Having fun

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Maybe this could be my "breakthrough" week since being in Italy... I tried strange foods, did some more traveling and met more people by overcoming some shyness.

To start off, last weekend I spent Saturday riding the mountain bike around the Euganean hills surrounding Montegrotto Terme, this time finally finding the Monastero Santa Maria, that should have been an easy 45 min bike ride but took me much longer because it's route isn't labeled and I kept having to ask Italians for directions. Here's my thing with directions in another language... I understand the basic context of a conversation in Italian because of my background with Spanish, but put me on the spot with listening to directions from an Italian and I catch a quarter of it. And then if you are like me, being a little shy, and maybe a little too proud, you don't ask for the friendly stranger to repeat said directions more than twice, because it's just embarrassing. You just nod your head, say Perfecto, Grazie mile! and head off in what you know is the correct first step in the directions. I think, okay he said turn left and go a little ways, then there's a bridge, and I cross it and then... oh no. What's next??? The plus side to this is that you meet more helpful people along the way, but let's face it, it's aggravatingly time consuming. But on the other hand, if I've got the time, it shouldn't matter, right? Haha, ANYWAYS, there was a happy ending- I found the monastery and actually said a prayer inside its chapel, and then went through the museum part of it and found in the last room, a nun selling her hand-made products. Hopefully its many years before I use it, but I bought a creme-colored doily. Its tiny stitches and pattern were just too beautiful to pass on.

That night Cecilia and I had a girl's night out. Partayyyyy! Heh, just kidding. We went to the famed Roman Arena, called the Arena di Verona, to see the performance of "Tosca", a tragedy whose style I could only describe as an odd combination of the musicals "Chicago" and "Moulin Rouge," and the music a mix of slinky Gotan Project and the risqué score of "Chicago". It was a lot of fun though. As seen in the picture, it's a beautiful outdoor arena in the heart of Verona; you bring your own seat cushion or bear the two hours of performance sitting on the rock-hard, fossil-filled marble that's been around since the 1st century AD. I focused my attention on understanding the context, since it was all in Italian, and along with Cecilia's kind interjections between songs, I actually understood what was going on, and what is more, wanted more badly to be able to sing/speak the language. I'm starting to become more convinced that I chose the right field as an undergrad ;-)

There was no rest for the weary, as the next morning I left for Firenze (Florence) after 4 hours of sleep. And where to begin... I love Florence! And to be able to say this after my first encounter with the city says a lot. My train ended at an obscure stop outside of the main part of Florence, and I literally found myself "on the other side of the railroad tracks". It wasn't even labeled on my map, and as I had arrived at a time when most businesses weren't open yet (not even the most basic Tabacchi stores, so I couldn't even buy a bus ticket anywhere), I was walking in what I hoped was the right direction thinking, "Come on, Florence, I want to like you. Can't you like me back??" But hey, after this bad introduction we got on better terms. With no exaggeration, every person I met there was nothing short of helpful and kind. Just from my own personal experience from traveling, in cities like Florence- where tourists almost outnumber the civilians- this kindness and patience can be hard to find among the locals. I found the exact opposite in Florence.

Once downtown, I took an easy bus ride to the campgrounds close to the Piazza Michelangelo. If the weather is right and the campgrounds are decent, this can be the best option for a budget overnight stay. Cheaper than hostels, campgrounds provide you with a basic house-tent, bed, clean sheets, bathrooms and a market. This particular campground had a great location at the top of the hill next to the Michelangelo Piazza, that has one of the best views overlooking Florence. Looking out, I even experienced a little dejá-vu from when I had been there six years ago with a large group of students from Cambridge high school... that seems like a lifetime ago...

Hungry for lunch, I went to a place called the Oil Shoppe that was highlighted by Lonely Planet authors as an "Our Pick" place for eating in Florence. I couldn't agree more with them, as Angelo (the owner and full-time chef of amazing sandwiches) waited at the end of his narrow shop behind his deli stand, ready to personally make you an impromptu sandwich or one of the menu's sandwiches. I chose one with prosciutto, arugola mushrooms, artichoke hearts and truffle sauce (a particular type of funghi that is reallyyy good and in season now). You could tell Angelo's place was loved by everyone. There was a steady stream of people coming in and out, the walls of that small joint were covered in Italian newspaper articles praising its success (many of which had a photo of smiling Angelo), and there were postcards and letters written to him from travelers all over the world, saying that they missed him and his sandwiches. I signed a note in his guestbook, always trying to put Madison, WI on the map for people I meet here ;-) Oh yeah, and I'm taking those people coming to visit me to the Oil Shoppe. It's a must!

Next stop in Florence: that handsome man we call David. Residing at the Galleria d'Accademia, David was my main reason to go to this gallery, but I also found the guest exhibition of the late Robert Mapplethorpe to be really good. Critics say his work was inspired by Michelangelo's craftsmanship with marble. I did see some resemblances, but my favorite was of a still-life object; a gelatin silver print on cloth, called "Tulips". David, though, was nothing short of breathtaking and impressively realistic. I don't remember realizing that so much on the high school trip. Big surprise.

Walking around Florence later with no particular plan was kinda fun. I found another great place for a late dinner, called L'Ristoro. I had a basic spaghetti, but also tried a weird combination of bread, sugar and red wine poured on top as a 'sauce'. It was a specialty and not my favorite, but I'd still go back to try other good-looking things on the menu for decent prices. Located on the canal, there was friendly staff and its concept was that there was no server and only one chef, the wine was in big barrels at the front that you helped yourself to, you ordered your meal by going up to the main counter and then returning to your table in the back of the place overlooking the canal, you were encouraged to share tables with others, and there was music that could've been in any happy ending, love-comedy movie from the 90's. I shared a couple conversations with random people, but left there ready to go to bed.

But no, I found a really good street performer at that late hour and stayed up listening to him with a sizable crowd and an ice cream in hand. He played some great upbeat music on the guitar and his lyrics were hysterical (another breakthrough in Italian!) as he sang "buona notte" to every passerby, many of whom didn't realize he was singing to them because they were tourists and didn't speak Italian. Here then a guy named Antonio and his friend (don't remember his mumbled response for a name) introduced themselves and offered to walk me around Florence for awhile. Sure, why not? Antonio was nice enough, and we talked in my broken Italian because he didn't speak much English. As far as I understood, he was attending university in Florence to become an electrician and so on. But after a half hour, his "English teacher" friend (me) was too tired for the energetic Italian, and after "breaking his heart" I said my goodbyes.

Finally getting my butt into bed I prepared for a day of shopping and a little sight-seeing the next day. I was partly successful, meaning that one of my new mottos in life should be, "It's okay to get lost, it's okay to get lost, it's okay to get lost"; it happens to me all the time! But I always find my way out of it, which is the good news, lol. I guess I can never tease my good friend Katy about her navigation skills again! Anyhow, with the shopping I found a few souvenirs for people, and then I located a great place to try another strange food before my train back to Montegrotto, called "trippa". We'd call it chopped up cow's stomach (tripe), boiled, sliced and put in a bun with hot chili sauce, and it's served at a "trippaio", or a mobile stand. The trippaio I went to was at the Piazza Sant'Ambrogio, where I sat alongside a couple and some old and middle-aged men at bar stools propped around the cart. The old guy making the tripe paninis was awesome and could justly be described as a down-to-earth jolly man. Plus he made a killer tripe panini that I had been weary of before. Never be afraid to try something new!

Leaving Florence was sad, but the rest of the week had its own surprises. For instance, I found a place to volunteer in Padova, a 10-min train ride from my apartment. The program administrator, Paola, runs an organization aimed at overcoming those stereotypes we tend to have of one another based on origin and language barriers. Its an independent program called XENA and has approximately 200 members in its online database, but only around 30 members that attend classes and activities in the Padova location. She wants me to run an English conversation table once a week with other foreigners and Italians who want to learn English, and the only trick now is making it work with my schedule, since the next 2 months will be Germany, Turkey and a visit from the parents. Really hope it can happen. Also while searching for volunteer work, I also met a musician named Sergio via the website idealist.org, who recommended Paola's organization to me and then invited me to a fundraiser show sponsored by an NGO that worked with people with mental disabilities. His band was great and I met some more volunteers in the area. We have a plan to meet next week for a coffee to discuss more options for volunteering in Padova and Montegrotto Terme, and maybe elsewhere also, since I found out he had just returned from volunteer work in Peru. Like I said, it was a "breakthrough" week, this time as I met some Italians with similar career and volunteer interests to my own.

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Photos

Monastery
a good bike ride outside of Montegrotto Terme

Arena di Verona
Inside view

Arena di Verona
outside view

Firenze
as seen from the Piazza Michelangelo

Florence
Crossing from the hills into town, over the Vecchio Bridge

David
Not the real David, but one of his two duplicates located in Florence.

Comments

[Mom]

Your future
I tell you - I think your future is in being a travel writer. Fun to read. Love you.

[dad]

kat, you have a talent
Sweetie, you are a compelling writer. i cried when I read this and I thought about what if I did not know the author. I would stil have cried. You have a talent here. I look forward to seeing where this goes. I love you and thank you for such a fun experience. Dad