TravelBlog » michiamopatrizio

michiamopatrizio - Patrick Brogan

It was August, September, October, November, December 2006 when Amanda and I talked of quitting New York and moving to Italy. Always it was "next year, save up, we'll make time next year to do it." Winter 2007 turned into spring and there we were at dinner on Seventh Avenue one late April evening when we said what the heck are we waiting for, the time is now. So we quit. And we moved out. Now we're in Veneto, IT and life ain't bad.

I know you've thought about the same and you've got tons of excuses why you can't travel the world for more than your vacation allotment. Well, all excuses aside, the hardest part is just saying "let's do it." The rest of it falls into place. I hope you'll be able to come away from this blog with some encouragement to follow your own.

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Joined on: June 21st 2007
Last Login: August 26th 2008

Blog Entries: 10
Photos: 72
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Blogs & Travel Journals

by michiamopatrizio, order by Date newest first.

By michiamopatrizio
September 6th 2007

Curry and chips and English, oh yeah (Part 1)

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Essex » Stansted Airport

We have wine shops
They have sweet beer shops

It feels a kind of relief, yet at the same time a certain bore, to be among native English speakers again. It has been over two months. I am on the Ryanair flight from Venice that is readying to pull into the gate at Stansted Airport. Though I was one of the last people to board the plane, I got a seat in the second row. I grab my bag from the overhead luggage bin and ready myself, brow scrunched, eyes focused, body wound up like an Olympic sprinter. As originally scheduled, I would have 30 minutes to get from tarmac [View Full Entry]

By michiamopatrizio
September 5th 2007

The Germans versus the Italians... and us

Europe » Italy » Trentino-Alto Adige » Bolzano

Bolzano? Or Bozen? Or Both.

As one of our last trips on this trip, Amanda and I drove to Bolzano, an independent province close to the Italian/ Austrian border. Mapquest said it'd take just under three hours but in reality it took close to four--a combination of the inevitable heavy traffic on the autostrada and getting lost in circles of one-way streets and dead ends once we got to Bolzano. This time, after our accommodations in Rome, we decided to dig deep and get a hotel room right in the main square, Piazza Walther, or Waltherplatz, depending whichever language you speak. The room was clean and [View Full Entry]

By michiamopatrizio
August 16th 2007

Forza Roma, in Six Acts

Europe » Italy » Lazio » Rome

Look familiar?
This is the Arco degli Acetari, aka the courtyard of our apartment. It's one of the most picturesque spots in the city. Have a postcard from Rome? It's probably on there.

Thursday, August 9 Cyprus trees, those lanky, lofty-canopied alberi begin to punctuate the landscape and I know our train is now rocketing, up to 180 mph, deep into Lazio, a central regione in Italy that nestles in its heart Rome, the country’s capital and our temporary home away from temporary home. Over the last few hours I’ve had a blurred-eye view of the country’s changing landscape: picking up speed through the vineyards of the Veneto and Emilia Romagna regions; cruising through the olive orchards of Toscana and the vast swaths of sunflowers satura [View Full Entry]

By michiamopatrizio
August 8th 2007

Una settimana nella vita

Europe » Italy » Veneto

La Biglietteria
Ticket booth at Santo Stefano

Amanda and I leave tomorrow morning for five nights in Rome. We found an apartment on craigslist that will put us in the heart of the city. Rome is my favorite place in all of Europe and I can't wait to return as a seasoned traveler so I can skip whatever mandatory sights/ sites are required of every new tourist and focus on my favorite parts. I'll take hours wandering the Villa Borghese admiring the Bernini sculptures and Caravaggio paintings and I won't for a minute have to worry--like the common daytripper--that I still have to make it to the Colloseum, [View Full Entry]

By michiamopatrizio
July 25th 2007

Patrick & Amanda versus trenitalia, Round One (or, when the weather breaks, so does everything else)

Europe » Italy » Veneto » Verona

Me and Dante...
cold kickin' it like a couple of smart-ass dudes.

The searing heat finally let up yesterday and as we sat late in the afternoon in the center of town watching a thunderstorm roll over the Dolomites, we smiled at the good fortune that was blowing in. The next day we'd travel to Verona. Wake at 7 A.M. by a man and his gas-powered weed-wacker in the large empty field outside the window. Try to sleep in 'til 7:45 when the alarm will go off. Starting to feel like we should never leave the house, shutter it all up and keep to ourselves. But we're adults, we don't need that much [View Full Entry]

By michiamopatrizio
July 21st 2007

[i]Lingua[/i] is the Italian word for language and also for tongue

Europe » Italy » Veneto » Concordia Sagittaria

RECOVERED

A few of you have asked how I’ve been doing with the language barrier. I can say, for the most part, that I’m doing pretty well, and though the learning curve is steep, as long as I hear/ understand 60-75% of the words spoken to me, I can keep up with the conversation. A few exceptions… The oddest thing happened to me the other day. Language has been playing all kinds of tricks on me. The second night I was here, I dreamed in Italian: days of the week and conjugating some common verbs—it was simple but it happened. And you [View Full Entry]

By michiamopatrizio
July 17th 2007

Venice versus the rest of Italy, part 1

Europe » Italy » Veneto » Concordia Sagittaria

RECOVERED

I spent most of Thursday, Friday and Saturday back in Venezia. Abe, my Brooklyn roommate whom I abandoned, had been in Switzerland for the Montreaux Jazz Festival, so I convinced him to stop here on his way back to Stati Uniti. Thursday afternoon Amanda and I tracked him down in Piazza San Marco. Along with a girl he'd just met we (brace yourself, New York) fed some pigeons. Right from the palms of our hands. After disinfecting, Amanda led us to a table in the sun at the Florian, considered by some to be the premier cafe in Piazza San Marco [View Full Entry]

By michiamopatrizio
July 17th 2007

Un giorno nella vita

Europe » Italy » Veneto » Concordia Sagittaria

RECOVERED

I guess I'm at a bit of a blogging crossroads. Life here is great, but it's simple and I'm enjoying that most of all. Especially contrasted with the constant in your face and up-to-date New York world in which I was living. So how many times can I write about all the caffè I've been drinking and the pasta I've been eating without becoming repetitive to the point where the audience is lost? What did I do today? I was up by ten, drank a coffee, watered the lemon tree, watered the pool. Amanda and I rode our bikes to the [View Full Entry]

By michiamopatrizio
July 9th 2007

What is Today?

Europe » Italy » Veneto » Concordia Sagittaria

RECOVERED

Tuesday? Si, Martedi. The weekend passes like the days of the week: much ado about nothing, but at any moment something made from nothing. Family stops by for a caffè and end up staying through dinner, even if they choose not to eat; others drop in only to say hello and we end up following them home, 40 km away, for cena. The one (only) thing that gets me (just a little bit) down about being unemployed is that the week provides no great promise for the weekend. On the contrary, Monday does not loom with despair and sorrowful anticipation, but [View Full Entry]

By michiamopatrizio
July 6th 2007

Sono qui (I am here)

Europe » Italy » Veneto » Concordia Sagittaria

RECOVERED

I promise the rest of the entries won't be quite as manic. As surprising as it may sound, life in Italy so far has been full of indecisions. Time to relax, but feeling restless. Working for years at the pace of a New York minute really gets your wheels wound up. So Amanda and I arrived here on July 4, and since then I've been a bit up and down just trying to get relaxed. My thought processes? I brought a handful of books to read and have started, oh, nearly all of them but can't decide which to stick with. [View Full Entry]

TravelBlog » michiamopatrizio

michiamopatrizio | Patrick Brogan | Travel Blog

michiamopatrizio - Patrick Brogan

Blogs & Travel Journals

Curry and chips and English, oh yeah (Part 1)

The Germans versus the Italians... and us

Forza Roma, in Six Acts

Una settimana nella vita

Patrick & Amanda versus trenitalia, Round One (or, when the weather breaks, so does everything else)

[i]Lingua[/i] is the Italian word for language and also for tongue

Venice versus the rest of Italy, part 1

Un giorno nella vita

What is Today?

Sono qui (I am here)