Catching Up

It's been quite a while since I've posted. The purpose of this blog was to show people of my travels through Italia in 2008-09 and during my expected time in the Peace Corps. It's now 2011 and so much has changed in my life. During my time in Italia, I saw amazing places and met some terrific people. I made my way back to California in March 2009, moved to Sacramento to start a new career with the feds, and then decided grad school was in my future. With the support of my amazing family and friends, I traded in my Sacramento life for one in Portland, OR.

It's been a wonderful journey so far and I would love to share it with you!

Hugs and Love,
April

The Famous Towns of Lago di Como: Varenna, Menaggio and Bellagio

Varenna Gate

Crawling ivy in Varenna

Shutters and window plants in Varenna.

Roses on Lake Como while eating lunch in Varenna.

Lake Como ferry to Menaggio.

Varenna Architecture

Arches, walkways, living rock walls in Varenna.

Lake Como underneath the shadows of the Alps.

Varenna sunset

Rain stained ferry

Lake Como meets Lecco

Visiting the famous town of Bellagio.

Winter sky meets pot in Bellagio

25th October: My first trip into Milano

I took the train into Milano to meet with Paraskevas before he headed out of Italia to seek work elsewhere. On my way down I made a new friend, Giovanni. He was the man who worked the train, checking and selling tickets. He spoke some English and after five minutes of conversations about the wild American west he offered to take me out to meet his friends and get some beers. We exchanged numbers (I got an Italian cell phone in Torino) and parted ways.

It was a semi sad day in Milano. It was a little cold and this was the last time my new Greek friend and I were going to hang out for awhile. We took the metro to the Duomo, Milano’s Gothic/Baroque church, in the heart of the city. There we walked around the structure, into the Galleria V. Emanuele with it’s brilliant glass ceiling, toward Teatro alla Scala (the opera capital of the world), and through the piazzas and walkways near the duomo.

We enjoyed focaccia, gelato, café and hot chocolate. I found the American Bookstore but opted to find my Italian Language workbooks elsewhere and bought a gift for the family. It was a long day but yet there was still more to explore: The Last Supper, the fashion district, Castello Sforzesco and so many amazing piazzas. One day in Milano just doesn’t cut it, you need at least five or six.

April’s Best of Milano (the first time):

My favorite dark chocolate macaroons: Princi il Bread and Breakfast, V. Speronari 6: this place is a bit pricey but the food is most wonderful. You can order food to-go or eat standing up inside. They have sweets, breads, pizza, focaccia, as well as first and second dishes. It is well worth trying at least once..

Best place to sit and be harassed by men slipping string bracelets on your hand and then asking for money: Piazza del Duomo

Back to the Land

My first week was amazing. I met the 12 chickens, fed them in the morning and collected their eggs in the evening; met the bees, tasted their honey and learned a little beekeeping; I walked up a road in search of chestnuts (maroni), found out they hurt if you touch them and learned how to make them edible; hunted walnuts, peeled them for a month and learned it is best to wait till after it has been windy to collect them; picked grapes; and went with Sandra to help work the mercato.

An attempt to work at the mercato my second week in Italia, first week on the farm and not knowing Italian was a huge mistake. I found myself embarrassed, confused and worst of all I believe I annoyed my host. I felt recovered after the market when we went to pick up my new friend Paraskevas from the Lecco train station.
Him and I explored the town and the surrounding area on Saturday. On Sunday we joined Gigi, Sandra, Serena and Tex for a hike up the mountain and a mushroom hunt. The view at the top was most extraordinary and there we sat, ate cheese, bread and fruit, and then took a nap.

Fourth Lesson: you must take the risk to speak when learning a language. Embarrassment will happen but it is all a part of the process. The more you practice the better you’ll feel (and learn).

Fifth Lesson: writing down the new words will help to remember them. Keep a small notebook in your pocket and when you learn a new word write it down.

After a week of waking up early, working physically, using my brain to translate everything and being on a nine hour time-zone difference my body was in need of some rest. For three whole weeks I slept for ten to eleven hours every night and took a one hour nap every day. I look back on it now and realize that I had gone to school for twenty years, worked for ten and never gave myself a chance to rest.

Sixth Lesson: Take a nap in the midday, resting will give you more energy toward the end of the day.

A Dream Come True: the Lake Como farm

After a week of parading around Torino with Paraskevas it was now time to take off to live out my true dream: working on a farm overlooking one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. Buongiorno Lago di Como!
April’s Rules For Italia: 1. Learn Italian (before, during and after) 2. Let your heart free (it makes the world so much more beautiful) 3. Live today as if all you know is right now(being present helps to appreciate the things you do, see and feel)

I called the farm before my arrival to get picked up from the train station and soon realized that my new family did not speak much English. I waited five minutes and up pulled a green van with an Italian woman inside. This was Sandra, a hard working woman with a giant heart and strong arm. Up the hill we went (thank goodness I didn’t have to walk) and as we got closer to the small town of Regolo my eyes began to swell with tears. My dream was now alive and for an entire month and a half this spectacular place was going to be my home.

The family consisted of Gigi (husband-father, farmer) ,Sandra (wife-mother, farmer/housekeeper/chef/painter/saleswoman …), Niccola (26, Son, Psychology student/Castel attendant), Lorenzo (22, son, Archeology student), Checko (18, high school senior, drummer/rock climber/animal lover), Serena (12, daughter, student), Tex il cane and many gati (including six kittens). Not only was this my new family but I also knew they would become my teachers for the duration. Niccola spoke the most English but it was very limited, so I thought my first mission was to buy a book to teach me some Italian.

My room was very simple with a bed, bathroom, dresser and a window with a view of kiwi veins. The house was quite large(three stories) and the back porch had the most amazing view. Three very small villages were insight of each other and every hour and half hour the church bells from all three villages could be heard. Giant mountains raised up out of the lake with forests of changing fall colors. The porch was situated in a place that was best for watching the sunset and a cool lake breeze could be felt in the late afternoon.

How did this happen? How was I lucky enough to go here and encounter such a sight? It was the beginning of what I learned to be true love and happiness.

La Mi Prima Città di Italia: My first week in Torino

The most odd thing happened, I met a guy from Santa Rosa the first hour in the hostel. Andrew from Santa Rosa was the first person I adventured into Torino with. Andrew had been traveling in Europe for a few months now, from a farm in Ireland to the ruins in Greece, he had adventured his way around, meeting loads of people and cutting his way into the culture. I envied him a little for being so brave and doing so many things but I knew that my adventure was just beginning and with him I spent my first day in Torino.

Within half an hour we had located a mob of angry students and joined their rally. My first day in Italia turned me into an activist (only for an hour). The board of education (Gemini) is trying to privatize all schools, starting with the University. This would make it harder for students to get an education and limit those who finished primary, secondary and high school. As I write this, students from around Italia are rallying and protesting towards this woman who wants to limit education.

Later in the day , we met up with the young man from the bus. Paraskevas from Greece, had been living in Torino trying to look for a job without much luck (even with a master’s degree!). He was familiar with the city because he had lived in Torino previously for some time, so we made him our tour guide.

Third Lesson: when sightseeing by foot, wear comfortable shoes with arch support and good socks. Blisters and cuts at the beginning of the trip can make your feet miserable.

I got my taste of Italian culture, food and piazzas and we took pictures of architectures, statues and art. I spent most of my time with Paraskevas. We walked, talked, sight saw and ate all day every day. One of the most exciting days was when we stopped by the Slow Food Movement Italia’s Eataly store. I was in pure heaven, with all the local, organic produce surrounding me. We also visited a Roman Polanski exhibit, walked over the Torino Olympic Bridge (only to discover an Olympic village that was deserted and run down) and stopped to observe a parade.



April’s Best of Torino:

Eataly, V. Nizza 224: there is a grocery store, gift shop, wine and beer tasting room, Slow Food exhibit, culinary classes, and restaurant counters for meat, fish, poultry, pizza, pasta and beer lovers.

For you chocoholics, try the Caffe Cioccolateria al Bicerin, P. della Consolata 5 (http://www.bicerin.it/): seat out on the patio and try the hot chocolate with panna (whip cream) or go into the gift shop to buy some chocolate treats for you and your friends. For almost 400 years Piedmont has been a center for chocolate, in Italia and beyond.

Take a stroll along the Po River and experience some of the natural (and free) sights that downtown Torino has to offer. Most parks contain beautiful buildings, statues and fountains.

By Plane and Train: 24hours of travel

It would be a long twenty-four hours to my destination but well worth the journey. My aunt bid me farewell at the train station near Warwick and I was off to Newark Airport. I thought I was going to die with the weight of my bags while I was moving from train to train to airport and the thought occurred to me that if the bags were heavy now, then six months in Italy would break my back.

As I boarded the Air India plane to Paris, I realized there was no going back now, this was it, my journey was now beginning, and what a long journey it would be.

I got an excellent seat with three times the amount of leg room that I needed, but hey who should complain about that. I slept a few hours and when I awoke the light was just coming over the horizon and lit up the clouds over the ocean. The flight into Paris was cloudy and wet but excitement ran through my veins as we landed.

First Lesson: if you expect to ask for directions in a foreign country, at least learn the bare essentials for communicating.

It took me about an hour and a half to buy my ticket and figure out what train I needed to take into Paris and to the train station. Alas, I was at the train station waiting to board my train to Italia. The signs, the conversations of people all around, the announcements over the speakers, and school children passing me by let me know that ‘I wasn’t in Kansas anymore’.

I boarded my train to start my eight hour journey through the countryside of France and the Alps into Italia. Next stop Torino.

(Here are some excerpts from my diary)….
Traveling should not be about being a tourist and leaving…it should be about being half a tourist and the other half embracing the locals and the culture… How beautiful the countryside is in France. There are cows, rolling hills of green grass as if it has just rained and the colors of fall are showing themselves in the autumn leaves. .. I could sit here for days…just keep going without stopping while the outside world passes me by.
…end

When I got off the train in Torino it was dark and I had no idea which way to go. After twenty minutes of trying to use my Rick Steve’s Phrasebook with an old Italian woman, I was on the subway to the bus station. The old woman took the subway with me, found an English-Italian translator and then left me at the bus stop. I was waiting on the wrong side of the street when a man pointed out that I was going in the wrong direction. I crossed the street again and walked up just as the bus was arriving.

Second Lesson: When booking a hostel or hotel, always ask the receptionist how to get there BEFORE you get into town. Planning is most essential when going to a foreign country.

As I was trying to figure out which stop to get off at (because there are no signs to tell you) the bus got more and more empty, and alas it was me and three other people. As the bus doors opened at the next to last stop a young man advised me that the hostel was at that stop and to follow him, which I cautiously did. He led me up a very dark street, up a hill, and as I dragged myself and all my contents I felt the sweat beading off my tired body.

Eureka…it was 10pm on October 9th and I had finally arrived at my hostel.
Hello Italia!!!!!!!