ah can't sleep so excited for amsterdam!

leaving tomorrow morning -- i'm already so in love with the city and i haven't even gotten there yet!

today was a good day.

the bora has died down to a pleasant late-fall breeze and the air was crystal clear today.

after picking up our permessi di soggorni (we have permission to stay in italy! legally!), we walked down to piazza unita and the sunset was incredible, as we discussed that they always are.

the sky was so clear, you could see across the sea to the dolomites as perfectly as we've been able to see them yet -- it was absolutely amazing. these pictures just look pathetic compared to how breathtaking the view really was...

xo!

apologies.

dear readers (aka mom, jfox and andrew),

i'm sorry i was a debbie downer just now about the cold weather.

since then i have:

1. painted my fingernails bright blue
2. uploaded a photo album to facebook consisting ONLY of pictures of sunsets
3. discovered that there are only 60 days left until christmas

thanks for letting me vent, blog!

and now i can go to sleep happy. to the voices of love actually


xx!

seasonal affective disorder (SAD) aka "winter depression" or "winter blues"

did you know that it's only october 26th? (BEFORE halloween?)

did you know that the first day of winter isn't until december 21st?

did you know that i am already wearing all of my warmest clothes?

did you know that i am still FREEZING?!!?

i borderline-regret everything i have ever said about always preferring to be cold instead of hot.  it is true that i greatly dislike sweating in a non-exercise situation, but i have been shivering from the cold for the past few DAYS.

and it sucks.

it's miserable and all i want to do is be in my bed at all hours which is SO not like me.  the wind is insane and i sleep in socks and a sweatsuit and underneath 2 blankets and a down comforter every night.  i'm so frustrated because i want to go out and do fun things and take advantage of living in a cool place but it's so cold that i don't want to be outside more than absolutely necessary.  UGH.  i never thought that weather alone could make you not like a place, but i'm beginning to think that it can.

i mean, i was riding the bus down from school today and the view over the water was amazing, the water had this really cool texture because of the wind and i was listening to some super hot jams and i had a really great like 4 minutes.  but then i got off the bus, literally almost got blown over, and i wanted to cry and then be wrapped in a multi-layered wool and down PARKA.

i'm not totally sure how much more i am capable of (or willing to?) bundle up; i'm already wearing my coats and boots and hats and i hate gloves, you can't use your fingers!  i refuse to dress like an eskimo anymore than i already am.  i mean, if i had wanted to be cold, i would have moved to alaska with seth.

the real world isn't so awesome today.

xo!
 

welcome back to trieste! enjoy the bora.

well the past week and weekend have gone by very very quickly -- i almost don't think they've really happened.  it's hard to believe that it's almost november and our first half-term break! i'm excited to have a week off from school and to travel to amsterdam! but can't believe that it's almost november and winter and christmas and then the year is almost over and phew time needs to slow down.

here's what's been going on:

first, L and i have been trying to find a local volleyball team to play for.  we found one! and last week went to play with them.  they turned out to be a slovenian team only practicing in opicina -- which was only somewhat convenient for us.  the language barrier was hilarious and playing was SO much fun -- i forgot how much i liked it!  we're trying to find a different team that practices in the city that might be a bit more convenient for us, so i'll keep you posted.

then, veronica's (very tall) friend, tim, came to visit from london!

having guests was so much fun, they gave us an excuse to go out every night -- (hint to everyone i know, come visit.)

 and then we got stuck in an elevator on the way to our spanish-themed dinner at R and A's apt....

it's ok? we have 6 bottles of wine and prosecco?

but no, we're really stuck. help!

we just didn't quite make it to the 8th floor.

the view from R and A's apartment was pretty sweet -- makes our city look so "metropolitan," says Lizzy.

how cute are we?!

how cute are they?!

AND THEN i went to the states. for about 40 hours. for morgan's wedding!

the fam at frankie rowlands for drinks post-rehearsal dinner

with cousin alex friday night

at the reception -- such pretty fall colors in virginia! and the weather was so warm

no, he didn't play 'celebration' by kool and the gang but he was much better than ross at playing the bagpipes

a little karaoke at the reception?

more bubbly?! yes, please!

the sunset as i was leaving DC to fly to munich was gorgeous!

so of course i took a hundred million pictures of it.

when i arrived in trieste,  it was raining. no, there was a legitimate MONSOON. and the bora has arrived (officially, now).  yesterday, the winds reached 90 kilometers an hour, which is about 56 mph, which is really fast and really cold. 

i don't love it.

xx!

roadtrip #2 to be under the tuscan sun

last weekend, i, along with 6 other teachers from school embarked upon what would become an incredibly eventful, yet relaxing, weekend roadtrip to tuscany.  check out flat olive's adventures with us!

after our half-day with students and an afternoon filled with professional development, we piled into two rented cars ready to caravan our way the 5-6ish hours it would take us to reach our destination of cortona (the setting of the novel and movie Under the Tuscan Sun.)

some photos from the road: 

emerging fall colors in bella italia

standard sunset shot - gorgeous

i'm pretty sure that is some sort of meteor/shooting star? it's definitely not a plane, as it is absent from every single other picture that i took within the minute that this was taken

more gorgeous sunset colors as we pass padova

after numerous hours of leading the way - making sure we didn't lose the second car by implementing a double-break-tap with responding headlight-flash system of communication - we took an exit, went through some tunnels and did not see the other car.  after numerous attempts to communicate with other vehicles through our break-tap system, we got a phone call. 

"uhhh, we ran out of gas."

huh. well. this should be fun. 

now, this has never happened to me in the united states. and if it were to happen to me in the united states, i would have NO idea what to do. BUT now! i DO know what to do in italy! 

we somehow convinced a little man to give us a jug of gas (although we are unsure as to how legal this actually was), avoided getting a ride with some questionable truck drivers, made numerous u-turns (the legality of which we are also unsure), and then found our friends in a roadside SOS with a reflective vest hanging out the window. 

although we had already begun, they were not quite ready to laugh about it yet. but HEY! remember that time that B and A had to push a car down the A1? 

SO, after about 8 hours, we finally made it to the quaint, tuscan hillside town of cortona. 

our weekend was the busiest, yet most relaxed, weekend i have had yet here in italy.  we did everything there was to do in cortona but, being a town made up of only two piazzas, that didn't take very long.  there was also plenty of time for relaxed coffee drinking, reading and wine tastings.

K in an art gallery we found on saturday.  the space was incredible - vaulted ceilings, exposed brick, a sand floor. and the artist, katarina ring, splits her time between lucca (also in tuscany) and zambia. 

we walked through the park on our way to hike up the mountain.  although the leaves aren't (yet?) changing to the beautiful reds and oranges that i'm used to in virginia during the fall, the bright yellows were refreshing on a dreary day.

what a beautiful spot for a wedding!

mmmmmmmmmm, wine tasting

sesti, the bottle in the middle, is a totally organic winery in montalcino.  they don't bring in anything from the outside for production, EVERYTHING involved in the wine production process is grown/raised/produced on the vineyard property. AND the brunello was delish. 

we bought a lot. 

the cutest little cafe ever! with illy coffee! and a little light reading.

being nostalgic to a fault came into play when we stumbled upon this little gem of a cafe.  the fact that they served illy coffee was so exciting! despite loving everything about tuscany, illy coffee (which is produced in trieste) is just better.  being able to get some while traveling was like a little slice of comfort from home.  it was refreshing to realize that there are some parts of trieste that i already do miss when i'm away.

commence nighttime...

lemon drops! the lion's well specialty. there's a sugar cube on top of the lemon wedge that they set on fire --- after the flame went out, you dropped the cube into the liquid and the resulting flavor was better than candy.

KARAOKE! thought of you, seeeeester.

K, my partner in obsessing over toscana

wooooo disco ball!

aaaaaaaaaand the best sandwich in the world. it's better than bel-air with take it away house dressing AND anything from continental divide mixed together. fresh pesto, mozzerella, artichoke hearts and sundried tomatoes on focaccia bread with sea salt.

after an accidental detour toward milano and multiple more questionable u-turns, we made it back to trieste on sunday.  when we were driving through the city, the wind almost blew us off of the road and it started raining. welcome home? i think it's a sign i should have never left toscana...

xx!

checking things off of the list...

1. make more of an effort to get coffee and/or aperitivo with friends after school during the week (in an effort to develop a more substantial social life and knowledge of trieste).


check! lovely coffee AND aperitivo date with my wonderful roommates this evening! we found the perfect cafe with the perfect snacks to hide from the bora that rolled in over the weekend.


[sidenote: no, i do not know what has happened in these few short months that has made it so i have to put forth a legitimate effort to be social - come visit me and fix this problem that i have encountered.]


xo!

road trip #2 domani!

first of all, check out my adventures with AXO's flat olive during barcolana last weekend here!

second of all, K and i picked up our 2nd rental car today and OF COURSE the sunset by the water was unreal (as, i'm learning, they always are)

(check out my new occhiali del sole!!)

tomorrow, we leave for cortona! K studied there last spring, so i'm looking forward to having her show me around -- and eating more delicious tuscan food. 

x

happy birthday/tanti aguri/feliz cumpleanos/i could go on...

tonight was my friend's 25th birthday, WOO!

in the midst of the celebrations (including a large batch of pimento cheese for the wisconsin-ite) we sang "happy birthday" to her in 6 languages!

now that's multiculturalism.

some pictures:

the birthday girl with her spread of snacks

discussing the map of europe

the beginning of the birthday singing..

the lone ukranian singing

not loving her croatian brandy treat

hot dog from the kids menu!

the boy's end of the table

dessert #1

dessert #2 (with a flaming sugar cube!)

the birthday celebrations have been growing more involved and more exciting as we are all getting to know each other and become friends.  K's was only the 3rd birthday since our arrival and already we've incorporated evites for a wednesday evening apertivo. i can't even begin to fantasize about what's going to come about on saturday, march 19, 2011.

xx!