This is a random post! I'll do these every so often when there's not much to go into depth about and I have just small things to share.
1) Italians are OBSESSED with coffee if you didn't already know. There are cafes around every corner, even in the middle of Saturn (their version of Best Buy). They also have vending machines in the metro, just in case you want to grab a cup of coffee while you wait 5 minutes for your train (..I will have to see how that works one day).
2) I tried Spontini pizza for the first time! It's a famous, thick, cheesy pizza that is slightly fried underneath.
*Cool fact: The parents of a friend I met over the summer here, helped to create this new kind of pizza!
3) Italians are good at saving energy. Their cars either turn off automatically at stop lights to preserve the environment (and gas) or they turn them off themselves. Also everyone recycles, no matter where you are (post office, street, bathroom..there are so many different bins)!
4) I downloaded alot new Italian songs onto my ipod, mostly from Andrea Boccelli. Now I can get some listening practice in, while I walk around all day. As I was going through Boccelli's songs I became nostalgic, remembering all those Sundays in my house listening to his entrancing "Romanza" album.
5) All Italian families live close together. The furthest immediate family member lives 10 minutes away from my host family.......I WISH I could always be that close to my family! Italy is just small so there's no room for you to move away. :P
6) Lastly, looking at the pictures of me that Mary and my mom hid in my bag before leaving for Turkey...
...I was brought back to when the pictures were taken. My very first visit to Italy, 8 years ago, with the whole Spinelli fam. Certaldo, Tuscany. Where I fell in love with Italy and decided I would come back one day. <3
I went out with my new friend that I met at the church youth group, Marta, on a nice sunny Sunday. We had lunch in Moscova (one of the nicest parts of Milan), then rode bikes all throughout the city. There was a market in Parco Sempione, where local farmers were selling their products. I tried "Sangue di Giuda" wine, freshly picked apples, a poison ivy drink, and I bought some lavendar-infused biscotti (cookies) to share with the Davini's for breakfast.
One of my favorite memories from Certaldo was the città alta (high city) that crowned the tiny town, that could only be reached by funicular. This is where everyone would gather in the evening. All of us little Spinellis would try a different kind of gelato every night, and I specifically remember the aroma of lavendar lingering throughout the night, being sold at the same stand by the same man consistently. Now guess what my favorite flower is? :) What an unforgettable trip and how lucky are we, that my parents were willing to take all seven of us!
*Cool fact: The parents of a friend I met over the summer here, helped to create this new kind of pizza!
3) Italians are good at saving energy. Their cars either turn off automatically at stop lights to preserve the environment (and gas) or they turn them off themselves. Also everyone recycles, no matter where you are (post office, street, bathroom..there are so many different bins)!
4) I downloaded alot new Italian songs onto my ipod, mostly from Andrea Boccelli. Now I can get some listening practice in, while I walk around all day. As I was going through Boccelli's songs I became nostalgic, remembering all those Sundays in my house listening to his entrancing "Romanza" album.
5) All Italian families live close together. The furthest immediate family member lives 10 minutes away from my host family.......I WISH I could always be that close to my family! Italy is just small so there's no room for you to move away. :P
6) Lastly, looking at the pictures of me that Mary and my mom hid in my bag before leaving for Turkey...
 |
| (How cute are they?!) |
I went out with my new friend that I met at the church youth group, Marta, on a nice sunny Sunday. We had lunch in Moscova (one of the nicest parts of Milan), then rode bikes all throughout the city. There was a market in Parco Sempione, where local farmers were selling their products. I tried "Sangue di Giuda" wine, freshly picked apples, a poison ivy drink, and I bought some lavendar-infused biscotti (cookies) to share with the Davini's for breakfast.
One of my favorite memories from Certaldo was the città alta (high city) that crowned the tiny town, that could only be reached by funicular. This is where everyone would gather in the evening. All of us little Spinellis would try a different kind of gelato every night, and I specifically remember the aroma of lavendar lingering throughout the night, being sold at the same stand by the same man consistently. Now guess what my favorite flower is? :) What an unforgettable trip and how lucky are we, that my parents were willing to take all seven of us!
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