Yay, 20 days until Sydney, 12 days until London and 4 days until I finish my internship! high five!
So on Sunday morning, we went for pastries at Romoli. Then, we went to see San Pietro. I didn't get to climb the dome, but I'm saving that for my week off that is coming up.
We had lunch at an amazing restaurant in Trastevere called Il Corallo, and then wandered around the city for a while, including a quick visit to San Luigi dei Francesi to see the Caravaggios they have there:
and then to Basilica di San Agostino:
When we finally got home we were exhausted from all the walking and the food! Today the new intern arrived at work, and she seemed really nice. After work I found the shoes Anna wanted from the Standa (onitsuka tigers with velcro straps, the same as mine), I put them on hold to check if they were the right size and everything. She said they were and I'll go back tomorrow to buy them. I also got this cute mini dress with long sleeves. I think it's mohair or angora or something, the wool is slightly fuzzy. It's too cute:
Anyway, that was pretty much all the excitement for me today! I plan on wearing that dress with boots and maybe a belt tomorrow. Oh the exciting, cosmopolitan life I lead!
Oh my dear blog, it's been a few days, hasn't it?
I went to see New Moon on friday... it was the first time I'd been to the Cinema by myself. I quite enjoyed the movie and the experience, although afterwards, it would have been nice to have someone to talk about what we'd seen.
Then, Saturday, I didn't do very much, a little bit of uni work, a little bit of shopping (although I only bought a small extra present for mum, nothing else) and then in the evening we went out for dinner with Maxie's friend from Germany. It was a very Italian dinner - very late, we didn't start eating until almost 10:45, and we left the restaurant around 1:30, and went for drinks in a small place afterward.
It was nice. And this morning we are going for little pastries at Romoli, and coffee of course. That place is honestly so good, I am drooling just thinking of it!
...And they told me I don't need to worry...
This morning, I was absolutely exhausted because I haven't slept well for the last 2 nights, I've been kind of drifting with my eyes shut but not properly sleeping, no idea why. Well, I heard this fluttering, and a squeaking and a chirruping, and it was so irritating it woke me up. And then I thought, maybe it's a bird that's fallen down behind my shutters (which are usually closed) and maybe couldn't get back out, so I went over to the window, and the shutters are wide open, and it's not 1 bird but 2 tiny little creatures the size of my finger, singing fit to burst their little lungs. Once I saw they weren't stuck, I went back to bed, but I started wondering what time it was, and so I checked my phone (which has my alarm on it) - but during the night, the battery had died! So it was extremely lucky those birds had woken me up, or I wouldn't have woken up on time this morning!
I was super brave last thursday and went and got my hair dyed! in Italian! go me! I also got the fringe recut, although I'm not a fan of the way that turned out, it wasn't even so I tried to fix it myself, and we all know what happens when you do that. Exactly. Anyway! here it is - I got blonde streaks in it, and apparently it will lighten up as time goes on. I imagine when they say that, it means the same as when they tell you that denim jeans will stretch - if you need them to, they won't, but if they fit just right, then they'll streeeeetch til they're way too large.
I also bought my lone ticket for New Moon! in English!! on the 20th of Nov (next fri) I so can't wait... haha it was funny, the guy behind the desk said, how many tickets? and I said, um, one, and he kind of paused, and I said, "very sad" and he was all like "oh, no! not at all! lots of people buy one ticket...." but he knew and I knew that I'm that lame girl in her mid twenties going to see a teen flick alone.
But I don't know anyone else that would want to go, so if I want to see it, then it has to be by myself!
What else? I went out with Carla, Guiseppe and their friends on friday.... I met them at the metro Ottaviano, and we went to a tiny little place around the corner that you need to sign a membership form to go to. It was really cool - kind of darkish with warm coloured wood and stuff. Then I lost my motorcycle virginity when Guiseppe gave me a lift home on his motorcycle, which was actually pretty scary... I clung on like a limpit and had the biggest cramps in my hands when I got off, haha!
Then I had a very dull weekend, I haven't left the house at all, although I'm going to go and get some pizza in a minute.. I did heaps of washing, I finished my gryffindor scarf! at long last! can you believe it? almost 3 months to the day. I'll have to post some pictures tomorrow. I did a fair bit on my grandmother's cowl, still haven't got up the courage to restart my own cowl in angora, we'll see, I have quite a few balls of wool and no idea what to do with them, and taking them home is just going to be a pain, much better to have a few knitted items instead.
I actually started packing! just the Christmas gifts that were lying around, the shoes that I won't wear between now and Dec, stuff like that. Only 15 days at work to go, and only 4 weeks until I leave for Australia! this time next month I'll be at home. Weird thought, I can't imagine it.
Anyway, time to go order my pizza!
buona notte voxies!
R
I decided to alter a beautiful lace pattern I found on ravelry to create a cowl for my grandmother.
I thought when I visit her December, it would be nice to bring a present, and a knitted gift will give me something to do on the train up to visit her. I thought we could spend the evening doing some knitting, and then I'll go back to London the following evening.
Here's the design so far:
she loves red so I bought the brightest, boldest red wool I could find.
The pattern seemed a little complicated at first because I couldn't figure out exactly which parts were the 'v' design and which were part of the scarf pattern the designer had chosen, but in the end I simplified it down to the basic 9 stitch repeat, which works out like this:
After casting on a multiple of 9, joining and and knitting the first row (if working in the round) or purling the first row (if working flat)
(k3, k2tog, YO, K4) repeat until end of row
purl entire row (knit, if working in the round)
K2, k2tog, YO, k1, YO, SSK, K2 until end of row
purl entire row (knit, if working in the round)
K1 k2tog, YO, K3, YO, SSK, k1 until end of row
purl entire row (knit, if working in the round)
knit entire row (knit, if working in the round)
purl entire row (knit, if working in the round)
repeat until desired length
I'll post when it's done! speaking of, my gryff scarf is almost complete but I usually remember to work on it after I'm already in bed, and as I need to confirm how much longer it needs to be by standing up, I end up working on something else instead. I have a pair of socks and my own cowl in angora to do before I leave Roma, as well as a few balls of left over wool I don't particularly want to carry home so I have a few things I can work on!
Whatever term indicates the most amount of tiredness, that's the term that I feel right now. I have a headache of tiredness. I have a heavy eyed sleepiness, even after a double cap! But we had a big weekend so I'm not surprised. Here's what happened.
We had a great dinner on friday with all Marisol's friends from the school at the hardrock cafe, and Carla and Guiseppe turned up! it was awesome to see them, and nice for Marisol since she left this morning.
We ended up going to bed really late, I'm not sure how it happened, but it did, and then we got up super early on Saturday - as in, left the house by 4am, and caught the night bus to Termini (because regular buses weren't running yet) As it happened we had to wait quite a while to get our train, but we got to the airport in time, I even got a whole lot of my Gryffindor scarf done on the train, hehe.
We got our flight to Venice just fine, and in fact, how cool was this, they served Starbucks coffee or hot chocolate, so I was a happy little camper.
After we arrived, we found our hotel, which took an age, it was down a tiny alleyway that would have been full of 'footpads' if it had been regency England! but the hotel was nice, so it was ok. As it happened though, we weren't staying inside the hotel itself, but in an appartment about 10 mins walk away, so we set off, over bridges, through all the crazy windy streets, and finally found the place. It was a shared bathroom between 2 rooms, but there wasn't anyone in the other room so we didn't have to share.
The floors were heated and it was a pretty room - were were so tired after getting up so early that we made use of it straight away by having a 1 hour nap, and then went out for lunch, before heading over to the island of Murano.
It was beautiful, we saw a demonstration of glass blowing and did a bit of shopping, I'm sure we were ripped off but that's ok, I got some christmas gifts and a few things for myself so that was good.
We were going to go to Burano before we came back to Venice, but it was getting dark so we left it. We visited a church on our way back to the hotel, and I lit some candles for Marisol's safe journey, the health and wellbeing of my family, and a few other things.
After that we continued back to the hotel, dropped our stuff and then did a little shopping on what I thought of as the main street before having dinner in a nice little restaurant.
We went to bed really early actually as we were absolutely exhausted.
On sunday we checked out of the hotel, had breakfast, which was a really great cappuccino and a sticky croissant filled with apricot jam. I got a rather fortuitous ring and heart combo in my coffee foam too.
We got the vaporetto over to Burano, and were lucky to get some time in for photos before it started raining heavily. Burano is famous for the pretty coloured houses and the lace, but I will remember it for being extremely cold and wet. I did buy a bit of lace and we had a hot chocolate, and then returned to Venice to visit San Marco's, which took us an AGE to find!
it was starting to flood as the water got higher from the rain and so some of the streets you had to wade through a foot of water which was kind of an adventure! the line was insanely long for the actual inside of the church so we blew that off after taking photos of the outside, and went for burgers at Burger King.
My leather gloves got absolutely soaked and are now drying at home, the fingers look like they have arthritis at the moment but hopefully when I wear them again they'll recover!
After San Marco we collected our bags from the hotel and went to the airport - the rain, the cold and the constant tramping about was kind of getting to us, so we just wanted to get the bus to the airport!
One strange thing happened on the bus though, a man got on and was carrying a large stiff paperbag, and when he moved it to one side, I noticed that he had his johnson out! We were really exhausted and I wasn't sure if I was imagining it, so I couldn't help but keep sliding my eyes back to see if it really was my imagination or not! so I'm sitting there, and the running commentary in my head is something like...
okay, maybe he doesn't realise it's hanging out, but then, it's absolutely freezing, surely his dick has got to be numb in this frigid (teehee) air? but then, he's not staring at me particularly, if he's flashing me it's kind of subtle..
and then of course I COULDNT HELP compare it to others I'd seen and it was altogether way too much information! he got off the bus to answer his phone though, so he didn't stay on the bus and that was the end of that.
I found a tiny little teddy bear on the floor in the wet at the bus stop, and put it in my pocket, I felt sorry for him, being abandoned in a puddle! He's drying out in my wallet at the moment.
Anyway, our flight ended up being the biggest drama. We got to the airport really early as it was, but our flight was delayed by an hour due to bad weather. So we didn't leave Venice until quarter to ten! and then when we got back to Rome, they had lost the entire plane's luggage - as in, were unsure which carousel it was going to come to, as one of them was broken, and another flight was also stuck waiting for their luggage too. It ended up taking about 45 minutes of waiting for the bags to come, and by then we missed the last train and had to wander around looking for a shuttle, which we didn't find.
In the end we got a taxi that cost us a fortune, but what can you do, you know? you just pay it and move on, but god we were sooo exhuasted when we finally got home around 2 am. It was quite an adventure, and I know I'm going to miss Marisol! she went back to Mexico today, and I gave her my Vegemite to take with her, haha!
anyway. So here we are. I need to do some washing and take some pictures of the souvenirs I bought, but I can't wait to get to bed tonight! I want to make my dinner and my hot water bottle at the same time, eat and then get to bed by no later than 8pm I hope!
Ciao for now voxies!
R
This morning Marisol and I went to the post office to send off another huge box, and then went for fragolini pastries at Romoli. Last time we went in there, I lost my knitting request virginity when the barrista asked me if I'd make him a hermione hat! We were kind of taken aback so we said I was leaving shortly so I wouldn't have time to finish one, but since I'm going to be here another 5 or so weeks, it's going to be kind of awkward going back there, which totally sucks since their pastries are to die for!
speaking of hermione hats, I finally finished Marisol's! here it is:
Yesterday I bought a pair of Levi super skinny 603's! I 'm super excited because they fit my legs as well as my ass! in Australia, when I buy skinny jeans, they are too baggy on the leg if they fit me on the ass, or too tight on the hips and butt if they fit my legs. But... check out the wonder of jeans fitting my body shape!!!
Tomorrow is Marisol's farewell dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and then Saturday we're off to Venice! bring it on!
Other than that I'm still struggling with a pattern for a cowl, I wanted something kind of lacy and saw a few I liked but the pattern really just didn't work out for me. So boo. I think I'll do my own pattern, so much easier I think!
AND! I spoke to my grandma and have 'booked in' a trip to see her for the first two days I'm in London - arrive in the morning, go straight from the plane to the train, get to her house in the evening, make her dinner, do some knitting, and then leave the following afternoon. Now I just have to buy the tickets!
Then I can spend the rest of the week doing whatever I like, and whatever I like is going to involve a lot of shopping, museums, and burgers! woohoo! can't wait!
so, yesterday my package from Aude arrived! I'd asked her to do a CP for me, something for Anna's christmas gift, and it arrived yesterday, along with a gift she had sent for me!
"beeeeewaaare the grooooove!"
On friday night, the Vatican museum was open until 11pm as part of a special program running through September and October - it was actually the last late night opening of the 'summer'. Anyway, Marisol and I thought it would be fun to go, so after work we d over there with our online registration print out, and were inside within 10 minutes.
I know I've been museum-spoilt since the Louvre - I thought that although the architecture of the Vatican was beautiful, the art was not really remarkable. They did have an impressive Egyptian collection, but then, I've been to the Cairo museum, so can't really beat that for Ancient Egyptian stuff!
The Etruscan collection was closed, and that was disappointing since I haven't actually seen Etruscan stuff before.
It was quite interesting at night though, and definitely quieter, although the Sistine Chapel was still very busy. There is actually a man that has the sole job of stopping people from taking photos and 'shush'-ing people! Last time I visited the Vatican, I don't remember being particularly impressed and I'm afraid the feeling lingered this time too. (Probably because the one thing I wanted from the shop, a beautiful engraved 'R' on parchment - had run out. Boo)
This sign made us giggle - Nowhere has better happy hour(s) than The Vatican!!
Anyway. We got home around 11:30 or midnight and today (Saturday, we woke up late, strolled down to Romoli for fragolini pastries and cappucchinos, and then caught the 38 into Termini and walked the length of Via Nazionale. We went to La Gardenia (perfume place) and I sprayed some Gucci per Homme on my arm. I swear, it smells like a bushfire, and being Aussie and all, I know I shouldn't love it, but I do! I can still smell it, HOURS later, I love it! If I ever met a guy wearing it 'naturally' rather than a result of my buying it as a present, I don't know if i could be held accountable for my actions!
Towards Largo Argentina, I found a pair of brown boots:
...And then found Marisol some Christmas presents for her relatives in Via Del Corso.
We had lunch and a glass of red wine in the sun and then did some more shopping before heading off home on the 80 bus. We finally found where it starts from, and it's actually incredibly convenient, so next time I'll catch it from there.
Tonight I made crepes with banana and home made butterscotch. They were pretty damn good I must say!
Other than that, nothing much exciting. I got a few small gifts and gathered ideas for Christmas, but my friends are being supremely unhelpful this year gift suggestion-wise and since I won't have time when I get back to sydney, I have to be extra organised this year.
hehe, I do love icanhascheezburger.com, so I added my own LOLrabbit...
