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.

Lake Como-Part Uno

So a few weeks back my teachers at my schools asked me, "You know we have fall break coming up, right?"


The answer to that was no. However, I wasn't surprised. This country uses every excuse to relax, take off from work/school, and enjoy life. Not complaining. Those happen to be three of my very favorite things.


Originally, I was going to stay home in Bregenz and just hang out/save money. I had a little discussion with my Betreuungslehrerin (my contact teacher) at my second school that went something like this:


Heidi- "You know we have Herbstferien (fall break) this next week."
Me- "Yeah, I know."
Heidi-"Where are you going?"
Me-"Well, I don't know. I will probably hang around here or head to Munich or something."
Heidi-"WHAT?!?!?! You can go to Munich anytime! You have all that time to travel. You NEED to travel."
Me-"You are right. I should." 


So that is how I decided to take a trip to the Lake Como area. It was so fabulous. I understand why the likes of Madonna, Elton John, George Clooney and Leo DiCaprio (listed in order of importance, naturally) live there.


So I'll write more about that later. But for now I just want to talk about one of the advantages of hosteling it up Europe-style. 


The people.

This is Greg. I hung out with him on Friday. He is a literacy coach from Connecticut living in Florence.

On the left is Kyle, the pro freestyle skier and catholic conspiracy theorist from Colorado. On the right is Echo (aka Pei Ching) from Malaysia but living in Bristol, England who studies town planning and is one heck of a traditional Italian dance dancer. 

Here is Cassie, who also lives and works in Bristol. Behind her is Dee, from China but studying at Rutgers in the US.

Not pictured but of equal awesomeness: Ryan, the master barista from a town outside of Melbourne, Australia with a tattoo of a caffeine molecule on his left forearm. 

I always say, traveling by yourself is great. You have instant friends at hostels that you have no obligations to. You can hang out if you want and your plans for the day align. However, you can go off and do what you please because you have no real obligation to them. It's the best.

So, that is the first thing I have to say about my trip to Como...well, Menaggio. But still.

I'll leave you with pictures of the sunrise I watched every morning from my bed.

It's ok to be jealous. I'll allow it.