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.