Picture of the Week: Crutches

My swollen ankle and the wrist-high crutches I will be using for the next few weeks. More on my injury and the Italian healthcare system later on this week.

Picture of the Week: Graz Graffiti

Some interesting graffiti along the Mur River in Graz, Austria.

Revisiting Venice

The Cathedral of San Marco in Venice. 

There are some destinations which are 'must-sees' like the Pyramids and Grand Canyon that, no matter how extraordinary, have not compelled me to even consider returning to visit. If I were to go back to Egypt, I would much rather see Luxor and Aswan and other places further south instead of revisiting Giza. Likewise with the Grand Canyon; I enjoy some of the National Parks just a bit to the north in Utah such as Zion and Bryce Canyon much more than the famous Arizona attraction.

But Venice for me is something completely different. I could return there every day and still find something new to see and experience. So far this year I have been to Venice about 7 or 8 times, which surprisingly is more than most of my classmates have done in their whole lives. Since for me it takes only an hour's train ride to get to La Serenissima, as Venice is affectionately called, there are times when I manage to head out there even after school and be home by nighttime. Truth be told, I never get tired of Venice - whether I am doing the regular tourist route or venturing off through unknown streets and canals trying to get lost, Venice never gets old.

Artists along the canal. 

Recently, I returned to Venice on a field trip. We did a pre-planned itinerary, meaning it was pretty fast-paced and we were not able to get intentionally lost, but we did see many churches and museums. After all, we were there with our Art History teacher. We started off at the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in the geographical center of Venice. After that we crossed the Rialto bridge and arrived to San Marco. We saw the interior of the Cathedral, then went up to the roof.

The view from the roof of San Marco.

Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in the San Polo district of Venice.

After that, we headed off towards the museums of l'Accademia which houses mainly Italian Renaissance art, which is what we are studying right now in Art History. We then went to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, which is a part of the large group of Modern Art museums. Despite being small, this museum had pieces by some very famous artists such as Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, and Max Ernst. And while my classmates were used to classic art styles, I had seen some modern art before and was not too taken aback by it. While they could perfectly analyze a piece by Raffaelo or Giovanni Bellini, I was the only one that could find any meaning in some of these modern works. 

So even though this time around I was not able to wander around Venice like I usually like to do, it was a great opportunity to see some interesting art and enhance my Venice experience. 

Picture of the Week: Il Duomo

The Milan Cathedral, affectionally called "Il Duomo" is one of Italy's most famous Gothic churches.

50 days left in Italy

Today is May 1st. Since my return for the United States is scheduled for June 19th, I have exactly 50 days left of my exchange. Every day continues to go faster, just when I wish it could go slower. Back in October and November, it was the other way around. I wanted time to pass a little quicker, but now, since the end is in sight, I wish I could slow things down a bit. With only fifty days left, I feel like I need to take full advantage of every hour I spend here in Italy.

Verona just an hour before sunset resembles how I feel about the remainder of my year abroad. While there is very little time left, there are still opportunities to reflect and take advantage of what I do still have left.

I plan to take maximum advantage of this month and a half to come, something which at previous times I have not done so well. I still have a few trips planned, but I also plan to use this time to further my relationships with people, make more friends, improve my Italian, grasp a better taste of the culture, and gain an even better sense of the world. I will probably be going to Rome in a few weeks, and then Florence once school ends in early June. I am still trying to finish strong at school, but am trying to balance studying with many other things.

So, even though I have very little time left, I am determined to make the most of it.

Josefov - Prague's Jewish Quarter

The cemetery in Prague's Jewish Quarter.

With winding narrow streets and a wide array of interesting buildings, Europe's most well-preserved Jewish ghetto is by far one of the most interesting things to see in Prague. With six synagogues and arguably the most impressive cemetery of its kind, this collection of historic sites lies in the very heart of Prague and the Czech Republic, both physically and symbolically. The first establishment of Jews in this area of Prague goes back to the 13th century, when they were ordered to leave their homes and settle down in a single, concentrated place. The main landmarks that should be seen in this large complex are the cemetery shown above, the Spanish Synagogue, and the Pinkas Synagogue. Even though I did not have a chance to visit it, I have heard that the Old-New Synagogue is also worth a visit due to its impressive Gothic architecture and its significance as the religious center for Prague's Jewish community.

The cemetery, which is part of the Jewish Museum, has over 12,000 visible tombstones, yet has an estimated 100,000 buried. The ramshackle way in which the graves are arranged adds even more to the intrigue of this site which was even spared by the Nazi occupation in order to keep it as a future museum of an "extinct culture". 

Unfortunately, photography was prohibited inside of the synagogues, so here goes another picture of the cemetery.

The Spanish Synagogue is also a must-see. Some even call it the most beautiful synagogue in all of Europe. With an almost Islamic architectural style, this synagogue truly stands out. But regardless of what others may say, my favorite synagogue to visit has to be the Pinkas Synagogue. It is remarkable in that it is home to about 80,000 inscriptions of the names of the Czech victims of the Holocaust. Sorted first by town, then by last name, and lastly by first name, it is amazing to see how many people within certain families were victim to this terrible event. The way in which all the writings on the walls look like golden paint from a distance really makes you think about the enormous number of people that died. 

A statue of Frank Kafka outside of the Jewish Museum. 

Easter and ... Little Easter

Apparently in Italy, Easter Sunday is not enough. Pasqua as they call it, usually involves a trip to the church in the morning, then a nice meal with family. Up until now, this pretty much resembles our traditions in America. Although they do not have Easter egg hunts (nor the Easter Bunny, for that matter), they do have large chocolate eggs with a toy inside. A kind of hybrid between a Hershey's bar and a piñata, a uovo di Pasqua typically gets shattered to pieces before unwrapped. This way, when it is actually opened, the child can quickly retrieve the sorpresa inside and everybody else can start eating bite-size pieces of chocolate from the shell.

This relatively small uovo di Pasqua was kicked into pieces when it still had its wrapper. From this we learned that smashing on the ground seems to have a better effect.

So even though they get to have loads of fun cracking open giant chocolate eggs, the entertainment does not stop there. Unlike in the United States, where the Monday after Easter is just another normal workday that happens to have a lot of candy left over from Easter egg hunts, in Italy, they celebrate Pasquetta. Literally, this means "Little Easter" and is a nice addition to a holiday that is typically family-oriented. While Easter Sunday is almost always spent at home or at a relative's house, Pasquetta is when young people go and celebrate Easter with their friends. Since this year Easter came late, the weather was nice enough to spend long hours outside, so my friends and I got together up in the hills and had a picnic. Apparently, other people were doing similar picnics or having a grigliata, which is more or less comparable to a barbecue. 

At our picnic everybody brought a dish from home to make for a nice large meal.

Like any good Italian picnic, this one included salami. And only one person who knew how to slice it the right way. 

After about two hours of sitting down on blankets eating our various delicacies, we played calcio (soccer) for a while, and then I showed them how to play kickball. For us Americans, it is quite a simple concept - it's just baseball except that you roll and kick the ball instead of pitch and hit. But for Italians who do not have this common baseball background, I had to start from scratch, explaining everything from the positions to the bases to strikes and outs and innings. They actually caught on pretty quickly and by the end some were even understanding the difference between tag-outs and force-outs. 


Once the afternoon started to turn into evening, we all went back to our blankets, one friend pulled out his guitar, and the rest of us sang along, played cards, and had a colomba di Pasqua which is a large, sweet bread made specifically and exclusively for Easter.


At around 7 PM we all went our separate ways and cringed at the fact that we had only the next day left of Easter vacation. Then it was back to school on Wednesday (today). 

Picture of the Week: Parco Querini

The center of Parco Querini, my favorite park in Vicenza. Recently, I have spent many of my afternoons here. 

Dinner at a Traditional Czech Restaurant

A week ago, I went to Prague to meet up with my mom, sister, and brother - who was on a school band trip. For the first day there, my mother and sister and I did the typical tourist itinerary for Prague, but the second day, we tagged along with my brother's band group, which gave us some time in downtown Prague in the morning, then took us to the cultural center outside of Prague where they were going to perform. The concert went well, and afterwards, they took us to a typical Czech restaurant in the Prague suburbs.

This sort of Bohemian bagpipe is made out of a rabbit.

I thought that it was pretty insane to expect a group of 50 people to fit in just about any European restaurant, but this establishment was ample enough for all of us, plus a large group of about 25 Japanese tourists. Right from the start, I could tell that this probably was not the way Czech people ate on a daily basis, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Inside there were many large, long tables and on one cleared end of the room, there was a musical trio playing traditional Bohemian music and a lady dressed in traditional garb singing in pitches higher than I knew existed.

They came around serving everybody some dumplings with cabbage and onions, while the singing lady entertained us for a good amount of time. The second plate was skewered meat flavored with lots of paprika and other Central European spices. By now, the singing lady had already stepped off the stage, being substituted by a dancing Gypsy couple. They were a very lively act, and even invited some of the audience to go up on stage with them. The victims included many students, the band director, some elderly Japanese women, and other miscellaneous guests. This is when the singing lady came back and got everybody moving.

My brother dancing with the Gypsy.

After finishing off our appetites with dessert and coffee, some of the musicians started going around the room with all sorts of instruments I had never seen, such as the bagpipe above. After about an hour of reveling, we finally went back to the hotel.

Even though this probably did not give us an accurate view of daily life in the Czech Republic, it was definitely a good time and certainly something I would recommend to future visitors.

Picture of the Week: Prague Early in the Morning from the Karlův most

Czech out that sun!

Picture of the Week: Springtime Sunrise

A sunrise in early Spring.

The Time I went to Bologna for Lunch

Juicy bistecca alla fiorentina at the Trattoria del Gallo near Bologna.

Over a month ago, when my dad came to visit, we did something totally irrational and went to Bologna for the mere purpose of having lunch. We woke up that day in Ljubljana, drove across the Slovenian-Italian border to the towns of Gorizia and Udine, where we kind of drove around and got a general feel for the cities. At this point, we had already seen Venice, Trieste, Verona, Slovenia, and others so we felt like seeing something new. Plus, my father wanted to have a last good Italian meal before heading back to the United States the next day. I mentioned that Bologna is regarded as the culinary capital of Italy, and was not too far of a drive away (about two hours from where we were at that time). We decided that it could not be a bad experience, and he felt like he had seen quite a bit already, so it was not like he would feel guilty about spending time in the car.

As we started heading south, I told my dad, "About 10 kilometers before we arrive into downtown Bologna, lets get off the main highway and try to find a trattoria or an osteria that does not look too touristy." And we did just that.

When we sat down, the typical Italian waiter comes up to the table and asked us if we wanted to order or if he could recommend the meal for us. As any good connoisseur should do, we let the expert decide what we were going to be eating for lunch that afternoon. The only choice he gave us was bianco o rosso?, asking what kind of wine we wanted. We went with the red.

The waiter then meandered his way across the dining room, stopping to talk with a portly old man that was apparently a frequent visitor. He then emerged from the kitchen bringing us our wine, as well as some bread to start off with.

A few minutes later, after we had noticed a few certificates hanging on the wall that labeled this particular restaurant as a favorite for the Rome Police Department, the primo piatto arrived. It was a tri-pasta plate consisting of fusili alla bolognese (spiral pasta with meaty ragù), tagliatelle al pesto (strips of pasta with pesto sauce), and ravioli alla carbonara (cheese ravioli with an egg and pancetta sauce). Apart from being among the best plates of pasta I've ever eaten, the combination was something quite unexpected, proving the waiter's expertise. 


Once we had finished this plate (as if it were not enough food already), the waiter came out with a large plate of contorno (side dishes) containing mainly vegetables such as parmigiana di melanzane (eggplant parmesan) and many other scrumptious delicacies. This on its own could probably constitute a full meal at just about any other restaurant. 

This colorful plate of vegetables contained everything from zucchini and potatoes to eggplants and asparagus. 

Before we had even finished our veggies, the jovial waiter came out of the kitchen once again, this time with a large black cast-iron skillet which had an aroma that filled the room with pure bliss.


VEGETARIANS BEWARE: If you are opposed to the human consumption of other animals, the following material is explicit in nature and may be found offensive or repulsive. 


If the picture at the top of this article is not enough to make your mouth water, I have lost a good amount of respect for your gastronomical choices. This bistecca alla fiorentina  (Florentine steak) was so perfectly succulent and so flawlessly marinated in olive oil and rosemary that I have raised my standards to a point which only truly talented chefs are able to attain.


The meat was so good, that it did not matter anymore how satisfied our stomachs were from the amounts of food we had already consumed, we kept on savoring this delicacy until the black cast-iron skillet that was on our table had nothing in it other than a few puddles of simmering oil and a few scattered rosemary needles still scenting the air.


Once again, our happy waiter came by and asked how everything was (which everybody knew was just a formality, since nobody in their right mind or palate could ever say no in this superb establishment. We were tempted to say no, though, when he offered us dessert. But then again, what was there to lose? 


So we got our tiramisu, and boy, we needed somebody to pick us up thanks to how good it was.

Delicate mascarpone and flavorful cocoa made this tiramisu one of a kind. 

In the end, not only was the food perfect, but so was the service and the overall atmosphere. The waiter even gave us a free bottle of wine to take home after we had finished. As it turns out, our impromptu trip to Bologna was well worth it. 

Picture of the Week: Cheese at the Market

A nice selection of formaggio at Vicenza's Thursday market. 

Picture of the Week: First Day of Spring

This was the view from my house this afternoon, the first day of Spring. Today had the nicest weather since I've been in Italy so I decided to walk home from Vicenza (about a 1 hour, 40 minute hike up a hill).

Italian Unification

Vicenza's main piazza today. This picture was taken by my friend Maximilien Pierre Francesco Zanardi  from his house. 

Today, March 17, 2011 is a very important day in Italy. So important that we actually got the day off from school (which typically only happens for religious holidays). Today is the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy. Back before 1861, Italy was divided into many different kingdoms, duchies, and other administrative regions. For example, the Papal States included Bologna and Rome, while The Grand Duchy of Tuscany held Florence, Pisa, and Livorno. In the south, there was the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies with the southern half of the mainland peninsula as well as the island of Sicily, while in the north there were many regional kingdoms.

Before this unification in 1861, few Italians actually knew what "Italy" was. As far as scholars of that time were concerned, "Italy" was just a peninsula that happened to contain many different kingdoms in it, sort of the way "Iberia" is the peninsula that holds Spain and Portugal. Exactly 150 years ago, the first single country with the name "Italy" appeared under a single throne, that of Victor Emmanuel II from the northwest region of Piedmont. The idea for a unified Italy was spearheaded by radicals such as Giuseppe Garibaldi as well as the more conservative Victor Emmanuel II and his fellow Piedmont dweller, Count Cavour, who is generally regarded as the architect of the Risorgimento, or Italian Unification. The main thought behind this unification process was uniting a group of people with a similar culture, language, religion, and tradition under a single throne.

Many of the problems faced in that time had to do with the majority of the Italian population identifying with their previous nationality. People would not proclaim "I am Italian", yet they would proudly say "I am Veneto" or "I am Sicilian". Nowadays, this sort of nationalism for one's region continues. If I were to ask someone on the street to label themselves, they would say "Sono vicentino" or "Sono napolitano" or "Sono fiorentino", identifying with their province. In America, for the most part, people would say "I am American". If you ask me, this is mainly because of how different the various provinces of Italy truly are. Each has its own dialect (with some such as Neapolitan or Friulian being full-on languages of their own), its own cuisine, its own festivals, and its own way of life. It is not like in America where somebody from Oregon and someone from Delaware have essentially the same culture. Here, if you go a hundred kilometers in any direction, you've found a completely new set of people.

Even in politics you can see the lack of national unity here in Italy. One of the leading political parties, La Lega Nord (the Northern League) has an agenda of seperating the economically strong northern regions of Italy from the southern regions. Although this is not unheard of in American politics, there is no way such a group would gain any power.

So even though this is the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy, there still seems to be a sense that the unity of Italians is missing.

Picture of the Week: Teatro Olimpico

Vicenza's famous Teatro Olimpico designed by Andrea Palladio. This is the oldest surviving enclosed theater in Europe with construction starting in 1580. The most interesting part of the theater is the perspective in the background, which is actually sculpted as opposed to the typical painting. 

5 Best Travel Songs by Jimmy Buffett

Sometimes it takes some good music to get your travel juices going. If you ask me, the best musician for this particular occasion has got to be Jimmy Buffett. Here are my favorite five songs by him that really make me want to take off and travel.

Punta Mita near Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

5. Cowboy in the Jungle

Overview:

This song talks about a cowboy who gets "stuck in Portobelo since his money all ran out" on his way to Paraguay. It is a great representation of a laid-back expatriate in South America who "rolled with the punches; played all of his hunches; made the best of whatever came his way". It also shows how people need to travel more in order to avoid "trying to cram lost years into five or six days".  

Favorite Line:

"And still twenty-four hours, maybe sixty good years, it's really not that long a stay." 

Listen: 

4. Son of a Son of a Sailor

Overview: 

In this Jimmy Buffett classic, he talks about going "out on the sea for adventure" thanks to his grandfather's hobbies. Gives you an overall grasp of what it would be like to sail around the world (which is everybody's hidden dream). Also, I am a son of a son of a sailor myself, so this resonates especially well with me. "I'm just glad I don't live in a trailer." 

Favorite Line:

"You can shake the hand of the mango man as he greets you at the border."

Listen:

3. One Particular Harbour

Overview:

This song has a bit of a South Pacific feel to it, especially since the beginning is sung in Tahitian. And Jimmy speaks the truth when he says that travel is "a  magic kind of medicine that no doctor could prescribe". This song makes me want to be a beach bum. 

Favorite Line:

"Where I can see the day when my hair's full gray and I finally disappear."

Listen:

2. He Went To Paris

Overview: 

The story in this song is about a man who goes to Paris because he is "looking for answers". He then drifts over to England where he marries and has a son. Then they both die and he moves to the islands where he's "writing his memoirs, losing his hearing, but he don't care what most people say". Probably my favorite melody in any song by Jimmy Buffett. 

Favorite Line:

"Some of it's magic, some of it's tragic, but I had a good life all the way."

Listen:

1. Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes

Overview:

This is the epitome of Jimmy Buffett's travel theme. To be able to "run into a chum with a bottle of rum and wind up drinking all night" is something that few people know they are able to do. The title and the chorus are a great indication of how travel, though great, requires a bit of laughter to express itself properly.

Favorite Line:

"Yesterday's over my shoulder, so I can't look back for too long. There's just too much to see waiting in front of me and I know that I just can't go wrong."

Listen:

What are your favorite travel songs (not necessarily by Jimmy Buffett)? Please feel free to discuss below.

100 days left in Italy

Over six months have passed since I arrived here in Italy. In some ways it feels like I have been here much longer, yet for certain things, I continue to be fascinated and surprised. If you count today, I have exactly one hundred days left as an exchange student, and I believe that I can truly say that it has been an extraordinary experience that I cannot compare to anything else.

As the sun hides away behind a rock and the grass, I start to realize that my time in Italy is more over than I thought.

As with anything you do for an extended period of time, being an exchange student has its highs and lows. Luckily for me, there have been more highs than lows, more joy than sorrow. I am thankful for such great people and places (and food) that I have come across so far this year. Now that we are in March, I think I am at a point where I can see the end of this year start to creep up on me, while before it always seemed to be far off in the distance. As my time dwindles down, I am trying even harder to see more, taste more, feel more, and experience more in general.

With 180 days behind my back, the hundred to come seem even smaller. And the closer I get to the end, the more I realize that I am not really sure if I want to arrive there. Of course, the closer I get to June, the nicer the weather will be – but this adds even more to the bittersweet feeling that I know is on its way.

“Tanto si deve scoprire all’esterno, tanto si deve progredire all’interno.”

~Giordano Bruno

One of the many things I have studied in Philosophy this year, that quote above reads, “As much as you need to discover on the outside, that much you need to progress on the inside.” What this means for me is that, although I have discovered and seen many things on the outside, I have also grown very much on the inside. And although I might not realize it immediately, when I look back at myself before coming to Italy less than a year ago, I realize how much I have evolved into a totally different person.

In some ways, it seems as if this whole year has been a sort of extended day dream in which I am inadvertently learning a new language, immersing myself in a new culture, and adding a few extra pounds. The worst part is that once I wake up this summer, not only will I still have those extra pounds, but I fear that I will have regrets for not having done as much this year as I could have. Of course, on a day to day basis, I do feel like I am discovering new things, but before I leave, there are some things I still feel I should do. Among these are: visit Rome and Florence (as well as other parts of Tuscany), expand my Italian vocabulary, and try to eliminate any traces of a Spanish accent in my spoken Italian. Of course, I still want to leave plenty of time to make new friends with not only Italians, but fellow exchange students.

On the bright side, I have a hundred days to do this. In a few hours I will be down to double digits. 

Picture of the Week: 'Moobs'

'Moobs' is the name of the gnome inhabitant of the Ljubljana apartment where I stayed a couple weeks ago. 

Bled and Cream Cake

Probably among the most famous Slovenian destinations, Bled is a small town in the mountains northwest of Ljubljana. Tourists will instantly fall in love with the charming lake which Bled surrounds, and most of all, the island that is home to a small church, which makes the lake seem almost magical. Among Slovenians, though, Bled is known for a different reason - cake.

The original Bled cream cake.

The Blejska Kremna Rezina, as this is called in its native tongue, is sold throughout Slovenia and can be found in just about any coffee shop in the small country. But the 'real' cake must be eaten not only in the town of Bled, but in the restaurant where we ate it (which I suppose was also the birthplace for this sweet pastry). 

 

The cake, which seems thick and heavy, was delightfully light and fluffy. This is very important considering the large portions that you can expect to be served. And contrary to what I expected, the cake was not overly sweetened, which made it quite enjoyable. 

A sign for the cake place.

Apart from the cake, Bled is a great little town. With about 5,000 inhabitants, it is a very small community, yet receives lots of tourist traffic in the summer. When I went, it was February and snowing, so I would not say that I saw it in its prime state, but it was great all the same. 

The Bled church on the island.

The church located on the small island, though not particularly significant as a church, is the location for many weddings and other events that benefit from a picturesque setting. This is definitely a place I would love to come back and visit in the summer.

Boats tied up for the winter.

Learning to Draw

I’ve never been good at art – at least not in the traditional sense of the word. Back in the United States, the only art classes I took were more “modern” mediums, such as photography and metalwork. Even then, I would not say that I was necessarily good at it. All I knew how to do was come up with a creative idea, like taking a black-and-white picture of a plate sitting on a doormat or making a miniature metal playground.

My workspace: I actually don't need the blade nor the triangle, but they make me feel professional. 

But now, in Italy, the home of over half of the world’s art and arguably the best place to learn it, I had to do an assignment. Usually this would not be a problem, but this was my first time ever reproducing a piece of art. It was not like in the United States where you can go off and explore your own realms of imagination and draw or paint that. Instead, here the only flexibility we had was choosing which piece we were going to reproduce.

Most of my classmates chose the masterpieces that I expected – Sandro Boticelli’s The Birth of Venus, a profile of Michelangelo’s David, and other works from artists like Leonardo Da Vinci, Rafael, Titian, and the like. I, on the other hand, did not want to do something by an artist who shares a name with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. Instead, I chose the odd, yet beautiful The Adoration of the Shepherds by the Spanish Renaissance artist El Greco.

The teacher did have to approve it before I could begin, though. That way, people would not choose a piece that was too easy. Apparently I chose one of the hardest pieces in the book - so hard that she made me do it only in black and white.

A few weeks and a couple of work hours later, this is what my final product looks like compared with the original black and white copy:

El Greco on the left. Alex Cuadrado on the right. 

The teacher was very impressed with me reproducing it so well, and said that “I really captured the luminosity of the baby Jesus.” Let’s see what grade she gives me on this nativity scene, though.

By the way, my favorite part was drawing the ox’s horn and the shepherd's arm (on the right).

Picture of the Week: Ljubljana Dragon Bridge

 Legend says that when Jason and the Argonauts returned from Eastern Europe where they retrieved the Golden Fleece, they founded the city Ljubljana after Jason defeated the Ljubljana Dragon. 

City Life in Venice

As the most tourist-oriented city in Italy, and perhaps the world, Venice is home to hundreds of restaurants, hotels, and other amenities. What many visitors tend to fail to realize, though, is that Venice is actually a city of about 270,000 inhabitants. And like any mid-sized city, Venice must have certain elements that one would not usually associate with the city of canals.

City workers pulling mud out of the floor of a sinking Venice street. 

Since Venice is typically overrun with tourists on just about every day from March to October, these pieces of infrastructure are hard to come across during the peak season. But the last time I visited Venice was last week, in mid-February, which considering that this year’s Carnival is late, was probably the lowest tourist season of the year.

We actually got great weather, and a really good look at Venice as a city where people live. For example, would a tourist think that Venice has a university? It’s like asking if Disneyland has a university. Venice has two.

It was quite humorous to see how the postal workers move around with their pull carts that they have to carry over every one of Venice’s 378 bridges. Also, visiting the Dorsoduro sestiere of Venice, I even witnessed the garbage boat at work.

A garbageman and postal workers cross paths in Venice.

A garbage boat at work.

Every city needs its electricians.

The simple task of moving some dirt a few meters gets complicated by a bridge. 

Late in the evening that day, I even walked into a piazza that had children playing basketball, old ladies walking their dogs, businessmen having coffee, and some stores that prove the existence of a resident community such as supermarkets and even a veterinarian’s office, which was a nice change from the overwhelming abundance of t-shirt shops and Carnival mask studios. 

You know for a fact that you are in a true Italian city when, at about 1 P.M., throngs of schoolchildren with their backpacks disperse throughout.

Some evening basketball in Dorsoduro.

Did anybody say veggie boat?

Funny German words and street signs

Disclaimer: This blog post reflects my personal views on the German language, and if disagree with me that the German language is much more cacophonous than all Romance languages, I kindly invite you to reply, but only after reading my post in its entirety.

Last week, I spent a day driving through southern Austria with my father and some of his friends that live in Slovenia. The first Austrian city we visited was Graz, the second largest in this central European country. Considering this as my first real experience in a German-speaking country (I had previously only been in the Frankfurt am Main Airport), I was continuously amused by the language as a whole – whether it be the long, unpronounceable words, or the colorful signs indicating schools, fire stations, and other identifiable establishments.

I believe "schule" means "school". Just guessing.

Before last week, the only experience I had ever had with German was a quick lunch of a cream cheese pretzel (whose name I have already forgotten) and a putenschnitzelkracher (a breaded turkey sandwich). That name is the epitome of what seems to me to be the German pigritude in inserting spaces between their words, which whether right or wrong, is quite entertaining.

Personally, when I hear the German language, I seem to understand nothing but a loud cacophony of grunts and words with too many consonants jammed together. I always seem to think that they might be cursing at me, though this derives from my own ignorance of the language.

Anyhow, I enjoy poking fun at words I do not know, especially when I can repeat them in my Captain Von Trapp voice (which I am quite proud of). Every now and then I can sort of guess a word in German, which is especially necessary when trying to use the restrooms when the doors lack pictograms.

I cannot even begin to guess how this should be pronounced.

Does anybody have any idea what this means?

As you can see, I am very pleased that I speak languages that (at least in my mind) sound nice – mainly Spanish and Italian. I don’t know how many more “tsch” at the beginning of a word I would be able to handle.

For any of you that noticed, I used the word “pigritude”. I do realize that, according to just about any reliable authority on the English language, this word does not exist. Yet, I have “adopted” this word with www.savethewords.org and am therefore bound to use it. 

Picture of the Week: I Love Coffee

The doorway to a neat specialty shop in Verona. And yes, those are sticky notes.

Take the weather with you

Recent storm systems in the United States have nicely stepped aside. To my dismay, they have leaped across the pond. And it just so happens that this kind visit coincides with that of my father, who arrived this afternoon to the Venice airport. Now that I think about it, today has been the first true rainy day since 2010. Unfortunately, we cannot control the weather, so I will try to not complain about it too much.

As for my father's visit, he arrived at around noon after a long journey that included stops at three of the world's ten largest airports (Denver International, Chicago O'Hare, and London Heathrow). As soon as he arrived, he rented a car and drove to Vicenza, where I was waiting at a designated spot, getting drenched by rain. After a while of jamming out to my iPod, he finally made it to where I was with Mapquest directions that were not helpful enough, and some sketchy indications given by myself. After our greeting (I had not seen him for abot 6 months), we headed off to his hotel, which is situated in the very center of Vicenza. A sort of crossroads between Piazza dei Signori (the main plaza), Corso Palladio (the main street), and Il Duomo (the cathedral), I doubt there could have been a better location for a Vicenza hotel.

After getting him all settled in at the hotel, we headed off to my favorite kebab place, where my father was astonished at the size and apparent messiness of this Middle Eastern food that is so common in Europe. We then walked around town some more, and I showed him some spots such as some churches, my school, and even my favorite bar. (Note: in Italy, "bar" means coffee shop.) When had finished our espressos and had a decent conversation with the owner/manager of how Lavazza stacks up to other coffee producers such as Illy, Hausbrandt, Dersut, etc., we made our way to the other part of town and visited the Olympic Theater, designed by Andrea Palladio (and finished in 1584). My father was astonished at the quality with which Europe's first ever theater was divided into many perspective sections, with some stretching out up to 50 meters.

He then went back to the hotel to prepare for tonight's dinner with the my host family and we drove up to my house, where we had a great meal of tagliatine pasta and fish with capers, tomato, and olives.

As for our plans for the rest of his stay, we will most likely go into Verona tomorrow, Venice on Friday, and then a a five-day trip to Slovenia starting on Saturday.

I have also made some improvements to my blog in these days, including the "About Me" and "Contact Me" pages.                                                        

I have also gotten a Twitter account, which I would like all of you to follow me on. To do so, please follow the link on the right.

In fair Verona where we lay our stage ...

(In honor of Shakespeare, I will be writing this in iambic pentameter. Also, for those of you who are not aware, this is not supposed to rhyme.)

‘Twas just last week, if I recall, when we -

Four others from ‘round Italy and me -

 To fair Verona have we gone. And there,

To see the sites and one another have

Traveled from near and far to this here town, 

Where one can come and leave without a frown.

Merely an hour past noon, once school was done,

 A train from Vicenza to Verona

Was I aboard. I was, backpack and all,

Towards a city, so close but yet soo far.

And that I – I had not seen yet was a

Disgrace to be tolerated no more.

Arrived, was I, to Verona station,

When a kind pair of police officers

Directions to the center did provide

Followed the indicat’d path I arrived

To famous Piazza delle Erbe where

Patiently awaiting stood three girls and

A boy, who hail from Bologna and Trent.

Great weather up high was no hindrance to

Our want (or need) for a coffee (or two).

So off we went, into the shop, and sat

We did, while sipping gently from our drinks.

Soon thereafter, off we went through downtown,

Across Adige bridge, to bask in the

Glorious February sun whose bright rays

Faces and river did illuminate.

So there we stood, the famous footsteps of

the Capulets and Montagues retraced.

Retrace their steps we did indeed:

To the grand house of the late Juliet

We went and hence we saw the statue there.

Afterwards, our bellies craved none other

Than a scoop (or two) of cold gelato,

Whose fragola (strawberry) chunks made all

Palates water and eyes glare jealously.

Thus, our splendid day in the land of the      

ancient family feuds must dwindle down

And we must start to head back to the train

Returning to our native d’parture points.  

The old city gate to Verona.

"Love Locks" on the bridge over the Adige River.

The famous Verona arena.

The bridge over the Adige.

The wall before entering Juliet's courtyard. 

Crowds in Juliet's courtyard lining up to touch the statue.

Street performers! And fragola gelato!