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.