Magician Nites

im alive!

2007-07-13T22:06:00.000-04:00

well, im alive. i know, its been so long since ive posted that it could have gone either way!

I dont have any real excuses, so I wont try. It was just one of those things where i got futher and further behind, and the idea of trying to catch up was too daunting.

But, since the last time I posted I have...
> taken my 5 week trip to Italy and England - and it was awesome!
> moved to Portland OR
> and just yesterday, made a payment to La Università per Stranieri in Perugia and will be moving back in September!

In loving memory

2006-09-17T14:45:00.000-04:00

Scooter
Spring 1991 - September 15, 2006

all done!

2006-10-02T13:21:00.000-04:00

Well, I finally finished it, and with only a few tiny errors! (pearl instead of knit, grr!) Kalika seems to like it though :D It's actually an orange color, Beaver Orange really, despite it looking a bit red here. And in length its about 5.5 feet, almost as tall as me! Now I'm on to figure out multi color knitting - I want to do one with two wider cables one color, and the space inbetween another color. I'm going to try knitting it in the round so that all the carries from one color to the next dont show, I just hope that doesnt make it too thick in the end :D

Newest creation

2006-09-20T18:38:00.000-04:00

I've finally gotten back into knitting, after taking a bit of a break this past year. I figured out how to do a cable stitch the other day, and now I'm working on this scarf. Not too shabby. Of course all I ever make is scarfs, but this one is a bit cooler than my normal knit-stich only creations. It's slow going, although I'm not finding it too difficult to do. Certainally is a good way to practice the stich - my next project is to try a cable knit hat to match a purple and orange scarf I made a couple weeks ago. The yarn for that is a bit more difficult to work with though, so I figured I'd better get the feel for it first with this before attempting that one.

Catching up

2007-01-03T10:48:00.000-05:00

Okay Okay, so I know its been FOREVER since I've blogged. And I've got no outstanding excuses. But for those of you who may still read this, yes, I am alive!

My trip to the west coast was wonderful. I saw family and friends and had a great time, despite some long rides on greyhound which left me missing the Italian train system.

In Portland I went shopping with my mom, drank way too much wine with my aunt, and explained to my uncle my particular tastes in jewelry (he's into jewelry making). I went out to dinner with two old friends from high school, Paris and Debbie who I hadnt seen in a couple of years it seems like. We must have talked for an hour at the resturaunt before we realized that we should order! There is something great about old friends like them - even if you dont hang out with them very often, you're never at a lack of things to talk about when you do see them and the night always comes to an end way too soon. We decided that the next time we would have to do a 'slumber party' as a few hours at dinner just wasnt enough.

Left: My mom insisted that the cat be in the photo with my aunt and I so there would be atleast one sober person.
Right: My uncle tends to bring out the kid in me.

From Portland my mom gave me and AJ (my friend who was in Senegal with the peace core) a ride down to Corvallis where we met up with our group of college friends for lunch. Luckily, despite forgetting that there was a Beaver home football game that day, we managed to avoid traffic, and slipped in to the restuuraunt between the crowd that was leaving when the game was over, and the crowd that had been at the game and was coming to eat. After lunch we were off to Bend to spend Halloween with friends.

Silly me thought that I could get away without having a costume - not with my friends! When they discovered that I didnt have a costume, I was made into a Christmas tree, yes that's right, a tree. Lights and all. While it didnt rank up there with the best of my costumes, I was surprised about how many people knew what I was and complemented me on it.

Halloween weekend with friends in Bend

Two days later it was back to Corvallis for AJ and me to spend more time with friends there. It was very surreal wondering around Corvallis, but not actually living there anymore. We quickly came to the realization, that Corvallis may be a good place to grow up, and go to school when you have friends around and other activities to keep you occupied, but after that, it's a sucky place to visit.

Back up to Portland I found waiting for me a birthday present from my uncle, an Ipod video! I'd been wanting an ipod for a long time but never found the extra cash to spend on one. It was a great present to get and kept me occupied on the many flights I had to come.

The next day I was off to San Fran where I met up with Kari when she got off of work. That night we went wondering through the Italian district which is by her apartment. It was odd to be walking down the street and hearing Italian spoke amongst the English! The only time I've really heard Italian spoke in America was at Jackie's wedding! I didnt have the opportunity to talk to anyone though, and rather enjoyed just walking around catching pieces of conversations without them knowing I could understand.

The following morning, when we finally dragged ourselves out of bed, we headed to for our favorite passtime - shopping! After wondering through some stores we met up with Christie, another friend we studied with at OSU for tapas and a large pitcher of sangria - needless to say we were a bit happy when we left lunch. Several bus rides and more shopping later, we found ourselves back at Kari's apartment eating take out chow mein and getting ready to head to the club - It was my birthday at midnight! I have no idea what time we got home that night, only that I was both happy and tired from a great night out when we did.

Me, Kari and Christie before going out

Kari was back at work Monday morning and while I had plans to go explore the city more, when I woke up something told me it wasnt going to happen. I'd been fighting off a cold, but it finally caught up with me. I spent the next few days huddled up in Kari's bed while she worked, occasionally venturing out to the store.

Thurs I was off again for another flight, this time to Reno to meet up with (yet another college friend) Jeff. It was great to see Jeff again, even if I was still a bit sick. Friday night we met up with some of his friends from work and went to a club to dance the night away. Despite being in Reno, I'm not much of a gambler so I only put $4 into the slot machines (and only that because it was my last day there and I had it in my pocket.

Monday morning I was at the airport bright and early at 6.30 am, although I didnt get in to Norfolk till midnight. I'll spare you the deatails of the day, only that it was a lot of waiting!

_________________________________

Since my trip life has been pretty normal. Work, sleep, watch tv, play with the cats, etc. Thanksgiving and Christmas were both fairly uneventful at home with Josh and Jen, although it was nice after last year to spend them with family. Now after a bit of a break for Christmas, I'm trying to get myself back into the work mode. Hopefully I wont be quite as bad about blogging this year, although its hard to come up with things to write about when everyday is the same. Perhaps I'll make some more knitting posts... who knows.

I hope everyone has a great 2007!

knitting and stuff

2007-01-25T06:59:00.000-05:00

I enjoy knitting, but I've found that here in Williamsburg there isnt much use for scarves. This caused me a problem, cause lets face it, a girl only needs so many scarves when she never has a chance to wear them! So for Christmas this year I did a bit of knitting. Not as much as I was planning to, as I got a late start. But I did manage to to knit two scarves, one for my mom and one for Jackie. Unfortunately I forgot to take photos of them before I mailed them off. I did get my mom to take a photo of the one I made for her though:

This scarf was also my first attempt at blocking. Obviously it didnt work so well, as the scarf still tends to curl up around the edges. My mom says she likes it this way though, so I suppose all is good. Also in the photo is this weird chicken ornament thing that I got for her. Somehow it seemed like something she would enjoy :) The pattern in the scarf is eyelet diamonds the whole way. Actually fairly easy to do, although a little time consumming.

The scarf I made for Jackie was in the same yarn, but a different pattern. Her's looks a bit more like rounded fans one on top of the other. It was even more time consuming, but again, a simple pattern to follow. Perhaps later I'll take a picture of the picture in the pattern that I used and post that :D

In other news, I'm finding myself with a lot of extra time on my hands in the mornings. I'm working on a project here in town everyday, but we dont leave until around 8.30 or 9.30 depending on the day. I like to give myself an hour to an hour and a half in the morning to get up, shower, read email and have coffee before leaving. And while I have my alarm set for 7.30, I havent actually heard it in over a week. My body keeps waking me up sooner. Yesterday at 6.30, and today at 6! Granted I have been going to bed around 10.30 or 11 at night, do I really need to be waking up before the sun has even started to peep out!? On the bright side, atleast by the time i get to work I'm wide awake!

snow!

2007-01-25T17:40:00.000-05:00

This morning when I got to work (aka, big warehouse with no windows) it was sunny out, and not too terribly cold. When I left today, there was almost an inch of snow on the ground, and it was coming down hard! A couple miles away from the base though, the flakes started turning into slush and rain. When we got home nothing was coming down, but it was obvious that we had missed a show today while we were gone. I went on my normal walk around the neighborhood, and took a few photos:

photo problem fixed

2007-02-03T22:31:00.000-05:00

Well, I figured out why some people cant view the photos! There was a slight problem in the html I used for the photos, which some versions of Internet explorer read wrong. So, I've changed the photos in "Snow People" and tomorrow will try and change the other photos.

If there are still problems viewing them, please let me know!

snow people

2007-02-01T15:58:00.000-05:00

After the snow last week, I figured we were done for the year. But this morning it started snowing again. It snowed for an hour or so but didnt stick. Later in the afternoon it started up again, and pretty soon it was sticking. Not to the road, but everywhere else. The urge hit me to make a snowman. Unfortunately there wasnt nearly enough snow (less than an inch) and our yard wouldnt provide the nice clean snow required for a proper snowman. So I did the next best thing - I made mini snow people.

After my mini snow people had spent some time in the snow, they got in the spirits themselves, and made their own snowman. They even had an extra scarf for him.

*note: This post was written yesterday, but blogger wouldnt let me upload photos. Today all the snow is gone! :(

my next adventure

2007-01-28T09:48:00.000-05:00

Well, the snow has come and gone. It's now warmed back up to a point where you can go out in a tshirt and not freeze. My project at work is almost done, and im finding myself suddenly with more time on my hands... Atleast for a couple days until the next project starts. So I thought I'd post about my upcoming trip.

In March I'm taking off for 5 weeks of vacation split between London and Italy! I shouldnt be spending the money on this trip, but my want to see friends prevailed over my need to save money. Plus, I got $500 round trip tickets to London! :D My destinations are already set, and involve mainly hoping around to see different friends, with a little bit of sightseeing thrown in.

First stop is obviously London, where I'll be staying with Fede and hopefully seeing a few other friends who have moved up there. I'll be there for almost a week before flying down to Ancona and going down near Civitanova to see Emanuele, Matteo, Luca and most likely some of their friends who I've met a few times before. I'll only be there for a few days before hoping over to Macerata to see Jackie and Antonello for a few more days. After that its the train up to Milano to hang out with friends from school last year that are still up there. I'll also be hoping up north to see Carole for a day! I'll be spending about a week up there before flying down to Catania to stay with Caterina. Ive worked it out to be down there over easter weekend when she has some extra time off of work to hang out. Since it'll be my first time in Sicily, I'll also be doing a few touristy things on the days that she is working, and although I have a huge list of possible places to go, I havent decided on any and probably wont decide till Im there. Ill be there for about another week, maybe a little longer before getting a flight back up to London. I'll spend my last few days hanging out with Fede again before flying home. Its a lot of moving around, but I'll be in each place long enough that it shouldnt be too bad. Although I know each time I have to say goodbye to people its going to be hard!

Vacation!

2006-10-17T15:39:00.000-04:00

I'm finally headed home for a much needed vacation! I bought my ticket out to oregon yesterday, and will be going next wed, the 25th! I havent been home since July 05 so I'm pretty due for a visit. It wont be a real long visit, but it'll be jammed pack.

I'll be heading to Portland first to see my mom and aunt, and a few random friends up there. Then I'll be taking off for a few days with AJ, split between Bend and Corvallis (my hometown) seeing the boys and celebrating halloween the right way! Then it's back up to Portland for another night or two before heading to San Francisco on the 3rd to see Kari and celebrate my 24th birthday on the 5th. My plans at that point are still a bit up in the air, as I may be coming home straight from SF, or I may head to reno for a few days the following weekend to see my friend Jeff and then head back to Virginia after that. Whatever I end up doing, I have a feeling that I'm going to be pretty tired by the time I get home!

procrastination strikes again

2006-09-10T17:07:00.000-04:00

Well, in typical Lori fashion I have procrastinated a lot this week on work. Which means the next few days are promising to be full of long hours and little other than flash. I always do work better/faster under pressure :D

My brother and Jen are also leaving tomorrow to go to Texas for a week. Which means I'll be stuck at home all week alone. I've got myself set up with a supply of goodies to keep me occupied though: 4 new books (Lipstick Jungle, The Testament, The Broker, and Dante's Inferno) and The Godfather dvd collection. I love the Godfather movies, and have wanted the collection for awhile. I kept trying to find copies online to download, but without luck. Yesterday though, I spotted the set at costco for $30 and I couldnt resist. These along with work should keep me busy, and I always have the cats to talk to ^__^

In Memory...

2006-08-31T14:01:00.000-04:00

In Memory of my uncle Don who passed away this morning, after fighting with cancer the past few months. He could be a pain sometimes, but we loved him anyways and his memory will be with us always.

mozzarella balls

2006-08-08T22:50:00.000-04:00

Several months ago I wrote this post about what i thought i'd miss about italy, and what I thought I would be glad to have back in america. There are certainallly many things I've missed about Italy in the past month, but i hadnt thought of this post until tonight. The other day we bought a container of marienated "fresh" mozzarella balls from Costco. Now I should have known better than to think these would be up to par, but tonight they sounded good, so I tried a few. My first clue should have been when i opened the container to find they were packed like sardines into there... well atleast we got our monies worth i thought... until i tried to stick a fork into them to pull them out. I was met with resistance and knew at once that just as my fork was not sliding into the balls with ease as i was so used to, their taste wouldnt be the same either. I have to say they werent the worst thing i've eaten, and certainally better than american made parmesan, but i dont really know what the mozzarella tasted like. Instead the taste i got was one that reminded me of garlic bread, as the oil they were marinated in was so strong.

Somehow or another my yerning for fresh mozzarella reminded me of my list... (note: current comments written in italics)

Things I'll miss about Italy:
- Fresh, cheap produce Still true, the produce here just isnt quite as satisfying...
- multiple cafes during the day While I miss getting them at the bar, I do have my mocha here and treat myself to two huge 3-shot esspressos a day
- aperativos Definately miss these!
- 5 min breaks always turning into 10 or 15 Well, right now i take as long of a break as i want, so i suppose this doesnt really apply. Although I do miss the company i had during those breaks
- good shopping I went to a mall the other day, not for shopping but to get my eyes checked. I walked through some sort of department store on my way in. passing the "juniors" section i felt appaled by all the gheto gangsta wanna be skanky clothing they were pushing on teenagers. Needless to say i felt no urge to try anything on
- hearing italian I've taken to talking to the cats in Italian, and to my brother when I'm annoyed with him. Otherwise I get an occasional dose of it when I call a friend. I miss having it around me though, and was a bit of an adjustment to hearing English all the time. I still find myself thinking in Italian quite often.
- walking to the store Or walking ANYWHERE for that matter...
- sms-ing (so expensive in the states!) I think I miss my cell phone in general. The poor thing sits on my desk with no connection looking so lonely and neglected
- hearing someone's conversation then spending 5 min debating in my mind whether they were speaking english or italian, cause its getting to the point where i dont automatically distinguish between the two anymore. Cant say i've run into this hear, although somtimes the accents i hear can be as strange as a foriegn language
- going to the bar above the school, getting a cafe in the morning... panino at lunch... another cafe... candy.. another cafe... bottle of water.... and then after it all, and several hours and trips down to the school and back later, finally paying for everything all at once. ahhhh trusting in one another... good faith... the honor system....

Things I'll be happiest to have back in America
- Starbucks! ;) I have actually only had Starbucks 4 times since I've been here. but I am VERY happy to have my flavored syrups back
- 24 hour stores I havent taken advantage of this yet, although it still surprises me when Jenny runs to the store at night and i find myself looking at the clock in shock that it's still open
- access to a car yeah..... a car that i cant drive cause i have no insurance....
- wireless internet now this is one thing I am definately happy to have back!
- my kitty who is laying snuggled up on the bed next to me right now, as he has taken to doing all the time. No one knows how to give better lovin than a cat
- leaving the house in sweats and not getting weird looks okay, still havent brought myself to do this yet, other than going out onto the deck
- english although it can be easier to express myself, i still find myself stumbling as i accidently switch into italian and then get puzzeled looks from my brother
- central heating and airconditioning it's taken me a month to adjust to how cold my brother keeps the house, but after spending half an hour in the open suana called outside, I'm happy to come back to the cold
- mindless entertaining television watching I've got well over 100 stations as well as 3 movie on demand stations each bringing numorous movies to my fingertips, yet i still find myself bored by TV very quickly.
- cat napping on the couch another one i havent done yet. although it is nice to have a comfy couch to curl up and read on

It's hard to sum up what I miss about Italy... I suppose you could say everything other than the government and its annoying rules for foreigners. Especially though I miss my friends... sitting around laughing... walking the streets... hanging out at the columns having a beer... walking late at night to the sandwhich stand for for a to-die-for spicy sausage and grilled veggies hoagie, then sitting in the park making a mess of everything trying to hurry and eat it before it fell apart.....

As far as what im happiest to have back in america.... cheap books at costco, turkey lunch meat, my cat, and flavored coffee syrups.

if i had my choice of where i would wake up in the morning... Italy, no doubt about it.

Virginia....

2006-08-03T11:39:00.000-04:00

Well, here I am, alive and well, and with an actual post about Virginia. Life here is good, although I feel like I'm on an extended vacation visiting my brother. I'm used to spending my days "surfing the net" when I visit my bro, only normally it's for a few days at a time. Now that I've been here a month my days have become relatively routine. Although there have been a few episoides of cultural shock (I still get a bit wide eyed at the selection and shear bigness when I go into a grocery store) I have been pretty well shielded from it. Although I've never been here before, it is still my brothers house, and although significantly bigger than his previous ones it still feels like 'home.' My old coffee table and end table are even here.

I think I have been mostly shielded from the cultural shock, as I hardly leave the house - and when I do its normally to go to the store. The house is pretty far out of town, and as such its impossible to go anywhere without a car. Seeing as my bro/wife have only one car currently, and I'm not on the insurance, I dont go anywhere unless its with them. We did take a trip to Virginia Beach the other weekend, not to actually go to the beach (they're not the lay on the beach type of people) but rather to walk along the "boardwalk." The Boardwalk was like a big fair. Haunted houses, mini golf, rides, tacky souvineer shops, and ice cream lined the street. I think this was probably the clostest to cultural shock I got - only because it was new for me, it almost felt more like going to another country then being in the US. We dont have any beach towns like that in Oregon.

As I said before, my days are mostly spent at home. Here I rotate between watching tv, bumming around on the net, playing CIV, and doing a bit of work. Yes, I am actually working. Although not at a real "job" (seeing as everything is to far away for me to be able to get to one). Instead I have started doing jobs online. Random design work, random monkey work. Things that arent incredibly interesting, and pay isnt great, but I figure if I'm going to spend my days sitting at my computer I might as well get paid for it.

I've also taken to studying. I'm trying to teach myself java and php, in addition to fine-toning my actionscripting skills (flash). The funny thing is, now that I'm done with school, I've actually started studying. I really dont think I've studied this much since HS. Never had the need to study a lot during university. It was a bit rough going at first sitting down with a 500 page book and going through it page by page (to make sure I dont miss anything), but it has become a bit easier over the days. To keep myself sane I stop now and then to make some silly/stupid project using what I've learned. Still, there is only so much my brain can absorb on any given day, so it's going to take awhile to get through this stack of books. Lucky for me programming is mostly math and equations, and i have the type of mentality that soaks them up and understands them without having to re-read. I do it once, and I've pretty much got it.

I did take a walk the other day around the "block" and down to a pond nearby. I was thinking of going a bit further, but by the time I got to the pond my clothes were stuck to me from the humidity, so I decided to turn back. The whole thing only took half an hour, and it felt nice to get out. I dont think I've ever been so inactive in my entire life. It's amazing how nice a walk can feel. I didnt think to take my camera until I was already a bit away from the house, and didnt want to turn back. Next time I'll take it along though to get some shots. It'll be a few days though, as the heat and humidity here has got it feeling about 110 outside. Not the best time to be walking around. I think once the temps come down a bit (suppose to happen next week) I'll be able to finally convince my brother for us to go take a walk through the "old" Williamsburg. We drove somewhat close to it one day and it looked nice (although extremely done up for tourists). We're also supposed to be taking a trip to DC one of these weeeknds. It's a bit of a shame being here yet stuck in the house, as history is so interesting to me, and I've always wanted to come to the south. Although we're at the northern part of the southern states, Virginia was officially part of the confederates during the Civil War. I know things are mostly modern now, but I was hoping to get a bit more of a historical look at things while I was down here.

Well, that about does it. my morning break time is over and it's 'off to work i go.'

firenze

2006-07-21T20:18:00.000-04:00

Roma

2006-07-21T19:19:00.000-04:00

"man's best friend"

2006-07-21T11:41:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure if its pathetic or cute that I'm taking photos of myself with my cat. What do you think? Maybe I should change the background to make it look like we're in a more interesting place.... beach in italy?

Sorry uploading the rest of the photos slipped my mind. I'll get back on those later today. :D

Almost a year ago...

2006-07-17T10:57:00.000-04:00

Well, after almost a year I finally got my film developed from my month around Italy with Kari. At least the film that made it back to America with me. I lost a few rolls along the way. Particuarly from the Amalfi coast. It seems that I am never meant to have photos from that area as everytime I have taken photos there I always loose the film. Go figure. Anyways, there are some of the "highlights." Eventually I'll get them all posted on a subdivision of my site along with the rest of the photos from the year there. I'm working on a page now, but its a lot of photos :D

Anyways, here they are, sorry if the quality isnt the best... Walmart doesnt do that high res of scans.

Venezia

Roma

blogger is having problems and not letting me upload more photos right now. The rest will be uploaded later.

my man

2006-07-15T23:37:00.000-04:00

I stole this one from Annika and I have to say that i quite enjoyed it :D I highly encourage everyone else to take some time and see what kind of man they're really after. The creepiest part about this test was that out of all the guys in it, Jude was definitely my top pick. Talk about accuracy!

Adventure man

You scored 65% masculine, 47% athletic, 81% exotic, and 50% refined!

You like a man who doesn't need the crazy muscles to prove he is a 100% man. He is mysterious and his pictures make you want to jump into his head to see what is going on in there...or his pants I suppose. You like a little bad-ass in him and you may like someone like.....Jude Law. But let's face it, the whole point of this was to look at a bunch of hot guys.

Link: The What type of MAN turns you on Test

Lake Como

2006-07-13T12:17:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time in a land far far away....

Okay, so it's taken me un excusably long to get these photos up, but better late than never, right? At least now with a lack of things to do I'm able to get caught up a bit on blogging :D

At the beginning of June I headed up to Colico where Carole lives with her and Annika for a day. Annika was in Italy for the Monster GTG, and as they headed back up north they stopped off in Milan to pick me up. The drive up there was gorgeous (as you can see from the photos). Half way up the lake we stopped and took a fairy across to the other side, and then continued the drive up to the top where Carole lives. That night we went out to dinner with Jennifer B and her husband Davide at a resturaunt up on the side of the mountain. The place was so high up that the road ended shortly after it. The views were spectacular and the food was a hefty mountain cusine. Overall it was a fun relaxing day, and a real pity to return to the noise and scruff of milan the following morning.

A day in Loreto

2006-07-10T22:51:00.000-04:00

A couple weeks ago (the 29th) Jackie and I decided to head to Loreto. Neither of us had been there in 3 years, and before it was with the school. When we went before we walked straight through town to the duomo, and didnt do anything else. So we thought we would head back and check out the rest of the town. When we got off the bus it was quite easy to find our way around. Across the street and through the gate and we were in.

After wandering around a "theatre" (ie, cool old building under construction) and hoping we wouldnt get kicked out, we headed down the street. Right away we felt the throngs of tourist traps. Everywhere we looked were post cards and tacky souviners, and the numbers only increased the further we went along. We knew we were heading in the right direction. Soon enough we found ourselves in the piazza.

The first time I saw Loreto I was a newbie in Italy. I had been in the country a month or two at most, and my eyes were still permanently glued wide open. I remember the piazza seeming very grand and open. Much different than the ones in Macerata, this one had a fountain in the center and porticals along the side. It was winter and I remember it was almost empty except for a couple of lonely tourist carts. This time the piazza seemed different. I've seen a lot more now, and it didnt seem quite as special. still beautiful, but not as much "wow". There were also way more tourists and locals out as well, and it didnt have that erie silent feeling as before.

After taking a few minutes wandering around for fotos, we headed down the side of the church and out of the city to a look out point. Although the day was fairly grey, in the distance we could still see the sea. We headed back to town along the other side of the church, and found our way back to the piazza. now facing away from the church we looked ahead to decide where to go, and were met with a surprise. The only street was the one we had originally come in on. Could it really be that the town was this small? Was there really nothing else to see? We took off wandering with a side agenda of finding a resturaunt for lunch. surely there must have been a side street we missed. soon enough we stumbled upon a second street, and gained hope of a lunch in a place without a tourist menu. After all, the locals must eat somewhere. As we continued down the street things didnt look so hot. We eventually found a little bar-restraunt, but the menu seemed a bit sketchy. We decided to head back to check out one of the pizzarias we had seen. As we walked into one we quickly became confussed as it looked more like a bar than a pizzaria. Not sure whether we wanted to stay, we asked for a menu. The lady at the bar then informed us that they dont cook there. Confused we asked her what about the sign outside that said pizza. Her response, oh yes, they do have pizza, and proceeded to hand us a menu. judging by the place not seeming to have a kitchen, we decided to leave as microwave frozen pizza wasnt what we were hoping for.

After an unsuccessful attempt to get a suggestion for the tourist office, and a confirmation that the town indeed had only two streets, we decided to head back to the bar we had seen before. Upon entering the place actually seemed nicer. The menu was a bit limited, but for lack of other options we decided to give it a go. This turned out to be a bad idea. I have to say that it was the worst meal I had eaten all year. (yes, even worse than when fede made me dinner of rice and potato - mixed together and with only soy sauce with it - at least that had flavor).

When we finally managed to pay and get out of there, we decided to head down to a polish cemetary. the walk the hill was quite nice along a little foot-only path. Unfortunately when we arrived it was closed for lunch time and wouldnt be open for another hour. We were still able to see in though from through the gates and over the wall. It was quite different looking than the cemetaries you normally see in Italy. With our list of sites nowcomplete and several hours to kill still, we decidedto hop back on a bus and head to porto recanati and have a walk around. Time quickly passed there as we strolled from one end of the boardwalk down to the other, stopping for a popcicle before heading back. Soon enough we were back on the bus heading to macerata

tourist in milan

2006-07-08T06:56:00.000-04:00

Despite the lack of photos on my blog, i really do love to take them. I just dont really think to take them in the city where i am living, and hate to stand out as a tourist.

In milan the prime feeding ground for tourists is piazza duomo. It seems that when tourists come to Milan they only have a few things on their list, convienently located close together so that they dont have to wander out into the big, dangerous city. This list includes the duomo, the scala (theatre), the castle, and the last supper. oh, and i almost forgot, shopping. But this doesnt take them away from the center either.

Sitting on the steps of the duomo during an afternoon can be fun. There is great people watching to be had and you can hear countless languages go past you. It can also be fun to laugh at the tourists as the street venders corner them. There are two types of venders at the duomo. Type one is the type you find all over the city trying to hand you religeous books, or sell you items which may actually be useful in some cases. The second type is the kind you find only where tourists are, and they bother only tourists. Trying to give you the "free" friendship bracelets, or sell you pigeon food so you can stand like an idiot covered in pigeons (not to say it isnt fun - yes, i did it in venice several years ago). Now I was never bothered by the second type, only the first type. They seem to know the difference between locals and tourists and stick to their given territory. This made me happy as I got extremely annoyed by the ones who attacked tourists (even though it can be funny, one time I actually told one off as he was trying to tie a bracelet on some poor guy's wrist. the guy obviously had no idea what was going on. guess i was in a bad mood that day....)

During my year in Milan I never walked around with my camera at the duomo, except for the occasional concert or 3am drunken walk home, and even then it was only to take photos of friends, never of the duomo itself. Yet I was determined before I left to take a few photos. So on my last night in the city I stopped by the duomo with K before heading to an aperativo. I painfully took my camera out of my purse and started to point it at the duomo. All the sudden at my side their was a man trying to sell me bird food. Before I had even taken one foto. Now K and I werent speaking English, we werent looking around in awe, the only thing we were doing different than normal was that we had a camera. Typically these guys will bug you for awhile before they leave. This one however was smart. He got the hint from my glare and my simple yet firm "i dont want any" and left. I took one foto and then my phone rang, and I spent the next 10 min talking to a friend, loudly in italian. no one came up, until I closed my phone, at which point someone else immediatly came up. I wasnt quite as nice this time, and was a bit annoyed. it was ridiculous after all. I had spent all year there, yet as soon as i want to take a photo I get bugged. Well, as this guy approached me with his handful of food i didnt even let him say anything. Instead I looked right at him and (in italian) said "Dont you think if I wanted some of your fucking food I would have come to you and bought it?"He turned around and left, mumbling something behind him. And we did the same thing. I'd had enough playing tourist for one day.

Instead off we went to our aperativo, one foto taken, and decided to come back that night when we wouldnt be bothered taking photos.

lazy day drive

2006-07-07T11:43:00.000-04:00

My last week in Italy I spent down in Le Marche visiting friends. On Saturday I went for a drive through the mountains and into Umbria with Jackie and Antonello. The day was quite relaxing as we glided along the curves. Looking out the windows I was reminded of Oregon. The landscape, while slightly more hilly in Le Marche, is very similar to that of Oregon and imparticular the Williamette Valley. I always feel at home when I'm in that part of Italy. We avoided the highway and instead stuck to 'back roads,' and soon found ourselves in a little town where we stopped for lunch. The food was great, although the waiter was a bit weird... and exceeded the point of weird when he litterally picked up Jackie's fork and began feeding her. After lunch we took a walk through the town, which was greatly under construction, before getting back in the car and continuing on.

As we headed further into the mountains we continued to climb higher and higer as the road twisted back and forth. Eventually we came upon a clearing where we stopped for a drink of water from a fountain. The fountain consisting of stones and an old tub was fed by mountain spring water. One of many such fountains you find along the road through Italy. The views were spectacular as the land gave way to valleys on either side of us. Further ahead I could see a small town perched on a hill. After our legs had a good stretch we headed down into the valley and pass the town.

When we got to the valley floor Jackie pointed out some trees on the side of a hill to me. They were planted in the shape of a map of Italy, and apparently their planting was ordered by Mousolini. I'm curious as to if they were put in other locations in Italy as well, or if this valley holds the only one. It seems like such an odd place to put it. After reaching the other side of the valley we bagan to climb the hills again, as we headed over another range and onto our final destination, Norcia.

Norcia is a cute little walled town, sitting relatively flat on the valley floor surrounded by open space. The streets were lively with people, most of whom were tourists although Italian tourists rather than Americans. Norcia is a well known spot in Italy for several reasons, one being that it is the birth place of St. Benedict and another being it's sausages. Throughout the city little stores selling local sausages and cheeses lined the streets, all boasting boar heads outside.

After playing tourists, taking lots of photos and eating some gelato we got back in the car and headed towards home a bit sleeping. We stopped along the way tucked deep into the trees at another fountain. The road that lead us there, and the one that would lead us out were both the kind that are so small only one car can pass. If another comes from the other direction someone will have to backup a ways to a point where the road gets wider to allow the other to pass. It's the type of driving that to me would be challanging, but to Italians is just the way of life.

As the sun began to set we arrived back home in Macerata, all a bit sleepy but happy from our adventure that day, the escape from life, and also from the summer heat.

Scooter!

2006-07-06T18:58:00.000-04:00

my kitty scooter!
he's been waiting for me to come home the past year. And while Josh and Jen say that he never does anything but sleep all day in his basket, the last two days I've actually gotten him out and moving around some. I think it's good for him. I think he's happy to see me, as Jen says that he would never have done that before.