moments in history seem to be the ones that are always repeated.


2-9-06

It's still cold and I'm about to be heading north today where I imagine that it's not much warmer. I will be arriving in Florence about 3pm and will probably go over to Pisa, Livorno and Lucca tomorrow (I have a feeling that traveling there will be easier and less crowded on a weekday). I have learned from my mistakes reguarding my Napoli trip and I have given myself more time to make it to my train. This time I won't just run home, grab my travel bag and dash to the station. So, hopefully I will be more prepared this time and maybe actually remember to take along the directions to my hostel.
Recently it seems that I have been spending a lot of time making travel arrangements. I already had all of my traveling and accomodations set up for next weekend before I left the States, since I will be up in Torino for the Olympics. I will apparently be going on a sky trip with New Ian and Lindsey the weekend after that, but then I have no plans until Spring Break. I have basically been figuring out my weekends less than a week in advance though, so I will more than likely have plans within the next week or so.
As for my Spring Break, I will be flying up to Zurich, Switzerland to stay with an old friend. From Zurich I will be taking a train to Munich, Germany then either Salzburg or Vienna in Austria and then back to Zurich for my flight back to Rome. I haven't actually booked any of the trains or hostels yet, but those are my plans as of right now.
And, right now, I'm off to listen to my wonderful Roman Lit. professor (he really is fun to listen to) and then I'm off to Firenze.


2-8-06

Well, I leave for Florence tomorrow. I'm looking forward to my next hostel experience, the place that I will be staying at came highly recommended by the people I met in Napoli. And, no, in case you were wondering, I'm not staying at any place like this.
Apparently one of my roommates is looking into booking the same hostel this weekend. She was in Naples last weekend (which I didn't know about) and stayed at a hotel for one night. Her one night in Naples cost 80 euro, my three nights in Naples cost me 60 euro and I met all sorts of great people.
I found out that there actually were other Americans staying at my hostel last weekend, I just never saw them. The hostel not only had dorm style living arangements, but you could also book private rooms on a seperate floor. So, a group of six Americans were staying down there. I only saw them when they first arrived. This is one of the reasons I'm glad that I'm doing so much of my traveling alone. If you're with a big group of people, you don't really get to meet anybody, even if you're in a hostel. You just sort of stick with the group. I may be doing some traveling with New Ian and Lindsey in two weeks, but we will be a small group and I'm hoping that we will still be doing the dorm style hostel during our trip.
Ok, I'm heading off to class now, I'll leave a quick note up tomorrow before I take off for Firenze, Pisa, Lucca and Livorno. Ciao!


2-7-06

Man, it's cold again! I thought I could retire my trench coat until my trip to Torino, but no, I'm huddled in it right now as I am sitting in the student lounge and a cold burst of air blows through every time a student walks through the door (which is very frequently). I can only hope that the taste of warmer weather that I had received last week will return and linger a while longer.
I am through with my class for the day. My plans for the afternoon are fairly dull... well, dull for someone who has lived in Rome for three weeks. I will return to my apartment and grab a quick lunch of salami and cheese (I bought some from a local market when I returned home from Napoli and they are delicious). Afterword I will head across the river in search of a good Italian/English dictionary. I have my little pocket dictionary which is very convenient but has proven quite inferior for my Italian class. Hopefully I will find something and then I will come back to Trastevere for a night of homework. I'm attempting to get a head start on my assignments so that I can enjoy my weekend in Florence without having to worry about papers and such when I get back (which is what I had to deal with when I returned from Naples). Yes, I do have homework here, quite a bit of it actually. Yesterday I had an Italian paper due along with Italian workbook pages and vocabulary. Tomorrow I have Statistics homework, Italian homework and I have to have read Much Ado about Nothing for my Shakespeare class.
For those who are wondering why I have not yet put up any video clips from my journeys in Italy, be patient. As I have stated above, I do have a lot of schoolwork to attend to. I have been editing a few segments and I will hopefully be putting up video sometime in the not too distant future. But, if you are dying for entertainment, go over to Through a Glass, the comic has returned! Oh, I have missed David and Martin and I'm hoping that there will be more of Ivy as well.


2-6-06

Ah, home sweet Rome. It's good to be back in Rome after my long weekend in Napoli. And, what can I say about Naples? Well, I think a weekend is all one needs to spend there. The city itself was pretty dirty and creepy in places. It was like wandering around Brooklyn, if Brooklyn had castles. There are a few cool things to look at, but for the most part it's just a place to stay if you want to go see Vesuvius and the ruins.
As for the hostel, it was one of the best experiences I have ever had. I met all sorts of people from all over the world. During the day we all had our own seperate agendas, but at night we would all gather around the sitting area, eating Napolitan pizza, playing cards, and watching English movies with Italian subtitles. I exchanged emails with some of my hostel-mates and I hope that I can keep in contact with them and possibly see them again.
Right now I am incredibly sore from my hike up Vesuvius. You can take a bus or cab up a good part of the volcano, but there's still a 30 minute hike up an incredibly steep incline to reach the very top. The incline wouldn't have been so bad to climb up if the ground had been easier to walk on, but it was loose sand and gravel. Every step you took you slid back down about six inches. On parts of the trail, if you weren't careful, you could have slid right off the edge of the mountain.
After Vesuvius, some of my hostel-mates and I grabbed a bite to eat and then headed for Pompeii. The site didn't close until 5pm, but, what we didn't know was that they stop letting people in at 3:30pm and we showed up at 3:35. They wouldn't let us in! We were all pretty upset by it. I at least have the opportunity to return there during my stay in Rome, but my Australian friends were leaving the very next day and this was their one shot.
Anyway, I'm back in Rome for the next few days. I will be in Florence this coming weekend and then the Olympics the weekend after that. Time is just flying by here, which is depressing. I have no desire to return to Kansas right now, but we'll see how I'm feeling in May.
There are pictures up from my trip to Napoli and my climb up Vesuvius. There is also an awesome song available for your listening pleasure.


2-3-06

Greetings from Napoli! I am currently sitting at a computer at the Hostel of the Sun where I am staying for the weekend. It's a very nice place that's incredibly difficult to find. It's actually on the seventh floor of a random office building on a small back street. I did not have high expectations for it when I first found the building and stepped into the pay-elevator. That's right, it cost five cents to use the elevator.
Anyway, the first night was great. I have met people from all over the place... Japan, Australia, Holland, Germany, Spain... I'm the only one here from the US. We all ordered in real Napolitan pizza last night and sat around watching Ocean's Eleven and Analyze This.
And, now that I am full of toast, Nutella, orange juice and coffee, I'm off to wander the streets and see what Napoli has to offer (there's a huge castle about two blocks away). Tomorrow, I'm climbing Vesuvius and visiting Pompeii.


2-2-06

I guess it's Groundhog's Day, right? I don't really know, it's not celebrated out here in Italy. But, since I'm 6 hours ahead of Punxutawny Phil, I can give my prediction. SPRING IS HERE!!!! The weather has been beautiful in Rome the last two days and things are looking good for my trip to Napoli which will commence in four hours.
This morning I have class until 10:15 and then I will head back to the apartment, grab my travel bag (which I found yesterday) and catch the bus for Termini Station. I will be in Napoli around 2:30pm.
What will I be doing there? I have no clue. Heck, I don't even have a map of the city! I will basically just be kind of winging it. I'll wander around the city for the rest of today and tomorrow, and then on Saturday I will go check out Vesuvius and Pompeii. Then, I'll come back to Rome on Sunday afternoon.
Anyway, I'm hoping to survive my first train, hostel and solo journey to a new city. If all goes well, you will hear from me again on Monday.


2-1-06

Happy February everybody! The healing power of Nyquil and gelato is working wonders and I feel like I'll be in good shape for my trip to Napoli tomorrow. The weather is looking favorable as well. I will be heading out to Termini Station with Lindsey and New Ian today to see what it's like. That way I don't feel completely lost when I head out there alone tomorrow.
Yesterday was gorgeous! I finished with class at 10:15am and then went home. It was starting to get nice out so I opened all of the windows at the apartment and then spent about an hour or so watching Italian television. I came across this very odd cooking show/talk show/kids show... yeah, it was weird. There were these two Italians talking really fast about current events while cooking and every now and then some crazy music would start playing and the camera would cut to the audience which was filled with nothing but kids who would then start dancing... I'm serious! Needless to say, I was entranced by the program considering that I still had a head full of cold medicine.
After the crazy show had ended I realized just how nice it had gotten outside and decided that I should go out wandering around Trastevere, which is what I did. I found some cool little stores hidden amoungst all of the small backstreets. I found the international market, which, unfortunately, did not have any chicken noodle soup, but did have peanut butter for 6 Euro. I found an organic market, which also didn't have soup, but did have some really cool looking sauces. I found two movie theaters, neither of which was playing anything that I would care to see, but they do play movies in English on Mondays. I found where the Big Mama jazz club is and I am looking forward to actually going down there some night. And, the biggest find of the afternoon, chocolate blood orange gelato! There's a little gelateria about a block from the river that makes the heavenly concoction and they will have my business for the rest of my stay in Rome.
Once I was done wandering the streets I stopped into a supermercato on my way home and picked up some shrimp. They were cooking shrimp on that wacky cooking show and I had a craving for it for dinner. So, I bought some, took them home, peeled them, deveined them, cooked them and then ate them with some angel hair pasta and marinara. It was very good. The rest of the evening was spent reading Shakespeare and doing my Italian homework.
Ok, that's all for today. I'll leave a quick note up tomorrow and them I'm off to Napoli!