Blogs from Paderno del Grappa, Veneto, Italy, Europe - page 2

After class today, I hopped in the car and headed to Venice to pick up my dad from the Marco Polo Airport in Venice. It was a peaceful, stress-free drive. I cannot say the same about the return trip. All was fine at the airport. We got his bags in the car. We paid our parking toll. We even got on the Autostrada without incident. But then the heavens opened up for a torrential downpour. It got so bad on the way back, that all traffic slowed to about 30-40 km/hr. At one point it even hailed! Eventually things cleared up enough that I could stop focusing all my energies on driving and spend time talking with my dad about his trip. On the way back to Paderno, we stopped in Castelfranco for lunch. We ate ... read more

This morning I started my day by shopping at the open air market in Crespano. It runs only on Sundays and is a mix of part farmer’s market, part flea market, and part travelling Woolworth’s. (Remember that place??) I heard that Crespano Market was quite the shopping experience. But I had no idea. Cars were parked at least a kilometer down the road—and this was early in the morning. Parking was much crazier later on. The vendors lined up along the streets of Crespano, selling everything from fresh octopus to cheap shoes. I thought that I would walk through it and be back home in a half hour or so. Clearly, I was wrong. Strung end to end, there were probably close to a couple kilometers of stations that wove up and down city streets. Foods ... read more

I am getting into a routine here in Paderno: waking early, eating breakfast at the cafeteria, doing final preparations for my class, teaching until siesta, going hungry during siesta (because everything is closed), eating after siesta (when everything opens again), chatting with my colleagues, exploring travel options, and heading home to unwind and write for my blog. Today I threw in a little twist. While recharging my camera batteries, I must have fried the battery charger somehow. I knew I could find a battery charger at Familia in Fonte (for €20). And I knew the same store also carried irons. (I need one of those, too, as there is no such thing as “tumble dry” in northern Italy. They believe in washers, but not dryers.) But I remembered irons being quite expensive there (about €30, maybe ... read more

All I can say is, “What a day!” It was a flurry of activity from sun-up to sun-down. I suppose it didn’t help much that I only got about four hours of sleep last night. And then I forgot to eat breakfast. Not a good way to start the first day of the semester. But it wasn’t long before my enthusiasm took over for my lack of energy. The day started with faculty orientation. I made a pit stop at the tabacchi shop, hoping to find a single serving bottle of OJ and one of those big, cello-wrapped muffins that are in every gas station/convenience store/vending machine in the U.S. But I was clearly wrong again in my assumptions. The closest thing to a single serving of OJ was a pesca drink (not too bad of ... read more

It was back to sunny skies today. I was up bright and early, feeling like my internal clock has been set to Italy time (7 hours ahead of Nebraska). I started this morning by sneaking into the computer lab to send some emails and post my journal entries to my travel blog. Then it was back to Familia in Forte for more groceries and gadgets. But this time I had more of a plan. Still not a great plan, but now I have a few more things to eat besides PB&J and corn flakes. And I have a pathetic, battery-operated alarm clock. But it was only €5. So I can’t complain too much. The one story-worthy event of the day occurred when I headed back to campus. I was under the impression that students were supposed ... read more