Italy Part Deux
MILAN PART 2
Ok, so it’s been a while since I’ve written and I feel a little behind, confused about events, and once again complaining about the keyboard adjustment, but life is fantastic-so hey! I don’t even remember where I left of from Milan, so here goes; I think all I did was my first day.
On Friday I slept in and then went to the Museum of Science and Technology, Leonardo Da Vinci, which was fabulous. It was a really nice way for me to spend the afternoon alone just taking my time. Company is great and I’m so glad the way things worked out for my trip because it certainly wouldn’t have been anywhere near as amazing without Teseo’s hospitality, but it suffices to say I am able to take advantage of time to myself (which I get a lot of here and enjoy).
That night Marco (another friend from Costa Rica) had called to say he’d meet me to go out to Wish, the club where Teseo currently DJs. He came to pick me up (on time!- what’s with all this punctuality??) and we headed downtown. Wish is a very modern feeling hip restaurant/bar. I met a girl, Amber, from San Francisco who also lived in Marseille for a couple of years and she invited me to head over to another club, but I wanted to see Marco since he couldn’t stay that long due to a recent knee surgery. As it turned out, things ended up pretty good for me b/c I met 2 British women who came to Milan on a 1-year contract as nannies 12 years ago and never went back! They were really fun, spoke beautiful Italian, and took me under their wings. It didn’t hurt either that they seemed to know everyone, so we headed to the newest club that had just opened. The club was spacious with tan velvet curtains, spiraling stairs, and what felt like a haze in the air (No, it wasn’t the smoke; you can’t smoke in public places in Italy). So the whole feel was kind of romantic and wispy. There were little loveseat type couches with tables and Andrea and Sandra had a friend who had reserved one with a bottle of vodka. Vodka with sparkling lemonade seemed to be the drink to have.
We stayed for a little bit and then planned to meet Teseo at “The Club” when he was off work. As it turned out it cost 20 Euro to get in and they didn’t feel like spending the money, and I didn’t have it, so we just hung outside in the little courtyard. Teseo met up with us around 3:30 and we just chatted and acted like idiots. At one point a guy came around to sell roses and Teseo acted like he was allergic and was sneezing and acting like he was having an attack due to the flowers. I don’t know why but we all thought this was hysterical (even the vendor, who had probably never seen this particular tactic to avoid making a purchase). We didn’t get back to his house until after 5:30 and ended up listening to music and playing on the Internet until 8AM so obviously I slept much of Saturday day away. I think it was about 3PM when I ventured out just to walk around and explore a little. I took an espresso at a little café and just sat and wrote some postcards and letters. There were sooooo many ppl around enjoying the day; I couldn’t believe it. I ended up at the Museum at the Castle just as it was closing, so I couldn’t visit that, but there was a big festival in the park so I checked it out and ended up doing a big dance in a circle with maybe 75-100 people. It was fun, and these are the experiences that you remember. I think this was daylight savings day here and the sky was just amazing. I’ve never seen purple sky like Milan has. My pictures couldn’t quite capture it and look blue rather than the musky purple of being there in person.
CINQUE TERRE
We headed to Cinque Terre late on Sunday night and arrived close to midnight after about a 2 hour drive. I was sorry not to be able to see the surroundings but happy to be arrive to this legendary place. There’s a tunnel when you are on the way to Teseo’s town (Moneglia) that is only one way, so each side has to wait 15 min. for the cars on the other side to pass through. To me, that’s a sign of a quaint little area. We got out to stretch our legs and let Rasta do the same. His house is adorable with another garden of herbs, olive trees and a nice little grassy area where I ended up laying out to read (I’m reading Dalva by Jim Harrison) in the sunshine when I woke up on Monday morning (ok maybe it was closer to the afternoon. It’s vacation after all!).
Monday Oct. 30, 06
I love the way we broke up the 5 little villages; on Monday we headed to the train station and bought our tickets to the town the furthest away, Riomaggiore. It must have been close to 80-85 degrees, and the train was hot and stuffy. We were the only ppl on it, so we pulled down the windows. I actually got some nice photos from inside the train. There were some tourists still visiting the area (mainly Germans and Americans), so the trails were still open as well as the tourist shops. After giving Rasta some water, we headed down to a little dock and had a swim (I think it was Oct. 30th, and I was swimming in the Mediterranean!). Rasta was the first in and had a nice little swim. Luckily I always bring my goggles so I got to see some fish and a lot of sea urchins. We got out to dry off a little and do a little hike.
The sights are just amazing, and looking back at the pictures I can’t believe I was actually there. There’s a serenity to being in a place so ancient and (relatively) untouched that is humbling. We had a good walk, but got up to the top/end of the path only to find a closed and locked gate. In the end, we ended up just hopping over it and Rasta was small enough to pass through the gap. I know, I’m such a rebel.
We ended up just where we started in time to find a little café on the cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean to have a glass of wine, snack and watch one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen (definitely the best since leaving Costa Rica). It was the perfect end to a wonderful first day in 5 Terre, and I wanted it to last forever. Since it started to get a little chilly and I still had on a somewhat wet swim suit, we headed over to the next town, Manarola, to take the train back to Monelgia by way of Via dell’ Amore (path of love).
I think we got back to his place around 8, and stopped at a little market for the most amazing raviolis (with walnuts inside and a white cream sauce. Yummy!!). Teseo did pork chops (I think… meat really isn’t my specialty) with rosemary and wrapped a thin white pork fat on top to bake in the oven. I have to admit it looked pretty good. He also sautéed up some mushrooms, and to my surprise they’re growing on me; maybe I’ll be a true vegetarian after all. His neighbor makes his own white wine from vineyards on the property, so we for sure enjoyed that (he had left 3 six-packs on the steps, and Teseo says he always does this). We stayed up late watching TV (according to Teseo this is the best way to learn a language and I guess he’d know since he speaks English, Italian, Spanish, French, and German. Funny that Christain and Alex said the same thing to me when I was in Costa Rica). They have a sort of Survivor-type show on that is pretty popular and The Beach was also on, so we watched that. Lucky for me, I’d seen it a very long time ago and could sort of follow the storyline. It was another late night, but by this point I was getting used to it; I just don’t get how they do it.
Tuesday Oct. 31, 06 Happy Halloween!
I started off my day the same as on Monday reading a little bit outside; it’s a gentle hello to the morning, and in my opinion, the ideal way to start your day. We did Monterosso to Vernazza, which was a fantastic hike. It was so funny to me that everyone had hard-core hiking boots (even poles) and official gear while we did the hike in freakin flip-flops!
Rasta is such a good girl and everyone we came across just fell in love with her. She is so well behaved and gets along with anyone (other dogs and cats included). It was really nice for me to be around a doggy since I miss Pokey and the kitties so much. This day she found a rock early on the walk and carried it around the entire time, all the way back to the house. Such personality!
Midway through the million or so stairs we were climbing, I saw relief ahead from a man selling fresh organic lemonade, limoncello (spelling?), and white wine. I was glad for an excuse for a little rest; we stopped and chatted with him and had a glass of lemonade. This guy was a real character, had set up a little tent with green netting for shade, and a portable radio playing Whitney Huston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody”. He recognized that I wasn’t Italian and asked Teseo how it was that we were there and knew each other. It’s so fun to be able to say, “Oh, yeah, we know each other from Costa Rica, and now I’m in France, so it wasn’t so far to visit”.
We finished up the hike and ended in Vernazza, which is adorable. Again, I got some really great photos (Well by this time Teseo had sort of taken over saying “I’m becoming a photographer”, so I can’t really take all the credit). I love this town for its colors (the plants, buildings, and little array of cheerful umbrellas, apparently just as resistant to admit it’s Fall as I am). We walked around, had a nice view of the sea, and grabbed a slice of pizza. Then it was time to head back. We had a great dinner at a local restaurant in Monelgia including gnocci for me and a plate of seafood to share. It was great, and they served an olive oil produced right in that very region.
This night left me with some memories that I think will make me laugh every time I think about it. There’s only so much you can do besides read watch TV etc… when it’s just 2 ppl in an isolated area, so I suggested playing cards. I tried to teach him Gin Rummy since it’s a good game for 2 ppl and not too complicated either…. or so I thought. Haha. Maybe I’m not great at explaining, I don’t know, but it ended before we even started with Teseo saying, “Elizabeth, even if you explain me in Italian, I still don’t understand”. So then he tried to teach me one called 7.5 but he didn’t have the first clue of how to play the game, and after an hour of starting over and over again as he’d remember a rule (like, oh yeah, you’re supposed to be betting!) we gave up. I don’t think he ever even figured out how there was a winner, only that the King of Diamonds is the “mata” and changes dealers. So in the spirit of acting like idiots I decide to do my one (somewhat decent) card trick that I learned from a substitute teacher in 5th grade. He was impressed and said he had one of his own and comes out of the bathroom with a little vanity mirror that he balances on the top of his foot in order to cheat and read the card I pulled. Nice. Another one involved rubbing some canned dog food on the card I chose and smelling all the cards in the deck to see which one it was. This had me rolling, and I’m laughing to myself even now as I type this (but perhaps I’m just delirious due to still not sleeping much and the fact that it’s 1AM).
Wednesday Nov. 1, 06
Vernazza to Corniglia. Three more tickets (yes the dog has to have one too) at the train station, and we were on our way. I think this was my favorite portion of the hike going through little paths, walls, and beautiful landscape as usual. The weather had started to cool off a little, which was welcome to me since it was an uphill hike and real workout; we actually put on sneakers this day. But it was still nice enough to have a little swim in Vernazza before starting out. I guess I should consider myself lucky b/c Teseo as well as the 2 other fools swimming in Nov. all got stung by a jellyfish. I’ve been stung 3 times in my life, and that’s enough for me, thank you very much. Funny that Rasta didn’t want to go in this time…. I wonder if somehow she knew.
We hiked for the better portion of the afternoon, and arrived in Corniglia just as the sun started to set. There was a great little balcony overlooking the sea and we enjoyed the sunset with other visitors. I especially liked this spot b/c you were just on top of the cliffs overlooking the entire sea (I guess on clear days you can even see Corsica). We found a great little wine bar and sampled some wines from the region as well as a sweet liqueur (maybe kind of like Muscat) that is ONLY produced here. It was delicious, and I thought this shop was just great. We were served a little dish of fantastic olives, some chips, and random aperitif-type crackers.
This was our last night, and I was sad to even think of leaving this magical spot. I feel so lucky to have been able to see one of the most wonderful places in the world, and to have great weather in this off-season on top of it. I was a little pent up and frustrated with France before the vacation (I had even brought A Year in the Merde to save for my anti-French days and had such a bad one before going to Italy I read it in that day!). We had a great dinner at a little restaurant in the hills, strictly locals. The food was awesome, and it was dirt cheap. We closed down the restaurant, and I’m sad to say I enjoyed the food so much I never had room left for desert- not even gelato!
BACK TO MILANO
We headed back to Milan around 3PM on Thursday b/c it was time to return the car and Teseo had to go back to work. Thank god I decided to pull out my ticket to see what time I had to be at the airport on Saturday b/c… surprise! my flight was at 6:30 AM on Friday, not Sat.!! I don’t want to even think about what might have happened. I don’t know how I got the dates so mixed up, but luckily it all worked out for the flight and it also worked out that Teseo didn’t have to work that night either.
We arrived in Milano around 5 and after Teseo dropped of the rental car, he said he was going out to get some fish and would be right back. He had invited Marco over for dinner which was nice b/c he is the one that was so great in CR and would take us out fishing on his boat all the time. Well 20 min. later Teseo came back with the entire sea! At this point I knew I was in for a treat. We started off with enormous oysters that I couldn’t get enough of. It’s always such a treat to have your favorite foods fresh from the sea/garden prepared with such care. I guess I’ve just been lucky and spoiled with that my whole life. Then Marco arrived with Adela (also from CR) and their dog whose name was Patato I think. She was a sweetheart. Now it was on to mussles with celery, onion, a little red hot chili pepper, garlic, and some tomato sauce. Marco and Adela had also brought 2 pizzas with them (b/c, “Americans don’t know about real pizza”), so by now I was getting full… not too full, of course, to pass up on the next dish- fried calamari and a vegetable (kind of like swiss chard, I’m not sure. It’s called costa in Italian).
I showed them my pictures from Costa Rica (gotta love Shutterfly) and we all had fun reminiscing. Lucky them… they all get to go back in about a month. They were also nice enough to help me figure out how I would get back to the airport at 5AM the following morning. Being that we calculated I’d have to be up and out around 3:50, I just stayed up. The cab arrived (on time!), but it was interesting b/c the meter was already at 11 Euro when he picked me up; not too sure what that was about and since he didn’t speak English I couldn’t ask him. I wonder if it was a rate to come at such an odd hour or if perhaps he charged me for the time to the house. I realize now that this is the first time I’ve really traveled somewhere and not spoken the language. It sucks and I vow to learn at least the basics if ever I go to another non English/French/Spanish speaking country. Though I’m also going to look into the possibility of taking Italian at the University here in Nantes since I’m determined to learn it (how great would that be for when I go in Feb.?) and it would be a really good way to meet more French ppl.
THE TREK HOME
After taking the cab to the bus stop I had about a half an hour wait for an express bus that went directly to Malpensa airport. Got there, waited another half hour and an hour later I was in Paris. Ugggg. It was freezing and I had quite a trek ahead of me from the airport, to the train station, on a train to Montbarnasse (too tired to look up the spelling now) and then a metro to the TGV station in Montbarnasse. Ay ay ay. I will avoid ever doing this again like the plague. Another 40 min. wait and I was on my way to Nantes. Finally some sleep and since I was the end of the line I didn’t even have to worry about missing my stop. I can’t tell you how badly I wanted to just take a cab from the garre back to the foyer, but I stuck it out like a champ, hopping on the tram and walking the rest of the way.
I was so happy to see Zoe and hear all about what’s been going on here and with everyone else this past week. Last night we were finally all reunited (Jesse got back at 11:30 PM) and we headed out to The Loft for a night of dancing. I didn’t realize how much I missed the girls and the little family we have here until we all saw each other again. Today I did a thorough cleaning of my room, laundry, had a nice walk along the Loire with Zoe and Jesse, and just caught up and got prepared for the upcoming week. We have our second orientation in La Roche Sur Yon on Wed. but there is talk of a greve (strike, on the trains), so who knows what will happen. I’ve ambitiously planned to go for a run with Jesse at the park tomorrow morning before work, so I should try and get some sleep now. I signed up to do Spanish classes here at the foyer just for the practice, and yoga starts next Mon. night. I look forward to having some planned activities and a little more structure (one of my resolutions along with being pushy and not letting ppl walk all over me upon my return to France). Bonne nuit! I miss you all. Bisous, Elizabeth
Ok, so it’s been a while since I’ve written and I feel a little behind, confused about events, and once again complaining about the keyboard adjustment, but life is fantastic-so hey! I don’t even remember where I left of from Milan, so here goes; I think all I did was my first day.
On Friday I slept in and then went to the Museum of Science and Technology, Leonardo Da Vinci, which was fabulous. It was a really nice way for me to spend the afternoon alone just taking my time. Company is great and I’m so glad the way things worked out for my trip because it certainly wouldn’t have been anywhere near as amazing without Teseo’s hospitality, but it suffices to say I am able to take advantage of time to myself (which I get a lot of here and enjoy).
That night Marco (another friend from Costa Rica) had called to say he’d meet me to go out to Wish, the club where Teseo currently DJs. He came to pick me up (on time!- what’s with all this punctuality??) and we headed downtown. Wish is a very modern feeling hip restaurant/bar. I met a girl, Amber, from San Francisco who also lived in Marseille for a couple of years and she invited me to head over to another club, but I wanted to see Marco since he couldn’t stay that long due to a recent knee surgery. As it turned out, things ended up pretty good for me b/c I met 2 British women who came to Milan on a 1-year contract as nannies 12 years ago and never went back! They were really fun, spoke beautiful Italian, and took me under their wings. It didn’t hurt either that they seemed to know everyone, so we headed to the newest club that had just opened. The club was spacious with tan velvet curtains, spiraling stairs, and what felt like a haze in the air (No, it wasn’t the smoke; you can’t smoke in public places in Italy). So the whole feel was kind of romantic and wispy. There were little loveseat type couches with tables and Andrea and Sandra had a friend who had reserved one with a bottle of vodka. Vodka with sparkling lemonade seemed to be the drink to have.
We stayed for a little bit and then planned to meet Teseo at “The Club” when he was off work. As it turned out it cost 20 Euro to get in and they didn’t feel like spending the money, and I didn’t have it, so we just hung outside in the little courtyard. Teseo met up with us around 3:30 and we just chatted and acted like idiots. At one point a guy came around to sell roses and Teseo acted like he was allergic and was sneezing and acting like he was having an attack due to the flowers. I don’t know why but we all thought this was hysterical (even the vendor, who had probably never seen this particular tactic to avoid making a purchase). We didn’t get back to his house until after 5:30 and ended up listening to music and playing on the Internet until 8AM so obviously I slept much of Saturday day away. I think it was about 3PM when I ventured out just to walk around and explore a little. I took an espresso at a little café and just sat and wrote some postcards and letters. There were sooooo many ppl around enjoying the day; I couldn’t believe it. I ended up at the Museum at the Castle just as it was closing, so I couldn’t visit that, but there was a big festival in the park so I checked it out and ended up doing a big dance in a circle with maybe 75-100 people. It was fun, and these are the experiences that you remember. I think this was daylight savings day here and the sky was just amazing. I’ve never seen purple sky like Milan has. My pictures couldn’t quite capture it and look blue rather than the musky purple of being there in person.
CINQUE TERRE
We headed to Cinque Terre late on Sunday night and arrived close to midnight after about a 2 hour drive. I was sorry not to be able to see the surroundings but happy to be arrive to this legendary place. There’s a tunnel when you are on the way to Teseo’s town (Moneglia) that is only one way, so each side has to wait 15 min. for the cars on the other side to pass through. To me, that’s a sign of a quaint little area. We got out to stretch our legs and let Rasta do the same. His house is adorable with another garden of herbs, olive trees and a nice little grassy area where I ended up laying out to read (I’m reading Dalva by Jim Harrison) in the sunshine when I woke up on Monday morning (ok maybe it was closer to the afternoon. It’s vacation after all!).
Monday Oct. 30, 06
I love the way we broke up the 5 little villages; on Monday we headed to the train station and bought our tickets to the town the furthest away, Riomaggiore. It must have been close to 80-85 degrees, and the train was hot and stuffy. We were the only ppl on it, so we pulled down the windows. I actually got some nice photos from inside the train. There were some tourists still visiting the area (mainly Germans and Americans), so the trails were still open as well as the tourist shops. After giving Rasta some water, we headed down to a little dock and had a swim (I think it was Oct. 30th, and I was swimming in the Mediterranean!). Rasta was the first in and had a nice little swim. Luckily I always bring my goggles so I got to see some fish and a lot of sea urchins. We got out to dry off a little and do a little hike.
The sights are just amazing, and looking back at the pictures I can’t believe I was actually there. There’s a serenity to being in a place so ancient and (relatively) untouched that is humbling. We had a good walk, but got up to the top/end of the path only to find a closed and locked gate. In the end, we ended up just hopping over it and Rasta was small enough to pass through the gap. I know, I’m such a rebel.
We ended up just where we started in time to find a little café on the cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean to have a glass of wine, snack and watch one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen (definitely the best since leaving Costa Rica). It was the perfect end to a wonderful first day in 5 Terre, and I wanted it to last forever. Since it started to get a little chilly and I still had on a somewhat wet swim suit, we headed over to the next town, Manarola, to take the train back to Monelgia by way of Via dell’ Amore (path of love).
I think we got back to his place around 8, and stopped at a little market for the most amazing raviolis (with walnuts inside and a white cream sauce. Yummy!!). Teseo did pork chops (I think… meat really isn’t my specialty) with rosemary and wrapped a thin white pork fat on top to bake in the oven. I have to admit it looked pretty good. He also sautéed up some mushrooms, and to my surprise they’re growing on me; maybe I’ll be a true vegetarian after all. His neighbor makes his own white wine from vineyards on the property, so we for sure enjoyed that (he had left 3 six-packs on the steps, and Teseo says he always does this). We stayed up late watching TV (according to Teseo this is the best way to learn a language and I guess he’d know since he speaks English, Italian, Spanish, French, and German. Funny that Christain and Alex said the same thing to me when I was in Costa Rica). They have a sort of Survivor-type show on that is pretty popular and The Beach was also on, so we watched that. Lucky for me, I’d seen it a very long time ago and could sort of follow the storyline. It was another late night, but by this point I was getting used to it; I just don’t get how they do it.
Tuesday Oct. 31, 06 Happy Halloween!
I started off my day the same as on Monday reading a little bit outside; it’s a gentle hello to the morning, and in my opinion, the ideal way to start your day. We did Monterosso to Vernazza, which was a fantastic hike. It was so funny to me that everyone had hard-core hiking boots (even poles) and official gear while we did the hike in freakin flip-flops!
Rasta is such a good girl and everyone we came across just fell in love with her. She is so well behaved and gets along with anyone (other dogs and cats included). It was really nice for me to be around a doggy since I miss Pokey and the kitties so much. This day she found a rock early on the walk and carried it around the entire time, all the way back to the house. Such personality!
Midway through the million or so stairs we were climbing, I saw relief ahead from a man selling fresh organic lemonade, limoncello (spelling?), and white wine. I was glad for an excuse for a little rest; we stopped and chatted with him and had a glass of lemonade. This guy was a real character, had set up a little tent with green netting for shade, and a portable radio playing Whitney Huston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody”. He recognized that I wasn’t Italian and asked Teseo how it was that we were there and knew each other. It’s so fun to be able to say, “Oh, yeah, we know each other from Costa Rica, and now I’m in France, so it wasn’t so far to visit”.
We finished up the hike and ended in Vernazza, which is adorable. Again, I got some really great photos (Well by this time Teseo had sort of taken over saying “I’m becoming a photographer”, so I can’t really take all the credit). I love this town for its colors (the plants, buildings, and little array of cheerful umbrellas, apparently just as resistant to admit it’s Fall as I am). We walked around, had a nice view of the sea, and grabbed a slice of pizza. Then it was time to head back. We had a great dinner at a local restaurant in Monelgia including gnocci for me and a plate of seafood to share. It was great, and they served an olive oil produced right in that very region.
This night left me with some memories that I think will make me laugh every time I think about it. There’s only so much you can do besides read watch TV etc… when it’s just 2 ppl in an isolated area, so I suggested playing cards. I tried to teach him Gin Rummy since it’s a good game for 2 ppl and not too complicated either…. or so I thought. Haha. Maybe I’m not great at explaining, I don’t know, but it ended before we even started with Teseo saying, “Elizabeth, even if you explain me in Italian, I still don’t understand”. So then he tried to teach me one called 7.5 but he didn’t have the first clue of how to play the game, and after an hour of starting over and over again as he’d remember a rule (like, oh yeah, you’re supposed to be betting!) we gave up. I don’t think he ever even figured out how there was a winner, only that the King of Diamonds is the “mata” and changes dealers. So in the spirit of acting like idiots I decide to do my one (somewhat decent) card trick that I learned from a substitute teacher in 5th grade. He was impressed and said he had one of his own and comes out of the bathroom with a little vanity mirror that he balances on the top of his foot in order to cheat and read the card I pulled. Nice. Another one involved rubbing some canned dog food on the card I chose and smelling all the cards in the deck to see which one it was. This had me rolling, and I’m laughing to myself even now as I type this (but perhaps I’m just delirious due to still not sleeping much and the fact that it’s 1AM).
Wednesday Nov. 1, 06
Vernazza to Corniglia. Three more tickets (yes the dog has to have one too) at the train station, and we were on our way. I think this was my favorite portion of the hike going through little paths, walls, and beautiful landscape as usual. The weather had started to cool off a little, which was welcome to me since it was an uphill hike and real workout; we actually put on sneakers this day. But it was still nice enough to have a little swim in Vernazza before starting out. I guess I should consider myself lucky b/c Teseo as well as the 2 other fools swimming in Nov. all got stung by a jellyfish. I’ve been stung 3 times in my life, and that’s enough for me, thank you very much. Funny that Rasta didn’t want to go in this time…. I wonder if somehow she knew.
We hiked for the better portion of the afternoon, and arrived in Corniglia just as the sun started to set. There was a great little balcony overlooking the sea and we enjoyed the sunset with other visitors. I especially liked this spot b/c you were just on top of the cliffs overlooking the entire sea (I guess on clear days you can even see Corsica). We found a great little wine bar and sampled some wines from the region as well as a sweet liqueur (maybe kind of like Muscat) that is ONLY produced here. It was delicious, and I thought this shop was just great. We were served a little dish of fantastic olives, some chips, and random aperitif-type crackers.
This was our last night, and I was sad to even think of leaving this magical spot. I feel so lucky to have been able to see one of the most wonderful places in the world, and to have great weather in this off-season on top of it. I was a little pent up and frustrated with France before the vacation (I had even brought A Year in the Merde to save for my anti-French days and had such a bad one before going to Italy I read it in that day!). We had a great dinner at a little restaurant in the hills, strictly locals. The food was awesome, and it was dirt cheap. We closed down the restaurant, and I’m sad to say I enjoyed the food so much I never had room left for desert- not even gelato!
BACK TO MILANO
We headed back to Milan around 3PM on Thursday b/c it was time to return the car and Teseo had to go back to work. Thank god I decided to pull out my ticket to see what time I had to be at the airport on Saturday b/c… surprise! my flight was at 6:30 AM on Friday, not Sat.!! I don’t want to even think about what might have happened. I don’t know how I got the dates so mixed up, but luckily it all worked out for the flight and it also worked out that Teseo didn’t have to work that night either.
We arrived in Milano around 5 and after Teseo dropped of the rental car, he said he was going out to get some fish and would be right back. He had invited Marco over for dinner which was nice b/c he is the one that was so great in CR and would take us out fishing on his boat all the time. Well 20 min. later Teseo came back with the entire sea! At this point I knew I was in for a treat. We started off with enormous oysters that I couldn’t get enough of. It’s always such a treat to have your favorite foods fresh from the sea/garden prepared with such care. I guess I’ve just been lucky and spoiled with that my whole life. Then Marco arrived with Adela (also from CR) and their dog whose name was Patato I think. She was a sweetheart. Now it was on to mussles with celery, onion, a little red hot chili pepper, garlic, and some tomato sauce. Marco and Adela had also brought 2 pizzas with them (b/c, “Americans don’t know about real pizza”), so by now I was getting full… not too full, of course, to pass up on the next dish- fried calamari and a vegetable (kind of like swiss chard, I’m not sure. It’s called costa in Italian).
I showed them my pictures from Costa Rica (gotta love Shutterfly) and we all had fun reminiscing. Lucky them… they all get to go back in about a month. They were also nice enough to help me figure out how I would get back to the airport at 5AM the following morning. Being that we calculated I’d have to be up and out around 3:50, I just stayed up. The cab arrived (on time!), but it was interesting b/c the meter was already at 11 Euro when he picked me up; not too sure what that was about and since he didn’t speak English I couldn’t ask him. I wonder if it was a rate to come at such an odd hour or if perhaps he charged me for the time to the house. I realize now that this is the first time I’ve really traveled somewhere and not spoken the language. It sucks and I vow to learn at least the basics if ever I go to another non English/French/Spanish speaking country. Though I’m also going to look into the possibility of taking Italian at the University here in Nantes since I’m determined to learn it (how great would that be for when I go in Feb.?) and it would be a really good way to meet more French ppl.
THE TREK HOME
After taking the cab to the bus stop I had about a half an hour wait for an express bus that went directly to Malpensa airport. Got there, waited another half hour and an hour later I was in Paris. Ugggg. It was freezing and I had quite a trek ahead of me from the airport, to the train station, on a train to Montbarnasse (too tired to look up the spelling now) and then a metro to the TGV station in Montbarnasse. Ay ay ay. I will avoid ever doing this again like the plague. Another 40 min. wait and I was on my way to Nantes. Finally some sleep and since I was the end of the line I didn’t even have to worry about missing my stop. I can’t tell you how badly I wanted to just take a cab from the garre back to the foyer, but I stuck it out like a champ, hopping on the tram and walking the rest of the way.
I was so happy to see Zoe and hear all about what’s been going on here and with everyone else this past week. Last night we were finally all reunited (Jesse got back at 11:30 PM) and we headed out to The Loft for a night of dancing. I didn’t realize how much I missed the girls and the little family we have here until we all saw each other again. Today I did a thorough cleaning of my room, laundry, had a nice walk along the Loire with Zoe and Jesse, and just caught up and got prepared for the upcoming week. We have our second orientation in La Roche Sur Yon on Wed. but there is talk of a greve (strike, on the trains), so who knows what will happen. I’ve ambitiously planned to go for a run with Jesse at the park tomorrow morning before work, so I should try and get some sleep now. I signed up to do Spanish classes here at the foyer just for the practice, and yoga starts next Mon. night. I look forward to having some planned activities and a little more structure (one of my resolutions along with being pushy and not letting ppl walk all over me upon my return to France). Bonne nuit! I miss you all. Bisous, Elizabeth
posted by ecloern | Monday, November 06, 2006
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