The adventure continues

Where should I begin? So many things have happened since my last post, I really don't know which one to begin with. So, as they say, it's best to start at the beginning.

After having been bitten by a horse a few weeks ago (yeah, it my fault – I wasn't paying enough attention when holding the horse by the strings and at some point my hand was too close to the horse's mouth, or better said, it suddenly somehow got between its teeth and ended with a bloody bite), I had another little accident. This time I wasn't paying enough attention on where my feet are when I'm taking a horse to an open-air stable, so a 400-kg horse stepped on my foot leaving a not so ugly, but quite painful bruise on my right foot. From that very second on I got extremely cautious on how I walk while taking a horse … anywhere.

Unusual for this time of year, it was raining more or less every day of the last week which did not have an uplifting influence on me, but a rather I'm-tired-all-the-time effect. This weekend, after another eventful few days and a change of the weather to the better, I finally managed to get enough sleep and recharge my batteries. First, on Thursday we (= me and my flatmates) had dinner with some of our Italian friends. As usually, I was in charge of the dessert. I made an orange cheesecake, which was, yes, I have to brag a bit, one of the best cakes I have ever made. Maybe slightly too sweet, but with such a luscious cream and sugar-glazed orange slices on the top. Everyone loved it and, yeah, I did feel proud of myself! Honestly, I had never thought I'd be so good in baking or that I'd be capable of making an edible and nice-looking cake, so every time I succeed in making a cake (or tart or pie or biscuits) everyone likes, it feels like such a big step forward in my baking career.

However, this week hasn't been all peachy. On Friday, I got to find out how the Italian ER works. As Burcu, my Turkish flatmate, sprang her ankle while playing with children in mannegio, Marta and I went to the doctor with her. As one would think people working in a hospital would help you when you need them to, things, (un)surprisingly, don't always work out this way. The thing was that, of course, we had no idea where exactly we have to go or where the ER is, so the first hospital department we went to was what else than a wrong one. We went to some kind of a health centre where only specialist doctors work and you can only see them if you have an appointment. As things obviously weren't stressful enough already, people working there didn't want to help us. At the information desk we wanted to ask which doctor can we go to and as we don't speak good Italian, we called our mentor Irene, but the man (read: idiot, morrom, asshole) at the information desk literally refused to talk to Irene on the phone. What the hell?! Are you forbidden to talk on the phone if you're working at the info desk?! I'm really not fond of gong to hospitals, actually, hospitals and doctors make me very anxious, so at that second I got extremely nervous as we had no idea where we have to go. Eventually, the info man told us that we should go to prosto soccorso (ER) and that it's at the other side of the hospital, but when we got outside, there were no signs indicating where pronto soccorso is. While we were trying to find the pronto soccorso, we found a surgery for immigrants. There was a very kind doctor and a nurse that spoke English, so Burcu was able to explain what happened and the doctor showed us the way to the pronto soccorso.We finally found our way, got Burcu registered for a check-up and then, thanking each and every supernatural being in the universe, Bengül, one of our friends arrived. She is such a kind and lovely girl, but what was more important in that very moment, she speaks great Italian and she's Turkish, so she could go to the doctor with Burcu. The next two, three hours I spent in the waiting room watching Komisar Rex and Who wants to be a millionaire in Italian. Finally, Bengül and Burcu came back with Burcu having only an ice-pack on her ankle saying it's nothing serious. I was relieved. I have to admit, not knowing where we have to go and how to explain to the nurse what happened and what is wrong made me extremely, extremely nervous, so I was just happy it all ended well. While I was sitting in the waiting room, I saw a Chinese couple and they couldn't speak a word Italian. When the nurse asked them whether they spoke Italian, they weren't even able to say si or no. I cannot imagine how hard it must be living in a country without knowing the language and going to the doctor. Anyway, we celebrated our happy end with pizza and I went to bed more exhausted than ever before.

On Monday I applied for a TOEFL exam this summer and as I really need a good score, I have been trying to study at least an hour per day, but yesterday I just couldn't resist going to Montecatini with one of my friends that prefers to remain unknown due to a special adventure later that day, so let's call him Andrew. 

Montecatini is a nice little town that reminds of Slovenian Portorož or Suisse Montreaux. Palm trees, a big very very very green park, big four- and five-star hotels, golf and tennis courts … It's a lovely one-afternoon trip as you can really see everything in around four hours. One part of the town, Montecatini alto, is on a hill and you can take a cable car to get there. It's a bit pricey (return ticket: €7), but when you get to the top, it's worth it. From one side you can see Tuscan hills with olive trees and from the other side the view on near-by villages is astonishing. Montecatini alto itself reminds of San Marino with charming little paved streets that rise up the hill. 

Even though we were dying for a coffee or (and) ice-cream, we decided to go back to the town and have coffee there. On our way to the cable car we saw a nice cafe Caffe Biondi, so we decided to go there. After having ordered two cappuccinos and a zabaiglione pastry for Andrew and a chocolate pasrty for me, we took our caff`es and pastries outside on the terrace. A few minutes after we found ourselves a table and sat down, the waiter shows up with a €10 bill. We were shocked. €10 for due cappuccini and two pastries?!! It was just because we were sitting outside. Yes, despite bringing out cappuccini and pastry ourselves. There was no way we'd pay that much, so Andy was trying to be a polite and cultivated person and decided to ask the waiter, but seeing the bill reminded me of one time I was in Paris and me and a friend of mine decided not to pay for cocktails we had as the waiter just wouldn't show up with a bill. So, I got this crazy idea we should just do that. Drink our cappuccini, eat the pastry, stand up and casually walk away. After Andrew closely watched the waiter and what street we should take, I quickly finished my cappuccino and off we went! Trying to act normally we went down the fullest street hoping no one would come running and shouting after us. It worked! Actually, I can't imagine what I'd do if there was someone chasing us. Even though I did like the Caffe Biondi, I'm never going there again.

The day wasn't over just yet. As we were waiting for the train at the train station, suddenly, a bride and groom came. With a photographer and a camera-man. Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved weddings, looking at wedding dresses, bouquets, browsing wedding magazines and weddings make me a bit emotional, so I was more or less speechless seeing that happy newly weds. They wanted some of their wedding photos taken at the train station and it was such a coincidence Andrew and me were there at the same time. The bride's dress looked like whipped cream and the roses in her bouquet matched the roses she was wearing in her hair. Then, trying to find a perfect pose for the photographer one of the roses from her bouquet broke and fell down, so she picked it up and threw it to me! What a joy!

Today, I really have to study for the TOEFL exam. I have to. I have it on July 23^rd, so, yeah, I still have a month time to fully prepare myself, but I'm working for more than two weeks starting on June 25^th, so I should make the best of the free time I have. Therefore, I have to share some, for you, disappointing, news: the next post is coming up only after my first two work camps – after July 9^th. So, till then, enjoy the hot summer days!

M.

Another little get-away

Yesterday, Italy was celebrating the 150th anniversary of its establishment. Throughout the country different events took place to honour this special day and as it was a red day, it would be a shame not to take advantage of a day off, so I went to Bologna with my flatmates Marta and Léo. 

 breakfast in Bologna: cappuccino and brioche con marmellata (for me), brioche con crema (for Léo) and some kind of a doughnut (for Marta)

Bologna, the capital of the Emilia-Romana region, is only a good hour away from Prato. The town that boasts with pasta bolognese (ragu with tomato sauce and minced meat) and the oldest continually operating university in the world (established in 1088) is also known for its lively student and night life, plus I could easily imagine myself going for a little shopping spree (well, from what I've heard, nothing compared to Milano in this sense, but ok). The two towers of Bologna, symbol of Bologna, are leaning towers just like the leaning tower of Pisa. The lower one, Garisenda is 48 m high and the higher one, Asinelli, reaches up to 97 m. The Asinelli tower was used for experiments on Earth rotation and heavy-body motion studies in the 16th and 17th century by Giovanni Battista Riccioli and Giovanni Battista Guglielmini. It has been recently discussed that the towers have to be properly protected as they are threatened by heavy traffic. The towers have already been damaged as their structure has been weakened by constant tremors. It is suggested to close the area for traffic like it was done in Pisa or at least stop the plans for a tram line that should run just by the towers. 

Ok, back to the festa della repubblica. The main celebration of the festa took place at the main square, piazza Maggiore. In the rythm of the army orchestra representatives of different police and army departments marched across the piazza and despite the crowd behind the fence, I managed to squeeze at the front and had a perfect view on all the uniform men. There were the carabinieri, some divisions of the Italian Armed Forces, Red Cross volunteers, war veterans ... I have to admit I really enjoyed watching all different uniformed men march by and some of them had really funny outfits. There was a group of men with feathery hats, just like Captain Alberto Bertorelli in the 'Alo 'Alo tv show. I'm sure there's a special reason for wearing dead-bird's feathers on your head, but at this very moment I'm completely satisfied with my ignorance and not really eager to check the story behind the feathery hat. 

As my two flatmates didn't exactly share my enthusiasm for men in uniforms, we continued our little trip wandering the streets of Bologna. We soon found a bookshop and couldn't resist going in. It was one of the Eataly bookshops, which are a part of the Italian food-store chain Coop. Eataly (http://www.eataly.it/) is a special bookshop as apart from books it also sells food. Of course, I headed for the food department first and was pleasantly surprised, when I saw that the food department also has a cooking-book department. I was so so so happy when I saw a long shelf of nothing but cookbooks and I bet I could spend hours and hours just browsing the books. 

Anyway, in only 15 minutes I already had more than 10 books on my wish list. One of them is the 1001 ricette della nonna. Such a lovely cover and an even better content. I convinced myself the book is way too heavy to carry around all day, so there's no point in buying it (now) and  I left it on the shelf. I then continued with checking out the food department - all sorts of sauces, pickled garlic, marmalades, olive oil, pasta ...

If there's anything I love Italy for, is its cuisine. Just a simple tomato sauce and pasta can be so unbelievably rich there's no need for meat, cheese, cream or any other thing. Italian restaurants (managed by true Italians, of course, not someone foreign trying to cook Italian dishes) are those where I've eaten the best meals in my life. I know I've been living in Italy only for a month, but combining this with my previous experiences of eating in Italy I can say that there's a big difference between an Italian and a foreigner making pasta, pizza, lasagna or any other Italian dish. Italians cook and eat with their heart and soul; you can simply feel their love for food. If I get incredibly upset by some crazy Italian driver, I just treat myself with gelato or a cappuccino and in a blink of an eye my serotonin level rises and adrenalin is back to normal.

chocolate pastry in one of the Bologna's pasticcerias 

Léo in one of the prosciutto and fresh-made pasta shops

The other day we had an international evening. Kristiana organized it for her language tandem group and we each prepared something tipical from our home country. I made potica - a sweet roll with walnut filling. In Slovenia, it's traditionally made at Christmas and Easter and more or less, it's one of the dishes Slovenia is known for. I was a bit anxious to make it hence the only time I made it was like 10 years ago with the help of my mum and it's not exactly a piece of cake to make, especially if you're making it on your own for the first time. What I was most nervous about was making the dough as it is yeast-dough, so I decided to follow one of my mum's well-checked recipes and everything worked the way it had to! Despite not having the "proper equipment" (using a wine bottle to roll out the dough and beating the egg whites for half an hour with a fork instead of five minutes with a whisk) the taste was perfect and everyone loved it - that's what matters the most. 

As I'm writing this, I'm also thinking about my working schedule for the summer. Spending a wonderful day in Bologna woke my travel bug. Last week we finally decided who's working at which summer camp, so I can finally plan my holidays. I have to say I'm very satisfied with my schedule as I have at least a week off between each camp. I'm already thinking about going to Milano for two days in two/three weeks, so I guess it's about time I start planning my little get-away - pure joy!

M.