Bella Venezia

Apparently I forgot to write about one of the coolest places I’ve ever been to… Venice (Venezia)!!

On February 11^th, me and my large posse of peeps from the UK and Ireland took the train to Venice for Carnevale. Fortunately, we got to meet up again with Megs and Laura and tour the city. Even wearing 2 pairs of pants, 3 sweaters, a hat and snood (scarf/hood), I was still cursing the weather. Since you’re basically surrounded by water at all times, -1 feels like -20!! After paying an arm and a leg for a hot chocolate (6 euros), I was completely grateful for the reasonably low prices of Verona :)

Since the weather was absolutely merda… I didn’t bother bringing my good camera to take pictures since I knew I’d be back during flip-flop weather. So here are some pictures of the day! Sorry for the terrible quality!

Grand Canale in Venice

Venetian Masks... the best ones were inside where photography was prohibited!

Yes it was amazing...but in Verona it's only 2.50!!

Mulled Red Wine Fountain- 2 euros/glass

Caffe Florian est. 1720 (Piazza San Marco).. the Team Room where Casanova, Goethe, Dickens, and Lord Byron all frequented!!!

Husband Hunting

First off, sorry for the inconsistency in my blogging…ok I’m not that sorry. To be honest I just feel bad about bragging about my awesome life here haha.

Alright, so quite a bit has happened since I last wrote. Remember how I said Valentine’s Day was going to be a nightmare? I lied. Although I still had to buy my own chocolate, I did manage to have 5 dates for the night! Ok so none of them actually count since 3 of them were my male roommates and the other two were my friends Fraser and Emily. We all met for lunch after my first day of orientation and then Em and I made dinner for all the boys that night! They’ve been so amazing and have all treated me so well that I figured I’d make V-day special for them and cook a nice chicken dinner with creamy pesto sauce, spicy roasted potatoes, and prosciutto wrapped asparagus! The guys all go nuts for my creamy pesto sauce every time I make it now lol. Later that night we all went to the new exchange student orientation welcome party (my roommates were only going to check out the new merchandise haha).

 

Downtown Verona

   
The next night me, Emily, and Marion (Ireland), went over to Anna’s (Ireland) house for a girls movie night and sleepover! We watched P.S I Love You, part of Ever After (it only buffered half), and Chalet Girl (British comedy <3). After lots of crying over my hottie Gerard Butler and pigging out on junk food, gelato, and wine, we finally went to sleep. Ohhh and for those who are familiar with the “Batman knickers” story… here’s a picture of Emily and her infamous knickers :D

 

Friday the 17^th was Verona’s carnival called “Venerdi Gnocolar” which means Gnocchi Friday. I met up with all the new exchange students and we went to Piazza San Zeno where they had lots of gnocchi/food stations, balloon stations, and general festive items for sale. I am loathe to admit it but I did try the gnocchi with horse meat sauce…. gosh I probably ate Black Beauty or something. I should have never asked and went on living thinking it was beef. After eating poor Seabiscuit, a few of us girls went to Piazza Bra to watch the parade. It was packed !! It essentially like Halloween and kids have the greatest time as they throw tens of thousands of pounds of confetti all over the city. Watch out for the little buggers throwing flour everywhere though! 

Parade during Venerdi Gnocolar

Yes, this does say 5kg of Nutella...

That Saturday we all went to an Erasmus carnival party in Padova, which is a city about an hour from Verona on the way east to Venice. Hundredsss of exchange students living in different Italian cities all came to the party. For 15 euros we got our ticket in plus 3 free drinks inside… score! I ALMOST FORGOT… I finallyyy got to have sushi that night !!! For those who know me, you clearly know that I am a sushi fanatic… I should be in rehab. I was hungry and needed dinner before an entire night of partying but didn’t know where I could find food in such an industrial part of the city…. low and behold… a SUSHI RESTAURANT quite literally right in front of the building where the party was at!!!! I don’t think my friends have ever seen me so excited lol. As if the night couldn’t get any better… I met my future husband. It was love at first sight and I don’t even know his name. Actually I know absolutely nothing about him since I chickened out and didn’t talk to him (I’m very angry at myself). HE.WAS.GORGEOUS… even if he was dressed as the Joker from Batman. Under the makeup he looked something like this...

See why I hate myself???

Although bathroom lineups were half an hour long, and we had to wait in the very very cold train station for 2 hours for our 5:30am train… it was an awesome night!! Needless to say the 7:30am arrival to my bed was followed by a whole Sunday of sleep, TV, and depression over my lost husband. Oh and I got sick from waiting in said cold train station.

Marion, Emily, Anna, Fraser, and Chris in their masks in Padova

Me wearing Anna's mask!

I almost forgot about the night that Emily, Marion, Anna, and me went over to the house of 2 Swiss girls for a night of wii karaoke and gelato. I’m quite surprised we didn’t get any noise complaints… we will not be starting a choir any time soon lol.

Ciao for now !!

Fair Verona

 I’m afraid my story seems a wee bit anti-climatic after a big earthquake but I’ll try my best!

Pearl you might want to put your glasses on… if not it says, “There is no world without Verona walls, but purgatory, torture, hell itself. Hence banished from the world, and world’s exile is death…”

– Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Scene 3

Verona is quite amazing. Obviously… it’s Italy. Even though Shakespeare had never actually stepped foot in ‘fair Verona’, it is all too easy to imagine why it’s the backdrop to the greatest love story of all time! (I’d say it actually comes 3^rd behind Ever After and Tristan & Isolde). It’s both quaint yet grandiose with its small alleyways and large imposing ancient Roman architecture and structures. People come from all over the world to see Juliet’s balcony and put a lock on the gate with their name and their lovers' name. It’s a little tradition that is meant for those in a relationship in order to keep you together forever and not those seeking a relationship or dun dun dun… you’ll stay single FOREVERRR. As tomorrow is fast approaching all I can think is that the only thing worse than being single on Valentine’s Day… is being single on Valentine’s Day in Verona! I guess I’m buying my own chocolates tomorrow, talk about a nightmare. 

Me, Megs & Laura in front of the Arena in Piazza Bra

Ancient Roman Architecture

OK, back to my story. Airport fiasco, earthquake chaos, yada yada yada. The first few days were a little rough. Not gonna lie I shed a few tears (tres embarrassing). Yes, in part I felt a little lost and overwhelmed, but more so because I thought someone would find me in my bedroom congealed to the bed, dead from hypothermia. I had an electric fireplace in my bedroom at home… I feel like a tiny lap dog, ripped away from said lap and thrown outside to sleep. While you laugh just remember to be grateful for your centrally heated homes. 

After the first few days of touring around the city with my roommate Chris, I finally got to meet some of the other exchange students at a popular bar near the University called Campus. Chris and I met up with his friend Fraser (Scotland) for a few drinks beforehand and then headed to Campus. It was…eventful. I met a bunch of students from England but unfortunately they were all finished and heading home within the week. I did however get to meet my (now) good friend Emily that night, even though she was too drunk to remember. The only thing I love more than a happy loving drunk is a happy British drunk. Shortly after her rendition of an American sounding “Canadia” anthem, she proceeded to inform us that she really had to pee. Here’s the dialogue (imagine the cutest little London accent):

Emily: Guys I really need to pee.

Me: Don’t worry we’re almost at your house!

Emily: Ya, or I could just pee myself!

Me: Oh geez, no no no

Emily: Ya you’re right. I’ve got my Batman knickers on tonight…

I laughed so hard I almost peed my own not so cool knickers. I almost forgot about the night that a few of us went ice skating at the outdoor rink in Piazza Bra (I gladly just watched). It was worth just sitting there in the cold as I watched Fraser and Chris trying not to fall haha. Even better was the 75 yrs old man techno dancing on skates in the middle of the ice. Fascinating.

Since then I’ve just been going out with the roomies and I’ve read 9 books. Each week one of the roomies has to cook a meal for everyone, normally 10 other people show up and it turns into a mini party… you’d never know the guys are in the midst of exams right now haha. One night we even all played Italian monopoly. It’s pretty much the same except with a lot of yelling and hand gestures lol. Finally the day came when two of my favourite midgets came to visit… none other than Lee and Megs. I made them a big batch of KD and we even got my roommates to try it. They were definitely skeptical that it was bright orange. The next day Chris and I took the girls for a tour around the town. The next day me and the girls did some more touring and we walked up the big hill to the castle that overlooks the entire city of Verona and the views were incredible. We had a few life chats and of course the day wouldn’t have been complete if middle-aged Italian guys hadn’t hit us on. That night we had a big party at our apartment before hitting up Campus. It was definitely surreal to have part of my life from back home come together with my life here in Verona. The funniest part was when Megs came out of the washroom to ask me where the flush was. Of course I forgot that her and Laura were too short to see it since it’s on top of the tank. Don’t even get me started on washrooms here in Italy. Washrooms are unisex so don’t panic thinking you’re in the wrong washroom when you walk out of the stall and a guy is waiting there, or if you walk in to find that the toilet is a porcelain hole in the ground (true story).

Converting my roommates Chris and Rajko over to KD

Love Lock Tradition by Juliet's House

Juliet's Statue

Juliet's Balcony

Where to begin...

Well, Italy definitely started off with a bang. Literally. Like a 4.9 earthquake kind of bang. First off I’ll recap my journey to this land of pizza, pasta, and pervs (haha no worries they’re harmless).

I couldn’t help but laugh a little when I walked up to the check-in line of the airline I was using from Toronto to Brussels. It was an Indian owned airline and I was the sole white person in line. I laughed because Rosie (my Sri Lankan roommate) and I have this running joke that I’m always the “token white girl” whenever I’m around any of her friends or family (they just love me lol). Four years of living with Rosie and Tanya has led me to a love for Indian/Persian food and culture. Since nobody on the plane but the stewardess spoke English, it was pretty hard negotiating with the old Punjabi man that was occupying my seat to move it or lose it. Finally after backing up traffic for a good 10 minutes I got the seat next to him. It was a pretty good flight since they had new movies for free on the headrests in front of you, and they served some awesome spicy chicken curry and rice! The only issue after that was when the old man tried to talk to me in Hindi with hand gestures that looked like he wanted more alcohol… I know I’m a cultured white girl but for reals man, do I look like I speak Hindi????

I successfully landed in Brussels and had a few hours to spare before my flight. Between my stupid high-heeled boots + 50lbs carry on + 50lbs backpack + a 30 minute trek to the terminal, I almost collapsed. It was 7:30am so I grabbed a croissant and watched as everyone else around me drank pints of beer. Huh. I had just taken my hair down as I was walking over to the small café and stood looking at the menu. Two minutes later I hear a man’s voice behind me say, “You have such nice hair. I saw you take it down and it’s so nice and full.” CREE-PY. I kindly laughed, said thank you, and watched as he continued on over to his wife who was waiting for him. After breakfast I walked back to the terminal and decided to have a nap before my flight to Rome. Apparently a young girl in an airport curled up for a nap in a terminal warrants some strange looks. Oh well. I eventually woke up to find no one else in my terminal and we were supposed to be boarding in half an hour. Shit. They had changed the terminal but luckily it was only one over, which was behind the washrooms. Crisis averted and I made it safely to Rome.

Rome. Friggen Italians. So I check the board in Terminal 1 for Verona but the info isn’t up yet since it’s too early. No worries I’ll just ask the information desk where the counter for Meridien is…they say oh Terminal 3. I haul my 300lbs worth of luggage outside to see that Terminal 3 is like 2 football fields away. I could barely roll my crap as is. With many stops I make it to Terminal 3 only to keep wandering like an idiot for a good half-hour. I ask another person who works there where it is and they say oh it’s in Terminal 2. I struggle back towards terminal 2 while I get weird looks. No surprise there… it’s not in Terminal 2 haha. I find myself back in Terminal 1 looking lost and stupid. I tried getting one of those luggage carts but didn’t have change and no one else did either… so I bought a toothbrush. Finally got the bloody wheely cart and made my way to Terminal 3 where I finally found Meridien (HALLELUJAH!!) Meanwhile during my 4 treks between the Terminals, I got a real taste of Italian men. Even as I turned around to find a basketball team checkin out my butt, they refused to look away. The fun really didn’t begin until I had to check my bag and pay the extra 100 euros for overweight luggage. Ya of course they couldn’t tell me where exactly it was I had to pay so that was another adventure.

Finally…I MADE IT TO VERONA!! But alas, the taxi driver got lost on the way to the apartment lol. In the end I made it to the apartment where all the guys were there to greet me. My roommate Rajko made pasta for everyone and shortly after I went to bed… ha ha ha.

My bedroom was (still is) -5 all day and all night. The only blanket I had was a tiny sheet and the small blanket I brought from home. That night I wore 2 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of pants, 2 sweaters, and a scarf wrapped around my head. I looked super sexy.

1:30am (or so I was told later) I woke up to the entire building shaking. My first thought was ‘no I’m positive there is NO train nearby’ and then ‘should I ask the guys?’ Nop, I went back to sleep obviously. The next morning when I woke up I couldn’t remember if I had been dreaming or not until I was walking into town with Chris (from England) and asked if he had felt anything last night. He says “well now that you mention it I’m pretty sure that was an earthquake!” Awesomeee Pam’s gonna have a heart attack if she sees this on the news before I talk to her and papa Ian. Get into to town to find that they’ve evacuated everywhere because they were expecting another, much larger earthquake within the hour. Luckily it never happened. Apparently I’ve brought the Canadian winter with me as Europe is now experiencing a cold snap with record lows. Did I mention I left my winter jacket and boots back home??