25 posts tagged “movies”
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!"
I went and saw UP today after work! it's only just come out here in Italy - most films seem to come out later than in Australia, and certainly 6 months or more behind America, but that's worked out rather well, as it means I've had the chance to see some of these films in English in Australia first, and then re-watch them here in Italian. It's fun to branch out and watch films I haven't seen in English though, and I loved UP although I'm sure I missed some of the jokes, but then, watching a movie in a foreign language is hard!
I couldn't help but think that UP was really sweet - the relationship between Ellie and Carl was beautiful - even though he and Ellie had many grand plans for their life together that didn't come true, Ellie was truly satisfied with her life, simply because she had spent it with someone that she loved deeply. I guess is something that we can all learn from, and I hope I'm gifted with a relationship like that one day.
The film got us onto the topic of relationships generally, and I was explaining how I'm somewhat bitter and cynical, except it came out Bitter-cal instead. So M and I have adopted the word!
I joke about being bittercal all the time, but I'm not really - I find being single intensely satisfying and relaxingly calm - no massive ups, no massive downs, no absolute exhaustion from late nights driving to/from someone's house, no anxiety about what he meant by xy or z, and I have time to do all of those things I'd like to do - the things that seem to get put aside when I have a boyfriend. I think that some of my friends have difficulty believing that I truly am happy, as though it's impossible to be spiritually satisfied without having a partner, but I'm lucky to have this time to myself, I really am. Sure, I miss heaps of things about being in a relationship, I would be lying if I said I didn't, but one of the best parts of being single, is that tiny spark of hope that the best is yet to come, and that there is someone truly wonderful out there that you just haven't met!
Tomorrow my supervisors still aren't back from their (presumably work related) trip, so I decided to sneak the day off and get some errands done. Like... possibly a load of washing, I have 3 packages slash letters I need to mail, and M and I are going to treat ourselves to fragolini pastries and coffee at the epic place near our house. Woohoo!
buona notte voxies!
R
haha, last night Marisol, Natalia and I went to see G-Force! at the cinemas in Piazza Reppublica. It was so cute! adorable guinea pigs, mice, a hamster and a mole, haha.
it seems to me that sunday rolls around so incredibly quickly! on thursday the girls from school and I went to see the Proposal - in Italian ricetta d'amore (blackmail of love). It was funny, but I think it's more amusing in English.
Then friday was my last day at school. Afterwards Fanni stayed at our house so that we could go to Florence together on Saturday morning. We had dinner at the Roadhouse grill, it was really funny because Marisol was excited about the Tortillas - in Mexico she eats them every day, and here there are not many places that sell them.
On Saturday we went to Florence! it was a really really long journey, but we slept most of the way so that was ok. When we arrived, we joined the line for the Galleria dell'Accademia which is the museum where Michelangelo's David is on display. On the wall outside there was so much graffiti from people who had been waiting, and right near the door many people had written how long they had waited in line.
Inside, the David was huge, and so amazingly detailed. You can walk the whole way around the statue, and behind him is a semicircle of seats, where about 15 women were sitting and gazing at his ass. Very funny. It was an interesting gallery, although we didn't stay long - there was also an exhibition of work by Mapplethorpe, (which we didn't have time to see) I included him in my paper on 'shocking' exhibitions last semester - an interesting guy, although totally at odds with all the classical stuff they had in there.
After that we walked down to the Duomo and climbed the cupola, all 463 stairs! it took sooo long to get to the top but the view was absolutely incredible. First you go around the edge of the dome, and you get to see the ceiling with huge fresco of hell, with the devil eating children and all these crazy things, as well as heaven, with light and cherubs and such!
Then at the top, the stairs get more and more twisty and dark and small, before you pop out at the top, which is just beautiful, both the actual building, the view, everything. When we got to the bottom our legs were shaking like crazy from all the stairs and we felt dizzy from all the circular turns we had to do!
We bought gelato and headed toward the Palazzo Vecchio and the Uffizi. It took us one whole hour to get to the front of the Uffizi line - we did so much waiting in Florence, I hated how everywhere had massive queues.
The Uffizi was, as you can imagine, just incredible. Can you imagine walking past a Da Vinci, or a Bronzino... or a Correggio without stopping to look?! of course we did, but it's just criminal! the place was so huge that you just pass these incredible paintings and thing, oh yeah, there's another one.
My favourites were Da Vinci's annunciation (I bought a poster of it) and a beautiful Portrait of Lucrezia Panciatichi byBronzino - it was so romantic, she's reading a page from the book of solomon about 'she who is loved' and her necklace says 'love lasting forever' - it was a gift from her husband.
The other thing I liked was one of the ceilings - it was painted to look like a kind of arbour, with grape vines intertwined on the trusses, and through it you could see the summer sky, with little birds hopping about the vines. It was really beautiful but I couldn't find a postcard in the shop of it.
After the Uffizi, we walked to the Ponte Vecchio and window shopped in all the jewellery stores. At the opposite end of the bridge is a glove shop called Mandova, and I bought a pair of the most gorgeous, soft, cashmere lined black leather gloves there for 50 euros.
After shopping we went for dinner in a cute little restaurant, and then headed back to the station for the looooong trip home.
Today I skyped with the family and slept and slept, I was so tired. It's been so grey outside all day and now there is thunder, so we're hoping it won't rain - we're supposed to be having dinner in Trastevere with Alessandra tonight!
Ciao a presto,
R
Hurrah! the package arrived from my mamma today!! I've been asking at the school every day and it finally got here today...
here's what she sent me:
- the yellow dress I wanted to bring but didn't have space for
- a grey and white dress (perfect for autumn!)
- a tshirt with random crazy thumbprint animals
- cute underwear
We managed to get tickets to see the R v J game on thursday morning (skipped school, bought tickets, ate tiramisu, drank coffee) and then thursday night Marisol and I went to see Harry Potter in Italian, senza subtitles in the Italian cinema across the road from our house.
Today we got off the bus and had gelato at the crazy gelateria up the road, and I finally managed to get a picture of the 'kentucky' flavour! insane! check it:
we had a bit of a tidy up when we got home, I made pilau rice, and now we're lazing around doing nothing. Tomorrow we're supposed to be having coffee with Carla from school, and say goodbye to our other flatmate, Alma.
Then sunday woohoo the game! Roma Roma Roma! oi oi oi!
Ciao a presto!
R
I'm so excited, I lost my itunes virginity tonight and downloaded the Coco Avant Chanel soundtrack.
It's a beautiful soundtrack, very romantic. There were a few songs I wanted it for, but I wasn't able to find them anywhere on youtube or anywhere, so I got the whole thing.
Anyway, my trip to the consulate this morning went well - inasmuch as we came away with the damn tax file number. We were waiting over an hour for it though! On the plus side, I did get a lot of knitting done!
What else? I changed my hair appointment, so now I'm going tomorrow morning. I just want them to cut my fringe back in, and a basic reshape, nothing drastic. I also got my brows done today. I was going to do it later in the week, but frankly, I just don't want to be rushing around at the last minute, freaking out and such...
That's pretty much all I have to say about that! I won't bore you with another Go Go Gryffindor scarf picture... I'll wait until it's SHOCKINGLY log :)
Ciao voxies
So. Much. To get done in the next 9 days, so many things have happened in the last few days, where to start!
Thursday - I saw Coco Avant Chanel with Florence after work. I loved it. It was awesome - again, so many inspirational messages about making life what you want it to be, and making the best of the opportunities you're handed - not to mention, how you can make those opportunities yourself, don't just expect them to be handed to you!
We had dinner at Pancakes on the Rocks afterward.
Then friday, it was super busy at work, like unprecedentedly busy. I had a nice quiet evening in, and then today mum and I went shopping for bits and pieces I want for my trip. First, I piled all the stuff I want to take with me on the floor, and then I made a list of things i wanted to replace or buy.
The list was:
beige flats
black flats
beige skirt
trenchcoat - slightly waterproof, classic, somewhat smart but also possible to wear casually
bikini
I ended up buying...
Trenchcoat, $107 reduced from $164 from Portmans:
Originally I was thinking beige or cream since it goes with the most stuff, but this baby pink was just too cute to pass up! and my entire wardrobe is stuffed with pink, so it will have plenty to match with.
I also got the jacket - it was so cheap that I couldn't help myself. It was $68 reduced from $229! so a whole suit, fully lined cream diamond jacquard jacket and skirt for just over $100. Bargain - I got the last size 10 in sydney - we had to order it from Burwood, so it's arriving in the store for me to collect next week - I'll take a picture of it when it comes in.
So the only thing I didn't get was shoes. And that's because I'm picky about my footwear. I'm hoping to find something nice in the Eternal City. I have to stop calling it that, but really it sounds so much cooler than Rome.
Anyway. I crammed everything I'm thinking of taking so far, and stuck it on the scales, I'm still under, but no joke, the makeup, brushes, perfume and skincare I'm taking weigh over a kilo. I was in shock! almost 2 whole kilos! out of my 20!
In other news, I started a gryffindor scarf! did I already mention that?! anyway it's a huge thing, knitted in the round, so I bought bamboo needles so I can take it on the plane and work on it. here it is so far:
What else? Willum STILL smells of the disinfectant the breeder used last week when he got his shot. I'm super tempted to rub his fur with a little bit of perfumed oil or something, haha! seriously though, it will wear off soon, so that's good.
Tomorrow is the Aroma coffee festival in the rocks, so I want my parents and my sister and I to make a day of it.. Mum and I want a walk in the morning, then Anna is coming over and we should all go into the city together. I hope the weather is good!
Anyway, buonanotte voxies!
Ciao a presto!
I have so many things to tell, that i don't even know where to start!
my day off this week was tuesday, and I went into the city with Anna and mum. They were going to the art gallery, and I had plans to meet up with an old fitness first work colleague, Lyly, for shopping and coffee.
I had some time before I had to meet up with L, and Anna and mum were in no hurry, so we stopped in martin place. We saw a sign for the Australian Currency Museum at the reserve bank - I think it must be new since I've never seen it. It was really interesting, seeing all the designs that were put forth for our currency and stuff in the past - there was a really cute cartoon that was on tv in the 60s telling people about the change to decimal currency, and apparently the plan was to call our bank notes 'royals' although they eventually settled on dollars!
Anyway. It was interesting for me from a professional point of view, if you follow me.
Outside the hospital near martin place is a large brass pig, and it's nose is all shiny because you are supposed to rub it's nose and make a wish. After we'd done that, we went to the cafe in the courtyard of the old hospital in the sun. It was really nice to have a chat and to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin.
I left them after that to go to the art gallery and I wandered really slowly up to the QVB to meet L. She's very chatty, but also full of philosophical comments - she always seems so clear sighted, which is a wonderful gift. We window shopped and then had dinner at City Extra.
Then today I worked in the morning, and tonight I went to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince with Anna and Mum. I loved it. I thought it was by far the best movie so far - the story line followed what I remembered of the book but also made sense overall. I found some of the earlier movies were quite disjointed and too much of the story was missing for them to make any sense, but this one was really good. I'm looking forward to the last movie, which is going to be divided into two parts.
After the movie we had dinner at Nino's, which is an italian restaurant with an amazing view all the way across from Bondi to the harbour bridge.
Anyway, so now I'm in bed with the electric blanket on watching 'spirited away' - I love that Miyazaki films are all about learning to be independent and yet also relying on the help and friendship of the people you meet - about being adaptable and creating a family out of nothing. It gives me hope that my transition into Italian society won't be impossible or too painf
while i recognise that my trip should be amazing, awesome, and that I will learn more than i can even imagine right now, I also forsee difficulties, lonliness and hardship, although I'm stepping out of my comfort zone entirely - some difficulty in adjusting is completely reasonable!
I guess I'm just hoping that I can make the most of the lessons that will be thrown at me, and that I'll make the most of this amazing experience.
Anyway, that's enough rambling from me, I want to snuggle with my baby and fall asleep.
Night voxies!
I had another busy weekend! Let's start with
Friday
I swapped shifts and worked in the morning, and after work I walked across the bridge to Pyrmont and met Anna at her school. I got left in the staffroom for a while, and then after lunchtime ended, we went to Anna's class.
It's been a while since I've been around ANY kids, let alone like, 20 of them. They called me 'Miss Shaw #2' and I had forgotten how much touching and poking and moving and such that small children do. Like, get off me, stop TOUCHING, LOL.
Seriously though, they were totally cute! I told them about my upcoming italy trip (my sister wanted me to give them news) and they asked me relevant questions, such as - what's your favourite colour? how old are you? what's your favourite colour? favourite car? animal? etc.
I helped them with some numeracy and literacy and probably scarred them for life, haha! afterward, Anna and I went to Darling harbour for gin and tonic, followed by burgers at Hurricanes! epic!
They have these crazy flames behind a glass wall -
Then we went to bondi and watched 'the proposal' again, god that movie is just so funny, and RR is unbelievably gorgeous! seriously! his character is such a perfect catch - loves his job, (has a job!) good work ethic, gorgeous, dresses nicely, has rich, lovely parents, likes animals, loves to travel... what's not to like!
Saturday was boring, but then on Sunday mum and I went for a walk in the park, then i had a late breakfast with Anna in Newtown. Then we hired twilight and laughed at how badly acted the movie was. She's just started reading the books so she wanted to see the film. It's even worse on a small screen than it is at the movies! too funny.
The teapot at the place we had breakfast had these cool handles on the teastrainers that had letters - funnily enough mine was an R (for Rosie):
anyway. I'm off for dinner with Celia now, so ciao voxies!
Willum is too funny. I'm sitting on the floor, watching Kate and Leopold (love that movie) - with a cup of decaf and some ginger biscuits, and Willum hops over, and eats my ginger biscuit! I was like, what the?! since when do rabbits like ginger.
I think every friday should have some old fashioned romance, don't you?
