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...
Thursday, December 30, 2010
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!
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