Blogs from Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, Europe - page 3

After Venice, Kai and I took a train to Bologna. We ate a delicious lunch - I had pasta with ham and asparagus, one of the best meals of the trip. We were only there for an hour waiting for our next train. We arrived in Parma a few hours later. We were visiting Kai's friend Gabe. Gabe was an exchange student in Kai's high school 4 years ago. He was home with his family in Parma for the holidays. He picked us up at the train station and brought us to his house. He and his family are really nice and gave us a free place to stay. After getting settled, we walked downtown through the outdoor Christmas market. It was really crowded because it was a few days before Christmas. We met up with ... read more

Wow, let’s see, where to begin with this one…? We finished the first leg of our ex-Yugoslav adventure with a show in Zagreb, Croatia. Zagreb is a beautiful city - plenty of upscale areas with premium shopping, yet embraced by nature and history, with many lush green parks and lovely old architectural landmarks, including a really nice cathedral. We had a great show there. Although it had it’s share of technical difficulties and sound mishaps, the place was jam-packed and the energy was zinging! The next day had us making a long journey back into France. We passed through five countries in about 11 hours - Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland and France. Being from the US, where you can drive all day and not quite make it through Texas, this is a strange and interesting concept! ... read more

So yesterday Caleb and I (the two token Americans) went to a real Italian soccer game with our new Italian buds. Parma vs AC Milan @ home here in Parma. Parma is kind of an underdog team in the league but # 22 on ac Milan, Kaka was voted the best player in the world last year by helping Italy win the world cup...so it was very cool to watch them play. Fortunately and Unfortunately the final score of the game was a 0-0 tie, but at least Parma didnt lose!! We were standing in the SERIOUS fan section of the stadium so we stood up on our seats the entire game and listened to these crazy people scream and chant their various Parma songs. It got so ridiculously cold I couldnt feel my feet. It ... read more

This is the first of many assignments my program has given us, I think I did a damn good job Dear Friends and Family, Having never been to Italy before, my preconception of the Italian landscape and architecture of Parma were based off images made familiar by classic Italian artists like Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo. Before coming to Parma, my only first hand encounter with true Italian culture was at the Giovanni’s Pizza place I frequent back at home. That being said, actually arriving here to see the multicolored stacked houses and winding cobblestone streets for myself was a sight both surreal and extraordinary. While Parma is a relatively quiet city in comparison to Italian metropolises like Rome or Florence, it is by no means lackluster in beauty and culture. The town is split ... read more

Well, last night was interesting to say the least. Our program treated us to Pizza and drinks at a local Pizzeria (how nice) and in total there were about 30 of us, both italians and americans. It was pretty fun we just chatted and ate inordinate amounts of food. Then after sitting at dinner for about 4 hours (typical Italian) we got up and went to the international student night at a local club/pub called XXL. haha wow, when we got there, the inside of this place was remniscent of something you would find in Tijuana. Bartenders dressed in ridiculous outfits (for carnivale) and stupid American girls getting way too drunk and embarrassing themselves. It was fun though, its surprising how much the Italians here listen to American music. That is pretty much all they played ... read more