Blogs from Emilia-Romagna, Italy, Europe - page 35

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Europe » Italy » Emilia-Romagna » Parma July 29th 2007

A butterfly, white and the size of my palm, landed in my hair last night. I see them flutter over the field of wild blue flowers behind the caravan. The green lizards are cute as they scamper into absurd hiding places. The flies, mosquitoes, and all flying insects are dumb, persistent, and aggravating. And while its been at least 35 degrees all week, the sky is cloudy and the horizons hidden. Only the valleys below are visible and to snap pictures is to see only what I can barely see with my own eyes. I prefer the sounds here as opposed to the view. Birds chirping, the wind, quiet, crickets, radio Rai Uno (like npr), chickens, cows, sheep. Creeping bushes brushing against the caravan begging to get in or push us over. Not too mention Gianluca’s ... read more

Europe » Italy » Emilia-Romagna » Parma July 28th 2007

Today Kim and I cleaned the lab, house, and store after shaking plum trees and collecting chard. We finished around 11:30 and without Iris and Gianluca around, we rested. When they returned we ate spaghetti with mussels, clams, calamari, and shrimp accompanied by a sauce of lemon juice, tomatoes, and parsley. After lunch we listed to Iris translate the guilt-laden letters of Kim’s great-great grandmother to her son, who apparently never wrote. We listened to the letter of a nun, pleading for financial assistance for her orphanage, a woman who had befriended and reconverted the old woman back to Catholicism. During the drunken ramblings of the third letter I excused myself. I picked up my book and read myself into a brief twenty minute nap. But the heat of the sun in late July and approaching ... read more

Europe » Italy » Emilia-Romagna » Parma July 27th 2007

Kim and I worked hard today. We cleaned a lot of wild herbs, and scary thorny poisonous weeds. I helped Iris prepare dinner for fourteen; two legs of lamb roasted with garlic and rosemary, along side potatoes, pumpkin, onion, carrots, zucchini, eggplant, and salt. We made fresh pasta tagliatelli with tomatoes, black olives, lemon, oil, and dried red pepper. We made testarone (a plate of Toscana but found nearby here). Its a pasta, water and flour, thinly poured and cooked in a pan like crepes, then cut into pieces and boiled for 30 seconds, tossed in pesto and delicious. Easy. She made a minestre of zucchini, basil, water, oil- enough and divine. Tonight I learned that Sita died yesterday. I called Scott and he sounded despondent, she’s been his baby puppy for four years, its a ... read more

Europe » Italy » Emilia-Romagna » Parma July 26th 2007

Today is Thursday, and it is the fourth day here in Gotra. I like this place, it has its own beauty. Different as usual, but the people have made impressions of being sweet and kind. Borgotaro is a little town, without an internet point, but stores for just about everything else. Yesterday Kim and I went to Borgotaro and I bought the tickets for the ferry to Croatia, a bathing suit, a beach towel, and a small bag to put my stuff in for the sailboat. Yesterday Iris and Gianluca left for the beach and returned around noon today. Anyway, I’m sitting at a bar after my first time driving a scooter on the hilly narrow Italian country roads. I was terrified at first, and if it weren’t for the fact that the moto is a ... read more

Europe » Italy » Emilia-Romagna » Bologna July 25th 2007

So I missed another bus which in turn caused me to miss my train from Bologna to Milan. So now, I’m just typing away in one of the waiting areas with my buddy, Cliff. It doesn’t even faze me anymore. And you must realize, that I do a lot of planning (like elaborate excel spreadsheets of exact arrival/departure times and buying tickets well in advance, I spend more time doing this over anything else) but I’ve learned something about life; as much as you try to control different areas of your life, there are some things that just are up to fortune, whether you believe in it or not. In the beginning of the trip, I would get really upset about missing trains and how unreliable buses/taxis/trains (they have strikes ALL the time) can be at ... read more
Prison
Ducati Factory
Humble Beginnings

Europe » Italy » Emilia-Romagna » Rimini July 19th 2007

I've been visiting Rimini, on Italy's Adriatic coast, on-and-off for ten years. My first visit there was completely by chance, expecting to find a high-rise beach resort monstrosity but in desparate need of a sea breeze, I ventured from nearby Bologna. Arriving, I took a wrong turn, and ended up in the historic town centre, rather than the beach front - a fortuitous move, as otherwise I might have missed the roman ruins, and renaissance buildings that give Rimini its own particular charm. Here's an article I've written which sums up Rimini's dual personality from a historical perspective: Who knows what Sigismondo Malatesta, the famous 15th Century Lord of Rimini(and original 'renaissance man', as described by American poet Ezra Pound), would make of his city were he to return today. Apart from the obvious differences ... read more
RECOVERED
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Europe » Italy » Emilia-Romagna » Bologna July 14th 2007

There’s a field in front of the house where the lavender was that I like to escape to. I like to make phone calls and stare at the steep valley below. A large stone cliff peaks out of the trees and the fields in the valley make waves with the winds; a rock formation below looks like an old dormant volcano, and the Tuscan hills are a magnificent back drop. But the beautiful scenery doesn’t make up for the unsettled feelings in my gut and heart. I’m leaving this place and it will all work out. Gaggio Montana offers me nothing but stress and heartbreak. There are 35 screaming Italian babies and I have two wisdom teeth coming in. I'm packed and leaving for my uncle David's house tomorrow morning.... read more

Europe » Italy » Emilia-Romagna » Bologna July 10th 2007

Under a cherry tree facing a cherry tree. Duroni, Amerene. A bright white ladder, green green grass. And the fresh air of the Italian countryside after and during brief rain showers. The raindrops fall from the sky. Illuminated by the sun’s rays like lightly falling dust particles. The church bell rings in Affrico. A tractor peters down the one road. I have some internal chaos brewing that does not fit in with the serenity of this place. The warmth of the family has not thawed my freezing toes or fingers. Boh, day by day something changes. Stability doesn’t exist inside or out; and there is one beat for every two in my heart that grows fonder of this or that. A fondness which will have a permanence when eventually the things I adore are gone. The ... read more

Europe » Italy » Emilia-Romagna » Bologna July 4th 2007

It may seem silly to travel to a city for the sole purpose of eating one dinner, but that is how I roll. Bologna has a reputation for being the best food city in a country that loves to eat. Beyond the food, it was nice to be in a part of Italy that was void of famous sites and the requisite tourists. Bologna has a gritter feel than the other cities in Italy that we have visitied. The first local we saw when we exited the train station was a man with his entire face covered in tattoos. Those of you than know me well know I love face tats, so it was really a home coming of sorts. Dinner did not disappoint. We knew from the start that we were in for a ... read more
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Europe » Italy » Emilia-Romagna June 22nd 2007

After 18 months on the road, I finally made it to Europe. My delirious flight from Kuala Lumpur to Vienna went smoothly, after fortunately realizing at the last minute that it left at 2 am on June 3, not 2 pm. Missing that flight would have been such a pain in the ass, not to mention costly. It was a little sad and, oddly enough, a bit intimidating to be leaving Asia. But of course at the same time I was also really excited to get to Europe and it hasn't let me down. It's pretty cool to have a couple of months to do whatever the hell you want on an entire continent. The mentality of travellers in Europe is a bit different than Asia though. Most people in Asia/Australia/New Zealand are long term travellers ... read more
Dubai Airport
Geography
Vienna




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