I am currently at the Bergamo airport in Italy waiting to go to Dublin. I was excited to go to Dublin for the colder weather, see my friend Kevin and just be with English speakers. But holy toledo Batman, it is freezing in this airport. Did you know there are online reviews about sleeping in airports? Like if they are open 24 hours, the types of chairs, etc. Anyway, they did not mention that this airport was freezing. I look like a fool right now with how I'm dressed by the way. And let's not forget that I have a cough that the cold is making worse. And it's 3 in the morning and I want to sleep! But it's too cold. I think its to discourage people like me to sleep in the airport.
On my way to the airport, I ended up running into 2 girls and a guy. One of the girls was Italian who spoke really good English and was able to translate for us that the bus stop that said "airport" was not the right now we were waiting at but should go around the corner to the other bus stop. The other girl was from Amsterdam complaining (in a really nice way) about Italians and Americans that go to Amsterdam to party and was like "hi, there are other things to do in Amsterdam." She was on her way to Portugal to go blow off some steam. The guy was a Moroccan Italian guy just going back to Morocco to take care of some things. Together, the 4 of us stayed together and survived the night in that freezing airport. Luckily, it didn't take forever and we were able to get on our flights and be on our way. Once on the plane, in the slightly warmer temperature, I closed my eyes and promptly fell asleep. I flew RyanAir which is really cheap, but poorly laid out signs and a million instructions that you have to read to avoid being charged. They charge for drinks on the plane even. Anyway, as I was sleeping, I kept waking up to announcements about things that were irrelevant to me since I was not planning on spending any money.
Anyway, I arrived safe and sound on what felt like the shortest flight of my life since I slept almost the entire trip. I flew into a small airport called Knock and went through "customs" of where a dog sniffed me. However, because I am not an resident of the EU, I was questioned more thoroughly before they stamped my passport. Right after that, I met my friend Kevin right outside the door and together we walked into the cloudy, rainy, windy Irish weather. It was so nice to just not be sweating as soon as I walked outside, or even being inside of a building. Whew.
Anyway, went to breakfast since I hadn't eaten anything since the night before. He then took me on a mini tour of a bunch of the little towns in his county. Kevin lives in the county of Mayo in the north west of Ireland. So on the way to his place, we stopped or passed through little towns like Castlebar, Foxford, (which is not known for their foxes, or their Fords) Westport and Ballina. All the signs here are in English and Irish (which is Gaelic but none Irish people call it Gaelic apparently). Kevin's closest town is Belmullet and he lives in a little village called Glenamoy. The house is super quaint with fireplaces on and wooden floors. I really like the house and the feel of the house, it just feels really welcoming. After lunch, we went for a drive down to the beach which he does not live far from, but unfortunately too cold and windy to walk around and enjoy it properly.
We also drove around to little known places that only if you were local would you know about. Kevin took me to this monument for this Irish Children's story called the Children of Lir which was super depressing. He has this book "Things you didn't know about Ireland" or something like that and "A Brief History of Ireland" in his car that we used as additional information for whatever we went to go see. Anyway, the Children of Lir story is about this man and woman (I think king and queen and can't remember but oh well) who had three kids. The woman died and so the man built a special bond with the kids. Natural progression. Anyway, soon he meets this woman and they marry. This woman was a witch and was jealous of the bond that the father had with the kids so she turned them into swans. They were to live 300 years in one location, 300 in another and 300 in the final location. Then they were turned back into humans and it had to be a monk to transform them back. BUT I was thinking, oh then they could go and live normal lives but nope, they are old, and wrinkly and haggard and die! You know, because they are 900 years old. WHAT THE EFF!? That is so depressing. It's a fairy tale, they don't even have the chance to have a normal life in a fairy tale? Anyway, in the 90s, there was an architect who designed a monument representing the Children of Lir. Kevin described it as "something that was put together with old bits of metal". Yes, I did agree but it also looked like a manger with animal stalls. (Pictures to come.)
Anyway, because of the wind, and I didn't really care what we did, we had an early night by eating dinner and watching Friends and 30 Rock. What a great ending to a nice relaxing day right?
Lemon out!
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Ask me what I miss....
Go ahead and ask me what I miss about California or the United States. You will not be able to guess. I guarantee it! I miss the giant mosquitoes that fly around in the summer. I know! I know! I didn't think I would either but while counting all of the bug bites I can see on my hands and legs, the 70 or so bug bites tell me that I miss the giant mosquitoes that you can see with your naked eye. Why you ask? Because since I can see them, I can kill them and they stand a lower chance of getting my sweet sweet blood. I mean I hate killing mosquitoes, but I'll do it. But in Italy they are super tiny. I thought they were gnats up until last week. And then, and then it happened, I saw one up close, sucking my blood out of my arm and that is when I knew I missed giant California mosquitoes. I got stung 5 more times last night on my back by the way despite putting on a bunch of bug spray. I think they are immune to my spray now or the smell of my blood is too tempting to resist and they will risk death for my blood. Whatever it is, I am not a fan of them. I currently have so many bug bite scabs and scars it's ridiculous. It doesn't help that I scratch them in my sleep. At least awake I can limit my scratching, but at night I apparently go crazy because I wake up with little blots of blood on the sheets. Its really quite disgusting. I don't have this scratch in my sleep problem in my own bed, nor am I bit this much at home. Whenever I see a mom, they grab my arm and say "what happened? Zanzara? (Which is the Italian word of mosquito) and I say "yes, so many, so so many."
Oh California mosquitoes, how I miss you so!
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Florence
I am currently on the train leaving Florence and going to Padua to go back to my first host family and stay with them for a couple of days before I head off to Dublin. Florence was great with tons of history both medieval as well as the Renaissance. Florence is a tourist capital not like anything I have experienced yet in Italy. EVERYONE spoke English. It was ridiculous on how much English was spoken by everyone. And I don't know if that turned me off to Florence but I didn't love it. I liked it, and I would for sure go back, but I only liked it.
My first day in Florence I just walked around looking at the sights. Generally what I do when I first get into a city is walk to the center of the area without a map, literally getting lost in the city and then find my way back somehow. It has been a great system so far because I have always found some of the coolest things that way. Anyway, after I left my stuff in the hostel I just walked to the domes of Florence that you so often see in postcards and pictures. On my way there, I found a bunch of cool shops and leather goods. After looking in the stores, I rounded the corner of one street and there stood the Duomo or Cathedral of Florence. You have seen the Cathedral from aerial views hundreds of times, maybe thousands but to see it up close, with the intricate detail and colors that you have almost never seen is completely surprising and breath-taking. In my opinion anyway. I was so surprised that the front or the sides of the Cathedral are not photographed more. As many of my readers are also my Facebook friends I will mention that when I got to the Duomo the first day it was closed so I could not go inside. The next day is when I went back and climbed to the top of the Duomo to take my aerial shot of the area.
So walking around, I found this piazza, Piazza Vecchio that has lots of statues and is just a fun place to be around. I found the replica of Michelangelo's "David" in the piazza which was cool. It was the original place he was displayed representing a sense of freedom. In the 1800s, he was moved as a museum, the Academia Gallery was built around David and I eventually went to go see. My recommendation: Don't wait in that line without a ticket and don't buy your ticket online. Go to the little office across from the museum and make a reservation and buy your ticket. I waited 5 minutes to make a reservation the next day in the morning before lunch. So I went the next day, went to the museum which was kind of surreal to be seeing this famous statue that you know all about, and about this artist that you have studied even if you weren't an art history person and the statue being right in front of you. I walked around the whole thing and then went to get lunch. All in all a good day.
I went on a walking tour of the Renaissance architecture of the area. It was pretty cool and I learned a lot and it was cool to see the differences between the buildings of Medieval times, next to buildings of the Renaissance next to some newer buildings that kind of just built up around the original buildings.
And as previously mentioned leather goods....in a previous post I mentioned on how I asked a host mom where I can buy leather goods. The words "Florence" or "Firenze" never came up in that conversation. But holy cow, there are shops after shops and little booths after little booths of places to buy leather goods ranging from gloves, to bags, to shoes, to belts, to wallets, to anything you want to be leather. After a while of shopping around, I bought several leather items as presents (sorry folks, can't reveal it here) and on my last day, found a leather jacket. I had resolved to not get a leather jacket because they were too expensive. Way out of my price range. And I had thought, I could buy one in California from Italy cheaper than buying it here. Oh well! And I had gone to buy myself an "Italia" jacket, a blue one just like the one I had been eying all summer. After I bought it, I saw "Made in China". I was so disappointed that I went to go buy myself another jacket that said "Italia", a green one that was specifically made in Italy and that will be accompanying me across Europe. And I was ok with the purchase of two jackets since I had not gotten a leather jacket. However, as I was walking around with some people I met at the hostel who were also in the market to buy leather goods. As I was showing them around to the shops that I had found, there it was, standing out in the middle of one of the stalls, the jacket I had to have. I went from the little booth to their store because I hadn't found a leather jacket in my price range, in my size or in the color I had liked in 6 weeks, it wasn't going to work out now right? Oh but it did, and it was meant to be! I went in to ask for the style I fell in love with but in black. The guy ignored me and grabbed me a dark red one because it was in my size....it was beautiful and beautiful on me. He then pulled out the black one which looked good but the red was good against my skin tone. After I said, "nope, gotta have the red one" he then told me that he knew it would be perfect for me, that's why he pulled it out first and then the black one later. Tricky tricky, but he was right! I cannot wait to go out somewhere so I can wear it! Too bad it won't be for another 6 weeks because I do not want to take it to rainy countries only to get ruined before I have a chance to wear it. Le sigh...but I have a beautiful jacket to wear when I get home!
Now talking about hostel life. SO I was in the hostel for 4 nights/5 days. In a previous post I mentioned the Australian who flashed me. She was only my roommate for 2 days. Through her I met other Australians and a Kiwi, and some guy from North Carolina who reminded me of Jeremy Piven a little too much. After she left, this guy from Chicago who looked 35 but was really 19 was my roommate along with this girl from Kazakhstan who made up for this guy I know from Kazakhstan. She represented really well and made up for the guy I know who I think is one of the worst people I have ever met. Anyway, this 19 year old Chicago guy was touring Europe as long as he could to look for party places to take tour groups of college kids around to party it up. I asked him if he had heard the book "Party Europe" which is the same idea (And I only know about it because I found it in rooms during check out) and he did not so I just helped a business right there grow. He was nice, and I assumed from money because that was his 8th time in Europe and he had no plans to go back. He also told me about his dreams as he rolled a joint and talked to me in the bed across from me. The next day, I met this girl from Canada moved in to the bed next to me who it turns out was doing the same Italian English touring company as me and we bonded over that. We bonded so well that we are going to see the Dr. Who Experience together in Cardiff! Eek so excited! The guy in the room turned out to be from Los Angeles, and when I asked where because I was from Los Angeles, he said "North Hollywood". Then I saw him addressing something and he was from Studio City. First of all, why not tell me the truth and second of all if you are going to be vague, just say The Valley. I would have stopped asking after that. Anyway, we went out to dinner, saw the Duomo and because we had all been traveling alone for so long, able to get in our funny shots with people that would wait for us to pose as opposed to asking complete strangers to wait for us to pose.
The next day, we walked around and shopped and then I headed back to Limena; where I started it all. Soon, my adventures will continue! On to Dublin!
My first day in Florence I just walked around looking at the sights. Generally what I do when I first get into a city is walk to the center of the area without a map, literally getting lost in the city and then find my way back somehow. It has been a great system so far because I have always found some of the coolest things that way. Anyway, after I left my stuff in the hostel I just walked to the domes of Florence that you so often see in postcards and pictures. On my way there, I found a bunch of cool shops and leather goods. After looking in the stores, I rounded the corner of one street and there stood the Duomo or Cathedral of Florence. You have seen the Cathedral from aerial views hundreds of times, maybe thousands but to see it up close, with the intricate detail and colors that you have almost never seen is completely surprising and breath-taking. In my opinion anyway. I was so surprised that the front or the sides of the Cathedral are not photographed more. As many of my readers are also my Facebook friends I will mention that when I got to the Duomo the first day it was closed so I could not go inside. The next day is when I went back and climbed to the top of the Duomo to take my aerial shot of the area.
So walking around, I found this piazza, Piazza Vecchio that has lots of statues and is just a fun place to be around. I found the replica of Michelangelo's "David" in the piazza which was cool. It was the original place he was displayed representing a sense of freedom. In the 1800s, he was moved as a museum, the Academia Gallery was built around David and I eventually went to go see. My recommendation: Don't wait in that line without a ticket and don't buy your ticket online. Go to the little office across from the museum and make a reservation and buy your ticket. I waited 5 minutes to make a reservation the next day in the morning before lunch. So I went the next day, went to the museum which was kind of surreal to be seeing this famous statue that you know all about, and about this artist that you have studied even if you weren't an art history person and the statue being right in front of you. I walked around the whole thing and then went to get lunch. All in all a good day.
I went on a walking tour of the Renaissance architecture of the area. It was pretty cool and I learned a lot and it was cool to see the differences between the buildings of Medieval times, next to buildings of the Renaissance next to some newer buildings that kind of just built up around the original buildings.
And as previously mentioned leather goods....in a previous post I mentioned on how I asked a host mom where I can buy leather goods. The words "Florence" or "Firenze" never came up in that conversation. But holy cow, there are shops after shops and little booths after little booths of places to buy leather goods ranging from gloves, to bags, to shoes, to belts, to wallets, to anything you want to be leather. After a while of shopping around, I bought several leather items as presents (sorry folks, can't reveal it here) and on my last day, found a leather jacket. I had resolved to not get a leather jacket because they were too expensive. Way out of my price range. And I had thought, I could buy one in California from Italy cheaper than buying it here. Oh well! And I had gone to buy myself an "Italia" jacket, a blue one just like the one I had been eying all summer. After I bought it, I saw "Made in China". I was so disappointed that I went to go buy myself another jacket that said "Italia", a green one that was specifically made in Italy and that will be accompanying me across Europe. And I was ok with the purchase of two jackets since I had not gotten a leather jacket. However, as I was walking around with some people I met at the hostel who were also in the market to buy leather goods. As I was showing them around to the shops that I had found, there it was, standing out in the middle of one of the stalls, the jacket I had to have. I went from the little booth to their store because I hadn't found a leather jacket in my price range, in my size or in the color I had liked in 6 weeks, it wasn't going to work out now right? Oh but it did, and it was meant to be! I went in to ask for the style I fell in love with but in black. The guy ignored me and grabbed me a dark red one because it was in my size....it was beautiful and beautiful on me. He then pulled out the black one which looked good but the red was good against my skin tone. After I said, "nope, gotta have the red one" he then told me that he knew it would be perfect for me, that's why he pulled it out first and then the black one later. Tricky tricky, but he was right! I cannot wait to go out somewhere so I can wear it! Too bad it won't be for another 6 weeks because I do not want to take it to rainy countries only to get ruined before I have a chance to wear it. Le sigh...but I have a beautiful jacket to wear when I get home!
Now talking about hostel life. SO I was in the hostel for 4 nights/5 days. In a previous post I mentioned the Australian who flashed me. She was only my roommate for 2 days. Through her I met other Australians and a Kiwi, and some guy from North Carolina who reminded me of Jeremy Piven a little too much. After she left, this guy from Chicago who looked 35 but was really 19 was my roommate along with this girl from Kazakhstan who made up for this guy I know from Kazakhstan. She represented really well and made up for the guy I know who I think is one of the worst people I have ever met. Anyway, this 19 year old Chicago guy was touring Europe as long as he could to look for party places to take tour groups of college kids around to party it up. I asked him if he had heard the book "Party Europe" which is the same idea (And I only know about it because I found it in rooms during check out) and he did not so I just helped a business right there grow. He was nice, and I assumed from money because that was his 8th time in Europe and he had no plans to go back. He also told me about his dreams as he rolled a joint and talked to me in the bed across from me. The next day, I met this girl from Canada moved in to the bed next to me who it turns out was doing the same Italian English touring company as me and we bonded over that. We bonded so well that we are going to see the Dr. Who Experience together in Cardiff! Eek so excited! The guy in the room turned out to be from Los Angeles, and when I asked where because I was from Los Angeles, he said "North Hollywood". Then I saw him addressing something and he was from Studio City. First of all, why not tell me the truth and second of all if you are going to be vague, just say The Valley. I would have stopped asking after that. Anyway, we went out to dinner, saw the Duomo and because we had all been traveling alone for so long, able to get in our funny shots with people that would wait for us to pose as opposed to asking complete strangers to wait for us to pose.
The next day, we walked around and shopped and then I headed back to Limena; where I started it all. Soon, my adventures will continue! On to Dublin!
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Occupy Pisa
I am currently writing this on a restaurant patio looking at the Duomo of Pisa but unable to see the Leaning Tower from where I am sitting. So I noticed that no one talks about the Duomo of Pisa but I would say it is just as impressive as the Leaning Tower. I mean we all know what the Leaning Tower looks like, but the Duomo and the statues around are also quite worth taking a look at. The unfortunate thing about checking out the Leaning Tower by yourself is that you can't get one of your own funny pictures of you holding up the tower. Oh well. And as I was typing that, the girl that is staying in the same room as me in the bed over at the hostel just walked by but we never exchanged names so I couldn't call out to her. She is Australian and loves Italy and was actually in Ivrea last year so knew all about where I had just come from. As we were comparing skin tones from original to how much we had tanned she accidentally flashed me and she said "now that can be the highlight of your day when someone asks you". I thought that was a clever response so I have included the story for it. Anyway, back to writing about Pisa.
Pisa is cool but really small. When they say "you can do Pisa in a day" they weren't joking. I traveled from Florence to Pisa in an hour on the train and walked down the shops and area to arrive to the Leaning Tower about a mile and a half later. When you first see the Leaning Tower, it looks kind of fake. Cause it's a crooked building. You know? But it's completely real. You can climb up it too but I didn't want to. But I did go inside the Cathedral and found it to be beautiful. The paintings weren't as doomsday as they are in other churches. The architecture is really cool too around the building.
Walking back to the train station I walked by the university and of course took pictures of the graffiti. All around the university the theme of the students at the University of Pisa was "Occupy Pisa, Occupy Italy, we are the 99%". From Bologna to Pisa, I am sensing a theme of frustration, a theme of wanting more out of life but being stagnate. I'm sure much of us, especially the recent graduates out there can understand.
Around the Pisa area, there are tons of little shops like a flea market if you want to buy something touristy. I saw a Snoopy tshirt of him holding up the Leaning Tower and thought of buying it for my sister but decided against it. (Sorry Ani.) Also, I had discovered this shopping area after I ate but did see small restaurants from all over where I could have gotten my Mexican craving taken care of. DARN! Speaking of food and money...
Last night I bought food for breakfast and dinner to save money and eat my lunches out. I tried to survive just on chips but...I haven't found any I like and don't want to spend my money trying to find a brand of chips I like. I got yogurt and chips and tomatoes. OH and I finally saw grapes at a sidewalk store but didn't buy any cause I had my tomatoes already. Next time.
Pisa is cool but really small. When they say "you can do Pisa in a day" they weren't joking. I traveled from Florence to Pisa in an hour on the train and walked down the shops and area to arrive to the Leaning Tower about a mile and a half later. When you first see the Leaning Tower, it looks kind of fake. Cause it's a crooked building. You know? But it's completely real. You can climb up it too but I didn't want to. But I did go inside the Cathedral and found it to be beautiful. The paintings weren't as doomsday as they are in other churches. The architecture is really cool too around the building.
Walking back to the train station I walked by the university and of course took pictures of the graffiti. All around the university the theme of the students at the University of Pisa was "Occupy Pisa, Occupy Italy, we are the 99%". From Bologna to Pisa, I am sensing a theme of frustration, a theme of wanting more out of life but being stagnate. I'm sure much of us, especially the recent graduates out there can understand.
Around the Pisa area, there are tons of little shops like a flea market if you want to buy something touristy. I saw a Snoopy tshirt of him holding up the Leaning Tower and thought of buying it for my sister but decided against it. (Sorry Ani.) Also, I had discovered this shopping area after I ate but did see small restaurants from all over where I could have gotten my Mexican craving taken care of. DARN! Speaking of food and money...
Last night I bought food for breakfast and dinner to save money and eat my lunches out. I tried to survive just on chips but...I haven't found any I like and don't want to spend my money trying to find a brand of chips I like. I got yogurt and chips and tomatoes. OH and I finally saw grapes at a sidewalk store but didn't buy any cause I had my tomatoes already. Next time.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
"The Road to Memphis and Thebes Passes Through Turin"-Jean-Francois Champollion
I had a very busy day today. I woke up at about 8:30 and took my time getting ready and caught the bus right outside my hostel at about 9:30 to go to the downtown area. Because it is Sunday, many places were closed so at the first cafe I came upon I decided to have a cappuccino and a chocolate croissant. Yum!
After my breakfast I had planned to go to the Egyptian Museum which is supposed to be the largest collection of Egyptian items outside of Cairo. On my way there, this building that I discovered the day before (and fell in love with) had its doors open so of course I went inside. It was Palazzo Carignano which was once a private residence for the Princes of Carignano. The outside of the building though looks like something out of a Harry Potter movie. The inside though was so elegant and regal I could have seen myself moving in. The tour was free and only an hour so that postponed my trip to see the Egyptian museum. And a free short tour of a building that I fell in love with...not going to pass it up. The staircases (one on each side of course) were so elaborately decorated with the different Caesars and carvings leading up to this like parliamentary room of just beauty and class. There were living spaces for the Princes too but I didn't feel the beauty as much as I did with the parliamentary space of that first room we saw. Everything else was beautiful yes, but over the top with ornate gold and trimmings. Too much if you ask me. And it didn't help that the tour was only either in Italian or French so I struggled along listening and kept getting confused by the years and the princes they kept mentioning. But I still enjoyed it and thought it was very beautiful.
After the Palazzo Carignano I went to the Egyptian Museum which was literally maybe less than 100 feet away. Can I just say wow! I would highly recommend this museum if you like history in any way. The sarcophagi that they had in this museum is enough to make me want to go back. I have pictures but the pictures do not do it justice. I couldn't decide what was more impressive to me, the sarcophagi or the parchments of linen/paper from like 1800 B.C. Yeah, you read that right, B.C. First of all, to have written language from that time period, to have a way to decipher it (the Rosetta Stone) and to be able to pretty much understand that lifestyle and traditions just amazes me. And how well some of the things are preserved like some of those mummies and the artifacts. Damn! That museum is pretty cool. That is also where I got the quote for my blog from.
After the Egyptian Museum I sat near a statue listening to a trumpeter play music in the piazza as I ate and texted my friend Janet since everyone else I knew was sleeping. After lunch, I went to the Cinema Museum. Yes, I know I'm from LA and I kind of know people in the business and been around enough to know the point. But that museum also was pretty cool. It opens up with the history and the development of movies such as Edison, the moving picture, the optical illusions, how the eyes work while watching movies etc. Not the most exciting thing but interesting. Oh and some of those first movies....uh don't take your kids because they are a little x-rated. Pre-Playboy status folks. Anyway, after the history part of it, you go upstairs to this giant room of couches to watch clips of unique dance scenes and something else (I fell asleep, ooops). But off to the side of this giant room are themed doorways of Westerns, Fantasy, Animation, Horror, etc. and inside its like you are walking into a set of one of those themed type of movies. The whole layout is well done and pretty cool to walk through. On the third floor you kind of get shown step by step on how movies are made like story boarding, editing, sound, CGI, etc. and they show you using famous movies like Psycho, Citizen Kane, etc. The 4th floor has movie posters from back in the day but in Italian so it was kind of cool to see an Italian movie poster for "Singing in the Rain" or "Casablanca". After all of that, and if you paid in advance, you can go up the building into a tower where there is an observation deck. Oh apparently the Cinema museum is the tallest museum in the world. Don't quote, I'm just telling you what I read. Anyway, I got some cool shots from the deck of the heart of Torino.
I had dinner on the street and then came back to my empty hostel room. I am paying for a 4 person room but luckily, no one is here and I get to enjoy it all to myself! With that said, I have a busy day tomorrow too as I catch a train to Florence so I am off to bed!
After my breakfast I had planned to go to the Egyptian Museum which is supposed to be the largest collection of Egyptian items outside of Cairo. On my way there, this building that I discovered the day before (and fell in love with) had its doors open so of course I went inside. It was Palazzo Carignano which was once a private residence for the Princes of Carignano. The outside of the building though looks like something out of a Harry Potter movie. The inside though was so elegant and regal I could have seen myself moving in. The tour was free and only an hour so that postponed my trip to see the Egyptian museum. And a free short tour of a building that I fell in love with...not going to pass it up. The staircases (one on each side of course) were so elaborately decorated with the different Caesars and carvings leading up to this like parliamentary room of just beauty and class. There were living spaces for the Princes too but I didn't feel the beauty as much as I did with the parliamentary space of that first room we saw. Everything else was beautiful yes, but over the top with ornate gold and trimmings. Too much if you ask me. And it didn't help that the tour was only either in Italian or French so I struggled along listening and kept getting confused by the years and the princes they kept mentioning. But I still enjoyed it and thought it was very beautiful.
After the Palazzo Carignano I went to the Egyptian Museum which was literally maybe less than 100 feet away. Can I just say wow! I would highly recommend this museum if you like history in any way. The sarcophagi that they had in this museum is enough to make me want to go back. I have pictures but the pictures do not do it justice. I couldn't decide what was more impressive to me, the sarcophagi or the parchments of linen/paper from like 1800 B.C. Yeah, you read that right, B.C. First of all, to have written language from that time period, to have a way to decipher it (the Rosetta Stone) and to be able to pretty much understand that lifestyle and traditions just amazes me. And how well some of the things are preserved like some of those mummies and the artifacts. Damn! That museum is pretty cool. That is also where I got the quote for my blog from.
After the Egyptian Museum I sat near a statue listening to a trumpeter play music in the piazza as I ate and texted my friend Janet since everyone else I knew was sleeping. After lunch, I went to the Cinema Museum. Yes, I know I'm from LA and I kind of know people in the business and been around enough to know the point. But that museum also was pretty cool. It opens up with the history and the development of movies such as Edison, the moving picture, the optical illusions, how the eyes work while watching movies etc. Not the most exciting thing but interesting. Oh and some of those first movies....uh don't take your kids because they are a little x-rated. Pre-Playboy status folks. Anyway, after the history part of it, you go upstairs to this giant room of couches to watch clips of unique dance scenes and something else (I fell asleep, ooops). But off to the side of this giant room are themed doorways of Westerns, Fantasy, Animation, Horror, etc. and inside its like you are walking into a set of one of those themed type of movies. The whole layout is well done and pretty cool to walk through. On the third floor you kind of get shown step by step on how movies are made like story boarding, editing, sound, CGI, etc. and they show you using famous movies like Psycho, Citizen Kane, etc. The 4th floor has movie posters from back in the day but in Italian so it was kind of cool to see an Italian movie poster for "Singing in the Rain" or "Casablanca". After all of that, and if you paid in advance, you can go up the building into a tower where there is an observation deck. Oh apparently the Cinema museum is the tallest museum in the world. Don't quote, I'm just telling you what I read. Anyway, I got some cool shots from the deck of the heart of Torino.
I had dinner on the street and then came back to my empty hostel room. I am paying for a 4 person room but luckily, no one is here and I get to enjoy it all to myself! With that said, I have a busy day tomorrow too as I catch a train to Florence so I am off to bed!
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Torino
I am currently in Torino (Turin for you non-Italiners) having a beer next to the Po river. The plan was to not spend any unnecessary money today since my host family packed me sandwiches and water but...I'm on vacation now! And to not slow down and enjoy the sights would be a shame right? Right! Especially since I already saw some sights.
Earlier today I went to the Duomo di San Giovanni or the Turin Cathedral that houses The Shroud of Turin. Ok so who knows what that actually is? I mean I heard it growing up but never knew...until today. The Shroud of Turin is a piece of fabric, linen to be exact that is said to have been the burial cloth in which Jesus was wrapped in after he was taken down from the cross. Apparently in the Shroud there is a face of a man that they believe is Jesus. Ok maybe you knew that...but I did not at all. Anyway, did you know that you cannot see the Shroud? The last time it was out for display was in 2008 (little late for that) and the next scheduled time will be 2025. 2025! Are you joking? How will I even remember that?...Worry about that one later. Anyway, the Shroud is in a box, and the box is covered with a religious ornamental fabric and that box, covered with the fabric is for display. Basically, you are looking at a storage facility for a piece of fabric. The rest of the Cathedral is beautiful but...kind of not what I wanted to see you know? Also, I don't know if I mentioned this before but in a lot of the big churches or cathedrals, women cannot show their bare shoulders. Many couches will have a shawl you can get at the front door. I mention it because if people read this and plan to go, they are well informed because I did not know that until I got here. I also saw the House of the Royals and...I was not that impressed. It was kind of ugly. I didn't pay to go inside so maybe the inside makes up for it but...not that cute. However, next to the House of the Royals there was a monument for the soldiers of Italy which was kind of cool. They are these giant statues of men, carved so realistically as if they just came back from war, just a beautiful monument.
Ok and something else that they don't tell you about Torino is the bus system. You cannot buy your bus ticket on the bus. You have to buy it at the Tobacco store, pharmacy, or somewhere else that you randomly see. Then you stamp it on the bus meaning its good for the next 90 minutes. So because I did not know this I got on the bus and the bus driver was like I don't sell tickets. Uh....ok...guess I'll just risk it. This woman heard us and gave me her ticket when she left. Thank goodness she did because about 20 minutes later the police came on board to check your tickets and the stamps. Thank you lady, thank you! Also, I forgot to mention that before I got on the bus I felt like I was in the scene of a movie where police cars pulled up to the station from all angles, hopped out and arrested some guy. Totally out of a movie.
Earlier today I went to the Duomo di San Giovanni or the Turin Cathedral that houses The Shroud of Turin. Ok so who knows what that actually is? I mean I heard it growing up but never knew...until today. The Shroud of Turin is a piece of fabric, linen to be exact that is said to have been the burial cloth in which Jesus was wrapped in after he was taken down from the cross. Apparently in the Shroud there is a face of a man that they believe is Jesus. Ok maybe you knew that...but I did not at all. Anyway, did you know that you cannot see the Shroud? The last time it was out for display was in 2008 (little late for that) and the next scheduled time will be 2025. 2025! Are you joking? How will I even remember that?...Worry about that one later. Anyway, the Shroud is in a box, and the box is covered with a religious ornamental fabric and that box, covered with the fabric is for display. Basically, you are looking at a storage facility for a piece of fabric. The rest of the Cathedral is beautiful but...kind of not what I wanted to see you know? Also, I don't know if I mentioned this before but in a lot of the big churches or cathedrals, women cannot show their bare shoulders. Many couches will have a shawl you can get at the front door. I mention it because if people read this and plan to go, they are well informed because I did not know that until I got here. I also saw the House of the Royals and...I was not that impressed. It was kind of ugly. I didn't pay to go inside so maybe the inside makes up for it but...not that cute. However, next to the House of the Royals there was a monument for the soldiers of Italy which was kind of cool. They are these giant statues of men, carved so realistically as if they just came back from war, just a beautiful monument.
Ok and something else that they don't tell you about Torino is the bus system. You cannot buy your bus ticket on the bus. You have to buy it at the Tobacco store, pharmacy, or somewhere else that you randomly see. Then you stamp it on the bus meaning its good for the next 90 minutes. So because I did not know this I got on the bus and the bus driver was like I don't sell tickets. Uh....ok...guess I'll just risk it. This woman heard us and gave me her ticket when she left. Thank goodness she did because about 20 minutes later the police came on board to check your tickets and the stamps. Thank you lady, thank you! Also, I forgot to mention that before I got on the bus I felt like I was in the scene of a movie where police cars pulled up to the station from all angles, hopped out and arrested some guy. Totally out of a movie.
Have you heard about the Battle of Oranges?
Tomorrow, I will have been in Ivrea for a week. Almost everyone I have spoken to has asked me "Have you heard about the Battle of Oranges?" Why yes I have you Ivrean person you. When you Google Ivrea and look at the pictures, almost all of the pictures of these battles that apparently shut the city down for a week. My understanding is that, there are 8 different teams that you can join starting at any age you want to start paying. Two teams are at one Piazza, 2 at another and 4 at the large piazza. It is a time honored tradition during Carnivale. Apparently it lasts about 3 to 4 days during Carnivale with a princess and other days of celebrations for the week. Then my kids in class asked me if we had any thing for Carnivale and I said "nope, it's pretty much an international holiday and my fellow tutor said came up with the reason because we don't have a lot of Catholics in the United States since we have the right to all kinds of religion. And too bad that February and March are hard to take time off of work because I would love to experience any sort of Carnivale celebration. Us Americans are missing out apparently.
Also the castle here has 3 towers which I thought was kind of cool. Apparently the fourth tower fell during World War II due to ammunition inside the tower exploding. But this castle is the biggest one I've seen so far. They said because Ivrea is close to the mountains, if people on their horses were going north and weren't going to make it before the winter came, they would stay in the castle until they could pass. How nice!
So it was Friday once again. And we had our final show. Only this week because I had the cool kids who did not want to act. So we made a video based on some Italian parody of Lord of the Rings. And when I say the parody is long, it is about the same length of the original Lord of the Ring movies because it is dubbed over the actual film. My kids found the clips they wanted, transcribed them, translated them and then with giant white pieces of paper, plastic bags and nature, a film was born. I have it on Youtube and can show it to you when I get back or email you the link if you can't wait. But I filmed it and edited it all on my iPad. Thank you Apple. So during the show, when the younger kids were doing their show of Grease, and the kids were singing, my class gets my attention and tells me that our video is better than the Grease show. And I said, I know, I'm good huh? And they were like yeah, you are good. I gave them my email and said if they wanted the link to email me so I could email them the link of the film since its on private now. And you know what? I had 4 add me on Facebook. Cute huh?
I also forgot to mention updates on my Chris Pine twin. He was very sweet. When I asked him to find the parody so I could see what they meant, he found it, stopped it for a second to tell me there were "bad words and sometimes we use bad words to be funny" and I laughed. Being from the US has desensitized me enough I think where I was ok. But then I thought about it and on tv here, there are very scantily clad women, I don't think language is a big issue and I look around at the ads and commercials and I don't think there children are overly sexualities like in the US. For example, at the pools here the little girls don't wear tops. And to be fair they don't need to because other than a couple of things little girls and boys look the same. However, being from the US, this culturally bothers me. However, no one around thinks anything about it. And you don't get the feeling of perverts lurking in every corner. It is just a little vibe of looking out for each other and enjoying the outing without worrying about anything.
I hope a couple at least email me to practice their English and I can practice my Italian! I may create a blog sheet of all the Italian words and phrases I have learned so I can practice. We'll see.
Also the castle here has 3 towers which I thought was kind of cool. Apparently the fourth tower fell during World War II due to ammunition inside the tower exploding. But this castle is the biggest one I've seen so far. They said because Ivrea is close to the mountains, if people on their horses were going north and weren't going to make it before the winter came, they would stay in the castle until they could pass. How nice!
So it was Friday once again. And we had our final show. Only this week because I had the cool kids who did not want to act. So we made a video based on some Italian parody of Lord of the Rings. And when I say the parody is long, it is about the same length of the original Lord of the Ring movies because it is dubbed over the actual film. My kids found the clips they wanted, transcribed them, translated them and then with giant white pieces of paper, plastic bags and nature, a film was born. I have it on Youtube and can show it to you when I get back or email you the link if you can't wait. But I filmed it and edited it all on my iPad. Thank you Apple. So during the show, when the younger kids were doing their show of Grease, and the kids were singing, my class gets my attention and tells me that our video is better than the Grease show. And I said, I know, I'm good huh? And they were like yeah, you are good. I gave them my email and said if they wanted the link to email me so I could email them the link of the film since its on private now. And you know what? I had 4 add me on Facebook. Cute huh?
I also forgot to mention updates on my Chris Pine twin. He was very sweet. When I asked him to find the parody so I could see what they meant, he found it, stopped it for a second to tell me there were "bad words and sometimes we use bad words to be funny" and I laughed. Being from the US has desensitized me enough I think where I was ok. But then I thought about it and on tv here, there are very scantily clad women, I don't think language is a big issue and I look around at the ads and commercials and I don't think there children are overly sexualities like in the US. For example, at the pools here the little girls don't wear tops. And to be fair they don't need to because other than a couple of things little girls and boys look the same. However, being from the US, this culturally bothers me. However, no one around thinks anything about it. And you don't get the feeling of perverts lurking in every corner. It is just a little vibe of looking out for each other and enjoying the outing without worrying about anything.
I hope a couple at least email me to practice their English and I can practice my Italian! I may create a blog sheet of all the Italian words and phrases I have learned so I can practice. We'll see.
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