Milano and Public

I ventured up north this past weekend to the small, quaint city of Milan…you may have heard of it before. Milano will always hold a special place in my heart after my unforgettable six month stay in the bustling, urban city. I was lucky to leave work early to catch a train up to Milan. Since I was here, inflation has gotten the best of Trenitalia and my ticket went up from 33 € to 44€ one-way for the Eurostar. What a rip-off. I sucked it up and got excited for a great weekend!

Milano Centale was changed by Mussolini to demonstrate the power and strength of Italy. And while it definitely is a beautiful and huge building, I don’t know how much power you can show when your train almost never arrives on time. Anyway, I pulled in Centale and was greeted by a newly remodelled stazione. When I lived in Milano, the station was under construction the entire time and really just looked old and dirty. Now, you are welcomed by clean walls, new electronic message boards and confusing criss-crossing pathways down to the biglietteria and metro. It is a beautiful improvement.

The beauty of Milan, however, is not in the train station or the incredible Duomo, but I find it really in the food and nightlife (ovvio). The great thing about Milano is that pretty much every bar or club begins its evenings with aperitivo. What a wonderful word that is…you purchase and pay for your tasty drink and are given the key to a buffet (usually warm unless the place isn’t that great) of warm delish food. We ventured all the way downstairs from Tucker’s apartment, literally the place was next door and had some big fruity drinks (literally had huge cornucopias of fruit on top of drinks) and in this case, what can only be described as, Indian meets Italian food. Cioè, cous cous, curry, rice, salad and of course, some pasta for good measure. It was an ok aperitivo, definitely not the best in Milano. The night only got better as we ventured to a discoteca called Gattopardo (apparently the name of a film and that’s all anyone could say about the meaning of the name). The club was gorgeous and used to be an old church (ironic much?); the DJ spun on the alter and the upstairs balcony was another bar…our table was on the ground floor right under the balcony in the picture…you can see the curtain, right next to the bottom bar. It was a great night full of our favourite songs and dancing til 4am…

Another amazing point of Milano is the after discoteca panino cart. The streets near clubs (and not for that matter) are lined with carts full of yummy cold cuts, salsiccia, cotoletta and many many delish treats…always the best way to end your night!

The rest of the weekend was spent catching up with friends, wandering around the streets of Milano and enjoying on of my favourite cities! I headed home Sunday, exhausted from no sleep and dreading work bright and early on Monday. My train ride home was only 26€ since I opted for the (as David says) grindo train that takes almost 5 hours. The thing about Italian trains is that you never know who you will have near you. This time I was lucky enough to experience a crazy, smelly, and presumably homeless non-Italian man next to me for the second half of my trip. I went to the restroom and upon returning to my seat, was met by a man who ignored me the first fifty times I said excuse me that’s my seat. He then got up and I went and sat down and he sat right next to me. I immediately put on my iPod, full blast so I’d have an excuse to ignore him and just stared right out the window. Sure enough, he tried to ask me something over and over and I ignored him, so he turned to the girl across from me and asked about a stop I think and she didn’t know so he asked the girl across the middle (both of them had iPods on as well mind you) and she said yes, it’s coming up…then he didn’t stop “signorina, signorina, signorina” for about 5 minutes and asked the same questions. Finally I asked him to please move and I sat further back…then the train collector man came and while he was checking the ticket for the girl across the pathway, the man snuck behind his back and slipped into the restroom. Man you gotta love public trains….

Speaking of public transportation, I’ve been lucky enough to be taking the bus from Capannori to Lucca train station every morning for work. Since my father won’t even think about me having a motorino or even a bike for some reason, I’ve gotten used to doing my part to save the environment, one bus ride at a time…Anyway, Friday I needed to go into work early so I could leave early for Milan. So, instead of the 8:09 bus, I took the one at 7:12 (who knows about the schedules, ps). Never again will I take that bus. The bus was “full” of bratty pre-teens going to school. Now, I say “full” because they do not move away from the doors. Meaning, I was on of the last to get on the bus and had to SQUEEZE on whilst getting the bus door shut on both myself and my suitcase several times…yet NO ONE moved away from the door. All three doors on the bus were crowded with these kids and yet, the ENTIRE middle of the bus was as empty as a plate of tordelli at any family dinner. And it’s not like the teens were getting off on the next stop, they rode the bus all the way past my stop crowding the doors and the bus driver, while the entire middle of the bus was like the middle of the Mojave desert. I had the bus doors open and close on me about 5 times. The only good thing from that bus ride was that I didn’t have to use my 1.5€ ticket because I couldn’t get to the stamp machine and so I got a free (although miserable) ride….

The kitchen is being put in or partially installed or something today…

We’ll discuss that later!

A dopo….

Caffè and Comune

It has finally happened for me. Less than two weeks into the new job and I was asked to go to coffee with two of the technology developers. They work in the “open space” with me and I always watch as the wander out the door to enjoy a nice caffè normale. This time, much to my delight, I was invited to share in a caffè. Now, I had just had a cappuccino not more than 30 minutes before the invite, but there was no way I was turning it down! We wandered down the closest bar, about 4 doors down and the two guys got normale and I got a macchiato. We engaged in the normal first coffee convo; where I was from, why on earth I would leave wonderful San Francisco for Pisa (the million dollar question I get everyday), etc etc….it was the best macchiato yet!

Yesterday I ventured to the forever dreaded Italian Comune. Luckily I was able to just go to the local one in Capannori and not the one in Pisa or Lucca that would be fifty times crazier. Well, for me, just getting to the Comune was quite the task. I spoke with Giuseppe the night before (was at the Picchi’s for OBAMA-RAMA…holla) and he was like, o yes, it’s super close, you can walk from your house. He told me to pass Pracchia (my favorite bar in the world), pass the post office to the stop sign, turn right and then immediately left and you can’t miss it! He then mentioned something about the building made of vetro (glass), but I didn’t fully catch what he said, and I just assumed that was the Comune (in the glass building). So, I woke up Wednesday morning, after getting to sleep in until 7:45 and headed out to try and get to the Comune by 8:45 (when I assumed they opened) to beat the morning crowds. Well, I made it to the glass building, looked around and realized that the entire building and area around it was deserted. Not like, we open at 9, not 8:45 deserted, but like we never open and/or don’t exist here. I literally walked all around the building, even went in and walked up the stairs to the different floors and thought there was no way it could be here. I called Giuseppe again and he just said maybe it didn’t open until 9:15 and I had to go up the stairs to the second floor and he said that like the stairs are so obvious that I was an idiot if I didn’t see them. Well, the stairs in the glass building were in the middle of the building through a little hallway. Not so obvious to me. So, I waited and waited. No one. It was very odd because usually at Italian government offices, lines start to form thirty minutes before they open because it takes so long. The only things there were two stray dogs, one chasing after the other the entire time. 9:00 came and went, then 9:15 did as well so I called Giuseppe again. This time I told him exactly what I did and how I arrived and where I was, exact latitude and longitude as well….and, he concluded that I was in fact at the wrong spot. “No no noooo,” he said, “you're wrong.” Great. So, turns out I had to walk down further and the Comune was passed the glass building. Sure enough…there it was with all it’s huge flight of stairs glory. I headed up and luckily found a not so huge crowd waiting.

Now the whole reason for me to go to the Comune was to get a carta d’identità. I got my little number and immediately seen. The woman then informed that first I need to register…so, back in line I went. Five minutes later I was called, turns out, my AIRE (a form for Italian living abroad) had not yet been received from the Consulate in SF. Of course not…I only filed it five months ago. So, the woman (who was really nice and wearing the cutest shoes) said it wouldn’t be a problem, we would just register me now. She went over to a cabinet and pulled out a huge paper book…aka a book of extra large paper bound together with a tearing paper cover. She wrote my name and where I was from in it and that was that. Only in Italy would they write the names of stranieri in a giant paper log that's falling apart. She then entered some info into the computer and then told me I had to wait (of course!) to get my carta. Someone was going to come to the apartment to make sure I was really living there. If I wasn’t home, they will talk to neighbors, etc, to confirm it. Once they call me to confirm, I can come back and apply for my carta d’identità.

I’ll keep you posted.
A dopo...

p.s. I'm learning about links, etc from Gregory (thanks Greg!), so sorry if they're random but I don't really have any cool ones yet!

italia - beginning

I have been back in the homeland for exactly 9 days and 16.23 hours and my has it been great!

The smell of the air as I stepped out of Pisa International Airport was refreshing and full of opportunity for the coming year! While tired (we landed around midnight) and body sore from the long flight and trying to help Pops lug around my four jam packed suitcases and four carry-ons, I arrived in Italia full of life and energy. There is just something about the crisp winter air here that opens your eyes and brings a sense of calm to you.

Our first day in Italia was La Befana. A national holiday, so it was nice to not have to start work my first full day here, but it also meant that everything was closed, so we couldn’t do any work for the apartment. The beauty of a holiday in Italy is that it really is a holiday. No work for anyone, not even most stores.

I started work subito dopo on January 7. The office is a loft-like three story building with lots of windows in the front and none in the back! It’s an interesting layout with the main floor structured around two conference rooms in the middle. David and a majority of the communications team are in the back. I have been set-up, after about a week of desk floating, in the “open space”. The open space is a set of about fifteen cubicles in the front of the first floor. It’s nice and bright because the entire wall is windows. Work has been a lot of learning and trying to take in as much information about different projects as possible. Everyone in the office is really nice and some of them are hilarious. There is one guy who is this big guy with glasses, he is very loud and gets mad very easily (from what I’ve heard coming from his office). Well, everyone here calls him Pallone (his real name is Paolo)(sorry but if you don’t know a little Italiano that name won’t be very funny to you). Another guy around the office is called Skywalker. It’s pretty funny working in an office with technology nerds. I look at some computer screens and have no clue what is going on and think that my brother would fit right in! My first travel was my first Friday on the job to Roma. Had to catch a morning train to Rome, sit in on different lectures, went for a quick look at the always wonderful Trevi and then dinner followed by a three and a half train ride back to Pisa. What a day!

I take the bus and train to work everyday. It has been very easy and straight forward everyday except today. Firstly, the buses (see min 1:28 from the link) in Italy never arrive on time and seem to have no schedule whatsoever. My bus is supposed to “arrive” at 810 in front of the Chiesa around the corner from my apartment. On average, I’d say it arrives around 8:20 (I learned this after running out of the apt one morning at 8:10 only to get to the bus stop, sweating, and then waiting for fifteen minutes). Today it didn’t show up until 8:30. Then when we took the turn onto the main street just outside the walls of Lucca, I guess the bus driver cut someone off or something because next thing I know there is a man yelling at our driver, car stopped in the middle of the road. No clue what exactly was said, except the driver ended it with vaffanculo stronzo. Not a good start to a day…

Life in Italia has been wonderful. My Pops hooked up the apartment before he left and took care of pretty much everything for me. Now I’m just sitting tight waiting for my new bed, kitchen and the internet to arrive! It’s going to be amazing….Pops, David and I took a trip to Esselunga to stock up before he left. We went to a new one close to the apt and were stunned by the size of the place. Not to mention you needed sunglasses to work in there - the white brightness could kill someone! We're still confused as to why you can only buy at max a twelve pack of toilet paper and a three pack of paper towels. Someone should introduce Costco...

The beauty of working in Italy is that you can, and are encouraged to take a thousand breaks a day. Whether for your tenth macchiato of the day, for a smoke, or even just a small giro. I think I might have a heart attack from the amount of coffee I’ve taken up (I have no clue how you do it Gaily!) However, this also means that co-workers might not be available at any time you may need them and they might take a little longer than you might want to do something.

Example, setting up my email address. At my previous job, I had an email address the second I walked into the office. Here though, it took ten days. Part of the adventure…learning to work and adjust my working habits to my new environment.

This Saturday – Firenze!

A dopo...