Bike day again. Monte Maddalena. We timed ourselves this time. We did the 10.3 km in 1:20 with a five minute break half way through to get some water. We've timed ourselves one time before and we did it in 1:10 and we cut some meters at the beginning using a short cut and I don't believe we took a break last time.
Today I think we started slower than usual but overall I feel great because I didn't get so tired like in the past and I felt a lot faster too.
It felt good to do this again.
YAY! =)
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Two things that caught my eye...
You know what I admire most about Italians most is that no matter rain or shine there's always at least one person riding their bike. Right now with the cold weather they wear clothes to keep them warm but what is most amazing to me is how the women wear these amazing high heels and are able to pedal!!! I've never tried doing this but with steering problem that I have I can't even imagine adding high heels! I really think it takes years of practice.
Two thumbs up who can do that!
On another note, Wednesday I read some local newspaper and I just happened to remember because I saw the mountains today with this wonderful day.
Two things that caught my eye while reading the paper.
Number one: the mountains to the north of Brescia ha their first snowfall of the season. And in fact, today being in the south western part of town, you are able to ferns great view! The top of the mountains are all white!!! I wish I would have brought a camera to take a picture. It's such a beautiful day today, clear blue sky and no clouds. The visibility is great and the reason why I can see the mountains with snow and the top.
Second thing: Italy is now number 67 on the corruption list, after Rwanda!! The ranking included 173 countries, U.S. is number 22 and first time in years being out of the top 20.
In fact, now being in Italy for over a year now I am starting to understand how this country works. At first it was difficult just for the fact that I didn't know the language and in a years time I am able to read, understand and speak and write (with minor mistake here and thee that I'm trying to fix).
I have to say it's nice to finally understand what people say and not imagine what they are saying. The local dialect is the only thing I still have to learn but I would like to perfect my Italian before I worry about learning a new "language". The reason I write it with quotes is because it is not an accepted language in other countries but it is a local language so in the end it is important.
Two thumbs up who can do that!
On another note, Wednesday I read some local newspaper and I just happened to remember because I saw the mountains today with this wonderful day.
Two things that caught my eye while reading the paper.
Number one: the mountains to the north of Brescia ha their first snowfall of the season. And in fact, today being in the south western part of town, you are able to ferns great view! The top of the mountains are all white!!! I wish I would have brought a camera to take a picture. It's such a beautiful day today, clear blue sky and no clouds. The visibility is great and the reason why I can see the mountains with snow and the top.
Second thing: Italy is now number 67 on the corruption list, after Rwanda!! The ranking included 173 countries, U.S. is number 22 and first time in years being out of the top 20.
In fact, now being in Italy for over a year now I am starting to understand how this country works. At first it was difficult just for the fact that I didn't know the language and in a years time I am able to read, understand and speak and write (with minor mistake here and thee that I'm trying to fix).
I have to say it's nice to finally understand what people say and not imagine what they are saying. The local dialect is the only thing I still have to learn but I would like to perfect my Italian before I worry about learning a new "language". The reason I write it with quotes is because it is not an accepted language in other countries but it is a local language so in the end it is important.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Long time no see!
Today I met one of my students that took some English classes with me last spring. He told me very good news, his girlfriend is pregnant!!! I was so happy for him.
I remember him so well because I've never met someone like him. When I met him for the first time he warned me that his phone would ring during class or that one of his accounting partners could call him to ask him something and I thought he was exaggerating but it really did happen! It was actually weird if his phone didn't ring during the class or I didn't have to wait for him. He works in a big building that is very pretty and looks very modern. It's all made of glass and it has some sort of vertical shutters made out of aluminum or some sort of metal painted white.
He was always very kind and his secretary always made sure while I waited I received a cup of coffee or a glass of water or a piece of candy.
If there was a bowl of candy I would most likely take one because they were delicious! It was like starburst so like a chewable gummy but softer and probably more juicy.
Anyway, the best part about seeing him was that when he told me that his girlfriend was expecting was that they just found out last week but since she is getting a huge belly so fast without being able to eat because she can't keep food or liquids down, he thinks they might be twins.
He said that it's a possibility for him and also for her! So as I wished him the best abs congratulated him again he got a phone call and we said goodbye. =)
I remember him so well because I've never met someone like him. When I met him for the first time he warned me that his phone would ring during class or that one of his accounting partners could call him to ask him something and I thought he was exaggerating but it really did happen! It was actually weird if his phone didn't ring during the class or I didn't have to wait for him. He works in a big building that is very pretty and looks very modern. It's all made of glass and it has some sort of vertical shutters made out of aluminum or some sort of metal painted white.
He was always very kind and his secretary always made sure while I waited I received a cup of coffee or a glass of water or a piece of candy.
If there was a bowl of candy I would most likely take one because they were delicious! It was like starburst so like a chewable gummy but softer and probably more juicy.
Anyway, the best part about seeing him was that when he told me that his girlfriend was expecting was that they just found out last week but since she is getting a huge belly so fast without being able to eat because she can't keep food or liquids down, he thinks they might be twins.
He said that it's a possibility for him and also for her! So as I wished him the best abs congratulated him again he got a phone call and we said goodbye. =)
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Funny...not!
Funny the way weather works, the minute I decide to go running, it starts raining!!! Hopefully I get to go tomorrow.
=(
=(
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Long bike day
Today was a hard! Well at least after breakfast. The morning started with a croissant with strawberry jam and some milk. What came next was another hard 4 hour work out!!it was pretty horrible!! I mean I was dead by the end of it. For some reason though, I can't get myself to take a nap in the afternoon after this long work-out.
At 8pm we met with some friends for aperitivo. I hadn't seen some in a while. Except for one girl, everyone came to have dinner. We were supposed to have dinner at the October Fest event in the town where I live. It ended up being full therefore we went to a German restaurant but no luck there again. we ended up in a restaurant that was quite pricey! It was a good dinner though. Afterwards, we went to a Cantina for some wine, some people had left others arrived and when we got to the cantina another friend called and met is there too.
I had a good night with friends but after this long day it's time to say 'night!
At 8pm we met with some friends for aperitivo. I hadn't seen some in a while. Except for one girl, everyone came to have dinner. We were supposed to have dinner at the October Fest event in the town where I live. It ended up being full therefore we went to a German restaurant but no luck there again. we ended up in a restaurant that was quite pricey! It was a good dinner though. Afterwards, we went to a Cantina for some wine, some people had left others arrived and when we got to the cantina another friend called and met is there too.
I had a good night with friends but after this long day it's time to say 'night!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Piadina
I had an early lunch today. To change it up a bit, I went out for lunch. I don't do it very often. I prefer to have lunch at home but today I was feeling like having something different. I ended up having a piadina. It's similar to a quesadilla. The piadina is like a tortilla but besides the flour they also add lard. Sounds pretty gross when you explain it but it's quite good. The thickness of the piadina is much thicker than a tortilla and the size of it is about the size of a burrito. The piadina is folded in half and you can put in whatever you like. The most traditional is with baked ham and a type of cheese called fontina. It's pretty good. Other types of cheeses include grana which is like Parmesan cheese and blue cheese. Other types of ham, bacon or tuna can be ingredients for a piadina.
I decided to stay downtown for the rest of the afternoon after having lunch. Before I came back home, I went to get ice cream again! I broke my rule of having ice-cream only on Tuesdays. It's actually not really a rule, it's more like a convenience rule. Anyway, I think I'm getting hooked but I just had to have it again! I got pear and chocolate again. I'll try other flavors next time.
Thursday evenings are scheduled as running days, like Saturdays are bike days. Tonight we went right after Riccardo got home from work. We ran for a good hour again. I had minor discomfort in the last 10 minutes of the run. We will see if my knees hurt again on Saturday when we go cycling.
I decided to stay downtown for the rest of the afternoon after having lunch. Before I came back home, I went to get ice cream again! I broke my rule of having ice-cream only on Tuesdays. It's actually not really a rule, it's more like a convenience rule. Anyway, I think I'm getting hooked but I just had to have it again! I got pear and chocolate again. I'll try other flavors next time.
Thursday evenings are scheduled as running days, like Saturdays are bike days. Tonight we went right after Riccardo got home from work. We ran for a good hour again. I had minor discomfort in the last 10 minutes of the run. We will see if my knees hurt again on Saturday when we go cycling.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Benvenuti al Sud
I watched and Italian film tonight. It was soo funny. What the story portrays is so true. There are many stereotypes between the north and south of Italy that the movie shows. I think the actors and director did a fantastic job.
Even if it's an Italian film, half of the movie is in the dialect from Naples that many Italians can understand because it's widely heard around Italy and some mafia movies. Even if I didn't understand the dialect, I understood the message of the movie.
It was something like, don't judge a book by its cover.
If you get a chance to see it, I highly recommend it.
Even if it's an Italian film, half of the movie is in the dialect from Naples that many Italians can understand because it's widely heard around Italy and some mafia movies. Even if I didn't understand the dialect, I understood the message of the movie.
It was something like, don't judge a book by its cover.
If you get a chance to see it, I highly recommend it.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
No Strawberry....again!
Today is ice-cream day.
I went to Ribera and to my surprise no strawberry ice-cream again! I am thinking that the season must be finished and is expensive to keep making it with very high priced raw materials. Good news though, I have a new favorite flavor well, two to be exact. They are pear and chocolate. It's so strange I've always loved eating pears, I didn't think pear ice-cream could be good but it is! Someway I think that the ice-cream feeling is like a smoothie.
Very good in the end. This time they didn't have frutti di bosco. Thank God.
Very happy to have new flavors to look forward to.
I went to Ribera and to my surprise no strawberry ice-cream again! I am thinking that the season must be finished and is expensive to keep making it with very high priced raw materials. Good news though, I have a new favorite flavor well, two to be exact. They are pear and chocolate. It's so strange I've always loved eating pears, I didn't think pear ice-cream could be good but it is! Someway I think that the ice-cream feeling is like a smoothie.
Very good in the end. This time they didn't have frutti di bosco. Thank God.
Very happy to have new flavors to look forward to.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Rain, rain go away....
Sunday I woke up quite early since I had a bad pain on my left knee especially. I watched TV until Riccardo woke up. It was still raining when I woke up and it kept raining all day. We had lunch at noon and at around 4 p.m. we decided to go to Decathlon. It is a French chain that sells clothing for all type of sports with very reasonable prices. They sell their own brands and also other known brands like Adidas. Even if I buy most of work-out clothes and shoes in the US from Nike or Adidas I've gotten some things at Decathlon. For example, a light weight running wind jacket that I got today, other items that I got in the past include the heart rate monitor and some bike shorts and pants for cycling in the summer or winter.
While we were at Decathlon, Riccardo bought a new set of bike tires suitable for road cycling and some winter clothes that he can use either for running or for cycling.
After Decathlon, instead of taking the highway we went the "longer way" to check if the Fiat dealership was open. On Sundays everything is close except for some bars. This weekend though some stores were open. It's not set which weekend they will open. It's up to the store or the mall which weekend they will be open.
So for a while now, Riccardo has been telling me about a car that he thinks it's a good deal. In reality, it's more of a mini van but it's amazing how little it consumes. The price of gas in Italy at the moment is 1.34€/liter!! Even if most cars use diesel which is cheaper by a little over a dime. Italy uses other types of fuel such as methane and liquid propane. Both of these are a lot cheaper which is better and they don't pollute as much as other types of fuel. Due to the fact that methane is a newer method, it's inconvenient because there aren't that many gas stations selling it. So sometimes you have to go out of your way to fill up your tank.
While we were in the show room, we went inside many cars and I tried the Fiat 500 which is a super little car that is just adorable. From the outside, it seems modern but when you go inside it's seems like you went back to the 60s! It's retro chic. It's actually quite popular here. Anyway if I ever buy a car here I would buy that one. It's really neat. The other cool thing is that I saw an automatic shift car. Oh how much I miss driving!!
Aftere all thi going around, we got a pizza for dinner and watched the God Father. We started to watch the second part of the trilogy but we stopped half way into it because I couldn't keep my eyes open. Tomorrow is Monday so the weekend is over, hoping the next five business days go by quickly, that way, I can see what it is stored for next weekend.
While we were at Decathlon, Riccardo bought a new set of bike tires suitable for road cycling and some winter clothes that he can use either for running or for cycling.
After Decathlon, instead of taking the highway we went the "longer way" to check if the Fiat dealership was open. On Sundays everything is close except for some bars. This weekend though some stores were open. It's not set which weekend they will open. It's up to the store or the mall which weekend they will be open.
So for a while now, Riccardo has been telling me about a car that he thinks it's a good deal. In reality, it's more of a mini van but it's amazing how little it consumes. The price of gas in Italy at the moment is 1.34€/liter!! Even if most cars use diesel which is cheaper by a little over a dime. Italy uses other types of fuel such as methane and liquid propane. Both of these are a lot cheaper which is better and they don't pollute as much as other types of fuel. Due to the fact that methane is a newer method, it's inconvenient because there aren't that many gas stations selling it. So sometimes you have to go out of your way to fill up your tank.
While we were in the show room, we went inside many cars and I tried the Fiat 500 which is a super little car that is just adorable. From the outside, it seems modern but when you go inside it's seems like you went back to the 60s! It's retro chic. It's actually quite popular here. Anyway if I ever buy a car here I would buy that one. It's really neat. The other cool thing is that I saw an automatic shift car. Oh how much I miss driving!!
Aftere all thi going around, we got a pizza for dinner and watched the God Father. We started to watch the second part of the trilogy but we stopped half way into it because I couldn't keep my eyes open. Tomorrow is Monday so the weekend is over, hoping the next five business days go by quickly, that way, I can see what it is stored for next weekend.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Killer work-out
Being a Saturday, it is a bike riding day cold or shine. When it rains we don't go because you can't see anything!! We came back around 1 am last night just so we could wake up at 9. Actually, I usually don't have a problem to wake up early but Riccardo in the other hand thinks highly on sleeping until 10:30 a.m. or 11 a.m. but when we go on our little bike adventures they are the exception to the rule. Anyway so we planned to leave by 10 a.m. after having a high energy breakfast, egg sandwiches. They were pretty good I have to say.
We always decide where we will go when we get on our bikes, there's the usual Maddalena or new choices that Riccardo comes up with randomly. Well this time we went for the new way. We had never done this one together, he had done this a few years back with his friend Sergio. Oh boy! I wish I would have known what I was getting myself into. We started with an 8 km "flat" start. It was relatively flat to what came next. I'm not sure on the distance of the uphill part but what I know was that every second from the start seemed like eternity. After about one hour of going uphill, we finally arrived to a flat area and we decided to stop there and come back home. The return was hard even if we took less than a third of the time of the way there but we were so tired that we just wanted a warm shower because it was so cold. Thank God we took all of our winter outerwear!! Gloves, long pants, long sleeves and heavy wind jackets.
After arriving home and taking showers, we had lunch. Riccardo's parents were so nice to make us lunch. I'm pretty sure we looked so bad and tired after this 3 hour workout and that was the reason they decided to do that. We had chicken on the grill with salad. We rested a bit and Riccardo ended up falling asleep on the couch watching TV. Me in the other hand made a cake to thank Riccardo's parents for making us lunch. After having such a good meal I had energy again. While the cake was in the oven, we got ready so that when the cake was done, we could go to a bike shop to look at some tires. When we left home at around 5, it started raining like the weather man had said. We went to the store and watched Milan play at the bar with a pirlo. When the game was over, we went to a Tissue Party. One friend of the bunch collects tissue packages. He makes parties once he reached a certain number. His collection is now made up of 2300 tissue packages!!!! It's amazing how many he has and the variety!! Around midnight all the invitees came downtown. It wasn't so hard finding a parking space because it was still raining. Even if it was raining there were quite a lot of people downtown for a rainy night at least.
The night finished and when we came home and I wrapped my knees with bandages and some icy-hot because they were just killing me after bike riding.
Hoping to feel better tomorrow and walk with no pain.
We always decide where we will go when we get on our bikes, there's the usual Maddalena or new choices that Riccardo comes up with randomly. Well this time we went for the new way. We had never done this one together, he had done this a few years back with his friend Sergio. Oh boy! I wish I would have known what I was getting myself into. We started with an 8 km "flat" start. It was relatively flat to what came next. I'm not sure on the distance of the uphill part but what I know was that every second from the start seemed like eternity. After about one hour of going uphill, we finally arrived to a flat area and we decided to stop there and come back home. The return was hard even if we took less than a third of the time of the way there but we were so tired that we just wanted a warm shower because it was so cold. Thank God we took all of our winter outerwear!! Gloves, long pants, long sleeves and heavy wind jackets.
After arriving home and taking showers, we had lunch. Riccardo's parents were so nice to make us lunch. I'm pretty sure we looked so bad and tired after this 3 hour workout and that was the reason they decided to do that. We had chicken on the grill with salad. We rested a bit and Riccardo ended up falling asleep on the couch watching TV. Me in the other hand made a cake to thank Riccardo's parents for making us lunch. After having such a good meal I had energy again. While the cake was in the oven, we got ready so that when the cake was done, we could go to a bike shop to look at some tires. When we left home at around 5, it started raining like the weather man had said. We went to the store and watched Milan play at the bar with a pirlo. When the game was over, we went to a Tissue Party. One friend of the bunch collects tissue packages. He makes parties once he reached a certain number. His collection is now made up of 2300 tissue packages!!!! It's amazing how many he has and the variety!! Around midnight all the invitees came downtown. It wasn't so hard finding a parking space because it was still raining. Even if it was raining there were quite a lot of people downtown for a rainy night at least.
The night finished and when we came home and I wrapped my knees with bandages and some icy-hot because they were just killing me after bike riding.
Hoping to feel better tomorrow and walk with no pain.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Frutti di Bosco
I woke up today and was so excited because on Tuesdays I go by the best ice-cream shop of Brescia but only for strawberry ice-cream. As you all know, I've become crazy for strawberry ice-cream. In the US I never used to have strawberry. I was more of a vanilla and every now and then, I would have chocolate or cookies an cream.
In Italy, you can find any flavor made with real fruit and even candy bars or desserts. Other than strawberry I like tiramissu, kinder chocolate, cantaloupe or lemon. When I finally arrived to Ribera Gelato, I was shocked to see that they didn't have it that day!!! I couldn't believe it! I chose a flavor that I've never tried before but this flavor (frutti di bosco) grabbed my attention because it is the same flavor of these gummies that my mom, sister and brother like. I figured it would be a good choice because in fact these gummies are quite tasty but in reality it was quite bad. The ice-cream that could be translated as fruit of the forest, in reality, is more like a mix of wild berries. The ice-cream was creamy and rich like the strawberry ice-cream but it had some seeds of one of the fruits that made the ice-cream not good! I was very disappointed. I hope next week they have strawberry otherwise, I will change ice-cream shop. No, I am joking. I will probably just not get frutti di bosco.
Waiting impatiently for next Tuesday to come around.
In Italy, you can find any flavor made with real fruit and even candy bars or desserts. Other than strawberry I like tiramissu, kinder chocolate, cantaloupe or lemon. When I finally arrived to Ribera Gelato, I was shocked to see that they didn't have it that day!!! I couldn't believe it! I chose a flavor that I've never tried before but this flavor (frutti di bosco) grabbed my attention because it is the same flavor of these gummies that my mom, sister and brother like. I figured it would be a good choice because in fact these gummies are quite tasty but in reality it was quite bad. The ice-cream that could be translated as fruit of the forest, in reality, is more like a mix of wild berries. The ice-cream was creamy and rich like the strawberry ice-cream but it had some seeds of one of the fruits that made the ice-cream not good! I was very disappointed. I hope next week they have strawberry otherwise, I will change ice-cream shop. No, I am joking. I will probably just not get frutti di bosco.
Waiting impatiently for next Tuesday to come around.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Simone
In the late afternoon, I went to the hospital to meet Simone. He is the new born baby. Riccardo's friend became a first time dad yesterday 10/10/10 at 10 a.m. Crazy!!!
He is a cute little baby boy. The baby is healthy and the mother is doing great.
It's my second time to visit the Brescian hospital and both times for the birth of 2 baby boys. There are quite a lot of hospitals in this city and all well-known for their treatmets for certain diseases, virus or terminal illnesses.
It's nice to go into the neonatal floor because it's so warm and it feels so cozy.
Today it really felt good especially because I was feeling so bad. I think I started to get a cold. This morning I figured they were allergies again but I really feel like I am going to get a fever. I hope I don't. I have no idea how I caught this cold but I just hope my body can fight efficiently and don't spend days thinking to only need a bed to rest.
He is a cute little baby boy. The baby is healthy and the mother is doing great.
It's my second time to visit the Brescian hospital and both times for the birth of 2 baby boys. There are quite a lot of hospitals in this city and all well-known for their treatmets for certain diseases, virus or terminal illnesses.
It's nice to go into the neonatal floor because it's so warm and it feels so cozy.
Today it really felt good especially because I was feeling so bad. I think I started to get a cold. This morning I figured they were allergies again but I really feel like I am going to get a fever. I hope I don't. I have no idea how I caught this cold but I just hope my body can fight efficiently and don't spend days thinking to only need a bed to rest.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
American Food in Italy
Today was a very cold day in the mountain and instead of running before having lunch we had lunch first and ran in the late afternoon. We ran for an hour and it was easier than the day before since the big steep hill was at the end. In reality that makes is harder than the previous day because the hard part was after running for an hour and I definitely felt it. Luckily, I started slower than usual because I got heartburn after having lunch. That was actually the only way I think I was able to finish.
We came back home to shower and get our bags ready to go back to Brescia because the weekend was coming to an end. After having everything ready, we stopped to visit Riccardo's uncle that had been in the hospital. After catching up, some current strategies on the soccer field, and realizing it was time for his uncle and aunt to have dinner, we said bye and started driving to Brescia. Instead if going home and having pizza for dinner, we decided to have ribs at a restaurant at the mall. They were quite good. They were served quite abundantly, almost like in an American restaurant.
We had a good night with great laughs and got home at about 11 p.m.
I'm quite tired now so I think I'll go catch some zzz's. Until next time my friends.
We came back home to shower and get our bags ready to go back to Brescia because the weekend was coming to an end. After having everything ready, we stopped to visit Riccardo's uncle that had been in the hospital. After catching up, some current strategies on the soccer field, and realizing it was time for his uncle and aunt to have dinner, we said bye and started driving to Brescia. Instead if going home and having pizza for dinner, we decided to have ribs at a restaurant at the mall. They were quite good. They were served quite abundantly, almost like in an American restaurant.
We had a good night with great laughs and got home at about 11 p.m.
I'm quite tired now so I think I'll go catch some zzz's. Until next time my friends.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Brioche
We woke up around 10 a.m. and went to a very but very little food shop, it's too small to call it a supermarket or even a corner store. Believe it or not, in it they have everything you need to eat. Ham, cheese, bread, milk, fruits and vegetables, pasta, meat and chicken.
We got some pasta, some ham, cheese, bread, and a brioche. A brioche is like a croissant but in Italy they are sweet pastries, they have a filling of jelly or nutella. This one didn't have a filling but it had a lot of sugar outside. When I had a bite I was reminded of the taste of a Mexican pastry from a Guatemalan Panaderia in Dallas. I use to have these conchas con azucar (creo que se llaman nubes) of course what better than with a latte made by my mom right before the workday to start. It was really the best way to start the day.
Anyway, after the little shopping, we went for a run. It was about one hour run. It was great, it would have been better if I were not starting to get sick. I had a runny nose the whole time. It was a hard uphill to start and then a long flat zone until another hard hill and we turned around to go back to the starting point.
We had lunch after the run and watched the movie on TV, Superman, the old one, with Christopher Reeve.
I had never seen it, it was wonderful. After the movie, we got ready to go to Vezza d'Oglio. It's a town before Ponte di Legno. Ponte di Legno is a very chic place to go in the winter to ski. Vezza is a small town in the middle of the mountains. The reason for going was because one of Riccardo's friends from college lives there. His name is Diego. I also got to meet his girlfriend, Valentina. We went to have dinner together and then the best part of the weekend. We went up this mountain to see deer. Detail being that there was crazy fog. You couldn't see more than 30 yards ahead of you. So even if we knew we weren't going to have much luck we went anyway. It was actually pretty cool, we could hear them but they sounded so close, it was quite frightening.
After hearing them for some, we wanted to go to another place to hear them but we got nothing, so we decided to go back down and then the amazing moment...we saw 3 of them! They seemed young, one was a male because he had the antlers, small but they were there.
It was soo cute, they all had white butts. Pretty neat, they ran too fast to even get a picture of them but we saw them soo close. It was amazing.
We stopped at this little restaurant on our way down to see the place inside. It was super nice inside all made of wood. It was nice way to get warm too after being out in the cold listening to deer. After getting warm, we went went home and the day finished. I was really tired after the run, dinner, deer, and everything that I knew I would sleep like a baby when I got home.
We got some pasta, some ham, cheese, bread, and a brioche. A brioche is like a croissant but in Italy they are sweet pastries, they have a filling of jelly or nutella. This one didn't have a filling but it had a lot of sugar outside. When I had a bite I was reminded of the taste of a Mexican pastry from a Guatemalan Panaderia in Dallas. I use to have these conchas con azucar (creo que se llaman nubes) of course what better than with a latte made by my mom right before the workday to start. It was really the best way to start the day.
Anyway, after the little shopping, we went for a run. It was about one hour run. It was great, it would have been better if I were not starting to get sick. I had a runny nose the whole time. It was a hard uphill to start and then a long flat zone until another hard hill and we turned around to go back to the starting point.
We had lunch after the run and watched the movie on TV, Superman, the old one, with Christopher Reeve.
I had never seen it, it was wonderful. After the movie, we got ready to go to Vezza d'Oglio. It's a town before Ponte di Legno. Ponte di Legno is a very chic place to go in the winter to ski. Vezza is a small town in the middle of the mountains. The reason for going was because one of Riccardo's friends from college lives there. His name is Diego. I also got to meet his girlfriend, Valentina. We went to have dinner together and then the best part of the weekend. We went up this mountain to see deer. Detail being that there was crazy fog. You couldn't see more than 30 yards ahead of you. So even if we knew we weren't going to have much luck we went anyway. It was actually pretty cool, we could hear them but they sounded so close, it was quite frightening.
After hearing them for some, we wanted to go to another place to hear them but we got nothing, so we decided to go back down and then the amazing moment...we saw 3 of them! They seemed young, one was a male because he had the antlers, small but they were there.
It was soo cute, they all had white butts. Pretty neat, they ran too fast to even get a picture of them but we saw them soo close. It was amazing.
We stopped at this little restaurant on our way down to see the place inside. It was super nice inside all made of wood. It was nice way to get warm too after being out in the cold listening to deer. After getting warm, we went went home and the day finished. I was really tired after the run, dinner, deer, and everything that I knew I would sleep like a baby when I got home.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Running around
After running around all day, it was time to get my bag ready to go to the mountain house. We stopped to eat dinner at a place called Beef-Ed. Its a sort of American or better, western type of restaurant. We had grilled chicken. It was really good! We've had dinner twice before and we liked it a lot. Since it's close to home and the prices are reasonable according to Italian standards, we figured we could stop to have a bite. We finished dinner at about 8:30pm and we went to get a coffee from McDonalds since the coffee machines were not working at the restaurant.Thank God for MickeyDs. It was amazing because it's almost a sin for Italians not to have coffee after a meal. I stand by believing that a true Italian meal is not done until coffee is served.
After the drive, we arrived around 10 p.m. to the mountain where the house is but we decided to stop at a bar for a drink. It is Friday night, so it was early to go to bed. There was a group of Germans and us in the restaurant/bar/hotel. It's a slow period since summer is over and the cold keeps people away. It was 9 degrees Celsius outside.
Anyway, we ended up playing Trivial Pursuit until 11:15 p.m. and we decided to call it a night since the Germans had left and it was just us and the barman/owner of the place.
In the mountains, places close early and we thought we were intruding. We came home to a cold house so to warm up the house you can only do it like in the olden days. Grab some wood and burn it away in a little stove that heats up the room. We just do this in the kitchen/living room because in the other rooms, we use little electrical heaters. Overall, a great cold night. It was a night with the first feel of winter coming soon!!
After the drive, we arrived around 10 p.m. to the mountain where the house is but we decided to stop at a bar for a drink. It is Friday night, so it was early to go to bed. There was a group of Germans and us in the restaurant/bar/hotel. It's a slow period since summer is over and the cold keeps people away. It was 9 degrees Celsius outside.
Anyway, we ended up playing Trivial Pursuit until 11:15 p.m. and we decided to call it a night since the Germans had left and it was just us and the barman/owner of the place.
In the mountains, places close early and we thought we were intruding. We came home to a cold house so to warm up the house you can only do it like in the olden days. Grab some wood and burn it away in a little stove that heats up the room. We just do this in the kitchen/living room because in the other rooms, we use little electrical heaters. Overall, a great cold night. It was a night with the first feel of winter coming soon!!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Relaxing Sunday
I woke up early to see that Riccardo was still feeling bad and so he gave in. It was time to try some of my home remedies and American pain killers for the sore throat that has been bothering him for about a week.
He fell asleep after the painkiller and woke up feeling better but as soon as he had something to eat, he felt worse than before.
He feel asleep again but is feeling much better at the moment...(I think the home remedy worked to make the swelling go down, and the pain killer for the little fever that he had).
In Italy, all business and stores are closed on Sundays but once a month they are open the mornings or all day. Today was the day for the month of October for the near by supermarket. Since I woke up early, I was able to go and get something for tonight's dinner, which turned out to be pretty good. The ravioli we had today were stuffed with mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and some ham.
It was the first time to try this kind of ravioli and I was very happy with the taste. Riccardo prefered the ones that we usually buy (stuffed with meat) which have a special name. It is casoncelli because it's part of the local cuisine.
During the day, we were supposed to go by bike but with Riccardo feeling pretty bad, we decided not to go. I ended up going for a late afternoon run after Tommaso's first birthday party.
Tommaso or aka Tommy is Riccardo's nephew who just turned one!
He is adorable. He is starting to walk and stand all by himself.
We had a great 2 hours of celebrating and eating some mousse cake. It had a strage texture but somehow it all worked together. There were 3 layers, the bottom one was icy, the one in the middle I imagine was of some fruit, and the top one was like flan but was melting which seemed like ice-cream.
Overall, I had a great day.
Looking forward to tomorrow. Even if it means it's Monday and the weekend will come again in five more days. I am excited though, we are planning to go to the mountain house!!! I can't wait, I love that place. It's soooo nice. It's pretty cold there which means I will get to use my winter jacket for sure. I saw that tonight's low there was only 5 degrees Celsius!!! I'm kind of excited.
Until next time,
Daniela
He fell asleep after the painkiller and woke up feeling better but as soon as he had something to eat, he felt worse than before.
He feel asleep again but is feeling much better at the moment...(I think the home remedy worked to make the swelling go down, and the pain killer for the little fever that he had).
In Italy, all business and stores are closed on Sundays but once a month they are open the mornings or all day. Today was the day for the month of October for the near by supermarket. Since I woke up early, I was able to go and get something for tonight's dinner, which turned out to be pretty good. The ravioli we had today were stuffed with mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and some ham.
It was the first time to try this kind of ravioli and I was very happy with the taste. Riccardo prefered the ones that we usually buy (stuffed with meat) which have a special name. It is casoncelli because it's part of the local cuisine.
During the day, we were supposed to go by bike but with Riccardo feeling pretty bad, we decided not to go. I ended up going for a late afternoon run after Tommaso's first birthday party.
Tommaso or aka Tommy is Riccardo's nephew who just turned one!
He is adorable. He is starting to walk and stand all by himself.
We had a great 2 hours of celebrating and eating some mousse cake. It had a strage texture but somehow it all worked together. There were 3 layers, the bottom one was icy, the one in the middle I imagine was of some fruit, and the top one was like flan but was melting which seemed like ice-cream.
Overall, I had a great day.
Looking forward to tomorrow. Even if it means it's Monday and the weekend will come again in five more days. I am excited though, we are planning to go to the mountain house!!! I can't wait, I love that place. It's soooo nice. It's pretty cold there which means I will get to use my winter jacket for sure. I saw that tonight's low there was only 5 degrees Celsius!!! I'm kind of excited.
Until next time,
Daniela
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Did it again....
Made banana nut bread again because well I wanted to make some to bring to Tommaso's birthday tomorrow.
Before I made it I took a picture of the ripe bananas. I thought it was strange that bananas ripe different.
As you can see on the left, there are the ones from the African continent and on the right from the ones from the American contient. I found it so strange because I usually never let bananas ripe and oddly enough I picked up 3 bananas from each continent on the same day and the same supermarket. I figured all bananas ripe like the ones on the right, that is how I have always seen them. I never thought it could happen as on the left.
Anyway, the banana nut bread turned out well. Not like last weeks, it was a bit more humid this time. Since in Italy nobody knows about this type of bread, everyone that has tried it so far thinks it's a dessert. They are quite surprised that this is what you can have breakfast.
Before the cake, Riccardo and I went by bike and on the road we found someone that we knew. He flies cycling. It was quite amazing to see. Well Riccardo kept his pace but I just realized how slow I am. Well I am sure I can keep a stedy pace for a long time but I need to practice more and the fall weather is not helping. It was quite cold today. Thank God that I brought my winter gloves, otherwise my fingers would have been frozen.
This time we did a new road. Riccardo takes this road to work everyday and he had done it once before but that day I didn't go with him. It was tough because you are right next to the cars that drive by pretty fast. It's a mountain road and quite narrow in some areas.
I had a bad pain on my left leg which didn't help but I kept at it and arrived to where we said we were going to meet. We got ready for the downhill with wind jackets, winter gloves, etc. and went at a very good pace on the way back.
In the evening, we went to get a pirlo :) We usually go to a bar with a big projector where we can see the soccer games. Last night we went because Milan playing, Riccardo's favorite team. Luckily we arrived right before Pirlo (this time the soccer player) scored a crazy goal. Thanks to him, Milan won the game last night.
In Brescia, there was an event called, Notte Bianca, but due to Riccardo's bad sore throat, we decided to go home early and skip Notte Bianca. It is a fun event. All shops and businesses downtown are open and the city is lighted, that way two times a year people come downtown to mingle and be out in the city. They do this event in March and October I believe. I have been twice and it's great. I was so surprised to see so many people!!!
From what I hear, Brescia is stereo-typed as a city with one of the worst dialects in Italy and for having people that just work, work, work.
I don't mind the work, work, work because it's probably one of the most wealthy cities in Italy and also in a region that is one of the biggest markets. This city is very industrialized and due to that, there are many immigrants.
And because Brescians like working so much, they never go downtown or go out after work. In the morning, they leavehome to work and after work, they go straight home. It's like they are so worried about work they give up the "fun" in their lives. Everything runs like a clock or at least most of the time, even if local citizens might not agree with this statement. I have never met a culture that is so coconscious of time like Brescians. I have seen something similar when I lived in Detroit but nothing like here.
This reminds me of a saying one of my swim coaches will say to me about being on time to practice. "If you are five minutes early, you're on-time, if you're on-time you are late."
I think that is really true. If you have an appointment at 3:30pm and the other party arrives at 3:29pm, right after they greet you, they apologize for being late.
Anyway, going back to Notte Bianca, well it's pretty much the only time of the year that you can see so many people gathered together in one area.
So we skipped Notte Bianca but we watched Superman. The old one not the recent one.
I liked it. I had never seen it.
Overall, a great day.
Before I made it I took a picture of the ripe bananas. I thought it was strange that bananas ripe different.
 |
| Ripe Del Monte Bananas |
Anyway, the banana nut bread turned out well. Not like last weeks, it was a bit more humid this time. Since in Italy nobody knows about this type of bread, everyone that has tried it so far thinks it's a dessert. They are quite surprised that this is what you can have breakfast.
Before the cake, Riccardo and I went by bike and on the road we found someone that we knew. He flies cycling. It was quite amazing to see. Well Riccardo kept his pace but I just realized how slow I am. Well I am sure I can keep a stedy pace for a long time but I need to practice more and the fall weather is not helping. It was quite cold today. Thank God that I brought my winter gloves, otherwise my fingers would have been frozen.
This time we did a new road. Riccardo takes this road to work everyday and he had done it once before but that day I didn't go with him. It was tough because you are right next to the cars that drive by pretty fast. It's a mountain road and quite narrow in some areas.
I had a bad pain on my left leg which didn't help but I kept at it and arrived to where we said we were going to meet. We got ready for the downhill with wind jackets, winter gloves, etc. and went at a very good pace on the way back.
In the evening, we went to get a pirlo :) We usually go to a bar with a big projector where we can see the soccer games. Last night we went because Milan playing, Riccardo's favorite team. Luckily we arrived right before Pirlo (this time the soccer player) scored a crazy goal. Thanks to him, Milan won the game last night.
In Brescia, there was an event called, Notte Bianca, but due to Riccardo's bad sore throat, we decided to go home early and skip Notte Bianca. It is a fun event. All shops and businesses downtown are open and the city is lighted, that way two times a year people come downtown to mingle and be out in the city. They do this event in March and October I believe. I have been twice and it's great. I was so surprised to see so many people!!!
From what I hear, Brescia is stereo-typed as a city with one of the worst dialects in Italy and for having people that just work, work, work.
I don't mind the work, work, work because it's probably one of the most wealthy cities in Italy and also in a region that is one of the biggest markets. This city is very industrialized and due to that, there are many immigrants.
And because Brescians like working so much, they never go downtown or go out after work. In the morning, they leavehome to work and after work, they go straight home. It's like they are so worried about work they give up the "fun" in their lives. Everything runs like a clock or at least most of the time, even if local citizens might not agree with this statement. I have never met a culture that is so coconscious of time like Brescians. I have seen something similar when I lived in Detroit but nothing like here.
This reminds me of a saying one of my swim coaches will say to me about being on time to practice. "If you are five minutes early, you're on-time, if you're on-time you are late."
I think that is really true. If you have an appointment at 3:30pm and the other party arrives at 3:29pm, right after they greet you, they apologize for being late.
Anyway, going back to Notte Bianca, well it's pretty much the only time of the year that you can see so many people gathered together in one area.
So we skipped Notte Bianca but we watched Superman. The old one not the recent one.
I liked it. I had never seen it.
Overall, a great day.
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