As most of you may or may not know, I live in a Piazza(square) near to the market of Sant'Ambrogio. On the last Sunday of every month, there is a market. I am not sure what time they set up, but, when I walk out of my apartment, I find this market.
"Oh you are so beautiful, look at those blue eyes, here, have some cheese samples." The man in this photo is my favorite. His name is Urbano and from the looks of the photo and his facial expression, he is a character, ha. Both my mom and brother have been with me to see him. He is hilarious. Urbano takes such pride in his work, handling each piece of produce, etc with great care.
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Advantages to knowing the language of the country you are in:
--discounts on things at the market: you must careful when doing this while speaking to the vendor. I did this once when I was working here two years ago. The man thought I was Florentine and gave me almost a 50 percent discount. Instead of paying 42 euros I paid 25.
--hearing what people are saying about you or others
--proving a stereotype wrong
--being able to communicate
--being able to understand people
--making friends
--learning the system
--learning how to dress so you don't stick out
The next day in Rome was spent walking around as usual. We revisited the Trevi Fountain and I was educated by William what the Latin inscriptions on the buildings meant. We had lunch in a restaurant nearby and returned to the Hostel for a nap. After feeling refreshed, we went to dinner at a restaurant called Cul De Sac. This restaurant is very small and has almost every bottle of wine every made in Italy available for purchase. There are nets inside the restaurant to prevent the potential falling of a bottle. When you buy a bottle, you get to view the large binder of available wines. Each page has a description of the wine including: where it was made, how it was made, how much it costs, etc.
Afterwards, we walked around and went to the area of Trastevare. This area of Rome has many good restaurants and bars. One of which, I took my neighbors from America to called "Da Fabrizio." I knew it was authentic when I saw zero English on the menu as well as no available option for an English menu. This restaurant holds a max of 30 customers. I found it by walking around and using my Italian to ask for a good recommendation.
After some continued people watching, my brother and I took a cab and went home.
After our night out, we came back, and went to bed. We woke up early for the free breakfast which turned out to be nothing... So therefore, we ate something at a place called "Ecstasy Cafe" in Rimini and headed to the beach. In Italy, most of the beaches are not free. You must pay about 7 euro a person to have a chair and an umbrella.
The beach scene in Italy is always an experience. Swimwear is very different. You will find people laying around, swimming in the ocean, or being active by playing Frisbee or paddle ball. There are also cafes right on the beach, so if you need to get a drink or something to eat, it is possible to get your fix.
After our time on the beach, we ate lunch and did a little shopping. The style of Europeans versus Americans is very different because of the way clothing fits (usually one size too small) or of the amount of hardware (pockets, zippers, buttons, belts) on jeans. When my brother and I were strolling the streets, he found a shirt that he liked. He tried it on, and by American standards it was perfect. However, the sales associate in the store double checked with me to make sure William didn't want a smaller size. After leaving the store, my brother and I laughed very hard because this was not something he had experienced before.
We continued to relax and got dinner at the hostel. We later decided to have the ultimate disco experience and go to one of the top 10 discos in the world. It is called Baia Imperiale. We took a chartered bus to get there. It was a large disco with a Roman-like design. This includes columns, many marble stairs, and arches. Apart from that, there were several floors, a pool, blinking lights everywhere, and well dressed people.
We stayed there and left when the bus did. Upon arrival to the hostel, there was what seemed to be a tropical down pour of rain. We arrived to the hostel looking like wet dogs and went to sleep.
Day Two:
I woke up early the next morning to run a few errands to register my entry into Italy. I felt like I was jumping through hoop after hoop. This was mostly because I had to get many different things together, wait in line at the post office for a packet, fill out the packet while attempting to decipher exactly what I need to put in. The packet is in Italian and you only really need to fill in half of it. It is confusing because I hadn't done it in a year, and so re-doing it was a bit of a process. I also needed a special stamp, more forms, and then a final wait at the post office. I got to my apartment and started to pack for Rimini.
We had a coffee and a sandwich and took the train. We stopped in a city called Faenza to change trains. From there, we arrived in Rimini. We took a taxi and checked in to the hostel. We stayed in the Sunflower Beach Backpacker Hostel. I had stayed there two years ago and wanted to return. Our room was on the second floor which in English really means the third. Europeans say that the first floor is the ground floor, and only after that do you start counting. It makes sense, but just for those who don't know, I wanted to clarify.
Our room was very very hot. I understand that it is summer, but it was a little ridiculous at times. We later discovered that the fan was blowing air in the wrong direction. Thanks to Mr. Engineer *aka my brother* we were able to get it fixed.
Our first night was great and we went to places where we were the only Americans, maybe even only foreigners. After arriving, we had a drink at the bar downstairs, and went to dinner. We ate dinner at a restaurant called Angolo Blu. We were recommended to go there because I asked the front desk a good place to go where there were no tourists. We shared a pizza and it was delicious!
We returned to the hostel and asked for places to go out in the evening. We then took a bus to another city and started our evening. It was really amusing to see the different fashions. I also had brought a large plastic bouncy ball that was glittery and blinked upon impact. We went to some of the places on the strip and another on the beach called "Hakuna Matata."
So my brother arrived early on the morning of August 28th. I found him with a small suitcase and speakers for my Ipod! Right from the moment we saw each other, I knew it was going to be a hilarious trip. My brother and I get along very well and have similar senses of humor. We took a train from the airport to the main station. The train after was a Eurostar from Roma Termini to Firenze Santa Maria Novella.
Funny story about the train ride: When I bought the ticket, it said that our seats would not be guaranteed. I thought well, surely there will be an available place. I asked a few people and they just reiterated that my seat was not guaranteed... I can speak fluent Italian so that has nothing to do with them not understanding. I kept saying, "Yes, I understand that, do you have any helpful information of where I could find two empty seats?"
We ended up standing the whole time (1 hour and 39 minutes). We finally arrived to Florence and went to lunch at NoteDiVino. We had sandwiches with mozzarella di bufula and tomato. We also enjoyed a glass of wine. This restaurant is located at the end of Piazza Santa Croce in a small street. We sat outside in front of a small table with two wooden benches. We took a nap and after did some grocery shopping. I made a dinner of pasta (really, pasta in Italy? What a surprise!) with bacon, onions, cheese, and a red sauce. It was delicious! We also had wine from my Vino Sfuso.
A Vino Sfuso is a store where you bring empty bottles and have them refilled for cheap prices. The people in that store are always helpful.
After dinner, we went out for a short time and returned home.
First day back
Today, after an interesting night of sleep, I made some positive steps forward. If there wasn't just a little bit of confusion or complication, life would be way too boring. It is a matter of having the patience to take care of things and mindset to know it will take a little longer, remember, you are in a different country.
I woke up early, had a coffee, and took a taxi from the hostel to my apartment. Another friend helped me with my luggage to almost the top of the old building. After climbing about 50 stairs, you think you are done, but wait... there is a steep ladder/set of stairs that lead to my room. It is real fun trying to transfer luggage by yourself... more reasons to stay strong while living in Europe and traveling. I found my room with new pieces of furniture, mostly including more opportunities for storage which were desperately needed. I looked out the window and took a deep breath... I am really here and this is all happening. My window has some of the best views including: stereotypical Italy *the green shutters, terraces with hanging laundry *it is very expensive to dry clothing, so many Italians don't have dryers* and the tile rooftops. This is all beautiful, but when you stick your head out of my window, you notice Piazzale Michealangelo, the church of San Minato, and perfectly framed between two edifices, one of many immitation statues of Michealangelo's David. I tell David "Buongiorno" everyday. Also, another unique thing about my location is that I go by bell time. There is a church nearby that rings the bell every fifteen minutes. If you start listening when the bell rings and start counting, you can tell what time it is or what time it might be. I use my cell phone to gauge what time it might be, however, this is how the counting system works: the bell first rings to tell the hour followed by one, two, or three additional rings. One additional ring tells you it is a quarter past that hour, two rings says half past, and three says 45 minutes past.
After dropping off luggage round 1, I went to the south of Florence *outside the city center* to retrieve my luggage. I had forgotten how many things I had accumulated! I took a taxi to return, and luckily, the cab ride was only 15 euros. This was perfect because I had 15 euros in bills and some change... amazing how that worked out.
Slowly but surely I am getting my room prepared for my brother's arrival. I will go and get him on Thursday, August 27th from the Rome Airport. As I have been unpacking and putting things away, it is interesting how my comfort level has gone back to normal. When you are a tourist and don't have all of your belongings with you, it is easy to feel uncomfortable and stressed, especially while living out of a suitcase. All that is left are the finishing decorative touches that define this space as mine.
