Venice might not be flooded, but the bathroom is

This morning I got up bright and early, so I could get all my things together before I left Potenza Picena.  After getting some breakfast, I said my goodbyes to everyone.  I was really emotional about leaving as I had to fight to keep back the tears.  The crazy thing is that I will be back visiting the family next Friday in Potenza Picena because I am introducing the Boccaccini's to my family!

Paolo drove me to the train station in Civitanova, which is about a 15 minute drive from the house.  I waited to board the train.  I got comfortable once on the train, and I was able to turn on my iPod and enjoy the view.  I was up most of the five and a half hour trip, but I did snooze a little bit.  As I got closer to Venice, an Italian gentleman wanted to talk.  He only spoke Italian, and I only spoke English.  It was quite interesting to figure out what he was talking about, but I managed.  He asked me my name, age, and where I came from.  We talked about Obama and the debt controversy (at least that's what I think we were talking about).  You are probably wondering how I understood this man's Italian.  I was able to pick up a few words and Italians talk with their hands, so I could get the gist of the conversation. As the train came upon Venice Sant Lucia Train Stazione, we parted ways.

I jumped off the train, and I headed towards the Vaporetto, which is the water bus system in Venice.  I stood in line to get a ticket.  After getting the ticket, I boarded the Vaporetto and enjoyed the view of the Venice waterways to San Marco.  I took the bus to San Marco, so I could find my way from there.  Whenever I have no idea where I am going, I choose the closest biggest landmark to go to because I know I will find someone who can help me.  I followed the directions I had printed out, but they weren't cutting it.  I stopped and asked a waiter at one of the restaurants in the square for help.  He went and found an address book, and he was able to give me perfect directions--head out the left corner of the square, go straight, cross the bridge, and there you are.  I was like this is just too simple.  After walking a little bit I started to get worried until I saw the Fendi store.  When I was in Venice twelve years ago, I stayed at the exact same hotel, Hotel Flora.  As we were trying to find the hotel, my aunt and grandmother went crazy when they saw the Fendi store.  The Fendi store was just feet away from the hotel.  So--when I saw the Fendi store, I knew I was in the right vicinity.  As I walked a few more feet, I saw the sign, Hotel Flora.

Hotel Flora Entrance (off the beaten path)

I entered the Hotel Flora, gave my information to the concierge, and headed to the room.  There I found my mom, Charlie, and Kathleen.  Charlie and Kathleen were sound asleep while my mother and I caught up.

Because we were all starving, we headed out early to dinner.  Dinner is usually eaten around 7 or later, but we headed out around 5:30 to walk around Venice and find a place to eat.  We decided to stay away from San Marco because of the crowds.  As we walked, we found a little pizzeria where we ate.  We all ordered our own pizza (Kathleen-Proscuitto, Mom-Funghi, Charlie-Vegetarian, Me-Margherita).  We enjoyed some vino with our dinner.  The drinking age for wine in Italy is 16, so Kathleen enjoyed a glass of vino at dinner as well.

Charlie, Mom, and Kathleen--They made it to Italia!

After dinner we grabbed gelato, and walked around Venice.  It was absolutely beautiful with the sunset. We walked along the Grand Canal and looked at what the vendors were selling.  After a nice stroll, we headed back to the hotel for the night.

The family was really exhausted from their long flight.  They were able to take a little power nap in the
afternoon, but it definitely was not sufficient enough.  After a flight with no sleep, they were ready for a good night's sleep.  We got to the hotel and got cleaned up.  I got so cleaned up that I actually flooded the bathroom.  The reason why the bathroom flooded was because I didn't want to sit down in the really tiny shower.  Because I stood up in the shower the entire time, the water went EVERYWHERE!! I am not talking a few little drops over the side... I am talking floods.  Water on the toilet, water seeping out the bathroom door, water literally everywhere.  I really hope the floor dries up over night, otherwise entering the bathroom in the morning could be a little tricky!

1 in 4 people flood bathrooms in Venice (statistics from the Bosse family in Hotel Flora)

As I am up writing this blog, my entire family is fast asleep in their beds dreaming sweet dreams of the Venice they will be seeing tomorrow.  I hope you enjoyed the read, and sweet dreams from Venice!

"Don't Be Sad"

I woke up this morning to a cloudy rainy day.  Usually when I wake up, I check my email and Facebook.  The first email I received was from my aunt with the subject "Don't Be Sad."

Mags--Don't be sad.
Be glad that
you had a great time in Ireland with Jess et al
got to see Paris
spent a month in Italy
met wonderful new friends
are going to see your mother, Charlie, and Kathleen the day after tomorrow
still have Venice, Florence, and Capri to see
are loved by those who have stayed at home. --Ann

My aunt knows me all too well.  Today I have to start packing for the last leg of my traveling affair.  I leave tomorrow (Saturday) morning to meet up with part of my family in Venice.  My mom has never been to Italy, and it has always been a dream of hers to come.  What perfect timing?! She is going to be able to see a lot of Italy in her 2 week stay, and you will be able to hear all about it as the time comes.  My 20 year old brother, Charlie, is also coming along.  When my siblings and I were younger, we were all taken to Europe for a three week trip with my Aunt Ann and my grandparents.  The only sibling that didn't get a chance was Charlie.  Because of 9/11, the family was hesitant to fly abroad.  The family instead took Charlie on a three week road trip through Nova Scotia.  My grandfather, Marty, always wanted Charlie to have his chance to go to Europe, so this is his chance.  As for my sister, Kathleen, who is tagging along on the trip.  She seriously is just a tag along.  My mom was worried about leaving her at home, and Kathleen didn't want to stay at a friend or relative's house (she really played her cards right on this one).  Therefore, Kathleen gets to tag along on her second trip to Europe at the age of sixteen.

My last 24 hours in Potenza Picena will consist of me packing, teaching Gregorio his last English lesson, and having a nice dinner with the family and their friends.  The last two nights have been a good send off here in Potenza Picena.  On Wednesday night I had pizza with my friend Chelsey and her host family.  Last night I had dinner with Michela and Alfredo's good friends Massimo and Veronica.  Massimo and Veronica are a lot of fun to be around and their two boys are so adorable.  We ate sushi and drank wine.  I got to hear some fun stories about the families, and I learned a lot about them too.  I feel as if we all just got really comfortable with one another, and now it is time to leave.  Tonight Michela's friend from Ravenna is coming with her family to spend the weekend.  They will be making dinner for everyone.

I am full of mixed emotions about leaving, but I guess I will take some friendly advice--"Don't Be Sad."

Last Wednesday in Potenza Picena :(

I am starting to get emotional about leaving Potenza Picena.  I know it won't be the last time I ever see it.  Even though I leave early Saturday morning for Venice to meet up with the family, we are making a pit stop next Friday to visit.  Staying in Potenza Picena has been fun, exciting, and relaxing.  I feel truly peaceful being here.  The Boccaccini's have been such a wonderful family.  They truly invited me in to be one of them.  I feel like I have known them my whole life.  Their friends and family have always been kind and thoughtful, and trust me they will never let you go hungry.  If they think you are hungry, then they make more food and say "MANGIA! MANGIA!"  Even if you say your full, they will say "MANGIA! MANGIA!" and before you know it, you are eating more food.

Wednesday morning was absolutely beautiful.  We had another great morning at the beach.  For lunch, we went to Alfredo's mother's house.  The food was delicious as usual.  Afterwards, Michela dropped me off at my friend Chelsey's house.  I feel like I am in middle school again because I am so dependent on my family.  I find myself in this situation often, "Michela, can I go to Chelsey's?  We want to go shopping and to the beach, and we might get dinner?" Michela's response, "Wow! That's great!  We will drop you off and pick you up.  Have fun!"  It really is quite humorous.

Chelsey and I headed into Civitanova Marche to look at the shops and do shopping.  I bought Italian pasta and olive oil to bring home.  Chelsey got a few things for her brother and boyfriend, and a olive oil spray for herself.  All in all the shopping trip was a success.  The only thing that got in the way was the rain, but we had umbrellas to help us out.  When we finished shopping, we headed back to her place.  Her host mom had invited me for dinner, so I was going to hangout for a bit.  We watched a movie, and we were able to get it in English.  The Mac computers are able to give you the option of what language you want the movie to play.  The movie selection we had was Disney, so we watched Tarzan.  I forgot how much I loved the music and the movie all together!

For dinner, Chelsey's host mom made pizza.  I absolutely love how the Italians make everything.  They do not go to the store to buy frozen pizza or a pre-made cake.  They have all the ingredients in their kitchen.  The pizza was absolutely delicious, as usual.  We had margarita pizza, mozzarella and sliced tomatoes pizza, and pizza with prosciutto.  Again, absolutely delicious!  When dinner was over, the doorbell rang.  My ride had perfect timing, so I gathered my things and headed out the door to go home.

I love coming home to Potenza Picena.  There have been a few late nights, so I usually have stayed at Chelsey's house.  (Yup, our middle school sleepover!) It was nice to spend the night, but I still like to be in my own bed in my own room.  I really am going to miss my room with a view in Potenza Picena.

Noooo Nina!!

These past two days I have been dealing with a shoe crisis.  You are probably thinking, "What could be wrong?! You are in Italy for godsake!"  Well, Monday night I returned home from an evening out with Michela.  The weather wasn't so great during the day, so in the evening Michela and I got out to do some errands.  Upon coming home, I put my shoes up out of the way of Nina.  Remember, Nina is a 5 month puppy who is going through a major chewing stage.  After putting the shoes up and away, I headed to bed for the night.

Tuesday morning I woke up bright and early.  I headed downstairs to get breakfast.  As I was walking down the stairs, I noticed one of my brand new Tory Burch shoes sitting on the stairs.  Just one shoe.  I knew immediately that Nina had somehow got hold of my shoes.  I was praying to God as I got an awful sick feeling in my stomach... Please let the other shoe be OK!  I looked everywhere for the shoe, and it was nowhere to be found at first.  I finally decided to look in Nina's crate, where she usually sleeps at night.  As I approached the crate, I saw the outline of my shoe.  I took a deep breath, and I found...

It was the most horrible thing I have experienced since almost missing my flight to get to Ireland.  For the first time in my life, I spent a good amount of money on a pair of shoes.  Money I would probably never have spent, but it was for a good cause.  (Remember how I went to the Lung Cancer Awareness Fundraiser, well these are the shoes I purchased.)  I was so upset about it, almost to the point of tears.  There is probably no way these shoes can be fixed.  The crazy thing is that the sole of the shoe is perfectly intact.  It is just the outer part that has been chewed to death.

I showed my shoe to Michela, and she was like "Oh my!"  She said to show it to Alfredo.  I said OK, but I asked her if she really thought anything could be done.  Her response, "No."  I did email the Tory Burch company to see what might be able to be done.  The response I received was, "I apologize this is not a manufacturer defect, therefore we will not be able to repair the shoes.  We recommend taking them to your local cobbler for repair."  Seriously... "Take them to your local cobbler for repair."  This was not the response I was expecting from a high end company.  I was expecting them to respond that it could be repaired, however you will have to pay money for it.  I emailed the company back again asking if they could be repaired by the company if money was paid.  I just have to wait and hear back from them.  


Lesson Learned:  Do not ever leave expensive shoes in any area where I puppy may or may NOT get a hold of them.

I thought my shoes were safe up and out of reach of the dog, but I guess I was wrong.  And to think, the only reason why I spent the money on the shoes (besides liking them so much) was because the money was going towards a good cause.

A Day on the Beach!

The weather forecast has been calling for bad weather all week.  Recently there has been a major cold front going through Italy.  This past weekend it was cold all over Italia--I guess the heat is hovering over the east coast in the states.  I left Ravenna with the family on Sunday wearing jeans and a sweater.  I also wore a sweater and jeans on Monday because it was so chilly with the wind blowing, and there was no sun to be seen.  It was so sad :(  It is my last week in Potenza Picena, and all I really want is to see the sun!

Lucky for me, today we had sunshine!  We were able to head out to the beach.  The beaches in Italia are much different than those in America.  In Italia, you belong to a beach club, and you have a plot on the beach.  You are given a numbered umbrella for the season, and you have to pay for it for the season.  Depending on where you are in Italia, you could have a stony or sandy beach.  Porto Sant' Elpidio is the beach that my host family goes to.  It is about a 20 minute drive from there home.  Instead of going to the beach in Potenza Picena, they go to Porto Sant Elpidio because their family and friends go to that beach.

Well, we got out to the beach.  It was sunny and breezy!  It was too chilly to get in the water, but I was able to enjoy the view of the beach and the Adriatic Sea.

Usually when we head out to the beach, we only spend an hour or two.   There is just so much to do all the time!  Today we arrived to the beach around 10:30 and stayed until 3.  There maybe no more time at the beach this week because they are calling for cloudy rainy days :(  I laid on the beach listening to my iPod.  The only thing that is not fun was the fact that people try to sell you things.  It isn't like they are sitting in one place and talking to you as you go by.  No--they walk up to you while you are lying on your beach towel, listening to music or reading your book.  They hover over you until you acknowledge them being there.  Sometimes they will just walk away, but other times you have to say NO!  The people who are doing this are immigrants from Libya and other places.  They need to make money, so why not badger people on the beach to buy things!  Other than the sellers interrupting the peaceful time you spend on the beach, it is quite pleasant.

Party for the Saints!

Every town in Italy has a patron saint, and every year the town celebrates the saint.  I was able to experience two parties for saints in one weekend!  On Saturday, while I was in Ravenna, the town celebrated Saint Apollinare.  I first found out about the celebration when I walked into the Duomo in Ravenna and found a special mass taking place.  I arrived at the very end of it, so I waited patiently outside to not disturb the worship.  I wasn't sure exactly what was happening.  When I ran into Michela and Alfredo shopping after my going to the Duomo, they explained to me what was going on.  When towns celebrate their patron saint, it is like a national holiday for the town.  Stores close down and people celebrate.  In Ravenna, a special concert was thrown for the town.  Nina and I were able to listen to the music while we walked, and when we returned home, we could hear the music from the apartment.

On Sunday in Porto Potenza Picena, the town celebrated St. Ann.  The Boccaccini's and I headed down to the town around 8 to get pizza for dinner.  No, we did not ride in the Porsche this time....

but we did ride in a..... 

... Ferrari.  It was the California model in a champagne color.  

All I could do was laugh at the fact that in the course of a week, I have rode in a Ferrari and Porsche.  If I had to choose, it would be the Porsche--it has a lot more power!

There was a lot of traffic because everyone was headed into town.  It was really funny because while we were in traffic Michela asked, "How do you say in America, people looking us?"  I responded, "Everybody is looking at us."  The reason why she asked this was because EVERYBODY was pointing and looking at the car.  Each time I rode in the Porsche or Ferrari, I felt like I was in a car commercial.  We would go at the speed of light around the windy roads of Italia.  Windy roads that led through the hills and green fields filled with sunflowers.

After getting through the traffic, we got a parking space and made our way to the restaurant.  We all ordered pizza.  I got a vegetarian pizza, and it was very good.  The restaurant owner was a friend of Alfredo.  The owner had a lot of business, as everyone in the town was coming out to eat.  The restaurant was right on the beach, so people were able to camp out and wait for the fireworks.  The town was absolutely beautiful.  There were lights everywhere (kind of like Christmas).  The church was outlined in lights, and the main street had lit ornaments outlining the street.  It was really neat to see all the people come out to celebrate the town.

Beautiful Ravenna

Ravenna is a city that is one hour south of Venice.  It is a city known for its mosaics.  My first day in Ravenna was Friday.  The Boccaccini's and I left Potenza Picena at 9am and arrived to their apartment in Ravenna at 11 am.  We all relaxed when we arrived to Ravenna.  Michela took Nina to the vet, and Gregorio and I hung out together playing playstation.  After lunch we did the usual.  Gregorio and I had our English lesson.  After our English lesson, Gregorio and I had a little adventure.

Our adventure consisted of Gregorio showing me around Ravenna.  Our first stop was to get gelato.  He was such a little gentleman because he asked me what I wanted, ordered, and payed for it.  While he was getting the gelato, Nina and I grabbed a table.  After we ate our scrumptious gelato, he showed be Piazza Popolo, his school, and he took me to meet his grandmother and aunt.  We walked all over Ravenna.  It isn't as big as I thought it was because things are close together.  We spent about an hour with his grandmother.  I understood a few things she said, but not much.  Gregorio helped out by translating for me.  When our visit ended, we headed back home.  The family and I went out to dinner at a nice restaurant near Piazza Popolo.  Michela ordered my dinner for me because she wanted me to have the best of Ravenna.  It was called cappelletti, a delicious pasta dish with meat and tomato sauce.  After dinner Michela showed me a few places I should check out for Saturday, and then we went home.  I felt like it was a really long day, but it wasn't.

This morning I headed out with a list of things to see.  Michela's friend, Marta, was kind enough to get me a travel book on Ravenna.  It had a map and a list of things for me to see.  Even though the whole book was in Italian, I was able to read the map.  You really need to use a map in Italy because many of the streets are not labeled.  I rode Michela's bike throughout Ravenna.  I was able to see a lot of things...

Dante's Tomb

Piazza Popolo

Garibaldi

Basilico Santuario Santa Maria in Porto Madonna Greca

Duomo

San Vitale

Tonight is just going to be me and Nina.  The Boccaccini's are headed to a wedding this evening, so I will be getting dinner at a little place that Michela pointed out to me last night.  I will be walking Nina around the town, and hopefully catching up with the family on Skype.  I must say Ravenna was absolutely beautiful, and I could totally see myself living here for a year :)

Night on the Town

Yesterday was a beautiful day at the beach.  Gregorio, Michela, and I headed to the beach and were able to see the beautiful Adriatic Sea.  I got a little sun burned from sitting out on the beach.  I couldn't tell that I was burning in the sun because the windy breeze kept me cool while I was laying out.  After the beach we headed to Alfredo's mother's home for lunch again.  She always cooks big meals, and her children and grandchildren stop by for meals whenever they can.  Alfredo's family was so warm and welcoming and tried to feed me everything and then some.  The atmosphere of the home and lunch reminds me so much of Wayside.  My grandparents were very much like this family.  They always had an open-door policy, people stopped by whenever and all were welcome.  Food was constantly offered, so you would never leave hungry.

In the afternoon Gregorio and I had our English/Italian lesson.  Afterwards, I got ready for a night out on the town with the girls--Chelsey (went to Rome with her) and Liz (she went to Florence with Chelsey).  We ended up going to the beach for about 2 hours to enjoy the sunset, and then we walked down the beach road to find a restaurant.  A lot of restaurants do not open until 8 or even 8:30.  The Italian culture is they have very late meals which is caused by their work schedules.  I was told that a lot of people go home on their lunch break, which takes a lot of time, so when they return to the office in the afternoon they have to makeup the time.  Making up the time means staying to work until at least 6 or 7 at night meaning that they don't get home to close to 8.  Hence--late meals.  So usually when dinner is served, I am famished!

After walking a ways and passing several restaurants, I felt a good vibe about the next place.  My good vibe was right on!  We ate at Aloha.  We ordered 1 liter of white wine, and we had bruschetta and proscuitto e melon for appetizers.  For the main meal I had a calzone, which was so scrumptious!  The conversation for dinner consisted of us talking about our host families, jobs (we are all teachers, so we had a lot in common), and the trips we had taken throughout our stay in Italy.  We were all a little sad knowing that our trips are coming to an end.  Liz leaves next Monday, and Chelsey leaves next Friday.  That leaves me in Italia for another 10 days to travel with my family.

Although us 3 girls just met, we are already making plans to meeting up in the States.  The first get together will be Liz and I.  She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, and she is planning to come to Baltimore at the end of August for the Yankee v. Oriole game.  Her trip was already in the works, so we are just going to make a little get together out of it.  The second get together would be to see Chelsey in Colorado.  We would go and do some skiing or snowboarding.  We will probably do something like that in the beginning of the new year.  Even though us girls just met in our traveling affair abroad, we are keeping it going in the states :)

The girls and I continued after dinner to get some of the infamous Italian gelato.  The gelato in Italy cannot be compared to anything else in the world.  With our ice cream we strolled along the beach where we came to another restaurant.  We ordered some more wine and kept the conversation going.  We had a good time, and I can't wait for our future travel endeavors together!

vroom... vroom

These past few days in Potenza Picena have been wonderful.  It has cooled off immensely the past two days.  It had been in the upper 80s and humid since I have been in Italy, but two nights ago a major wind storm swept over the town.  The wind has been blowing cool air for two days now, and it feels great.  I am able to lay out at the pool or the beach and be kept warm by the sun, but I am kept cool by the wind.  Yesterday I did my laundry since I had not done it since leaving Dublin.  In Italy they use a washing machine to clean the clothes, but a clothes line to dry everything.  I chose the perfect day to do laundry because my clothes were dry within the hour of being placed on the clothes line.

Gregorio and I had our English lesson.  We had a major breakthrough because he is finally comfortable with the language.  He accepts the corrections I give him.  It is really sad because I only have 8 days left with the family... ONLY 8!  I feel like I have just arrived, and Gregorio has a ways to go with his English and he is finally making really good progress.  I seriously can't believe how fast this summer has gone.

Speaking of fast.  Last night the Boccaccini's and I were invited to their friend's home for dinner.  We drove to dinner in Alfredo's Porsche.  It was a metallic color, two door, four seater.  I got in the front passenger seat--front row experience you could say.  Alfredo drove his porsche along the windy roads of Italy, passing cars left and right along the road.  When he punched the gas, he REALLY punched the gas.  I felt like I was in a rocket speeding down the road.  It was an amazing feeling, and I think I might need to get one just for myself.  I don't think there are any driving laws in Italy because if there were we probably broke every single one of them.  As I think about it--if I were to get a porsche I would have to move to Italy, so I wouldn't have to worry about breaking any driving laws.

Tonight I am meeting up with a few American girls in town for dinner and drinks, and tomorrow I head to Ravenna with the Boccaccini's (I am sure if we took the Porsche we would get there in record time).  Ravenna is two hours south of Venice, and it is a town know for it's mosaics.

Pasta and a Side of Spring Rolls

These past two days my host mom, Michela, has been in Milan on business.  She is presenting the Summer 2012 line for her company.  This would include shoes and clothing for her company L'Autre Chose.  While she has been away, Gregorio and I have had a lot of time together.  His dad, Alfredo, goes to the office everyday while Gregorio and I hang at home.  We have been working on his English and my Italian.  Let's just say that the English part is going much better than the Italian part.  We also hangout at the pool, play board games, and try to keep Nina from attacking us (she is teething pretty badly, so all she wants to do is chew on you).

Because Alfredo goes to work from about 9:30 to 6 everyday, Gregorio was a little worried about one thing.  Who was going to feed him lunch?!  I told him not to worry because I would have everything under control.  The look on his face said that he was terrified (and I guess my family at home would agree to that).  I don't cook often.  If I cook, then it usually consists of me putting a bowl of pasta together or cooking the individually wrapped frozen chicken breast that is already seasoned.  You can see that I usually go the easy route.  I had no idea what was going to be in the kitchen, but I figured the pasta would be somewhere.  On day one I made pasta blanca, which is pasta with oil and parmesan cheese.  It came out pretty well, and I must say that Gregorio was pleased with his meal.  On day two I made pasta blanca.  I tend to stick with what I know, but I did spice it up a little with a side of spring rolls.  The spring rolls were already put together, so all I had to do was fry them up.  Again Gregorio was impressed.  Generally the meals here are all centered around some type of pasta dish with a side of something.  The something is usually salad, crackers/bread, proscuitto, or cheese.

I am hoping to pick up some cooking tips while I am here.  Other than the marmalade, spring rolls, and pasta making, I have a ways to go before I become an expert in the kitchen.

Opportunity of a Lifetime

As you all know, I went to Torino this past weekend.  On my way to the train station, Michela and I were doing some talking.  She asked me, "Is it possible for you to live in Italy for 1 year?"  I was shocked! Speechless! (probably for the first time ever)  Thoughts were flying through my mind-- "OMG is this really happening?!?!" and "Could I really do this?!?!"  Should I move to Italy for 1 year?

There are a lot of things I need to think about.  The first thing I would have to do is find out if my work would even allow me to do it.  Also, if I did leave work for an extended absence would there be a position open to me when I return.  Well, I looked at my contract.  The answer to this is YES!  I can have an extended absence for up to 2 years if I am working abroad as a teacher.  To confirm this answer even more I would have to get in touch with Human Resources to find out if the program I am currently using (Geovisions) would qualify as an acceptable program.  I really just need to work out all the logistics to confirm if the YES is really a YES!

The next step would be to figure out my home.  I bought my condo a little under 3 years ago.  I would not want to sell it because it is an investment which means I would have to find a renter for the entire year.  If I get a renter, then I need to find a renter that will be respectful of my property.  I would have to find a place to store my furniture and items, or rent the place as furnished.

I would also have to acquire a VISA since I would be in Italy for more than 90 days.  In order to have the VISA, I am guessing I would have to have my work all lined up with the paperwork to prove it.  Michela has already said that she would help me out in finding paid work.  The plan is for me to teach English at Gregorio's school in Ravenna, which is where the family lives during the school year.  She knows many families who are want their children to learn English, so this could be a really good possibility.

As you can see, I already thought about some pretty big things.  I have a bunch of other things written down (car, bills, etc).  I am sure I am missing a thing or two, so if you can think of something let me know.  Now, I just need to decide whether or not I should go.  There are a lot of pros and cons to this.

PROs

I would learn Italian.  

It is a once in lifetime opportunity.  

I would still have a job when I returned home. 

I would meet new people.  

I would have new experiences.

CONs

No family.  

No close friends.  

No English speaking people.  

No guarantee on anything.

I am giving myself to October to finish my list of pros and cons.  I will decide if this is really what I want to do.  I think making a decision here in Italy is definitely a little rash.  By waiting until I get home and back into my routine of things, I can decide if I can really live out of the country for one year.  I would live in Italy from July 2012 through July 2013.

If I really think about it... it's only 1 year.  What's 1 year?  I know a lot of things will change, and I would have to be OK with that.  Can I be OK with the changes?  What do you think I should do? Should I move to Italy?

TORINO

On Friday morning I headed to Torino, or Turin.  I took a six and a half hour train ride north of Potenza Picena, where I am staying, to get to Torino.  The train went along the EAST coast (just for you Paula and Steph) of Italy and then headed into the country.  It was an absolute beautiful train ride.  I passed through many different towns including Bologna and Modena.  All the way to Torino there was sun.  When I got to Torino, the dark clouds set in.

After getting off the train, I got a taxi to take me to my hotel because I had no clue where it was.  The cute taxi driver gave me a little tour of Torino as we headed towards the hotel.  My first look of Torino reminded me of Paris.  The buildings had similar architecture.  We drove along the River Po and then headed into Piazza Vittorio Veneto.  After we passed through the piazza, my hotel was immediately on the right.  I was in the very center of Torino.  I checked into my hotel, and afterwards I walked around to find a place to eat.

I walked around the piazza and decided to grab food to go.  All the restaurants were packed, so I grabbed a slice of pizza and a panini to go.  As it was getting late, I wanted to get a good night sleep for my long day ahead.  I stayed at Hotel Amadeus e Teatro.  I would recommend its location, but not much else.

In the morning I started to go around Torino around 10 am.  I may have been the only person in Torino at that time because nobody was around.  It kind of freaked me out a little bit.  I walked around the piazza and along the River Po.  There were tons of shops, but none of them were open.  I continued walking for a bit.  It looked like rain, and I did not bring any rain gear thinking the weather would be similar to the weather in Potenza Picena.  As I walked a bit further, I found a hop-on hop-off bus of Torino.  I hopped on, and I found out that I was one of five people on the tour for the morning.  I stayed on the hour long tour, and I got to listen to an audio set about the history of Torino.

When the tour was over, I noted that a lot of the stores were still closed and there were still not a lot of people.  I decided to head back to the hotel for a bit.  It was hard to occupy my time.  I read a little bit of my new book choice, "Pride and Prejudice," and I searched the TV for some English speaking channels.  All I was able to find was MTV music videos.  After two hours I noticed the sun had come back out, so I headed back into the town.  There were a lot more people around, so I felt much more comfortable walking around.  I walked around a lot finding the Egyptian Museum, the Spike, and Royal Palace.

After about another three hour walk around the city, the rain started up again.  I headed back to the hotel hoping it would let up.  It was only 5pm when I got back to the hotel.  I hoped it would get better out, but it was just cold and dreary.  I grabbed some food to go since a lot of the restaurants weren't open.  My day in Torino could have been more successful had the weather been more forgiving and if I had remembered to check the weather.  However, even though the weather was not great, I was able to see another amazing city in Italy.

Marmalade

I was a busy girl today.  This morning I ironed out the final details for this weekend.  I wanted to go somewhere I haven't been, and a place that I won't be going to when my family arrives at the end of July.  I really wanted to go to Verona, but who would have thought that the place would be booked solid!  Every single hotel I looked at that was in my price range was booked.  I even checked the places that were outside of my budget, and they were booked too.  I figured if it was going to be difficult to find a place in Verona, then it was probably going to be packed with people touring.  After nixing Verona, I looked into Torino and Lecce.  Torino is in northern Italy whereas Lecce is in southern Italy.  I made my final decision based on the train times.  The trains going to Lecce didn't get in until close to midnight, and the train to Torino was a little more reasonable with the time getting me there at about 5pm.  So this weekend, I will be headed to Torino.  If anyone has any suggestions on what to see, then please post them below.  I don't really have much planned for when I am there.

After getting my train tickets and booking a hotel room, I spent the early afternoon helping Michela peel peaches.  We were making marmalade.  We peeled about 5 kilos of peaches for the marmalade.  I must say it is so confusing over here with the metric system.  They use kilos instead of pounds or ounces and celsius instead of fahrenheit.  Once the peeling was done we added the sugar and some water to the peaches.  The concoction had to be heated on the stove for a few hours.

Once it was finished, the marmalade was put into glass jars.  Now we just have to let it sit, and we wait for next summer to enjoy it!

Nina

Nina is the Boccaccini family dog.  She is a five month old Jack Russell, and she is just the cutest thing.  Like every other dog in the world she runs up to greet you after you have been away.  She gnaws on anything she can her teeth on.  If you are having a bad day, then she is the one to brighten it.

Nina roams around the house, and she has free range of the yard.  The yard is fenced in, so she is able to go wherever without any concerns of escaping.  She will lounge by the pool with you.  If she is really wanting that toy in the pool, then she will just jump in and get it.  Nina's boyfriend lives in Ravenna, where the family lives during the school year.  His name is Lupi, and he is a Jack Russell as well.  Michela shared with me that there is a plan for Nina and Lupi to have puppies in the next year or so.  She even said I had dibs on one of the puppies when she has them.

Well today Nina had everyone running after her.  When Nina is roaming the yard, she usually smells the ground, chases butterflies and sometimes her tail.  Today Nina sniffed out a nest of baby birds.  I found her chasing the birds, and eventually she got one.  The family and I were running after her telling her to drop the bird in Italian and English.  I think Nina was so confused she didn't know what to do.  We eventually got her, and she spit out the baby bird.  The baby bird hopped away.  We are all keeping a close eye on Nina to make sure she doesn't do that again, so we will just have to keep our fingers crossed that she won't.  Nina's encounter with the baby bird reminded me of my family dogs back home--Bailey and Riley.  They don't usually go after the baby birds, but they do go after the bunnies.  I guess dogs all dogs have their preferences.

Needless to say, I am so happy to have a puppy to play with here in Italy.  Nina is constantly following me around, so she can learn English.  She loves getting her belly rubbed, and she is a great soccer player.  You can play with her for hours before she decides to run and hide in a cool place.  I absolutely love dogs, and who knows maybe next year I will be bringing one home with me from Italy.  Oh that's right... I might not have mentioned this yet, but it looks like I will be headed back here to Italy next summer :)

I'm hot! I'm sweaty! I'm tired!

You are probably wondering where I have been the past few days.  Well, I have been in Rome.  If you know anything about Rome in July, then you know it is extremely hot!  When I looked into my journal from my last Italy trip I found the words, "I'm hot! I'm sweaty! I'm tired!" I believe I may have repeated those words more than once on that trip with my aunt and grandparents, and I still hold them to be absolutely true today.  

Friday night my host family and I had dinner with their friends and their American girl, Chelsey, who is also in the same program I am in.  At dinner we all got to know each other a little better.  The food was amazing as usual.  We had an assortment of seafood appetizers, risotto with clams, and more seafood.  For dessert, we had creme brulee.  Chelsey and I had met up during the week and decided that we would go to Rome.  Our plan was to leave Friday evening and return Sunday, but since the dinner party had been planned we decided to depart early Saturday morning and return Monday.

After a long night of talking and eating, we struggled to get up at 6am.  We walked a few blocks away from where Chelsey was staying and caught the bus to Rome.  (The bus is similar to the bus we take from Baltimore to New York City for the weekend.)  It was extremely convenient.  We got to Rome by 10:45 am and then began our search for our hotel, St. Pietro House.  We got acquainted with the metro system and a lot of people trying to sell tours of the Vatican on our way to the hotel.  It took us about an hour to find the place with nothing but an address, so we are very thankful for the people on the streets that spoke English and helped us out.  When we arrived at the hotel, we found out it really wasn't a hotel.  It was actually an apartment building where the owner of the apartment treated the place like a bed and breakfast.  He actually met us outside the building to show us how to get in.  There were 5 different keys we needed to figure out how to use!  Needless to say, I was a little sketched out at first, but the room ended up being very nice.

After we dropped our things off, we went and grabbed lunch at a little cafe near our "hotel."  When you walked out of the place we were staying, you could see St. Peter's Basillica.  We had tour tickets to see the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel.  I was overwhelmed by how many people were there.  Usually when there are massive crowds, you stand in long lines.  Here in Rome where there are massive crowds, you stand in massive crowds and push through everyone to get ahead of everybody.  I really wasn't feeling the invasion of personal space of the crowds.  After getting over the massive crowds, it was wonderful to see the amazing art and the architecture of the rooms.  Once you get through the Vatican Museum, you enter the Sistine Chapel.  It was absolutely beautiful.  I couldn't take any pictures of it because it was prohibited, so you are going to have to google it yourself :)

Once we finished the tour of the Vatican and Sistine Chapel, we headed over to the Castel Sant Angelo.  It overlooked the river that cuts through Rome.  It was really neat to see a lot of the city from the top.  A lot of art was kept in the Castel, so we were able to enjoy the art and treasures it held.

On our way back to the "hotel" after our seeing the Castel, we noted a sign that said "Remembering Pavarotti" and limited seats available.  We walked into the ticket area to find out what the event was and decided to attend the event.  Before the event we freshened up and dressed up for a little opera event.  Students from Pavarotti's school performed different music pieces.  It was extremely enjoyable.  It was a small event for about 100 people.  There were pictures of Pavarotti's life in the room along with letters written by friends made over the years.  After the music portion of the event was over, you were able to look at the exhibit of pictures and were given a buffet of food and wine.  It was really neat to partake in a little bit of opera.

When the event was over, Chelsey and I decided we would go get some gelato.  Going to get some gelato ended up being about 4 hours of us walking around Rome at night taking in the sights.  We went to Piazza Popolo and continued walking.  We ended up all the way down at the Colosseum, which is not a close walk at all!  Even though it was a long walk, it was really neat to see Rome at night.  When we got to the Colosseum, we found a metro station and took it back to our "hotel."

We rose early Sunday morning, so we could get a full day in of Rome.  We took the hop-on hop-off bus, so we could see as much as possible.  We were able to get on the bus right near the Vatican, and we headed to the Trevi Fountain.

We walked around a bit near the Trevi Fountain and saw the Republica building along with the Library. We grabbed some lunch.  It was the worst lunch I ever had because I couldn't eat it.  I ordered a seafood salad thinking it would be the basic type of seafood--shrimp, tuna, etc.  Boy was I wrong, I had one bite and ended up eating the house bread for my meal.

After lunch we got back on the bus and headed to the Colosseum and Forum.  We waited in line (meaning massive crowds) for the Colosseum for about 45 minutes.  Once we got in we were able to walk around leisurely.  I was thinking to myself that Rome looked very different today than it did 13 years ago.  Things were a lot smaller than I remembered.  Also, there wasn't scaffolding on every building because the last time I was in Rome it seemed like every building was being renovated so you couldn't see the actual buildings.  When we finished with the tour of the Colosseum and Forum, we headed back to the hotel to get out of the heat for the day.  It can be extremely exhausting being in the sun and walking on the hot pavement in Rome.

For dinner we went to the Piazza Navona.  I decided to stay away from the seafood this time around, and I stuck with the pizza instead.  The piazza came alive at night with artists coming out selling their paintings, street performers, and people playing music.  After dinner and a few drinks of sangria, we looked at the paintings and walked around.  On our way back to the hotel there were a lot of vendors selling things, so we strolled along listening to the music and browsing.

My favorite things in Rome--1) Pavarotti Event and 2) Piazza Navona

This morning we woke up to catch the bus home.  Everything went great on the bus ride home until we got to the last stop which was not Civitanova Marche.  Apparently we were supposed to transfer to a different bus at some point along the journey home, but we didn't know.  Luckily for us, the bus driver pointed us in the direction of the train station in Ferma.  We got a ticket for the train that we had to wait an hour for.  The funny thing is that the train ride was only 10 minutes long.  We finally made it safely home to Potenza Picena.  All in all, it was a fun trip!