preganziolitaly2017

[preganziolitaly2017]

8/01/17 - 8/02/17

8/01/17

My latest trip was to the romantic city of.. Verona! After watching the kids in the morning on Tuesday, I hopped on the train and got to Verona in just under an hour. It was difficult to have a first impression of the city, as when I got out of the train station and walked to my AirBnB, I wasn’t really in the city center. I did, however, feel like an outsider because of the layout of the city! Verona is still very much enclosed by it’s original walls in many places. I had a bit of trouble again (why am I not expecting this, at this point??) getting into my AirBnB. Apparently there was a computer error on her side, which stated that I would be getting to the place around 11:30 pm. When I arrived at 4:30, she was not ready to greet me and I had to wait until 7:00 to check-in. Despite the obstacle, I had a great time exploring the city’s nightlife with a nice Russian girl, Aleksandra! I like knowing that if everything would have worked out correctly, I wouldn’t have met her and had the great experience I did, since we both were there at seven to check-in.

The second I stepped inside the city’s walls, I fell in love with Verona. It wasn’t just the view, but how I felt while inside. So relaxed, and just at ease with life.. seeping in the beauty of the area around me. Something that I noticed particular to Verona, was the wide, circular, open space in the center of the town. It wasn’t a large city square, like I had seen in other cities. It gave me a great sense of continuity. There was a amazing little green park with a fountain in the middle, and the old arena— still in use today! Unfortunately there weren’t any of the famous operas playing on the night I arrived. Next visit. I think my favorite thing about Verona was the amount of people I saw. The city was bustling with life! But it wasn’t a tourist-y kind of crowded typical of Venice, but a mix of native people and tourists, both young and old.

Aleks and I enjoyed just walking around in the night, looking at the old walls of the city, and walking outside across the bridge above the river, where we got a great view of old churches and ancient castles. We ended up eating a nice little Italian place away from one of the main squares, on the patio outside. I had my favorite salad (Caprese) with lamb chops for a change! It was very good, but a little pricey. Then we decided to walk to the main square to find a lively bar to buy Spritz’s at. We found many bars with outside areas, music, and fans. It’s crazy to think that at night we would need fans, but it was probably about 95 degrees still. We sat for about an hour and just relaxed and drank the cocktails. Then we headed back home to sleep so we could get a good start to our day the next morning!

8/02/17

The next day we walked a total of 33,917 steps and checked out all the main attractions of the city. We started out with the breakfast from the AirBnB. Croissants and yogurt, with juice and coffee. The food was mediocre, but the coffee maker made the coffee with fresh beans! We planned in the morning to do a mix of things; walk to the mountains to see a nice view of the city, visit castles, see the balcony of Juliet from “Romeo and Juliet,” and visit the large lake (Lake Garda) to cool off. We headed out first to hike to the mountains. We didn’t get to the very top like we planned, but we did get to see a pretty spectacular view from where we ended up. Instead of hiking on a trail, we opted to take the main road where all the expensive houses were, instead. It was very cool seeing rich Italians with their Porsches pull up to their mini-villas on the mountainside.

After walking back down, we decided to walk to whatever castles we saw in the distance. MUCH walking ensued. I don’t even really know what exact castles we came to or their significance, but one can assume they were very important and historical. Pictures will follow! Maybe the most notable castle I visited (if you’re reading this, maybe you would know?) was made of bricks, with the outside layer a mix of brick and stones. The inside had arches that I believe were consistent with the Middle-Eastern inspired style of three mini archways, and it had a nearby entranceway that had two horse and angel statues lining the front. Oh! Castelvecchio was the name of it.Thank you Apple Photos for telling me the exact place I took each photo! Anyway, after checking out the castle we found an old church nearby, but only looked at the outside of it. It was the Basilica and Church of San Zeno. Outside of the church we stopped to get Spritzes. She enjoys them as much as I do!

We then decided to make a big loop back to go to one of the main squares  where Juliet’s balcony was near. I think it’s where Shakespeare was inspired to write Romeo and Juliet.. or at least where he envisioned it taking place! It was a lot smaller than I imagined, and connected to a big building with a mini square underneath. For some reason I always imagined the scene to take place in a setting like Rapunzel, with Juliet in a castle up high and Romeo at the bottom, in a forest. Then after visiting the balcony, we made a large circle back to the room to get out things to head out to Lake Garda!

It was extremely refreshing to go to the lake, especially after walking the whole day! After the twenty minute ride by train to the lake, we found a place to eat lunch/dinner right by the lake. I had a garda fish, which didn’t have much of a taste, but was good in that it was something other than pasta. The poor thing had it’s head still attached, so the first thing I did was cover that up with lettuce leaves and the tomato. We had Spritzes again before heading to the lake to swim! Instead of going to the beach area with a lot of people, we just hopped over the rocks and found an area to lay our stuff out to swim. The view was absolutely amazing and the water was so clear! Although I was slightly terrified anytime little fish came near me, I think the jellyfish in the ocean would be a lot worse. At one point there were swans and ducks that came so close to us, we could have touched them. She seemed unimpressed, but I was amazed and tried to take so many pictures of them! Then we sat down on the rocks for a while and enjoyed eating a huge slice of watermelon we bought. I felt so wonderful, enjoying the summer fruit and looking out across the huge lake. Too soon we had to part ways to head back home. After saying our goodbyes, she headed to a city the opposite direction of Preganziol and I left and got home around 10:00. Altogether, I enjoyed my time in Verona immensely and would really like to go back.

-Tess :) 

[preganziolitaly2017]

7/26/17

Well it’s been a while! For certain reasons I have not been able to write my posts for a while, but I am back! Especially because I went to Florence for the first time yesterday! It was truly magnificent. I got on the early train at seven to get to Florence by nine thirty for my ten o’clock bike tour. Although I really did not want to wake up at six, it was for the best, as I barely made it to the tour stand on time! It was a bit of a struggle (okay, a lot of a struggle) beforehand, because of course right when I got to the train station I realized I had run out of data. Thinking back to it now, it was almost comical how everything played out. At the time though, I was stressed to the point of tears. I needed wifi badly, although every time I was supposed to connect, my phone was not able to work it correctly. I needed to know two things. First, I had not downloaded the PDFs of my train tickets, and second, I needed to know how to get to the tour stand. When I arrived to the train station to get me to Florence, I had about twenty minutes to find wifi. The first thing I did was search for a train conductor so I could explain the situation and see if they would let me on the train. Thankfully, he told me the email I had with two numbers series would be enough. Problem A fixed. Problem B was much more challenging.

At first, I was guaranteed that there would be wifi in that first station. I had even used it before, so I knew that it was possible. Of course this time it said I had all the bars but failed to connect me. It was like the universe was teasing me. I would have bars, but then as soon as I tried to use any application that required the internet, it would put me back on the 3G network. My frustration grew and grew. I asked a woman if there would be wifi network on the train, and she assured me that there would be. I then relaxed, as I felt that surely the same thing wouldn’t happen to me on the train, as well. But alas, it did, so I was stuck wondering what the heck I could do to find where I needed to go. I knew the name of the place, so I figured the only thing I could do was ask a stranger either on the train or in Florence how to get there. I could do that, but the problem was my train was running late, the place apparently was fifteen minutes away, I had half an hour to get there, and we were supposed to arrive fifteen minutes early to check-in. As I sat there I started to notice the family to my left. They were speaking in English, and had MAPS! I prayed that they would have one of Florence, and they did! They were nice enough, and handed me the map and I was able to take a picture of it and see exactly where to go. I then felt extremely fortunate and sat down for the rest of the ride thinking about how lucky I am and how things always seem to work out.

LONG STORY SHORT, I arrived at the tour station (after staring up in awe at absolutely everything) right on time. Again, I was the only single person on the tour besides an English family. They all had a lot more bike experience, probably in narrow streets somewhere in England, so I was the only one who had a really hard time maneuvering the bike around the mass of people crowding around the main squares and the bumpy, cobbled stone ground. Not that I’m complaining, the tour was great, and I’m happy I got a bit of exercise, but I came close to injuring pedestrians about 12736 times. We saw the Santa Maria Novella cathedral, went to the main squares, across the main bridge, saw main churches (can you tell I’m great at remembering names?) and even stopped to have some delicious gelato! Altogether it was a really good tour and I left feeling like I knew at least a little more about Florence then I had when I arrived.

Then it was lunchtime. After going over with one of the tour guides the directions to a place he recommended, I ended up at a random place in the middle of nowhere that just looked aesthetically pleasing. It was great. The wifi connection was so strong. And the food was good, too, of course :) I had mozzarella and tomatoes (the dish I’m literally going to make every lunchtime at home), pasta, and wine. Then I decided to go back to the tour stand to see what else they had to offer. I had a discount, and I liked meeting people, so why not? Fortunately there was a cooking class available, for pizza and gelato! It sounded really fun, so I signed up. I had about an hour before I had to meet for the next activity, so I decided to see if I could check out David. Or is it The David? I’m not sure.. I had seen the “fake” one on my tour, as there are two statues of Michelangelo’s masterpiece in Florence, but everyone kept telling me to see the real one.  So I walked ten minutes and stood in line behind an English-speaking couple. Fail again, because I waited an hour and never got to see the statue, but I did really enjoy speaking to the couple in front of me from Canada! I don’t remember their names (surprise, surprise), but the couple (maybe in their 50s?) were super nice and easy to talk to and we shared stories from our travels so far, joked, and laughed. Eventually I needed to go back to the tour station to meet my group for the cooking class, so we parted and I walked the ten minutes back to the station.

My favorite thing I did in Florence would have to be the cooking class. I had so much fun making the pizza, learning about traditional gelato making, and meeting the other English-speakers in my group. For whatever reason I felt like the couple I spoke to in line gave me confidence to speak to others without really holding back, so I started out by introducing myself to the two couples at the tour station in my group. There were two two sisters in their forties, one from western Florida and one from North Carolina, and their husbands. I liked them right away and ended up being at their table for the pizza making. Again, they were saying how brave I must be which made me feel good. Hey, if I could navigate the streets of a different country without my phone, I did feel pretty invincible.. I also met two nice girls my age from Saudi Arabia. The actual pizza making was a little bit harder than I anticipated (all that kneading), but it was worth it. The pizza really did taste different than anything you could find in the States. Apparently, it’s the type of flour they use. Double 0 flour, or Durum wheat flour. Then there was a gelato demonstration, and our guide explained that the difference between gelato and ice cream is that gelato has less cream (or a larger cream to milk ratio), and less air. Because ice cream is industrialized, companies want to use as much of it as they can, and use more air to achieve that. I think that may also make it more ice-y? So we enjoyed our pizza with a bottle of wine per table (again, I am SO lucky), and finished with the gelato. At the very end, we even got a certificate of achievement! So cute. Time went by fast and before I knew it, we were done. I didn’t want to leave Florence, but had to work in the morning so knew I needed to catch the train by 6:30 at the latest. Next time I will have to explore more and finally see the real statue of David!

-Tess :)

[preganziolitaly2017]

[preganziolitaly2017]

7/09/17

7/09/17

Sunday was the most fun I’ve had so far! Because I couldn’t go kayaking the previous day, I booked a five hour trip during the day in one of the Cinque Terre towns, Monterosso. I got up and had a bit of breakfast before getting on my train. It’s a little annoying because all the cafes I go to only accept cash. I only brought 100 euros with me when I came to Italy, so next time I will know to bring more or go to the bank here more often. With what little cash I did have, I was still able to buy a croissant and a cappuccino because Italy is cheap and awesome. There were two trains heading out to the seaside town of Monterosso; one was at 8:55 and supposed to get me there at 9:15, and the other was at about 9:18 and supposed to get me there at about 9:45. Thank god I opted to take the earlier one, as for some reason the train got there at around 9:48! Taking trains every day would be super hard because of the unreliability.

The second I stepped out of the train, all the panicked feelings I had because of the late arrival vanished and I was in awe by the village town. It’s very different than California. The mountains were very high and very close, and not brown, but full of green pants and trees. It contrasted nicely with the blue of the sea. The town in itself was SO ADORABLE. Little shops, cafes, and palm trees lined the main walkway, which was only for pedestrians. It was made up of about four or five beaches (that I could see), where umbrellas and chairs were uniformly set up on the sand. It reminded me of beach clubs with the uniformity, tennis courts, and a play-park. After going a little farther than I was supposed to go, I noticed some English speakers huddling together by a main entrance. I joined them and found out they were in my group for the kayaking and they were all just waiting on me! It was a family of three from New York- the mom (forget her name), Mike, and Mike Jr. They were nice people and it felt good to talk to people who spoke English for a while. The hardest part was taking out the kayaks and dropping them in the water. Once that was over, everything else seemed easy in comparison. It was only when I got very close to the water did I realize how clear and warm it was. I expected it to be similar to the water in California. Then once everyone was in their kayaks, we were off! The five hour tour was absolutely amazing. We headed to the other village towns that make up the Cinque Terre. As we were passing through, the instructor told us some history about Monterosso that I can’t remember. I was thankful that it wasn’t a windy day, because even after ten minutes of paddling, I could tell that I was going to be sore. It was a workout kayaking on the ocean! The first thing that we saw while we were on the kayaks was an octopus! I don’t think I’ve ever seen one this close up before. It was a large white one; the same one I had seen the other day. The instructor said that it’s good it wasn’t the small purple one, for that little guy is more poisonous. Then after about an hour we headed to the mountain where there was a little alcove/cave area with a natural waterfall. We got out of our kayaks and snorkeled for about fifteen minutes! Both kayaking and snorkeling are my favorite activities to do, so I had so much fun. I saw lots of fish, a bright orange star fish, and sea tomatoes! I also asked about the rock structure of the cave. Apparently millions (or was is billions??) of years ago, the area was all under water. Through time, year after year, it started rising up from under to form the cave we see today because of the continents pushing together. That’s why there are horizontal and sometimes vertical lines, visible on the rocks.

After we snorkeled, we kayaked to the next village over; Vernazza. We had some time to relax and have lunch, so I decided to get Focaccia since it’s what the westside is famous for! It was very delicious. I enjoyed it more than pizza because I like breadier things. Then I found a spot to do wine tasting! I had three famous types of white wine from the region, all made from the same grape, but by a different process. Then I walked back to the  kayaks and we headed back :( Before going all the way back, we stopped again in a different alcove and swam to cool off. We saw a squid at one point that got too scared, jumped out of the water, and squirted ink! It was so cool, but I felt bad for it. Then afterwards we headed back and unfortunately had to lug the kayaks back to where they came from :( We parted our ways and then I decided to hike back to Vernazza! Everyone said it was an easy level, but I really think more moderate to advance. It was tough for me, especially after kayaking, but well worth it for the views of the sea and wineries hidden in the hills. I was dead exhausted after that, so I just headed back to the hotel and slept.

-Tess

[preganziolitaly2017]

[preganziolitaly2017]

7/07/17 - 7/08/17

I have a lot to cover from the last four days! This past weekend I decided to go to the Cinque Terre (the five lands) and I had the best experience here in Italy, so far. Because it is very late and I am exhausted and my back is killing me, I will cover the first two days tonight and the rest tomorrow morning. 

7/07/17

Friday, after a very busy morning of watching the kids, I was ready to relax and head out to La Spezia! although it’s not one of the five seaside villages that make up the Cinque Terre, it’s still right next to the beach (it’s actually a port city) and the mountains! Getting there was a bit stressful for me, because I am still getting used to taking the trains and four separate trains were taking me there! It needed up working fine, though.

The first worry was catching the earlier one going from the town to the main station. I had about four minutes to spare, after buying that ticket and rushing on foot to the station. Then the next worry was when the train attendant found out I was sitting in a nicer coach than I was supposed to sit in (totally unintentionally, I swear); but she just kindly asked me to leave. The final worry was when my train from Florence to Pisa was about 10 minutes late! Previously it had been relatively easy to find out which bin my train was scheduled to leave at (numbered 1-10 usually). There are these big electronic screens stating the train number, which I can never see on my ticket for some reason, and the time of departure. EVERY TIME prior to this one time my train was running late, all the trains had different departure times so I was using that to figure out which train to get on and where it was. Of course, this time, after getting off the very delayed train and then only having about six minutes to get on the other train in a fairly bigger station than I was used to, there were two trains departing at exactly the same time. Either from bin 5, or bin 11. I tried asking one of the train conductors, but of course he misunderstood me and I had to rush off in the middle of our conversation. I stared at the screen hopefully for some miracle, and then I realized that it was scrolling through each of the stops! The second I saw Pisa appear, I ran to bin #5 and literally got on the train just before it left. The journey by train in itself was very peaceful! I really prefer it as a way to travel. I have to talk about the snacks they offered me, as they were far different (and better) than anything complimentary I had received before! The first one, which I will post in a picture, was a delicious orange-flavored pastry. It tasted like something I would buy at home for $3.00. The second snack I had on a different train were these rosemary infused baked crackers. I absolutely love the taste of rosemary in food items, so I really enjoyed the crackers. And they didn’t seem all that bad for you. At about 7:15 I got off the train in La Spezia! First impressions: the location in between the mountains and sea really made me nostalgic for California, there was a busier street with tons of people which made me feel joyful and energetic, the wind was nice and refreshing, and the apartments were the same, typical, Italian structures I had seen previously. Colorful and tall, decorated with potted flowers and hanging laundry. As I arrived I felt this wave of excitement and adventure. A new beginning in a new place.

I headed out to catch the owner of the Air B&B before she had to leave. She was extremely nice and helpful, throughout my entire stay. I already was texting her via What’s App before arriving, so I could tell she would be easy to communicate with. She showed me to my room and then gave me a bunch of brochures, offering to help me book activities if I wanted to! Once I settled in to my room and looked up places to eat, I headed out to dinner. Instead of having Italian food for the umpteenth time, my dearest mother found a cool little Irish/English themed pub nearby. The environment was awesome— little wooden tables with real candles placed on top, stone walls, and Irish music in the background. It felt like a cavern in Ireland. Or Scotland. Or England.. haha. Then there was my beer.. which was actually bigger than the long candlestick. I’m realizing that I actually really enjoy Italian beer. My dinner ended up being pasta (LOL) but it was a pancake-like type specific to the region. It was v delish. After dinner I walked back and decided to take a shower and shave (sorry if this is too much info). Let me just say, I really want to install a bidet in my bathroom when I get home.. for some reason though, there were about 5 packets of soap, and two bottles of body wash but NO shampoo. So I was left not knowing if I should buy some or use the soap. After reading something online I decided I would try just using the soap for my hair and it actually made my hair feel and look way better! Sometimes when I use hotel shampoos the oiliness of my hair is left in a little, even after the rinse, but the soap seemed to really to wash it out well. Then I went to sleep, ready to have a good start to my day!

7/08/17

This day was a bit of fail, but still really nice and relaxing! I actually started out planning for next weekend when I will be visiting Jessica in England for her birthday!! I’m realizing how important it is to plan in advance, before everything gets super expensive. Once I had booked everything, I headed down to get breakfast and check out the sea! The only thing I had planned to do for this day was a kayaking sunset tour, which I was really looking forward to. So I went to a nearby cafe and had a pastry filled with cream and a cappuccino. I’m really starting to prefer them over lattes now! Then I decided to just walk along the main stretch until I reached the water. It took just about ten minutes to reach the pier! It was soooo picturesque. TONS of sailboats were on the docks, the sun was shining, and the water was glistening. Palm trees lined the roads and there were flowers everywhere. Looking back towards the main road, the view was of the many, colorful apartments of La Spezia; some at sea level and some resting on the mountains. It was truly gorgeous.

I walked along a new bridge for fun and saw a few octopi! One was a large white one and the other, a smaller purple one. Later on I learned that the purple one was fairly dangerous. After taking my time walking the strip of the dock and realizing that it was not for unauthorized personnel, I ate at a fast-food seafood place that the Air B&B owner told me about. When you got to the front of the line, you just requested what you wanted and they served it on a tray. I had calamari and stuffed mussels with marinara sauce. Everything was amazing. I also bought red wine to drink with the fish, which warranted me a funny look from the cashier. I now realize white wine is the only kind of wine suitable with fish! Then I came back to the room to charge my phone (this is getting very annoying) only to be met with the disappointing notice that my sunset kayaking trip would be cancelled :((( I was super bummed out, but I didn’t want to let the news get me down too much. I tried looking for activities to do later on that day, but nothing was available. I ended up just relaxing in my room and reading my book until the late afternoon.

When I got back out, I was going to head straight to dinner but got distracted by clothes, which rarely happens. There is this popular store called Tally Weijl (something like that) and for some reason they had exactly the type of jeans I have always wanted to wear, along with a lot of cute other clothes. So I shopped a bit before heading out to dinner! At about seven was when I got to the seafood restaurant, and literally I was the only one there. Everyone eats so late! I had amazing linguini with a variety of seafood and then headed back to my place.

-Tess 

[preganziolitaly2017]

[preganziolitaly2017]

7/04/17 - 7/06/17

Again, I find myself writing this late because I am SO exhausted by the end of the day that I just want to sleep. But I will suck it up now and write about the last three days. The fourth and sixth I just spent at the house, so I will really try to highlight yesterday. 

7/04/17 

Unfortunately there were no bbq’s, parades, or fireworks this year :( I had my morning with the kids, and then later on I relaxed and.. I can’t really remember what else. It was a very low-key day, much like today was. I had something really good for lunch- this tomato and tuna mixture on top of a hard roll. I am realizing that they put a lot of fish in their dishes, because they are close to the sea. It’s funny though— and I had this conversation with Maya today —because although we are close to the sea in California, we don’t really have fish incorporated into our food that much. In fact, we don’t have any typical “Californian” dishes, which is a bit sad. All I could say California is known for is Mexican food, from the Hispanic culture. Then after I ate lunch I didn’t do much else, but was constantly either cleaning (I’m slowly getting used to it), or planning. 

7/05/17

Yesterday was a truly great day. I had a lot of fun with the kids in the morning. Before they got up, I tried pistachio and hazelnut spread on a hard pastry, and it was the best thing I’ve ever tried. Apparently the single jar costs $20 though, so it is used only for special occasions. Then after I was with the kids, Maya suggested I go to a nearby castle in Conegliano. The views from the top were ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS and I only wish I could’ve brought someone with me to share the beauty. But it was nice to just stand on the top and feel powerful and to take in the view of the classic rolling hills, vineyards, cypress tress, and orange rooftops. The one thing I didn’t anticipate was the walk to the castle; after the mile long journey uphill, I was sweating before I had even gotten to the castle. 

I then walked to the cafe overlooking the city and enjoyed a Spritz drink while I wrote in the journal for the kids. It was about dinnertime when I was done, so I walked back downhill and had excellent pizza at a place just outside the train station. I swear I’m going to hate our regular tasting pizza when I get home. After filling up on that, I decided to take the train home so I could have time to write in the blog before falling asleep. Obviously that didn’t work, and I ended up almost falling asleep on the train back home! Eventually I was at the house after a painful 15 minute walk back. I know I will appreciate the luxury of the car when I’m home. Something I’ve noticed is the amount of elderly people on bikes. It was almost shocking to see that the first time I noticed it. I have to applaud the Italians for keeping fit even into their old age! 

7/06/17 

Today was much like two days ago, in that I watched the kids in the morning and then relaxed at home (although there was more stress than relaxation this time). After I was with the kids, I realized I would need to plan my trip to Cinque Terre this weekend! I am SO not used to planning things that even the thought causes me stress. But I know now that I regret not planning whenever I fail to do so, so this time I made sure to plan at least a little in advance. With the help of my dearest mother, I was able to book a place that should be really nice, so fingers crossed! Also, if any of you reading this have been to Cinque Terre and would know what the best things to do there are, I would love to know! So far I booked a Kayaking tour which I’m really looking forward to, and I want to do a cooking lesson. Hopefully I’ll get to do that! Anyway, after booking I was face timing my friends and fam, and then had a nice clam & spaghetti dinner. 

-Tess 

[preganziolitaly2017]

[preganziolitaly2017]

7/02/17 - 7/03/17

Attempt #2. I will forever remember to copy and paste onto ANOTHER PAGE WHERE I CAN SAVE THE MATERIAL so if my computer crashes like it normally does, it won’t be a big deal. After dealing with my frustration, I will now try to remember the paragraphs upon paragraphs I wrote about the last two days.

7/02/17

I was mostly with the kids this day. We did some art in the morning, before heading out to the grocery store! It’s always fun for me to see even the smallest differences between Italy and the US, so I had fun shopping with the kids. The first thing I noted as I walked inside was that it reminded me of Costco. It had a warehouse-like vibe to it because of the size and the temperature was a bit warmer than our stores back home. When we got the fruit, we weighed it in a different section of the store where the weigher stuck price tags on it to lessen the time at the front of the store checking out. We have that as well, but I think more with sandwiches and meats. Maybe this shows that Italians consume or buy fruit more often than we do? I definitely am not used to eating fruit after breakfast, lunch, and dinner as we’ve been doing since I arrived!

Then after the shopping we got back home and had lunch. I don’t really remember what I did after lunch but I relaxed and just stayed at the house because I became pretty tired. I hate the habit of sleeping in the day so I am trying my best to break that here, but it’s still difficult, especially because I am constantly doing things until about 3:00. I forgot to mention that after lunch I had Limoncello! They have a bottle of it (maybe they made it??) that I mistook for Olive Oil. When I pointed it out they offered me some, even though it was only 2:30. Maya said it’s pretty common to do that after both lunch and dinner. Then later on Maya made the most delicious dessert of something called, “Apple Crumble” although it was more cake-y than our typical apple pie/crumble. I’ll have to get the recipe from her.

7/03/17

I realized yesterday that I had forgotten two important journals in Venice (typical Tess move) so I had to go back in the morning before watching the kids. I am starting to realize I really need to plan before heading out, because I am too worried about using up my battery and data while I’m there to look up where to go and what to see. After I picked up my journals, I was indecisive, not knowing whether to go to a cafe to write in the journal for the kids, or to listen to my growling stomach and just eat a hearty lunch of pasta and wine. I decided upon the latter, and went to the first place I found that looked good. Again, I really should have planned because I accidentally spent WAY too much on my meal. But I enjoyed myself at least, and was able to finish up with writing about the kids in the journal.

After lunch I really wanted to sit somewhere nice to start sketching in the leather journal I bought for myself in Venice a few days back, but there weren’t any parks or benches in the city. That’s the one thing I don’t like about Venice so far, is the absence of places to sit in the open areas (unless you are dining). So I just ended up going to the Doge’s Palace, right next to St. Mark’s Basilica. If you are unaware, the Doge was the name Venetians gave to the leaders of Venice, so the palace was massive, beautiful, and impressive. It was a place for the Doge to stay, but also served as a legal building with many rooms dedicated to the various councils and other forms of government. I loved the ceiling and walls, statues, and reliefs the best. The most influential and best artists of the time were commissioned by the government to make the paintings that adorned the rooms, mainly depicting Venice as a powerful and smart city. Also shown was the goddess of Venice, who apparently was first to find the city. I also enjoyed the different kinds of clocks. There was a sun clock, a roman numeral clock (which I’m just realizing must have been their numbers, originating in Rome) and an astrological sign clock within the rooms of the palace.

Anyway, I lost track of time and needed to be back at 3:00 but it was 1:00 so I figured I would be okay. I was wrong. It started out okay, but I couldn’t figure out for the life of me how to get out of the palace museum. I went through about 17 other rooms before I made it out, passing the jail cells at the end. Seemed appropriate, as I felt completely trapped. Then once I got out, I still had on my audio guide so I had to figure out how to get back and then out again! I ran to the nearest ferry and took a bus that I thought would last twenty minutes and ended up lasting forty five.. FINALLY I arrived at the train station an hour later than I thought I would, so I had to take the later train to get to Preganziol which made me half an hour late. Going to Venice was not worth it for the amount of stress it caused me! When I finally got back I just watched the kids for a little bit longer and all was okay.

-Tess

[preganziolitaly2017]

[preganziolitaly2017]

6/30/17 - 7/01/17

6/30/17

This weekend was my first weekend off! For my first free, full, two days I decided to finally check out Venice!! What an incredible experience. Venice is absolutely beautiful and I want to go back now, every day (somewhat possible, as I usually am off around two and it only takes about 30 minutes to get there). I don’t want to have this be too long, so I will only recount the main activities. I got a pretty late start— by the time I was done getting ready, it was 10:30 and the next train out to Venice wasn’t until 11:45. So I did what I normally do and had a bite to eat and coffee at Giornale & Caffe until it was time to walk to the station. The ride was only 30 minutes to Venice so I got there in no time! During the train ride I decided to book a walking/gondola ride tour so I could learn a bit about the city. I ended up getting to that just in time, because it took a while to find where I was staying! 

So first impressions of Venice: Absolutely beautiful, VERY narrow alleyways, more tourists than I expected, lots of hidden areas, people are generally very nice. 

So I got to the square where we were supposed to meet early, so I decided to go to a bar called “Black Jack” that seemed pretty inviting. I ordered a glass of red wine and sat next to this woman from Texas. I told her that I was staying by myself as an au pair and she applauded me for being so brave. Again, it doesn’t feel as if I’m being brave, but I took the compliment! Soon it was time to go on the tour so I said bye and went to the area I saw filled with Americans. I ended up meeting and talking to a guy from Tarzana! Small world. The tour was nice, and I took some notes so here are the most interesting facts: 

-Venice is made up of 118 little islands and rests on mineralized wood 

-Venice was it’s own republic until 1861, when it became a part of Italy 

-Venice has it’s own specific dialect, because of this 

- The end of the Venice flag is cut into 6 pieces, to represent the 6 districts 

After the walking portion, we got in line to ride on the Gondala! I was with 5 other people for that— a mom, dad, and daughter trio from Australia and a couple from Puerto Rico. I loved the sensation of being on the gondola and just relaxing while taking time to appreciate the city. It was over far too soon. Unfortunately I was not able to do something directly after, since I used up 95 percent of my phone battery. :( I rushed back to the hotel room before I lost my map capability, but before I went to my room I decided to check out the spiraling staircase next to the hotel. A rich family wanted to show off their wealth by creating this marvelous staircase called, “Scala Contarini del Bovolo” and at the top was a beautiful view of Venice rooftops and the bell tower. 

Then I went back to my room to relax for a little while I charged my phone. I set out to go to a nice place for dinner, but instead ended up going to a nearby opera house to see a performance of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. I guess Vivaldi was Venetian (?) so they liked to perform his compositions often. I wasn’t complaining, and the performance was wonderful. I have never seen musicians play it live before, so it really blew me away with how furiously fast they could pay the notes. While I was in line, I met some people studying at Cambridge University, along with the guy Davids’ two cousins from Luisiana, so we hung out after the concert. We had fun bar-hopping and exploring the many paths and ancient buildings of Venice. At about 1:00, I walked home! It was slightly sketch to me, but I ended up being fine, obviously. 

7/01/17

I woke up and wasn’t feeling 100 percent, so I didn't fully get up until I had to check out at 10:00. I left my backpack at the hotel, however, because I still wanted to check out Venice before coming home. I first walked to a nearby cafe to have breakfast. I picked an open area to have breakfast at so I could soak in the sight of the city. It was short, but sweet. Then I walked to finally see St. Mark’s Basilica! It was honestly one of the best, most impressive works I have every seen. When I got inside I just stood in awe at the intricacies of the design, biblical artwork, size, and gold and marble material everywhere. I enjoyed just walking, but I really wished I could have known the history more before I came inside the cathedral. At the end of the tour there was a gift shop and I actually bought a book about the history and went back inside to gain the contextual understanding I craved. 

Then after I finally felt finished (which is not really true, since I could probably spend hours in there) I decided to head to the Peggy Guggenheim museum. She was an English (I think) artist who did a lot of sculptures and later on discovered a passion for collecting other artists’ works. Her museum incorporated her favorite pieces from other artists. I love art museums so I really enjoyed taking my time walking around before I had to leave to go to the train station to go home. 

Right now it’s 11:15 pm and I can barely type anymore so I am going to leave it at that! 

-Tess 

P.S. The kids made all of the hashtags when they saw I was writing something :) 

[preganziolitaly2017]

6/29/17

[preganziolitaly2017]

6/29/17

Today was a very low-key day. I didn’t go out to do or see anything; I just stayed at home with the kids. But we had fun making pancakes in the morning! They had a pre-made pancake dry mix, which although doesn’t taste as good as pancakes from scratch, it’s what the kids are used to and know they like. I gave them each a task to help with cooking, as they really like helping out, and they decided to make giant pancakes the size of the plate. Vi put honey on his, and Isa put Nutella, so there was no need to bring the syrup haha. 

After that we played some games, until lunchtime. Isa started singing the sound of music in Italian during lunch and I found out that their version isn’t just a literal translation of how it goes in English. Each Solfège note (Do, Re, Mi, so on..) actaully means something in Italian, and the song reflects that! Here it is: 

Do, if I give something to you  Re, it's the king who was once (Re means King) Mi, it's the "me" to say "to me" Fa, the note after Mi Sol, it's the sun in front to me (Sol is sun) La, if it's not really here (La is “over there”)  Si, if I don't tell you "no" (Si is yes) 

So interesting. I also just noted that the last note is Si and not Ti in their version. After lunch I decided to relax in my room for a bit so for about an hour I did absolutely nothing which felt pretty good. Then I walked back out to the kitchen and Maya helped me book my hostel in Venice! I will be staying there tomorrow (Friday) to Sat! So expect a much more detailed account of what I did for the next two days. Then I cleaned the bathroom, wrote in the blog, had dinner, and went to sleep, ready for the next day! 

-Tess 

[preganziolitaly2017]

6/28/17

[preganziolitaly2017]

6/28/17

Today was pretty exhausting! I’m really not used to moving and doing things the whole day (how sad is that). I really hope to retain the habit of constantly doing  things when I come home. I was scheduled to look after the kids from 2:00 in the afternoon on, so I decided to go to a nearby town for the day. I finished with everything in the morning pretty late around 10:00, but the next train going out to Mogliano was leaving at 11:46, so I just walked to Giornale & Caffe and read while I had an early lunch. Then at 11:46 I hopped on the train to go to the town (a four minute ride away). 

As far as the amount of people walking around, it was similar to Preganziol (barely any people), but the buildings in the main square were taller, there were nicer shops, and many more cafes. Something I noted is that each cafe serves coffee and alcohol. It kind of gives these places a strange vibe to me. I like a certain atmosphere for a coffee shop, and a certain atmosphere for a bar, so I don’t really like the mix yet. After I got off the train, I just decided to look around for the hour I had before my return ride. I walked to what I thought was a park on my map, but ended up being a cemetery! It was interesting though, to see how it differs from our typical cemetery. First thing I noticed: flowers, flowers, everywhere. At first I was shocked, as I couldn’t really believe that ALL of the deceased’s’ family members would come so regularly to refill the flowers. But as I examined them more closely, I realized that a lot of them were fake. But in general, there were definitely more flowers than I had ever seen at a cemetery before. Also, the graves themselves were more extravagant and ornate than some of our simpler, typical tombstones back home. 

After walking around there cemetery, I checked out the main church from the outside. I am always in such awe at how beautiful and impressive these churches are. I would have liked to know the history of the church, but I didn’t see anything about that on the outside, and I was too scared I was too inappropriate to go inside. Which was probably true, so that’s really something to consider beforehand, whenever I go. After I checked it out, I headed to a bar nearby to get some white wine for fun. I think I accidentally said “Vino Blanco” instead of “Vino Bianca” which is something I’ve done more than once now. Weird realizing how much Spanish I must know! 

After I came back home, the kids and I played a bunch of games and by the time dinner and cleaning up was over, I was so tired! This will definitely take a bit of getting used to. I will have to fight the urge to relax at home before or after I look after the kids. There is so much to explore and so little time— I need to realize this all the time! 

-Tess 

[preganziolitaly2017]

6/27/17