Grocery Store Game

I have this game I like to play. If you've known me for any length of time, I have probably told you about it.


I make up stories about strangers. All. The. Time. I do this walking down the street. I do this on the bus. I particularly like playing this game in airports on long layovers.


 Now, some people think you need to teach kids not to eavesdrop on conversations. I disagree. A great deal of creativity comes from eavesdropping, in my opinion. 


I observe some detail about a person and fill in the rest. Sometimes I'll give them names, occupations, relationships, problems, or plans. I listen to things they say and watch things they do and edit the story in my brain as things conflict. I know...I'm nuts. But it really is fun to me. I don't always talk about my made up stories if I am with someone...but they are still there. Sometimes they are elaborate. Sometimes very simple. It's really fun though. You should try it sometime.


Now I play a version of this in the grocery store that is a bit different. I like to look at the odd combination of things a person is buying and either think about what they could be making or just ponder the strange combinations.


Today I was doing this in the checkout line. The burly man in front of me had only two items. The first item on its own made me chuckle to myself. The addition of the second made my mind put a scenario together very quickly.

First item: 

These chips

(In case you can't read that...this flavor is called Chakalaka and tells you underneath that it has African seasonings)

Second item:

This book

(Tell me, what is Africa like?)

I really like to think this big burly man went to buy this book and then saw the chips and thought to himself, "Self, you know what would make my new book about Africa all the more enjoyable? These African flavored potato chips! That's what!"


or


He was buying the book as a present for his niece or nephew's African-themed 5th birthday party and was just trying to be festive.


or


He went for the chips and was so grateful for his favorite African flavored chips that he found the book and really took to heart that he should learn something about the place that gave him his favorite chips.


or


He teaches 7 year olds and is currently doing a unit on Afrika. 


Anyone else have any ideas?

Turkish Treatment for Homesickness

There are a couple things in life I like to think I am above. One of which being jet lag. Another of which would be cheap American beer from cans. Beer from cans in general, actually.


And lastly...Homesickness.


Every other conversation I have had with my landlady up until last week included the question "Hast du kein Heimweh?" (Are you not homesick?) And everytime I responded by telling her I don't really get homesick.


...up until last week


I know the stages of homesickness. I know about when it hits and that it manifests itself in different ways. I also knew if I were to get homesick it would fall on the fourth week of November. Isn't that ironic?


My homesickness wasn't missing home and wishing I were there and wanting out of this place. It was more of a week and a half long depression of no appetite, lots of sleep, crankiness for no reason, and one day and night consisting of something very strange which could be described as being in the same family of vertigo. I hate myself for sounding so dramatic right now. Unfortunately, I couldn't avoid it. I kept getting irritated or annoyed at every culture difference that normally I relish. Thankfully, I predicted it and could at least recognize this weird feeling fairly rationally. I knew in my head that I am happy here. I am living in Europe doing what I love. 


When I said that I had predicted this, I meant it. I knew if dirty homesickness was ever gunna get me, it would be the week of Thanksgiving. 


So one day when I was being a particular grumpfest, Mackenzie asked if I would go with her to the store. I didn't need anything and was just going because it was better than sitting around being Oscar the Grouch in my sweatpants all evening. 


She then said, "You know, I think there is a Turkish store over here." Again, I wasn't exactly in an exploring mood but went anyways.


My findings: If you are homesick in one culture... go to the market of another!


We had so much fun poking around the store and buying stuff that we weren't sure what exactly it was or what it would taste like. The music was awesome and things were pretty cheap, too!


I should add that the title of this post is not homesickness "cure"...just "treatment". But it did provide a quick relief from my irritation of not being in a familiar place at holiday time.


So what did we get???


All of this...

We make Turkish coffee 'round these parts nowadays.

And tea! Look at that whirling dervish on the front there. Not gunna lie, main reason I bought this brand.

The tea cups are new. The tea submarine is not...but it's still super cool!

The one in the middle tastes just like Sprite.

Little sesame cookies that I really like because they aren't actually very sweet.

I haven't tried these yet but they are cookies with strawberry jelly and what seems to be sprinkles. Can't be horrible.

And of course some Turkish Delight.

p.s. I promise I will tell you the story about the older couple from my Italy trip in an upcoming post. 

No worries!

Turkey, Table Settings, and Thankful T.A.s

My first self-made Thanksgiving dinner was fairly successful, I'd say. The hard work in a European kitchen was all worth it. It felt more like a real Thanksgiving than the one I attended in Innsbruck last weekend. Mainly because it was at my home here. That and everyone was in and out of the kitchen and had a job to do to help out. Felt nice to celebrate such an American holiday with friends across the world.

Turkey and Mashed Potatoes

Food!!!

The Table

The Table Settings

Stuffing

Brits and Irish in their pilgrim hats

Quite the night.

Pay Day #1 Fun

Thomas Jefferson once said,

"Never spend your money before you have it."

Good advice, Prez #3.


Too bad I didn't exactly follow it. Which is why my eventual and long awaited pay day was slightly less exciting than it should have been. When you know how much of it is already spent on things you need to buy/people you need to pay back, it loses its sparkle a tiny bit. Oh well.


I am not saying yesterday wasn't awesome. It truly was.


First, I discovered my new way of getting to school #1 in the mornings. No more bus for me! It takes the same amount of time as the bus but this way I get a good bit of walking exercise up a hill in the cold. Helps me stay warm, something I am all for in the brisk autumn weather.


Some pics from my new little path to school.

They have these little memorial paths all over the city. This guy's summarized story is that he worked with textile workers unions and then chose to kill himself to escape persecution from the Nazis. Cheerful, eh?

Moving on...

Somehow I became the organizer for Pay Day shenanigans last night. Therefore, a yummy sit-down dinner at a nice Austrian restaurant was the first thing on the list. We went to a place called Kornmesser and it was extremely yummy. Maybe because it was only the 2nd time I have eaten at an actual restaurant and not a Döner place since I have been in this country, but still. Added bonus/reason I picked that restaurant: They serve Augustiner Bräu. Score!


I enjoyed some lovely pumpkin creme soup, schnitzel with a red currant jam spread (which was new and delicious, I must say), potato salad, and even had room for some grapes and Bergkäse dessert. Yum!


Sadly, I forgot to take pictures at dinner. On a related note, I also forgot my mittens there and had to quite literally run back to the restaurant on a very full stomach to get them. Not pleasant.


We parted ways with some of the group due to bus schedules, tiredness, and other reasons. The remaining few hopped on a train to Altach for some bowling fun. Complete with (mostly unsuccessful) trick shots.

Posing with the "Skin Fit" magazines we found outside the Bowlinghouse. I think that sounds like what the guy from Silence of the Lambs would call his clothing store, but whatev. Nobody asked me.

It should also be noted that Altach did not smell quite as bad as it did last time. Amanda, a resident of the village pictured above in the middle, told me it depends on which way the wind is blowing. Haha!

The fact that I had two posts within a week of each other about bowling is a little sad. I'll try to improve my blogging topics.

An Afternoon in Milan

I have to be honest with my readers, all 4 of you. Milan was never really anywhere near the top of my list of places to visit. However, on my recent trip to the Lake Como area I decided it was just too close to pass up. Plus, a friend of mine from language school in Middlebury, VT is on a research Fulbright there. So passing up an afternoon of good company, good gelato, and good fun in Milano was out of the question. I needed to go. 


I hopped on a train mid-morning from the town of Varenna, which also happens to be adorable in its own right. See?

 Varenna is home to tons of trees that remind me of the Whomping Willow from Harry Potter. So there is that added bonus.

Anyways, I arrived in Milan in the afternoon saying goodbye to a new friendfrom the hostel, Fiona, at the train station and saying hello to my friend Steven. Now, I never call this kid Steven. He has always been Stufe Eins (German for "Level One") to me. Like I said, we met at language school. I am not going to go into all that but sufficient to say he is even in my Austrian phone as Stufe Eins...so there.

Seeing as how I was pretty hungry from the train ride (and the fact that I am on a two-hour feeding schedule like an infant), Stufe Eins and I decided to hit up this Panzerotti place. There was a serious line of locals when we arrived that only became longer as the day went on. In fact, when we went by later on the line was as long as a city block out the door. That's how yummy this place was. 

While we munched on this snack we wandered our way through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuela, where I took part in some tourist tradition of turning my heal on this mosaic of a bull on the ground for good luck. I am a sucker for lame tourist traditions like this, especially in Italy (Trevi fountain, anyone?). 

Afterwards, Stufe Eins and I hit up what is likely the best gelato place I have EVER been to. It was actually a bit overwhelming, in the most wonderful and delightful way. No, I don't think you understand. Here is their website. Just click on the Mmmmmmmm!

We ate our gelato waiting in line to pay so we could climb to the top of the Duomo and have a look around. I definitely think it was worth it. The cool thing about the Duomo in Milan is that is actually made of pink marble! Not only that, but it has tons of unique spires and gargoyles to explore and stare at from its roof. We spent a good long while wandering around seeing the different views and taking some sweet pictures. 

Evidence of previous statement:

 And no European city is complete without a nakey boobie clock, of course!

We also took a lap indoors. It was your basic super impressive European cathedral with some unique touches. I like the framed art suspended in the center part of the santuary. I had never seen that before. Stufe Eins and I also awkwardly stood in line inside a crypt to see...well, actually, we never really figured out what we were supposed to be seeing. So many people were lined up though we figured it must be important enough to have a look. Not so much. At least to us, anyhow.

Highlight of the inside is this statue. Rick Steeves had some good things to say about it but I won't bore you. Pictures are better.

None of those lovely sights compared to what came next, however.

Steven and I ventured over to another part of the city where the castle is. We had no intention of paying to go in but I still wanted to see it. At this point, I was just hanging around and just sort of seeing what there was to see before I boarded a train back to Varenna. Not for long though. My plans eventually changed and I took a much later train than anticipated.

Why?

Because of a random Celtic festival held on the grounds behind the castle!!!!! That's why!!!!

It was such a bizarre surprise. What a typical travel coincidence! We happened to keep wandering even though I could have just as easily headed to the train earlier. See what a ridiculous event I would have missed? We spent the next hour watching some sort of battle reenactment, wandering the fake celtic campsites seeing weavers and glassblowers alike, and shopping in the booths. Great fun! We also had some delicious beer and food at the festival for relatively cheap. The beer was actually along the lines of micro-brews found back home. This pleased me.

So after an afternoon of fun I hugged Stufe Eins goodbye, thanked him for his hospitality, and hopped on the train back to Varenna.

And what happened next with the people pictured below is a story for another day...

I got tired of blogging about Lake Como...

Plus I lost my fancy new scarf from there the other day and the wound is still too fresh.

Let's talk about bowling instead!!!

About a week ago some fellow TV Assistants (That's Tirol/Vorarlberg, for those of you slow on the uptake) and myself decided to go bowling. We all met up in this tiny town called Altach and made our way by some seriously stinky cow fields and around a corner we found some repurposed abandoned-looking factory/warehouse buildings. Somebody clearly had the thought once "You know what would be perfect right here between these two industrial parks? A BOWLING ALLEY!"

This place, though it didn't look too exciting outside, was pretty happening inside. I guess being from the South I have certain expectations of small town bowling alleys. Mainly, I expect them to be super sketch ball and involve fat creepy men in striped shirts drinking cheap beer while sitting on dirty chairs that are bolted to the floor and are usually some sort of groovy 70s shade of orange. Either that or something including REALLY obnoxious teenagers that have yet to learn PDA is not cool. 

I was delighted to see Austria is a bit different in that respect. In fact, the place was clean, modern, and the only bowling shirt to be found was on my American friend Dave, who went all out for an evening of bowling fun. The place had some interesting decor due to some sort of Cuban theme...odd. So after a bit of conversation with friends over some pitchers of beer (FYI Pitcher is Pitcher auf Deutsch. Go figure!) bowling began. 

Now, in proper tradition no one's real name was used. By the end of the scheduled two hours of bowling (you pay by the time not the games here), I was fairly certain the entire establishment hated us. For one, we accidentally bowled full force into the little arm thing that comes down in between turns about 5 times. Secondly, our friend Sean decided the abandoned lane next to us would make a great "practice lane". Too bad it wasn't actually abandoned by it's paying owners and they weren't too happy to see we had bowled half their game. 

I think I won this game.

All in all it was a good night that was continued with Döners and dancing in Bregenz later. 

We are likely going bowling again on Tuesday, which not so coincidentally happens to be pay day as well. This will be the first time I will have been paid since my arrival in September. 

Altach might not be ready for a repeat. Too bad!

Photos hijacked by me and used courtesy of Gemima and Manny. 

Lake Como-Part Due

I arrived in the town of Menaggio after a long day of train and bus rides on Thursday night. My intention at that point was to leave no later than Sunday. What I didn't know at the time was that I would have such a great time that I wouldn't leave till Tuesday instead.

My first full day there was spent with a kid named Greg (see previous post). We went to go find Villa Balbianello in a town called Lenno. Now this place is significant for other reasons, sure, but the one that interested me was that it was in a scene in Casino Royale where James Bond is recovering from getting beaten up at the end of the movie. I remember seeing that movie and thinking "Wow. That place is beautiful." Naturally, I wanted to see it.

We heard from a girl at the hostel that we needed to take the bus to Lenno and then walk along the lake until we saw signs for the Villa. We then should walk up the path on a short 20-30 minute hike to get there. So we did that and followed the path until we got to a locked gate. We were pretty disappointed and confused at this point. None of the signs around gave us any indication that the place should be closed. We were within the normal operating hours and days. Strange, we thought. So, very sullenly, we walked back down the path. We then saw a nice little Italian man and decided to ask what the deal was. He explained to us that on Thursdays and Fridays the Villa is only accessible by boats that leave from a nearby dock. Great! Not only do we get to see the Villa still, but by boat! It was really nice to be out on the water going somewhere by boat. Reminded me of home on Lake Lanier.

The story with the Villa is that it once belonged to Cardinal Durini in the 1700s but over the next several generations changed hands a number of times. Owners included the Cardinal's nephew, a wealthy American family from Boston, and finally a man by the name of Guido Monzino. He was basically just a businessman from Milan, but did have a pretty interesting life. He climbed Everest back in the 60s or 70s and went to the North Pole. He restored a lot of the Villa and decorated it himself with rare art from all over the world. The coolest piece, in my opinion, I didn't even get a picture of. Sad. It was a genuine Spanish treasure chest. The locking mechanism under the lid was really neat. 

Anyways...


Mr. Monzoni realized towards the end of his life that with no children and no wife, he might pass on and people would forget about his life entirely. It was at that point that he decided to donate his home and all of his belongings to the Italian National Trust. He then turned his home into a museum for himself. Yes, I thought it was somewhat cocky myself. But hey, I am grateful I got to poke around his house...so not too much judgement. 

We took the English tour and therefore got to go through his house to hear all of the stories of his life and discover the treasures and secret passageways hidden inside. Afterwards, Greg and I explored the gorgeous gardens surrounding his palace and awaited our boat to take us back to Lenno. 

Upon arrival back in Lenno, Greg needed to catch a bus to the train station to head back to Florence. Yet, we had enough time to grab some yummy pizza in a pizzeria in Lenno by the water.


An enjoyable Friday afternoon, if you ask me.

He was named "Honorary Nobility" and given a crest that reflected his love of adventurous expeditions.

He then proceeded to slap this crest on everything.