Happy New Year

Sorry to say this, but I'm forcing myself to write this post. I haven't posted in a while because to be honest, didn't quite feel like it.

It's been a roller coaster ride the past few months (I am starting to notice this happens every winter). I'm trying to stay positive. First thing - I'm finally staying warm, even if my apartment still doesn't have heat! :-)

Torino is ugly in the winter time. Gray, damp, rainy, gray... Once in a while it is sunny. On those days in the distance I can make out the slopes of the mountains covered in snow. I can only imagine what they look like! Torino is in a valley between two mountain ranges... when I take a train to Genova or Roma (which passes through Genova), we pass through the first range, everything is all snowy and thick (except Torino which is just rainy), pass through the first series of tunnels, even thicker snow on the other side. Pass through the second series of tunnels, and voila, no snow because you are on the ocean side of the mountains. I always amaze people with stories of the snow I saw on the way. :-) It's only 2 1/2 hours to Genova, but a world apart!

I'm more motivated to do work now, which is a positive over the past few months. I'm also starting to write parts of a book that I'd like to self-publish (and sell if possible for extra money). Who knew I had so many experiences? My notebook is full of notes of stories that I need to put down in my book. I'm hoping for it to be like a travel diary of my experiences, plus some useful tidbits of what to see and where to go. But it's not a travel guide! I hope to have it finished by March or April at least. We'll see.

I feel bad that I haven't been updating my blog too much lately and that it's mostly video clips or pictures. Nothing really exciting!

Over the holidays an old college friend came for 2 weeks. We saw parts of Milano, Torino, Genova, Pisa, and Roma. Christmas Eve was spent at Rita's apartment - her parents were visiting from Sicily. Her mom cooked us a NICE Christmas Eve dinner! The company was so nice too. Christmas morning was kind of a letdown - I was thinking of stockings and gifts under the tree, to wake up to my studio. :-/ Then I stayed at home while Allen went out and explored. I got to talk with Carlo for a bit via webcam which was so nice! He asked us to come to Genova so we left that afternoon and Allen went off with Ethel and I spent some time with Carlo at his sister's house, which was nice!

One day in Pisa was enough - the only interesting thing about the town was the tower, and we saw enough in one hour. Did the requisite photo leaning against the tower.

Off to Rome which was sunny yet cold... I finally got to see the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. Unfortunately, Rome was PACKED because of the holiday weekend. I really don't like sightseeing in Rome when it's packed. Ugh. So we rushed through Roman Forum unfortunately. Then we went to the Colosseum which had a cool exhibit on the 2nd floor on theater in Roman times, so that was cool. Otherwise I kind of felt that the inside was kind of a disappointment. I was expecting to be able to walk over the center, to see down into the maze below, but nothing. You really couldn't see much from the edge! Oh well. The exhibit was worth it though.

The Pantheon was closed to some kind of religious service (yes it is used as a church sometimes!), we saw an unbelieveably packed Trevi Fountain (I waited while Allen walked around), then we went to check out what my guidebook said was the best gelato in Rome. Yes, it was the best gelato in Rome, and we were the only customers. :-D I had the honey and milk gelato... wow it was great! :-) Although I still think the gelato at this one place in Biella was quite good too. :-)

The next day Fabrizio and Nadia arrived first thing in the morning from Torino and Allen was hit with the flu. :-( So we went without him to the Vatican. Note - the last Sunday of the month is free admission into the Vatican Museums. It was PACKED. But Fabrizio is good with getting in without paying and without waiting. Nadia and I waited in line while Fabrizio was sent ahead to chart the waters near the entrance. Sure enough we got a message from him to meet us at the bar across from the entrance. He was sitting at a table calmly eating a sandwich. Outside the line stretched around the block and we still had half an hour before the museums were set to open. Nadia and I estimated a 2 hour wait from our position in line. We had breakfast then at 9, we walked over to the security entrance and the security guard saw Fabrizio and waved us through. I couldn't believe it. We made our through the crowd and made a beeline towards the Sistine Chapel before it became crowded. It was an experience, especially when there were only about 10 of us in the room. :-) That's all I can say... it's worth it. After getting our fill of the Sistine Chapel, we wanted to see the Raphael Rooms and realized we had to circle back to near the entrance in order to get to the Raphel Rooms, which we'd bypassed on our way to the Sistine Chapel. Since we'd taken our time perusing Michelangelo's works, the crowd got bigger and bigger. By the time we got to the Raphael Rooms, it was a mass of slowly moving human bodies. I did not enjoy that part at all. Fabrizio was falling asleep on his feet due to the heat and closeness. The three of us left.

We decided to check out St. Peter's and again thanks to Fabrizio we made it past the crowds and walked up the dome. It was quite a walk (I think over 500 steps altogether), and we were able to see closeup the mosaics that make up the interior of the dome of St. Peter's. It was quite impressive, but I still liked the dome in Florence much better. :-)

The next day was spent shopping for food we'd need for the NYE dinner and we went to Trastevere for pizza - however the pizza place I wanted to take them to, "The Marble Slab" was closed, so we settled for a different pizza place which was still quite good. Next time I post I'll need to describe how Fabrizio manages to communicate without using signs or without using his voice. It was a hilarious experience at this restaurant.

NYE was spent eating and then we went to the Colosseum to see where the action might be for the big event. (Turns out everyone was at Piazza della Repubblica, but it was still exciting at the Colosseum!) Firecrackers aren't illegal in Italy, or if they are, people still get away with it even with police around. It was a bit like Tomb Raider, avoiding the firecrackers and the flying champagne and all that. It was kind of fun! We'd brought champagne, but with the cork instead of the kind that pops off. The corkscrew we brought broke so we had quite a time getting the bottle to open and we missed the NY! A kind family felt bad for us struggling with the corkscrew that they gave us their champagne. It was sweet. We finally got the cork out and the champagne was quite good! :-)

The next day we relaxed and ate. We decided to head back to Torino early because my landlord had sent me a message that the post office had been trying to deliver my christmas packages and that after a set period of time they'd send back my packages! Of course I didn't want that to happen! Plus I was kind of tired from all the traveling and needed to be back on my own. We took the night train which was an interesting experience. The three of them were shocked that I managed to sleep almost the whole night through. I assured them that if it was just me, I wouldn't have slept well. Sure enough the next morning just as we'd almost arrived in Torino, the train was stopped because apparently someone robbed several people on the train. According to Allen, Fabrizio and Nadia he tried to come in their car but luckily Allen was right next to the door and scared him off. Later Fabrizio went out to investigate and came back to report that the thief had robbed some people from Napoli, which everyone found amusing because Napoli is famous for pickpockets and thieves.

Last week was a week of relaxation for me, still a national holiday. This week was a working week as well, back to normal for me, sort of. My Italian class started on Wednesday and I enjoyed it as usual. On Tuesday I went to sunny Genova where Carlo's mom took me with her to see her doctor and I was able to get a refill on my thyroid medicine. So that rocks. I got to climb last week, which rocked even more cuz I still have my skills, just not my strength. Next week should pick up momentum with work.

Carlo comes back from Russia on Monday (was there for a little over 2 weeks as part of Discovery, a group from Gallaudet), so I look forward to talking to him online again soon! He'll be coming for a visit next weekend, which I look forward to even more! :-)