If you happened to be watching Italian MTv today at about 3pm, you would have seen yours truly in the background, tactfully avoiding the hosts running around with a mike, interviewing people by hiding behind a bush! Hehehe. So really, I guess you would have only seen the bush...hmm... ;p Anyways. It's hard to imagine that just two short months ago this city was playing host to the Winter Olympics. Where has all the snow gone??? Yes, I'm well aware that it is now spring, but still. Although remnants and reminders of the games are everywhere. Flags with the games motto 'passion lives here' (or 'la pasionne abita qui' in Italian- see, I'm learning stuff!!), odd little red spiky metal sculptures I guess you'd call them, saying 'Torino, OIympic host city' on them, and other bits ... read more

Ah, the mating ritual of an Italian male. What a beautiful thing. (Note the sarcasm) It goes something like this: Boy sees girl. Boy walks next to girl. Boy asks to speak to girl to 'practice his English'. Girl starts walking the other way. Boy nonetheless follows girl. Boy continues to hassle girl despite being ignored. Boy tries to hold girl's hand. Girl tells him she's not interested. And drops hints to make him PISS OFF (without actually saying it directly, cos unfortunately for her, shes too polite)!! Boy persists. And persists. And persists!! Until he gets the hint (well, sort of). Then, in a final desperate attempt, he tries to kiss girl. Girl frequently feels like punching the shit out of boy, but due to being a gentile, and upholding social standards of acceptable behaviour, ... read more

So you like pizza, right? You may even LOVE pizza. I know I sure do...or rather, did. But seriously, give it two weeks, where the cheapest (and pretty much ONLY) option for any meal involved refined, white carbs, and you will get sick of it too. Here, it's an overkill. Walk down any street, and you will see a minimum of 5 pizzerias, 3 gelaterias, 4 pastarias (ok, so I think I just made that up- they're not really called 'pastarias', but hey, whatever!). Let's review the options shall we? Ok, you have pizza and pasta. Obviously. But also a variety of pizza and pasta-like foods, deviously and deceptively marketed under a different name. Panini, foccacia, calzone, altinbocca- all the same things I hate to tell you. Perhaps in different shapes and sizes, but the basics ... read more

Yes, those were the exact words that escaped my lips as I set eyes on David's arse. That is, the famous Michelangelo statue of David (sorry Dave! Your arse is very nice too though, hehe!!). Well, a replica of it at least. (Who would seriously pay over 10 euros to see the original, when there is a to-scale copy in the centre of Firenze? Clearly, I didn't). Firenze, aka Florence for all you English-speaking folk, was actually abit of a disappointment to me. After all the hype I'd heard about it, which went something like "OOOOHHH, I LOOOOOVEED Florence!!", to be honest, the city didn't impress me all that much. It could have been the fact that it was arse-freezing cold the whole time I was there. It could have been the fact that it was ... read more

Ha ha! Ha hahahaha! Gimme a sec to get it all out of my system....hahahaha!!! :) Ok, I'm done now. Sorry bout that, but the notion of Italians actually FOLLOWING road rules is highly laughable. Truly. Ha ha. Ok, really, I'm done. Let me explain... Driving along in Pasquale's car, holding on for dear life and watching my knuckles turn a pasty white (which was undoubtedly the colour of my face before it turned blue as we were approaching the top of Vesuvius), I learnt the following about Italian road rule, or, rather, lack of them. Sticking to your lane? -- What lanes? It's a free for all Giving way? -- What the hell for? Just speed up and you're bound to find a gap in the traffic Indicating? -- Oh, we thought that was just ... read more