The siesta tradition suddenly makes a lot more sense to me. Why wouldn’t you want to sleep through the hottest part of the day and then stay up late and get up early when it’s cool? The lack of air conditioning out here also makes 9:00-10:00 dinner times a natural option. The problem is, David and I are siesta n00bs – so far we’ve way overindulged and ended up waking up at 4 a.m. unable to sleep. As I write this, I’ve been waiting for it to get light out for the last hour or so so that I can get up and do stuff. Our internet connection isn’t working, and this makes it harder to stay distracted. As I suspected, I’m completely unprepared for this trip – I even forgot to print out the directions to the language school I’m going to tomorrow! I also really wish I’d brought my Italian dictionary, since some really basic verb forms are escaping my memory. After one day, I’m already experiencing a psychological split, wherein I attempt to translate all the thoughts that cross my mind into Italian. It’s kind of driving me crazy, but hopefully it will help in the long run.
Here's the outside of the apartment building our B&B was in. It's basically in the middle of people's homes, a 3-bedroom flat that has been converted to a B&B.
We got into Rome around 11:00 and found out that we *love* Italian customs! If you don’t have anything to declare, you just walk on through! There were no lines to speak of, and the tourist bureau was really helpful in explaining our best transportation option to us. Our B&B was pretty basic, with its own teeny tiny shower in the teeny tiny bathroom. But, there was a TV that was playing World Cup soccer and airconditioning – an amenity you really can’t just assume, even in such a hot climate as Rome.
This is the high speed train we took to Verona
I actually felt pretty safe in Rome, even though our neighborhood kind of smelled like pee and had lots of graffiti. We didn’t carry any valuables around, and our only experience with crime was when the cashier at the restaurant we went to tried to get away with changing our meal to something more expensive. The high-speed train was incredibly comfortable – I wish airlines had coach cabins that nice!
So far I’m interacting with everyone in Italian, which feels really cool. It’s definitely helping me get over some of my anxiety over not having perfect grammar. I also notice that I gesture lots more than the Italians I’ve met – is this more of a southern Italy thing? Apparently rubbing your forefinger and thumb together when you ask about wine is the sign for “fizzy.” One of the best things about here is the delicious sparkling wine always on tap. It’s way refreshing and tastier than beer. They don’t use flutes for it, just regular wine glasses and decanters.
I’ve been really disappointed in the coffee so far – I get better espresso in the U.S.! I remember when I went to the U.K. I was really surprised by how delicious their espresso was, but here all the espresso-based drinks i’ve had taste stale and thin, like the beans were ground far too long before they were actually used. Oh well, I’m still searching. I’ve only had cappuccini at 3 different places. On the plus side, we did have the most incredible filled croissants ever yesterday. I’ve never liked them and when I found out they were the only breakfast option at this place I was ready to leave. But David wanted to try them, so he got a cream-filled and I got a marmalade-filled one. They were incredible! Still really hot from being taken out of the oven, just perfect. Also, the pizza has been an incredible source of cheap and delicious food, generally costing betweeen 5-7.50 euro and with amazing, amazing cheese. Eating out in Verona is a lot less expensive than in San Jose, which is really good for us because we’re too intimidated to use Ornella’s kitchen.
Castelvecchio bridge
By the time Monday morning rolled around, I had learned to expect no air conditioning from anywhere I went. Most of the restaurants don’t even use fans, and Verona is unseasonably hot this year. It’s averaging about 10 degrees higher than its usual Julys – for us, in the 90s most days with humidity in the 50s. So, getting to Idea Verona and realizing that they have air conditioning was pretty incredible! Also, they don’t mind David using the Wi-Fi in their air-conditioned computer lab! This is one less major thing to worry about.
The lady at the tourist information desk was surprised when I told her I wanted to see swords, but she came through for us with a couple suggestions. We’re hoping to spend some more time visiting Verona’s museums and cultural attractions over the next week or two as soon as we’re feeling less tired and footsore. There is a weapons exhibit at the Castelvecchio we’re looking forward to seeing!
