A day in Bologna

Bologna

I finally got to Bologna yesterday! Something to check off my list...

The train ride was surprisingly short (about an hour including changeover at Prato Centrale) and cheap (7 euros). The train ride from Prato to Bologna was mostly through tunnels, as you essentially need to go through mountains to get there. There was a guy on the train, typical Italian, wearing pink shorts and a purple top (not that there's anything wrong with that, it was just memorable) and he was trying to have a phone conversation and kept stalking back and forth from one end of the train to the other trying to get service. He also had an unlit cigarette hanging from his mouth for most of the trip. I wanted to tell him "dude... you know we won't be arrive for another half hour, put the cigarette down and chill out!".

The city of Bologna is beautiful, with tons of public art and impressive statues, and with a unique tendency towards covered walkways with vaulted arched ceilings, rather than regular sidewalks. The city also had great shopping (hello new shoes) and I found the people (in stores, restaurants, on the streets) to be noticeably more pleasant than in other Italian cities. Unfortunately my lunch was a bit disappointing... I trusted Lonely Planet and went to a place called Osteria de Poeti, which had a neat location in the basement of an old wine cellar. But something felt a bit off when I entered... I quickly realized it was the fact that they were playing "Sweet Home Alabama" on the speakers... hmmmm... And my meal wasn't that great. I made up for it later though...

I also checked out the Museo Civico's collection of art, which was very nice. I was disappointed that the archaeological museum was closed for no apparent reason... I was looking forward to going asI hear that they have an impressive collection of Egyptian and Etruscan artifacts.

At about 5pm I decided it was time to extract myself from Bologna (the fact that I was seriously contemplating buying a pair of boots for 550 euros was a pretty good indicator that it was time to leave). I took the train to Florence and met Katie who had done a bit of shopping at H&M, and after we showed each other our purchases, we headed to the bridge beside Ponte Vecchio (the old bridge of Florence... the only one to survive WWII) to enjoy a bottle of bubbly. It's really fun to have wine outside in Florence (or anywhere in Italy/Europe) since there are so many tourists around who can't believe that you can legally drink in the streets and therefore think of you as, for lack of a better term, super cool. A lot of Americans struck up conversations with us, including a family from California who had just arrived that morning... They also asked for restaurant recommendations. I hope they found Piazza Santo Spirito and had a good meal there!

After our wine, we decided it was time for dinner. We decided to try Pizzeria O'Vesuvio, which is the pizzeria where the Jersey Shore cast was "working" (...catch all their thrilling Florence adventures next season... or don't...). I'd heard that O'Vesuvio is actually the best pizza in Florence, but was rather skeptical... anywhere that's been tainted by Jersey Shore has to be dismal. But Oh. My. Gosh. That pizza was indescribable. I didn't even know pizza had the ability to BE so good. It changed my life... everything else that has ever happened to me, or will ever happen to me, will now be categorized as pre-pizza, or post-pizza. Post-pizza Ally is a new woman, a woman who sees the potential beauty in everything, especially cheesy doughy messes. I'm getting emotional just thinking about it. I don't know why Florence residents would ever eat anywhere else!

Still reeling from our pizza experience, we ran to the train station to hop the train to Prato, as Miranda had kindly offered to let us stay the night. Once in Prato we grabbed a beer at a very cool bar in a very old grotto-like space, and then I located an exceptional gelato place... their flavors were nothing extraordinary, but the texture was superb! And then we called it a night.

Bologna "sidewalks" & graffiti

Bologna

Bologna's art collection at the Museo Civico

Italians know how to make awesome door hardware!

Statues in Bologna

Part of a series of statues at the Museo Civico in Bologna

Fountain of Neptune

Bologna

Sculptures in Bologna

Bologna

Ponte Vecchio behind us

Pizza bliss

Best Pizza of Life

A Lesson Learned

So I've been trying to decide for a while what I should write for my required post titled "A Lesson Learned". Naturally I have lots to choose from, mostly having to do with going out, interacting with certain types of people, having an effective buddy system... but I'm sure my parents don't want to hear about that.

So instead I want to share a valuable little factoid I've learned this week that may be useful for many of the other interns to know. I've been finding that when I give tours the morning after having some wine or beer that I get absolutely eaten alive by mosquitoes, when normally I get through the tour with little more than a bite or two. I did a little research and found this study that confirms that yes, there is a definite correlation between alcohol consumption and mosquito attraction. So all you interns in countries where mosquito-born diseases are a real threat, double up on the bug spray after a night of being festive!

All Dressed Up and Nowhere to go...

What a frustrating day! So it's Sunday, AKA my only day off, and I had grandiose dreams of taking the train to Bologna 1.5 hours away and sightseeing for the day, like I mentioned in my recent blog post where I talked about how I plan to use all my free time from now on seeing new cities. So I wake up early, straighten my hair, walk 15 minutes down the driveway, wait 20 minutes for the bus to Pistoia, walk 15 minutes to the train station, and discover that all the trains are cancelled. Thanks TrenItalia. God forbid you post that information on your website so maybe I would have found out this morning when I checked the schedule rather than after an epic journey to the station. Katie's bummed out too... she was supposed to take the train into Florence for lunch with a family friend.

So there goes my plan for the day of walking around beautiful Bologna, getting great pictures, eating great food... Instead, my day will now involve watching the second half of season 3 of Battlestar Galactica, arguing with Katie about who's hotter, Anders or Adama (Anders... duh), and eating whatever we can find in our bare cupboards (looks like we've got red wine, white wine, cookies, and mini pepperoni sticks). I've included some images below to illustrate the situation.

All dressed up and ready to head out to Bologna!

What my day has become...

Fun day in Florence

Fountain of Neptune in Boboli Gardens

Yesterday katie and I went to Florence after a great short tour in the morning (massive english-speaking group of art deans from around the world that we split up and took around at the same time). When we got to Florence we got gelato (the new flavour I tried was Mille Foglie, basically like crushed up phyllo pastry in ice cream), and then went to see the Boboli gardens and Bardini gardens... a big florence site that neither of us has been to before. We figured we probably should go. It was very pretty, but extremely exhausting in the blazing sun and after not too long we were all gardened out. 

Then we went and got cannoli and then met up with Katie's new friend Francis that she met on my birthday, and his very nice friend Greg who is doing a trip around Italy and Turkey and was in Florence just for the day & night. Francis has been working in florence for 2 years as a program director for Rutgers' study abroad program but it just got cancelled so he's out of a job and is moving back to NYC on monday so yesterday he was moving all of his stuff. The four of us walked around a bit and then i went off for about half an hour to see a museum  exhibition of art works by Picasso, Dali, and Miro which was cool (Katie and Francis had already seen it last week so thats why they didn't come). I regrouped with Greg, Katie and Francis who had gone to Francis' apartment to grab his TV and a frying pan to take to his other friend Nick's house.

After that errand was done, the 5 of us went to a bar and had some beers and then the 3 guys went off to some dinner at a friend's house and Katie and I went for INDIAN FOOOOOD. The only thing that tastes better than Indian food, is Indian food when you haven't had any for several months! Incredible. Satiated, we went down to the Arno (the river that runs through Florence) to watch some fireworks (I don't remember the occasion).

Indian fooooood!

Statue outside of Palazzo Pitti

Statue in Boboli Gardens

Statue in Boboli Gardens

Fountain behind Palazzo Pitti

Statue in Bardini Gardens

Statue in Bardini Gardens

View from Bardini Gardens

Bardini Gardens

My new gal pal in Bardini Gardens

Canine friend in Bardini Gardens

We found the Hossein Golba Lover's Fountains in Boboli Gardens! (We have the same series of fountains at Celle. These are the only contemporary permanent work in the Boboli Gardens)

YIIP Questions

I was just looking through the York International Internship Program Blog (basically the centralized starting point for all of the interns' blogs) and I saw that they people at YIIP posed some new questions to us, which I will attempt to answer here:

1) What are some of the big differences you are noticing between Canada and your host country?

Well for one thing, the day plays out much differently. A huge emphasis is placed on lunch (during which ALL stores and restaurants close), and quite often a nap after lunch. Then the day resumes at 3pm or so, and carries on until 11pm, midnight, or later. We regularly hear children out playing past 11pm on weeknights! The approach to children is different here too. Parents seem less strict, and children are generally allowed to run around and be little hellions even at fancy restaurants, at airports, etc. And of course there are the males... very pushy. A message to all you shy, awkward Canadian boys... Never change!

Fashion is different here too. A lot of things most Canadians would never be caught dead in are totally alright here. Like fanny packs. And rhinestoned sequined cartoon character t-shirts. And man-pris. And parachute pants. And girls wearing knee-high leather cowboy-style boots with shorts when it's upwards of 35˚C out. Oh, and guys shaving their legs before the beach. Oh, and women not shaving at all.

2) For those of you in countries where smoking is allowed in the office, restaurants, everywhere, does it seem odd to you?

Not really... I've done enough travelling around Europe and other countries where smoking is more permitted than it is in Canada. It's just sort of a cultural thing like their coffee-drinking habits, or their preference for fizzy water vs. flat water.

3) Are you treated differently / given special treatment because you are North American or Canadian?

Yes. Stared at on the bus. Ogled in the streets. I'm assuming it's because of my pasty white skin and my obvious non-Italian fashion sense? Visitors to the collection always tell me I need to get a tan (to which I respond "this IS my tan! I'm off-white instead of eggshell!"). Italians also constantly make fun of the way I pronounce some things and the way I roll my Rrrr's. But it's not like I get hugely different treatment. The fact that I speak decent Italian puts me one step above the tourists. And as soon as locals hear where I'm working, they are rather impressed.

4) Do you feel more at home now in your host country or do you still feel like a visitor?

I feel very much at home! Katie and I were talking about it the other day, and we both feel like, rather than gradually getting homesick, we're just feeling more and more comfortable being here. We know the bus schedule, we know the train system, we have our favourite stores and regular restaurants and bars. We have friends here and know some of the locals. I'm at the point where I can't get into a taxi in Pistoia without the driver remembering me from another time.

5) Have you had any cravings since you have been abroad? Has it been easy to satisfy those cravings?

YES, and NO! I'm desperately craving chicken wings, Strongbow cider, and Indian food. The wings have been the hardest to find. When I went to Rome on June 3rd, I found an Irish pub that served chicken wings and I felt like I'd died and gone to heaven. And they weren't even that good! A message to all my friends: August 18th, the day after I get back, we are going to Beaver and Bulldog. Pen it in.

That Irish pub also had Magners Cider, which was great to have after having nothing but wine for a month. As for the Indian food, there are some Indian restaurants around... one in Pistoia and a couple in Florence. I've made three attempts now to get to ones in Florence, but my timing is always horrendous... I show up just after they've stopped lunch service. Tomorrow I'm going to Florence after work JUST to get to Indian food. I am not making any other plans. I am getting Indian food. Maybe I'll see the Boboli and/or Bardini gardens. But not if it interferes with Indian food. If I have room after Indian food, maybe I'll get a cannoli. Or maybe I'll just get more naan, roll it in a tube, and fill it with some saag paneer.

I don't know if this counts as a craving, but I'm also desperately missing my puppy Cornelius (see pictures below). My mom's keeping me supplied with photos though, and hopefully this week she'll figure out Skype so I can Skype with him (I've done it before... it's adorable how confused he gets by my sudden 2-dimensionality. "Ally! Whatcha doin' in that flat box?!")

6) Have you splurged on anything since you have been abroad?

I've been pretty good compared to how I usually spend, but my trip to croatia was a bit of a splurge. The flight wasn't super cheap, but it was definitely worth it! Croatia was incredible! I splurged a bit in Croatia too... I think I spent more money in my first hour in Split than I did in my first month in Italy. Got myself a nice little pink leather diesel wallet, some ceramic salt and pepper shakers (they're two sailors and they sit in a little ceramic rowboat), a fridge magnet, a leather studded bracelet... The other day I splurged a bit on myself was my birthday in Florence. I got myself a really funky magenta leather studded belt from a great store called Fornerina, some jewelry from a cute store near the station, a dress from H&M, a top from OVS... So long story short, I've splurged a bit on clothes and jewelry, but considering it was only twice in 2 months, I guess it's not that bad. Otherwise, all my money is going towards travelling (which I'm trying to do a lot of, but inexpensively) and food (I was raised to appreciate a good meal. I've been appreciating many). Oh, and I also splurged on a mani-pedi the other day as well as a pedi in Croatia, but it could be argue that the pedicures were 100% necessary... after a couple days on the job here at Celle, with all the walking around, my feet look like veritable mangled ogre feet. Yuck.

7) Is there anything you have abroad that you wish Canada had?

Five litre jugs of wine for 5 euros ($7). And a chocolate shop at the foot of my driveway. And lemon trees outside my apartment with fresh lemons whenever I want them.

8) Are you addressed with new terms of respect?

In Italian, the formal way to address someone (the formal way of saying "you") is to say "Lei", which means "she". So regardless of whether you are speaking to a man or woman to whom you need to speak formally, you use "Lei". For example, if you are saying "you are very kind", you say "Lei è molto gentile" which translates to "She is very kind". It's very confusing. It's even more confusing when people on my tours address me this way, especially since they're usually older than me! It's sort of neat how this position (tour guide of a very famous art collection) accords me a higher status of sorts.

The wings and Magners I got in Rome

Cornelius on his throne

Cornelius messing up the garden

Cornelius playing with a giant bumble bee

5L 5-euro wine

Turning Point

I've decided it's time for another required post... the topic: Turning Point.

I'm essentially using this post as an announcement that I've decided I'm going to hold myself accountable for seeing as much as possible while I'm here. The last time I was in Italy a few years ago, I barely left Florence (except for a couple day trips to Chianti, Siena, Pisa, and a weekend in Rome) because it was just too stifling hot to get up the energy to go further afield. As a result, I passed on trips to Cinque Terre and Venice.

This time, I've also been sticking fairly close to my home base in Pistoia, as it is very remote here and takes quite a bit of time and effort to get anywhere. Although I have gotten away a few times, so far to Croatia, Florence, Rome, Viareggio and Lucca, I have decided that from this point onwards I'm going to make the effort to see as many places as possible (as soon as possible... the deadly weather is imminent!).

The next couple weekends I'm going to make it my mission to get to Bologna, Parma, and possibly Perugia (although the train schedule to Perugia will make it a bit of a hassle). By the end of July I aim to have made it to Venice and Cinque Terre. Then in August I'll be able to knock Palermo and Milan off my list!

Parents in Italia

My parents and their friends during their tour of Celle

This past week my genitori (parents) were visiting Italy with their friends. It wasn't their first time in Italy, so rather than racing around to see the sites, they were able to just relax and enjoy the tuscan lifestyle for a few days. They stayed at a beautiful villa about 15 minutes from where I'm living, named Villa San Simone. On their first day they picked me up and took me for groceries (a MASSIVE favor considering what a mission it is to get groceries here) and then I went back to Villa San Simone for dinner with them. The couple who owns the Villa, Sandro and Lydia, are extremely nice, and the dinner that Lydia cooked for us was incredible. Zucchini risotto, melon & prosciutto, flaky bread sticks, a variety of cheeses, caprese salad, onion frittata (best frittata I've ever had) and so much more. Dessert was homemade yogurt gelato, and I would sell my right arm to have some more. It was incredible!

Another day of my parents' visit, after I finished work for the day, I joined them in an afternoon trip to the walled city of Lucca, which was very pretty.

On the thursday, my parents and their friends John & June came to Villa Celle for a tour of the collection. They thoroughly enjoyed it, and afterwards we had lunch in the house with Katie and Miranda and Signor Gori. It was cool that my parents got to see first hand where I've been living and working, and who I've been living and working with.

On Friday I was supposed to go to a big lunch with my parents at a big farm called La Petraia in Radda in Chianti (about 2 hours from here). Unfortunately, though, I had a dental problem (a piece of my tooth broke off) and the only time I could get in to see the dentist (Signor Gori's daughter) was Friday afternoon, so I had to miss lunch, which was unfortunate because A) as nice as Signor Gori's daughter Patrizia is, going to the dentist is never fun, B) I passed out when she started the reconstruction surgery... soooo embarrassing, and C) my parents informed me that the lunch at La Petraia was THE MOST incredible meal they have EVER had.

Last night was my parents' last night in Italy and they spent the night at their favourite hotel in Florence, Antica Torre di via Tornabuoni. Via Tornabuoni is Florence's posh shopping street (Tiffany & Co, Gucci, etc.) and the hotel is as nice as you would expect from that area. I joined them in the evening for a buffet dinner on the rooftop terrace of the hotel (see pictures below).

Now they're gone and I'm facing a busy week at work! Well... not so much busy as tedious. I'm burning 20GB of documents and images onto DVD, and the computer is taking it's sweet time....

Ciao!

Graffiti in Lucca

Church in Lucca

My mom & John during their tour of Celle

My parents during their tour of Celle

My parents and their friends during their tour of Celle

View of Florence from Terrace of Antica Torre Tornabuoni

View of Florence from Terrace of Antica Torre Tornabuoni

Earthquake!

I know it's been a while since I posted... just sort of been waiting for something exciting to happen. 30 minutes ago I felt my first terremoto (earthquake)! So I guess that qualifies. According to my research, it was a magnitude of 3.6, so nothing dangerous, just pretty cool.

Movement

So it's time for another one of my required blog posts. I've been having trouble deciding which topic to choose... I'd like to be able to write something deep and insightful, but after reading some of my fellow interns' blogs (like Lynsey's post from Uganda that I read this morning... very touching), I know I'll have a hard time competing.

So instead, I've decided to write some of my observations pertaining to movement. More specifically, I've realized that a person's capacity for movement will very often surprise you. My job is physically demanding. I give 3-5hour tours of a 60-acre property. The park where the art works are located is gorgeous, hilly, with steep, rocky, often precarious terrain. Before arriving here, I tried to hit the gym fairly regularly and do hot yoga as often as possible, but I certainly wouldn't consider myself to be a very active person. However, I've really appreciated the change of lifestyle, and I really enjoy the changes I see in myself... not only how I look, but also how I feel. Near the end of the first few tours I followed Miranda on, I could scarcely absorb a word she said because I was so incredibly exhausted from the walk. Now I could (and sometimes have to) run circles around my groups right until the end.

Other people often surprise me too. Especially after this week, I've learned to stop judging books by their covers. Many of my first tours were all very elderly people. I'd start the tour out with a very negative mindset, thinking "oh dear god this is going to take until tomorrow". But the very oldest visitors are often the best! No complaining, can keep up with my pace... it's great! One very elderly woman early on was wearing a thick wool jacket and thick wool full-length skirt, and the heat was sweltering that day. She never made a peep about being uncomfortable.

On the other hand, the worst visitors seem to be the ones you'd expect to still be relatively fit, between the ages of 30-50. It's been a real test of my patience, dealing with people in this age group who complain like small children. I begin each tour by clearly stating that the tours are expected to last 5 hours, but I hope we can finish it in 3-4 hours. These visitors then proceed to ask me a hundred more times over the course of the tour "how long will this take?", "are we almost done?", "are we halfway yet?", "how much longer?", and "how many more art works?". Yesterday I actually had a woman take me aside and yell at me that the tour is too long. This is especially aggravating considering that in our email correspondence with all visitors, when we confirm their visits, we write a 2-line email. The first line says "your appointment is for such and such day and time", and the second line says "it is imperative that all members of your group read the page on our website titled How To Visit". This webpage clearly outlines the duration and physically demanding nature of the visit. But no one ever seems to read it. Ever. This is most problematic when halfway through a tour, people come up to me and say "I can't do anymore I need to go home" and I have to explain "there's no way you'll ever find your way back without me. You have to finish what you signed up for".

Finally, as mentioned above, I've had some of my most surprising experiences this week. On thursday a couple showed up for their tour with a small child (we clearly state online that the visits are not for children). This kid was 5, and I was absolutely dreading the visit because I had no clue how she would be able to finish. In the end, though, she made it the entire way without whining once! And then yesterday a group arrived with one very elderly woman in a wheelchair. I almost started to cry, I honestly had no idea how they expected her to do the tour. As it was, she had to miss a lot of things and take alternate routes to meet up with us, and it was a bit aggravating for me trying to co-ordinate that while also trying to lead my tour (which was full of hard-core whiners), but that lady and her wheel-chair pushing friend definitely surprised me in their ability to make it through the park. The other visitors also surprised me in their willingness to help lift her over obstacles.

The moral of the story is, I now aim to show people that they are a lot more capable than they think they are.

Croatia!

Promenade in Split

Just back from Croatia today! I had a blast...

Last Friday night I went into Rome and spent the night at a hotel so I could get to the airport in the morning for my flight. In the evening, even though I've already seen all the Rome sights 3 years ago, I did a super quick tour to see them all again... you know... to see if anything's changed. (It hasn't by the way. Colloseum, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Pantheon... all prettymuch as they were before.) I also found an Irish pub and had some much-needed CHICKEN WINGS!

Saturday morning I flew to Split, Croatia, and had about the front quarter of the plane to myself. I cabbed from the airport into town, and checked into my awesome hostel. It turned out that I had the entire 8-person room to myself! (And let me tell you, it was dirt cheap!) I spent the entire afternoon wandering the small but vibrant old part of Split, which is enclosed in the walls of Diocletian's Palace. I also toured the basement rooms of the palace. And shopped. Such great shopping. Split is just awesome in general. Like the beauty of Greece meets the lifestyle of Italy, but with less sketchy people. Oh, but there's definitely some serious homophobia in Croatia (see graffiti picture below). 

That night I had a rather dissapointing, yet very large dinner at my hotel restaurant. Afterwards, I wanted to go out for some nightlife because it was Saturday, but I was so stuffed, I ended up going for a nap and not waking up until the next morning. Sad eh? I didn't even feel too bad about it though... that was a great sleep.

Sunday I went to the beach and got my first sunburn of the year (a real doozy) and the best hamburger of my life. Croatians are hilarious. They all play handball in the water... I wouldn't have thought of handball as a sport well-suited to an ocean venue.

In the evening I headed to a restaurant that's highly rated in Split for authentic Croatian food. I got beef in a red wine - prune sauce with homemade potato dumplings. Delicious! Afterwards I went to my hotel bar/patio and did some reading, until a bit later when I met some English guys who work for a private yacht company (talk about an awesome job!). It was their first day off in several weeks and we had a lot of fun. Ended up heading to a club at Bacvice Beach where we were told by both a bartender and a taxi driver that we'd have a lot of fun. You'll see from the below picture just how much fun was had...

Monday morning I had plans to take a ferry to a nearby island, so at 10am I set out to do so. Halfway to the ferry I ran into my new English friends who told me that their boss owns the Split Radisson Blu and that they were headed down there for a day of spa/pool. I couldn't decline the invitation. Needless to say we had an awesome day of spa treatments (I have never needed a pedicure so bad), sunbathing (or shade-bathing, since I was so burnt from the day before) and pool. When we finally dragged ourselves away, we went back into old Split for a good dinner (more steak) and then headed to a popular local bar where we met an entertaining group of American girls and Croatian guys who talked the American girls' ears off about the process of making boats (complete with step by step photos of the process on one guy's iPhone... I felt really bad for those girls!).

Tuesday was my last day, and I caught the ferry out to Hvar Island, a 2 hour trip. It was a beautiful trip, although I wish I'd done some more planning ahead. If I had, I would have realized that Hvar is definitely a place for an overnight trip. But I still enjoyed it. I just went into Stari Grad (the Old Town) which was tiny but super adorable. I had an INCREDIBLE steak (see a pattern here?) and read an entire book by the dock (Jodi Picoult, time to change up your plotlines a bit, dontcha think?). I ferried back to Split as the sun was setting, had a great lasagna dinner, and then called it an early night since I had to get up so early today to fly out, and then take 3 trains and a cab to get back home. Now I'm happy to be back in my Italian apartment, despite the terrible beds and the fact that apparently our water has turned brown due to the excessive rain this area's been getting. Home sweet home.

Building in Rome

Colloseum

Wings and Magners! I'm in heaven!

Pantheon

My hostel room in Split

This is what was outside all the rooms at my hostel, on the floor (all the room numbers are dates... get it?)

Bacvice beach in Split

Numerous handball games at Bacvice beach in Split

Split

Mmmmm steak and potato dumplings

Clubbing at Bacvice on a Sunday...

Radisson Blu, Split!

Church in Split

Laundry in Split

Statue in Split

Homophobic graffiti in Split...

A bride getting pictures at Diocletian's Palace

Looking downstairs at my hostel towards the bar

View of Split from the ferry

Stari Grad, Hvar Island

Stari Grad, Hvar Island