Day 108: Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Me in Parma, Italy

Buying Parmesan cheese in Parma, Italy!

Wow, this morning was brutal.  I had a presentation to give to my class at 9am and I wasn't feeling top-notch.  I found myself leaning against the table throughout it.  At least it was a group presentation, so I pretty much let them take it away!  After class, I jumped in the shower and waited for my family to arrive.  They spent the morning (and when I saw morning, I really mean afternoon...Christi was lucky enough to sleep in this morning) shopping around the city.  They shopped around San Bablia, going in to Bershka, Abercrombie and Fitch, H&M, and others.  When they were done, they picked up the car (bus) and got to my house around 3pm.  We grabbed some pizza from the across the street, loaded the luggage into the car, then headed to Tuscany :)  We literally had the biggest car in Europe, and it was obvious as to why when we were tackling the treacherous roads the lead us into southern Italy.  The local Italians know better than to drive a freaking bus.  We made sure to make some pit-stops along the way so we weren't wasting the day away in the car!  Our first stop was Parma.  Ellen was super eager to get some Parmesan cheese, and what better place than Parma, Italy?  We pulled into the teeny-tiny little town and walked straight up to the center piazza.  There wasn't much going on, so we quickly diverged and went on a manhunt for some Parmesan cheese.  And shockingly, we couldn't find it anywhere!!  Is that a joke?!?  That's like not being able to find hamburgers in Hamburg, Germany, or not being to find Swiss chocolate in Switzerland!  Needless to say, we were baffled, and just about to leave the little town less than impressed, when we spotted some freaking cheese after all.  We pulled the car over, hopped out, and bought the absurdly expensive Parmesan cheese from Parma, Italy, basically just to say we did.

Our next stop was Viaregio, a beautiful little coastal town of Italy.  We pulled right up to an endless, deserted beach.  We walked along the coastline for a few minutes, enjoying the sand at our feet.

Vino in Viareggio

Afterwards, the four of us walked on the boardwalk looking for a good place to sit down and have some wine.  The town was so cute.  Even though many of the stores were closed, you could just tell it was full of livelihood later in the season.  We found the most perfect place to sit down and relax.  We were the only people in the restaurant, so they were unbelievably accommodating.  They let us sit on the outdoor patio, even though it wasn't technically open yet.  They brought us a few glasses of wine, and the four of the laughed the afternoon away.  The weather was perfect, the atmosphere was ideal, the wine was delicious, and the company was unbeatable! :)  I had absolutely nothing to complain about.  When we all had a stomach aches for the right reasons, we left the restaurant and headed back to car.  For some reason, Ellen and my mom and Christi and I got separated.  Christi and I ended up walking aimlessly down the boardwalk, dazed and confused.  When we spotted a store that sounded somewhat, vaguely familiar, we decided to just sit down in front of it and wait for...wait for what?  I don't know what we were thinking.  We sat there until we heard my mom's voice yell at us from about 10 feet behind us.  Apparently, we were never lost.  We were directly in front of our car the entire time, we just never turned around to realize that.  And that's why the store name sounded familiar...because we had said earlier, "Remember this store, this is where we are parked!"  Oops! :)

From there, next stop was Tuscany!  Ellen NASCARed our way into Tuscany, and from there it went downhill.  Unbeknown to us, we drove straight into the walled city.  A city that houses streets no wider than our freaking bus of a car.  (Or so it seemed).  We were all dying as we drove deeper and deeper into the city that seemed to be closing in on us!  I literally thought we weren't going to be able to get of there.  These streets were not made for cars, and certainly not made for the car that we had.  It was a very stressful situation.  We finally found a parking lot that we could pull into, and we decided to walk from there!  We were so lost it was unbelievable.  We started walking trying to find our hotel, and before we knew it, we weren't even quite sure how to get back to the car.  We finally found a little hotel right on the outside of the city walls, with drivable streets leading right to it, and the most adorable owners who welcome us with open arms.  (I think they were slightly worried about us, we were clearly disgruntled).  We all climbed into bed and had a fabulous night sleep after a fabulous day!

Day 107: Tuesday, May 3, 2011

The girls outside of Castello Sforzesco

Mom and Ellen in front of Castello Sforzecso

Today my family was still in Venice (they had left yesterday).  I had class so sadly I couldn't join them, but I sent them off with a few pearls of wisdom!  They returned around dinner time, and the four of us explored a little bit more of Milano.  We walked through the huge park behind Castello Sforzesco, saw the Arch of Peace and walked around the castle.  Milan is so beautiful at night.  The Duomo lights up and all the streets come alive!  We walked down many of the pedestrian-only streets that Milan has to offer.  They are packed with cute shops, designer stores, charming restaurants, and beautiful architecture.  We stopped at pizzeria (typical) and grabbed some dinner and wine.  They servers were very fond of the four of us, constantly asking for kisses and lurking around our table.  Funny at first, then annoying.  We all ordered perfectly Italian meals; between pizza, pasta, bread and olive oil, and vino, we covered the whole spectrum!  I listened to their stories of Venice and enjoyed every second I was spending with my family!  When the servers finally gave us a second to breathe, we managed to finish our dinners and be on our way.  We all enjoyed our meals (surprising for me) and had a great time eating on the streets!   

After we were done, Christi and I popped into the bathroom and changed into our party suits :)  By now she was fully adjusted to the time change and ready to roll!  We said goodbye to momma and Ellen and made our way to the Corso Como area.  We hopped on the nearest metro, a decision we quickly regretted when we noticed the looks we were getting, and got off at Via Girbaldi.  It was still early, so we walked around for a bit looking for people to buy us drinks.  We found two really old, creepy men, whom I was very skeptical of.  They took us to a quiet bar with couches and beds inside.  Further dismayed.  Christi seemed fine.  It was weird.  They ended up buying us a couple drinks and being very nice, but it was time to part ways after the drinks were done.  We continued on.

Christi's stage-five clinger

We thought we had found another free-drinks-for-us-man, but it turned out he completely conned us!  He started talking to us outside a bar, then invited us inside to get a drink, even ordered for us...then turned around and said "Alright girls, its 17E."  ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!  Stupid Felipe(again).  I wouldn't have gotten the drink if I had known I was going to pay an arm and a leg for it. Jeeeeeeze.  And after totally screwing us, the kid had the nerve to hang around us the entire night!!  He literally did't leave our side.  It was unbelievable.  We went to Club Hollywood and killed it on the dance floor all night.  Christi got a taste of the persistence of Italian men, and the real meaning of a stage-five clinger.   AKA, men who don't get the hints, and cling to you all night!  It was hilarious; this man loved her!  It was no mutual at all, it never is.  When we were ready to leave, and when our drink tokens were used up, we took two separate cabs home...Christi took one to her hotel, and I took one to my house.  We both felt as though we were outrageously overcharged, but that's usual.  I went inside and went straight to bed, I had class in a couple of hours!

Tina and I at Hollywood

 

Day 105: Sunday, May 1, 2011

Me in front of Lake Como!

Today I woke up incredibly annoyed by the sound of my alarm clock.  Was it really going off already??  I had just gotten home a few hours before, and it was already time to get out of bed, put a smile on my face, take the train to Lake Como, and spend the day with my (distant) relatives.  Naturally, the time we allotted to getting from my house to the train station was not enough and we ended up sprinting to the platform.  But we made it, and all was well :)  It was a pretty a ride into the town of Lake Como, where my cousin Letizia was waiting for our arrival.  Being the adorably sweet girl she is, she dedicated her entire day to my family and I!  First she showed us around the charming town of Lake Como.  It was complete with it's own little Duomo, outdoor markets, picturesque elementary schools, and beautiful views of the gorgeous Lake Como.  We walked around for about an hour as she pointed out little details about the town and showed us the most scenic places to take a picture.  

The town of Lake Como

Momma in front of Camporini's grave

We were on a bit of a time crunch.  After she showed us some of the city, we got in her car and drove back to the town of Chivelo, Italy, where she was born and raised.  On the way, we stopped at the cemetery where Camporini relatives are buried.  It was a beautiful graveyard; I had never seen so many fresh flowers and bouquets in my life!  It was like every single person's loved ones came each day to tend to their grave.  It looked more like a tropical garden than a graveyard!

After our pitstop, we continued on our way to their house.  Letizia was the epitome of an Italian driver.  When we pointed out that she was going the wrong way on a one-way road, she was completely unconcerned, and I think she may have even sped up?  When we got to the house, the entire family was waiting outside to greet us.  It was a very warm welcome, with lots of hugs and kisses and smiles.  I had been to their house once before, and they were just as proud of their modest abode as they were four years ago!  It is a very modern home, with lots of concrete and and open space, and it is a beautiful home.  They have done very well for themselves! 

The Frangi family!

When we first got inside, they gave us a quick tour, then it was meal time!  It was clear Elise had been working all day on this meal, she was so sweet!  We sat down at a table set with fine dining as Marco popped open a 100E bottle of Champagne.  Unfortunately, I couldn't enjoy it because I was still at the point where the smell of alcohol made me nauseous, but everyone else said it was delicious!  As we made ourselves comfortable, Elise hurried to the kitchen and began bringing out dish...after dish...after dish.  There really was an incredible amount of food, some of which I liked, and some of which I wasn't the keen on trying.  It definitely was a typical Italian meal, all five courses and two hours of it!  Everyone speak English except for Marco, which made me feel really bad for him sometimes!!  There he is having us in his house and giving up his entire Sunday, and we couldn't exchange a single word with each other.  Which is definitely half my fault seeing as I have lived here for so long and still don't really know Italian.  They definitely yelled at me, and it was embarrassing.  It's not my fault if every time I tried to speak people just spoke back to me in English!!  Jeeeeeeeze. 

After lunch, we all hoped in two cars and made our way to Carla's mountain house.  We took the scenic route, obviously, and it really was beautiful.  We drove all along the side of Lake Como and through the mountains (which wasn't ideal for my hangover) but it was very, very pretty.  We stopped a few times along the way whenever a Kodak moment arose.  

 When we got to Carla's, she was ecstatic to see us.  She also doesn't speak a lick of English, so the language barrier was almost funny sometimes.  Luckily, Letizia and Chiara were excellent translators.  We all sat down and ate about 10 different flavor of gelato; Matteo, their (and maybe our's, very far down the line) cousin was also there.  He was as cute as a button :)  Afterwards we walked around her little street for a bit; it was obvious she was so excited to show us her home.  Afterwards, we drove back to the --- house so we could catch the train home.  Naturally, there was some sort of transportation strike going on after 6pm in Milan, so we were stranded.  Chiara ended up having to drive us all the way back!  


It was a lovely little day that we had with our family.  They are all the sweetest people you could ever meet, and we all had a great time getting to know them a little better!