Lasagna….

So Patrizio arrived with everything to make lasagna in tow and a huge smile. He started by making the sauce from scratch which was a lot easier than I expected, a fresh ragu with a touch of chili for good measure.

When that was finished simmering he then opened up a package of fresh made noodles and started the layering. I think the only real surprise was the cream he used instead of say a ricotta. It was noodles, sauce, cream, parmesan, fresh mozzarella in that orderuntil the pan was full. It didn’t take long to cook because the noodles were soft and so about 30 minutes later

I was a bit like an inferno here last night so at about 11ish we ventured out for espresso and to walk off the

food a little. That is a pretty standard time to be out enjoying the city here in Italy and it was so busy. It was nice to see all the people moving around and just hanging out enjoying themselves. The best part of the coffee adventure was the fact that I didn’t

have to think about a damn thing. I’ve gotten on just fine but having an Italian with you makes it infinitely easier to order. It was a trade off because he had only been here once before, so at least I knew how to get everywhere. it was on the plate and ready for me devour…keep in mind that I am Hawaiian and we do enjoy our food!

I now have enough sauce and noodles to attempt this on my own tomorrow and I think I’ll add in a little garlic

and some mushrooms. It was close to the best lasagna I’ve ever had and to have it cooked in my kitchen by an Italian guy made it all the better!

Internet café is non existent

Try internet portal....

Now there seems to be this perception that you can just hit a Starbuck or internet café here and get online. Well, that isn’t the case at all, this isn’t the UK. There are no Starbuck…and I mean NONE. And the first 2 weeks of being here more than 50% of the businesses were closed for holiday. Now that more is opening up everyday I have noticed more internet “stops” but let me say…think public restroom from here on out when I talk about them. Out of sheer desperation I went into one and by the time I left, which was less than 30 minutes I needed a shower. My fingers felt sticky and no amount of hand sanitizer was going to do the trick.

I actually went directly to the grocery store and bought myself some pastries as a treat and went home to devour them. I tried to capture it on film but I only made it more glamorous I think. Yuck….

So I’m ready to fashion a modem out of twigs and paper and use, how did Mike say it, Pringles cans for a tower?

Things I miss…

So of course I miss the people in my life, that goes without saying but there are just a few comforts from home that I miss. I gave up coffee over a year ago and so every morning in the States I would have green tea. In my tea I loved Splenda and they just don’t have that here. I think Teri put some in box….oh the box!

They do have avocados here but they are about $6 each so when I get completely desperate I can make a bowl of guacamole.

My broadband…see blog(s) above.

I miss my movie collection because I’ve come to realize that when I have a movie playing in the background it occupies a part of my brain so that I can sit in the zone of creativity. Chris has been trying to keep me in movies since I’ve been here, yet another thing that may be in the box!

I miss the quiet…I live in a noise filled piazza and since I only have one window, which needs to be open right now, it gets a little hectic sounding in my tiny apartment. Shell Beach was so peaceful.

There is a flip side to all the missing, a deeper level of appreciation. I actually wake up around 5 am because the noise level dips and I have a moment of gratitude before I slip back into sleep for being able to live in Shell Beach for 4 years.

I soothe myself about not having white rice or bean and cheese burritos with fabulous cheese and pasta.

I adjust quickly and don’t feel any really angst other than hearing the sound of my kids…but being a Mom you realize that each of us have that day and it stretches out for the rest of our lives. Missing is good, it puts new value on common things and I feel like I’m embracing that aspect as well.

Italian men….

Now I’ve had a LOT of questions about the men here. I hate to report that for the most part I eat at home and don’t go to bars so I can’t really tell you. I know that will change once I get my student loan in and I figure out why some days the ATM gives me my money and some days it doesn’t. But really I have needed to get this food shopping thing dialed in before school and figure out what to cook and how. Take a simple tuna sandwich for example, not so similar here. The tuna (tonno) is different, and actually much more flavorful, the mayo (maionese) is really different and they have these strange little pickles (cetriolini) that I don’t think are really pickles but they make a good substitute.

I do have my friend coming from Genoa tomorrow, his name is Patrizio, and he is going to make me lasagna. He is the one helping me with the box fiasco and intends on helping me get settled with some of the daily living logistics. There are so many things that I just don’t have anyone to ask about and he is coming to help. I’ve realized how little knowledge I have when it comes to cured meats, and I seem to be much more of an expert on cheese than I had thought. So I think that once he and I bump around a little I’ll have a better understanding of how things work.

And yes ladies, he is quite handsome so I’ll get a photo of my “guide” when he gets here. My other promised guide is Giancarlo and he is still on holiday in Spain and won’t be able to get here until after school starts but I’m looking forward to that as well. He promises to make sure I know a good gelato when I see one.

Fed EX or Fed UP

Out of sheer frustration I haven’t blogged in a few days. Teri went to all the trouble to send a box, which cost a fortune and it’s been hung up at Fed Ex. First they needed my signature on a declaration form. Then because Teri wrote that there were bathroom stuff in the box it’s created yet another hold up. I even had a friend that lives in Italy call because he is in shipping and knows the routine, but it still hasn’t gotten them to budge. Now they are asking for verification that I am in school. As of yesterday there was talk of having a health inspector come and check out the contents and/or getting a broker to come in and help.

To compound the frustration is my lack of internet. I tried to send them information about the school yesterday from home and finally went to a grungy internet café to get the stuff sent because 3 hours of trying from home had no effect.

Instead of wandering and enjoying my last few days before school seeing the sights, I’ve been chained to my cell and laptop to try and get this resolved. Will the box be sent back is now the question?

comments...

I changed the settings to leave comments under my blog. I hope that clears up the trouble everyone has been having...

I'm just glad a few people are enjoying it...

Links...

To the new photos...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/88651552@N00/3845624479

To the new video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agvXC32vC0Q

From the Post office to Pitti Palace

Today was a big day. I got my Italian health insurance from the Post Office this morning and then went to Pitti Palace. I’ve gone to a few of the most famous museums here and no one ever told me how incredible this one was in comparison. Maybe it’s not the most visited place because it’s on the other side of the river but my God!!! The gardens alone are so sprawling and amazing. It’s like being let loose in history. Each and every turn around the garden revealed another treasure of sculpture. I spent as much time outside hiking around as I did inside.

The inside was no less spectacular. I have two favorite rooms, the Sala Bianca and the Green Room. I couldn’t stop smiling in either room…it was another moment today that I am in friggin Italy people!!! Holy crap!!!

The Sala Bianca I sat down with the security guard for a while to drink in the chandeliers. It had 7 huge ones hanging in the center of the ceiling, 52 small chandelier type scones adorning the walls equally spread out. The guard said that all are now electrically lit and work. I can only imagine what it’s like to be in there at night with them all twinkling.

The Green Room was opulence at it’s finest. The stories of the Medici family and their wealth is displayed all over this place. Yes many treasures have been added after their demise but the feel is still very much Italian Royalty.

I have to say that it’s my favorite place to date. Yes, Venus is beautiful…and the Leonardos are amazing…but this place has so much shoved into it and the outside…well…I could go on forever. I did shoot a video so I’ll post the link to that as well. There is this fountain that looks as if it was more a bath back in the day located right inside the main center opening and it’s has completely captured my attention. I might have to go back tomorrow or Monday just to hang out there. I actually took a few videos, which now in hindsight I kinda wish I’d brought a video camera, but my little point and shoot is doing a bang up job. I’ll have them all posted on YouTube at the same time I hope.

A funny side note, the woman that sold gave me my ticket today, another free admittance with my membership, was named Elisa as well. That is 2 since I’ve been here…I don’t EVER run into anyone with my name! These postings say the same day because I have to do a little recon to get them up, but the photos and the blogs are written on different days. I have more photos on Flickr as usual, a few renegade ones I took at Pitti when I wasn't supposed to!

Yonkers!

More about food, I can’t help it, I’m Hawaiian! As many of you know I had a large assortment of snacks at my house at all times. And so my tiny apartment is really going to be no different. I’d rather have pupus (appetizers) any day than a meal. So I spend a fair amount of time choosing my snacks now that I have so many new choices. Do I go with the doodles that look like Cheetos or the ones that look like Zonkers? I didn’t choose either this time…but I will be back!

Today was housework day so it wasn’t the long wanderings I’ve been doing. It is starting to cool down but let’s not quibble about 3 degrees amongst friends.

I strolled by the Basillica di Santa Maria Novella and went up around the train stati

on exploring. Each time I press farther outward the city gets that much smaller. What seemed like so much to discover the first few days seems right down the street now. I still can’t say I know exactly where I am at any given time but I do have the general sense down pretty good. I still have lots to explore on the other side of the Fiume Arno….the 2 times I’ve been there

I’ve loved it and it seems…cooler!

I got to talk to the Studio 23 girls yesterday. Teri found some great calling cards at Sandy’s so she thought she would give me a call from the shop. It’s kinda weird since I’ve spent my whole life talking and now I seem to get startled a little when I hear my own voice, a very pleasant attribute of being on my own.

I really can’t say enough about food shopping here. I have made some of the most incredible pasta dishes in my tiny kitchen since I’ve been here and it’s not because I all of a sudden became a chef. Okay, I’ve always been a decent cook but…damn the ingredients here just make it so easy. I made spaghetti with a mushroom cream gorgonzola sauce last night that was…sooo good!

I’ve been forgetful about shooting photos of my apartment, so here they are! Notice the flush button over the toilet. I was telling Mike a few days ago that it is for a“big” flush or a “little” flush, and a very nice design I might

add. We Californians think was are so eco smart, why don’t we have that? The rest of the photos will again be on Flickr, sorry if it’s a hassle but it’s really the easiest for me.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/88651552@N00/3840660088

VIP and a drunk

I made a quick stop home for a little lunch and saw a very handsome police officer chasing down my local drunk. This guy has sat outside my door everyday since I’ve arrived and it’s pretty evident he is “up to something”. A small guy, on a tall day maybe 4’11” and he just kinda hobbles along with a beer in his hand most of the time speaking with highly animated gestures. It isn’t really he that looks completely high all the time but his mates, which are dead give away.So the strapping Italian Polica checked his fanny pack and into the back seat he went with cuffs. The other guy walked because it looked like he only had some, suspiciously new things in his bag. The whole incident seemed to clear out the surrounding area of misfits.

One a more exciting note, I purchased my year pass to the Uffizi gallery and so now get to enter in a “special” door and I can go as many times as I want until December. It also allows me entrance into many more galleries and museums run by the state. I’m feeling a tad VIP with it. All thanks to Deb who sponsored my ticket! This photo is taken at the Bargello, the first museum I went into.

So this marks the end of my first week in Firenze. Each day I learn a whole slew of new ways to live the small moments of life. It’s

been so quiet, not literally but activity wise for me, that I’ve had time to see right in front of me all the things I’ve learned that are helping me now.

When I was around 22 and living with Ashley alone after my divorce I learned how to hang laundry on a line, and now I’m back at in but in my living room. All the foreign grocery stores I drug Teri into, well it’s really paying off now! Even all the techie stuff that so many of my friends made fun of is the very thing that is allowing me to stay connected to anyone right now. So yes, I’m having one of those distinct opportunities to see just how all those moments led to this…

Footnote: between the time I wrote this and am here posting, my lil drunk guy is out and back at it.

video from my window...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMrIA_er3hI

Getting lost is great

I went out night shooting with the Canon, it’s actually the first time I brought out the baby since I’ve been here. All the other shots were taken with the point and shoot…I really should have bought a remote that has a longer range! Can you see me running back and forth to catch this shot? Heeelarious!

After some trial and error on the white balance, the artificial lighting here makes everything look yellow, I was off and running for almost 3 hours around Florence

shooting. At one point I had no idea where I was. I am thinking that is always why I like taking a shooting partner with me, if I let the camera lead he always tends to get me lost. Eventually I found my way back home without a map so that means I’m getting the hang of the city. Getting lost led me to this great wall art which I altered a bit in Photoshop for fun.

I’m going to flood the Flickr account with shots because I’m not sure the blog is the right place to view them all, it would end up like a photo album soon. Can you tell I’m working on balance here?

Hahaha...

I thought Alice left the first comment...but then I flashed back through and saw several...what a duh moment!

Snapshots

A photo of my first gelato...and a little tourist shot.

Clank Clink and Yelling

I live above 2 eateries and an Irish Pub so needless to say some nights the noise is entertaining and amazingly loud. At 1am there was a fight that broke out at the Irish Pub, go figure, and it had 2 guys running off into the night. It was pretty amusing but needless to say I ended up sleeping in late.

With the late start on the day, I’m taking the time to edit some photos and get them up on Flickr. I can’t post everything in my blog and my friend Sean was kind enough to buy me a pro account so I have lots of storage room there. Here is the link to see more photos... http://www.flickr.com/photos/88651552@N00

The new challenge is getting cash out of the ATM. I tried yesterday and I couldn’t do get any out. Strange, so today I’ll be hitting different banks to see what gives. I have 9 days to figure this out and then my landlord might not be too happy with me if I don’t have my security deposit for my apartment. Ahhhh….international banking!

All the advice everyone kindly gave me before I left was sweet but I’ve found hardly applies when you actually move to the place. There seems to be a period of nesting that tourists don’t have, getting the necessities covered and also a much more relaxed pace to sightseeing. It isn’t that I’m not excited to see everything but I don’t have to wait in endless lines to do it because I know that in a week or two I’ll have the place more to myself. I want my first visit to some of the things I’ve waited to see…well…special. I don’t want to jockey for position or elbow my way through a crowd. So I walk past the places with a silent promise…oh I will return and at that point it will be more like a love affair.

The light...

It's pretty amazing to be here. I sometimes stop and just sinking into how unbelievable it really is. The thing that has consistently taken my breath away is the light. It dances and plays with everything around it here, even the lamp light out my window, truly remarkable.

I'm humbled and grateful so often during each day as I walk, and walk and walk some more.

It's funny because just like when I'm in New York, people are coming up asking me for direction in Italian. What is it about me that blends in to so many places they think I'm from here? Everyone is carrying maps, even the Italians here on holiday. Last night I wandered and found a random belly dancing show taking place, the Irish Pub was off the hook and it had cooled down a bit.

Today was all about the lunch break nap and I watched a movie that Chris gave me during the hot part of the day. Now it's cooler, only like 85 degrees and I'm sitting in what used to be an old piazza jumping on someone else's internet.

I took a little video but don't have a good enough connection to post it...so that will have

to wait. I'll post the link as soon as I can get it uploaded to YouTube.

It really is the light here...it almost makes me cry. This was taken at night from my apartment window. The light is from the lamps that light the piazza...I didn't edit or mess with this one...it's just the way it looks in real life.

Wow!

Roam Sweet Home

It was a day of roaming the city. I first made my way to the school just as the first trial on time and to actually find it. Not too hard to find but with the gazillion tourists clamoring to get into the Duomo, finding an alternative route is going to be necessary until mid September.

I then wandered with no real destination in mind, which I pretty sure would drive so many of my friends bat shit! I mean I have no real agenda since I’m going to be here for 10 months so I’m pacing myself and letting Italy guide me. I made it the outside of the Uffizi and crossed Ponte Vecchio, and I have to interject something about tourists here. I’ve lived in some amazing and beautiful places in my life that attract a god awful amount of tourists, but this plethora of people watching is pretty awesome. As I meandered I decided to have m

y first gelato At Coronas Cafe, and it’s important that it’s made on the premises or it’s just like getting Thrifty ice cream (don’t get me wrong Rite Aid/thrifty ice cream has it’s merits).

It was nap time early for me. This time zone change is just wild. I usually don’t have a problem but I was so exhausted when I actually boarded the plane that I’m doing a bit of catch up also. I woke up the sounds in the piazza as people started getting lively in the heat during a lat

e lunch.

I ended up at Standa, which is a grocery store for local shoppers. The prices are great but let me be completely honest here, the air conditioning adds a certain appeal. The selection of foods is hard to pass up. It’s so different shopping here that I have to go just about everyday which is great, and I do love food shopping in foreign countries…so entertaining for me. This is my first do it yourself meal in my new apartment...yummy!

Right now I’m only doing snapshots because mostly I’m just in awe and taking it all in. There is so much to see down every little street and the time of day changes the whole view. I g

oin

g out again, to wander and hopefully find some free internet.

The trip

I woke up this morning in a bit of a fog, stumbling around Yvonne’s apartment with so many lists floating in my head it’s a miracle I got out the door with only forgetting one thing!

It’s took over 30 minutes for the United staff at the Santa Maria airport to figure out how I could tag my luggage all the way to Milan on 2 different carriers, but in the end they persevered. Good thing I got there early which means an hour and a half before my flight. I went out to the curb to say my good byes, because I thought it would be easier Charlie mostly…but maybe more for me. I can’t say it was a feeling of excitement but rather relief in that all this prep was finally here. I walked through security and it felt just like I was going on a holiday instead of moving across the globe. Maybe it will hit me when I’m in my apartment…

Once I got to Pheonix, Mike came to get me so I wouldn’t have to hang out for 5 hours in the terminal. As fate would have it, he happened to be there attending a conference which worked out famously for me. Another good bye…and off to Heathrow for me. I can’t say it was a feeling of excitement but rather relief in that all this prep was finally here. I walked through security and it felt just like I was going on a holiday instead of moving across the globe. Maybe it will hit me when I’m in my apartment…

Another page on the calendar flipped while I was in the air and I landed in Milano mid afternoon and tired. I navigated the airport, calling the hotel, picking up the shuttle and checking in without a hitch…and here I am…fed, showered and exhausted. I ordered risotto for my first meal (for Teri) with zucchini and shrimp at Hotel Cervo and it is better than any sleeping pill! I’m groggy and ready for bed. In the morning I wake up at 6am to get ready to catch the train and head to Firenze. Phew…

My village...

They say it takes a village to raise a child properly, in my case it took a whole community of fantastic people 22 years to usher me to this moment. I’ve said more good byes in the last 2 months than ever before in my life, some tearful, some quick and some with the twinkle of encouraging hope. A friend of mine said that it was like I was attending my own wake and I think she is right. There was a sadness and celebration that happened simultaneously with the good bye that defines the very nature of the shared relationship.

I’m laying on my couch, which has found a home with Yvonne and I’m so grateful. I get to sleep on my couch one more time before I venture off to a distant land. It’s the little things that catch my breath just long enough for the bigger feeling to take hold these days. I found myself powering through the unmistakable deadline with so much help and support that I was utterly in wonder. How did I get so lucky to be surround by such a great group?

I have been blessed by the Central Coast, because if nothing else it brought me friends that sustained me during all my single and not so single mom adventures. These fine folks helped raise me so I could raise my kids.

I can’t really name each and every one that pushed, encouraged and believed in me when I said I wanted to study abroad, but I hope I took a moment in person to thank you, each one was heartfelt.

Off to Italy for me…a new adventure where I’m never alone because if I look over my shoulder there is a whole lot of people cheering me on.