AIDA in Verona

It's odd that after Italian class ended, I have less time to myself. I have been trying to read "Under the Tuscan Sun" for the past month but I just have neither the time nor the mood. On the weekends I'm busy cooking. With fresh ingredients from Porta Palazzo, I want to prepare and taste the fresh vegetables and fruits right away. Last Saturday I made my very first cold tomato soup! Yummy and refreshing for the hot day. Beth gave us a chart that lists seasonal fruits in Torino, and of course summer produces the most fruits. This month Syd and I have to stuff ourselves with apricots, blueberries, peaches, cherries, raspberries, and strawberries! And on weekdays, while Syd's working, I'm either surfing on internet, creating blog entries, typing up Chinese writings, doing house chores, or taking a nap. So one way or the other, I'm just not reading (which is one of my favorite hobbies).

Well, all that changed for the past 2 days. I finished the book on the way to and back from Verona. Apparently traveling provides the time and mood for me to read. Beth, Trevor, Syd, and I went to see the famous opera "AIDA" (Verdi's version, though I also saw Elton John's version and I loved it!) in the ancient and oh-the-most-beautiful Roman outdoor amphitheatre (built in 30AD, it's 2000 years old!). Now dig this: NO amplifiers were used yet the voice of each singer traveled all the way to the last row of the theatre (capacity of 30,000 ppl when full)! It was incredible! We were drowned under the stars with Verdi's music, Aida and Radames' love, and Barbera wine in this amazing Verona Arena. Though no elephants appeared in the opera, I felt equally satisfied with the outstanding costumes, dances, singing and horses! I'd highly recommend a nice soft cushion for your behind (you can rent it at the Arena) because my tush was screaming in pain after an hour of sitting on the hard concrete (cheapest ticket). Syd refused to use his body as my cushion. Bad hubby.
























We came back to Torino today while Beth and Trevor continued on to Germany. We will meet up in Venice and Cinque Terre with my college friend Dawn next week. I told Syd that it's good to come home. I miss our apartment in Torino which has my comfy bed, my laptop (yes, I'm addicted to it), the yummy yummy pasta salad I made on Sunday and buffalo mozzerella cheese. Before reaching home, we went for a delicious and refreshing gelato of uva fragola at Gatsby's. Yes, we are home.

Our New Looks

Our Italian beginner course ended last Friday so you might think that we would now party all night, sleep in every morning, and be lazy bums from this week on. Well, how can you think of us that way? We managed to get up everyday this week around 9am except yesterday (we got up at 5:30am instead to take a train to the beach!). We went running and played frisbee on Tuesday morning. We're trying to exercise at least twice a week to set up a healthy routine living in Torino so we don't return to California gaining 20 lbs. each (darn those yummy buttery gnocchis)!

Since the course is over, Syd and I finally have time to do other things besides studying Italian. For example, we can pay attention to our appearances. Syd now has a goatee (I like it!) and that's all the change he made. As for me, it is more complicated because of my gender. I need to shop (though I'd say I spend only half the time most women shop), compare, think, and then choose. I'm happy to introduce Beth, my shopping partner/ fashion consultant, who accompanied me to spend $ at a big Robe di Kappa (a Torino brand) outlet. We had to take a bus (20 min) and after getting off, we searched for the outlet for 30 minutes because its name is 'Spaccio' instead of 'Kappa'. No wonder we couldn't find it even though it's only 1 block away from the bus stop. Anyways, I love this brand because it has a lot of sporty and simple designs: the style fits my personality. So I contributed to Torino's economy that day. :) Well, what could I do? I have been eyeing that jacket since my first visit to the store in Piazza San Carlo but I couldn't find my size then. I was so happy to find it (only 1 left with my size!) at the outlet that my blood started to boil which blurred my vision so I could only see the jacket. Besides, Beth said I looked good in it. Hence, although it wasn't on sale, I still went for it. I'm not posting a photo of this jacket, you'll just have to wait for its premier in winter. :p I can tell you that it has awesome symbols: an Italian flag, a Torino bull, 2 Kappa marks (which is a man and a woman sitting back-to-back with each other), and the word "Torino" across the chest. Please sit still, my CAL friends, the color of this jacket is Maroon, not RED. :p

My next choice is to get a haircut. Yes, it's a big decision as it's not just a simple haircut... I decided to go for a short hairdo. The first problem we encountered was how to communicate the desired style with hairdressers in Italian. Beth came up with a great idea: find photos of the hairstyle that we like online then we will bringing in her laptop to show them to hairdressers. It worked perfectly since pictures speak a thousand times better than words (let alone our poor Italian words). The experience at the salon was rather relaxing. Hair washing alone was 15 minutes of gentle massaging, washing, and conditioning. My hairdresser was a young man (mid 20s) with blond spiky hair and wears hip pink glasses. He wasn't surprised of my request of a rather dramatic hair style. As a matter of fact, he was the first and only hairdresser who suggested to cut my hair even a little shorter. Well, non `cè problema, I have had the same hairdo for a few years and since I'm in Italy, I want to go for a new look. Now with new clothes and a stylish hair cut, I need to look for earrings and sandals. Gotta go shopping. Again. Now.

St. Giovanni a Torino - Part II

We woke up the next day to a festive mood of Torino. Many farmer's and antique markets were showing their best products in piazzas all around the city. I think Trevor bought all the mazzarella cheese that was available in the City Hall Market because we couldn't find any when we went there. Nevertheless, we purchased 3 different flavors of sausages (wild boar, truffle, and Barolo wine) which will become our lunch next week. Syd and I took a nap to be prepared for the big party at night.

We met up with Trevor's gang (Trevor, his girlfriend, his sister, and his nephew) for dinner. We wanted to have apertivo (buy a drink and get to eat all-you-can-eat snack-size food) but couldn't find one that we liked on Via Po. Since we were close to Torino University, Trevor suggested we explore the restaurants with younger crowds. Sure, why not? We all can pass as in our mid 20s... well, except Aiden since he's only 5. We passed by a crowded restaurant called "Tre Da Tre" and according to our experience, a busy restaurant means yummy food, well, at least fresh food. While we were waiting for a table, we drank cold beer to refresh ourselves. I was very surprised that Beth and Trevor remembered our anniversary! They even had a card for us! How sweet! We celebrated the occasion with 2 bottles of wine with our pizzas, seafood pastas, and salads. We had to watch the time because the finale firework was scheduled to began at 10:30pm on River Po. Just as we were stepping out the restaurant, the firework started, so we all ran as fast as we could towards the river. The firework was fantastic! It was the best firework I've ever seen! San Francisco's NYE and Great America's July 4th firework cannot compete to Torino's St. Giovanni Day. The firework was more in quantity and bigger in sparks with different designs! Most importantly, they were insync with music (classical and modern). The final firework set ended with the popular "Volare, Oh Oh, Cantare, Oh Oh Oh Oh". Everyone was singing together! So cool! So many people showed up for the firework.




Afterwards, Trevor's gang needed to retire but the night was still young for Syd and I. We got together with Alberto and Paolo (Alberto's roommate) to drink some more at a bar (AlCool) near the river. I had a mojito to help me stay awake. :p Now if you have been tracking my alcohol intake, you'd notice that I've had a glass of beer, 1/2 bottle of wine, and a mixed drink. So yes, I was buzzed. Very. So was Syd. What an awesome feeling to celebrate with Torino on St. Giovanni's Day and also have the city celebrate with us on our anniversary. Che sera bellissima!

Beth!

Beth arrived Torino last night. She had a crazy itinerary: fly from New Orleans to Rome (~ 13 hours) and then ride a train to Torino (~ 8 hours) in the same day. I told Syd not to worry about missing her at the train station... she'd be the girl with 4 luggages! Apparently she didn't need us worrying anyways as she made a couple of Italian guy friends on the train. :)

A big outing day for us today as we went to Beth and Trevor's apartment, treated to another coffee (by signor Tutucci, again!), had lunch (I finally was able to have a big bowl of salad) in a historical roman area, walked around Torino (Photo: Palazzo Reale - Royal Palace), ate gelato, found a McDonald, and enjoyed a delicious dinner (fresh-made pasta with asparagus and peas, veal carpaccio, swordfish in lemon sauce, and 2 desserts!). We were so silly at dinner without any wine (we ordered it but the waitress seemed to forget - twice). No matter, it turned out with wonderful company, we don't need alcohol to have a great time. Welcome to Torino, Beth!

Jetlag Sucks!

Ok, so not everything is peachy in Torino... so far I have been fighting 2 enemies this week: jetlag and washing machine. Instead of being a tourist (like before) by dragging ourselves to all the museums, palaces, and piazzas, Syd and I decided to rest and let our bodies slowly adjust to Torino time. Wrong decision!!! It has been very difficult to kill this nasty monster. My friend Lily suggested to 'starve' it (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7414437.stm) but it's not working for us! As a matter of fact, I ended up feeling hungry ALL the waking moments. Yesterday I nearly bit Syd to pieces because he won't let me nap (in order to sleep at night). But today, ha, he took a 3 hour nap! Well, he may be getting a little sick too. :( Jetlag sucks!

As regarding the washing machine... well, let's just say that with the jetlag issue, I'm not in a mood to figure things out. The machine washes fine but I just couldn't get it to spin! Since Italian households don't have a dryer, we need to hang the clothes up... after they have span. Therefore a load of clothing has been washed the entire day today because I couldn't get them dry enough! Argh! The stupid machine and I are not speaking the same language.