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.>

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....>

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!]

Extra-Ordinary

13th - 19th October 2016

I had read that a certain telephone company in Italy is known for ripping people off. I was wary, but clearly not wary enough. My contract tells me to pay a certain amount every month and they sent me a message today. 

IL TUA CREDITO DI - 1.66 euro, NON E' SUFFICIENTE. PER RICARICARE CHIAMA IL 42xx0 

Basically, my credit was insufficient even though I had paid the exact amount. This wouldn't necessarily be a problem because my phone was receiving calls and I could make calls but my internet was not working. After going to the store and asking them about my situation, I was informed that there were extra charges for using the internet and I was not made aware of this because it was given to me freely for the first month. They make life good and then they take it away, isn't that how any business works? And what do you know, just as soon as I paid the TABACCHI (the little shop where you can buys magazines etc.), I could use my internet fully. That was quite surprising but I guess they honestly just wanted my money. Sigh.

(-__-)

Tissue in the body and tissue for the nose. Same spelling, completely different meaning. This was baffling to my Italian friends. English has many funny irregularities.

VOI SIETE QUI (You are here)

As expected of Italy, where FIAT is like Mahindra (Indian company)

There was a party organised by the Welcome Office of the university for the international students. Since I had arrived late (classes were far away), I was quite intimidated by the sheer number of people in the great hall. There were a surprising number of countries being represented there. Among them I met, Germany, Hungary, France, Australia, Lithuania, Iran, USA, Bangladesh, Yemen, Sudan, Vietnam, Czech Republic, Poland, Moldova, Sweden, Russia, Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Morocco, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Eritrea, Chile, Peru, Ireland, Spain, Brasil, Philippines, Netherlands, Belgium, Mexico, Venezuela, and last but not least Italy (undercover agents).

Being an anime fan, I was really looking forward to meeting someone from Japan. But, what can I do, sometimes fate has other plans. Once the food had been scavenged by the students it was time to leave the great hall. It was while leaving that this rather odd incident took place. I happened to see an Asian-looking girl leaving from another exit. I immediately ran to her and said "Excuse me!". She turned and out of my mouth came "Where are you from?". In hindsight I cannot believe that I was so rude to her but what was even ruder was what followed. She replied with "I'm from Japan". I was dumbstruck, I could feel joy emanating from me and rising exponentially, my eyes widened and I greeted her in Japanese with "HAGIMEMASHITE, WATASHI NO NAMAE WA TINA DESU. ANATA NO NAMAE WA NANDESU KA?" (Nice to meet you, My name is Tina. What is your name?). She was surprised but answered me right away. I then asked her if she was coming to the event that was planned after this party. She replied in the affirmative. I should have taken my cue and left at that point since I would hopefully (fingers crossed) met her soon; instead, I dug my own grave. I asked her for her number like a little puppy. That could have gone either way but fate was kind to me and she gave me her number (I asked her to tell me her number in Japanese! That was a first for me!). I also told her that it was such a joy to meet someone from Japan. I think she felt elated? Nonetheless, we parted ways and I left for the next event without a care in the world.

(*__*)

Do you see anything out of place in this picture?

Did you see it yet?

Now? Chickens! on a playground! No idea why

Yes ladies and gentlemen, children are also called BIMBO here

Why did they make so many chimneys? Too much chimney work!

Latin: Doubt is the beginning of wisdom

Subway?

Think again!

Burrito!

Free burrito! There was a new restaurant opening in an unfamiliar part of town and they had advertised free food for all who came. We ventured in quite late (after class) to find a huge bustle within the restaurant. We had thought that it was over and were content to just sit and have all the free nachos and salsa (I'm kidding, I would have loved that meal too!). But, since we came all this way (2 bus rides) we had to at least ask (everyone was Italian and this side of town was not known to have many students as residents). We were surprised when we found out that the event was still on and we got our free burrito!

Everyone loves minions and Frozen!

The fog is here and it looms around us

He didn't want me to go. An actual puppy face

A physical manifestation of the students' clouds over their head?

As expected of Italy (1 EUR coin)

Bagpipes are quite rare

(^__^)

I went to discover a new path nearby. I was surprised to find this treasure so close to me.

There was some light

Then there was more light

The path to Neverland

Ever seen 4 branches simultaneously emerging?

So much path!

Like a fairytale...

I reached a plateau on top, I see my house!

He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead, his eyes are closed - Einstein

I wonder if this is how Kings and Queens feel sitting on their high thrones?

The perfect romantic spot

I guess that this place was made to be a park

I was scared to move through the high grass because of snakes. But then I remembered that snakes here aren't exactly poisonous

A storage area? I was wary thinking that someone was watching me from inside

I went to investigate nonetheless, too bad that I couldn't go inside

Back to the path (after contemplating my life)

I came from down there

I was casually walking down when my foot hit a rock and I kicked it unknowingly to the side. This act led to some movement. A creature ran fast across my path. It was the colour that stood out. It was black and yellow. I had heard that brightly coloured animals are usually poisonous so I kept my guard up (right after I took a photo). In hindsight (after using Google), I realised that I had a close brush with death. These fire salamanders can be fatal depending on where they are touched. But, I am alive!

Salamandra salamandra

I apologised to the forest for the disturbance and was grateful for being left alive

Snow on the mountain overnight (Winter is coming.)

(^__^)

Feels like home (popular car back home )

Mozzarella CRUDO (with uncooked meat) It was surprisingly delicious 

That's how the road are 'sweeped'

This truck was backing into the steep path (as expected of Italian drivers)

Load unloaded and heading up the hill (this was in the back of the red truck)

I feel like Snow White when they are so close

Welcome, Fall

I'm on a living movie set

When you realise that Winx club is an Italian production

In preparation for the Venice festival?

I found Naruto (Japanese comic)! albeit in Italian

[Thank you for reading! Feel free to leave any comments or feedback. I will be posting every third day for a while now. So I'll see you lot on the 14th! Have a great weekend! A DOPO (See you later)]