List #2

So, here is the list of things that I will miss once I leave:

1. Andrea- the big one, and pretty obvious. It will be extremely difficult to leave him and I am not looking forward to it at all, and I really can't even think about it, even though it is in three days now. It will be one of the hardest things ever, but I can just hope that he can come out to visit me this summer, and look forward to the next time we can see each other.

2. Chicco- another big one, as he is an adorable two year old who I have also fallen in love with. I will miss him so much and already do, as I have been seeing him a lot less lately. Thankfully, I will most likely be coming back here in November, so I will be seeing him then, even though he will be almost unrecognizable by then, I'm sure.

3. Free time- I have been very lucky to have a lot of free time during my stay here and when I get back home I will have to start working and no longer be able to do whatever I want all day long. It has been very nice and, I think, well deserved after the hell of nursing school!

4. No responsibilities- I have had almost no responsibility at all this year, no bills, etc. This one is just a part of the fact that I am on my own now. But it's kinda sad.

5. Living alone- ok at this point I am not missing that, but I know that within a month of going back to living with 5 other people and sharing a bathroom with three gross boys, I will be wishing I was back here where I could sit on the toilet seat without sitting on someone else's pee. However, I will hopefully be moving out soon, so that will all be over. (which is sad in itself)

6. Traveling- ok, traveling is also possible in America, but it is just not the same. I will miss being able to go into Venice for lunch, and when I am bored or have a free day, just traveling to another town that I have never seen. Or to have the ability to travel to another country for a weekend. In the past month, I have been to Tuscany, Dublin, Venice (twice), and Lake Garda. I have been very lucky and very much enjoyed having that ability while living here.

7. Convenience-living in the center of a town has its advantages and has been very nice. I wouldn't want to do it always but it was a very cool experience, having everything I need right downstairs. I would go to "do some errands" for the day and be back in fifteen minutes because everything is right there!

8. Andrea's friends- I have gotten to know Andrea's friends pretty well (as well as possible with the language barrier) and although sometimes it is difficult for me, they have always tried to make me feel welcome and I have always had a good time with them. I will miss them too.

9. FOOD- this would probably be at the top of everyone else's list but living here for a year I have gotten pretty used to the food. However, I know that when I return (after about a week of eating everything I had missed) I will start to miss my regular Italian food. And gelato! Luckily, there are a lot of Italian restaurants in America that I'm sure aren't quite the same but they are something. I don't know about gelato though!

10. Language- I know this was on the list yesterday, but it is very nice to hear Italian everyday and I am still determined to become fluent, and I am losing a lot of my learning opportunities by leaving, but I WILL DO IT!!

next.... the things I am not looking forward to when I return.....

List #1

My friend Susan, who is an American that just finished living in Venice for a year, made some top ten lists on her blog before she left and I thought it was a good idea. So, for the next few days I will give you my lists. Today, I am thinking about the things I will NOT miss once I leave.

1. Never being able to get "a breath of fresh air" as every single Italian in this country smokes. I guess on the plus side of that maybe it is something I am getting a little more used to. Although I am not sure it is high up on my list of things I wanted to.

2. My shower- the shower in my apartment (and most hotel rooms I have been in) is incredibly tiny, enough so that it almost resembles a coffin. It is as if it was made just to fit a person, forgetting the fact that in order to shower one actually has to move every now and then!

3. Businesses, including the supermarkets and restaurants, opening and closing whenever the hell they feel like it. Planning is literally impossible here. Wanna spend a day shopping? Better hope its not Monday morning or the other random day of the week that shops decide close. Wanna go to a specific restaurant? Better have a backup plan!

4. HUMIDO! This is a gross concept that might exist in America, but I have never heard of it. This is basically wet trash, meaning anything having to do with food: apple cores, fruit peels, leftovers that you dont want to eat, ANYTHING! It is so disgusting that I think I might throw up right now just thinking about it!

5. Movie rentals- Now I am a big movie person and I am very lucky that I have a movie rental store nearby that has DVD's which have an english option. However, when you rent a movie, you get charged by the hour. So if you go to rent a movie for the night, you have to get up after watching to go back out and return it, or pay more money. The 12 hour rate usually evens out to the Blockbuster rate, but Blockbuster has no late fees and you keep it for at least 2 days!

6. Handwashing dishes- This is not something specifically about Italy and I don't expect to have a dishwasher in my apartment for one person and its really not that difficult, but try getting olive oil out of a pan or plate without a dishwasher. It is impossible!

7. The language barrier- Now I absolutely love the Italian language and it is one of the major reasons for me coming here and I plan to continue with classes once I get home, but I never really realized how difficult it is to live in a country where you cant speak to people. At this point I definitely know enough to get by and get what I need, but it has hit my personality more than anything. I am a very talkative and friendly person, used to starting up conversations with strangers just about anywhere. And it is hard to not be able to do that here.

8. Creepy men- I have actually gotten used to this one, but it is odd how Italians (both men and women) do not care if you see them staring at you. They will even say Hello to you, just in case you didnt notice them.

9. Water- more specifically, paying for it at every meal!! Two or three euros( 3- 4 dollars) for something that would be automatically placed on your table for free in America.

10. EXPENSES!!- Not only is the euro more than the dollar, but everything seems to cost the same amount in euros as it would be in dollars in america (3 dollars in america and it is 3 euros here which is really like 5 dollars). I don't understand!

Lake Garda for Andrea's Birthday

Friday May 23rd was Andrea's 25th birthday and I semi-surprised him with a weekend in Lake Garda (with me, of course) for his present. We left early Friday morning and stayed until Sunday night. It was a perfect weekend, and thing to do right before I leave.

Hotel La Rondine

We got to the hotel in Sirmione around 11 and checked in. The hotel was gorgeous! We had a room with a balcony and a lake view. There was a pool and a restaurant with outside seating overlooking the pool and the lake.

our balcony

Then we headed into town to have lunch and explore. We ate at a little pizzeria, just as it started to rain. So after lunch we ran across the street to an enoteca (wine shop), had some wine and waited for the rain to stop. The rain let up pretty quickly and the sun came back so we walked around the town. There was a public beach with a dock, and then we headed up to the Grotto (ancient Roman ruins on the tip of the peninsula with panoramic views). We saw some beautiful water and tried to go down to see if we could swim, but it was blocked off. So we decided to go back to the hotel and go for a swim in the pool. We had dinner at the hotel and went to bed early.

me at the gardens of the Thermal Spa

great view through the Roman ruins

us in front of where we wanted to go swimming

We decided to spend Saturday sitting out in the sun because it was the day that looked "the best" on the weather forecast. None of the days looked great but Saturday had the least chance of rain. So we spent the morning in the sun by the pool and then had lunch outside at the hotel restaurant, as it was getting a little cloudy.

outside seating at our hotel restaurant

Unfortunately the afternoon and evening were spent in the hotel room because neither one of us was feeling very well, but at least we got our money's worth out of the hotel room! We had dinner again at the hotel restaurant (it was really good!) and got some rest in hopes to recover for Sunday.

view of the sunset from our room

Sunday we both felt fine, so we checked out of the hotel and went back to town to see what kind of excursions we could take. We ended up taking a little boat around the Sirmione Peninsula, which was nice. Then it started to rain a little so we decided to take a driving tour around the entire lake.

castle in Sirmione

peninsula of Sirmione

Our first destination was Gardone, where Gabrielle D'annunzio, one of Andrea's favorite poets, lived. We got to tour the house and the gardens and it was actually really interesting. They even had an english translation! I am glad we got to see it because that was part of the idea of my gift to him.

great views from Vittoriale (D'annunzio's house)

Then we drove up to Riva, which we thought would be cool but it was actually a pretty quiet town, cute of course, but quiet. We took a little kiddy train around the town and then visited a reptile museum, where we saw all these giant snakes.

Andrea on the kiddy train in Riva

Then we drove home, stopping at another small lake along the way. We had a really great weekend together!!

Changing Plans....

Well, on a completely different note, I have mixed emotions in saying that my time here in Italy will be ending a little earlier than expected. I am actually flying home, to America, two weeks from yesterday (Monday, June 2nd).

On one hand I am excited to go home to America. I miss my family a lot and I miss a lot of things about America too, and I do feel like I have lived this experience out to the fullest and am ready to go home. And now I can spend the summer at home with my brothers too, while looking for a nursing job.

On the other hand, I am extremely sad to be leaving. Obviously, there is Andrea, which is the biggest reason. I was going to have to leave him eventually for awhile, but neither one of us was ready for it to come so shortly, and it will absolutley kill me to leave him, and not be able to see him everyday. But hopefully by the time I leave, we will have booked his flight to come visit me in the end of July. And I know that everything will work out. We just have to get through this and handle it a little earlier than expected.

Secondly, it is really hard to leave Chicco. I miss him already and just thinking that I won't be seeing him regularly anymore makes me really sad. I really will miss him.

And now that I have started doing some "last time" doing things, like saying goodbye to my two American friends (one left in the beginning of May and the other one will be on vacation until after I am gone), I have realized that I will miss living here too. It will be sad to leave my year in Italy. My friend made lists right before she left of top tens and I think I will too over the next few days so look for them.

Meanwhile, I have one bag sent home with Yvonne, another one packed to come with Andrea in July, and then one of my two packed already. So everything that is left has to fit in one bag and I think (and hope) that it will be ok without having to spend any more money (after Dublin and everything, I have none).

This weekend Andrea and I are going to Sirmione in Lake Garda for his birthday, and then I have the week to tie up some loose ends before it is all over and I have to say goodbye. It will be very bittersweet because, like I said, I have many mixed emotions about leaving so I'm not really sure what to feel right now.

Yvonne's Visit- Part 2

When we returned on Wednesday, we slept the whole day away and then went out to dinner, because we were exhausted. Thursday, we went to Asolo for the afternoon. And Friday, we went to Venice for the day, which was my last time in Venice for the year, so I did a little shopping too.

streets of Asolo lined with Italian flags for the Alpini (soldiers)

We saw all the major sites, including going to the top of the bell tower in San Marco square, which I had never done before. There were amazing views of the city. Then we had lunch, surprisingly in the same restaurant that I ate lunch with my parents when we were there.

Yvonne and I in the tower

view of Gondolas and people in San Marco square

view of the water from the tower

After lunch, we headed over to Murano for a glass blowing demonstration, which I had already seen twice but it never ceases to amaze me. Then we went back to San Marco and it was getting dark and sprinkling so we headed back to the train station.

Saturday morning, we went to work with Andrea at the wine shop for some wine tasting. We tasted the lines of Prosecco, with his coworker helping us, and then we got to sit in the back tasting (and tasting and tasting, until the bottle was gone) some more wines while we waited for him to be done. It was also my last (and only second) time there so I bought a few bottles that I am hoping I can get into my suitcases without them being overweight.

Yvonne tasting some Prosecco

Saturday night we went out for pizza next to my apartment, and then Yvonne left Sunday morning. I really enjoyed having her here and it was actually perfect timing, in order to make it the best for both me and her.

Dublin- Yvonne

Yvonne came to visit!! She came on a Thursday (May 8th) and stayed here for ten days and we had a blast! Friday we went to Padova, which is about an hour away. We got lost in the morning but eventually made it to all the sites we wanted to see, and even found a September 11th Memorial. It is a big city which I don't love but the places we saw were very nice and we still got home in time to take a little nap before going out at night. Then we just hung around Monebelluna for the night and on Saturday.

Basilica di Sant'Antonio da Padova

Yvonne in front of Prato della Valle, the biggest square in Europe

Then on Sunday we flew to Dublin, Ireland. We were trying to think of somewhere to go away for a long weekend and that was the place we finally decided on. We got in at about lunchtime and checked into our hostel. We had lunch and then I insisted on stopping at Starbucks!! (I was sooo excited!) We had a pretty relaxed time, seeing a couple sites a day. On Sunday we took the bus to Kilmainham Gaol, which is an old prison, and that was really cool to see. On the way back we stopped at a local pub before getting ready for dinner and to go out. That night we went out to Temple Bar, and discovered that Dublin is VERY expensive. My Malibu and pineapple juice (exactly one shot of Malibu) was over 9 euros, which is about 13 dollars! But we met some Americans and some Irishmen that night and had a really great time.

Kilmainham Gaol (old prison, still can't pronounce the name)

Temple Bar

Monday we went to Christ Church, right next to our hostel and to tour the Guiness storehouse, which was huge and has a "gravity bar" at the top with 360 views of the city, where you get a free Guiness. We hung out there for awhile enjoying the views, including that of some people nearby... Then we had lunch and went back to the hostel to rest a little. (Every single meal took us about an hour to find so by the time we were finished we were exhausted!). That night we went out again in the Temple Bar area, but tried some new bars.

Christ Church

Guinness Storehouse

Yvonne and I in front of the awesome fountain in the storehouse

my favorite picture of the whole trip, notice the row of butt cracks....

Tuesday was our last day, and we had a lot left to do. After having breakfast (bagels, which is another thing I have missed over here), we headed out to Dublin Castle, which was ok but a little long for me. You could only see it by guided tour and it got a little long, but it was nice to see and interesting. After that, we went over to Grafton Street, the major shopping street, which ends at St. Stephen's Green, a giant park. We ate lunch and then went to see Trinity College and finally Merion Square. After that we went back to get ready, and get our stuff packed up, to go out for the night.

Dublin Castle

St. Stephen's Green

map showing how big St. Stephen's Green is

Chatham Street (off of Grafton Street)

Yvonne and the cute old man musician in front of Trinity College

We ate in the Temple bar area and then headed to a different part of the city to a bar that was recommended. It was a cool bar, but apparently weekends are its thing because there were about six people in there including us. Needless to say, we ended up back in the Temple Bar area, enjoying live music at Oliver St. Johns.

our taxi driver on the left side of the car!

Oliver St. John's Bar

Our plan was to stay out all night (we had to leave for the airport at 3 30) but we were getting tired so we decided to go home and take a nap (it was about 1 30). So I set my alarm for 3 15 so we could get up and walk to get the aircoach. My alarm went off and we jumped up (exhausted and feeling like that was the shortest nap ever), got our stuff together and walked to the aircoach stop. When we were almost there, Yvonne stopped and looked at a clock in the street. Now we had noticed over the past few days that almost evey clock has been wrong in Dublin, but she looked at me and said, "Wait, I have a question. Is it 2 30 or 3 30?" I am an idiot and my phone (which i set my alarm on) was still set on Italy time (an hour ahead), so in Dublin it was only 2 30, which meant we really had slept for only about 20 minutes! We were already almost there so we just decided to get the earlier aircoach, which didn't come and we ended up taking a taxi to the airport.

Yvonne in our hostel

We figured we would just sleep in the airport, and when we got there we were happy cuz we could check in and even go through security and get to our gate. Unfortunately, our gate was the farthest possible away and downstairs and the temperature felt like it was outside. So it was a freezing cold, miserable two hours until our flight finally took off. But it was empty so we both got a whole row and we got to see the Alps in Austria from the windows!!

Austrian Alps from the airplane

Tuscany (weekend with Andrea)

May 1st was a holiday here in Italy. It is worker's holiday, basically Labor Day, and since it fell on a Thursday this year the Italians have a ponte (bridge), meaning that Friday is also considered a holiday. So basically Italian's had a four day weekend and it was a time to travel. It was estimated that there would be 12 million more cars on the roads this weekend. Anyway, Andrea and I had the opportunity to go to Tuscany.

We stayed in an apartment of one of his friends, so everything was free and it was really nice. We left early Friday morning (because he had to study on Thursday) and took the scenic route (due to the GPS) to Tuscany. It took us about 6 hours, including about an hour for lunch. We had lunch at a small restaurant on the hill and it had a gorgeous view of the lake:

Then we arrived at the apartment, and rested for the afternoon.

It is a very nice place with a pool overlooking the hills of Tuscany:

..and olive trees outside our window:

That night we went to Pienza for dinner and drinks and to walk around a little before returning for the night.

Saturday, we spent the day laying out by the pool, and went someplace close for lunch. Andrea went swimming in the morning, but the pool was not heated and I had to look somewhat presentable for lunch so I waited until the afternoon. It was pretty cold but not too bad after like 5 minutes. Then in the afternoon we got ready to drive out to Montelcino, which is a really cute town up on a hill (of course) and we had dinner in a very cute local restaurant where the owner was the waitress and she forced me to try red wine because I was in Italy. This is our dinners:

Andrea got a giant Fiorentina steak and I had ravioli (among other things) that came in a very small dish compared to his. It was a very nice night and after dinner we walked around town for a little bit, before going back to the apartment to hang out with some friends for awhile.

Sunday, we got up and got all of our stuff together to head out to Monticchiello for lunch. We ate at another cute little place and the outside patio had some great views. We walked around that town after lunch and then went back to the center of Monepulciano, which is where we were staying but we had not yet gone into the center. We walked up the hills, had some gelato, sat at a cafe overlooking the great landscape (it had one private balcony table, which was occupied but it was still pretty cool).

me at La Porta in Monticchielo

us on the terrace of La Porta

view from Cafe balcony

sunset from Monepulciano

Then we got in the car and headed home to Montebelluna, only to be welcomed by a downpour of rain all night and the next day. However, today is beautiful and 73 degrees!! :)

It was a wonderful weekend and I wish every weekend could be like it. I am pretty lucky though because the next few weekends are pretty exciting. Yvonne comes in less than two days, and we are going to Dublin, Ireland this weekend. Then next weekend we will be going to Venice together until she leaves. The next weekend I am taking Andrea to Lake Garda for his birthday. It is a very exciting next few weeks :)