Ok this is getting silly...it's March 2011 and I'm not done this thing WHAT THE EFF! I'm pushing it now because the fog is setting in, so I gotta get this blog done...thanks for your patience, I haven't given up!
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So we all rolled out of bed late morning...feeling a little queezy after a crazy night of part-aying it up...Emilia had planned for us to meet a bunch of her friends for lunch, and Gigi was off to coach a soccer game. I don't know how he did it, he was in rough shape!
We met Emi's friend Chiara downstairs at her car; She was super nice, and a really good/aggressive driver...we were off to Bellagio, a small village up the coast of Lake Como on a peninsula. A very desirable part of the area, you need some serious cash money to live there...
So I sat in the front seat while we went up a twisty SUPER narrow road up the coast of the lake...I wish I had my GTR on this road, so fun, you can see why they would have rallies in this part of the world. Such beautiful views, reminded me alot of the Sea-to-Sky highway in Vancouver, except the coast was lined with giant classic italian-looking mansions and villas belonging to the world's richest people. Those who know me know I don't do too well being a passenger in a car for long distances. Especially twisty roads. And especially after a night of drinking....I started to get tingly in my arms and hands and my cheeks. Yeah, one should be concerned. And I was, and still am. But last summer I had a bunch of tests done, breathing capacity and efficiency tests. Turns out there's nothing wrong with me, it's just an issue related to my breathing that I can't do much about. It's brought on by heavy breathing and sometimes motion sickness from driving; probably related. Anyhoo, it didn't help I drank the night before! But I was fine, just needed fresh air :)
We made our way up the side of the mountain even narrower and twistier than before, and it started getting foggy, or cloudy rather. Chiara didn't know the way too well so we were relying on following our friends in the car in front. But they pulled ahead and got lost in the clouds so we took a couple wrong turns down some private roads. We're talking desolate farm roads. Somewhere in the mountains in Italy. I gotta say it's exciting to leave your fate totally in someone else's hands sometimes; getting lost, someone else at the wheel. I gotta say I've learned that I'm pretty trusting of other people; sometimes I get screwed, but for the most part it leads to great experiences.
We finally park the car and step out into the mountain morning mist. Right next to a field with some cows; one of Emilia's friends began to call the cow (mucca) "muuuu-cca! Mooooo-cca!" Lesson learned: animal humour is universal :D
We walked up the deserted street to what looked just like a quiet and quaint restaurant, and we stepped in the door and the place was PACKED! This was obviously the secret place to come for amazing authentic local food. We waited outside in the cold for a good half hour; I was still uneasy from the car ride, hunger, and the night before...Just peeking through the clouds I could see Bellagio; great name for a fancy hotel, the real Bellagio is a small peninsula on Como Lake peppered with multi-million dollar villas. Daaaaamn.
Finally food time. I had a DELICIOUS buckwheat pasta dish with oil and garlic and cheese called "pizzocheri". I tried a friend's polenta dish; polenta is also really famous around here. Somehow I crammed in some dessert a "gelato tartufo affogato", or "frickin delicious gelato ice cream truffle with a shot of espresso poured over top". Good lord.
So we headed back with full stomachs, and by then the clouds had lifted a little, and I was able to see the lake down below off the side of the road. We stopped a couple times and I busted out the telephoto for some sweet shots of the lake and its homes. The lake is just astoundingly beautiful; reminds me alot of Howe Sound, but warmer and sunnier. I joked that I could see George Clooney and Tiziano Ferro making out in the window of one of the palaces...can't remember if I said it before but every Italian, especially from Como thinks George Clooney is gay. Sorry ladies. And Tiziano Ferro is this mega pop star from italy, kinda reminds me of Ricky Martin...hey! Who's gay too!
We arrived back in town and headed to the grocery store for some dinner ingredients. It's like a giant version of a commercial drive deli. We got back home and it was early evening. Still waiting for Gigi to come home. So I saw a great opportunity to break out my USB drive with all the photos I took during our year in Paris. So Emilia, Chiara and I looked through them and took a trip down memory lane...
Before dinner, we went out again! This time to see a different group of friends in town. We all had spritzes again...mmm gonna have to have those again back home! The best thing about the bars here is that you always get free food when you sit down for a drink! They had little cocktail weenies and cheese and pizza squares and all sorts of good stuff. You see, italians aren't don't gorge and cram all the food in themselves as possible. You take a small plate with a couple things on it if you're hungry and that's it. If they served that much free food in Canadian bars, they would be out of business in no time flat. There's a reason italians are all skinny....of course, I did take a pretty big plateful...AHEM...
One of Emilia's friends from Paris showed up, with her husband and a cute little baby...I only met this girl once but I remembered her eyes; when I saw her this time, they weren't as intense, but when I met her on the street outside school in Paris, she had bright YELLOW eyes...like in a werewolf movie..I thought I was going crazy. I remember being so awestruck at the time. But this time it was night time and a few years later, so who knows what the deallyo...
As I write this in my bed I can smell pasta being cooked in the kitchen. I'm so tired, but so happy...
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Just had dinner, had an amazing pasta dish with tomato and ham. It's common to eat meat and cheese on its own, in french its called "charcuterie". "Meat and cheese platter" just doesn't have the same appeal. We had Bresaola and Prosciutto Crudo with Mozzarella. Yum.
We talked a bit about Canada and the differences in English words...Gigi wanted to practice so we talked about golf and soccer in english. Gigi is so damned hilarious, he tried to pronounce some swear words but I couldn't quite understand him...he points right to Emilia and in his "teacher" voice he says "She is a...'war'" "She's a what?" "You know, a 'war'"...."OH! You mean a 'whore'!" "...AH YES! Scusa...(clears his throat) 'WHOOOOORE.'"
I was pissing myself laughing. My god what a funny man.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Nonstop disco, "Spritzes", and bare asses!!!
I'm in a Peugeot 206 with Laura, Stefano and Pietro and we make the trek to Como Lake, Italy. Still the coincidences and deja vu continue; this was the same car that I rented with my friend Kristen back in 2004. Seems like Peugeot is my official euro road trip car :) And I still can't get used to how close everything is. The fact that we left from Crema and made it to Como in about 2 hours, and we're in a completely different town with different architecture and amazing history. You drive 2 hours from Vancouver and you might get to Hope or Chilliwack. Big f'in deal!
So we finally find Emilia's apartment, and sure enough Emilia is standing there waving. Wow, seven and a half years...and she looks the same! Classic italian beauty, she honestly looked like she hadn't aged and was the same girl I knew back in Paris. She was standing with her boyfriend who I would come to know as Gigi (short for Luigi) and with whom I would become great buddies. He's so friggin hilarious; he has this loud outgoing personality and speaks super fast, kinda like what a westerner's perception of a typical italian might be. He would provide me with much entertainment...
We all went upstairs to their cool little apartment; very modern and stylishand tidy, and alot of orange accents everywhere. So cozy, with a living room/dining room, a kitchen with fancy appliances, and a spare bedroom with pullout beds. Then I had to prepare for the event of the evening, and one of the best moments of my trip...the big 70's party! Well it was more like 60's and 70's; Emilia asked me if I wanted to go a few weeks before my trip if I wanted to go to this 70's-themed fundraiser party and the ticket was 50 euros...but open bar! I said HELL YES of course. I can't quite remember what the fundraiser was raising funds for, but it didn't matter. So I pulled out my 70's shirt I had lugged all this way, and some yellow aviators....and to cap it off, I shaved my infamous handlebar moustache once again...I was as ready as I'll ever be!
A couple of Gigi's friends came over to get their costumes. Ok seriously: these costumes were TOP NOTCH. We're in a small town in Italy! Where the hell would they get such accurate clothes? The patterns were unbelievable and the wigs were so awesome. Gigi's one friend had this one piece satin suit with an open chest and bands of flowing fabric on his arms; Gigi and his other friends had AWESOME floral hippie patterns and huge shoes. Man, these guys knew how to have a good time. Emi had a dress her mom wore in the 70's, so awesome too. So the friends took off and we would meet them at dinner.
Then we all went out for a walk into downtown Como which is all foot traffic. A pretty small town, but some really swanky shops; we went down to see the famous lake, and we could see just a few of the hundreds of GIANT waterfront mansions that Como is famous for. Movie stars, soccer players, business moguls, politicians...all come here and buy homes on the lake. Not to be confused with Como Lake in Coquitlam where I used to live...trust me, no one important lives there.
There was a Rally event on though, I saw some awesome Euro Rally cars! Went down to the main square and all these wicked decaled out cars were sitting revving their engines...I had a huge grin on my face the whole time. There is no word for Rally in Italian, so when Emi was trying to explain to me what was going on she kept saying "rrrrrrallay-ah" in a thick accent...I had no idea what she was saying but I eventually figured it out. "Oh! A "Rally"?" "Si!...rrrrralllay-ah"...hahaha...
Como makes entertainment news all the time because supposedly George Clooney lives out there somewhere in a huge mansion. And by the way all citizens are convinced George is gay. Apparently italian pop star Tiziano Ferro lives out there too, sort of Michael Buble for Italy. He's also gay apparently. No one is safe for the italians, I guess.
We went into a candy shop and Emilia bought some "Marrons glaces", I dunno what they are in english, candied chestnuts essentially. Pretty damn tasty and sweet as hell! We then went to a bar and grabbed a drink, we all had a "spritz", which is a trendy italian drink, a combination of white wine and club soda or prosecco (sparkling wine) and Aperol, an orange-based bitter liqueur. Delicious. I've tried to find it in Vancouver but hard to come by.
We then met up with a bunch of Emi and Luigi's friends at a fancy restaurant for dinner that served typical fish and seafood from the lake (lakefood?) The dish I got was called 'Lario di Lago', a white fish found in Como Lake. I had fresh gnocchi as well; I wanted to punch myself in the face how good the food was.
Then I said goodbye to little Laura, and Stefano and Pietro. I just find them to be such truly genuine and helping people, who like to do things for others and expect nothing in return. Same goes for Emi and Gigi, they are just so nice to me and pay my way because I'm a special guest in their lives. I'm super grateful to have friends like all of them.
So then we all headed outside and were told to wait for a shuttle to the party? Serious, how big is this thing? And yes, what rolled up to take us to the party? Nothing other than a 2-toned VW Minibus in mint condition!!! What the hell! So hilarious to see all these tall guys dressed as they were cramming into the van...there wasn't quite enough room so we got the next ride in an old Land Rover.
And again, to my surprise we roll up to the party...which is held at an Audi dealership?? All the cars were moved out and there were lights and lasers and hundreds of moving bodies inside instead. Decorations everywhere. We get inside and there's a live band singing one hit disco song after another in sped up tempo, blending one song into the next for a nonstop dance party. And the outfits!!! WHAT THE HELL!!! How did all of these people get these amazing costumes!!! I was so impressed...and even more impressed at the open bar :) They even had another VW Minbus setup inside all lit up to take pictures with!
It was such an amazing feeling to be at the coolest party in town and be the only foreigner there. Well I did meet some girl who spoke english with a british accent but wasn't english, and a swedish guy who spoke english. I remember these italian girls saw my camera on my back and I felt it move and I turned around startled and they said something to me and I spoke back in italian. But they knew right away I wasn't Italian, and asked where I was from and thought it was cool that I was from Canada. We all went inside and danced right up near the band. Then I had one of those magical moments when I was slightly tipsy but fully aware of the awesomeness of the situation; I was dancing with old friends and new, and the music just felt so damned loud and...good. And everyone was having the time of their lives. So fun. I got alot of great photos here
When we decided to leave, what shows up to pick us up?? The Minibus of course! Gigi and his 2 buddies Freddie and Carlo were smashed out of their minds, and Emilia was quite tipsy too...we cram in the minibus and head back into town. We get dropped off at home at 445am and we have to walk up the stairs; the whole time we are all laughing our asses off and they're all stumbling around and laughing more. Gigi for some reason decide to drop his pants and walk up the stairs with his pants around his ankles. And it's all even more ridiculous because of what everyone's wearing and Gigi and Freddie had huge afro wigs on.
When we get up to the flat Gigi and the guys fall to the floor and Gigi pulls his underwear down to expose his bare ass, then pulls Emilia down and rolls around with her....he told a story about when they were in California and Emi saw all the hot beach body dudes she almost had an orgasm; Gigi's impression of her was hilarious...after all that I haven't laughed that hard in a while!
When we all eventually got up the next day, we headed out and up a twisty road to Bellagio for some lunch, and photos and amazing views...and no not the Las Vegas hotel, the REAL place...
So we finally find Emilia's apartment, and sure enough Emilia is standing there waving. Wow, seven and a half years...and she looks the same! Classic italian beauty, she honestly looked like she hadn't aged and was the same girl I knew back in Paris. She was standing with her boyfriend who I would come to know as Gigi (short for Luigi) and with whom I would become great buddies. He's so friggin hilarious; he has this loud outgoing personality and speaks super fast, kinda like what a westerner's perception of a typical italian might be. He would provide me with much entertainment...
We all went upstairs to their cool little apartment; very modern and stylishand tidy, and alot of orange accents everywhere. So cozy, with a living room/dining room, a kitchen with fancy appliances, and a spare bedroom with pullout beds. Then I had to prepare for the event of the evening, and one of the best moments of my trip...the big 70's party! Well it was more like 60's and 70's; Emilia asked me if I wanted to go a few weeks before my trip if I wanted to go to this 70's-themed fundraiser party and the ticket was 50 euros...but open bar! I said HELL YES of course. I can't quite remember what the fundraiser was raising funds for, but it didn't matter. So I pulled out my 70's shirt I had lugged all this way, and some yellow aviators....and to cap it off, I shaved my infamous handlebar moustache once again...I was as ready as I'll ever be!
A couple of Gigi's friends came over to get their costumes. Ok seriously: these costumes were TOP NOTCH. We're in a small town in Italy! Where the hell would they get such accurate clothes? The patterns were unbelievable and the wigs were so awesome. Gigi's one friend had this one piece satin suit with an open chest and bands of flowing fabric on his arms; Gigi and his other friends had AWESOME floral hippie patterns and huge shoes. Man, these guys knew how to have a good time. Emi had a dress her mom wore in the 70's, so awesome too. So the friends took off and we would meet them at dinner.
Then we all went out for a walk into downtown Como which is all foot traffic. A pretty small town, but some really swanky shops; we went down to see the famous lake, and we could see just a few of the hundreds of GIANT waterfront mansions that Como is famous for. Movie stars, soccer players, business moguls, politicians...all come here and buy homes on the lake. Not to be confused with Como Lake in Coquitlam where I used to live...trust me, no one important lives there.
There was a Rally event on though, I saw some awesome Euro Rally cars! Went down to the main square and all these wicked decaled out cars were sitting revving their engines...I had a huge grin on my face the whole time. There is no word for Rally in Italian, so when Emi was trying to explain to me what was going on she kept saying "rrrrrrallay-ah" in a thick accent...I had no idea what she was saying but I eventually figured it out. "Oh! A "Rally"?" "Si!...rrrrralllay-ah"...hahaha...
Como makes entertainment news all the time because supposedly George Clooney lives out there somewhere in a huge mansion. And by the way all citizens are convinced George is gay. Apparently italian pop star Tiziano Ferro lives out there too, sort of Michael Buble for Italy. He's also gay apparently. No one is safe for the italians, I guess.
We went into a candy shop and Emilia bought some "Marrons glaces", I dunno what they are in english, candied chestnuts essentially. Pretty damn tasty and sweet as hell! We then went to a bar and grabbed a drink, we all had a "spritz", which is a trendy italian drink, a combination of white wine and club soda or prosecco (sparkling wine) and Aperol, an orange-based bitter liqueur. Delicious. I've tried to find it in Vancouver but hard to come by.
We then met up with a bunch of Emi and Luigi's friends at a fancy restaurant for dinner that served typical fish and seafood from the lake (lakefood?) The dish I got was called 'Lario di Lago', a white fish found in Como Lake. I had fresh gnocchi as well; I wanted to punch myself in the face how good the food was.
Then I said goodbye to little Laura, and Stefano and Pietro. I just find them to be such truly genuine and helping people, who like to do things for others and expect nothing in return. Same goes for Emi and Gigi, they are just so nice to me and pay my way because I'm a special guest in their lives. I'm super grateful to have friends like all of them.
So then we all headed outside and were told to wait for a shuttle to the party? Serious, how big is this thing? And yes, what rolled up to take us to the party? Nothing other than a 2-toned VW Minibus in mint condition!!! What the hell! So hilarious to see all these tall guys dressed as they were cramming into the van...there wasn't quite enough room so we got the next ride in an old Land Rover.
And again, to my surprise we roll up to the party...which is held at an Audi dealership?? All the cars were moved out and there were lights and lasers and hundreds of moving bodies inside instead. Decorations everywhere. We get inside and there's a live band singing one hit disco song after another in sped up tempo, blending one song into the next for a nonstop dance party. And the outfits!!! WHAT THE HELL!!! How did all of these people get these amazing costumes!!! I was so impressed...and even more impressed at the open bar :) They even had another VW Minbus setup inside all lit up to take pictures with!
It was such an amazing feeling to be at the coolest party in town and be the only foreigner there. Well I did meet some girl who spoke english with a british accent but wasn't english, and a swedish guy who spoke english. I remember these italian girls saw my camera on my back and I felt it move and I turned around startled and they said something to me and I spoke back in italian. But they knew right away I wasn't Italian, and asked where I was from and thought it was cool that I was from Canada. We all went inside and danced right up near the band. Then I had one of those magical moments when I was slightly tipsy but fully aware of the awesomeness of the situation; I was dancing with old friends and new, and the music just felt so damned loud and...good. And everyone was having the time of their lives. So fun. I got alot of great photos here
When we decided to leave, what shows up to pick us up?? The Minibus of course! Gigi and his 2 buddies Freddie and Carlo were smashed out of their minds, and Emilia was quite tipsy too...we cram in the minibus and head back into town. We get dropped off at home at 445am and we have to walk up the stairs; the whole time we are all laughing our asses off and they're all stumbling around and laughing more. Gigi for some reason decide to drop his pants and walk up the stairs with his pants around his ankles. And it's all even more ridiculous because of what everyone's wearing and Gigi and Freddie had huge afro wigs on.
When we get up to the flat Gigi and the guys fall to the floor and Gigi pulls his underwear down to expose his bare ass, then pulls Emilia down and rolls around with her....he told a story about when they were in California and Emi saw all the hot beach body dudes she almost had an orgasm; Gigi's impression of her was hilarious...after all that I haven't laughed that hard in a while!
When we all eventually got up the next day, we headed out and up a twisty road to Bellagio for some lunch, and photos and amazing views...and no not the Las Vegas hotel, the REAL place...
Friday, December 10, 2010
Panzerotti, Perfect Pasta, and it's pronounced "A-NEES"...
Alright friends...I'm finally back in Vancouver. In fact, I've been back for 2 weeks now, and found myself very busy with a few things since I've returned. I was jetlagged for a good week, I helped put up my theatre company's second play, I've gone back to work (much welcomed after not working for 2 months) and I moved into my mom's apartment, which is friggin awesome. Things are going really well for me right now. Time to get back to writing before it becomes a fog...
But it's strange, my trip already seems so long ago, and it was literally a world away. Now back to the slow pace of my Vancouver life. Not saying it's bad, just very different. I was so used to doing and seeing so many different things everyday, for 6 weeks.
Like I said, I feel good about things and more confident in what I know. But I do remember when I got back I felt an extreme high, that has subsided now into more of a pleasant feeling. I felt so happy to see all my friends again and share stories.
And that's what I have to keep doing until it's done. I'm determined to finish this blog and put up pictures as soon as I can, because I've felt myself already drifting away...stay tuned for some great stories, and yes, eventually pictures!
Now back to Milan...
*****
I woke up on a sofabed in a quaint bright Milanese apartment, instead of a hostel...much better though. Martina had left for work so her husband Nelson and Pietro and I all had breakfast in the kitchen. An italian breakfast is never a huge deal, usually just coffee and a pastry. This time we had leftover poundcake from last night and...instant coffee. Yes :) It was a tea drinking household...whoda thunk?
So I needed to get back to my hostel before 11am, my checkout time. We made our way across town and got up to the hostel just in time...my bag had a nice, expensive sleep on the bed. Well, I did get to use the shower which was actually great. They even let me store my bag there until the evening, when I would meet Laura.
So we set our for a day in Milan. I was still hungry (of course) so we went across the street to a little cafe and I got a sandwich, a nice caffe latte and a fresh squeezed orange juice, or "spremuta". I love how in Italy, and in most cafes in the countries I visited, almost every decent bar has a kickass espresso machine and a fresh squeeze orange juice machine. Amazing! And Pietro bought me breakfast, so nice of him. Ok, NOW I'm ready to go. We went downtown to the main piazza with the famous Duomo di Milano. Thankfully they had just finished the renovations of the exterior; the detail on this church is amazing. Pietro and I talked in english most of the time, his english is awesome as he spent a few months in the US. We did the tour through the interior where there was a service happening; this building is so huge, and the stained glass windows go on forever. We even did the tour to the roof, which is well worth doing, we got to the very top of the white roof to get a great view over the city. Lots of people just hanging out and enjoying the sunny day.
We came back down and with only a few hours left, Pietro took me to a famous Panzerotto restaurant, where the lineup was out the door and down the street at lunchtime. For those who don't know, a panzerotto is like a calzone, like a pizza folded in half, but gently fried. Um, ya. F-ing delicious. We each got 2 kinds, they were only like 3 euros each and went and found some steps to sit on in a plaza nearby that weren't occupied by dozens of of other people with the exact same idea, panzerotto in hand. Pietro then took me to a famous gelato place...this would be the best gelato I would have in Italy. I had a chocolate kind and some other crazy caramelly-praline-I-don't-even-know kind, delicious. OH YEAH: When you order ice cream and italy, you don't have to order a giant size to get 2 scoops of 2 different kinds, you can just order a small one and get 2 kinds. AMAZING. Although this I fear could lead to daily consumption and trial of every kind of gelato there is....whoa back now...
So the plan now was to go back to my hostel, grab my bag, and Pietro and I would go out to Crema to meet Laura and her boyfriend Stefano for dinner. Crema was about an hour outside of Milan; not far distance-wise, but you can only take small country roads anywhere once you get a certain distance from big cities. Crema wasn't a dot on the map by any means, it was sizeable and had a main shopping district. Pietro lives in Crema too, so he stayed on the bus once we got to where he told me to get off to meet Laura to go home and meet us later.
I stepped off the bus and called Laura; she said she was a couple minutes away...but for a brief moment, I was an obvious outsider with a huge backpack, standing on the side of the road in a small town in Italy rarely visited by tourists. I thought for a second "Wow if she doesn't come, I would have NO idea where the hell I was."...but she did.
Very cool to see little Laura. She's just so typically friendly and welcoming Italian. We went back to her bright and fancy apartment in Crema where she lives with Stefano her boyfriend. She had laid out my sofabed and gave me a tour of the place and said to make myself at home and do whatever I liked. She had to go out to work for a few hours but would be back. I got a chance to just relax and nap, and take it all in. I felt so lucky to be so welcomed into a home.
I woke up and Laura came home and I let her in, and soon after Stefano came home from work. I remembered meeting him briefly when I came through in 2004 with Kristen, when I stayed at her parents place in the country. I remember back then her mom was also so welcoming and kind but didn't speak english so I had to speak italian. I remember having a great home cooked meal with fried zucchini from the garden; Kristen was squeamish about trying new foods, and didn't think she would like it, but she tried it and couldn't get enough. It was like a different food altogether from zucchini we have at home in Canada, so good.
Pietro couldn't meet us so the three of us went out to dinner at a local pizza place that Stefano likes. I was surprised at the different kinds you could get, I always thought italian pizza was kept pretty simple. I keep seeing the words "Rocket" and "Speck" showing up on english menus. Problem is in Italian the words are the same. So they put the same words on the english menu and expect me to understand. "Oh sorry, ya now I understand what Speck is, thanks for translating that. Apparently, "Rocket" is some mistranslation for what we call Arugula, the leafy vegetable...also called that in Italy. And "Speck" is some thin sliced german-style meat. Never heard of it. But it's tasty. I made sure to have Gorgonzola again on my pizza though. And sausage and onion :) SOOOOO good... And I probably had the best Tiramisu I've ever tasted, not too sweet at all. And of course they didn't let me pay!
After dinner we met up with Pietro and went through the town centre to a bar with a "drinking" theme. Quotes about alcohol and various bartending accessories everywhere. We chatted mostly in Italian as Stefano doesn't speak much english. I had some gay fancy cocktail like a mojito, it was alright but not great. But Pietro had the full on Absynthe dealio with the sugar cube and green flame and all. Not my cup of tea though as anyone who knows me knows I hate licorice as that's what it tastes like...but it was entertaining to watch. Pietro speaks great english but understandably he mispronounces the occasional word...so he was trying to describe the taste of Absynthe and said "It tastes like anus" "Um, I think you mean 'anice'!" I said...we laughed pretty hard after that.
Afterwards we wandered through the streets and I got a mini tour of Crema; it has a town Plaza and Duomo as well. A small town in Lombardia with it's own rich history and monuments and stories...I just love Italy. If you're from Crema, you're 'cremasco'...sounds cool :)
The next day I got up and Laura made me breakfast, pulled everything out of her cupboards it seemed. Still very simple: coffee, fruit, cereal. They had an automatic Lavazza coffee machine that you put coffee pods into. Italians are serious about their coffee! Still almost as good as a proper espresso machine. I had time to catch up on some emails and relax, and a couple hours later they started lunch. I had mentioned that I felt like I was lacking vegetables in my diet so they went out and got some veggies for a pasta sauce. Don't remember if I mentioned this before, but I started to get constipated from all the pizza and pasta I was eating over the week in Italy...an awful feeling...FYI.
But I was so caught up in the moment of being with friends in their cute apartment in a small town in Italy, I pulled out my journal and just wrote about what I saw for a few moments...I like this journal entry so I'm gonna transcribe it word for word:
"Crema, Casa di Laura. Oct. 23/2010
They're making vegetable pasta in a bright kitchen...I said I hadn't had veggies or fruit while travelling so they went and got some to make veggie pasta. Stefano opened a bottle of red wine. The table is set neatly with a plate of parmeggiano in thin chunks. Stefano timed the pasta boiling on his iphone, to make sure it's perfect. Pietro told me yesterday cooking pasta properly is the first step, sauce is something else. Such kind and giving people..."
After lunch I said goodbye to lovely Crema and the four of us piled into Stefano's Peugeot 206 and were on our way to Como to see Emilia...none of us had seen her in 7 years!
Como would be one of my favourite destinations to date...including the infamous Disco party, the lake, and a Swiss Casino...AND teaching italian friends some dirty words!
But it's strange, my trip already seems so long ago, and it was literally a world away. Now back to the slow pace of my Vancouver life. Not saying it's bad, just very different. I was so used to doing and seeing so many different things everyday, for 6 weeks.
Like I said, I feel good about things and more confident in what I know. But I do remember when I got back I felt an extreme high, that has subsided now into more of a pleasant feeling. I felt so happy to see all my friends again and share stories.
And that's what I have to keep doing until it's done. I'm determined to finish this blog and put up pictures as soon as I can, because I've felt myself already drifting away...stay tuned for some great stories, and yes, eventually pictures!
Now back to Milan...
*****
I woke up on a sofabed in a quaint bright Milanese apartment, instead of a hostel...much better though. Martina had left for work so her husband Nelson and Pietro and I all had breakfast in the kitchen. An italian breakfast is never a huge deal, usually just coffee and a pastry. This time we had leftover poundcake from last night and...instant coffee. Yes :) It was a tea drinking household...whoda thunk?
So I needed to get back to my hostel before 11am, my checkout time. We made our way across town and got up to the hostel just in time...my bag had a nice, expensive sleep on the bed. Well, I did get to use the shower which was actually great. They even let me store my bag there until the evening, when I would meet Laura.
So we set our for a day in Milan. I was still hungry (of course) so we went across the street to a little cafe and I got a sandwich, a nice caffe latte and a fresh squeezed orange juice, or "spremuta". I love how in Italy, and in most cafes in the countries I visited, almost every decent bar has a kickass espresso machine and a fresh squeeze orange juice machine. Amazing! And Pietro bought me breakfast, so nice of him. Ok, NOW I'm ready to go. We went downtown to the main piazza with the famous Duomo di Milano. Thankfully they had just finished the renovations of the exterior; the detail on this church is amazing. Pietro and I talked in english most of the time, his english is awesome as he spent a few months in the US. We did the tour through the interior where there was a service happening; this building is so huge, and the stained glass windows go on forever. We even did the tour to the roof, which is well worth doing, we got to the very top of the white roof to get a great view over the city. Lots of people just hanging out and enjoying the sunny day.
We came back down and with only a few hours left, Pietro took me to a famous Panzerotto restaurant, where the lineup was out the door and down the street at lunchtime. For those who don't know, a panzerotto is like a calzone, like a pizza folded in half, but gently fried. Um, ya. F-ing delicious. We each got 2 kinds, they were only like 3 euros each and went and found some steps to sit on in a plaza nearby that weren't occupied by dozens of of other people with the exact same idea, panzerotto in hand. Pietro then took me to a famous gelato place...this would be the best gelato I would have in Italy. I had a chocolate kind and some other crazy caramelly-praline-I-don't-even-know kind, delicious. OH YEAH: When you order ice cream and italy, you don't have to order a giant size to get 2 scoops of 2 different kinds, you can just order a small one and get 2 kinds. AMAZING. Although this I fear could lead to daily consumption and trial of every kind of gelato there is....whoa back now...
So the plan now was to go back to my hostel, grab my bag, and Pietro and I would go out to Crema to meet Laura and her boyfriend Stefano for dinner. Crema was about an hour outside of Milan; not far distance-wise, but you can only take small country roads anywhere once you get a certain distance from big cities. Crema wasn't a dot on the map by any means, it was sizeable and had a main shopping district. Pietro lives in Crema too, so he stayed on the bus once we got to where he told me to get off to meet Laura to go home and meet us later.
I stepped off the bus and called Laura; she said she was a couple minutes away...but for a brief moment, I was an obvious outsider with a huge backpack, standing on the side of the road in a small town in Italy rarely visited by tourists. I thought for a second "Wow if she doesn't come, I would have NO idea where the hell I was."...but she did.
Very cool to see little Laura. She's just so typically friendly and welcoming Italian. We went back to her bright and fancy apartment in Crema where she lives with Stefano her boyfriend. She had laid out my sofabed and gave me a tour of the place and said to make myself at home and do whatever I liked. She had to go out to work for a few hours but would be back. I got a chance to just relax and nap, and take it all in. I felt so lucky to be so welcomed into a home.
I woke up and Laura came home and I let her in, and soon after Stefano came home from work. I remembered meeting him briefly when I came through in 2004 with Kristen, when I stayed at her parents place in the country. I remember back then her mom was also so welcoming and kind but didn't speak english so I had to speak italian. I remember having a great home cooked meal with fried zucchini from the garden; Kristen was squeamish about trying new foods, and didn't think she would like it, but she tried it and couldn't get enough. It was like a different food altogether from zucchini we have at home in Canada, so good.
Pietro couldn't meet us so the three of us went out to dinner at a local pizza place that Stefano likes. I was surprised at the different kinds you could get, I always thought italian pizza was kept pretty simple. I keep seeing the words "Rocket" and "Speck" showing up on english menus. Problem is in Italian the words are the same. So they put the same words on the english menu and expect me to understand. "Oh sorry, ya now I understand what Speck is, thanks for translating that. Apparently, "Rocket" is some mistranslation for what we call Arugula, the leafy vegetable...also called that in Italy. And "Speck" is some thin sliced german-style meat. Never heard of it. But it's tasty. I made sure to have Gorgonzola again on my pizza though. And sausage and onion :) SOOOOO good... And I probably had the best Tiramisu I've ever tasted, not too sweet at all. And of course they didn't let me pay!
After dinner we met up with Pietro and went through the town centre to a bar with a "drinking" theme. Quotes about alcohol and various bartending accessories everywhere. We chatted mostly in Italian as Stefano doesn't speak much english. I had some gay fancy cocktail like a mojito, it was alright but not great. But Pietro had the full on Absynthe dealio with the sugar cube and green flame and all. Not my cup of tea though as anyone who knows me knows I hate licorice as that's what it tastes like...but it was entertaining to watch. Pietro speaks great english but understandably he mispronounces the occasional word...so he was trying to describe the taste of Absynthe and said "It tastes like anus" "Um, I think you mean 'anice'!" I said...we laughed pretty hard after that.
Afterwards we wandered through the streets and I got a mini tour of Crema; it has a town Plaza and Duomo as well. A small town in Lombardia with it's own rich history and monuments and stories...I just love Italy. If you're from Crema, you're 'cremasco'...sounds cool :)
The next day I got up and Laura made me breakfast, pulled everything out of her cupboards it seemed. Still very simple: coffee, fruit, cereal. They had an automatic Lavazza coffee machine that you put coffee pods into. Italians are serious about their coffee! Still almost as good as a proper espresso machine. I had time to catch up on some emails and relax, and a couple hours later they started lunch. I had mentioned that I felt like I was lacking vegetables in my diet so they went out and got some veggies for a pasta sauce. Don't remember if I mentioned this before, but I started to get constipated from all the pizza and pasta I was eating over the week in Italy...an awful feeling...FYI.
But I was so caught up in the moment of being with friends in their cute apartment in a small town in Italy, I pulled out my journal and just wrote about what I saw for a few moments...I like this journal entry so I'm gonna transcribe it word for word:
"Crema, Casa di Laura. Oct. 23/2010
They're making vegetable pasta in a bright kitchen...I said I hadn't had veggies or fruit while travelling so they went and got some to make veggie pasta. Stefano opened a bottle of red wine. The table is set neatly with a plate of parmeggiano in thin chunks. Stefano timed the pasta boiling on his iphone, to make sure it's perfect. Pietro told me yesterday cooking pasta properly is the first step, sauce is something else. Such kind and giving people..."
After lunch I said goodbye to lovely Crema and the four of us piled into Stefano's Peugeot 206 and were on our way to Como to see Emilia...none of us had seen her in 7 years!
Como would be one of my favourite destinations to date...including the infamous Disco party, the lake, and a Swiss Casino...AND teaching italian friends some dirty words!
Monday, November 15, 2010
A long journey, and a concert experience of a lifetime...
After my whirlwind spontaneous trip to the ancient city of Pompei, I still had a flight to catch in Rome to Milan for the next leg of my tour. I had to get up at 5am, barely got any sleep. The hostel guy said goodbye to me as I slipped out the door, and I headed to the bus stop. I had to catch the train at 630 at Naples Station so I didn't have a lot of room for error. Thankfully I caught the bus right on time and I was on my way. Got to the station, figured out how to buy the ticket...for only 10,50 euros to Rome? Not complaining! But then I got back to Rome and found the train to Fiumicino at the other end of the station...damn this heavy backpack...and it was 15 euros to go to the airport!!! WTF?? How do you figure that? Anyways, made it to the airport...after all that my flight was running behind a bit, so I had time for a small meal.
So I flew to Milan-Malpensa. Malpensa, like Fiumicino, is also nowhere near the city centre. So I bought a shuttle ticket to the central station, that took an hour, then hopped on the metro. Changed lines at one point too. Finally, I find my hostel, in a pretty nice neighbourhood too. Sigh of relief, I can relax.
If you've been counting, that's a bus, 2 trains, a plane, another bus, and 2 metro trains. Holy crap.
But talk about a night and day difference from Naples. Milan is just the opposite; clean, upscale, trendy, and clearly has money...that Naples could use. The cars drive in an orderly fashion, and there's plenty of room in the wide streets. No piles of smelly garbage...all in all really nice. But the hostel; well, it was clean, and....quiet. Really quiet. The young chinese guy at the desk didn't speak much english other than what was needed to check in guests. I mean, everything I asked, he or his mother (I'm assuming) were helpful. But what was missing was the overall warmth and welcome I just experienced in Naples. Crappier hostel aesthetically, poor town etc...but I got a great vibe from Naples. They instantly told me what to do, how the hostel worked, what I need to do in Naples etc..a genuine desire to see me enjoy myself there and get the most out of it. The feeling I got right away in Milan, not just from the hostel, was much more...composed. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. But maybe things would change...
So I went out and grabbed the ol' kebab...I kinda like having kebabs in each city, to determine the best one. I should have started a kebab blog maybe. If I do, I shall call it "Keblog"*. Or "Kebablog"*. (* Copyright 2010 SartorialSaga. All rights reserved." I called up my friend Pietro who I hadn't seen since my trip with Kristen. Now, I may not have mentioned, I had visited Milan before in 2004 with Kristen and saw these friends, but I was extremely ill at the time. Kristen had to drive the car thru the Swiss Alps alone while I was unconscious in the passenger seat from the flu or whatever. So I was still sick in Milan and didn't get to do much.
My friend Laura, who was still busy working that day, said Pietro, who is a piano teacher, was giving a seminar on Gustav Mahler's 5th Symphony at the Auditorium di Milano, and following the seminar was a concert. He invited me to come see, so I made my way across a town I didn't know in a hurry to the place I marked on my map. Made it just in time to see Pietro's speech. Now my italian isn't THAT good; I have a feeling I would have trouble following a speech on that subject in english, let alone italian...far too esoteric, but really interesting. I understood parts of it, and he had audioclips to back it up so it was great. Took some pics for him, thought he might like to have some, as he doesn't do that very often. The crowd was quite a bit older, the types you would expect to be Mahler conoisseurs. But he did a great job.
After, I went up and said hi to Pietro, it had been so long! I met his friend Martina who I was told to call and meet up with...turns out I could have stayed with her that night instead of the hostel...but too late. We talked for a bit, then I went and bought my ticket just before it started...it was only like 12 euros...and they put me front row centre, right behind the piano! Whoa! It was like my own private concert! I would never expect to get the chance to see a classical concert with a full orchestra in Milan...so cool.
The first "opening act" before Mahler was an interlude by a young pianist, 30s, doing Mozart. Extremely talented man. With first 3 notes I instantly had chills. Not many things make me feel like that. I got a little emotional for a minute; the piano supported by a full orchestra, right in front of me. So beautiful. Made me realize first, how much I love the piano, but also, that I wish I continued with it when I was really young. Chances aren't as good now I suppose to be great, but it's still something I NEED to learn how to do.
This young man had a bit of arrogance to him, a bit like he was showing off....but I suppose Mozart was like that too. To be a young prodigy that everyone revered. I suppose I can't blame the guy; there's always that fine line between humbly accepting love and affection, and drawing it and feeding off of it by showing off. I dunno, I'd love to discuss this sometime, always been an interesting subject...
(Damn, I had to stop writing, now I'm in an internet cafe in Dublin and the keyboard keys are all sticky...this is gonna be challenging)
So anyways, the piano part ended. To be honest I thought that was the end of the show. I got up to leave and indicated to my friends who weren't sitting with me that I would be outside the hall. Went downstairs and got an espresso. Then the lights flashed as they tried to get everyone back inside. No one had left. Oh. That was just the intro act! So I went back to my seat, front row centre again. This time, the piano was replaced by a conductor's platform.
The conductor came out...such a cliche. He had big crazy grey hair sticking straight up. Wearing all black and a simple collarless shirt, he seemed a little less formal. But almost more exclusive as he was afforded these comforts for what he was about to do.
Silence after the applause. A pause. Then, he raised hands and made a WOOOOOSSHHH noise as he brought in the wind and string instruments. Chills again down my back. There must have been about 200 people who made up this orchestra. So cool. So many talented, flawless professionals.
I could see just the cellists and violinists from my seat. I like how everyone is dressed their best for this night. I spotted this attractive young violinist in an evening dress. I only saw her face at the beginning, my view was blocked by the conductor and other players. But I could just hear her, and see her beautiful arms caressing and holding this amazing instrument. So graceful the way she holds it. But the men are different; the lead violinist was an older man, who held it more aggressively, and it wasn't feminine at all. So interesting. Being this close I could also pick out a certain person to listen to, if you look at them and watch their movements.
The conductor was hilarious and amazing at the same time. He almost seemed out of timing with the music and therefore kindof out of place. But I guess it makes sense to everyone there, and he had full control of them. He would cross his hands and gesture with a flat hand, and raise it up high, and with the other hand form a claw that he would shake with authority at another section. He would slice and dice back and forth with his wand to the strings, and STAB the wind instruments, and pound the ground for the percussion. So much passion.
Then all the strings started plucking their instruments. The simple motion combined with the sound made it really funny. But I could really visualize things with the music; images of all kinds, without knowing the story. Makes me wonder how you would even begin to compose something of this scale, with so many elements. These composers are frickin geniuses. Their full understanding of music and its intricate parts is so vastly beyond my comprehension.
When I looked up at him I was also looking right into the lights on the ceiling, partially blinding me sometimes. The energy picked up; I had a huge grin on my face as I would look left at the violinists and right at the cellists. Flashes of light from the middle reminded me to look at the conductor, as he convulsed and swung his arms around occasionally blocking the lights from the ceiling. Being this close I could hear all his movements, and breathing...and I could see big gobs of sweat falling from his face...
I was reminded often this evening of my friend Kenzo, who's so damned skilled with the violin. I appreciate that skill so much. I want to understand it more.
This man was insane, but was so passionate about what he did. I'm beginning to realize that we call some things "cliche" because we might never see these things for real, and the cliche is our only undertanding of it. The word sort of has a dismissive connotation, naive and ignorant. But now I've seen the real deal, and it just makes sense in my head now.
After the concert ended, which was almost an hour of straight playing and flailing and singing etc, we went to Martina's for dinner; me, Pietro, Martina, Nelson her husband, and a couple other friends. She cooked some amazing chorizo meat pasta, AND gorgonzola sauce, with the cheese from the town of the same name just outside of Milan! SO delicious. We had some wine and had homemade pound cake for dessert and a dessert wine too. I stayed so late I didn't even make it back to my hostel, and slept there, like a rock. Whew.
The next day I would discover Milan with Pietro, and see my friend Laura after many years...
So I flew to Milan-Malpensa. Malpensa, like Fiumicino, is also nowhere near the city centre. So I bought a shuttle ticket to the central station, that took an hour, then hopped on the metro. Changed lines at one point too. Finally, I find my hostel, in a pretty nice neighbourhood too. Sigh of relief, I can relax.
If you've been counting, that's a bus, 2 trains, a plane, another bus, and 2 metro trains. Holy crap.
But talk about a night and day difference from Naples. Milan is just the opposite; clean, upscale, trendy, and clearly has money...that Naples could use. The cars drive in an orderly fashion, and there's plenty of room in the wide streets. No piles of smelly garbage...all in all really nice. But the hostel; well, it was clean, and....quiet. Really quiet. The young chinese guy at the desk didn't speak much english other than what was needed to check in guests. I mean, everything I asked, he or his mother (I'm assuming) were helpful. But what was missing was the overall warmth and welcome I just experienced in Naples. Crappier hostel aesthetically, poor town etc...but I got a great vibe from Naples. They instantly told me what to do, how the hostel worked, what I need to do in Naples etc..a genuine desire to see me enjoy myself there and get the most out of it. The feeling I got right away in Milan, not just from the hostel, was much more...composed. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. But maybe things would change...
So I went out and grabbed the ol' kebab...I kinda like having kebabs in each city, to determine the best one. I should have started a kebab blog maybe. If I do, I shall call it "Keblog"*. Or "Kebablog"*. (* Copyright 2010 SartorialSaga. All rights reserved." I called up my friend Pietro who I hadn't seen since my trip with Kristen. Now, I may not have mentioned, I had visited Milan before in 2004 with Kristen and saw these friends, but I was extremely ill at the time. Kristen had to drive the car thru the Swiss Alps alone while I was unconscious in the passenger seat from the flu or whatever. So I was still sick in Milan and didn't get to do much.
My friend Laura, who was still busy working that day, said Pietro, who is a piano teacher, was giving a seminar on Gustav Mahler's 5th Symphony at the Auditorium di Milano, and following the seminar was a concert. He invited me to come see, so I made my way across a town I didn't know in a hurry to the place I marked on my map. Made it just in time to see Pietro's speech. Now my italian isn't THAT good; I have a feeling I would have trouble following a speech on that subject in english, let alone italian...far too esoteric, but really interesting. I understood parts of it, and he had audioclips to back it up so it was great. Took some pics for him, thought he might like to have some, as he doesn't do that very often. The crowd was quite a bit older, the types you would expect to be Mahler conoisseurs. But he did a great job.
After, I went up and said hi to Pietro, it had been so long! I met his friend Martina who I was told to call and meet up with...turns out I could have stayed with her that night instead of the hostel...but too late. We talked for a bit, then I went and bought my ticket just before it started...it was only like 12 euros...and they put me front row centre, right behind the piano! Whoa! It was like my own private concert! I would never expect to get the chance to see a classical concert with a full orchestra in Milan...so cool.
The first "opening act" before Mahler was an interlude by a young pianist, 30s, doing Mozart. Extremely talented man. With first 3 notes I instantly had chills. Not many things make me feel like that. I got a little emotional for a minute; the piano supported by a full orchestra, right in front of me. So beautiful. Made me realize first, how much I love the piano, but also, that I wish I continued with it when I was really young. Chances aren't as good now I suppose to be great, but it's still something I NEED to learn how to do.
This young man had a bit of arrogance to him, a bit like he was showing off....but I suppose Mozart was like that too. To be a young prodigy that everyone revered. I suppose I can't blame the guy; there's always that fine line between humbly accepting love and affection, and drawing it and feeding off of it by showing off. I dunno, I'd love to discuss this sometime, always been an interesting subject...
(Damn, I had to stop writing, now I'm in an internet cafe in Dublin and the keyboard keys are all sticky...this is gonna be challenging)
So anyways, the piano part ended. To be honest I thought that was the end of the show. I got up to leave and indicated to my friends who weren't sitting with me that I would be outside the hall. Went downstairs and got an espresso. Then the lights flashed as they tried to get everyone back inside. No one had left. Oh. That was just the intro act! So I went back to my seat, front row centre again. This time, the piano was replaced by a conductor's platform.
The conductor came out...such a cliche. He had big crazy grey hair sticking straight up. Wearing all black and a simple collarless shirt, he seemed a little less formal. But almost more exclusive as he was afforded these comforts for what he was about to do.
Silence after the applause. A pause. Then, he raised hands and made a WOOOOOSSHHH noise as he brought in the wind and string instruments. Chills again down my back. There must have been about 200 people who made up this orchestra. So cool. So many talented, flawless professionals.
I could see just the cellists and violinists from my seat. I like how everyone is dressed their best for this night. I spotted this attractive young violinist in an evening dress. I only saw her face at the beginning, my view was blocked by the conductor and other players. But I could just hear her, and see her beautiful arms caressing and holding this amazing instrument. So graceful the way she holds it. But the men are different; the lead violinist was an older man, who held it more aggressively, and it wasn't feminine at all. So interesting. Being this close I could also pick out a certain person to listen to, if you look at them and watch their movements.
The conductor was hilarious and amazing at the same time. He almost seemed out of timing with the music and therefore kindof out of place. But I guess it makes sense to everyone there, and he had full control of them. He would cross his hands and gesture with a flat hand, and raise it up high, and with the other hand form a claw that he would shake with authority at another section. He would slice and dice back and forth with his wand to the strings, and STAB the wind instruments, and pound the ground for the percussion. So much passion.
Then all the strings started plucking their instruments. The simple motion combined with the sound made it really funny. But I could really visualize things with the music; images of all kinds, without knowing the story. Makes me wonder how you would even begin to compose something of this scale, with so many elements. These composers are frickin geniuses. Their full understanding of music and its intricate parts is so vastly beyond my comprehension.
When I looked up at him I was also looking right into the lights on the ceiling, partially blinding me sometimes. The energy picked up; I had a huge grin on my face as I would look left at the violinists and right at the cellists. Flashes of light from the middle reminded me to look at the conductor, as he convulsed and swung his arms around occasionally blocking the lights from the ceiling. Being this close I could hear all his movements, and breathing...and I could see big gobs of sweat falling from his face...
I was reminded often this evening of my friend Kenzo, who's so damned skilled with the violin. I appreciate that skill so much. I want to understand it more.
This man was insane, but was so passionate about what he did. I'm beginning to realize that we call some things "cliche" because we might never see these things for real, and the cliche is our only undertanding of it. The word sort of has a dismissive connotation, naive and ignorant. But now I've seen the real deal, and it just makes sense in my head now.
After the concert ended, which was almost an hour of straight playing and flailing and singing etc, we went to Martina's for dinner; me, Pietro, Martina, Nelson her husband, and a couple other friends. She cooked some amazing chorizo meat pasta, AND gorgonzola sauce, with the cheese from the town of the same name just outside of Milan! SO delicious. We had some wine and had homemade pound cake for dessert and a dessert wine too. I stayed so late I didn't even make it back to my hostel, and slept there, like a rock. Whew.
The next day I would discover Milan with Pietro, and see my friend Laura after many years...
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Ruins, rainbows, puppies and...PIZZA! And garbage.
Destination: Naples...and the ancient city of Pompei.
I arrived at about 2pm in Naples, and didnt have a map or anything for my hostel. Exciting and scary at the same time. First off, Naples is crazy. It seems so disorderly and dirty and kind of dangerous at first. On top of that, there is garbage in the streets everywhere, and graffiti on every single wall...seems like shit could go down here if Im not careful.
Even if youre lost, if you use your noggin you can pretty much get to where you want to be. Some sketchy guys tried to offer me a cab ride...no thanks, dont feel like wasting money or god knows where they would take me. I had a little mini map for the hostel so I knew roughly where I had to go. The bus was far from the train station...and on the way, the map fell out of my pocket. But i remembered where to go. I asked a bus driver and he pointed me in the right direction. had to go buy a bus ticket from a corner store. Then I got on the bus and went towards the hostel. Got out and right in front of me was a huge castle on the the water. And construction everywhere. But where to go from here...
Big tip: if ever lost, just go into a 4-star hotel to the receptionist, and ask for a map. I found an NH hotel, same chain as in Brussels, and asked for help from the desk. She printed me a map, looked it up online, and showed me where to go...so helpful without hesitation. So I finally found the hostel: Bella Capri Naples. Had to buzz up and use 5 cents in the elevator to go up. Got to the top and the hostel was so tiny...but very welcoming. The lady was instantly friendly, didnt mind that I didnt have a reservation ( I lied earlier, didnt use hostelbookers for this one, just a recommendation from the hostel in Rome.) I met some old Argentinian guy in the room, we spoke a bit in spanish, I wander what his story was. He was like 65 and staying in a hostel in Naples. Anyways I went back to the desk. I said I was there to see Pompei, and I only had a few hours till it closed. She told me where to find the bus, and to buy a round trip ticket. I set off, grabbed a sandwich and a coffee and found the invisible bus station. I asked a random guy if the bus came yet, and he said he was waiting for the same bus. As the bus rolled up, he indicated to me from across the way that it was the right one. So nice. Then the bus ride was about 45 minutes. So cool, I could see Capri Island out in the distance, and Mount Vesuvius up ahead. Then, someone I didnt even talk to figured I wanted to see Pompei, and pointed out the right stop...which I wouldve have missed if it wasnt for him. I had about 2.5 hours to see the place before dark and closing.
I went to find the entrance, bought a couple postcards and even the audio guide. It was threatening to rain...I wandered in, it seemed so huge and complex, but amazing. Consider this town was founded by the Romans in 200 BC! It was destroyed in 79 AD by an eruption from MT Vesuvius. What killed most people at first was the several feet of ash that fell on the town, but preserving many of the famous mummified bodies we know Pompei for. Then later that day rivers of lava running at 70 kmh ran through the town destroying much of it, and the next day a massive earthquake took care of the rest. Everyone was killed in 2 days. Ouch. But, I guess it was the ash that actually preserved most of the original painted and mosaic artwork everywhere. Amazing to see this town had drainage systems, clothes washing stations, running water from wells, vineyards, cloisters, chapels, 2 auditoriums for theatre, sportsgrounds for horses, and a huge coliseum.
The art was amazing, mosaics talking about Jason and the Argonauts, Egyptian Gods, Achilles etc. But even more interesting was the sacred erotic art...ancient porn basically. Lesbian stuff, and even some really kinky shit, like some half goat dude railing a normal goat...uhm...wow. Sorry to whoever is reading this and didnt see that coming...actually no Im not sorry :)
The other cool thing was that there were stray dogs running around everywhere. Apparently dogs have always been respected and welcome in the city; theyre actually fed though, and I found out you can adopt a dog from Pompei! When I get a dog, Im gettin a Pompei dog...I shall call him...Pompee...
It started to get dark and raining and the people were dissipating, then magic happened: I spotted a big rainbow over the ruins...so damn magical, its the only way to describe it. I was very humbled by that place. So much history, so much went into building that city...then in an instant, it was destroyed forever. Kinda made me appreciate what I have. You gotta seize the day, you really do.
Found the bus stop again and sure enough, the bus came and took me right back to town. Like 4 euros for a round trip. Awesome. I went up to the hostel and asked where I could find the famous Naples Pizza. I headed over to Gino Sorbillo, the most famous restaurant and the self-described "best pizza in Italy". Sweet. I also found out about all the garbage. Basically, the government doesnt have a proper system to get rid of Naples garbage, so theyve been dumping it in the countryside. Thankfully, the Mafia has a pretty strong hold on things down here. Theyve been blocking the routes for the garbage trucks, so they cant get the garbage out of town. Hence the piles of garbage. Also I learned, the presence of the Mafia keeps petty crimes down, so even though it looks like a shithole, youre pretty safe in the streets. Didnt seem like it at first, but I got used to it.
I found Gino Sorbillo and there was a huge lineup of young people out front. You had to put in your name and they yelled it over the intercom. I realized after when they would yell my name that it would sound funny..."Marco, tre...Chiara, quattro...TAAA-EE-LORRRRE, UNO." My last name in Italian sounds ridiculous. So I ordered a "Nonno Luigi" which was actually more of a panzerotto than a pizza. But still amazing and yes, one of the best Ive ever had. I paired it with a german Paulaner beer, as everyone else was doing. Served in plastic dixie cups, but didnt matter. A musical duo came in, a man with a guitar and a girl with a tambourine...they played for the restaurant and even did an acoustic version of "We dont speak Americano"...so awesome.
I headed back to the hostel, and took some pictures of the garbage on the way back. Such a crazy place, and would be such a contrast to where I was about to go next...
Went to bed and got up way early for my trip to Milan. Old Argentinian dude was semi awake, dont think he slept. I packed up and headed out the door. The desk guy was asleep on the couch as I snuck out at 545am. He popped his head up and in his grogginess said "bye Brendan" in a thick italian accent. So friggin nice here.
So far Ive realized a couple of important things about myself, and I need to write about these things.
I make friends very easily, and I can feel connected to someone I just met quite quickly. Like that night in the hostel in Rome with all those peeps in the room, laughing together. And Corinnas friends. Theres no reason why you cant make great friends quickly.
Ive been speaking in Italian almost exclusively here to get by. And at dinner with Corinna and friends. Considering I barely studied the language, Im pretty proud about my ability to pick it up and communicate. Maybe that sounds conceited but I dont care, I dont say stuff like that often.
Ive also realized Im a good traveller. I can find places, stores, and hostels with very little information, and I have a good sense of direction. Feels like I can survive anywhere. And thats a great feeling.
Im feeling really happy and confident these days. I think its important to check back on the things you think youre good at and to acknowledge them. Its easy to beat yourself up about things you cant do, trust me I know.
Headed on the bus to Milan...some amazing times ahead...concerts, parties...whew, Im tried just thinking about it!
I arrived at about 2pm in Naples, and didnt have a map or anything for my hostel. Exciting and scary at the same time. First off, Naples is crazy. It seems so disorderly and dirty and kind of dangerous at first. On top of that, there is garbage in the streets everywhere, and graffiti on every single wall...seems like shit could go down here if Im not careful.
Even if youre lost, if you use your noggin you can pretty much get to where you want to be. Some sketchy guys tried to offer me a cab ride...no thanks, dont feel like wasting money or god knows where they would take me. I had a little mini map for the hostel so I knew roughly where I had to go. The bus was far from the train station...and on the way, the map fell out of my pocket. But i remembered where to go. I asked a bus driver and he pointed me in the right direction. had to go buy a bus ticket from a corner store. Then I got on the bus and went towards the hostel. Got out and right in front of me was a huge castle on the the water. And construction everywhere. But where to go from here...
Big tip: if ever lost, just go into a 4-star hotel to the receptionist, and ask for a map. I found an NH hotel, same chain as in Brussels, and asked for help from the desk. She printed me a map, looked it up online, and showed me where to go...so helpful without hesitation. So I finally found the hostel: Bella Capri Naples. Had to buzz up and use 5 cents in the elevator to go up. Got to the top and the hostel was so tiny...but very welcoming. The lady was instantly friendly, didnt mind that I didnt have a reservation ( I lied earlier, didnt use hostelbookers for this one, just a recommendation from the hostel in Rome.) I met some old Argentinian guy in the room, we spoke a bit in spanish, I wander what his story was. He was like 65 and staying in a hostel in Naples. Anyways I went back to the desk. I said I was there to see Pompei, and I only had a few hours till it closed. She told me where to find the bus, and to buy a round trip ticket. I set off, grabbed a sandwich and a coffee and found the invisible bus station. I asked a random guy if the bus came yet, and he said he was waiting for the same bus. As the bus rolled up, he indicated to me from across the way that it was the right one. So nice. Then the bus ride was about 45 minutes. So cool, I could see Capri Island out in the distance, and Mount Vesuvius up ahead. Then, someone I didnt even talk to figured I wanted to see Pompei, and pointed out the right stop...which I wouldve have missed if it wasnt for him. I had about 2.5 hours to see the place before dark and closing.
I went to find the entrance, bought a couple postcards and even the audio guide. It was threatening to rain...I wandered in, it seemed so huge and complex, but amazing. Consider this town was founded by the Romans in 200 BC! It was destroyed in 79 AD by an eruption from MT Vesuvius. What killed most people at first was the several feet of ash that fell on the town, but preserving many of the famous mummified bodies we know Pompei for. Then later that day rivers of lava running at 70 kmh ran through the town destroying much of it, and the next day a massive earthquake took care of the rest. Everyone was killed in 2 days. Ouch. But, I guess it was the ash that actually preserved most of the original painted and mosaic artwork everywhere. Amazing to see this town had drainage systems, clothes washing stations, running water from wells, vineyards, cloisters, chapels, 2 auditoriums for theatre, sportsgrounds for horses, and a huge coliseum.
The art was amazing, mosaics talking about Jason and the Argonauts, Egyptian Gods, Achilles etc. But even more interesting was the sacred erotic art...ancient porn basically. Lesbian stuff, and even some really kinky shit, like some half goat dude railing a normal goat...uhm...wow. Sorry to whoever is reading this and didnt see that coming...actually no Im not sorry :)
The other cool thing was that there were stray dogs running around everywhere. Apparently dogs have always been respected and welcome in the city; theyre actually fed though, and I found out you can adopt a dog from Pompei! When I get a dog, Im gettin a Pompei dog...I shall call him...Pompee...
It started to get dark and raining and the people were dissipating, then magic happened: I spotted a big rainbow over the ruins...so damn magical, its the only way to describe it. I was very humbled by that place. So much history, so much went into building that city...then in an instant, it was destroyed forever. Kinda made me appreciate what I have. You gotta seize the day, you really do.
Found the bus stop again and sure enough, the bus came and took me right back to town. Like 4 euros for a round trip. Awesome. I went up to the hostel and asked where I could find the famous Naples Pizza. I headed over to Gino Sorbillo, the most famous restaurant and the self-described "best pizza in Italy". Sweet. I also found out about all the garbage. Basically, the government doesnt have a proper system to get rid of Naples garbage, so theyve been dumping it in the countryside. Thankfully, the Mafia has a pretty strong hold on things down here. Theyve been blocking the routes for the garbage trucks, so they cant get the garbage out of town. Hence the piles of garbage. Also I learned, the presence of the Mafia keeps petty crimes down, so even though it looks like a shithole, youre pretty safe in the streets. Didnt seem like it at first, but I got used to it.
I found Gino Sorbillo and there was a huge lineup of young people out front. You had to put in your name and they yelled it over the intercom. I realized after when they would yell my name that it would sound funny..."Marco, tre...Chiara, quattro...TAAA-EE-LORRRRE, UNO." My last name in Italian sounds ridiculous. So I ordered a "Nonno Luigi" which was actually more of a panzerotto than a pizza. But still amazing and yes, one of the best Ive ever had. I paired it with a german Paulaner beer, as everyone else was doing. Served in plastic dixie cups, but didnt matter. A musical duo came in, a man with a guitar and a girl with a tambourine...they played for the restaurant and even did an acoustic version of "We dont speak Americano"...so awesome.
I headed back to the hostel, and took some pictures of the garbage on the way back. Such a crazy place, and would be such a contrast to where I was about to go next...
Went to bed and got up way early for my trip to Milan. Old Argentinian dude was semi awake, dont think he slept. I packed up and headed out the door. The desk guy was asleep on the couch as I snuck out at 545am. He popped his head up and in his grogginess said "bye Brendan" in a thick italian accent. So friggin nice here.
So far Ive realized a couple of important things about myself, and I need to write about these things.
I make friends very easily, and I can feel connected to someone I just met quite quickly. Like that night in the hostel in Rome with all those peeps in the room, laughing together. And Corinnas friends. Theres no reason why you cant make great friends quickly.
Ive been speaking in Italian almost exclusively here to get by. And at dinner with Corinna and friends. Considering I barely studied the language, Im pretty proud about my ability to pick it up and communicate. Maybe that sounds conceited but I dont care, I dont say stuff like that often.
Ive also realized Im a good traveller. I can find places, stores, and hostels with very little information, and I have a good sense of direction. Feels like I can survive anywhere. And thats a great feeling.
Im feeling really happy and confident these days. I think its important to check back on the things you think youre good at and to acknowledge them. Its easy to beat yourself up about things you cant do, trust me I know.
Headed on the bus to Milan...some amazing times ahead...concerts, parties...whew, Im tried just thinking about it!
Small town Italy, great food and better friends.
Alright friends, its been a while again since my last post. Problem remains the same, so much to do and no time to post! Barely even getting a minute to write in my journal...but that could only mean one thing: That Im keeping track of everything im doing and it will all end up in this blog, so keep checking back. Every city I go to Im doing such fun stuff its blowing my mind.
Im in Berlin right now using this funky german keyboard that swaps the y and the z around cuz its used so much, and I cant figure out where the apostrophe is...so thats why Im not using them FYI.
Ok so back in Italy....
******
On the train to Albano I passed a beautiful lake as the sun was on its way down. Nothing quite like the Italian countryside. I pull into the station and stand alone for a moment, in a suburb which surely no tourists visit. Then I turn to see a girl with long blonde hair running towards me "Brendi Brendi!" she yells. Corinna looks and is exactly the same, just long blonde hair this time instead of a short red bob she had in Paris. I did see her briefly 6 years ago when I rented the car with my friend Kristen, but it still felt like an eternity. She such a caring and cool person, so good to see her again.
We hopped into her beat up old Nissan Micra, with dented panels and a passenger window that was wedged up and couldnt roll down. There are so many beat up cars in Italy that they have a word for them, something like "carccione" I think, which in English isnt quite the same as "piece of shit" because the italian word has a more endearing connotation, and not resentful. We drove to her town of Arricia and down to Lake Nemi where they all hang out in the summertime. Such a beautiful private place, just for the youth of that village. We went back into town to meet her friend who was soon closing up her shop, and we met her friend, a french guy who moved there a few years ago and makes custom rings and jewelry across the way. We had to wait another hour or so so we wandered through the old part of the village as the sun had set and the streets were just lit by the orange incandescence of the old streetlights. Corinna teaches theatre to kids; we went into the old theatre where she teaches sometiems but there was a rehearsal going on so we couldnt go in. We ended up at an old viaduct where she used to hang out too. We stopped and chatted about life back in Paris, and leading up to now. Shes had it rough for jobs, she works 3 right now, and has no job security. After Greece, Italy is in the most trouble as one of the bigger countries in Europe. Hard to get good work and Berlusconi the President is a much hated and corrupt man. I felt really bad for her situation, and it made me really appreciate my job and the things my country has to offer me. She would love to travel and even live somewhere else but its so hard. Im pretty damn lucky.
We went back to the town centre and had a Martini at a cool little bar in an upstairs living room, and they brought out chips and nuts and little pizza breads. So common in Italy to get all that with just drinks. (Wait till I talk about Como...) We then met her friends and went to a little hole in the wall restaurant and had real, regional food. Mussels, seafood pasta, and some bean soup made by the grandma in the kitchen. I got to try a meat plate including slices of the famous Arricia "porchetta" pork. YUM. Later her other friend Alessia joined us. We ate a special biscotti for dessert that you dip in white wine...so weird but delicious. It had like a hard sugar crust on it and it was already made with white wine. Wow. We then went to a little cafe after to grab a coffee and to get some change so I could pay Alessia back for the meal, which after all was only like 15 euros. We were also with an older guy Alessandro at dinner. So he, Corinna, Alessia and myself said goodbye to the others and headed back to the town centre and dropped off Alessandro, and the 3 of us continued back to Rome. So great of her to give me a ride, and she refused to take any money for gas. At that point it was already quite late but we tried to find a cool bar that was still open. Not our luck, we just ended up just kinda wandered around Travestere, a cool neighbourhood with some great bars. Ended up just grabbing a beer and wandered around some more. We just chatted in Italian the whole time, switching a bit to english when I needed to be really specific. But I liked hearing them speak italian :) Then we tried to make it back across Rome to my hostel, and it was pretty hard to do with all the one way streets, combined with the fact that they didnt really have any sense of direction hahaha... oh, classic. Pulled up to my hostel finally and had a long goodbye to both of them, even though I had just met Alessia, I still felt welcomed into friendship. So common in Italy I find. They expect nothing back and give so much. I would encounter this even more in Como and Crema a little later...
I had originally planned to stay a little longer at Corinnas, but because I never stayed with her, I had one extra day, and I made a spontaneous decision: I had never been to Naples. And I wanted to see Pompei. So I bought a ticket the next day and made my way to a hostel I booked last minute on Hostelbookers (great site btw). It was already midday, and I would have less than a day there, but it was worth a shot...
Believe me, Pompei is worth a trip by itself...
Im in Berlin right now using this funky german keyboard that swaps the y and the z around cuz its used so much, and I cant figure out where the apostrophe is...so thats why Im not using them FYI.
Ok so back in Italy....
******
On the train to Albano I passed a beautiful lake as the sun was on its way down. Nothing quite like the Italian countryside. I pull into the station and stand alone for a moment, in a suburb which surely no tourists visit. Then I turn to see a girl with long blonde hair running towards me "Brendi Brendi!" she yells. Corinna looks and is exactly the same, just long blonde hair this time instead of a short red bob she had in Paris. I did see her briefly 6 years ago when I rented the car with my friend Kristen, but it still felt like an eternity. She such a caring and cool person, so good to see her again.
We hopped into her beat up old Nissan Micra, with dented panels and a passenger window that was wedged up and couldnt roll down. There are so many beat up cars in Italy that they have a word for them, something like "carccione" I think, which in English isnt quite the same as "piece of shit" because the italian word has a more endearing connotation, and not resentful. We drove to her town of Arricia and down to Lake Nemi where they all hang out in the summertime. Such a beautiful private place, just for the youth of that village. We went back into town to meet her friend who was soon closing up her shop, and we met her friend, a french guy who moved there a few years ago and makes custom rings and jewelry across the way. We had to wait another hour or so so we wandered through the old part of the village as the sun had set and the streets were just lit by the orange incandescence of the old streetlights. Corinna teaches theatre to kids; we went into the old theatre where she teaches sometiems but there was a rehearsal going on so we couldnt go in. We ended up at an old viaduct where she used to hang out too. We stopped and chatted about life back in Paris, and leading up to now. Shes had it rough for jobs, she works 3 right now, and has no job security. After Greece, Italy is in the most trouble as one of the bigger countries in Europe. Hard to get good work and Berlusconi the President is a much hated and corrupt man. I felt really bad for her situation, and it made me really appreciate my job and the things my country has to offer me. She would love to travel and even live somewhere else but its so hard. Im pretty damn lucky.
We went back to the town centre and had a Martini at a cool little bar in an upstairs living room, and they brought out chips and nuts and little pizza breads. So common in Italy to get all that with just drinks. (Wait till I talk about Como...) We then met her friends and went to a little hole in the wall restaurant and had real, regional food. Mussels, seafood pasta, and some bean soup made by the grandma in the kitchen. I got to try a meat plate including slices of the famous Arricia "porchetta" pork. YUM. Later her other friend Alessia joined us. We ate a special biscotti for dessert that you dip in white wine...so weird but delicious. It had like a hard sugar crust on it and it was already made with white wine. Wow. We then went to a little cafe after to grab a coffee and to get some change so I could pay Alessia back for the meal, which after all was only like 15 euros. We were also with an older guy Alessandro at dinner. So he, Corinna, Alessia and myself said goodbye to the others and headed back to the town centre and dropped off Alessandro, and the 3 of us continued back to Rome. So great of her to give me a ride, and she refused to take any money for gas. At that point it was already quite late but we tried to find a cool bar that was still open. Not our luck, we just ended up just kinda wandered around Travestere, a cool neighbourhood with some great bars. Ended up just grabbing a beer and wandered around some more. We just chatted in Italian the whole time, switching a bit to english when I needed to be really specific. But I liked hearing them speak italian :) Then we tried to make it back across Rome to my hostel, and it was pretty hard to do with all the one way streets, combined with the fact that they didnt really have any sense of direction hahaha... oh, classic. Pulled up to my hostel finally and had a long goodbye to both of them, even though I had just met Alessia, I still felt welcomed into friendship. So common in Italy I find. They expect nothing back and give so much. I would encounter this even more in Como and Crema a little later...
I had originally planned to stay a little longer at Corinnas, but because I never stayed with her, I had one extra day, and I made a spontaneous decision: I had never been to Naples. And I wanted to see Pompei. So I bought a ticket the next day and made my way to a hostel I booked last minute on Hostelbookers (great site btw). It was already midday, and I would have less than a day there, but it was worth a shot...
Believe me, Pompei is worth a trip by itself...
Monday, November 1, 2010
Ancient ruins, bitchy rose vendors, and hostel bar madness...
So I had to get up early for my flight for Rome today, and it didn't help that a new hosteller in the bed right below me started snoring louder than anything I've ever heard in my life. I was eventually wide awake and could hear everyone else rustling too. I could feel their energy sayin"somebody tell im to shutup!!" I tried earplugs but the actual bass note of the snoring was reverberating through my bed. Eventually, I turned on my light, reached down from the bed and poked the jerk. He was some chatty Aussie dude in a midlife crisis or something staying with 20-somethings in a hostel. Some new girl a few bunks over from Austin, Texas warned me that he was chatty and that he snored...nothing I could do though. Witholding my rage, I poked him and said "HEY STEVE." "...Huh? What? Yeah"? He said, startled, mid-snore. "Your snoring is keeping a room of people awake, you have to stop. This can't go on" "Oh, sorry mate, ya it's just that this is my first night's sleep in a long time and blah blah blah..." "Yeah well, you have to stop." " Yeah I reckon I can go downstairs now, you think they'll let me? I'm rested enough..." I sensed that this was a problem that he's dealt with before. "What time is it?" He asked. "It's 430 am."Ya I'll just go down then." "OK..." And with that, he put on his shoes and left the room. Thank the LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS, I can sleep. Victory! I'm glad I dealt with it this way as I was having darker thoughts about dealing with the problem...I've clearly been watching too much Dexter at home...
Headed off to the Metro, dropped off some postcards on the way. Made it to the Airport with plenty of time to spare, though I didn't eat any breakfast, so I spent 7,90 euros on a double "Mugaccino" and some yogurt at the only cafe near the gate. I had 60 euros left to my name as it's been over 2 weeks without the possibility of withdrawing cash from an ATM. Let's hope Italy is different...
***
It's hot in Rome....my bag is ridiculously heavy, why I decided to have a back pack on this trip I have no idea, I lift heavy shit all the time at work and now every day on my vacation I'm carrying my 50 lb backpack. I use wheels to carry shit at work all the time...why did I have to take "backpacking around Europe" so literally...
Found my hostel, Alessandro Palace. Very cool old building. Super nice people at the desk, showed me to my room with SEVEN other beds...uh oh...but it was empty right now. Went to do some laundry...and turns out they do it for me! I had a coupon from the hostel and it only cost me 6 euros and they washed and dried everything for me...awesome. Good start. Next priority, get food. Found a cheap kebab and a beer. So delicious...but I'm predicting many a-kebab to be eaten in the near future for sustenance...like 3,50 plus 2,00 for a beer. Wicked. Then the moment of truth...went to the bank machine, and like the 20+ times I tried to withdraw money in Paris, I put in my code and expected the same message to pop up...then I heard bills flipping...HOLY CRAP! IT WORKED!!! SO friggin relieved...some Aussie man and his son were standing right there and caught the moment and I explained to them...they were laughing as I must have looked so relieved...
Then I had my first experience with an Italian guy. With a my wallet now slightly padded, I sat down at cafe and thought to look through the menu to order some fancy coffee...but I really just wanted a normal one (even though the normal ones in Italy are tiny espressos, FYI), and I tried out my rusty Italian. "Il menu, per favore" Then he suddenly went on about why I needed a menu; imagine this rambling but in italian and really quick with lots of hand gestures :" A menu? Why do you need a menu? It's a cafe! Why don't you just order coffee if you want coffee, look around everyone's drinking coffee, she's drinking tea, they're having a beer, why do you come to a cafe and want to see a menu, this isn't a restaurant...." etc etc...So hilarious. I love how direct he was. I laughed and of course just had a coffee.
So my first night in Rome was awesome. I met this Asian-Aussie girl named Saet (like "say it with flowers) who was in my room. We got there the same day so we decided to hang out together. We decided to take the big red tourist bus tour of Rome to check it out; this may seem really touristy and it is, but it's a great way to see everything at least in a short amount of time, you can hop off anytime and restart the next day even, and you can figure out where you want to go later when you have more time. It was also good we were together because she had a terrible sense of direction. Sorry Saet if you're reading this...actually I can't find her email so I doubt she is reading this...
So far I've ordered food, asked for directions, bought stuff all in Italian. I'm pretty impressed with myself so far, considering it's been 7 years since I've used it. Saet and I went for dinner near our hostel and had pasta and pizza and cheap wine...god I love Italy and Europe for that. We met up with some Americans in our room and went to a bar at another hostel called Yellow Bar; freepour cocktails woo! One of the americans worked for Kleen Kanteen stainless steel bottles and I told him I had one and I loved it so I was his best friend. Pretty chill night with some chatty Americans and Saet.
Headed off to the Metro, dropped off some postcards on the way. Made it to the Airport with plenty of time to spare, though I didn't eat any breakfast, so I spent 7,90 euros on a double "Mugaccino" and some yogurt at the only cafe near the gate. I had 60 euros left to my name as it's been over 2 weeks without the possibility of withdrawing cash from an ATM. Let's hope Italy is different...
***
It's hot in Rome....my bag is ridiculously heavy, why I decided to have a back pack on this trip I have no idea, I lift heavy shit all the time at work and now every day on my vacation I'm carrying my 50 lb backpack. I use wheels to carry shit at work all the time...why did I have to take "backpacking around Europe" so literally...
Found my hostel, Alessandro Palace. Very cool old building. Super nice people at the desk, showed me to my room with SEVEN other beds...uh oh...but it was empty right now. Went to do some laundry...and turns out they do it for me! I had a coupon from the hostel and it only cost me 6 euros and they washed and dried everything for me...awesome. Good start. Next priority, get food. Found a cheap kebab and a beer. So delicious...but I'm predicting many a-kebab to be eaten in the near future for sustenance...like 3,50 plus 2,00 for a beer. Wicked. Then the moment of truth...went to the bank machine, and like the 20+ times I tried to withdraw money in Paris, I put in my code and expected the same message to pop up...then I heard bills flipping...HOLY CRAP! IT WORKED!!! SO friggin relieved...some Aussie man and his son were standing right there and caught the moment and I explained to them...they were laughing as I must have looked so relieved...
Then I had my first experience with an Italian guy. With a my wallet now slightly padded, I sat down at cafe and thought to look through the menu to order some fancy coffee...but I really just wanted a normal one (even though the normal ones in Italy are tiny espressos, FYI), and I tried out my rusty Italian. "Il menu, per favore" Then he suddenly went on about why I needed a menu; imagine this rambling but in italian and really quick with lots of hand gestures :" A menu? Why do you need a menu? It's a cafe! Why don't you just order coffee if you want coffee, look around everyone's drinking coffee, she's drinking tea, they're having a beer, why do you come to a cafe and want to see a menu, this isn't a restaurant...." etc etc...So hilarious. I love how direct he was. I laughed and of course just had a coffee.
So my first night in Rome was awesome. I met this Asian-Aussie girl named Saet (like "say it with flowers) who was in my room. We got there the same day so we decided to hang out together. We decided to take the big red tourist bus tour of Rome to check it out; this may seem really touristy and it is, but it's a great way to see everything at least in a short amount of time, you can hop off anytime and restart the next day even, and you can figure out where you want to go later when you have more time. It was also good we were together because she had a terrible sense of direction. Sorry Saet if you're reading this...actually I can't find her email so I doubt she is reading this...
So far I've ordered food, asked for directions, bought stuff all in Italian. I'm pretty impressed with myself so far, considering it's been 7 years since I've used it. Saet and I went for dinner near our hostel and had pasta and pizza and cheap wine...god I love Italy and Europe for that. We met up with some Americans in our room and went to a bar at another hostel called Yellow Bar; freepour cocktails woo! One of the americans worked for Kleen Kanteen stainless steel bottles and I told him I had one and I loved it so I was his best friend. Pretty chill night with some chatty Americans and Saet.
The next day we got off at St. Peter's Square and hung outside the Vatican, then wandered down to the Spanish Steps. Bought a little gift there, tons of artists like Place des Tertres in Montmartre in Paris. Some sketchy guy started talking to me and shook my hand and I was sure he was trying to distract me from something, so I kept checking my pocket and backpack...paranoid? Maybe. But it happens. At the bottom of the steps was some classic Idian dude with a bunch of roses who tried to give us one. I know their game; they see a guy and a girl together, assume they're romantically involved (could be related), force a rose into her hand and say it's free, then chat the guy up and eventually get money. Well, silly Saet took the damn rose then he started talking to me "where you from?" etc. I said right away "no thanks, forget it." And then he lost his smile and cussed me out in hindi. Hilarious.
We walked down to the famous Trevi Fountain and took some pics. We walked to another major plaza and had some pizza and gelato...mmm...then we tried to catch our bus but just decided to walk to the Forum Ruins after all. Saet was tired so she went back and I went into the forum with just an hour and a half of daylight to spare. Whipped out my 50mm lens and got some neat shots. So cool, the layers of rock and marble excavated over the years. Walked all the way back to the hostel and grabbed a kebab on the way. Went down to the bar to find some friends. Cool little bar, lots of anglophones of course. Met a couple cool Colombian chicks too. Later we went to the Yellow Bar again with the Americans. It was closed from the outside so they started banging on the door as they had been drinking a bit more. I thought it was a lost cause, but someone actually came around and let us in! We got inside and the place was nuts! This is where it got...interesting. Immediately there's a hot girl in her bra dancing behind the bar alternating with the bartenders. Some other really drunk girls stumbling around. It was insane...Felt a little uncomfortable as some of the guys well knew that they were hammered out of their minds as they were "dancing with them". Didn't take long for topless girl to lose the bra and start dancing out on the floor with everyone else...then a little later it didn't take long for her to be on the floor and some friends tending to her condition. I met some cool guy from Surrey though, he was half Puerto Rican or something so he had a bunch of latino buddies. It was a fun but crazy night; I didn´'t stay much longer after and went off to bed.
There was this hilarious overweight Argentian dude named Ezekiel in our room who was at the bar and was dancing with one of those girls, and then got all pissed off when one of the americans "took his girl". It was so funny how angry he got "I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill him in his sleep." He spoke english really well but when he spoke, he kinda yelled and was really intense, so everything he said souded like a threat even if it wasn't one.
I was the first one back in the room but they all came in after, most of them drinking. I kinda wanted to sleep but we ended up all just talking and laughing most of the night. Ezekiel was really drunk and kept sayind "De floor is movink" And he couldn't say Saet's name so he called her "Sand". Saet would make fun of him and had a hilarious laugh. It was pretty cool; 7 or 8 of us all in the room from all over the world having just met, laughing hysterically. Arty, a nice guy from Daytona Beach said we were the best bunch of hostellers he ever met. Wasn't one bad apple in the bunch.
The next day I got up and went to the Colisseum with the Columbian chicks. I've seen it before but it was really cool to see it again. I got in free with the Spanish guided tour as I had a ticket already from the ruins and just followed them. I headed back to the hostel, and had to switch rooms cuz I hadn't actually booked a hostel, so I paid more for a 4 bed room. Met my 2 American hosteller roommates, and headed to the train station.
I was headed to Albano, then to Ariccia just outside of Rome. The sun was low in the sky and the orange light lit up an ancient aquaduct that ran along side the traintracks...so cool. Looking forward to seeing my old roommate Corinna from Paris. The last half of my year there I lived with her, we met at school and pretended to be a couple so we could rent the 1 bedroom plus den apartment in Chinatown in Paris. It came down to that, it's so hard and expensive to find a good apartment there.
Corinna is so great and caring, like a big sister/ fake girlfriend. Can't wait to see her.
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