Let the Adventure Begin...

The Mountains

2010-03-14T21:44:00.003+01:00

Often I have days where I think my life must be a dream.
Recently, I had one of those days.

One Friday, I left work early (6pm) to head up to the mountains with 7 friends (well, 4 friends, and the other 3 became friends). We were heading to Madonna del Campiglio to spend a few days in the snow at Giovanni's cabin. Every Italian had the same reaction to my trip: "oooo, con i VIPs a Madonna del Campiglio!!" Needless to say, I was excited

The drive was pretty long and in Italian (aka small) cars, that means a lot. We made a pit stop at the AutoGrill, had a panino and bought some chocolate and continued on. Gio had all of one CD that worked, so you can imagine how much fun that was.

Madonna di Campiglio is absolutely beautiful. The town is set right at the bottom of gorgeous mountains and the scenery is just breathtaking. Saturday we went up to the top of the mountains to the ski lodge where we met the "men" for lunch. I swear to you, the lodge food was out of a nice restaurant at home. Only in Italy. Christina and I, being the people we are, split a huge piece of veggie lasagna (amazing) and AMAZING polenta and wild boar. Omygod, it was heavenly. And being up at the snow covered mountains, I truly felt I was in heaven.

The lodge bumps the latest tunes and really feels like a party. People dance and drink outside, dancing on tabletops in their snowboarding jackets. Then Christina slid down a mini hill. And fell.

Carnevale 2010

2010-02-16T13:06:00.007+01:00

It has happened again. Great night out!

Life's Adjustments

2010-01-24T16:50:00.005+01:00

One of the greatest things about Italia is in fact it's cuisine. While I will argue until I die that you can never say it is the hands down BEST in the world, it is pretty ah-mazing. I can walk down the street from work and pick up a DELICIOUS and hearty portion of homemade gnocchi with a bowl licking tomato sauce or a scrumptous seven layer lasagna. However, this little golden star in this country is also one of my biggest weaknesses.

Christina and I have come to the conclusion that neither of us have any self control, what-so-ever. Especially in the food department. We like delicious food. Period. When we're bored, we don't read a book or go for a run, we want food. When we're sad, we don't starve ourselves, we EAT. When we're poor and have no money, we fork out the ten euro for the best plate of pasta you can find. So we are both pretty mortified at the fact that summer is fastly approaching. By "fastly" I do mean in about five months, HOWEVER, it is never too early to start to worry.

Before we went home, we decided we'd take it down a notch the month before we left so that we could binge eat and wolf down as many American delicacies as our little hands could find. Well, we "dieted" by eating chocolate, pizza, chocolate filled croisants and cappuccinos, pasta and chinese food, all in preparation. FAIL.
We have a new plan these days as we are failing in two main parts of life: MONEY and DIET. So, we figure we'll kill two birds with one stone: no money and no extra pounds, right?!

Our new plan is brilliant and very well thought out. Don't eat. Don't spend money. By don't eat, I of course mean, eat some pasta at home and occasionally go out for Chinese food down the block. O and we definitely can't rule out cappuccinos or brioches in the AM because, Raniero a.k.a. "Principino", our barista, would just miss us way too much and we can't do that to him. Also, any invites to dinner/aperitivo/drinks can't be ignored because that is just RUDE. I mean I don't see how our plan could fail....

I guess we'll see in five months on the beaches.

Milano.

2010-01-17T19:57:00.004+01:00

Chinatown Diaries

2009-10-05T20:02:00.006+02:00

Christina and I live in Chinatown. Fact. My father said, "if you're lost, just follow the Chinese and you'll get home." Fact. We are in the middle of a war? Maybe?

This entire blog post came to be thanks to shoes. I, being obsessed with shoes, nearly died when I found a beautiful pair of leather short, studded, brown heels. They were beautiful and I am currently obsessed with studs. Obsessed. So, I thought it had to be destiny that Christina and I were wandering down a busy street in our neighborhood, full of Chinese owned stores stock full of the same stuff, and she happened to eye the shoes in the window. The rest of the shoes were cheap looking and hideous. "The hidden gem," as she termed it. And could it be? Only 22€ ? Couldn't be... of course they had my size (I have a small foot) and so I asked for the match.

"Non c'e'....in magazzino" ("They're not here....in the warehouse") - replied the sales woman. Christina and I both looked at each other, soooo, are you going to get them? She informed us that it would take her an hour or more or we could come back tomorrow evening. Being that we lived around the corner, I said I'd be back tomorrow evening, please be ready.

Last night I dreamed about the shoes, thought about every possible outfit I could wear them with; thought about different pictures I could take one night out to make sure they got some well deserved camera time as well. Christina and I met up after work (and school for her) and walked home together and stopped off at the store to get the shoes. We get into the store, there are three guy teens gathered outside chatting, a man sitting on the floor in the store talking to the woman I talked to yesterday and some other woman sitting behind the "counter." I look at the woman I spoke with yesterday and she seems SURPRISED to see me. The shoe is on the counter, where I left it yesterday. I go pick up the shoe in hopes it'll spark her memory and get NOTHING. I want this shoe.
"Twenty minutes. In warehouse" - woman
"Twenty minutes???" - me
"Five minutes." - man sitting on the floor
"Ok, well, I want them, please get them....and they're 22?" - me to the man
"Uhhhhh" - man, looking at woman who could CARE LESS about this sale
"No, 45" - woman
We go to the window display and point to the price. "It's wrong." - her reply
So, I put the shoe on the floor and we leave in a huff. How does the store NOT have a SINGLE shoe in the store?? NOT ONE! And the woman is clearly NOT there to sell shoes.

Now, Christina and I have been living in our apartment for about a month now and we apparently have a "warehouse" next to our apartment because EVERY NIGHT I see unmarked vans loading up "merchandise." Now, I've seen the stores and I have never seen anyone actually buy anything. And the stores all only have ONE thing. Like a store that ONLY sells socks, shoes, jeans, or purple knit things. And yet, I don't see people walking around in these things. Now, I didn't want to jump to any conclusions, but after my sales woman was NOT interested in making a sale and didn't even HAVE merchandise to sell, my curiosty got the best of me.

So I consulted Google. Fact.
And what do you know, a ton of information and articles came up. Apparently there was a huge protest in 2007 by the Chinese immigrants in Milan due to some "discrimination." It is referred to as the "Pushcart War." You can decide for yourself.
In other Google results, I came across this video.

I'm not really sure what to think. However, I now know that just because they seem to be working in a store, does NOT mean they have any merchandise. Fact.

Only in Italy

2009-09-26T14:16:00.006+02:00

Well, I have been in Milano now for almost a month! Amazing. Our apartment is about the size of my living room in Lucca, but we'll just say it's "cozy." The location is not the BEST, however, it IS walking distance to one of our favorite clubs - creatively called "The Club."

Anyway, this week was/is FASHION WEEK. Amazing! I love fashion week and being in Milan during fashion week is very fun. Models walk the streets with the rest of us, take the metro and tower over us. It's great. Well, this year, C'N'C Costume National, had their fashion show in Piazza Duomo. They hosted an entire nighted called Milano Loves Fashion, including some performers (The Kills and some others) complete with performances and then finally the fashion show and a DJ after. So, Christina and I met up after work and headed down to Duomo to eat and scope out the scene. There weren't many people, so we casually got dinner, went into a few shops and then headed to get some good spots. There were only about three people in front of us, so we camped out and waited for the show to begin. Well, it began, and the performances were going on and suddenly Christina taps me on the shoulder and I turn around and there is a giant space between us - because there was a woman in a wheelchair pushing people out of the way. Now, at this point, it is crowded - VERY crowded, we could barely move anywhere and this woman is coming through. She stops RIGHT between Christina and I and is trying to get her way to the very front. Mind you, people are NOT happy about this. She was with her son/friend/I have no idea who, but this tall man and she is in her 60s probably, wearing a pleather coat and scarf. TELLING, not asking, people to move out of her way. And so the drama begins: she reaches our area, and there are two people left in front of her - a little asian tourist and this older woman, we'll call her signora. So the asian tourist kinda shuffles to the side as much as he can seeing that he's sandwiches in this huge crowd. So there is only signora left. Mind you, the show is HAPPENING and they are yelling at people to move!!! There is a little elevated grate and then a baracade at the very front of the crowd (before the runway). Her son/friend/tall man lifts her up so the front of her wheelchair is on the grate and then she's like YELLING at this signora to move. Signora does NOT want to move and she is PISSED. So she ignores her. The woman in the wheelchair is MAD and starts RAMMING into signora with her wheelchair!!!! It was unreal. Finally her son/friend/tall man yells at her, "ma sei matta?!?!" (are you crazy?!?!) and makes her stop. At this point, there is ONE person in front of her, this tiny signora, and she had a clear view of the runway. But, she is not satisfied and says, ok, we need to go back then! And her son/friend/tall man is like, are you kidding? We made our way here through this huge crowd, and you want to go back?!?!?! She yells, "la ammazzo!!" Meaning, "I'll kill her" (about signora). So, thank god, the son/friend/tall man is like ok, so they GO BACK through this entire crowd of people, just trying to watch this show!!! It was quite the scene and just insane. (Sidenote: during this whole scene Christina is loving it - saying ONLY IN ITALY, THIS IS AMAZING!, THIS IS CRAZY!) The show itself was really interesting. I think more fashion shows should be done with a public audience. They of course had seating for the actual guests (like the mayor of Milan, some tall blonde woman wearing a giant blank scrunchie who was famous because she was getting interviewed/lots of pics taken) but the other side of the runway was for the public. It was great!

the grand finale

In Sicilian Transit

2009-08-10T20:38:00.002+02:00

I'm on the train heading from Taormina to Palermo and the adventure has already begun. We had a transfer in Messina onto a train coming fron Venice. This is a sleeper train that apparently they usually attach some passenger trains to. Of course, this time they didn't. So we were about 40 trying to get onto a train with no seats. One of the train conductors told us to go to the sleeper car, so we did and we were relaxing when another conductor said we had to leave and go to another car. Now I'm here, between two people, hoping that we're ok in these seats.

Taormina/Giardini Naxos was a gorgeous little beach town. Taormina is up on a hill with an awesome Greek Theater overlooking the water. The water is so clear it feels like you're in a bath and it's ice cold so it's very refreshing from the killer Sicilian sun.

Some fun things I've noted:

-Sicilians don't wear helmets. If they do, they are rarely strapped on, they're just sitting on their heads. This baffles me because once I forgot to strap my helmet and it almost fell off before I made it two feet!

-In Giardini people dress up for no reason, all day. For their passegiata sul lungomare, they're rockin some heels on the cobblestone and short skirts with sparkley tops.... Where are you going????

-Platforms are IN. Even the 12 year olds were sporting wedges, platforms, espidrilles, etc.-Clear bra straps are also back. I first saw them about 5 yrs ago when I was in Italy for the summer. Here they're in full force. They are really quite pointless. The whole purpose is so that you can't see the bra strap, because it's clear + plastic so it.....disappears??? Well, it does quite the opposite

- it sticks out like a sore thumb and looks cheap. I hate them.

-The bagnino (they are the "lifeguards" but really they just lead people to their sun chairs and umbrellas) at this spot in Taormina apparently took a liking to me and we were chatting for awhile - please note: he was about 40 - and then he leaves and comes back with a postcard for me. I've been studying his message for awhile trying to read his writing. I THINK he wrote "(heart) Francesca the beautiful, with love il Mister Loris - the cousin of Rosario" NO IDEA then he gave me another little card with a piazza and time to meet signed Loris #1 .... Needless to say, we totally met up (totally JK mom!)

A dopo....

Catania

2009-08-05T18:02:00.003+02:00

So here I am... Catching some rays with the Isole Ciclopi in front of me. If you had asked me last night if I wanted any more sun or heat in my life, I would have laughed and probably suffocated. Let me explain....

We arrived in Catania yesterday around 5pm, after a slight delay - according to our caption Pisa airport's fault - and went straight to our hostel. We're staying near Piazza Duomo, which they also neglect to mention is near the Pescheria. If I leave Catania not reeking of fish, I will be very happy. Anyway, after a delicious fish dinner we went back towards our place and had a few drinks at the bar downstairs. Finally we decided we were both dead tired, so we ventured up to our room or as I like to call it "the sauna of death." We were both so tired we thought whatever we'll pass out right away. Little did we know there would be no (and by no I mean NO) air. Not even one little breathe of air that the ceiling fan should be creating. Needless to say, both of us didn't sleep until 5am, MAYBE.

Today we slept an hour later than planned, and were awakened by the beautiful Sicilian argument outside in the street. Now I am struggling understanding this dialect, it's quite fun thought. Cristina has a hard time sometimes too, so I don't feel too bad. Apparently the fight was due to one man washing the car windows and accidentally spraying another man... we moved on.

Claudio, our free, local Rick Steve's, suggested a bar for a traditional Sicilian breakfast that was near to where we're staying. After discussing with bartender what to try, we settle on two Iris (Cri got cioccolato and I got crema) and two granite alle mandorle. The Iris is like a deep fried ball of deliciousness that could feed a small African village. It was delicious and made me satisfyingly feel sickly full after. The granita was the most refreshing thing ever.

So now, after about a 20 minute bus ride, we have arrived at Riviera dei Ciclopi and have taken a dip and are now relaxing and probably going to nap. All the "beaches" in Catania are really like porches with steps leading down to the water. It's actually very nice and I kind of enjoy not being covered in sand (for now).

A dopo...

Sicilia

2009-08-03T21:45:00.003+02:00

My bag is packed (hopefully not over 10kg!) and I'm ready to go! Tomorrow I'm heading out for an 8 day trip to Sicily. Having never been south of Naples, I am very excited!!!

Places we will be seeing: Catania, Taormina and Palermo

A dopo....

Girasoli

2009-07-30T09:53:00.005+02:00

Toscana, Italia

Special Visit

2009-05-04T14:32:00.015+02:00

Quite some time has passed since my last update! I was so busy getting into life here, that time just flew past me since March 1! I have been passing my time with work, dancing, aperitivo and hanging out with friends. Some of the best times are passegiate a Lucca, sitting on the walls catching some rays, long dinners with vino and friends and watching movies/shows at home with Vale.

April was an exciting month (and it is always a personal favorite) because I had some very special visitors. The whole family (and Antonio) made it out for 2 weeks of amazing-ness! It was great having everyone here, even if at times I didn’t think we’d survive with 4 people in our little apartment with one bathroom. Daniela and Anthony stayed next to Picchi house at “Casa Pucci”.

Some highlights of their visit:

*A trip to Carrara in the northern part of Tuscany to visit a white marble cava (quarry). We had a great tour guide who showed us the ins and outs of his small family run quarry. It was really incredible. With only three people (him, his father and his uncle) working, they had quite an impressive amount of marble to show. He showed us how they worked the marble in the past and it was quite an interesting story. We learned about how Michelangelo got his marble, where it came from, etc, etc. After the tour, we went up the hills a little more to a tiny tiny town called Colonnata (maybe, I’m not positive!). The area of Carrara is famous for two things – marble and lardo. So, having explored the marble quarry, we headed to lunch in search of some lardo. And yes, we found it! Lunch consisted of antipasti (thinly cut meats including proscuitto, salami and of course lardo! All of our meals were amazing – homemade tordelli, fresh fettuccine ai funghi, and risotto with lardo and some veggies that was a bit spicy. It was all delicious.

Lunch in Colonnata - Risotto con zucchine e lardo (above) and fettucine with mushrooms (below)

White Marble - Carrara

*The following weekend, I had organized a visit to a small vineyard in Chianti that I had visited with mom, dad, Gail and Derek, the summer after I studied abroad. I stayed in contact with the owner, Fernando, and we had been emailing back and forth to organize a big lunch/wine tasting on the Saturday before Easter. I was worried that it might rain that weekend, but we were lucky with a really perfect day. The tiny picturesque town of Montefioralle is in Greve in Chianti, South of Firenze. It is a tiny town set atop a hill with old stone buildings and a wonderful church. The hill is surrounded by vineyards, one of which, is owned by Fernando and his family. So, everyone met at the Picchi house, 24 family and friends, and caravanned to Montefioralle. After a quick stroll around town, we made our way to Fernando’s vineyard where he had prepared a beautiful table outside with an amazing view of the town, vineyards and sweeping Tuscan hillside. We sampled 5 different red wines that wine along with our antipasti misti, homemade lasagna, and a tasty bbq (prepared in his wood oven outside) complete with chicken, ribs, potatoes and of course salad and bread. The meal was finished with a sampling of his own Vin Santo (Gaily’s favorite) and dessert. It was a really beautiful day complete with friends, family, good food, great wine and a gorgeous backdrop. I couldn’t ask for anything more.

*Eduardo, Daniela and Anthony left on birthday (sad, but true), which landed on Pasquetta this year, or the day after Easter. It is a holiday in Italy, so I happily spent my day off with my parents! My friend Tucker was also visiting that weekend. For my birthday dinner, we went to Eugenio’s (my dad’s best friend from growing up and my adopted Uncle) house. He owns a small farm complete with veggies and some grapes for his homemade red wine. He also is the proud owner of pioppini, a type of local mushroom which he prepared into a delish pasta for our primo. He had just gone fishing recently and was excited to prepare some anguille fritte. Anguilla is a type of eel, I have no idea what the name is in English, but they are really small when fried and extremely tasty. So, his friend took up a giant pan and started deep-frying away! It was a great birthday dinner!

1 Marzo 2009

2009-03-01T22:12:00.010+01:00

So, I’ve been here for almost two months. I feel like I have adjusted pretty well too. I have fallen into my weekly routine and learned a few “tricks of the trade” as well. Example: while the bus time is posted at 8.09, that really means 8,25 on a good day. Example: when looking for new running shoes, do not go into a store called “Athlete’s World” because they only have shiny silver Nikes, Converse or Lacoste shoes.

I like to think of myself now as an expert bus rider. No, I could not tell you the bus schedule (that’s in my phone) or even where the bus actually goes (other than my two stops); however, the bus drivers definitely know who I am. I like to think that my evening bus driver is especially fond of me. He’s an older man with a white, Santa Claus beard. He is usually on time (thank god) and always knows to stop for me. What I mean by that is, the evening bus is similar to the buses in Vina del Mar in that you need to wave them down. But, I do not even need to wave anymore because he knows I’m there! I board the bus, “buona sera” and he smiles on back (doesn’t with the other riders!). He also knows my stop and I’ve stopped pressing the button! Although sometimes I confuse him because I get off at the stop before my usual one if I’m going to Angela’s house. If that’s the case, he checks to make sure I wanted that stop and not my usual. He makes me feel like the most important rider on the bus and he doesn’t even know my name! (Nor do I know his)

This week is one of the most amazing and beautiful weeks of the year – CARNEVALE!

I was pumped up for Carnevale months ago when we toured RIO and went to “Samba School” to see one of the practices for the big day! Valentina and I were ready and talking all week about going to La Darsena in Viareggio Friday night. My mission for the entire week: find a costume to wear! I “hunted” and by “hunted” I mean wandered up Corso Italia in Pisa once or twice, until I used my head and went into the one super cheesey and cheap looking store. And let me tell you, it was cheap costume paradise! Everything from furry 8€ coats to flashy belts and pants….they had it all! I bought some gold sequined pants and a furry black vest and was satisfied, even though I had no idea what I would be in them. Friday night came and we headed out to the streets of Viareggio – Valentina, Beatrice (her cousin) and Federico (Bea’s BF). Man was it a beautiful sight! The streets were jam packed of Italians ready to party for Carnevale! It was like a combination of Halloween in Castro and Halloween when you’re five. Surprisingly, pretty much 95% of the people were dressed up, drinking, dancing, eating, having a great time. However, it was there costumes that reminded me of being five again. A majority of the costumes are store bought, furry animal full body suits. There were few homemade, inventive or weird costumes. However, many tigers, dogs, bunnies, etc… All the couples matched as well. That was weird. Boyfriends dressed up as a puppy to match their girl puppy girlfriends or couples dressed as smurfs. Some of the costumes were just mean for the guy. Carnevale, no matter if your single, dating, married, whatever, is still a great time! If you can let loose, dance away in the streets and just have fun, it’ll be an unforgettable experience! The streets are lined with DJs and crowds of people just having a good time! At one point we were dancing next to a priest (we think), with his face painted black (not sure why?), red robe and was pretending to sprinkle holy water on people with a toilet brush. Why? Who knows…

The Crowd!

All I know is I can’t wait until Carnevale next year!!!!

I can't believe it's already March!
A dopo.

Je't aime Ryanair??

2009-02-09T15:24:00.001+01:00

The beauty of cheap flights is also its biggest vice - they’re cheap. For 40€, you can fly roundtrip from Pisa to Paris. How wonderful! What RyanAir neglects to tell you, is that your flight will land an hour and half outside Paris where your only option is one bus company that charges about 26 euro roundtrip to get into the city. Still, you try and look on the bright side, forget the fact that your seat doesn’t recline, you have negative legroom, not even one free drink, and just enjoy your flight followed by another hour and a half bus ride.

I had the pleasure of not only flying with RyanAir to Paris (Beauvais), but of flying RyanAir from Pisa airport. Our flight was of course, in ritardo of a hour and a half. For those of you who haven’t travelled to the beautiful country of Italia, you will not be aware of how Italians have absolutely no sense of forming a line. Once one person saw an airplane they thought would be ours and so stood in line, the entire herd of passengers waiting formed a “line”. I put line in quotations because “line” to Italians means everyone standing around, it doesn’t matter where, just stand near someone, whether you stand to the side of the real line or directly behind someone, it doesn’t matter. So I decide, being the “expert traveller” that I am, to sit comfortably in my seat and wait until the doors are actually open and just slyly make my way to the front of the blob of people and casually blend in with the rest. This of course works like a charm, and while I am not first on the plane, I was not in the back. Upon entering the beautiful RyanAir jet, I discover that none of the first rows are full, everyone had filled into the back of the plane. No idea why, but I took a seat in the second row to make sure I got off the plane first! (Obviously!)

RyanAir thinks they save gas or something if they do not allow passengers to sit in three rows towards the front of the plane. These aren’t the first rows of the plane, but somewhere random towards the front (like rows 3-4-5). Well, this apparently causes confusion to many travellers and requires an announcement every two seconds of how those rows are not available. It is surprising how people will still sit in those rows. I saw one couple being told by the flight attendant DIRECTLY and they STILL tried to sit there. Upon landing in Beauvais, the passengers gave the pilot and crew (and probably plane as well) a traditional round of applause. To be honest, after the worst landing ever (I thought we were going to crash into the runway and then explode), I was both grateful and surprised to be alive as well.

Paris.

What a beautiful city. I have never been one to ooo and aww over Paris. I’m not the typical girl who yearned to stand under the Eiffel Tower with her lover and walk hand-in-hand. I always thought of rude French people and cold. Nevertheless, I had to check it out. At top of my list of things to do in Paris were: Louvre, Eiffel Tower, eat, croissants, crepes, Notre Dame, bread, shop! Not necessary in that order. I am proud to report that we managed to check every item off the list! Thanks to Daniela and some of David’s friends, we were able to check out the best of Paris in two days (probably less than that). I could’ve wandered around the streets of Paris all day, drink a cafè au lait and eat croissants all day long. The shopping was amazing and the city had so much charm. I didn’t even feel like I needed a map because everywhere you wandered to was beautiful!

I returned from Paris with a wonderful surprise awaiting me at home! A new kitchen! After only a few days, the new kitchen is up and running! The dishwasher is still mysteriously not working, but other than that, the rest is up! Valentina and I have shared some meals together already and I made lots of tea and soup this weekend (I was sit in bed). I have attached some pics….

A dopo!

Milano and Public

2009-01-29T15:03:00.001+01:00

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

2009-01-22T10:45:00.001+01:00

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

2009-01-15T15:16:00.000+01:00

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...

foz do iguazu

2008-11-18T23:02:00.001+01:00

Our first full day in Brasil we finally went to Iguazu falls. For those that are still not on gmail, it has been part of my gmail chat name for some time (the wiki page). I was anxiously waiting our arrival. I cannot even begin to try and explain the beauty of these waterfalls. They are the second largest in the world and just leave you speechless from the minute you first see them around the corner.

the group before the jeep tour

We were taken on a jeep first to go a little through the jungle. Our guide told us a little information and interesting facts and then left us at the boat spot. We all boarded, took off our clothes to our bathing suits, put our life vest on, and waited to be stunned. You are on the boat for about 10 mins leading up to the falls and they do some boat tricks, etc, and then you get a little glimpse of the water around a turn and the adrenaline starts going! Billy, the New Yorker with us, said he heard that the negative ions from the water gives you some sort of ¨high¨or something, makes you giggley and happy, something....I think he was right...
We were driven under one of the falls on the boat and then dropped off to just wander up trails and stare at the amazing-ness and beauty from any and all angles. It was truly indescribable. I wish I had better pictures right now to share, but these are the only two that would upload. More will be coming, I promise!
Vale and I on the boat and Valentina, Charley, Ann, Carly and I next to the falls:

After what can only be explained as an amazing experience, we headed back to our hotel and showered and relaxed a bit before heading out to our first Brazilian BBQ. Valentina and I were sitting at the end of the table with Todd and Fawn (an older couple from the US) across from us. Turns out we chose the right seats! We were trying anything and everything they brought to our table. Tastings that night included: delish steak, pancetta wrapped chicken, chicken and turkey testicles, pork, chicken hearts, and some piña grilled with cinnomon on it....just to name a few... Included was an unlimited salad bar, rice, polenta sticks, fried banana, and a table full of desserts. The four of us probably ate more than everyone else combined. Everyone had finished their dessert and were ready to leave while we were still gesturing si to the servers who were masterfully cutting and serving the meats using one hand. It was amazing. I still think I am pretty full from that dinner two days later.....seriously.....

Portugese is extremely difficult for me to try to understand/read/speak. I was ok with my Spanish, getting by just fine...but Portugese is just so difficult!! Man, I want to learn it now...

ja to no brasil

2008-11-16T22:07:00.000+01:00

Our arrival in Brasil was kinda crazy. We arrived on Saturday morning and had been to three different countries in 24 hours (Uruguay, Paraguay and Brasil). We got to our hotel in Puerto Iguazu on the Brasilian side of the border early in the morning. We dropped off our bags in the hotel and headed to Paraguay for a few hours of shopping. It is famous for cheap electronics and just cheap shopping in general. I felt like I was back in Mexico with people all in the streets trying to sell you crap and putting fake Adidas socks and sunglasses in your face. I bought a five dollar watch so that I could lay off asking Valentina or others for the time for a day or so and what I think were legit Pringles, but may have been immitation for a snack. It was too hot and muggy outside to wander and inside was mainly electronics (like Vaio computers for $650).

Valentina and I were over it after about an hour of avoiding tripping on people and ignoring salespeople. So, we sat down and watched everyone and tried to figure out why they were buying huge fleece blankets when it´s about 90 degrees outside and only getting to get hotter. Or why they were wearing some of the interesting and definitely unique outfits...

We headed back to Brasil, crossed the border from Paraguay that was really a carbon copy of the TJ border...aka people walking back with lots of cheap crap, tons of traffic and people selling stuff between the cars.

We came back to Brasil and went for a delish feijoada. It was essentially a buffet of a bunch of different meat stews, beans, rice, salad, etc etc. It was yummy! We also had caipirinhas and Vale and I had caiprifrutas. It was awesome. There were 15 of us at the meal, we each had the buffet, minus one veggie, and at least one drink each. The total bill for 15 people? $160 US. Amazing.
AT THE FEIJOADA:

Our tour leader, Carlos, arranged for us to have a party at one of his friend´s houses on our first night in Brasil. It was such a great party. There is another GAP tour currently in Iguazu, so they were also there. We had a huge BBQ with the best steak and sausage and beers and caipirinhas and music and dancing and good conversation all night. It was great. After, of course, we hit up the local club. It was definitely interesting since it was ¨ladies night¨and they decided to have some random strippers dance for all the women. It was pretty ridiculous and should´ve ended an hour before it began. After though, we danced the night away...

In front of the club:
(Jugo, Felix, Charley, Carly, Me, Vale, Carlos)

I love Brasil.

Uruguay

2008-11-16T21:45:00.000+01:00

We left Buenos Aires way way too soon and headed for Colonia on about an hour boat ride. Colonia is a small town in Uruguay. We arrived with our city high from Buenos Aires and were greeted by a sleepy town with not much to do but stroll and climb the faro or lighthouse. So, of course, that is what we did.

However, we did enjoy a delicious lunch, Valentina and I split a delish steak and a salad and some vino. Whilst we were living in ecstacy (due to the yummy food), an older man sparked up a convo after overhearing our English, even noting a certain California accent. We ended up chatting with him for quite some time about his travels and the US, etc etc, and then he generously treated us to some helado. After we left him we headed to the ¨old town¨which consisted of some stones and an old canon. On our way there a very older man, we´ll call him Old Man River for this entry, randomly started conversation. He was heading down to start fishing and offered to take a picture of us with a tiny little island in the background. He then said ¨las chicas italianas tienen cultios bonitos¨. We then continued on....

The next day we headed to Montevideo, the capital. We went down to the main market by the sea and explored the city. The buildings were beautiful and the city was very clean and the people very nice. The next day we went to Punta del Este. A beach town that is very famous during the summer because there are a ton of parties. A local told me it is like spring break (what he saw on TV at least). Right now, it´s not summer yet, so there were no crazy parties, only hot hot sun. We were there for awhile and everyone definitely got a little rosy, some (mainly the Irish guy) got more red than the others!

The following day we arrived in Salto. Apparently Salto is ¨famous¨for it´s day spa. We were all so excited to get massages, maybe a facial, or manicure, etc etc. What we didn´t expect was that the last time the spa was used was maybe 1980...maybe... My massage consisted of a woman rubbing some oil around on my back and legs. Was it nice? Yes. Worth $15? Maybe. A real massage? No. I think one of the highlights for me was the oil smelled like an oil we get from Hong Kong that we simply refer to as ¨the birdie bottle¨. I think it´s a type of eucalyptus oil...

Uruguay was not the most exciting of places, but I´m thinking of it as a type of ¨layover¨before Brasil. I wish it was more Buenos Aires time, but now I´m into Brasil, land of caipirinhas and feijoada (two things I´m already loving...)

B.A. Dreamin....

2008-11-10T19:46:00.000+01:00

It has been less than 12 hours since I left Buenos Aires and I am already ready to get back there! It is such an awesome city and I could definitely see myself spending a longer amount of time there in the future...

We arrived bright and early Friday morning and were greeted with a near death cab ride experience. I guess in BA they have lanes painted on the streets, but no one cares and just drives wherever they want. I was scared and I have driven with my father and been to Roma and driven with my father in Roma and still thought we could die. Our driver cut across probably six lanes to make a turn and we almost died about 16 times in those ten seconds. But, we arrived safe and sound and in Valentina and my customary fashion, we wasted no time and hit the town right away. We walked and walked and made our way to one of the famous neighborhoods called La Boca. It is famous for it's brightly decorated buildings and tango shows in the streets. It was a really cool spot. We then walked around the busy downtown area and made our way to Ave. Florida, a famous shopping street. We, of course, being the good tourists that we are, contributed to the Argentine economy and bought some good good local stuff!!! Now our problem is where to put all our amazing purchases (but that's just a sidenote)...

In Argentina, people do not eat until 10pm or later. We, of course, needed to wait until all the locals were going to be eating to head out, so we waited and enjoy a glass of wine at our hotel and took our time. Vale, Elizabeth (friend from Scotland) and I finally headed out and went to a wonderful restaurant called Siga La Vaca. One of my friends from SD who was born in BA suggested it and an Argentine man and son we met on our flight over, so we figured it MUST be worth a dinner. This place was packed and it was late! I mean, families, old people, everyone was there to get some grub after 10pm. I loved it!!! Sure enough, we were not disappointed. It's essentially an all-you-can-eat Argentine parrilla with tons of different types of meat waiting for you to choose it right off the grill! Plus, salad bar, french fries, bread and a bottle of wine per person. As you can probably guess, I ate until I could no longer move and it was just heavenly! Then, we forgot about dessert and I had some crepe-like panqueques with dulce de leche (a new obsession) and Valentina had to help me finish them off....
Obnoxiously full, we headed to a bar that my friend from SD suggested because his friend owned it. I had told everyone else in our group about it, so they were all waiting for us there. We had a few drinks and chatted and then headed to another bar close to our hotel. This was all necessary because no one even thinks about going out dancing until 2am. So, we were patiently waiting! Valentina's friend from Italia, Alessio, is in BA learning the tango so he can go back to Firenze and teach it there. So, we met him at the bar and he ended up taking us to this awesome local hot spot to tango at 330am. The spot appeared to be a local community center or theatre and at night, the basement turns into this underground haven for tango dancers. I was just mesmorized by the beauty of the dance and the energy between the couples. I could've watched them all night! We also watched two folklore dances, one was called la chacarera and the other I'm not sure of the name, but the dancers waved napkins in the air (they are really supposed to use their shirts, but this was a family place...). I was in love with la chacarera. It was such a cool dance. I want to watch it/do it everyday now!

We got home pretty late that night, so we slept in Saturday and then hit the streets! We went out to Recoleta, but had to be back at our hotel for a meeting at 6pm. This left us all of about one hour to explore the awesome market and everything around Recoleta. As we were getting ready to head back, we needed to obtain some monedas for our bus ride back to our hotel (the bus is 1 peso and it has to be in coin form. Well, little did we know, finding monedas in Buenos Aires would be like trying to find a goldfish in the Atlantic ocean. And no, I am not exaggerating. We went to probably 30 vendors, restaurants, stores, bars, etc etc asking for change or just ONE peso. Long story short, we never found one and ended up pleading our case to the driver and he let two American girls ride the bus for free that day! We headed back to our hotel and officially met our new tour guide, Carlos.

Carlos is from Sao Paolo, Brazil, but currently lives in Parati. He is going to be amazing, we can already tell...he is excited to take us into Brazil and is extremely fun! That night we went on a walk and then headed to La Estancia for dinner at 1030pm. It was recommended by my dad's friend and Vale and I are all about the recommended spots... and of course, we were not disappointed. I think I have eaten more steak here than I ever have in my whole life (and that says A LOT since steak is def my fav food). Vale and I both got bife de chorizo, medium rare, and we shared papas frittas and an ensalada mixta. We each got a mini bottle of wine as well, I got red and she got white (she doesn't like red) and our meal was just delectable. The restuarant is set up so that you can watch the cooks cutting and cooking all the meat from the windows. I'll definitely post some pics as soon as I can. We had some more panqueques for dessert and then headed back to our hotel. Everyone was at the bar we went to the night before, so we headed there to meet up with them. There were about 8 of us, chatting and having some drinks and then we decided we needed to DANCE! Finally!!!! A girl on our group had been living in BA for 6 months and suggested we try The Roxy because it was ¨famous¨. It was definitely not somewhere I would choose to ever go to again, but it was really fun because there were a lot of us and we all were dancing to the cheesey pop and old songs. We ended up staying there until it closed at 730am, talking to locals and other visitors. We watched the sunrise behind the club and still did not head home...it was awesome! We made it home to get some breakfast and then went upstairs for what could only be called a nap.

Sunday we woke up around 1pm and headed straight out the door! We walked around the Congress building down to the Recoleta again since we didn't get enough time there. We went to the famous cemetary there, saw Evita's tomb amoung others, and then continued our walk. There is this awesome fountain/light/sculpture in the middle of a park there and it's of a tulip. I am obsessed with it. During the day, it's open to the sun and then at night, it closes and is lit up red. I just loved it! We then headed to San Telmo for a recommended market on Sundays.
Now, we had been walking all day, on little sleep from the night before, and of course, my bum thigh kicked in and started to bother me. When we finally reached what we thought was the famous mercado, I must admit, I was pretty pissed. Half the stalls were already closing and they were literally selling old crap. Luckily, we still wandered around and exited through another door. It was then that we were greeted by a street PACKED full of people and vendors and street performers. There were guys playing the drums and tons of people walking around and visiting, dancing in the streets and painting or making things to sell. It was awesome and definitely worth the walk! It actually turned out that San Telmo was super close to our hotel, so we headed back after exploring the scene.

That night I went out with a Buenos Aires local for some drinks and a mini city tour. We hit up another recommended neighborhood, Las Cañitas, for a mojito! I wish I could've spent more time in that neighborhood because there seemed to be a lot of bars and restaurants. We had some very interesting convo about the differences between BA and SF and life in general in Buenos Aires for someone my age.

I'd say Buenos Aires has only two vices: 1. water constantly dripping on you from the air conditioners from 1800 and 2. little kids that do sketchy things. Valentina and I had an encounter one night walking home from dinner on a major avenida...suddenly we were surrounded by what seemed like 50 7-10 year-olds, but may have really been about 10. Still, they really went for Valentina, but I pushed on out of my way because I had no idea what he trying to pull. They were clearly not exactly private-school-kids and Valentina thought she was going down...luckily, she pushed through the pack and we made it out all right. We later learned from a cab driver that Valentina had before our boat to Uruguay that there are thousands of homeless children in Buenos Aires. Most of them boys, and they form small gangs, known as ranchadas, and commit petty thefts and do crazy drugs. You can read more about them here: http://www.edmundriceinternational.org/page26/page27/page27.html
After reading the article, some of our encounters with the children made a lot more sense.

We had a ferry to catch this morning at 9am from Puerto Madero. We were meeting in our hotel lobby at 645 to leave. Valentina and I planned on staying up the whole night, but I got back at 2am and was waiting for her in the hotel and passed out cold on the bed and she came back and didn't want to wake me up. Around 3 I woke up and we chatted for awhile until both of us passed out. I woke this morning at 645 to Vale shaking me and saying, it's 645, we overslept! Luckily, 645 was early and so we didn't miss much, but we did throw all our things in our bags and head straight down, dirty hair and all....

Quickie

2008-11-08T18:27:00.000+01:00

Hellooo from Buenos Aires!

Just wanted to say that a better post will be coming soon, but the internet is from 1901 here and is so ridiculously slow and my computer is the first one ever made so it's giving me a headache from staring at the screen.

BUT, I have survived the longest bus ride in history (I know Davide you beat me, but longest in my history) and am in love with BA.

I'm off to maybe dance some tango in the streets or eat some yummy steak...update coming soon....

Hasta.

Bariloche

2008-11-06T04:48:00.000+01:00

Last night was of course...OBAMARAMA. We rang in the beginning of a new start right....with lots of vino, chips, friends and songs. That's right, we managed to somehow create about over 20 songs in celebration of the man! Hits included: "obama, you so fine, you so fine, you blow our mind, obama, o o obama" "sweeet o-ba-ma - wa wa wa...." "it's fun to stay with the o-b-a-m-a, it's fun to stay with theeee o-b-a-m-aaaaa, he has everything that you're to enjoy...." etc etc. Be on the look out for a cd soon!
We were joined in our celebration by some other Americans from another GAP tour that was passing through Bariloche. They were doing the same journey (Santiago - Rio), but in reverse. In their group were two couples of over 50-year-old Americans and they were drinking and getting into the Obama spirit with the rest of us! It was quite a great night...

We arose the next late morning to winds and drizzle outside. We are in Bariloche, the mountains in Argentina, and so are welcomed by the beauty of the lake and mountains, but also the not so perfect weather. Still, we headed out to explore the town a little more. We made a quick stop to the bottom of the hill from our hostel to a beautiful steel BBQ set up right at the top of a park. A local was grilling up some meat and filling the streets with the most delicious smells. Valentina and I split a churrasco and choripan (sausage sandi) yesterday and today I was looking forward to another juicy churrasco to start my day. Whilst enjoying my sandwich a dog found us. Yet again, we thought he would be disinterested after I finished my meat, however, he followed us up close. Another one of his dog friends joined him and we tried to ditch them many many times, however, were extremely unsuccessful. Our tactics included: running across a busy street, hiding behind cars, and even running into a store. We thought we lost them after a few minutes of "browsing" around the store, until Valentina looked outside and he was WAITING for us. That's right, waiting for us to leave. He could smell us....after waiting a few more minutes, he finally went across the street. The rest of the day we were on doggy look out and watching our back at every corner.

We spent the rest of the day wandering around the town and of course....shopping. We definitely helped the Argentine economy by buying up the stores and making some solid purchases. The only question is how will we manage to fit all our purchases in our tiny backpacks throughout this trip. I guess only time will tell.

A local shop owner was nice enough to share her homemade matè with us. Let's just say that that stuff cleared all our sinuses. Vale didn't care for it, but I kinda enjoyed it. You could tell that stuff carries a lot of nutrients and cures any pain you're in. Awesome.

After a long day of shopping, nothing beats a nice pot of fondue to complete the day. We had some cheese fondue and had a big steak to dip in and french fries. Heavenly. We sure aren't messing with any bad food yet on this trip...

Speaking of food, the chocolate in Bariloche is quite famous apparently. As you probably know, I'm not a big chocolate fan at all. Yet, there is something in this chocolate that makes it melt in your mouth. My favorite is a mini sandwich looking one with Dulce di Leche in it - white or milk chocolate with little waffer slices and then layers of dulce di leche. It truly is awesome. I want to bring about 10 pounds home with me, but a. I don't know how that will last and b. I def don't want to carry the 10 pounds, only eat them.

Tomorrow we're on a 20 hour bus ride to BUENOS AIRES....pray for me.

Hasta.

Llao Llao Hotel, Me, Valentina, Elizabeth:

Into Argentina...

2008-11-05T07:08:00.001+01:00

Our last day in Pucòn was spent exploring the rest of the city. Enjoying the mountains and fresh air. We had a big BBQ with most everyone on our trip. It was a really great night! We had tastey hamburgers and listened to some music outside. We then hit the town expecting to find some fun bars for Halloween, and only got a few beers at a bar. Valentina and I hit up a late night spot to have a yummy churrasco (thinly cut steak on a bun with lots of avocado, mayo, lettuce, tomatoe)

The BBQ:

We took a 7 hour bus ride to Puerto Varas where we spent only two nights. We arrived on the weekend and it was a sleepy mountain town, so most things were closed. We took a day trip the next day to Chiloè island. We got to take a great boat tour with the local fisherman that included great chances to see the penguins! This island is the only place in the world where Humbolt and Magellenic penguins co-exist. They were so cute and we saw tons of different types of birds on the tour. We were lucky with our weather because apparently it rains about 250 days a year in Puerto Varas.

The Boat Ride & Penguins:

We left Puerto Varas on another long bus ride to Bariloche, finally Argentina. This place is just gorgeous. The air is so crisp and the views of the mountains and lakes are truly incredible. I've been hiking a lot and exploring what the city has to offer. It really has been great.

I've also been hanging out and trying to spend more time with the other people on our tour. We really are an ecclectic and diverse group. We are very comfortable with each other and have been doing a lot as a group, or a small group.

Tonight we celebrate Obama's victory with vino, beer and just about anything else in the hostel we could find! There is another GAP tour staying here, so we teamed up with them to celebrate! We enjoyed our first delish Argentinian steak and headed back to drink and party!

We have a 20 hour ride to Buenos Aires this Thursday....not excited about the trip, but SO excited for the destination!

Casualties

2008-11-04T01:46:00.000+01:00

An ongoing list of injuries and illnesses:

*Francesca's elbow
Cause: slippery steps in the hostel made from real wood and sandals with no traction.

*Valentina throwing up
Cause: unknown, but thought to be from a shishkebab purchased from a sketchy street vendor in Valparaiso who tried to kiss her after she bought it and may have sprinkled some sick dust on it as well....she is better today

*Francesca's toe
Cause: steps that blend into the ground at the Baquedano metro stop

*Francesca throwing up
Cause: unknown, but consequences included staying in hotel for 24 hours and watching lots of Dr.90210 and Sunset Tan

*Valentina's butt
Cause: an ¨easy¨ bike ride that turned into a three hour rough ride through rocks and hills

*Francesca's thigh
Cause: originally from a five hour hike up a snowy mountain and falling awkwardly into a snow hole. Then magnified when she tripped over an uneven pavement in Pucòn to twist the thigh opposite

Top 5: Chilean Comida

2008-11-03T06:08:00.000+01:00

Top 5 Food in Chile:

1. Como Agua Para Chocolate
2. Empanadas de mariscos y camerones
3. Avocado, avocado, avocado
4. The shish kebab that made Vale spend all night in the baño
5. Last night in Chile...juicy steak with rice pilaf and salmon cooked with peppers, onions and yummy cheese

VOLCANO

2008-10-30T21:50:00.000+01:00

I climbed a 2,847 m Volcano today.

OUR GROUP AT THE TOP!

It was unreal. As I start to even think about it, I cannot believe that I ever made it down and am now here to tell you about it. We were picked up around 7am from our hostel, I think about 11 of us total went. We are all excited and ready to go. Little did we know...

I think it was the hardest, most amazing, tiring, long, discouraging, inspiring, unreal thing I have ever done in my entire life. Period. Ever. I did not realize how huge this volcano was. Its Volcano Villarrica in Pucon, Chile. We were lead by three guys, Oscar, Joaquin, and Felipe. Oscar was my guide, we were the middle group, I struggled a lot! Man o man did I think I was literally going to DIE. Never make it to the top, let alone back down! He said he climbs the mountain 5-6 times a week. INSANE. He guessed he´d been up around 3000 times. Awesome guy. The peak just seemed to get further and further away.

We were wearing snow gear, heavy boots, big backpacks with tons of goodies inside, aka mouth warmer, shields, lunch, etc. We had pickaxes to assist ourselves, or save us if needed...The hike to the top took about 5 hours, in the snow, with the sun on our faces, with my legs feeling like I would never walk again. But....we made it....

The view at the top was absolutely breathtaking. Even at our stops on our way up, the view was just incredible. You could see for ages and there seemed to be perfect nature in all directions. Our town was a little grouping of buildings in the FAR FAR distance and we were surrounded by snow and silence. It was unlike anything I have ever described before.

I now know what it feels like to win a gold medal in the olympics, because arriving at the top of the Volcano was the most amazing feeling. This volcano is still active, last exploded in 1984. You could smell the activity, like sulfur on a hot day. And you couldnt see the actual lava, but you could take a good look into the hole.

Going back down the summit was probably the most fun part! You literally SLIDE down. On your bum. Literally. Our guides would lead and create a path and you would just GO. Like a bobsled! It was SO MUCH FUN. You really could pick up some speed out there! It was hilarious after struggling so much to get up the damn thing, we just played and sled right on down! Feel the wind in your hair and take off. So much fun.

Tonight, we´re going to sit in the thermal baths under the stars for as long as our bodies will allow. It will be heavenly...although the hike already took care of that.......

Pucón, Chile

2008-10-29T22:11:00.000+01:00

We arrived in Pucón after an 11 hour bus trip. It actually turned out to be not that bad, we left Santiago around 1120pm and arrived around 10am. It´s the cutest town ever, everything is wood and it´s surrounded by lakes, mountains and volcanos! Reminds me of Tahoe. TODO the activities are outdoor. Rafting, biking, you name it....

We did the zip line or canopy on our first day. It was so much fun. We did a total of 11 lines across the river, through the trees, it was beautiful. And such a good adrenaline rush! Waiting to go I think was a little bit scarrier because we stood on these wood, man made platforms, that swayed in the wind. Still, it was great fun! Below is Billy heading down and Vale and I ready to go!

We´re staying in Hostel Willy, a very cute little hostel. Valentina and I got hooked up with our own room and private bath, I think because Daniele loves us perché siamo le ragazze italiane e possiamo parlare con lui! Dunque, last night we grabbed a quick bite and then we went and hung out in our common room. It was great fun! I taught people Spoons, the card game, and we played that most of the night. It was so funny; they all loved it!!!!!

Pucón is awesome.

Some Updates....

2008-10-27T04:52:00.000+01:00

Ninfa, our hostel owner, invited us for a private breakfast at her house about a block up from where the hostel was. We were expecting a mansion because she seemed like the Queen of Viña. We were pleasantly surprised when we were greeted by a gorgeous mural on the steps leading up to an outdoor patio. Her house seemed like the closest thing to a mansion we'd be staying in on this trip...turns out it was her B&B. We got the hostel when a block up the road, people were staying in luxory.

Ninfa was an amazing woman, born in Concepcion, went to high school and studied in Pennsylvania for a year and then graduated from college. She lost her son in a car accident three years ago and then was diagnosed with cancer. She bought the building that was our hostel after her diagnosis to have a place to leave to her children. After chemo, she went to the doctor and he said ´¨you are amazing and perfect¨so she had this house and wasn't dying....so she decided to turn it into a hostel. Ever since she's been taking in travellers. She was an amazing woman full of stories and spoke English perfectly.

We met two German travellers at the B&B and forgot to ask their names, but they offered us a ride to the train station! Of course we hoped right in and headed back to Santiago on the bus. Another bus ride = another nap. Something interesting about the bus rides is that the drivers have what appear to be assistants. They collect the tickets, sit next to the driver, load the bags, and apparently close the blinds if you pass out on your ride. Greg, maybe you could come get that job?

Arriving in Santiago on Sunday, especially Oct 26, which is election day. Todo and I mean todo is closed... Not even like in Italia on a Sunday, everything. We sat in a park for awhile and witnessed a little boy ¨taking care of business¨ on the wall of the play station. That was interesting...he then did it again later, closer to the bench we were sitting on and his dad said ¨no¨when we looked at him with glares of disgust, but still neglected to stop him. Interesting.

Dinner was a total of 2.250 pesos, or about $2 each for some chicken and what we thought were little potatoe balls, but about 95% of them were empty. Still, a yummy dinner.

I got sick and was in our hotel all day Monday. Didn´t leave once. Valentina left to meet Santi, one of her friend´s from home, Sasha´s, cousin. He gave her some pointers and ended up explaining the make-out obsession here. Apparently about three years ago, some girl was caught on a camera phone doing something inapporpriate and it was posted all over YouTube. YouTube is huge here, so it turned into a sort a sexual liberation and so all the teens are into PDA.

We met up with our group. Our leader is an Italian from Roma named Daniele. I think it´s really hard for him because no one else speaks Italian or even Spanish and his English is not so great. So when we arrived, he instantly became our best friend. He chats it up with us any moment he can. He´s been travelling for awhile and will be our leader until Buenos Aires, where he will go back to La Paz and start the tour again!

Most of our group, apart from the two of us, a Scottish girl (DAVIDE, she´s from Glasgow! and amazing) and another American (the only other one), Billy. Everyone else has been travelling for a really long time, including Peru, Inca Trail, Bolivia. Most are English and there´s one Australian and a guy from Brazil. I think I might be the youngest! They are all so interesting and so up for anything. Can´t wait to learn more......

Valparaiso

2008-10-26T02:10:00.000+02:00

P.S. to my previous post. After our yummy dinner at Como Agua Para Chocolate we had our first injury. I was walking down the stairs around 1am and Vale was on the computer. I was wearing my sandals (aka no grip) and the stairs were authentic wood, probably straight off the trees. Well, I was heading to the bathroom and slipped right on my elbow and culo. The entire hostel got quiet and I was down for the count...NOT okay. I think my elbow might be broken in ten different places, BUT the show must go on....

If we have learned two things from being here for all of three days it would be:
1. Teens love to make-out on the streets, benches, in the sand, on the grass, on the bus, anywhere they possibly can
and
2. Stray dogs LOVE me. And probs Vale too. Last night after a few Escudos we headed back to our hostel only to be followed by a huge scary brown stray dog. There are probably stray dogs every ten feet here, but usually they're passed out, looking dead. This one followed us the ENTIRE walk home and I tried to run and it just got excited and followed. Then, this morning, on our way down to the boardwalk, a black one followed...the WHOLE time. Even when petted by some crazy man and his child, he came after us. We even walked on the rocks on the water and he tried to get up there! We had to fake him out to ditch him....I don't think he realized that I hate most dogs, let alone some strange homeless ones with sketchy white spots on them.

We went to Valapariso today and spent the day walking and looking at the colorful houses. The highlight was definitely going to the market and buying a ton of fresh avocados and tomatoes for a tastey dinner of pasta al pomodoro and guacamole with fresh bread. I could eat the avocados here everyday, all day. I have never seen them so perfectly green and fresh....heavenly.

Tomorrow we're heading back to Santiago and maybe heading to Isla Negra first to check out Pablo Neruda's house that looks like a ship...first, breakfast with our hostel owner at her house! I'm sure yummy things are to come...

Hasta luego.

The Arrival!

2008-10-25T23:45:00.000+02:00

We have been in Chile for only three days and it feels like we've been here forever!

We arrived in Santiago Thursday morning around 9am. Our flight was very nice and we got to sit next each other. We pretty much passed out after attempting to watch some horrible movie. We landed in Santiago with open eyes and an eagerness to explore! We were staying in Hotel Luz Azul off the Los Heroes metro stop. Easy to get to and really great staff! We checked in and left right away to start exploring. With little idea where to go, we looked at two lists I had from friends (Aubrey and Melissa) and chose one to start with - Cerro San Lucia. We hike up to the top for a great view of the city (although it's no SF or Firenze skyline). We wandered around the entire city that day, eager to make the most of our first day. We made it to Plaza de Armas, La Vega Central (a giant and amazing fruit market), Mercado Central (a huge fish market where we had lunch and our first taste of Pisco Sour - the national Chilean ¨booze¨ as Melissa explained), and ended at Cerro San Cristobal. Aubrey wrote that we should climb Cerro San Cristobal and that it's a ¨bit of hike, but it's worth it¨. What she forgot to mention was that it was the longest hill of my life. Granted, we're pretty sure we entered the wrong way, we seem to have gone the way the cars are meant to enter, so the street was LONG with little to NO incline. It felt like the road to no where and I wanted to turn around around sweating my face off and thinking that the damn road was just going to wind up to nothing! But, we trekked on and finally made it half way (after what felt like 5 hours in the hot sun) to a lift that took us the rest of the way to the top (thank God because even that ride was like 15 mins). It was a great view of the city however and definitely worked my buns into shape! We took the lift back to the bottom and wandered back to the subway to get back to our hostel. On our way we picked up a nice bottle of vino and enjoyed that for a bit before heading to dinner.

Aubrey also suggested going to a restaurant in the Barrio Bellavista called 'Como Agua Para Chocolate', adding that we would not regret it in all caps, so I figured we HAD to go. Aubrey forgot to mention that it would be the best meal of our entire lives and we would leave feeling like we were carrying ten babies because it would be so amazing that we would not want to stop. Well, it was amazing. We each had a Caipiroska and just the bread and this spread was AWESOME. Then we had like a cheese fondue with baby shrimp in it and chips. Finally, we stuffed our faces with fajitas that came with beef, chicken, and shrimp with rice, beans, best guac EVER, and tortillas. We each tried to shove as much as we could in, but left feeling like we should've shoved more in! It was awesome, and thanks Aubrey for the best meal of our lives!

The next morning we headed to the bus station to go to Viña del Mar. We were excited and hoped to head to the beach immediately. We rocked out to ¨Vamos alla Playa¨ on Vale's ipod to prepare ourselves. The bus ride was about two hours and we passed our for a majority of it. When we woke up, we were welcomed by the FOG and coldness of Viña del Mar. We thought maybe we went back to San Francisco. Bummer. No beach today, just overcast and cold. We arrived in our hostel - Hostel Reloj de los Flores - put our stuff down and went out to explore right away. We walked all along the boardwalk and headed up to the main street to catch the bus to Con Con. The buses here are quite amazing - they work like a taxi in the states, meaning you can wave it down wherever the hell you want on the street! There are 'paradas' or stops, but they mean little to absolutely nothing. The driver flashes its lights at you and you either confirm that you want on or you ignore. O, another thing, the drivers are about 40000 times worse than in Italia, meaning that they don't stop or slow down for ANYTHING, not even an elderly woman carrying her grandchild. Trust me, we are not playing around on the streets!

So, we headed to Con Con after a recommendation from a woman at our hostel. Let's just say that Vale and I were expecting people and were quite surprised to find about two people in restaurants and the rest of the 'town' was left to the pelicans. And even the pelicans were boring and did nothing. O well, Con Con actually turned out to be one of our favorite spots thanks to one thing - EMPANADAS. We had a fresh empanada con mariscos y camarones. Heavenly. I was on the hunt for them after Melissa described them as 'sweet juicy seafood heaven' and Im pretty sure there is no other explanation. We hunted for some de jaiba (crab) but didn't find some until dinner that night.

We headed back to Viña to hit up the casino, expecting a great time there. Little did we know, that you have to pay 3.500 pesos just to ENTER. Rip off, so we stood at the balcony in awe of what must've been millionares playing. They have crazy chips here and the dealer for one game controls a giant paddle. It was amazing and we were very intreged. Also, instead of alchohol at the tables, they all drink coffee and maybe a coke or two...crazy people!

We went to a bar/restaurant in the Hotel Viña del Mar (where the casino is) and some drinks and a plate of mixed empanadas. We sat at the bar and chatted it up with the pizza maker and a bartender, both named Sebastian. They suggested a bar to check out later, but I didn't have my ID, so we went to a local bar and had some Escudo and tried to fit in best we could. We were missing low riding jeans and a mullet. O well, next time.

Benvenuti!

2008-10-22T22:59:00.000+02:00

Hi Everyone,

I've decided to keep a blog instead of constantly sending emails so you can check in whenever you can and keep up with my travels!

Comment away and I hope you enjoy the ride...

xoxo,
Francesca