43 posts tagged “rambling”
hehe, I do love icanhascheezburger.com, so I added my own LOLrabbit...
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
Phew! I never knew how exhausting doing nothing could be!
Friday night I met the girls for epic burgers and coronas from Hard Rock Cafe - can you believe they still didn't have my tshirt available?! they asked me to call before we go in next friday to confirm first, eyeroll.
Then on saturday, we WERE going to go to the vatican but the line was just incredible and since we have plenty of time we decided to screw that idea for a joke and come back with prebooked tickets from the internet. We ended up getting gelato from the huge place near the pantheon and wandering around the area near villa borghese since the metro shut down and we ended up in some random place. On the plus side we saw the cutest pink smart, so high five to that.
We came home, had a nap, and then went out with Alessandra and some of the other girls for dinner near the Colosseum. We had pizza, antipasto misto, and the most awesome tiramisu - we waited over half an hour for a table but the food was really nice. I want to take Anna there when she arrives next week.
After that we went home, and today, Sunday, I skyped with mum, dad, and the beast, and then with Anna, planning her trip. We decided to go to Paris for our one weekend for her visit, and hopefully I can book those on monday or tuesday.
After that we moved the extra bed from M's room into my room, cleaned the kitchen, bathroom and did laundry, randomly rearranging furniture. Good times. Now I'm relaxing with a Moretti, although I don't know whether we are going to end up going to the Cappuccin crypts today or sometime during the week.
I saw this outfit in the window of a store yesterday. I think that the knitted skirt is really groovy and I love the frilly scarf. My mum hated it, haha!
I love the combination of the delicate looking skirt and frilly scarf with the tough leather jacket.
Yesterday was my two-month-aversary in Italy! After work I met M in the pouring rain and we went and ordered my diary from Cartoleria Pantheon! This shop has two outlets quite close together, on the streets leading away from the Pantheon. They have beautiful hand made papers and gorgeous leather bags that I would die to own, if I actually had room to transport them home, which I don't!
Anyway. I went in after work on monday and they said they'd need to speak to the factory about the particular diary I wanted since they were out of stock, and suggested I come back Tuesday. When I went back yesterday, they said yes, no problem, and I was able to order the style I wanted, in the colour I wanted, with a curly, gold letter R in the front, all finished and ready for collection by sunday this week or tuesday next week! I am so excited to collect it, I chose a chocolate brown, with a kind of wrap around cover. As soon as I have it in my hot little hands I will share it with you. It also includes the diary inside, one day to a page, and it will fit a standard A5 diary, so I can keep on using it, hopefully for many years to come.
While I was waiting in a bookshop out of the rain for M to arrive, I found these cute little calendars, where each page is actually a bookmark with 2 months on it. It was the same brand as the 16 month diary she bought, which I thought was adorable. The only thing that stopped me from buying the diary myself was that it wasn't A5 size, so I was really happy I could buy this cute little bookmark calendar instead! I thought I could use them as page markers in my diary as well.
After we'd sorted out the diary, we went to see the rain coming through the hole in the Pantheon, but it wasn't heavy enough to see anything. They were preparing for a wedding in there! can you imagine being married in a building like that?!
Then we went to Tazzo D'Oro (the Golden Cup) for cappuccinos. According to the guidebooks, Tazzo D'Oro is supposed to be one of the best coffee places in Rome. It's located just down from the Pantheon. We liked the hearts they put on our foam!
It was raining so hard that I bought a pair of blue gumboots on the way home, but of course today is clear and I don't have the chance to wear them. This weekend is supposed to be rainy again though, so high five to splashing in puddles. I don't think I've owned gumboots since I as 6 years old!
I made garlic croutons to have in my pumpkin soup, it was really really nice, and somehow I always crave soup when it's miserable outside.
I'm at my internship placement at the moment, just waiting for the other lady to turn up, since she speaks English, and then I can start work.
I was thinking this morning that it's amazing what your brain can do - every night in my sleep my brain strains to filter the Italian I've been learning, to process it and figure out how to use it. Every morning i wake up remembering random dreams in Italian, and strange phrases that I'm not 100% sure of the meanings of!
I know I'm lucky to be having this experience, but I so wish I could speak better... at least I have another 3 months of talking and living and breathing Italian, maybe by then I will be halfway decent!
Today is Mexican independence day, so Marisol wants to go for dinner at the Roadhouse Grill tonight to have tortillas and coronas. Not sure what time I'll finish here, but i'm looking forward to that!
I also went to the consulate this morning and dished out the 162 euros for a new passport (eeeeek. My bank account is screaming in agony, LOL).
Anyway, better get on and do some work!
ciao a presto!
Baci Abbracci per tu!
Today I had my interview for my internship. It was quite stressful since I didn't know what was going on for half the time. Basically we're going to see how I go with the language skills I have now, but if they're not good enough I'll do some more intensive language classes in the mornings and work in the afternoons.
I sometimes wonder if I was insane to choose to do this. However stressful any internship would have been, this is only about 500 times worse - I hate not being able to communicate., to have people talk about me when I'm sitting right there and be unable to explain what I'm thinking or feeling. I want so much to be able to talk! and of course to be able to listen as well. For someone as talkative as me it is one of the most frustrating experiences I've ever had.
Okay! now the good news. On Sunday night we went out for dinner in trastevere. I love the area, it's so pretty down by the Tiber, but it's got to be one of the most frustrating places to get home from. Every time we try to do it something goes wrong. This time we got the metro, but we accidentally missed our stop and had to walk about 5 kms in the dark before we could get the night bus home.
It was a lovely restaurant though, with beautiful fairy lights strung up outside, and the most delicious tiramisu. It was called Trattoria Da Lucia.
Before dinner, we saw an older woman offering fortunes in one of the squares and so I got one! Basically she had two budgies - Antonio and Roberto. You held one and talked to it, and then it hopped onto a little perch and picked out a slip of paper with your fortune on it. Mine said:
You're a highly respected lady by those who surround you. You hold a secret that only you know. you're very honest, and you like to live your life to the fullest. You'll receive a large sum of money from a distant relative. you'll live 97 years.
Bring on the distant relative I say!!
Yay! TWO successes in our crazy kitchen this week! yesterday we made potatoes with a creamy cheese sauce (which would have been better if it was possible to buy cheddar here.) And today we made crepes with a kind of berry sauce!
xox
R
as per usual, pretty busy weekend...
on friday we had a kind of farewell dinner for some of the girls in the class who were leaving, with dinner at a nice restaurant. We got home around 1am from that, and saturday I basically slept or read all day, I was soooo tired, although we did step outside in the evening to have dinner and to get some more credit for my internet usb stick.
Sunday we got up incredibly early to catch our 6:30am train to Siena!
it was very beautiful there, but quite a small town, so it didn't take too long to see the more famous sites, including
the Duomo (massive marble church)
Teatro del'Opera del Duomo
you could climb that thing that looks kind of like an aquaduct... it was very high and windy at the top, and a lot of stairs!
Torre del Mangia (super, super high, with the most amazing views of Siena from the top)
..and Piazza del Campo, where they hold horse races every august.
We had lunch in a really nice pizzeria, and the weather was beautiful.
When we got back to the station however, they said that the trains were on strike and they couldn't say whether or not our train would actually leave. We debated what we should do and agreed that we'd get travel insurance to cover the cost of a night's accomodation and go to Florence the next day, but as it happened, the train left on schedule, at 8pm. We had a 2 hour wait in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere that seemed to be having some kind of sports festival or drinks night with big marquees and strange music, and then back on the train to Roma Termini. We got back to our house around 2 am and so today I didn't even bother setting my alarm - I only went to my morning class.
Siena was absolutely stunning, but I don't think I'd go there again without a guided tour, if at all...somehow it didn't take my breath away like Capri and Sorrento did.. but here are some more nice pics
Today after school we went to the church of Sant Antonio, who is known in quite a few countries as the patron saint of marriage. Apparently, you go to his church and pray for a good boyfriend, and he will oblige. SO! us single girls headed off to his church, and spent some time praying to him, and we left him a letter with our requirements!
The church itself was very peaceful - I find that most catholic churches are not peaceful, they make me feel uncomfortable somehow, but I felt quite at home here, it felt spiritual and special, which to me is exactly what a church should feel like inside. We gave our letters to a monk there, and one of the girls, Alessandra, bought me a tiny Sant Antonio pin, which I've pinned inside my wallet. I thought it was so sweet of her! it is better luck to have someone purchase his icon as a gift, than to buy it yourself!
Apparently, if he doesn't give you a boyfriend, you 'remind' him about your request but turning his picture upside down.
Anyway, here are some photos of the icon pin I got!
Afterwards we had dinner at quite a nice place and then got the metro and bus home, and I suppose I should be heading off to bed now, although this heat makes it hard to sleep! even though it's difficult, I know I'll miss it when it gets colder!
ciao a presto,
bacci abbracci!
R
