Surprise! (Una sorpresa)

For stories of Pisa and preceding that, more of Florence click here.

Continued...

I hear a noise at the door. We had put the key of the room in the keyhole so that we would not be caught unaware if someone entered our room. Since I was out of my REM cycle I decided to greet the door meddlers (assuming that they were the guests of the room). I opened the door to find two men. My first thought was that they were here to kick us out of the room maybe because it had an odd checkout time (it was rather cheap to get rooms here, there had to be a catch right?). I was wrong. The Italian guys told me that they were assigned our room. I told them that two women were supposed to come since this was an all-girls dorm room. They said that the front desk that given them an already booked room and when they tried to open the door, their key broke. After some arguing and waiting, they were assigned our room. I felt sad for them since they clearly drew the short straw of this hostel while we had the long straw till now. Since we were leaving a bit earlier today, I let them in to lay their head on the bunks above our beds. That was when I noticed the time. It was 6 AM, I recalled that they had mentioned that they had come to the hostel at 7 PM the night before and was glad that they could rest for some time at least.

Just as they were almost asleep (I heard their snores), my alarm was about to go off (I could not go back to sleep, we are women after all). I went to check on my friend and as expected, she could not sleep for that half hour either. We got ready as quietly as possible without putting the light on and left the two boys in peace.

We gave the key back at the reception and the lady told us that we had to pay 5 euros. When I asked her why, she said that we broke a key. I looked at her and glanced towards the key we gave her. She was clearly unsure of how a broken key could be as good as new. We left her in her confusion since we were late for our bus.

Our day did not start off the best and of course, we missed our bus. The streets were quiet at this time. We tried to get a ride from the passersby in cars, just to see the look on their faces. We did not get a positive response or decelerating car.  We gave up for a momemnt and sat at the bus stop. We were by ourselves until we spotted an Audi TT stop at a nearby unopened newspaper shop and unlock it. We were wondering how he was able to sustain himself and get such a nice car on the newspapers he sold. We concluded that he did this as a hobby. It was at this time that I was suddenly starving and with all the usual shops around here closed, I walked to the Audi owner and glanced about his shop for anything to eat. He said that he only had paper, and since I am not a goat, unfortunately I had to forget about food for now.

We met another kind stranger who told us that there was another bus stop nearby that would take us to the city sooner than if we waited for our next bus. She was from Sri Lanka and had been living here for 15 years. I love the diversity of the cities in our large global world.

Every first sunday of the month, the cities in Italy open their prized museums and monuments to the public without any entrace fees. The Uffizi is well known for its art and history in Italy and was our destination this morning. However, we met a 200 people long line when we got there. We decided to head first to the festivies around the Duomo (Easter celebrations are elaborate here). We were met with pleasant and friendly policemen and policewomen who told us what would happen here.

The parade to the Duomo through the city for Easter

I assume that these are the various houses (like in Game of Thrones) respresented

The priests

These drummers kept the whole parade in time

Finally women!

I have read that people who participate in these parades have been doing so for years

Which means that they probably know the routines too well

So it was refreshing to see something different when one guy missed his flag (no offense to you!)

They even set off many firecrackers into the morning sky (which we couldn't see because of the bright sun). An interesting experience nonetheless. We found the Leonardo da Vinci museum and ventured in to find very informative books about Florence and Italy as well as the genius that is Leonardo da Vinci of course. After spending some time there reading and exploring pop-up books about his inventions (I really wanted it!), we left to find the famous 1950s American Diner.

Honestly, I felt like we stepped into another world. The waitresses were in skates, the tiles were black and white and the seats were red leather. The only glitch in this world was that the waitresses spoke Italian (and English of course). We ordered only 2 California burgers since we were not very hungry. We were wrong about the portions though. The overwhelming portion size made me think about eating this over the course of a few days.

Welcome to the America of the 1950s

They enjoyed skating through the diner

That took ages to finish!! 

I wonder if Americans really eat food this size. I am not sure if our taste buds have changed but we did not like the food much, it felt very tasteless. It was screaming, "I am all about the quantity, not the quality". We even overheard an American lady passing the diner say to her daughter "Scary isn't it?" (about the diner). And I was sold. America was not truly like this, this was a 1950s dream. We left as soon as possible to cleanse our palettes and return to Italy from America. We found Robiglio to save our taste buds. We relaxed in the back (they have a lot of space for self service) and ordered a mignon  (a tiny tart) each to Italianize our tongues again. We then sat there for a few hours reading our books.

We had left our luggage this morning in a storage locker at the train station (6 EUR for the first 5 hours and then 1 EUR for every consequent hour) and took our bag just in time to save one Euro. Our bus was waiting for us when we arrived and it was the very same driver that brought us to Florence. We hoped that he was not very angry this time around. But, he had not changed over the weekend (maybe he didn't want to work over the holidays?). He did not recongise us and we had a quiet journey back to Trento. I wanted to be nice to him when we reached Trento and thus wished the driver a "Buona Pasqua" (Happy Easter), but I was ignored...

Oh well, that was our journey to the land of art and dreams. We enjoyed ourselves and practiced our Italian which was fun. Until my next trip, Arrivederci and thank you for reading!

<If you want to start from the beginning of this particular trip, click here.>

Welcome to the land of the 'tilted'

Interested in our previous adventures? Click here for the previous day in Florence.

Pisa was our destination today. We stopped at a fancy cafe just before leaving by train. Cafe Rinaldini has delicious macarons and brioches. We would come here everyday if it were in Trento. It's too bad that the lady could not make such a large decision at my behest.

The walls in Rinaldini were pink!

White chocolate cake with a jam of berries inside

Tiramisu!

Berry explosion!

Now, about Pisa. The city well known simply because of an 'error' in architecture. Personally, I think that the very fact that his structure still stands is proof that he was actually a genius (Bonanno Pisano, scientists say that it could very well stay like that forever).

Tuttomondo (all the world) mural by Keith Haring in Pisa

We thought that there was not much to see in Pisa except the leaning tower but we were surprisingly wrong. We loved the city as soon as we stepped into it. The broad roads, artistic structures, wide open piazzas and the planned greenery all brought about an immediate excitement in us, to know what else was in store for us in this city. We reached the river (the same Arno river) and were surprised to find a small church (Santa Maria della Spina) just by the river. It had a gothic facade that was like a stranger to the houses nearby. It was such an odd location to find a church in our opinion, but since it was built in the 1200s our opinions have no weight.

The Spines (Spina)

At any moment now, a father shall appear

The city reminds me of when I visited Monza last year. The city has its own vibe and it is infectious. We reached a beautiful piazza (Piazza dei Cavalieri) that felt royal and we were priveledged to witness the grandeur.

I think our first thought about the leaning tower was that it was shorter than we imagined (just 58 meters, to give you a comparison, the Big Ben is 96 meters). However, do not be fooled by me and my view, the leaning tower (Torre di Pisa) and its surrounding architecture (the Duomo) is picturesque. I think that it might be because of the green grass (that is forbidden to walk on and thus well maintained I must add) encompassing the area. The wide open space really allowed us to take it all in at once. We enjoyed the sight and tried best to bring out the tilt of the tower in comparison to other objects in its vicinity. The area was overflowing with tourists but it was not evident.

Piazza dei Cavalieri

Torre di Pisa (the leaning tower of Pisa)

You can see the tilt of the tower compared to the normality of the church

We were done around noon and proceeded to get some souvenirs at a wonderful shop on via Santa Maria (sorry I don't remember the store's name and I could not find it online). We then left to have an early lunch. I wanted my friend to taste some authentic mughlai (of the mughals) food from India and thus we wandered into a restaurant called "Gandhi". The butter naan (a staple in my heaven) and the murg shahi korma (chicken curry basically) was delicious and my taste buds home for a time. We ended with 'proper' tea (for me at least) which has elaichi (cardamom) and milk (an unimaginable concept to Italians). The punjabi music and the atmosphere was exactly like an Indian restaurant back home. I should be paid to advertise for restaurants and cafes!

Mmmmm Curry and Naan

Now, although we did not want to leave this beautiful city, we had planned to head to Marina di Pisa (a half hour away with the local bus). After a detour (yes we got lost) on the way to bus stop, we ended up in an even more beautiful part of town (near the wall). The bus ride through green hills and valleys is the image I have and many others think of when Italy comes to mind. And now, we have finally seen it.

The people here are so very kind. We had asked the bus driver to let us know which stop the beach was closest to and as asked, he told us when to get off. The driver told us to go straight and we saw a narrow pathway that looked abandoned. We steeled ourselves to go to the beach when we heard a "Vieni, vieni" (Come, come). The driver was still there with his bus doors open for us to reboard. He explained to us (in Italian, after asking us how much we knew of the language) that that particular path might be frought with unknown dangers and since we were both girls, he decided to take us even further to a more general and open (safe) part of the beach. Here is when I must inform you that we had only paid for a ticket to Marina di Pisa and the destination he was currently taking us to was Tirrenia (a few kilometers away). The consideration/kindness of the strangers in this state of Tuscany catches me by surprise every time I am on the receivers end simply because there is literally no profit for the giving party.

As he rightly pointed out, Tirrenia had more people as compared to the deserted pathway. We thanked the driver and left to lay our eyes upon the beautiful vastness of the Ligurian sea. We walked along the cold and windy beach to soak in some sunshine while we dreamed of a life by the beach. Wind surfing is extremely popular here (considering the temperature of the water, I did not think people would be inside the water at all).

"We will be back in the summer" is what we decided synchronously.

The beach.

A few hours passed as the waves crashed against the shore and we walked and invaded through the multiple properties along the beach.

It was fascinating to see how each "hotel"? purchased and modified their 'part of the beach' for the enjoyment of their customers. We did not find a single soul inhabiting these properties though (it was not the summer after all). We got a bit jittery when we could not find a single soul for about 2 hours (so much for the consideration of the bus driver) we decided to 'return to civilisation' and walked perpendicular to the beach (after bidding it farewell of course) to the main road (through some private property, we're sorry!).

We were feeling a little peckish and therefore decided to investigate the nearby restaurants to compare prices and the choices of fish. However, to our dismay, we slowly came to the realisation that every eatery only opened from 11-14 (lunch/pranzo) and 19-23 (dinner/cena). We concluded that they all relaxed on the beach in between these hours. We finally found a cafe and interrogated him about the city. He advised us not to be hopeful for food at this time. Therefore, we decided to head back to Florence a little earlier than planned.

We decided to choose a traditional Italian restaurant to have some Florentine pizza. After checking places that would not be very busy at this hour (after 7 PM) on Google, we headed to a street past the train station. We checked each pizzeria on the street (in case Google missed one) for the variety and price range. We finally found a place that did not seem to have people inside (from the outside). While we were checking the menu outside (remember what I mentioned to you before?), we hear a "Buona sera!" (Good evening) from inside, it was interesting how interested they were in potential customers. That is always a plus for any restaurant I think. We decided to head inside even though it was not our list. We made the right decision because the majority of the seating was far in the back of the entrance. I ordered a six cheese pizza (I have only seen 4-cheese pizzas, Quattro formaggio before). I did not regret it. It was only when I was almost done with my meal did I glance and notice the name of the restaurant. It was on our list of the best places to eat pizza (Trattoria Pizzeria Nerone). We were lucky that fate brought us here. One more place ticked off our bucket list for this trip!

Back to the hostel we went after a satisfying meal. On the bus I saw a girl that looked very similar to a model I happen to like (Lauren Tsai). She was from a different country (Korea) but close enough. Kamsahamnida (thank you in Korean) for entertaining my questions! We had been informed that two more girls would be in our room tonight and we hoped that they would be plesant people. To our surprise, the room was just ours even when we arrived at 10 PM. We slept in peace...

Until...

<Talk about a cliffhanger! Our journey continues...Click here...>

Getting to know the city of Florence

The day before in Florence.

Well, the next day was fun since we blended in so well and were mistaken for Florentine residents!

We awakened early (basically at 7 AM but actually a half hour later...) so that we could descend the hill where we stay on (a mansion on the hills, dreamy right? now wake up to meet the 30 occupants on your floor!). We went to have some breakfast in the common area and since we are not strangers to the Italian breakfast of coffee and a brioche/bread we were not surprised in the least. Else we would be sorely disappointed and think that they were stingy.

The Rocker's breakfast

As expected of Hard Rock Cafe hehe

We knew where we wanted to have a 'real' breakfast. While we were scouting for places to eat whilst in Trento, we chanced upon the Hard Rock Cafe  and immediately decided on it. I have never been to one before but I surely will from now on. The ambiance, decor and food all merged together to make for a 'rocking' experience (see what I did there?). Thanks to the lovely weather (I don't know whether to trust the forecast anymore...) we were able to take sun-filled shots of the bridges as we headed across the Arno river to Piazzale Michelangelo. In case you did not know, piazza means a square shaped area surrounded by buildings on all sides (an English equivalent could be like the Trafalgar Square in London), but a piazzale is an oddly shaped square which could have open sides.

It was a sunny day at Piazzale Michelangelo

This place has the best view point in Florence (or so I've read somewhere, though I agree now). With our trust in Google, we gathered enough potential energy (slowly) to reach the top of a large hill. True to its word we met the city of Florence as seen in postcards. The inspiring view kept us rooted for almost 45 minutes before we finally decided to let gravity do what it does best (and take us back down).

Both sides of the river, although similar, possess contrasting vibes. The city is bustling and active on one side, while the other seems content and tranquil. The bridges that connect the sides don't seem to mind though. They are link two sides of a person (one at work and the other on holiday).

Walking aimlessly brought us back to the city and we were acquainted with the simple fact of Florence being smaller than we previously thought. Truly, all roads lead to the Duomo (cathedral), like all roads lead to Rome.

A side view of the Florence cathedral

The other side. The surrounding space feels a bit confined hence it is a bit difficult to get a complete shot.

The Duomo is beautiful and unique. The different painted tiles bring about an unseen and outstanding character to the architecture of the cathedral. We had been roaming around for a while and had conveniently forgotten to fill our water bottles in the morning at the hostel. If you didn't know this already, every city in Italy (at least the ones I have been to) have potable water fountains for the public (too bad we don't have maps of them). Therefore, we went to a shop nearby to ask them where we could find one.

The shop owner looked conflicted when I asked him, presumably because his shop sold bottled water and he was pondering of the profit implications of the information he could provide me with. I guess his 'angel' side (thank you!) won since he told me where the nearest one was located.

After which we wanted to sate the need to seat ourselves (we act like old grannies don't we?). We wandered into one of the cafes (Cafe Gilli) that we had marked on our map beforehand and were appalled at the price of a macchiato and a cappuccino (our go-to beverages in Italy). The five fold increase in price incited us to ruminate over the ingredients of the beverage. Maybe there was gold powder in it? Maybe we could acquire a surefire method to being a millionaire? Maybe we could join a secret society? Maybe we would be enlightened, if only for a moment? Whatever it was, we were not intrigued enough to find out since we found a cafe with 'usual' prices about 50 meters away. A word of advice, the gelato sold in the middle of the city center is not worth the price (you have been warned). Also, cafes usually charge extra when you sit down on a table, always ask to make sure ("c'è coperta?" - meaning 'is it covered/ is there a cover/table charge').

A refreshing tiramisu, coffee and 50 pages of a book later, the river beckoned for us. I do not quite understand why my friend and I are drawn to water bodies like a moth drawn to a flame. The steady flow of the water and its serenity is calming and slows down the heart to an "All is well" (watch the movie "3 idiots" to understand completely). We sat on the bridge for about 2 hours (firmly blending into the vibe of the city) till we left to see the well known leather flea market (Mercato centrale).

The market was larger than I thought it was and reminded me of a similar market (minus the common leather here) in Trento (the thursday market). They sell the usual souvenirs here as well, I advise this place to get what you need for your friends and loved ones.

Lalibela was our next destination. It is a well received Ethiopian restaurant with authentic (my friend said so after we ate) food and coffee.

Ethiopian food called Mahberawi

zzzzzzzz........maybe I'll grow wings with that 6 EUR coffee....\=\(--_--)/=/........zzzzzzzzz

<Thanks for reading our second day in Firenze! Are you interested in knowing more? We went to Pisa the next day! Click here.>

Florence, the Land of Art & Dreams

Today my friend & I ventured towards the south of where we live in Trento. And by south, I mean waaaaaaaaay south. We had been planning this trip for a few weeks and it was finally happening!!

With our fascination with Florence driving us through the last three tumultuous weeks we already reached our goal in a sense, since we made it to today. The weather did not feel the same though, but we prayed that we could change the impending rain with our hopes and dreams of Florence.

We decided to start our day with a visit to our favorite cafe, hence known as a trip to heaven. With a sense of satisfaction, we left after a croissant each.

The pistachio one is divine!

Giant Pringles on our stopover to Florence

We traversed about 250 kms in five hours or so. The sun played hide and seek to keep us on our toes I assume... We did not know exactly where the bus stop was where we reached the city from the highway and thus waited patiently for the announcement from the driver (usually about 5 minutes before arrival). Suddenly, a "Firenze!" (Italian for Florence) wakes us up from our daze/nap. We have stopped so we pack our things quickly and then hear a "Schnell, schnell, tardi!" (Faster, faster, we're late!). The driver almost chased us out of the bus running (I didn't know we could run through a bus...) while my friend bid him farewell with "Ciao". I did not have the courage to do that considering he was clearly an angry German (Schnell is a German word while tardi is Italian). We reached Florence a little late to our chagrin (20 minutes or so) but we didn't mind it too much since the sun was still out (thank you Daylight Savings!).

Now, I am extremely happy that I live in Italy since I can use my mobile data to guide my journey without qualms. The first image of Florence did not excite me at all to be honest,  there was no way to tell that we were in the land of dreams. Our hopes would not be dampened though. We walked to the city center and encountered construction everywhere, including the tram lines. Not very picturesque but I cannot blame them, they are (hopefully) trying to better the city.

This is what our map of Florence looked like before we left Trento

We stop at a McDonalds just as we were feeling peckish and order 2 cheese burgers for 1.40 EUR each (this is useful information, remember it). After a little rest (sitting in a bus for a few hours is strangely tiring), we decide to actually look around and observe the city and its people. We realise how many tourists are present, for every Italian, there is at least one tourist if not more. It feels like that when you hear more English speakers than Italian.

The city is filled with unique, tall, old and towering building that look down on you. The stones are probably filled with a history we'll never find out about. It is a curious thing, to know, yet not to know, as well as to understand, yet not understand.

Ponte Vecchio (it took a while before they understood how to build it so it wouldn't wash away)

We reach the bridge near Ponte Vecchio (Literally 'old bridge') and are branded with an image of the world in those days when people thought of building houses on bridges. I personally would not mind but my friend disagreed, she would not want a river flowing under her house. We spent some time there taking photos and being silly when we realised that it was already 6 PM! We had planned our trip based around the places we could eat breakfast, lunch and dinner (original right? You'll understand once you've eaten at a pasticceria, an Italian bakery). We made our way to a restaurant called La Bussola, a place well known for its lasagna. We miss lasagna in Trento, but that story is for another time.

Mmmmmm Lasagna!

We reached the restaurant and came to the realisation that the prices could be far above our budget (after entering and placing our eyes 'fine dining' atmosphere). Menus are usually placed outside restaurants to assist or tempt potential customers into the establishment. However, we conveniently forgot to check this before we entered...

We were pleasantly surprised at the friendly waiters as well as the prices of our favorite dishes. We both ordered lasagna and were met with a divine bechamel sauce (the white sauce). The presentation of the dish brought us closer to a flavour filled dream. We ended up spending more than two hours here as the atmosphere and music was to our liking. After talking for some time and deciding when to take the bus to our hostel, we realised that we forgot to buy toothpaste and thus decided to leave. Just as we finished paying and got up to leave, the waiter happened to notice a receipt of the floor. He picked it up thinking that it is our bill. He looked at it and sighed. He then crumpled the receipt and turned to us saying "Mcdonalds è basta!" (No more Mcdonalds!). We left with red faces.

Arno River

We calmed ourselves of our shame with the tranquility of the flowing river when we are interrupted by the following scene.

We left the riverside and made our way to the bus stop, we saw the life of the people of Florence in the late hours after sunset. Streets filled with leather goods (a city famous for its leather work) & restaurants with food from all over the world! I was surprised that American was a cuisine as well. No offense to Americans though!

After paying a ridiculous amount, 2.90 EUR each for a tube of toothpaste and a brush (peer pressure I tell you), we reached the bus stop. Since the next day was a holiday (Festivo) in Italy we were unsure of the bus timings and how often the buses would run. In Trento, the change of bus timings came to our notice with  the help of a laminated paper attached to the 'bus stop' sign. Since it was missing here, we asked around but with the amount of tourists clearly outweighing the Italians...

Feriale (weekdays) Sabato (saturday) Festivo (Sunday and holidays)

We decided to ask the driver of the bus instead, the frequency of buses here is definitely not as less as we expected thankfully. We reached the last stop (fermata) of the bus on this line (yes, our hostel was very far) and realised that we were lost. We had the map but Google mentioned a road that was not present physically. Since it was the last stop, the bus driver usually used the time in between runs to catch a break. The kindness of the people here always astounds me. He actually got off his bus to ask us where we were going and if he could guide us. We were very appreciative as he and another stranger guided us to our destination.

The entrance to the hostel (ostello) was very suspicious. <picture>. We knew that we were supposed to go up a hill but we felt like we were entering a zoo with the forest around us, with a chance of viewing the odd leopard...

Here, kitty, kitty...

The noise from our trolley probably kept all the animals away though.

We reached the villa to find that our booking was not in their database. My friend thankfully had the foresight to print out our booking and they were able to retrieve our booking (maybe we shouldn't have paid and then it would have been free though...). I had read some reviews of this hostel and thus brought a towel, slippers and even pillow cases (better safe than sorry right?). My friend did suggest that we bring bedsheets as well but we sadly did not have enough space in our trolley.

Thankfully all was not so unwell as the sheets and pillows cases were clean (visibly anyway). One thing I really like about the concept of hostels is the fact that you can meet people from all over the world who are usually just passing through. It is a wonderful feeling to meet people from somewhere you have never been to. It feels mysterious in a way. As I was brushing my teeth in the common bathroom, I met a girl from the United States. She is the first person I have met who is from Washington DC. We had a pleasant conversation about the city and she told me that she would be going to a place called Crema. I had never heard of such a place (I should have since Crema means 'cream', and you know how I feel about cream in bakeries) and my interest was piqued. She inspired me to watch a movie called "Call my by your name", which was based in Crema. Thank you dear stranger, I shall do so at the earliest!

zzzzzzz......one leopard, two leopards.......(--_--).............zzzzzzz

<Do you want to know more? Click here. This was only our first day in Florence, many adventures are yet to be read....>

Don't talk to strangers?

Hi y'all!

I know that it has been ages! More than a year in fact, I was so inspired to write about a great experience that I had in the city of Milan yesterday that I just started typing.

Some of you might know that I have had my share of unpleasant experiences in Milan. This has led to breed a persona with a thick hide mixed with caution, especially when visiting Milan. As someone wise once told me, when you have no expectations, everything that happens can be either pleasantly surprising, or just surprising. I might have taken this too seriously and expected the worst in people (please forgive me, lady on the metro!). That's for a little later in the post (or not). Ha. ha.

I have been living in Italy for a grand total of x amount of months (haha gotcha!). Actually you probably already know, so much for my attempt to 'withhold' information. Now, back to my train of thought, or rather, yours (I hope); I have been to a few cities in the north as well as Rome, which I shall tell you about in another post. All in all, I think I have an understanding of the 'general' culture of Italians. I could be wrong of course, but I'm never wrong (with a heavy undercurrent of sarcasm).

You will be surprised to know that I can last longer in Italian conversations with people I meet here. But, I did start guffawing when someone complimented my 'good Italian'. Five minutes is never enough to judge I think. If you are curious about how I improved my Italian, do ask.

So, yesterday I went to Milan. And that is all. Ok, I'm joking. But, I do wish there was a way to punk someone online. Oh wait! that's why we have clickbait....

I had some 'official' business to attend to. More like State business. Never mind, I reached Milan and as usual, I got lost on the way to my destination. I wonder how many times that has happened, don't keep count, you'll run out of fingers, toes and probably the hairs on my head (since some of you may by bald... just keeping an open mind!). I have an exceptional talent in derailing trains (of thought). This 'detour' led me to the great "Quadrilateral of Fashion", wherein the grand "Milan Fashion Week 2018" is happening! Have you been to a fashion show? Or anyone you know? I have had the privilege of attending an extremely scaled down event ages ago back home in Delhi. It is realms apart, being in that environment. And so very colourful, in all meanings of the word.

I could feign disinterest in this subject because in the moment I was merely attracted to the music that I could hear (since it helped to hasten my pace and I was late). Sue me for the desire to stay away from crowds (and I come from a crowded country...judge me if you want...). Nonetheless, the occasional passing of a model or two brought a sense of glamour to my catwalk across town (I cannot cat-walk at all, have you seen a cat walk? <evilly chuckles>).

My detour served as a quarter of an advertisement for the Milan Fashion Week (maybe?)

The main point of my story shall now surface, maybe. After I finished my business (transaction? I make it sound so dramatic, if only you knew what I was actually doing). I chanced upon the lovely Duomo (I looked it up, Italian cathedrals possess this hallowed name) and the Vittorio Emanuele II Gallery (I had no idea it was called this until.....Google).

Duomo of Milan (The cathedral of Milan)

Victor Immanuel II Gallery

Anyway, maybe I just wanted to show off my pictures. Why are you reading this again?

I was wrong, my point shall resurface now. I wanted to kill some time since my transport back home was in a few hours so I crowd-watched (apparently, that's a word) for a while. It might have been the week long fashion show that brought a lot of people out to the city, considering the the single digit temperature range. There were at least 4 photo shoots within the Piazza Duomo (the courtyard encompassing the cathedral). I was singing "All the pretty ladies, all the pretty ladies..." (to the tune of Beyoncé )

Onward to a more beautiful part of the day => a café called Mister Bar.

This café really brings this phrase to life : "It's the people that make the place". 

Since I wanted a warm place to kill some more time I headed towards a place I saw on the map. After a few rounds in the cold and 'scouting' some possibilities, I entered Mister Bar. I expected nothing, just Italian coffee (Italy and takeaway coffee); I saw this, many times (in the course of a few hours), the minimum time recorded being about two pages of my book, which roughly translates to two minutes. But I have seen faster 'touch and go's' when there are just four words exchanged between the barista and the customer.

1.    Buongiorno (Good day)

2,3. Un espresso (An expresso)
4.    Arrivederci (Good bye)

Back to the coffee, which I consume with a copious amount of milk (blasphemy for Italians I dare say); It was excellent! But I'm just getting started, the kindness of the three baristas in that bar (synonymous with a cafe as well as a 'light' alcohol serving establishment) exceeded my expectation of any stranger I have met thus far. People like that provide hope to the rest of us. The hours I spent in their establishment were the best hours I could have spent indeed (heavenly Sacher Torte). I wouldn't say that they were kind to me just because I'm a customer, but I could be wrong. I would like to believe that if I go there again, they will smile a little more (hopefully). I think that this is best part about strangers, you might not know their name or have any way to meet them in the future but, sometimes, they leave a deep imprint on you that brings a smile to your face. I hope that I'm a stranger like that to someone out there. Don't you?

!!!DISCLAIMER!!!: I am not advising anyone not to exercise caution when talking with strangers, be it within an establishment or elsewhere. Just, use your head? (I can hear you laughing, my dear sister...) Also, my links are for amusement, do not assume that I will explain my actions every time. I might, if I feel inclined to do so. Perhaps.

Scattered Hearts

30th October - 5th November 2016

It's amazing how much people start to care when you go to another country. It's like Italy now has a special meaning to people who know that I've come here. The significance of this comes to light when news about Italy spreads to other countries. What I'm talking about is the earthquake that occurred in central Italy. That area has more frequent earthquakes with the newer volcanoes (or so I am told).

I got a call this morning from friends in India who saw the news and asked if I was alright. I felt so blessed that Italy has now been elevated to a status of "place to worry for". Thank you dear friends!

It is true that home is where the heart is, when people who have an effect on our hearts are or could be distress, we care, we worry. In that way, we have our hearts scattered all over the world. Geography no longer limits us with the technology that our fellow humans have developed. The very fact that you are reading this post from a part of the world that I am not in, is proof of this fact.

(^__^)

While going back home tonight, I witnessed the driver of my bus get off unexpectedly. While coming down from Cognola (a hill near home), the bus made odd screeching noises when turning. This was quite a new experience, I thought it was the brakes failing and that is not a pleasant thought considering the forces of gravity acting on the bus while going down.

Thankfully, the bus driver drove as slow as possible and stopped at a bus station (FERMATA) to investigate. Something was definitely out of order with the bus. After stopping for a few minutes to check, the driver got on the bus and started driving again, he had about 10 stops left on this route (which was uphill from now) so I guess he wanted us all to reach home first. We thank this driver for his choice. Or I'd have been stuck just a hill away from home...not a great prospect at night in the cold (5 degrees Celsius).

(^__^)

HALLOWEEN is here! This festival isn't celebrated with grandeur here. There are events but I didn't see many people dressed to scare.

Since it was a long holiday with All Saints Day (1st November) in the mix as well, a lot of my Italian friends stayed at home for the whole weekend. For them, All Saints Day is about being home and spending time with family. I think that is quite nice.

So, what did I do for Halloween? I made chicken curry! My friends and I decided that it was time to eat some spicy Indian food. The eight of us (mostly spice untested) gathered and created a delicious (I hope) sweet chicken curry. If you're wondering why it was sweet, I (the cook) was as surprised. It was due to the tomatoes. European tomatoes are far too sweet as compared to the ones I'm used to back home. Thus, sweet chicken curry (great for the Europeans I guess!). It's a fun experience when people taste something different which has a different history. It was history and culture that made that curry (the knowledge of it all culminated into a dish). Which I find quite amazing. Our senses like novelty, which is one of the many reasons I love to try new things to eat.

(^__^)

It's right after Halloween and all the stores are filled with Christmas decorations! It's actually a bit sad that we have such few festivals (things to look forward to?)

(~__~)

I had a "conversation" or a "moment of clarity" with the lady at the supermarket counter. She asked me if I wanted a bag (in Italian), all I understood from the sentence were the words "SIGNORA, BORSA? (Lady, bag?).

I replied with "UNA BORSA PER FAVORE" (One bag please)

After I had paid she said "ARRIVEDERCI" and "GRAZIE". I responded as required. It was after a few moments that I realised that I had not spoken a drop og English in that space of time. It was a stark ontrast to the times that I have pretended that I didn't  understand any Italian (which is understandable since I honestly didn't know what to do in this sort of situation)

It is like we prepare for particular situations. We are just racking up experience in different scenarios so that we know how to cope, how to manage. We don't actually know a language but we know particular day to day context based exchanges between people. It's like we're literally learning about a language 'part by part'. Isn't that fascinating?

Albeit that this is was a rather fundamental exchange. Hopefully, I'll just get better and better now!

(^__^)

The following phrase was taught to me by a friend from Sicily (the south of Italy) Apparently, the south doesn't understand the north very well, and vice versa. The context of this phrase is when you like someone romantically. Interesting right?

TI FANNO SANGUE - You make my blood run wild

[Yay! We're finally in the same month! I'm catching up :D I'll put photos up soon! Slow internet... A DOPO (later!) 26th to be specific!]

Break Free!

23rd - 29st October 2016

I came home today to find a sudden burst of noise on the floor where I live. I ran (literally) to investigate and found a party happening two doors down. I unintentionally pushed open the door to take a peek (the door was open) and found many people dancing. This was quite rare for the place where I live. This residential area is know to be quiet and peaceful (the only noise heard would be neighbours' dogs barking).

I didn't realise how eager I was to hear a break in the tranquility surrounding me at home. The people obviously noticed me peeking into their house and invited me in. I thought that it would be quite rude to join them since I wasn't invited to I told them I would come later (basically never). I went home and enjoyed the muffled music while I took some time to read. Sometime later, I heard my door bell ring and I found someone from the party at my doorstep. He said that it had been over an hour and that I should join them. I was happy to accept his invitation and made my way to the party. One of the students in that house had just graduated and this was a celebration party. I had never met some of the people here and I found that most of them were from Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian dance is varied and different from any of the dances that I know or have seen. There is a lot of use of the shoulders and the neck. Back in Ethiopia they would do in this dance in their traditional wear. It is a very free dance, it's like all of your emotions are let out and you are jumping and almost flying without a care in the world. It is filled with fun and it is something that cannot be done if you're feeling reserved. I first enjoyed this flurry of energy and before long I was invited to dance with them as well. There was a lot of jumping involved and they were nice enough to teach me some moves, The shoulder movement was really hard to imitate since it was so fast. The beat of the Ethiopian songs that were being played was faster than the average song and quite enjoyable. The neck bobbing was quite fun and I suddenly realised how similar a lot of the dance moves were with that of animal movements. It was enlightening and I felt like I was getting to know humans better. We all danced for about an hour or so and I learned their Zorba dance/song.

There were some people from Uganda and Nigeria there as well. I was surprised to learn that the music and the dance that they listen to and perform are very different. Uganda dances more to pop apparently.

When I was just about ready to leave, they demanded that I teach them some Bollywood moves. So I asked the DJ to play a song called "Nagada sang dhol" (Jab we Met movie). I tried my best to teach them what I could and they seemed to enjoy the new type of dance moves. Maybe they'll keep it in their arsenal for the next dance off! The Bollywood song reminded a few of the Nigerians that they like to watch Bollywood films in Nigeria. But since the films are in their original language (Hindi), I asked if they watch them dubbed or with subtitles. Their response was surprising, they said that there is usually someone in the town who knows Hindi (who knows why, maybe they learnt it by watching Hindi movies?) and there would be an ongoing translation of the dialogues while the movie is running. That sounds like fun to me! As long as they enjoy it, its not something to complain about I suppose.

The sounds they use in their language is a little different from those that are used around India. It was difficult for my Ugandan friend to say "Sri Lanka", she said that it was like a tongue twister to her.

(^__^)

I buried an onion today. No, I did not wish for it's death, I simply left it in water for too long before cutting it and it grew roots! It would have been fine if it grew just roots but it started spouting green shoots that looked so beautiful and so I couldn't cut it and eat it. As per the suggestions of my housemates we went to bury it. Since we had no shovels we just took a fat knife. It took a while to dig into the soil but we made it in the end! While going to our room I realised that we might have looked like murderers who just buried a body (a muddy knife to cover our tracks?). Who would bury an onion anyway?

Now we just hope that it will grow and give us more tears! (something I don't think I should really wish for :P) 

(>__>)

I learned some interesting things about the countries of my friends today. Each country has its own unique history that cannot be compared with another. The past sometimes leaves a deep impression on the future generations of a country, and sometimes, they are forgotten.

Some German citizens are taught in school that they should not be proud of their country. Growing up in such an environment where you feel guilty about a past that you were not apart of seems quite detrimental to children I would say; but we all grow up eventually. An interestin fact, there is no train line from the east to the west of Germany because the train lines were built when the Berlin wall was in place. So, travelling to the west or the east from either side involves going to the south or the north first. 

Most countries around Russia had been taken over by Russia at some point and therefore forced to learn the way of the Russian; Lithuania was one such country. The stark contrast between the facts taught in school to succeeding generations is astounding. My friend tells me that she and her parents discuss the same historical events with completely different facts (Russian way of thinking vs the Lithuanian way of thinking); talk about a generation gap!

(^__^)

My friends and I finally decided that we want to eat lasagna. The best place for that? Bologna. Why? Bolognese lasagna. Contrary to popular belief, Bolognese sauce is not served with spaghetti and meatballs, that is an Americanised Italian dish that doesn't exist in Italy.

"We will travel across the land, searching far and wide, each cuisine to understand the power that's inside!"

I wonder why we think that each city will be significantly different. When I walk through the streets of Bologna, I see streets that have been walked through by two types of people. People who paid attention to the street and those who didn't. In that perspective, every street can be a goldmine or just a path to a goldmine.

We inevitably find ourselves in sketchy parks so easily and today we found two! One was a beautiful park named after and built for the 9/11 victims of the WTC (it even had a beautiful carousel!). That was quite interesting, they even had a rather corroded piece of steel from the World Trade Center. The other park was crowded with people of all ages and it was here that we came face to face with the sketchiness that I described before.

One guy came up to us as we were walking and tried to offer us something. We passed him by (basically ignored him) and he started cursing at us in Italian! (not words I want to know really). I guess that he felt that we were in his territory and that we should take our business elsewhere if we weren't buying from him (I'm kidding! they were just being sketchy as sketchy goes...)

We finally ate lasagna in Italy. It was delicious! but I actually cannot compare it to any other city in Italy since this was my first lasagna in Italy. Would I come back for it? Yes, just for the lasagna.

On our way back I was finally checked for my ticket! I wonder how long I have been waiting to get my ticket checked. I knew that I would feel guilty if I didn't take a ticket but I was always annoyed that no one checked. Now I felt good, somehow, maybe.

Someone shushed us in the train. First I thought that it was quite rude since it was only 10 PM, but it got me thinking. If we had continued to speak at the same volume when the passenger had shushed us, would that mean that we didn't care what he thought? And if he didn't shush us then that would mean that he would have to compromise and adapt to our 'loud' noise.

Do we really care about other humans? Or do we pretend to care so that our society will work? Do we just cooperate so we an live in peace? Is that what peace is? compromise?

[So, why didn't I post last time? I was busy with college and I didn't have any time to edit...hence I had designed this to be a weekly blog, but that is after I catch up! Nonetheless, thank you for your support and views! I'll be adding pictures to this post later so make sure to check them out! Next post coming on 23rd :D Later!]