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
Thursday, June 17, 2010
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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