Wine Tasting In Torino

Through our program we took a trip to Torino for the weekend which included a visit to the Cinema Museum (very cool except I hadn't seen any of their movies) and the Egyptian Museum (second most famous in the world). On Saturday night we went to an Italian family's house for a wine tasting and full buffet dinner. We tasted two white and two reds and then a sweeter wine to accompany dessert. The things I learned about wine...

1. When you sniff each wine you try to find the emotion that accompanies it because certain aspects of your brain have an emotional attachment to that wine while the other part of your brain struggles to give a name to the smell... Regardless I was terrible at this part as people were shouting out things all over the place like "the smell of rocks after a rainy day". The only thing I could come up with is it smells like wine.

2. There are certain foods that accompany the wine and only if you choose the right food can you maximize the taste. For example we had a goat cheese with our first wine. It took me three tries to actually figure out how to combine the two tastes. Once I did it actually tasted incredible.

3. You must alternate one glass of wine with one glass of water. We were told this was so you didn't combine the tastes of the wine but seeing as our program coordinator kept repeating it to several of the smaller ladies on the trip I think it was most likely for other reasons.

4. I really don't know anything about wine.


A couple pictures from the evening...

New Food

Sorry for the delay between posts. Maybe it's a sign that I'm becoming more and more European and doing things without any issues... That was until today when I lost my apartment keys. I went and played soccer at the park today and must have left my jacket unzipped because they were missing when I got home. No luck in finding them either. Fortunately we left the window open to our apartment. Unfortunately we live on the 3rd floor. Tommy ended up climbing up onto the roof of the house behind our apartment and making it through the window to open the door. It was quite the adventure.

A big transition I've made while in Italy is trying many different types of foods (sorry Mom). Consequently, I now like peppers, artichokes, and eat tomatoes on sandwiches. One way I've been forced to try these foods is through our cooking course. Last week's meal was eggplant pasta and cavallo aka horse. It was my first time eating either food and I learned that when you eat a food for the first time you are supposed to make a wish. Two wishes and a whole lot of food later I left satisfied and quite surprised to find out that I like eggplant as well as horse. The majority of the girls either didn't eat the horse or tried one or two small strips. As a result, Tommy and I ate about 75% of the entire dish (meant to feed ten people). Here's a picture of the horse meat...

In the background is Aldo, our cooking teacher's husband. Anna has him wrapped around her finger which makes for a very fun dynamic. Aldo likes to try his English with us but Anna yells at him every time and demands he speaks Italian. Whenever Anna tells a story about something Aldo did wrong, he looks across the table at me and always says something like "see what i have to deal with".

Rome Take 2

My roommates from BC and I went to Rome for the weekend. We hit nearly every major tourist attraction and for simplicity's sake I'll just run through the major points of interest and share some thoughts...

Colosseum- We spent the most time here and it was well spent. I would highly recommend taking a tour (as we did) because they offer a 45 minute tour in English for 8 euro extra. Included in that is an hour walking tour of the ancient forum which essentially was a summary of the city's history. Warning: Going there really makes you want to watch the movie Gladiator. Fun fact of the tour: Commodus (the emperor played by Joaquin Phoenix in the movie) was hated just as much in real life as he is portrayed in the movie. However, unlike the movie he actually died after being strangled to death in his bathtub.

Trevi Fountain: In my opinion, it was overrated. Given it was raining when we saw it but I always thought it was a part of some huge square when in fact it's somewhat stuck in a small plaza between buildings.

The Vatican- Climb to the top. I had done this earlier when I went to Rome but it was an incredible view on a really nice day.

The Spanish Steps: Know what the Spanish steps look like before you wander around trying to find them! My roommate Tommy and I were walking around looking for them and as we followed signs for them we thought we were at the right place. Turns out neither of us had a clue what the Spanish steps looked like so we started asking people where they were. Naturally they were about 100 feet around the corner in the next plaza. Behind the Colosseum they were probably my second favorite thing in Rome because the view overlooks the city. Make sure you go on a nice day.

The most incredible thing we did was go to the AS Roma v. AC Milan soccer game in Stadio Olimpico. That was hands down the best experience I've hand in Europe. While all European soccer fans are nuts, we were warned (and found out) that Roma fans are the absolute craziest. We went into the Stadium two hours before the game and the section where the lunatics stand was nearly completely full. The traveling Milan fans were separating by glasses from the rest of the stadium. We were given big flags from the people around us to wave during the introductions. Several imporant things:

Go around the stadium beforehand because once you enter your section is blocked off from the rest (don't want Roma and Milan fans running into eachother). Wear neutral colors. Beware of flares which are thrown from the opposing fan sections.


Here are a couple pictures from the weekend:

Don't leave the Americans unattended

My roommates from BC are here visiting on spring break. We met them in Milan on Friday and spent the weekend there until coming back to Parma on Sunday. We had an 11:25 train back to Parma on Sunday so naturally we woke up late and scrambled into cabs and got to the train station. After separating for a minutes to get our tickets at the kiosk, we realized that one Henry was missing. So everyone got the platform and got on the train as I sprinted around the train station looking for him. As soon as I see him walking towards the platform, the train pulls away and Henry and I are stuck in Milan until the train the following hour. He had asked several people which train his ticket was for but he understood none of them. So we learned quickly that those who speak the language must stay with those who don't.
Ultimately no harm was done because we made it back in time for the Parma soccer game. We sat in the Curva Nord where all the lunatics were standing and cheering. The name of the fan club is "the Parma Boys". Formed in 1977, they convinced the new addition to the team Crespo (a Parma player for several stints with other clubs) to wear the number 77 in their honor. The head "cheerleader" actually never watches the game but simply orchestrates the crowd with his back to the field. The only cheer I picked up was "Par-ma" clap clap but to fit in I threw some Ole's and whistles when they blow a call.

Supermarket Success

I don't like the metric system, the euro, every clock going on military time, the way people write the date (day/month/year ex. today is 24/2/10) and every other thing about Europe which seems to be backwards. However, over the course of past month and a half I've become quite adept at converting euros to dollars (even though I still get pissed every time I look at my online statement), kilometers to miles, etc. So, the first time I went up to the deli at the supermarket I asked for a quarto kilo thinking I had correctly asked for some portion of meat. Five minutes and a lot of confusion later, a passerby kindly ordered me "un etto" of proscuitto. I was thankful and later looked up the word in my Italian phrase book to find out that "un etto" means quarter of a pound. For a country that does everything in metric system, why on earth does Italy use quarter of a pound to order sandwich meat? Turns out that it's pretty much equivalent to 100 grams so they actually haven't deviated from the metric system but the phrase book puts it into American deli shopping terminology so we can understand. Since my breakthrough on how to order sandwich meat I have successfully ordered a different "etto" of salume nearly every day. I actually had about a five minute conversation with the deli lady the other day because she knew I was American and wanted to know where I'm from and how I like Parma. In addition to my success in at the deli, I've learned how to deal with the ladies at the register now... Always say no. While I don't understand word for word what they are saying, I know the three questions they are asking me and no I don't have a COOP card, no I don't want a bag, and no I don't have correct change.

Rugby

Today we took the train fifteen minutes to a nearby town to see Colorno v. Florence in a professional rugby match. I know absolutely nothing about the sport except for the parts I picked up from the movie Invictus. Nevertheless it was a strange feeling going to a sporting event actually clueless to what was going on. A couple things I learned from my rugby experience...

"Die Colorna" does not actually mean that the fans want them to die. In fact these are Colorna fans supporting their team because "die" means "come on" in Italian.

Italian rugby is not like American baseball. When the ball is punted into the stands, the person must throw it back. I learned this when I caught the ball in the stands, held onto it and looked at it for a little then got yelled at by everyone to give the ball back because I was holding up the game...

Food Critic

The other night I went out to dinner with my tandem partner, Andrea. The first time we met we made comparisons between the US and Italy. He spent last summer in Cambridge doing research at Harvard on something that was way to complicated for me to understand (He's probably the most down to earth aspiring brain surgeon I've ever met). For dinner, he wanted to take me to a restaurant where they serve (in his opinion) the best hamburger in all of Parma to see what I think. Now... During orientation in Parma, our program coordinator was talking about restaurants, food, etc. and she gave only one warning "All the food here is wonderful but don't eat the hamburgers". So naturally I expected the worst going into this meal. Andrea was friend's with the owner so he told him all about how I was an American and was here to try the hamburger. Sure enough, the owner comes out with two double cheeseburgers for us to eat...

Several critiques (Most of them Andrea warned me about before we ate)

1. The burgers were very thin. Unlike the US, none of the burgers are thick pieces of meat.
2. All burgers are cooked through. Not sure if it's a law but there is no option to get a burger cooked rare, medium rare, etc. As I explained to him they completely eliminate the juices of the burger.
3. On a positive note, the bread they served it on was far superior to your average hamburger bun.

Overall rating... I'd definitely put their burgers above a fast food chain, probably at the lower end of the spectrum of a Chili's, TGI Fridays type of restaurant with the difference being the burger itself is inferior but the condiments and bread brought the overall taste up.

I'll shutup and go back to eating Italian food now...

Weekend in Munich

Sorry for the delay, I've been very busy studying?

Last weekend I traveled north to meet my Dad in Munich. A little apprehensive about my ability to call a taxi and get to the airport, I woke up very early for my 6:50 flight. Luckily, I was successful in calling the cab driver and was picked up at 5 o'clock. Ten minutes later I was dropped off and ready to go. Only one problem (don't worry I remembered my passport)... The airport wasn't open. I quickly learned that regional airports don't open until about an hour before their first flight of the day. So I stood outside and greeted all the airport employees as they entered the building at around 5:45.
After an uneventful day of travel, I arrived and met Dad at the airport in Munich. On Friday, we saw the Residenz (home of Maximilian I) and walked around the city. We enjoyed a couple of pints at the the Hofbrauhaus and ordered soft pretzels
the lady walking around. We then walked across the street to the Augustinerhaus to try the Augustiner (voted the number one beer in Munich by the travel books my Mom loves).
Saturday was a bit busier. We started the day by going to Olympic Park and going to the top of the Olympic tower. Unfortunately it was cloudy but on a nice day the view overlooks all of Munich and extends out to the Swiss Alps. After wandering around Olympic Park, we headed to the nearby BMW Museum. Despite neither of us having much interest in cars, we found the museum very interesting. Here's some pictures from the museum...














The last stop of the day was at the Deutches Museum for Science, Technology, Anything you could possibly imagine. If you very interested in this stuff (Which Dad was... a lot of it just went over my head), make sure you go early in the day because we were there for nearly 2 hours and only saw the smallest fraction of the museum.

Back in Parma now... Get ready for my huge critique of Italian food.

Switzerland

Last weekend I traveled to Interlaken, Switzerland and rather than formulate a paragraph I'm just going to list the top ten things of the weekend...

1. Going on a hike in up a hill overlooking Interlaken.
2. Ice skating at the local rink and being challenged by 12-year old Swiss kids to a hockey game.
3. Eating the local speciality of hash browns, pears, eggs, and cheese.


4. Beer... Italian wine is very good but it was nice to try several different Swiss beers
4. Hooters Interlaken. The menu called it the "Soon to be famous Hooters" because apparently no one knows what it is.

5. Cheese Fondue
6. Day trip to a beautiful mountain town called Murren in the Swiss Alps. We took a gondola ride up to the town and ate lunch overlooking the Swiss Alps. The view was incredible. However, I learned the most important thing of the trip... When you are going to a town overlooking the Swiss Alps make sure you check your camera to for batteries before you go... Luckily I got a couple pictures in before it died.



















7. Night Sledding... On Saturday night we went to one of the nearby mountains and went sledding. We would take the train up to one checkpoint and sled for nearly 3 km. down the mountain through a lit course. Highly recommended but wear boots because the only way to stop is using your feet.
8. Best chocolate milkshake I've ever had.
9. Hot chocolate... They don't use Swiss Miss
10. The hostel's dog. It was bigger than most of the girls on the trip.

Super Bowl Cont'd

If the announcers are shaky on pronunciation they simply identify the player by last name or even number.

The announcers have a clear bias towards the kickers... Never heard such inflection in someone's voice over a field goal.



Despite speaking a different language, the announcers are very rousing and generate a lot of energy at big moments... they simply need to work on which moments are actually the most important.

Super Bowl In Italy

I've decided to blog during the Super Bowl because we are watching it with Italian announcers...


So far I've heard nothing but Peyton Manning e molto molto bene (because they can't offer any further analysis)

On Joseph Addai's latest twenty yard run they simply yelled "ADDAI ADDAI ADDAI ADDAI ADDAI ADDAI ADDAI"

Based off the announcers I'm not sure whether I'm watching soccer or football.

Also, they don't have commercials here...

Cooking Class

Remember when I said that everything in Italy is small... I stand corrected. I learned that the only thing that comes in an extra large in this country are the portions at dinner. As part of the program, I'm automatically enrolled in a cooking course once a week at this woman's house. Our 70 year-old teacher, Anna, is a 4 foot 10 larger than life chef who hosts three separate groups of BC students once a week. Last night's lesson was spaghetti carbonara. Despite speaking only in Italian (even though everyone knows she speaks fluent English as she refuses to admit it), I was able to understand process quite clearly. I also learned that spaghetti carbonara is one of those dishes where you're much better off not watching it be made as you might think twice about eating it. While this was the only dish we made with her, she also served us chicken marsala, then leeks, then salad, then cheese, then apple cake, then chocolates, then a second round of chocolates. While I knew to pace myself, I had no choice when it came to Anna. For each course she always served my roommate Tommy and I first to be sure that the boys had enough to eat (our spaghetti dishes were at least three servings). The food was incredible and can hopefully replicate it. I learned how to make spaghetti carbonara but more importantly not to eat lunch on cooking class day.

Tandem Partner

Today I met my tandem partner, a University of Parma student. We are supposed to meet once a week to practice our Italian/English. My first impression was that his English is twenty times better than my Italian. I fumbled through a couple phrases but we will continue to practice. In our five minute introduction, I learned today something a little more interesting than just a simple Italian phrase. His name is Andrea (An-dray-uh, for those who read this the American way). After introducing himself he said he was very confused why Americans use this name for women because according to him it comes from a Greek word meaning manly... Sorry Mrs. Patrina.


Just to be sure I crossreferenced it with Wikipedia and while it comes from the Greek word "aner" meaning man, it is used as the feminine form of Andrew in English so you're in the clear Mrs. P and I will clarify this with the Italian Andrea next time we meet.

The reason my bed broke...

One word... Apertivo. In any attempt to get free food and save money, we have gotten into the habit of going to eat at places that serve apertivo, an endless buffet of free appetizers as long as you order a drink. The last couple nights we could not have stuck out more clearly as the gluttunous Americans. Every five minutes I'd go up to the bar and fill my plate with sandwiches, pasta, some sausage concoction, salumi (universal word for all kinds of meets... salami, proscuitto, etc.). Including in this deal was a plate of salumi on bread as well as a basket of chips that comes with every round of drinks we ordered... a nicely designed system which makes you stop ordering drinks (thus saving money) because you are too full. My advice: Pace yourself. If you get there at 6:30 to get a table, don't eat so much that you're too full when they bring new stuff out at 7:30. Most likely you'll feel obligated to have one (or five) of everything they bring out. Apertivo... Good for wallet, not for the figure.

Too big

I was warned many times... Everything in Europe is smaller. No, it did not take me this long to realize how true this fact was. In Florence, my feet hung off the end of my bed. The shower was so small that I could not bend down to pick something up, I needed to grab it before I got into the shower. So far in Parma I've stuck out as the big American. On the bus I look over the top of everyone. The other day this old Italian woman turned to my friend and whispered something in Italian that we interpreted as "Oh my god he's so tall". Our washing machine (which we still haven't figured out how to work) can only fit two pairs of my pants. Even with all the things which I've been too big for, nothing was quite as alarming as what happened last night... I broke my bed. I'm not sure if it was too much pasta or I sat down too hard but two wooden bars underneath the bedframe flew out. Luckily they didn't break but I currently have a little crevice in the center of my with no support. Lesson learned: The workout program starts tomorrow...

Football

On Sunday we went to a bar near our apartment to see if we could watch the Championship games for football. Coincidentally, every other Italian was there watching futbol. Inter and AC Milan (the two top teams in Italy) were playing so we had to wait to request that they turn on the American football games. We ended up watching the soccer game with a bar full of crazed Italians hollering and giving standing ovations to the television. The place was out of control. Inter won the match 2-0 despite playing with 10 men for the final 70 minutes. Side note: Inter plays Parma this weekend and we're likely going to get killed. Finally we had the courage to go ask the bartender if they could switch to the American football game. He obliged and told us that he'd turn on one of the TVs for the game. He then pointed to the downstairs and sent us to an outside tent where we could watch the game. Unfortunately, it was 30 degrees out. Pretty vital lesson learned, always bring a hat and gloves to the bar.

As for the Super Bowl we asked if we could potentially watch there and reserve some tables. He turned to the date and looked at calendar and said "It's Italy. Nobody watches the Super Bowl." However, he kindly said he can keep the bar open until two at the latest. Which means we'll be seeing about a first quarter and a half of the game.

Italian Family

Today Tommy and I were invited to join one of the host families for a Sunday lunch. I was a bit apprehensive at the outset because they spoke no English and this would be my first true test of speaking Italian. Simply put, the meal was amazing. The mother, Dori, was absolutely hysterical and would not stop talking about America. She initially thought that New Mexico and Connecticut were close (US geography was not her strength) but I corrected her on the map she brought out. The food was incredible. She served gnocchi with a pumpkin sauce and gave me an enormous helping because she couldn't get over how big I was. Today's lesson definitely was to learn when to say "Basta" (Stop or enough) or Sono sazio (I'm full) because after we had finished the gnocchi she came out with potatoes, proscuitto, and salad. Again she made Tommy and I finish the proscuitto. Finally, she brought out a marmelade pie. The meal was fantastic but I need to learn how to pace myself because there always seems to be another course. The highlight of the meal was when the subject of Scotland came up and Dori immediately started talking about how it was her husband's favorite movie. She then got on a chair to grab a foot long curved blade (like one from the movie) and started weilding it around impersonating Mel Gibson.
The father seemed quiet at first but quickly warmed up to us when we started discussing soccer with him. (Even though he was pissed because Parma lost 3-0 to Catania the night before) We started asking him about tickets to games and how expensive they were and he said he would try and get us tickets to the Inter Milan game the following week (He actually wrote it down so he wouldn't forget). After a several hour meal we left with both an invite for lunch every Sunday they are home as well as the potential for tickets to next week's Parma-Inter game. Clearly befriending this family was very beneficial.

Family Dinner

For those who don't know the details of the trip there's one really important piece that you must know... There are 23 girls and 3 guys. There have been many occasions where I've been like "This is what happens with you just travel with girls". In times I've wanted a Sports Illustrated I've been offered nothing but Cosmo and People. If there was any clear indication of the overwhelming gender dominance it was when my roommate Tommy and I had to carry 12 suitcases up the stairs of our villa for all of the girls.

The villa is set up with four separate apartments and a common room area for all of us. Last night, we decided to have our first (and probably last) home-cooked meal together. Each apartment was assigned with making something for dinner. If there was any reason to put a positive spin on the lopsided gender ratio it was the following... Girls know how to cook. Yes, I believe given time Tommy and I will learn but it was a tremendous luxury on our first night eating at home. The contributions were the following...

Emma and Katie- Breaded Chicken
Betsy and Sarah- Salad w/ walnuts, strawberries, pears, and a homemade red wine viniagrette sauce (very impressive)
Lizzie and Steph- Penne w/ a homemade tomato sauce (truly incredible)
Brian and Tommy- Wine, Bread, and Cheese

Here's a picture of Tommy and my contribution...



















And to be clear it makes no difference if those are 2 euro bottles of wine. We still had to carry those several blocks back from the grocery store.

And the finished product...



For the record the boys did the dishes.











Clearly there are positive aspects to living with a bunch of girls.

First Night in Parma

We finally left Florence to come to Parma. Apparently two hours north in Italy means a twenty degree drop in temperature because it's a hell of a lot colder here. Last night we went out for our welcome dinner to a local ristorante. The food was unbelievable! I had the biggest grin on my face as I was eating. The five course meal included...

Antipasti- Proscuitto di Parma, Salame, and Pancetta (And a never-ending basket of rolls)

Primi Piatti- Homemade ravioli (actually called something different here)

Secundi Piatti- Lemon chicken (a specialty of this restaurant)

Then we had salad

And dolce was something incredible

I'll start writing down some of the names of these meals because they were amazing. Also joining us for dinner was the restaurant's dog named Ghiaia (meaning joyful). She was a little puppy that ran around the tables while we ate. From our meal I learned that in Parma (or maybe even all of Italy) the correct way to eat the proscuitto and other meats is with your hands. The metal of the fork is said to ruin the taste.

Details from our first day in Parma to follow as well as pictures of our villa.

Window Eating

Most of the lunches we've eaten in Florence have been from places that displays paninis in the window or are clearly visible from the sidewalk. While even the food from those caffes is still fantastic, we stumbled upon a forno (literally translated to oven but more of a bakery). We walked in and stood awkwardly behind the counter only to realize after several minutes that we needed to take a ticket. We've also now learned that any place where you need to take a ticket is a keeper. After pointing out which panini you want they'll place the knife in a certain area to indicate how much you want (naturally I told the person I wanted more). Then they weigh your panini and charge you per kg. Several important lessons were learned in the forno...

1. It is much cheaper. I got a panini (with much fresher bread) and a large slice of pizza for under 4 euro.

2. The quality of the food is much better.

3. Take the food to go! If you eat there you end up just buying another panini because it all lookds too good to pass up

Tale of two climbs

While in Rome we climbed to the top of St. Peter's Basilica and today we went to the top of the Duomo in Florence. Both views were spectacular but I found the top of the Duomo more impressive. Despite the arduous climb I'd highly recommend going up to the top. The landscape and view of the mountains was incredible. Even though St. Peter's was a longer climb (551 steps), the Duomo's climb (463 steps) was tougher. The final piece is very steep and the majority of the hike was in cramped spiral staircases. Several important tips for the Duomo...

1. Train. (Not applicable to those who actually work out)
2. Don't forget your camera (like I obviously did)
3. Do not go out the night before (makes it a lot harder and doesn't help with the whole getting dizzy thing)

Rome Trip

We got up early this morning to take a trip to Roma for our Art History class. Looking for breakfast at the train station I decided to just get Mcdonalds. Being my first experience in an Italian Mcdonalds, I wasn't sure food was the same as American Mcdonalds. I looked at the pictures on the menu and realized they didn't have an pictures for breakfast foods. I was planning on asking if they had a Sausage Mcmuffin w/ egg but when I got up to the counter I panicked and blurted out the first thing American thing I saw... a Big Mac. So instead of getting breakfast, I got a Big Mac and a diet coke. I've rationalized this by figuring I haven't yet adjusted to the time difference and that was simply a midnight snack. After getting my food, I walked over to the table with the BC kids to find out that they do in fact have egg mcmuffins. Today's lesson... McDonalds does serve breakfast even if its not pictured on the menu.

Pictures of Rome to follow (if I learn how to post pictures)

Getting Lost in Florence

Rather than getting into the perpetual habit of napping every afternoon I chose to get lost in Florence by plugging in my iPod and just wandering around the city for a couple hours. Instead of wandering aimlessly I decided to choose the stadio (stadium) where the futbol team plays as my main destination. After walking for a while I decided to test my luck with Italian and ask a rando how to get to the stadio. I approached the first cordial gentleman I saw and asked my mentally rehearsed "Dov'e lo stadio?" which I was very confident was correct. The man waved his arms and didn't say anything. Naturally I thought I somehow messed this phrase up so I asked again and again but still got nothing except arm waving... Turns out this man was deaf. So I continued to next man and repeated the question and got some elongated response of which the only word I understood was "sinistra" (left) and found my way to the stadium. Today's lesson was quite clear... Trust my elementary Italian and any man violently waving his arms isn't signaling that he doesn't want to help me but rather he can't hear me.

Welcome

I've decided to start a blog of little life lessons that I learned in my travels throughout Europe over the next five months. As you can imagine I went through an immediate culture shock upon arriving in Italy (everyone here speaks Italian, not everyone speaks English) and as a result I've provided nothing but a walking comedy for the Italian passerby.

The major reasons for starting this blog are the following...

1. Provide information for the next naive American that travels to Europe (trust me w/in 24 hours I've realized I'm the most American thing in this city)

2. Use this space as both an outlet and memory bank for some of the things which I messed up that day

3. Allow other people to laugh at some of my stories (at my expense)

4. Give me something to do (as opposed to napping all day)

Naturally I will improve and immerse into the European culture. As a result, I imagine that most things at the beginning any ordinary person might have already known/experienced. This is another way of saying the first ten lessons my dad might have informed me about yet I was too busy not listening to process and take seriously the information (for example: London uses pounds... yes I gave the guy at the airport euro and he said they don't use them). Like I said many of the initial things will be basic things which anyone would know. However by the end of my travels I intend to be a seasoned veteran on all things European.