So in less than a week, I will be heading back to Colorado. While it will be nice to get home, I really don't want to leave Italy. There has been many frustrating times here with work, being around people for nearly 24/7 that I never really hung out with while in Colorado (and one that I had never met before), and not really having anybody to hang out with (outside of said coworkers).
However, I still thoroughly enjoy Italy (or maybe just Europe). I enjoy seeing that the gender roles are a little more blurred. First example is of Italians kiss both cheeks when greeting or saying goodbye to their friends regardless of if their friend is of the same sex or not. The next example is just how people dress. Granted I mostly notice how guys dress, but it is acceptable for guys to wear short shorts or baggy shorts (same goes for swimwear, like i stated earlier in a blog). I believe the fashion or how guys dress is more European though, as in Australia I had noticed the same thing (more or less), and they have a pretty big European influence (correct me if I'm wrong). Anyways, i've digressed. I've enjoyed the food i've eaten here, even though most of it has been from Pranzo Piu which is the place that is near work that i got lunch from at least 80% of the time for lunch. I haven't nearly eaten as much gelato as i should have, but have had enough to fill my desire for it.....well almost, lol.
I am really hoping that after my trip to Nepal/Mt. Everest that my work will send me back here to continue working on the type of testing i've been doing here. Was actually hoping they might send me to Vancouver before my trip to Everest, but it doesn't sound like that is going to happen which makes me a little sad. Oh well though as by the time this year is over i'll have spent about 1/3 of it in a different country :-)
Things that I have missed while being here include (in order more or less):
1. Avery (and other family members)
2. AK (amongst many other friends like BF, BS, CK&KH, KS, LB, and MM to name a few)
3. A clothes dryer
4. Qdoba and Chik-fil-a
5. Mountains/camping
Qdoba and Chik-fil-a I could probably continue living without. Could probably also go camping here if i knew some people that had the gear to do so, so really it's just the top 3 things that i miss. Is it sad that a clothes dryer ranks up there with people???
Well i can't think of much else to write. i know i could probably write about the last 3 weeks or so, but don't really feel like it so i'm not :-P
Ciao tutti
Monday, August 23, 2010
Thursday, August 05, 2010
multi-week update
Well once again i've procrastinated on writing an entry. nothing really exciting has really happened in the last couple of weeks though. i guess last week i did play soccer a couple of times with a co-worker and some of his friends. it was pretty fun. we played 5v5 on artificial turf so it was definitely a fast paced game. other than that nothing really happened during the weekdays.
The past 2 weekends i've gone to Venice. the first time was to make it to Murano and buy some glass, which i definitely did :-P i was glad i was able to prevent myself from buying too many things. i really wanted to buy myself a nice vase or centerpiece, but then i talked myself out of it as i realized i was going to have to carry it with me on the plane. later though, i thought that if i spent a couple hundred dollars on it, what's another 40 or so to just mail it....kinda glad i didn't think of that while i was looking at them, lol. actually the ones i really liked were waaaaaay out of my price-range, but i can always dream :-P Since i did all my shopping and so on the saturday, on sunday i just went to the beach on lido and relaxed in the sun. i ended up meeting a couple of people, the first of which was actually was from hawaii, but has lived in italy for the last 15yrs or so. he then introduced me to his friends, which most of which spoke a little bit of english which was nice as then i was trying to learn some italian from them and they were learning a bit of english from me. this was actually the reason i basically went back last weekend as well. it was a fun group of people to hang out with at the beach and a way to work some on my italian while not feeling insecure while doing so. last weekend i also definitely needed a couple of days of sun and beach as the week had stressed me out.
that then brings us to this week. nothing that exciting has happened this week at all. there really hasn't been much time for anything to happen as i've been working 10hr days this week, which means all of tomorrow is going to be overtime :-) the downside of working 9-8, is that i really haven't had any food at my apartment since friday as the grocery stores close at 8:30 and the last time i was grocery shopping was last monday or so (and i only buy what i can carry, lol). so right now the food i have is some pasta (no sauce, but do have some butter), some slices of salami for sandwiches (but no bread), some mayo, nutella, and some beer (which is left over from when we hosted a bbq a couple weeks ago). once i run out of the nutella and beer, i'm really going to be in trouble, lol.
the other bad thing i guess is that i haven't made it to the gym this week at all for my training for Nepal/Mt. Everest. One week off won't really matter will it?
hmmm....what else???? there is a bit of a rumor that my office here is going to want to bring us back for 3 more months, which i think would be fun. the only problem i see is that i have the Nepal/Everest trip that would be right in the middle of it. So maybe they'll bring me back after my trip and i'll get to spend the holidays in Italy, which would definitely be different (in both a good and bad way). I do know that if they are going to be bringing me back i am most definitely going to get myself some better learning Italian books and CDs. plus i know i can work on my Italian during my Nepal/Everest trip since the one who invited me on the trip basically is fluent, or at least fluent enough in Italian.
Anyways, i should probably head to bed soon. Might wait until my clothes are done in the washer, although i don't think they'll really dry that quickly outside since it's been cloudy/rainy all day. Hopefully this weekend it will be nice.
Oh yeah, this weekend! This weekend i really don't have anything exciting planned. I am going to go to Florence on Saturday though and try to find a nice leather belt, not to mention anything else that jumps out at me, lol. Sunday i think i'll head to the outdoor pool if its nice, or maybe even try to head to a beach that's an hour or 2 away.
Alright, now i'm done. once again hopefully i won't take so long to write my next entry.
ciao tutti
The past 2 weekends i've gone to Venice. the first time was to make it to Murano and buy some glass, which i definitely did :-P i was glad i was able to prevent myself from buying too many things. i really wanted to buy myself a nice vase or centerpiece, but then i talked myself out of it as i realized i was going to have to carry it with me on the plane. later though, i thought that if i spent a couple hundred dollars on it, what's another 40 or so to just mail it....kinda glad i didn't think of that while i was looking at them, lol. actually the ones i really liked were waaaaaay out of my price-range, but i can always dream :-P Since i did all my shopping and so on the saturday, on sunday i just went to the beach on lido and relaxed in the sun. i ended up meeting a couple of people, the first of which was actually was from hawaii, but has lived in italy for the last 15yrs or so. he then introduced me to his friends, which most of which spoke a little bit of english which was nice as then i was trying to learn some italian from them and they were learning a bit of english from me. this was actually the reason i basically went back last weekend as well. it was a fun group of people to hang out with at the beach and a way to work some on my italian while not feeling insecure while doing so. last weekend i also definitely needed a couple of days of sun and beach as the week had stressed me out.
that then brings us to this week. nothing that exciting has happened this week at all. there really hasn't been much time for anything to happen as i've been working 10hr days this week, which means all of tomorrow is going to be overtime :-) the downside of working 9-8, is that i really haven't had any food at my apartment since friday as the grocery stores close at 8:30 and the last time i was grocery shopping was last monday or so (and i only buy what i can carry, lol). so right now the food i have is some pasta (no sauce, but do have some butter), some slices of salami for sandwiches (but no bread), some mayo, nutella, and some beer (which is left over from when we hosted a bbq a couple weeks ago). once i run out of the nutella and beer, i'm really going to be in trouble, lol.
the other bad thing i guess is that i haven't made it to the gym this week at all for my training for Nepal/Mt. Everest. One week off won't really matter will it?
hmmm....what else???? there is a bit of a rumor that my office here is going to want to bring us back for 3 more months, which i think would be fun. the only problem i see is that i have the Nepal/Everest trip that would be right in the middle of it. So maybe they'll bring me back after my trip and i'll get to spend the holidays in Italy, which would definitely be different (in both a good and bad way). I do know that if they are going to be bringing me back i am most definitely going to get myself some better learning Italian books and CDs. plus i know i can work on my Italian during my Nepal/Everest trip since the one who invited me on the trip basically is fluent, or at least fluent enough in Italian.
Anyways, i should probably head to bed soon. Might wait until my clothes are done in the washer, although i don't think they'll really dry that quickly outside since it's been cloudy/rainy all day. Hopefully this weekend it will be nice.
Oh yeah, this weekend! This weekend i really don't have anything exciting planned. I am going to go to Florence on Saturday though and try to find a nice leather belt, not to mention anything else that jumps out at me, lol. Sunday i think i'll head to the outdoor pool if its nice, or maybe even try to head to a beach that's an hour or 2 away.
Alright, now i'm done. once again hopefully i won't take so long to write my next entry.
ciao tutti
Friday, July 23, 2010
Weekend plans
Seems i'm always running about one week (or more) behind in my postings of what's going on. Don't really have anything exciting that's gone on since my last post. Last weekend i had gone back to Modena to get the balsamico that i didn't get the previous weekend. Then the rest of the weekend i just bummed around Bologna. Had gone to the outdoor pool on Sunday, but that was about it.
Work has been going pretty good. The next month is going to be rather interesting as about half the office is going to be gone. Heck starting Monday, my boss here is going to be gone for 2 weeks on his vacation. If only there was a way i could pretend that i'm at work....lol. Nah, i don't think i could ever do that.
This weekend i'm not 100% sure what i'm going to do, but i think i might take a day trip to Venezia just to get some Venetian/Murano glass. Going to try and find a store i bought some glass pendants at 2yrs ago while i was here. Not really sure of the name of the place or really where it was located so i'm not expecting to really find it. I am expecting to find some other unique glass jewelry store in the process, so i don't think i'll really be too disappointed if i don't find the shop i'm looking for.
Options i'm thinking of for Sunday are to then take a day trip to Verona, Florence, the beach, or just stay in Bologna and go to the outdoor pool again. I think i'm leaning more towards the beach....just gotta decide which one i would want to go to.
Right now there is a lightning storm in the distance which is rather pretty to watch from the terrace. it's not really dark enough so the flashes in the clouds are a bit of an orange color. Kinda hoping it makes it's way to Bologna as it would help cool things down a bit. Plus i always enjoy thunderstorms.
A spritz is now one of my favorite drink to have when it's hot out. I know that there's something similar in the states. actually they could be made about the same in the states, i'm not too sure. Anyways, you have a glass with ice in it, fill about 2/3rds of it w/ white wine (not sure if it really matters, but i think fizzy ones are best) then add Aperol (Campari can also be used, but is a bit too bitter for my taste buds) and then an orange slice. if you don't use fizzy wine you can add fizzy water or sprite/7-up to give it a bit of a bubbly look/taste :-P it's just a nice refreshing cold drink to have.
Anyways, that's all i have for now. Will let you know about my adventures this weekend. Ciao
Work has been going pretty good. The next month is going to be rather interesting as about half the office is going to be gone. Heck starting Monday, my boss here is going to be gone for 2 weeks on his vacation. If only there was a way i could pretend that i'm at work....lol. Nah, i don't think i could ever do that.
This weekend i'm not 100% sure what i'm going to do, but i think i might take a day trip to Venezia just to get some Venetian/Murano glass. Going to try and find a store i bought some glass pendants at 2yrs ago while i was here. Not really sure of the name of the place or really where it was located so i'm not expecting to really find it. I am expecting to find some other unique glass jewelry store in the process, so i don't think i'll really be too disappointed if i don't find the shop i'm looking for.
Options i'm thinking of for Sunday are to then take a day trip to Verona, Florence, the beach, or just stay in Bologna and go to the outdoor pool again. I think i'm leaning more towards the beach....just gotta decide which one i would want to go to.
Right now there is a lightning storm in the distance which is rather pretty to watch from the terrace. it's not really dark enough so the flashes in the clouds are a bit of an orange color. Kinda hoping it makes it's way to Bologna as it would help cool things down a bit. Plus i always enjoy thunderstorms.
A spritz is now one of my favorite drink to have when it's hot out. I know that there's something similar in the states. actually they could be made about the same in the states, i'm not too sure. Anyways, you have a glass with ice in it, fill about 2/3rds of it w/ white wine (not sure if it really matters, but i think fizzy ones are best) then add Aperol (Campari can also be used, but is a bit too bitter for my taste buds) and then an orange slice. if you don't use fizzy wine you can add fizzy water or sprite/7-up to give it a bit of a bubbly look/taste :-P it's just a nice refreshing cold drink to have.
Anyways, that's all i have for now. Will let you know about my adventures this weekend. Ciao
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Modena and more
Well I guess I'll start with what I did over the past weekend as my weeks themselves are not very exciting. I have starting going to the gym to do some training to prepare for my trip to Mount Everest in October since I really won't have the altitude advantage from living in Colorado for majority of the time before I leave. Plus the gym is a good way for me to relieve some frustration/stress.
Anyways, this past weekend I went to Modena to meet up with KC again (as her cousins live just outside of Modena) and to get some balsamic vinegar since that is what Modena is popular for. It's a nice town that is slightly under a 30min train ride from Bologna. There are usually trains that head there about every half hour....that is when there isn't a strike going on the day you are wanting to travel. At least i'm assuming that is the reason why the train i wanted to take was over 35min late, and that the next train that was going to Modena ended up being over 10min late as well. So basically I spent more time at the train station waiting for a train to show up that was heading to where i wanted to go than the length of time i spent on the train :-P it was all good tho as i didn't need to get there in a hurry anyways.
I've digressed a bit :-P So didn't do too much Friday night other than just walk around a little to see where some of the things were that i would want to go on Saturday. Ended up finally getting some dinner around 11pm (i think). Just got some pizza and had some wine (2 euros for 1/4 of a litre). I forget what kind of pizza i had....i think it was something unique or different than my typical "salami piccante" but can't really remember. I know i added "olio piccante" (spicy oil, which is olive oil with crushed red peppers in it) to the pizza.
On Saturday KC and I went to the Duomo, which was rather plain, but i think i liked it because it wasn't as extravagant as some of the other duomos throughout Italy (and probably Europe). We also walked through a market area that had everything from wine, to cheese, to meat/fish, to veggies, to a place that actually had beer from Left Hand Brewery for sale (it was the milk stout, or whichever one has the cow on it). We also went to the Galleria Estense for a little. It was alright, but i figured i can manage to do one museum per city :-P
Also on Saturday, i tried several different kinds of balsamic vinegar. The first one i tried was homemade and was a 15yrs old. I ended up buying a bottle of it. Other ones i tried at a couple of other places were a 6yr, 8yr, 10yr, 12yr, and 15yr old balsamico. It tends to be sweeter the younger it is and then starts getting thicker the older it is. Saw a bottle that was 100yrs old which was quite spendy. I need to go back and get a couple different years so i have a variety.
The 2nd to last thing i did on Saturday was go to see Toy Story 3, after not being given very good directions and then finally getting to the theatre only to find out that it didn't open for over an hour and that the times we were given by the concierge weren't for Saturday :-P Anyways, I highly recommend seeing it. I plan on seeing it a 2nd time because it was that good and i want to know what was actually said during the movie since i watched it in Italian :-P There were definitely some very good parts and some rather intense parts. So intense in fact that despite there being many children in the theatre, i don't recall hearing them talk. One thing that was a bit different about seeing a movie here was that when you buy tickets to the movie you have an assigned seat. I'm kinda curious if the computer sales what are considered the "best" seats first or how it works exactly.
hmmm...the last thing KC and I did Saturday (not counting getting dinner/pizza at midnight) was seeing the finale of the Festival Internazionale Bande Militari. There were 6 different military/marching bands that played. Two were from Italy, one from Romania, one from Sweden, one from Great Britain, and one from the US (University of Washington to be exact). It was entertaining...altho couldn't figure out why the University of Washington brought some of their cheerleaders. The Romanians also had a few cheerleaders, but in addition they also had people on stilts and a couple of guys that were playing with fire. Not quite sure how the stilts and fire really went with a military band, but it was rather entertaining to watch the people playing with fire.
On Sunday, I just made my way back to Bologna relaxed for a little and then went to the outdoor pool for most of the day. Around 8pm, went out to an Irish pub with several coworkers to watch the World Cup game. It wasn't very crazy in the pub, but it was fun watching the game with a crowd of Italians (or at least mostly Italians).
So that was my weekend. Don't really have anything planned for this weekend. I'm thinking about maybe doing a day trip to Venice, Florence, back to Milan (to catch the sales), or back to Modena (to get some other kinds of balsamico). I may also just relax and stay in Bologna. Whatever I end up doing will end up on here though :-P
Ciao!
Anyways, this past weekend I went to Modena to meet up with KC again (as her cousins live just outside of Modena) and to get some balsamic vinegar since that is what Modena is popular for. It's a nice town that is slightly under a 30min train ride from Bologna. There are usually trains that head there about every half hour....that is when there isn't a strike going on the day you are wanting to travel. At least i'm assuming that is the reason why the train i wanted to take was over 35min late, and that the next train that was going to Modena ended up being over 10min late as well. So basically I spent more time at the train station waiting for a train to show up that was heading to where i wanted to go than the length of time i spent on the train :-P it was all good tho as i didn't need to get there in a hurry anyways.
I've digressed a bit :-P So didn't do too much Friday night other than just walk around a little to see where some of the things were that i would want to go on Saturday. Ended up finally getting some dinner around 11pm (i think). Just got some pizza and had some wine (2 euros for 1/4 of a litre). I forget what kind of pizza i had....i think it was something unique or different than my typical "salami piccante" but can't really remember. I know i added "olio piccante" (spicy oil, which is olive oil with crushed red peppers in it) to the pizza.
On Saturday KC and I went to the Duomo, which was rather plain, but i think i liked it because it wasn't as extravagant as some of the other duomos throughout Italy (and probably Europe). We also walked through a market area that had everything from wine, to cheese, to meat/fish, to veggies, to a place that actually had beer from Left Hand Brewery for sale (it was the milk stout, or whichever one has the cow on it). We also went to the Galleria Estense for a little. It was alright, but i figured i can manage to do one museum per city :-P
Also on Saturday, i tried several different kinds of balsamic vinegar. The first one i tried was homemade and was a 15yrs old. I ended up buying a bottle of it. Other ones i tried at a couple of other places were a 6yr, 8yr, 10yr, 12yr, and 15yr old balsamico. It tends to be sweeter the younger it is and then starts getting thicker the older it is. Saw a bottle that was 100yrs old which was quite spendy. I need to go back and get a couple different years so i have a variety.
The 2nd to last thing i did on Saturday was go to see Toy Story 3, after not being given very good directions and then finally getting to the theatre only to find out that it didn't open for over an hour and that the times we were given by the concierge weren't for Saturday :-P Anyways, I highly recommend seeing it. I plan on seeing it a 2nd time because it was that good and i want to know what was actually said during the movie since i watched it in Italian :-P There were definitely some very good parts and some rather intense parts. So intense in fact that despite there being many children in the theatre, i don't recall hearing them talk. One thing that was a bit different about seeing a movie here was that when you buy tickets to the movie you have an assigned seat. I'm kinda curious if the computer sales what are considered the "best" seats first or how it works exactly.
hmmm...the last thing KC and I did Saturday (not counting getting dinner/pizza at midnight) was seeing the finale of the Festival Internazionale Bande Militari. There were 6 different military/marching bands that played. Two were from Italy, one from Romania, one from Sweden, one from Great Britain, and one from the US (University of Washington to be exact). It was entertaining...altho couldn't figure out why the University of Washington brought some of their cheerleaders. The Romanians also had a few cheerleaders, but in addition they also had people on stilts and a couple of guys that were playing with fire. Not quite sure how the stilts and fire really went with a military band, but it was rather entertaining to watch the people playing with fire.
On Sunday, I just made my way back to Bologna relaxed for a little and then went to the outdoor pool for most of the day. Around 8pm, went out to an Irish pub with several coworkers to watch the World Cup game. It wasn't very crazy in the pub, but it was fun watching the game with a crowd of Italians (or at least mostly Italians).
So that was my weekend. Don't really have anything planned for this weekend. I'm thinking about maybe doing a day trip to Venice, Florence, back to Milan (to catch the sales), or back to Modena (to get some other kinds of balsamico). I may also just relax and stay in Bologna. Whatever I end up doing will end up on here though :-P
Ciao!
Monday, July 05, 2010
Siena and THE PALIO!!! :-P
I should probably write a little about what the Palio exactly is. It is a horse race that has been occurring since at least the 1700’s twice a year, the beginning of July and then again in August. The riders still ride without a saddle, and the race is held at Il Campo which I think might be the biggest piazza in Siena, but don’t quote me on that. Those that compete in the race are representing their Contrada (aka neighborhood or specific section of Siena) and the horses are just as important as the riders themselves. In past Palios, a rider-less horse has won the race. **do not take what I’ve written as complete fact as I just summed things up and simplified them to give an overall idea of what the Palio is**
So I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect when I went to Siena this past weekend. I just knew that I was told that since I was in Italy and not that far away from Siena that I shouldn’t miss seeing the Palio if I could help it. The tricky part was that it occurred on a Friday and that in order to actually see it you had to be at Il Campo multiple hours before the race as they close the doors in order to start with the pre-race events. Luckily I was able to work a half day (by working extra hrs last week and even this week to make up the time). Even with just working a half day I was going to be cutting it close…if I made all the bus and train transfers I needed to I would be getting into Siena a little before 5pm, which still left me with getting a bus to the center of the city and figuring out how to get to Il Campo itself. Since the Palio is a big event there were many people wearing bandanas and such to support which Contrada they were supporting, so I just kinda followed the crowd both getting on the bus, off the bus, and then to the Campo itself. I then ran into some American girls and asked them how to get into the piazza as it looked like they more or less knew what they were doing. Turned out one of them had a cousin that was Italian and was directing them on where to go, so I just followed them into the piazza and hung out with them until after the race. I tried to find my friend (who used to be my teacher that I’ll call KC) but gave up after a while as there were too many people. I was able to meet up with her later and spent the rest of the weekend hanging with her and a couple of other people she knew. I’ll also being seeing Modena with KC next weekend, but I’m digressing…
Once inside the piazza I couldn’t believe how different it looked from the pictures I saw of it when it is not the Palio. Bleachers had been set up all around the outside of the piazza and dirt had been put to cover the cobblestone road that the horses were going to be running on. Another interesting fact is that the dirt is the same dirt (adding more dirt when needed) from all the previous Palios. Anyways, I heard someone mention that to sit on the bleachers cost about 250 euros….which if that is true I don’t even want to know how much it cost to be in one of the buildings surrounding the piazza. I was quite glad that being on the inside of the track was free :-) I am also glad to point out that no alcohol was being sold in the area I was. I’m not even sure if it was being sold to those sitting in the bleachers. There was however tables where you could buy water and a few snacks, which definitely came in useful since I was in the piazza probably by 5:30 and the race itself didn’t start until I think after 8 (I stopped watching the clock as it didn’t do much good as I wasn’t going to be going anywhere until after the race got over anyways). If I had gotten there earlier (probably 3 at the latest) I probably could have had a spot right next to the fence, but the only way I could have been earlier was if I was able to not have to work Friday. Oh well though, I was happy I actually made it into the piazza as I wasn’t expecting to get there in time to even do that.
The pre-race events were entertaining as well, at least from what I could see which was pretty much only the flags with the symbols/colors of the various contradas flying into the air until they got a little closer to where I was standing. The only bad thing about the pre-race events was how long they took, but then again it did just add to the whole experience especially because they were all dressed up like they would have been a couple hundred years ago.
Getting the horses up to the starting line took quite a while as well….they tried 5 or 6 times I believe. There are no starting gates so the riders had to try to keep their horse at the starting line/rope until all the horses were equal. The only way I knew the race began from where I was standing was because all of a sudden there was a lot of screaming/cheering. Everybody then in about perfect sequence was turning clockwise to watch the horses as they raced around the track. The first time they went by (where I could see) each horse still had a rider. The second time there was a rider-less horse who was actually in 3rd place. The third and final time they went by the rider-less horse wasn’t there and not as many horses raced by either. Come to find out, at one of the turns the rider-less horse cut the turn too sharp running into the corner causing it to fall and in turn taking out several other horses in the process. One horse I believe had actually got knocked unconscious after sliding into the barrier and it looked like his rider was going to be hurting pretty bad as well (The next morning in the paper it said all horses were expected to recover and didn’t mention anything about the injuries of any riders, so assuming the rider didn’t get as hurt as it looked he did). Then the race was over with the contrada Selva winning the race. There were some people jumping up and down hugging others with excitement, but even more had their heads down, had taken their bandana/scarf off and were trying to leave the piazza quickly. There were even a few people crying from their contrada not winning.
Surprisingly from the number of people in Il Campo, it was able to empty out pretty quickly and there didn’t seem to be any fights or so breaking out. To me the fact that there was a strong police presence probably helped to keep things in control.
The following day Selva was all dressed up in their colors and outfits and were going from one contrada house to the next to basically rub it in that Selva won and they lost. I wasn’t sure what the words in the songs were but was told that the songs all of the same rhythm and such but the words vary a little. Some of the contradas are “friends” so maybe one version is a nicer version than one they would sing to their rivals or whatnot. I’m not really sure, but just know it was entertaining to watch as everybody also had either a pacifier or a baby bottle. The explanation for the pacifier and bottle were that whenever a contrada wins they are “born anew”.
It also surprised me that the dirt was basically cleared off of the track by Saturday afternoon as well. Other things I did on Saturday including climbing the stairs of the tower that you can look right down onto Il Campo and seeing Saint Catherine’s head. The tower warned that it wasn’t advised to climb it if you had giddiness, which I took a picture of the sign saying to because well, that’s what I do :-P When I say I saw Saint Catherine’s head, I mean exactly that, she was decapitated and her head is displayed for people to see. You can’t take pictures of it, but I did buy a couple of postcards of it :-P
Saturday night had gone out to dinner and had pasta that had a wild boar sauce which was quite tasty. I may try to bring some back to the states and make it. I did buy a jar of the sauce, but I think I will be using it for one of my own dinners while here.
Sunday was pretty uneventful as just got a train back to Bologna, but did notice that sales have started…time to do some shopping :-P lol
Ciao!
So I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect when I went to Siena this past weekend. I just knew that I was told that since I was in Italy and not that far away from Siena that I shouldn’t miss seeing the Palio if I could help it. The tricky part was that it occurred on a Friday and that in order to actually see it you had to be at Il Campo multiple hours before the race as they close the doors in order to start with the pre-race events. Luckily I was able to work a half day (by working extra hrs last week and even this week to make up the time). Even with just working a half day I was going to be cutting it close…if I made all the bus and train transfers I needed to I would be getting into Siena a little before 5pm, which still left me with getting a bus to the center of the city and figuring out how to get to Il Campo itself. Since the Palio is a big event there were many people wearing bandanas and such to support which Contrada they were supporting, so I just kinda followed the crowd both getting on the bus, off the bus, and then to the Campo itself. I then ran into some American girls and asked them how to get into the piazza as it looked like they more or less knew what they were doing. Turned out one of them had a cousin that was Italian and was directing them on where to go, so I just followed them into the piazza and hung out with them until after the race. I tried to find my friend (who used to be my teacher that I’ll call KC) but gave up after a while as there were too many people. I was able to meet up with her later and spent the rest of the weekend hanging with her and a couple of other people she knew. I’ll also being seeing Modena with KC next weekend, but I’m digressing…
Once inside the piazza I couldn’t believe how different it looked from the pictures I saw of it when it is not the Palio. Bleachers had been set up all around the outside of the piazza and dirt had been put to cover the cobblestone road that the horses were going to be running on. Another interesting fact is that the dirt is the same dirt (adding more dirt when needed) from all the previous Palios. Anyways, I heard someone mention that to sit on the bleachers cost about 250 euros….which if that is true I don’t even want to know how much it cost to be in one of the buildings surrounding the piazza. I was quite glad that being on the inside of the track was free :-) I am also glad to point out that no alcohol was being sold in the area I was. I’m not even sure if it was being sold to those sitting in the bleachers. There was however tables where you could buy water and a few snacks, which definitely came in useful since I was in the piazza probably by 5:30 and the race itself didn’t start until I think after 8 (I stopped watching the clock as it didn’t do much good as I wasn’t going to be going anywhere until after the race got over anyways). If I had gotten there earlier (probably 3 at the latest) I probably could have had a spot right next to the fence, but the only way I could have been earlier was if I was able to not have to work Friday. Oh well though, I was happy I actually made it into the piazza as I wasn’t expecting to get there in time to even do that.
The pre-race events were entertaining as well, at least from what I could see which was pretty much only the flags with the symbols/colors of the various contradas flying into the air until they got a little closer to where I was standing. The only bad thing about the pre-race events was how long they took, but then again it did just add to the whole experience especially because they were all dressed up like they would have been a couple hundred years ago.
Getting the horses up to the starting line took quite a while as well….they tried 5 or 6 times I believe. There are no starting gates so the riders had to try to keep their horse at the starting line/rope until all the horses were equal. The only way I knew the race began from where I was standing was because all of a sudden there was a lot of screaming/cheering. Everybody then in about perfect sequence was turning clockwise to watch the horses as they raced around the track. The first time they went by (where I could see) each horse still had a rider. The second time there was a rider-less horse who was actually in 3rd place. The third and final time they went by the rider-less horse wasn’t there and not as many horses raced by either. Come to find out, at one of the turns the rider-less horse cut the turn too sharp running into the corner causing it to fall and in turn taking out several other horses in the process. One horse I believe had actually got knocked unconscious after sliding into the barrier and it looked like his rider was going to be hurting pretty bad as well (The next morning in the paper it said all horses were expected to recover and didn’t mention anything about the injuries of any riders, so assuming the rider didn’t get as hurt as it looked he did). Then the race was over with the contrada Selva winning the race. There were some people jumping up and down hugging others with excitement, but even more had their heads down, had taken their bandana/scarf off and were trying to leave the piazza quickly. There were even a few people crying from their contrada not winning.
Surprisingly from the number of people in Il Campo, it was able to empty out pretty quickly and there didn’t seem to be any fights or so breaking out. To me the fact that there was a strong police presence probably helped to keep things in control.
The following day Selva was all dressed up in their colors and outfits and were going from one contrada house to the next to basically rub it in that Selva won and they lost. I wasn’t sure what the words in the songs were but was told that the songs all of the same rhythm and such but the words vary a little. Some of the contradas are “friends” so maybe one version is a nicer version than one they would sing to their rivals or whatnot. I’m not really sure, but just know it was entertaining to watch as everybody also had either a pacifier or a baby bottle. The explanation for the pacifier and bottle were that whenever a contrada wins they are “born anew”.
It also surprised me that the dirt was basically cleared off of the track by Saturday afternoon as well. Other things I did on Saturday including climbing the stairs of the tower that you can look right down onto Il Campo and seeing Saint Catherine’s head. The tower warned that it wasn’t advised to climb it if you had giddiness, which I took a picture of the sign saying to because well, that’s what I do :-P When I say I saw Saint Catherine’s head, I mean exactly that, she was decapitated and her head is displayed for people to see. You can’t take pictures of it, but I did buy a couple of postcards of it :-P
Saturday night had gone out to dinner and had pasta that had a wild boar sauce which was quite tasty. I may try to bring some back to the states and make it. I did buy a jar of the sauce, but I think I will be using it for one of my own dinners while here.
Sunday was pretty uneventful as just got a train back to Bologna, but did notice that sales have started…time to do some shopping :-P lol
Ciao!
Couple week update :-P (i'm slack i know)
I’ve been rather slack on my postings of what I’ve been up to, so sorry about that. Does it really surprise anybody though? (if it does, how well do you really know me? :-P jk). This might be an excuse, but we have yet to get our own internet at the apartment. Starting to wonder if we’ll actually get it before we have to head back to the states…or at least have it for long enough for it to be useful.
So to sum up what I’ve done since my last post:
June 19th: I went to Ferrara for the day and just wondered around the city. It was a quaint town, which supposedly it’s the place to be Wednesday nights for all the university students and such. Not sure if I’ll ever make it there as the last train from Ferrara back to Bologna I think is around 11pm and well the partying doesn’t start until after that. Could always just take the first train back in the morning…but that would make for a very long Thursday.
Anyways, back to talking about Ferrara itself. It was a very bike friendly town as from most of the main streets I was on there was a road, a little median to separate off a bike path and then the sidewalk. Actually most of the cities in Italy seem to be rather bike friendly...at least from my perception, although sometimes it seems a bit chaotic. I think what makes it friendly is that drivers and such are use to seeing cyclist. While in Ferrara the main museum thing I wanted to see (and did see) I don’t remember the name right now and don’t want to look it up, but it was the place that had a room that had the Zodiac signs painted all around the room. Half of them were faded and couldn’t see, but luckily mine was not :-P I did forget to try some of the bread that can only be made in Ferrara :-(
June 26/27th: I went to Milan to do a bit of sightseeing and tried to avoid doing any shopping, which didn’t really work. I did see the Duomo and climbed the stairs to the rooftop of it to get a view of Milan. It was rather amazing. Saw a lady at the top that was heat-exhaustion or something as there were firefighters or paramedics on the roof as well. Felt a little bad for them as it was quite hot and they had most of their gear on.
Near the Duomo was the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, where there was a tradition of spinning on the bulls balls. There are 4 coat of arms or so on the galleria floor, one of which has a bull on it. It is supposedly good luck to spin when you step on the bulls balls. Due to the number of times people have taking a spin, there is now a hole where the bulls balls used to be. I didn't take a spin myself, but had fun watching other people doing it.
I also saw Castle Sforzesco, which was pretty nice. It didn’t have as many things as I thought it would as I thought it was going to have some old armor and such. It might have somewhere, but it was either closed off when I was there or I just couldn’t find it. One exhibit they did have there was about the history of musical instruments (mainly string, but also some wind/brass instruments).
After the castle” I went to the “The Museo della Scienza e della Tecnologia ‘Leonardo da Vinci’”. I mainly went just to see the Da Vinci portion of the museum. He was definitely a smart guy. They didn’t allow/want you to take any pictures though :-( I was going to try to buy a book from it, but the book/souvenir store was closed when I was there (possibly due to it being Sunday, I’m not sure).
After seeing Da Vinci I decided I could go do some more shopping, at least window shopping :-P Really didn’t buy too much as the stores I went into were the very high fashion ones (ie Armani, D&G, etc). I don’t think I had ever felt so cheap or out of place in a store before. It was an entertaining experience at the same time though. After all, I looked at a leather jacket (forget at which place) that cost 4,500 euros….which I think is probably about how much my car is worth right now, lol.
On Sunday (and possibly Saturday, I forget) quite a few of the shops closed for an hour or two in the afternoon, so I went and just relaxed in a big public park. There were quite a few people sun bathing, some playing soccer (in the shade due to the heat), few napping in the shade, and some actually running around the park.
July 2nd-4th: I was in Siena….see next blog entry as this gets a post all to itself :-P
So to sum up what I’ve done since my last post:
June 19th: I went to Ferrara for the day and just wondered around the city. It was a quaint town, which supposedly it’s the place to be Wednesday nights for all the university students and such. Not sure if I’ll ever make it there as the last train from Ferrara back to Bologna I think is around 11pm and well the partying doesn’t start until after that. Could always just take the first train back in the morning…but that would make for a very long Thursday.
Anyways, back to talking about Ferrara itself. It was a very bike friendly town as from most of the main streets I was on there was a road, a little median to separate off a bike path and then the sidewalk. Actually most of the cities in Italy seem to be rather bike friendly...at least from my perception, although sometimes it seems a bit chaotic. I think what makes it friendly is that drivers and such are use to seeing cyclist. While in Ferrara the main museum thing I wanted to see (and did see) I don’t remember the name right now and don’t want to look it up, but it was the place that had a room that had the Zodiac signs painted all around the room. Half of them were faded and couldn’t see, but luckily mine was not :-P I did forget to try some of the bread that can only be made in Ferrara :-(
June 26/27th: I went to Milan to do a bit of sightseeing and tried to avoid doing any shopping, which didn’t really work. I did see the Duomo and climbed the stairs to the rooftop of it to get a view of Milan. It was rather amazing. Saw a lady at the top that was heat-exhaustion or something as there were firefighters or paramedics on the roof as well. Felt a little bad for them as it was quite hot and they had most of their gear on.
Near the Duomo was the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, where there was a tradition of spinning on the bulls balls. There are 4 coat of arms or so on the galleria floor, one of which has a bull on it. It is supposedly good luck to spin when you step on the bulls balls. Due to the number of times people have taking a spin, there is now a hole where the bulls balls used to be. I didn't take a spin myself, but had fun watching other people doing it.
I also saw Castle Sforzesco, which was pretty nice. It didn’t have as many things as I thought it would as I thought it was going to have some old armor and such. It might have somewhere, but it was either closed off when I was there or I just couldn’t find it. One exhibit they did have there was about the history of musical instruments (mainly string, but also some wind/brass instruments).
After the castle” I went to the “The Museo della Scienza e della Tecnologia ‘Leonardo da Vinci’”. I mainly went just to see the Da Vinci portion of the museum. He was definitely a smart guy. They didn’t allow/want you to take any pictures though :-( I was going to try to buy a book from it, but the book/souvenir store was closed when I was there (possibly due to it being Sunday, I’m not sure).
After seeing Da Vinci I decided I could go do some more shopping, at least window shopping :-P Really didn’t buy too much as the stores I went into were the very high fashion ones (ie Armani, D&G, etc). I don’t think I had ever felt so cheap or out of place in a store before. It was an entertaining experience at the same time though. After all, I looked at a leather jacket (forget at which place) that cost 4,500 euros….which I think is probably about how much my car is worth right now, lol.
On Sunday (and possibly Saturday, I forget) quite a few of the shops closed for an hour or two in the afternoon, so I went and just relaxed in a big public park. There were quite a few people sun bathing, some playing soccer (in the shade due to the heat), few napping in the shade, and some actually running around the park.
July 2nd-4th: I was in Siena….see next blog entry as this gets a post all to itself :-P
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Roundabouts ~ calculus
On the way to work today we were talking about roundabouts as we go through about 6 or so of them on our 15min drive to and from work each day. The conversation went to that most Americans don't really understand them too well especially when you start adding lanes. My mind then made the connection to calculus....many people understand calculus and integrating in one dimension but then once you start adding other dimensions some chaos usually ensues.
I am definitely a math person :-P
I am definitely a math person :-P
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Grrrrr.....
So earlier today asked about when the WiFi was getting set up in our apartment...and the answer was to not expect it any sooner than a couple of weeks...kinda angering but guess can't do to much about it. Altho depending on the time of day, weather, etc. we are able to mooch a weak unsecured WiFi signal from somewhere. A lot of the time to do so we have to be standing on the patio/deck with the laptop sitting on the railing (seriously if u take a chair to sit down there's a pretty good chance you'll lose the signal, lol). guess it's not too bad though as am able to do all the email checking and such from work right now, but that might change once we are given the word to start testing.
hmmm....other news......
i have a cell phone but still have yet to get a SIM card for it as when i got the phone at the electronic store nobody really spoke English and i didn't want to end up with a monthly phone plan. I will be figuring out how to get one rather shortly though, as it's kinda important since our work has no way of contacting us if we aren't at work (ie. no landline phone and no internet). also it would be nice for anybody else i may meet to be able to contact me (not to mention if there's an emergency back in the states).
tomorrow i'm going to go to a gym with one of my italian coworkers and thinking i will join the gym for a couple months or so in order to train for my Nepal/Mt. Everest trek since i'm pretty sure i'll have lost the altitude advantage that i would have had from being in CO and just running every couple of days or so.
Similarly today i need to go find a beach towel or at least a 2nd towel to use if i go to the beach or pool (or the gym which is why it's "similarly" :-P). Currently once a week a cleaning service or so cleans our apartments and leaves a set of towels for each of us (kinda spoiled with that i know).
So yeah...basically still just trying to figure out a weekly routine.
This Saturday i'm planning on heading to Ferrara as it's only about a 30min train ride. Not sure of other weekend plans yet other than Siena the 1st weekend of July.
Anyways, it's about time to head home.
Ciao!
hmmm....other news......
i have a cell phone but still have yet to get a SIM card for it as when i got the phone at the electronic store nobody really spoke English and i didn't want to end up with a monthly phone plan. I will be figuring out how to get one rather shortly though, as it's kinda important since our work has no way of contacting us if we aren't at work (ie. no landline phone and no internet). also it would be nice for anybody else i may meet to be able to contact me (not to mention if there's an emergency back in the states).
tomorrow i'm going to go to a gym with one of my italian coworkers and thinking i will join the gym for a couple months or so in order to train for my Nepal/Mt. Everest trek since i'm pretty sure i'll have lost the altitude advantage that i would have had from being in CO and just running every couple of days or so.
Similarly today i need to go find a beach towel or at least a 2nd towel to use if i go to the beach or pool (or the gym which is why it's "similarly" :-P). Currently once a week a cleaning service or so cleans our apartments and leaves a set of towels for each of us (kinda spoiled with that i know).
So yeah...basically still just trying to figure out a weekly routine.
This Saturday i'm planning on heading to Ferrara as it's only about a 30min train ride. Not sure of other weekend plans yet other than Siena the 1st weekend of July.
Anyways, it's about time to head home.
Ciao!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Weekend in Bologna
So my first weekend in Bologna has come to an end. Not sure if i exactly accomplished a lot by means of figuring out where everything is located, but it was also a rather relaxing weekend.
So on Saturday i woke up and headed out around 11-ish with the plan of getting lost via shopping. I just headed downtown to look through the stores and such that i had seen on various other walking trips downtown but was never fully sure where the shopping area was exactly located. Come to think of it, i don't think i could really tell you were it's at right now either....i could probably show you if we were walking though. The main reason i wanted to find the shops was that i only packed 3 t-shirts (not counting the 4 tanks i brought) so i wanted to find a few more t-shirts. I don't think i had ever felt as intimidated in a store as i did when i was in the Gucci, Armani, etc. stores. It probably had something to do with the only thing i think i could probably afford to get at the store would be a pair of socks :-P i did end up getting 1 t-shirt for 13 euros and decided i would just have to keep looking for stores that might have sales or just wait until i go up to Milan in several weeks (at least that's my plan). I did find the Disney store as well and went in hoping i would find a Stitch that was Italian themed or so, but sadly there wasn't :-( I finally made it back to the apartment after getting slightly lost on my way back to the apartment but i was only 1 main street off of where i really wanted to be.
Saturday night was rather relaxing. We went to a place near the apartment called Old Bridge Pub, which was about the 3rd or 4th time we've gone there and it always seems like the place to be late at night and when i mean late i mean they're open until 4am. We were actually told to go there the 1st time by coworkers as i guess one of the girls (Federica, not sure if i spelled that correctly) that use to work in the admin part of the office here waitress' there. Either way, it's a nice place to just go and have a drink that's close. Plus they also have pretty good food from the couple of times i've gotten food. One of which was actually mozzarella sticks. I knew i ordered something that was mozzarella but was thinking it was just going to be a cheese plate.
Sunday, didn't get going again until about 11 but the only thing i had planned was to head to an outdoor pool that's near by that Federica told us about. Going to the pool was a unique experience. First of all it was a rather big pool as it can have i would guess about 10 olympic sized lanes and then they had a smaller pool which i'm believe was the kiddie pool. The next thing was the things that are typical at the pool (or beach and i believe it's the same for most of Europe). Two of the things include the swim wear that guys wear (speedos to boardshorts and everything in between) and the fact the the women can be topless. Both of which i actually rather like as i don't see why things always need to be so conservative like they tend to be in the states (i could probably go off on a tangent with that but i won't :-P ). The last thing that was a different experience was that in order to be in the pool you had to be wearing a swim cap (polyester or latex) even if you basically had a shaved head. Luckily they sold them at the place or i wouldn't have been able to go in....well i probably woulda been able to do a quick dip and then sit back on the edge of the pool w/out the lifeguards seeing. Overall the pool was a very enjoyable experience as it was relaxing and quite laid back and i didn't get burnt :-) i do believe i will go back to the pool on weekends that i stay in Bologna.
Sunday evening went for a walk to go to a gelateria that was on the way back from the pool as there was a bit of a line for it. i have to say i think it was about the best gelato i've had on this trip so far. it wasn't necessarily as light and refreshing as the other gelato i've had but their cheesecake della lamponi and fragola (raspberry cheesecake and strawberry) together was simply delightful. Definitely know i'll be heading back to that gelateria, especially to try some of their other more extravagant flavors of which most have chocolate in them :-P i usually try to stay away from chocolate gelato and just go for all the fruity flavors (as they're more refreshing and such), but maybe if i mix a fruit w/ the chocolate it'll balance out.
Now it's back to work and hopefully we will actually start training or something this week. We'll probably be given more things to read over but can't wait to be doing actual hands on testing. Until i do get that work i guess i'll be looking at either planning my next trip or listening to my learning italian cd's especially since i somehow lost my italian phrase book/dictionary within the 1st week of being here :-( lol.
oh yeah, and a quick note on the italians and the world cup. it doesn't seem like they're as soccer crazy as i had thought (at least in Bologna), but also Italy hasn't played yet. When they do it sounds like the pubs and all will be full of people watching it. If the Italy team does well then things will get more crazy, or so say my Italian co-workers.
So on Saturday i woke up and headed out around 11-ish with the plan of getting lost via shopping. I just headed downtown to look through the stores and such that i had seen on various other walking trips downtown but was never fully sure where the shopping area was exactly located. Come to think of it, i don't think i could really tell you were it's at right now either....i could probably show you if we were walking though. The main reason i wanted to find the shops was that i only packed 3 t-shirts (not counting the 4 tanks i brought) so i wanted to find a few more t-shirts. I don't think i had ever felt as intimidated in a store as i did when i was in the Gucci, Armani, etc. stores. It probably had something to do with the only thing i think i could probably afford to get at the store would be a pair of socks :-P i did end up getting 1 t-shirt for 13 euros and decided i would just have to keep looking for stores that might have sales or just wait until i go up to Milan in several weeks (at least that's my plan). I did find the Disney store as well and went in hoping i would find a Stitch that was Italian themed or so, but sadly there wasn't :-( I finally made it back to the apartment after getting slightly lost on my way back to the apartment but i was only 1 main street off of where i really wanted to be.
Saturday night was rather relaxing. We went to a place near the apartment called Old Bridge Pub, which was about the 3rd or 4th time we've gone there and it always seems like the place to be late at night and when i mean late i mean they're open until 4am. We were actually told to go there the 1st time by coworkers as i guess one of the girls (Federica, not sure if i spelled that correctly) that use to work in the admin part of the office here waitress' there. Either way, it's a nice place to just go and have a drink that's close. Plus they also have pretty good food from the couple of times i've gotten food. One of which was actually mozzarella sticks. I knew i ordered something that was mozzarella but was thinking it was just going to be a cheese plate.
Sunday, didn't get going again until about 11 but the only thing i had planned was to head to an outdoor pool that's near by that Federica told us about. Going to the pool was a unique experience. First of all it was a rather big pool as it can have i would guess about 10 olympic sized lanes and then they had a smaller pool which i'm believe was the kiddie pool. The next thing was the things that are typical at the pool (or beach and i believe it's the same for most of Europe). Two of the things include the swim wear that guys wear (speedos to boardshorts and everything in between) and the fact the the women can be topless. Both of which i actually rather like as i don't see why things always need to be so conservative like they tend to be in the states (i could probably go off on a tangent with that but i won't :-P ). The last thing that was a different experience was that in order to be in the pool you had to be wearing a swim cap (polyester or latex) even if you basically had a shaved head. Luckily they sold them at the place or i wouldn't have been able to go in....well i probably woulda been able to do a quick dip and then sit back on the edge of the pool w/out the lifeguards seeing. Overall the pool was a very enjoyable experience as it was relaxing and quite laid back and i didn't get burnt :-) i do believe i will go back to the pool on weekends that i stay in Bologna.
Sunday evening went for a walk to go to a gelateria that was on the way back from the pool as there was a bit of a line for it. i have to say i think it was about the best gelato i've had on this trip so far. it wasn't necessarily as light and refreshing as the other gelato i've had but their cheesecake della lamponi and fragola (raspberry cheesecake and strawberry) together was simply delightful. Definitely know i'll be heading back to that gelateria, especially to try some of their other more extravagant flavors of which most have chocolate in them :-P i usually try to stay away from chocolate gelato and just go for all the fruity flavors (as they're more refreshing and such), but maybe if i mix a fruit w/ the chocolate it'll balance out.
Now it's back to work and hopefully we will actually start training or something this week. We'll probably be given more things to read over but can't wait to be doing actual hands on testing. Until i do get that work i guess i'll be looking at either planning my next trip or listening to my learning italian cd's especially since i somehow lost my italian phrase book/dictionary within the 1st week of being here :-( lol.
oh yeah, and a quick note on the italians and the world cup. it doesn't seem like they're as soccer crazy as i had thought (at least in Bologna), but also Italy hasn't played yet. When they do it sounds like the pubs and all will be full of people watching it. If the Italy team does well then things will get more crazy, or so say my Italian co-workers.
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
1st Tortellini in Bologna
There's a place to eat that is just a block or so away from work that everyone at the office tends to go to everyday for lunch, or at least that's where we've all gone the last 3 days to get food to take back to the office. The menu changes each day though, so its not like i've been eating the same thing for the last 3 days :-P Today I had some tortellini that had some cheese and some green veggie in it (spinach perhaps ???). As expected since tortellini is one of the culinary items Bologna is popular for, it was rather tasty. Probably not as tasty as it will be in a restaurant where things aren't cooked in bulk.
Another thing that is slightly different with lunch is that everyone (more or less) at the office actually eats at the same time in the lunch/break room where the tables are set up so you sit facing everyone. There are only about a dozen people that are at this office to begin so its not too crazy. Although still am clueless as a couple of the conversations that go on since they sometimes talk in Italian...guess i just need to learn it quicker :-P lol.
not really much to update everyone on...still just settling in. going to be heading to a mall after work today (ie in 1hr) and will get the things i don't have but think i should.
did try to find a plaza or a piazza last night that my italian coworkers said is the place to be tuesday nights, but didn't end up finding it. going to go next week with the coworkers that know where its at as they supposedly usually go (except for last night).
this weekend i'm planning on just getting on the bus and getting more or less lost in bologna to try and see where some things are at. basically just want to try and see what streets go where and to just get a bit more oriented while in the city center itself.
so i guess the link to the apartment isn't working right now...or at least it doesn't work when i click on it (well from facebook since this is imported into it). if you want to look at the apartment i was able to just google search "apartment bologna italy via emilia levante" and there was still a result that was titled "Apartment for rent in Bologna - via Emilia Levante - Int. A".
i'll still probably add pictures at some point (most likely to facebook).
but yeah, not much else to report. Ciao!
Another thing that is slightly different with lunch is that everyone (more or less) at the office actually eats at the same time in the lunch/break room where the tables are set up so you sit facing everyone. There are only about a dozen people that are at this office to begin so its not too crazy. Although still am clueless as a couple of the conversations that go on since they sometimes talk in Italian...guess i just need to learn it quicker :-P lol.
not really much to update everyone on...still just settling in. going to be heading to a mall after work today (ie in 1hr) and will get the things i don't have but think i should.
did try to find a plaza or a piazza last night that my italian coworkers said is the place to be tuesday nights, but didn't end up finding it. going to go next week with the coworkers that know where its at as they supposedly usually go (except for last night).
this weekend i'm planning on just getting on the bus and getting more or less lost in bologna to try and see where some things are at. basically just want to try and see what streets go where and to just get a bit more oriented while in the city center itself.
so i guess the link to the apartment isn't working right now...or at least it doesn't work when i click on it (well from facebook since this is imported into it). if you want to look at the apartment i was able to just google search "apartment bologna italy via emilia levante" and there was still a result that was titled "Apartment for rent in Bologna - via Emilia Levante - Int. A".
i'll still probably add pictures at some point (most likely to facebook).
but yeah, not much else to report. Ciao!
Monday, June 07, 2010
Apartment
i actually found the listing for the apartment i'm in:
http://www.halldis.com/search/ad.action?city=bologna&aid=1259&bid=halldis
my rooms the one with the 2 twin beds
http://www.halldis.com/search/ad.action?city=bologna&aid=1259&bid=halldis
my rooms the one with the 2 twin beds
In Italy
So after 3 different flights, and luckily not very long layovers, I have (or probably should be had) made it to Bologna, Italy. Two of the administration/HR personal met us at the airport to help us get to our apartments (which are amazing, read further on for more details :-P) and to rent a car (which i would actually rather not have, but that's a different topic). Somehow during the flights though I got a sore throat/halfway lost my voice (coworker says it kinda sounds like i'm going through puberty again, lol) which doesn't really help out in any way with trying to speak a different language.
Anyways, the apartments are rather nice. I'll be adding pictures of them to either here or facebook eventually. A little bit about the one I'm in though is that it's a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, has a washer (which I think someone said is also a dryer ???), a pretty big living room with a TV, a pretty nice kitchen (hopefully I'll use it :-P), and a patio/deck (I can't think of the right word for a deck or so when you're on the 4th floor of an apartment building) that is almost the same size as the apartment itself. We were joking that we were going to have the entire office over for dinner and drinks, which is quite possible since there are only about a dozen people at this office.
There was suppose to be WiFi at the apartment, but it is to be installed within the next week, so until then we are suppose to have an interent key or so. I'm also going to try and see where the closest internet cafe is. Right now i'm using the work internet, since they don't quite have things ready for us to start working/training. Speaking of which, I'm feeling like I should be doing something productive or relevant to being here....so until next time, Ciao!
oh yeah, i had gelato within 6hrs of landing in Italy :-P
Anyways, the apartments are rather nice. I'll be adding pictures of them to either here or facebook eventually. A little bit about the one I'm in though is that it's a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, has a washer (which I think someone said is also a dryer ???), a pretty big living room with a TV, a pretty nice kitchen (hopefully I'll use it :-P), and a patio/deck (I can't think of the right word for a deck or so when you're on the 4th floor of an apartment building) that is almost the same size as the apartment itself. We were joking that we were going to have the entire office over for dinner and drinks, which is quite possible since there are only about a dozen people at this office.
There was suppose to be WiFi at the apartment, but it is to be installed within the next week, so until then we are suppose to have an interent key or so. I'm also going to try and see where the closest internet cafe is. Right now i'm using the work internet, since they don't quite have things ready for us to start working/training. Speaking of which, I'm feeling like I should be doing something productive or relevant to being here....so until next time, Ciao!
oh yeah, i had gelato within 6hrs of landing in Italy :-P
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