Coming Home

It's 2 days before I leave Torino, the city I lived in for the past 11-months... I'm happy and sad at the same time. Happy because I'm returning to sunny bay area to see my family, homies, and have lots of great Asian food; sad because my adventure in Italy is coming to an end.

It has been interesting 11-months: I learned to speak some Italian (mostly ordering in restaurants); how to make a few of Italian dishes (beef stew, walnut puff w/ gongorzola cheese, and calamari pasta); how much Europeans dislike Bush; how freezing Europe can be during winter ($%@#); how to be a friend to a cat; and how 'Californian/ American' I have become. I miss the warm weather, abundant various Asian cuisine, the beach, Sweet Tomato/ Fresh Choice, Jamba Juice, bagels, corn dogs, hamburgers, driving, speaking and listening English, watching Dancing with Stars and The Amazing Race, and playing Wii. But most important of all, I miss my family and friends. Being with Syd 24/7 for 11-months have proved that we won't kill each other, but we now need to embrace other people in our lives. :) It's time for me to hug and kiss a new person in my life: my newborn niece, Angelica.

Ok, so here is a photo of an Armani male model in the latest Spring fashion. If my memory serves me correctly, one of the first photos I posted last May when we first arrived in Torino was also an Armani Ad. 3 different Ads have been on the outer wall of our living quarter to accompany our journey in Italy/ Europe.

Arrivederci, Torino! Goodbye, Turin! Zai Jian, Du Ling!

Missing Cafe della Basilica

Cafe della Basilica, our favorite cafe in Torino, creates delicious pasta dishes and the most refreshing tasting beer. Ahhhhhh, I'm gonna miss it so much!

Biggest Accomplishment

So if you ask me what was the biggest accomplishment I did in Torino, I'd answer without hesitation: finished reading the masterpiece, War and Peace. It took me literally the entire 11 months to read it because 1) it has 1400+ pages, 2) 45% of the content is history, 3) other "more interesting" books are available, 4) I want to travel, eat, drink, play, sleep, and... you get my meaning.





The novel is indeed a masterpiece... the history between Russian and French wars, the complicated characteristics of each individual of 3 Russian families and their relationship with each other are like puzzle pieces that the reader needs to take time to absorb. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to finish it since the beginning was very slow... but once I got passed the first 200 pages, the scenes start developing in my mind. However, this is a difficult book... I don't know how high schools get students reading it?!

But Yeah! Wow! Sigh! I finally read War and Peace!

Torino has Cherry Blossoms too!

Bordeaux, again!

Bordeaux is really a lovely city... we had so much fun visiting Sera last August that we decided to go there again. No wonder people like to visit Europe in Spring... the flowers are blooming, the weather is perfect, and the scenery is unbelievable.

Photo on Left: Window view from the train on the way to Paris

Photo on Right: Guess who also came to visit Sera? Antonia and Teresa! Sera's friend, Francois (in the photo), was kind to lend us 2 mattresses so we all can get good nights of sleep. But how did we manage to move the mattresses from his place to Sera's? That's a question you must ask Sera and Syd. Actually, we are waiting to see how Sera and Francois are going to move the mattresses back to his place on the tram... And yes, Syd was the only guy who shared an apartment with 4 women.














We missed the Big Clock last time in Bordeaux so we had to pay it a visit. Sera took us to a medieval tavern near the Big Clock for some home-made meade. The meade was difficult to drink at first... I didn't like it and didn't think I would be able to finish it. But as I continued sipping the meade, it became easier and easier to drink. So either the drink gets better tasting when exposed to air or my taste buds have learned to love alcohol... any kind of alcohol.

Oh, I also tried to juggle in the tavern, but with the amount of wine and meade I had that night, well, let's just say the tavern was lucky that I didn't break anything there.

Photo on Right: My favorite statue in Bordeaux























It is always wonderful spending time with good friends. We exchanged news, gossipped, laughed, joked... simply enjoyed each other's company. Living in Torino for the past year has given me the opportunity to get to know Sera a lot better since we have met up in Bordeaux, Torino, Barcelona, and Lisbon. Sera still needs to study in Bordeaux for 1.5 years to become a wine maker. I know she'll do well and wish her all the best.

Sera, looking forward to see you back in CA and perhaps our next travel destination would be Tokyo? :) Thank you so much for being our next door neighbor in Europe.

Sicily!

Aiya, are we in Greece? Well, Sicily culture is a mix of Italian, Arab, and Greek. These temples were built like 2500 years ago! Since we haven't had a chance to go to Greece yet, this was our first time admiring Greek architecture. However, Agrigento, the city that hosts the most famous temple site, Valley of the Temples, is not accommodation friendly. The hotels may be the best choice but they are expensive. Other types of accommodation (such as hostels) are economical yet quality is questionable. We stayed in a centrally located hostel with helpful owners (which was highly recommended online) but the street noise and 3 cockroaches proved to be too much for our nerves. We actually liked another Greek temple more in Selinunte (on the southwest coast) because we can walk inside the ruined temple (photo on the right from above).

Overall, I like Sicily a lot. It's surrounded by ocean, has wonderful food (more salty and spicy), nice weather most of the year, and friendly people. We skipped big cities (ex. Palermo, Catania, etc.) this time because we wanted to drive through Sicily by countryside roads. It was a cool destination to wrap up our expedition in Italy before our return.

PS. I thought only Japanese would sleep in a confined cube... apparently I was mistaken. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a German tourist bus pulling a rollable hotel. I wouldn't like to travel like that.

Sicily, Sicily!

One of the goals we want to accomplish while living in Italy is to see Sicily. With only 3 weeks left of our adventure, it's time that we go to Sicily!














WOW, how beautiful and green Sicily is in April! It's like we went to a different country! The island is filled with vineyards, valleys, mountains, and rocks. Syd and I were fascinated with the rocky castle in Erice (on the northwest coast near Trapani)... as the matter of fact, the pavement and most of the buildings were built with rocks. The view from Erice was simply fantastic (see photo above).

Our favorite city in Sicily is Trapani. It offers delicious seafood cuisine as our first night dinner consisted octopus salad (which we couldn't get enough of and therefore looked for it on every menu), pasta with sea urchin, and calamari couscous. We also had the best Sicilian anchovy pizzas: Syd ordered it with Pecorino cheese while I swallowed it down with artichoke hearts and onions. More importantly, we encountered an emotional Pre-Easter procession in the old quarter of the city. We followed the procession like other Italians, listened to the powerful melody performed by a marching band, and felt the sadness of the passing of Jesus.





Easter is a big holiday in Italy, especially in Sicily. The entire week before Easter is dedicated to praise the lord. Here is another procession photo taken in Noto (on the southeast coast) on Good Friday. We waited 2 hours for the procession to begin. See how many people were following Jesus and Virgin Mary? This procession was silent... no band, no music, just people in mourning.