3 old Italian friends: My first Sunday I decided to go out of my apartment to explore the district I live in. After strolling around like most Romans, I finally got something to eat. While enjoying my food on this beautiful Sunday afternoon, I encountered 3 middle age Italian men. Like all nosy Italians, they scoped me out as I was very curious about these Italians as well. These men were very friendly and since I do not know a lot of Italian, it was very difficult to communicate with them. Their names are Corrado, Massimo, and Masse.
Since I do not speak Italian very well and they do not speak English very well, using our hands was a must when explaining something. Once again, this is nothing new to Italians as we are very animated. Eventually, I started to talk about soccer because I felt like that was a similar subject between all of us. There was a soccer game on at the time and we talked about our favorite teams.
In Rome, there are two main futbol clubs (soccer teams). AS Roma and Lazio. AS Roma is the more popular club team that Americans who follow the Serie A (Italian Soccer League) know about. Corrado is a big Roma fan while Massimo is a very big Lazio fan. Both of these clubs have hatred for one another. Right now, Lazio is doing better than Roma but they are both in the upper tier of the league in terms of contending for the championship this year. Corrado is a 9th generation Roman and Massimo is a first generation Roman. Masse I believe is from Morraco if I translated correctly.
Long story short, I now drink ( a lot), and eat with these three 40+ year old Italians during the weekdays when I don't have class downstairs at the bar. We all help each other out with Italian and English and I am getting better each day. We have very simple conversations but we are making progress and now I even kiss them on each cheek which was very new and weird for me. But as the famous quote goes... "When in Rome, do as Romans do." Its a sign of respect and friendship so I just go with the flow and try in immerse myself in the culture as much as possible. I was very startled at first but luckily I went the right way when when you kiss on the cheek and have gotten used to this form of saying hi to an Italian friend.
Tuscany and Florence trip: My first trip away from Rome was a school organized trip to San Gimignano which is a providence of Siena, Tuscany. It is mainly famous for its medieval architecture and 14 towers rising above the town. Very cool town and these pictures will give you a better idea of the architecture and landscape in this town.
Florence part: Florence for me, was the highlight of this excursion. The food, art, museums, cathedrals, churches, etc. were all amazing. Tuscany really knows how to do it right when it comes to food. I probably had my best meal so far while in Florence at this famous restaurant called Osteria Del Gatto E La Volpe. Everything from the risotto, bruschetta, penne al vodka and cold cuts were molto bene (very good). Too bad I had too much vodka later that night at this club called Space and was too hung over Saturday morning and missed the biggest attraction in Florence....David. Fortunately, this gives me an excuse to go visit Florence again and have great food and finally see the statue of David.
Top of il duomo di firenze
stairway to heaven?
Very steep climb to the top and I could barely fit in the hallways
Reason why I did not see the David the next morning...
Universities Represented in picture: U of A, Penn St, and The U (Utah)
Real Original...I know
Next on the Agenda: Tomorrow morning I am going on my first flight out of Rome to Amsterdam. There is supposed to be another snow storm coming tomorrow afternoon so hopefully my flight does NOT get canceled! This is the first time in 26 years that Rome has seen this much snow and very cold temperatures. Hopefully I make it out tomorrow and will have plenty more posts coming soon about Rome and Amsterdam.
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