Day 42 - Getting to Milan

# Gelati: 1, Distance Walked: 7.3km

Today was the last day of my holiday.  Tomorrow I get on plane to start the long journey home.  I had to check out of my apartment by 10am and I couldn't check in to my hotel in Milan until 2pm, so I decided to take the moderately fast train from Bologna to Milan.  It was scheduled to leave around 11am and arrive around 1:40pm.  After checking in, I was going to spend the afternoon at a science museum dedicated to the inventions of Leonardo da Vinci.

Life had different plans for me.  It decided to emphasise the importance of travelling to your departure city the day *before* your flight.  For my train Bologna was just a stop on the journey from somewhere further east.  There was a signal fault on that line.  At first we were, optimistically, told the delays would be around 10 to 15 minutes.  In the end, it took them more than 90 minutes to fix it.  

My train and another behind it were the ones that were the first to be affected by the fault.  The train authorities, sensibly, decided to let later trains overtake the delayed ones so the later trains would keep (mostly) on schedule.  I can see the logic.  Seriously inconvenience a small group of people rather than moderately inconvenience a very large group and throw a large section of the timetable out of whack.  Still, as one of the small group, I was somewhat peeved.  

I got my steps in though.  First we were told the train would leave from Platform 1.  Then we were told about the delay and were shifted to Platform 6.  Sometime later, the delay got longer and we were advised our train would leave from Platform 4.  Shortly after, all platform information disappeared from the displays so we just congregated in the underground tunnel connecting the platforms, watching the information screens.  Finally, 5 minutes before the train ultimately appeared, we were informed it would leave from Platform 6 (again).  

Once on the train, things went smoothly.  Well, mostly smoothly.  When we neared Milan we were told someone had trespassed on the tracks and there were (more!) delays.  In the end it took us an hour to cover the last 5km.  On the plus side, I got 50% of the ticket price refunded.  I just clicked on a link in the app and the refund has already shown up on my credit card.

I ended up getting to my hotel by 4:30pm.  It was hot (34C) and I was grumpy.  After checking in I just headed out for a restorative gelati.  Pistachio and something called merindino which seemed to be very dry toast spread with nutella then ground up and mixed through vanilla gelati.  Both flavours were Good.

After the gelati expedition I just retreated to my air-conditioned hotel room.  I'm staying near the central station so the area is a bit seedy.  Not dangerous, at least in the daytime, but not somewhere that is particularly interesting to amble about.

For dinner I just went to a trattoria at the end of my street.  It caters to travellers rather than repeat customers but the food wasn't bad.  I was tempted by their carbonara as they made it with the correct ingredients - guanciale and pecorino, but it is a Roman dish and I'm in Milan.  I thought about getting the risotto Milanese but it seemed a bit dull to basically have just rice & cheese.  They did have osso buco with risotto on the menu but I wasn't hungry enough for that.  Then I noticed they had quite a lot of Pugliese dishes on the menu so I had one of those, on the assumption they have a Pugliese chef/nonna in the kitchen.

I had strozzapreti with cherry tomatoes & grilled eggplant.  The sauce was Good but the pasta was a touch too al dente for me so just Decent.  All it would have taken was another 30 to 60 seconds of cooking.  The bread was a touch stale so just Decent there too.  It tasted like it had been sliced for the lunch service and kept around.  For dessert I had tiramisu which was Good.  Not a bad place all up but the cover charge was an extortionate 3.5 euro!

Now I'm back in my hotel, planning the next holiday.  Hiking in Wales.

Day 41 - Last Day of Class

# Gelati: 1, Distance Walked: 6.6km

I was woken early today.  There was some 5km fun run happening this morning.  I believe it started at 5am (why?!).  It started in the Piazza Maggiore and then the route wound through the city centre.  It actually went right past my front door.  I got woken at 6am.  Not by the runners, they were going to quickly to be too noisy.  Instead, there must have been several hundred (possibly an exaggeration) people at the tail end who were just walking and chatting and chatting and chatting and chatting.  It took a good 20 minute for the walkers to all file past my door.

Today was the last day of class so we didn't do anything new fortuately as I would have been too tired to take it in.  Instead, we revised the Passato Remoto, again.

We also played a board game called something about Narratives.  You rolled a pair of dice to determine which square your token landed on.  This gave you a verb in the infinitive.  Another die gave you the subject (e.g. first personal singular, second person plural) and a card gave you a time period (e.g. yesterday, next week).  You then have to invent a (very) short story using the verb in that time period and in that form.  You got bonus points for every other verb and time period you used correctly.  This was a lot of fun, especially as Livia and I tied for first.

After the coffee break we had Arianna for conversation.  She had been one of the runners this morning.  We usually play a game but instead Arianna told us a long, involved story about how she got into the city centre for the run, which morphed into a story about the useless mechanic who is failing to fix her Vespa, which became a story about why she boycotts the local city buses which somehow led to a discusson about garbage collection and recycling.  It wasn't a monologue.  We all got the opportunity, if we wanted it, to put in our 2 cents worth on running, garbage collection, public transport and the general difficulties with tradies.  I enjoyed this section as it was more like getting together with friends for a chat than a lesson.

For lunch I went to a chain restaurant that just serves tortellini with various sauces.  Tortellini is a local speciality and I haven't had any before so this was my last chance.  I had mine with a cacio and pepe (cheese and black pepper) sauce.  It was surprisingly Good.

After lunch I had my last conversation lesson with Miriam.  I had the bright idea of asking her advice on how to improve my Italian.  Back in Melbourne I take a weekly class but I know you really need to do something every day.  I have four apps on my phone and I was going to go through each one with her and see which ones she thought were worth the time/money.  Also, did she think listening to podcasts and/or reading books and/or watching TV would be useful.  This could easily fill an hour.

However, she wasn't interested in any of the apps.  Instead, she told me she thought my vocabulary and knowledge of grammar were quite good but I really needed to work on my conversation skills.  She recommended a 5th app called Tandem.  This lets you make contact, for free, with someone who is a native speaker in the language you are trying to learn who also wants to learn your language.  You then meet up (either in person or online) for conversations.  You spend half the time talking in your language and half the time in theirs.  That way you both get to practice.  Ethan, in my class, uses it.

I've downloaded the app but I'm not sure I'll ever sign up to it.  Making conversation with a trained teacher was hard enough.  Making conversation with some random stranger would be worse.

For dinner I went to the brand new restaurant near my apartment that I went to the other night.  I had the savory ricotta tart again to start which was still Absolutely Delicious.  Next I actually had a main course as I'd had pasta at lunch.  I ordered the stuffed zucchini in a tomato sauce.  I had imagined they would have been cut in half, topped with some mince mixture and grilled before having some sauce poured over them.  Instead, they were kept whole and a rod-like shape of mince mixture was shoved down the middle.  They were then topped with a little too much tomato sauce.  This dish rated as Interesting.  For dessert I had their version of the local chocolate cake with marscapone.  It was just Good.  It was a slice of a rich, moist chocolate cake.  I've had other versions that were an entire small cake with a self-saucing, liquid centre.  That variant is better.  Still a pleasant final meal in Bologna.  I've not had a bad meal here.  At the very least, everthing has been Decent and most it has been Good.

I'm back in my apartment now trying to get everything to fit back into my suitcase.  The only extra things I've bought is a couple of fridge magnets and one ridiculously overpriced t-shirt.  It should all fit in easily.  It all fit in on the way over!

Day 40 - Winding Down

# Gelati: 1,  Distance Walked: 6.7km

My holiday is winding down.  Today was my 2nd last day of class.  Our regular teacher, Diana, was back.  Surprisingly, we continued to study the Passato Remoto tense.  All irregular verbs this time, of which there are many.  For "fun" we did a crossword which was all about business terms.  We needed a lot of help from Diana to do this as most of us didn't have a clue.

After our coffee break Arianna paired us off and we had to make up a story, beginning with "A long time ago".  This was so we could practice our past tenses.  I was paired with Livia, who is French.  This is relevant.

We were each given 5 cards.  This first card was of the main character in our story (ours was a robot).  The 2nd was an event (a meteor flying in), the 3rd was an obstacle (a mountain range), the 4th was of the central theme (ours was an alien) and the 5th was the moral of the story (ours was "in the end, everything was fine").

Our story was the robot lived all alone on a planet.  One day he saw an meteor in the sky.  It came crashing down to earth in a mountain range.  He hoped it wasn't a meteor but instead an spaceship.  He hoped there might be a female robot on the spaceship as he was lonely.   Livia wanted to make the last 4 sentences be one enormous run-on sentence, which was very French of her.  She got her way as it is also the Italian way of writing things.  We only made 2 mistakes in our entire story in spite of this, so I'm feeling quite happy.

I have no idea what my classmates stories were about.  A combination of strong accents and a full brain meant all I could do was just sit there, smile and pretend I understood what was being sad.

For lunch I just had a poke bowl (Decent) and a gelati (pistachio and canteloupe - Good) and then headed back to my apartment.  I wasn't meeting Miriam for my conversation class until 4pm so I had time to kill.  I was going to spend it doing some Italian revision, but I decided to read a few chapters of my murder mystery first.  I ended up finishing my book instead (as I wanted to know whodunnit).  Two weeks of intensive classes plus 1 hour of one-on-one conversation every day is severely tiring my brain.

Conversation went OK.  I talked about the restaurant I went to last night and about restaurants in Bologna in general.  For some reason we ended up on the topic of dangerous Australian animals.  I told her not to get tricked by stories about drop bears.  I also showed her some Facebook videos of a snake catching company that operates on the Sunshine Coast.  I think I've scared her off ever visiting Australia.

I have no idea what we'll talk about tomorrow.  I've run out of small talk topics.  Must do some hard thinking.

When I got back to my apartment this afternoon I noticed that someone has updated the apartment number outside my door.  It wasn't me - honest.  For one thing, I'm not tall enough.  They weren't wrong though.

For dinner I went to Osteria Da Fortunata, which I had gone to last week.  It specialises in Roman food and its gimmick is that it has three grannies who sit in the window making fresh pasta.  I had the fettucini al ragu which was sadly just Decent.  The pasta was Good but the ragu was not.  For dessert I had tiramisu, which again was just Decent.  The cream to sponge ratio was off (too much cream) and the cream layer just tasted of cream, not marscapone.  I was disappointed.  Last week I'd had their carbonara and zabaglione and both were Good (although the carbonara at Da Guido's in Melbourne is better).  I guess I should have stuck to their Roman dishes.

I'm going to eat again at the brand new restaurant near my apartment tomorrow night.  When I went past tonight I saw they've put up awnings outside now, so they are gradually getting set up.  Sadly there was only one table occupied though.

Day 39 - Another New Classmate

# Gelati: 1, Distance Walked: 5.6km

We had a new classmate join today, Marlene from Vienna.  She was in the B1 class but has moved up to our B2 class from today.  We also had a new teacher, Lucia, as our usual teacher, Diana, wasn't available for reasons I didn't catch.  As a result, the grammar lesson today was a revision of what we had covered yesterday about the Passato Remoto for Marlene's sake.  We did some more fill in the blanks exercises too.  Just for fun one of them made use of 4 different past tenses, including one we hadn't studied.  Even so I managed to score almost 90% so today was a good day.

After the coffee break we played the debating game again, only with speed rounds.  We were paired off and given a topic.  One of us had to argue for it and one against.  Arianna timed us and we had one minute to jot down some dot points before we had to make our argument.  Well, in theory, we had one minute but she kept getting distracted chatting with the other people in the class so in practice we generally got at least 2 minutes.  My topics were

• You should never talk about politics with your family - against
• Loud concerts are bad for your hearing - for

For the first topic my argument was if you talk politics at work you might get fired.  If you talk politics with your friends they might decide they don't like you any more.  But your family always has to accept you so it is safe to talk politics with them.  I convinced myself.

The topic I really wanted to argue against was "it is always wrong to kill insects".  I had a strong argument all ready to go about why all spiders must die.

My conversation class was with Miriam again today.  This time we talked about holidays and easily filled in the hour.  I think I'll talk to her about restaurants tomorrow.   That should be another easy topic.

The reason why I'm thinking that would make a good topic is because of a restaurant near my apartment.  I noticed it when I first arrived as it seemed to be nearly completely empty all the time.  They didn't have a menu in the window either.  Also there were no reviews on Google or Tripadvisor for it.  Indeed I couldn't find anything online about it at all.  I was rather doubtful about it as even very ordinary restaurants here get at least a few tourists.  However, over the past week I've noticed them hang paintings on the walls (which are for sale) and put up lamps and a sign outside, plus a menu.  My guess is it is just completely new.

I decided to give it a chance and had dinner there tonight.  I started with a little baked savory cheesecake which was Absolutely Delicious.  Next I had their lasagna which was Good.  Personally, I would have included more bechamel but it was perfectly acceptable.  For dessert I had something that was described as a panna cotta but actually tasted more like a creme caramel.  However, it was also quite Good.  

When I arrived just after 7pm (quite early by Italian standards) I was their only customer.  A couple of other tables were filled later on but they seemed to be all by friends and family.  I strongly suspect I was their only paying customer for the night.  Which is a shame as their food is Good and their prices reasonable.  They deserve to do decent business.

I've been trying a different restaurant for every meal.  However, I think I'll go back there on my last night.  There are some other dishes on the menu I'd like to try.  Also, even though my last night will be a Friday night, I suspect I won't have any difficulty getting a table.

Day 38 - Grammar Lessons

# Gelati: 1, Distance Walked: 6.9km

I studied how to construct conditional sentences all yesterday afternoon in preparation for today's grammar lesson.  So, of course, today we studied the Passato Remoto tense instead.

First we went over how to conjugate various verbs in this tense, which I already knew so I was feeling smug.  Then we had a list of sentences with  missing verbs and a list of verbs and had to fill in the blanks.  On the plus side, the verbs had already been conjugated.  On the minus side, I barely scraped a pass.  Sigh.

After the coffee break we played a game called Dixit.  We each were dealt seven cards with images on them.  The player whose turn it was (Player A) had to think of a word or phrase that was illustrated by that picture.  Each other player had to pick a card from their hand that matched the phrase too.  All the chosen cards were shuffled and then placed face up.  Each player then had to guess which card was from Player A.  Player A got a point for everyone who guessed correctly.  However, they got zero points if everyone got it right and zero, of course, if no-one did.  You had to think of a definition that was hard but not too hard.  Also, every player who guessed correctly got a point plus if someone picked your card you got a point too.  Arianna won, but I came a credible 3rd (out of 7).  It was a fairly complicated game but a good way to work on our vocabularies.

For lunch I went to a place that claims to specialise in Singapore fusion food.  I had gyoza, sushi and a soba noodle salad.  Comfort food but not very singaporean.

My conversation class was with Giulia again.  In the opening chit-chat she asked me how I was and I said I hadn't slept well as I'd eaten too much last night.  We ended up spending the whole hour talking about food.  We both agreed that visiting supermarkets in other countries can be fascinating.  Although I'm not looking forward to having to visit a supermarket once I get back home.

After the conversation class I did my homework that was more fill in the blanks with the passato remoto.  I had time to think it over (and translate all the sentences) so I'm hoping for a better result tomorrow.  

I finished up my homework too early for dinner and decided to have an aperitif at the bar in the piazza at the end of my street.  It is just a kiosk with tables in the piazza.  I went up to the kiosk as I wasn't sure if you ordered there or if there was table service.  A man came up, so I stepped to one side to let him pass.  I assumed he was going up to pay.  He stepped to follow me.  We danced back and forth a few times.  It turns out he was a waiter and was trying to step aside so I could pass him and sit down at a table (it was table service).  I was planning to perhaps have a drink there again tomorrow but I'm too embarassed now.

For dinner I went to another place recommended by the school.  I'm trying a different restaurant every night.  It seemed like a dreadful tourist trap and it definitely caters to tourists.  However, the food was perfectly Good and reasonably priced.  For dessert I had a self-saucing flourless chocolate cake with a marscapone cream, which was verging on Absolutely Delicious.

Tomorrow we've been promised irregular verbs in the Passato Remoto tense.  Any bets on what we might actually study?

Day 37 - New Week New Classmates

# Gelati: 1, Distance Walked: 6.7km

Today is Monday so there was a new batch of students starting at the school.  Naor and Andrea have left Bologna but in their place we now have Ethan and Anna.  Both are from the US and both have actually been studying at the school for some time.  However, they were the only 2 left in their class so they've been moved into ours as they are at the same level.  I like them both very much as they are both about as fluent as me.

Today in the grammar section of the lesson we once again just did a reading comprehension exercise.  I'm not sure how much I comprehended as the language was very flowery.  The sun didn't just shine, it was blinding.  People didn't try to convince you they used their wiles to play cunning tricks.  I thought my vocabulary was pretty good but I filled 2 pages in my notebook with new words and phrases.

Just for fun, in the conversation section of the lesson we actually touched on some grammar rules.  There are 3 different ways to describes hypotheses in Italian and each one is conjugated with different tenses.  For example the following three sentences are all different types and use different verb tenses.

1. If you wait, I will come with you.
2. If you had less to drink, you would not be drunk.
3. If you had studied every day, you would have passed the exam.

Arianna asked each of us a question in one of these 3 forms and we had to answer in the correct tense.  My brain was hurting badly by the end of class today.  Diana apparently will teach us more on this tomorrow.  What fun.

I had a quick lunch of some soup I'd bought from the supermarket before heading back to school for my afternoon conversation class.  It was with Giulia today.   After the usual stuff about what did you do on the weekend, she decided we would talk about the problems of mass tourism.  It is an easy enough topic to talk about although hard to find something interesting to say.  I did manage to squeeze in some talk about the time I stayed in a capsule hotel in Japan and what it is like having an AirBnB next door to my home in Melbourne.  The best bit about it was it was a conversation so she talked about as much as me!  My tired brain appreciated it.

For dinner tonight I went to a Napolitan pizzeria near my apartment.  Their pizzas are Decent but ridiculously huge.  They are bigger than the plate they are served on which makes them tricky to eat.  I still ate the whole thing.  I'm back home now wishing I hadn't as I'm uncomfortably full.

Day 36 - Rimini

# Gelati: 1, Distance Walked: 11.8km

I had originally planned to go to Ferrara today.  However, I discovered track works were happening and trains were being replaced by buses so I changed my mind.  After some Googling I decided to spend the day at Rimini.  I had heard of it before but only as a seaside resort.  Turns out it was a major Roman city once upon a time.  It was one of the few safe harbours on that part of the Adriatic coast.

As it is a popular seaside resort there are many trains headed that way every day.  There was a choice of a very fast (and very expensive) train that only takes 1 hour, all the way to a very cheap train that takes 2 hours.  I settled for an inbetween option that got me there in an hour and a half.

Once I got to Rimini, my first stop was the remains of a surgeon's/doctor's house dating from the 2nd century AD.  It is next to a park and was only recently discovered when they doing some digging to expand the park.  That part of town had been razed by fire in the 3rd century and covered in debris and forgotten about.  Digging a hole anywhere in Italy must be a nerve-wracking experience.  You can never be sure if you are going to find a signficant historical site which will bring work to a halt.

They've excavated a lot of the site now and you can see low walls and fabulous mosaic floors.  The city museum next door has recreations of what the bedroom and consulting room would have looked like.

They also have a collection of his surgical instruments.  One of the largest ever found.  The ranged from big bone saws to tiny tweezers, including a very special one for removing kidney stones.  Ouch.

The museum also had room after room of mosaics that have been recovered from various villas that were once here.  In one case they pointed out you could tell when the house was first built the owners were wealthy.  However, later generations/owners weren't so well off as clumsy repairs had been made. Also, the house had burnt down and in the cookware found in the wreckage was cheap and badly worn.  Makes you wonder what archeologists would make of your own house. 

I had a lovely time here but they tossed me out at 1pm as it was time for lunch and they were closing until 4pm.

I then went in search of lunch myself.  I was in the historic centre of town which is actually some distance from the beach.  The coastline and the river having shifted over time.  That meant there were few (other) tourists about which was good, but it also meant most shops and restaurants were shut.

I ended up in a restaurant on the main piazza as it was open and had seats in the shade.  I was fearing it would be a terrible tourist trap but I was mistaken.  I had ravioli stuffed with sun-dried tomatoes and mozzarella in a butter & sage sauce.  It was very Good.  For dessert I had tiramisu which was Absolutely Delicious.  And it was all very reasonably priced.

For 2nd dessert I went to a nearby gelateria and had some Absolutely Delicious pistachio and almond gelati.  You could tell you were in a different part of Italy there.  Not only was there no sour cherry flavourings (obligatory in Bologna) but a lot of signs were in both English and Greek.

After lunch I pottered over to Ponte Tiberius, which is a bridge built by (or rather ordered to be built by) Tiberius, so a piddling 2,000 years old.  It is still standing but only used by pedestrians and cyclists now.

There were an awful lot of cyclists about.  Including one young woman who was wearing a light beach cover up.   You could tell from the way it blew about in the wind she was wearing absolutely nothing else.  At least she was on her own bicycle, not one of the ones you can rent.

I then ambled through the historic centre to a triumphal arch that Augustus Caesar had built.  It hasn't survived the years so well.

Finally I ambled alongside the medieval city walls and back to the railway station.  There was an InterCity (moderately fast, moderately expensive) train leaving from the same platform as mine but before it.  I watched a group of young American tourists, with Academya Lingua bags, frantically rushing to try to catch it only to be turned away.  The poor conductor was having a hard time getting them to understand that "yes, this train was stopping at Bologna" and "yes, it was leaving from Platform 2" but "no, it wasn't their train".  Like me, they had tickets for the cheaper, slower one that was leaving later.  How hard is it to check the train number on the sign and match it to the one on your ticket?

I'm now back in my apartment, ignoring my Italian homework, but doing one last load of laundry.  One more week to go and it is back to Melbourne for me.

Day 35 - Modena

# Gelati: 1, Distance Walked: 13.0km

Today is a Saturday so there is no class.  Instead, I went to Modena for the day.  It is only about a 30 minute train ride away.

The first thing I did on arriving was to climb the Ghirlandina tower.  I always have to find a high viewpoint in every city I visit.  In this tower, all the wooden floors have rotted away/been removed so the you can basically see all the way from the bottom to the top.  They've closed all the window shutters but have strung up lights.  I would love to have been able to visit it when it was a functioning tower.

After the tower I visited the duomo next door.  Whoever carved the lions at the entrance (and the ones inside) had clearly never seen one in real life.  I have to wonder if they had ever seen a domestic cat.

After all this culture I just wandered around the city centre for a bit.  Unsurprisingly car racing and sports cars are big business here.  There is some sort of car-related festival going on all month.  In one square several local universities were showing off the racing cars their students have made and advertising their specialised engineering programs.  It made me want to sign up to do another degree.

I then went to the local market.  It is very new.  Not quite 100 years old yet.  Younger even than our Queen Vic market.  It was a good market.  Fruit, veg, butchers and fishmongers, along with bread and pastry stalls.  There were several stalls selling balsamic vinegar of course.  I took advantage of one offering free samples to try some.  A properly aged vinegar tastes amazing.  I felt a little guilty about doing this as there was no way I was going to buy any.  I suspect I could bring it back into Australia but I would worry about the bottle getting broken.

The market also had a restaurant section.  It was more upmarket than a food hall as you got table service.  I had a pizza with DOC prosciutto and DOC mozzarella on it.  It was Good.  I think it is the first pizza I've had in Italy.

I did some more wandering around the historic centre after this and had a Good gelati for dessert (hazelnut as they didn't have pistachio and sour cherry with chocolate chips).

I then headed to the Enzo Ferrari museum which is where the house he lived in as a boy used to be.  They had several Ferraris parked out front with a very hot and very bored and very armed guard keeping an eye on them.  He also had a dog (Belgian Malinois?) but it was sensibly staying in the shade.

One of the Ferraris was purple.  I'm torn between loving the colour and being shocked that they make them in any colour other than red.

I then headed into the museum only to discover a ticket cost 32 euro!  I wasn't that interested so I just browsed in the shop for a bit instead.  Here I bought myself a t-shirt for the outrageous price of 115 euro.  For some reason I considered this to be better value for money than a ticket to the museum.

I then decided to head back to Bologna before I bought any more souvenirs.  I got to the railway station 6 minutes before a train was due to leave.  I used the Trenitalia app to buy a ticket but in my haste I got the wrong ticket.  I only bought one to take me to one station up the line, not all the way to Bologna.  I tried buying another ticket but the app wouldn't let me.  I tried buying a ticket from the station up the line to Bologna but still no joy.  Too close to the time of departure I suspect.  I got on the train anyway and just hoped I didn't encounter a ticket inspector.  I hadn't seen one on the journey that morning.

I was lucky.  The train is a double-decker train and I was close to one end of my car.  I could see into the car ahead of me.  I saw an inspector walk through the upper deck of the car ahead and then go down into the lower deck.  While he was down there I hastily nipped into the upper deck he'd just cleared.  I got away with!

Back in Bologna, I just got some bread, cheese and salami from the supermarket for dinner.  I'm still rather full from lunch and my jeans are getting uncomfortably tight.

Day 34 - End of the First Week

# Gelati: 1, Distance Walked: 5.6km

Today in the grammar section of class we again studied no grammar.  Instead, we took it in turns to read aloud paragraphs from an article on the secret to a happy life.  We then had to write a short piece answering the three questions:

1. What do I think happiness is
2. What makes me happy
3. What was the happiness moment in my life up till now

We then read aloud what we had written to the class.  Andrea was immediately before me.  Her response to the last question was something about her daughters.  It made all the parents in the room a little teary eyed.  I didn't catch what it was so I just smiled awkwardly.  What was even more awkward was what I had written was nowhere near as profound and I had to speak next!

Class improved after the coffee break.  We played Taboo, which I'd never played before.  For the ignorant like me, the aim of the game is to describe a word without using that word or 5 other related, taboo words.  Your teammates have to guess from your descriptions.  You have 2 minutes each and you get one point for every word your teammates guess correctly.   One word I had was "origami" but I wasn't allowed to use the words "paper" or "Japanese" or "folding" and 2 other obvious words.

It was a lot of fun even though my team (me, Fall & Livia) lost 25 points to 26 (Naor and Luisa).  I cheated a little because I would sometimes use my hands to help with my descriptions.  It is surprisingly difficult to speak Italian without waving your hands about.

I have been subsisting almost entirely on bread, cheese, salami, pasta and gelato (and wine & coffee) since arriving in Italy.  It is hardly a balanced diet so for lunch today I had ramen and a beer.  However, that is still noodles and alcohol so not much of a stretch I guess.  I then got a gelati (pistachio and dark chocolate - Decent) for dessert.  

I was wandering around idly when my watch reminded me I had a conversation class with Miriam.  I had been convinced it was for 3:30pm but it was actually 2:30pm.  I was actually on time (by Italian standards) today instead of being prompt.

Today went well.  We actually had a conversation rather than me babbling about random things the whole time while Miriam just sat and smiled at me.  We talked about doing laundry & ironing and the cost of housing in Italy vs Australia and holidays.  The time went quickly.  But, in good news, next week I have a different teacher on Monday & Tuesday.  Hopefully it is Giulia again.

Afterwards I just went back to my apartment to study.  I really don't like my apartment.  It is so gloomy.  My previous one was so much nicer.  I could sit by a window in the sun and look out at the scenery from time to time.  There is nothing to see here but the opposite wall.

For dinner I went to a place Luisa recommended call Va Mo Là, which must mean something in the local dialect because it isn't Italian.  I had the antipasto platter of local salamis and cheese, which was designed for 2.  Then I had a pasta dish called gramigna (a local speciality) with a sauce made from sausage and cream.  It was very Good and very rich.  I didn't have room for dessert but had a digestivo instead.  I had fun chatting with the waiter picking which one to have.  Did I want something sweet, bitter or herby?  I settled for herby which settled my stomach nicely.

Day 33 - Another New Class Mate

# Gelati: 1, Distance Walked: 7.6km

There was another new student in class today, Xander, who is also from Melbourne.  Strictly speaking he was only new to me.  He has been part of this class for some time but works from "home" for his Australian company so isn't always able to come to class.

Several students in the class don't come to the whole lesson.  It baffles me given how much it costs.  Naor (not North) is always 30 minutes late and Fall rarely stays for the 2nd half.  At about 200 euro a week I'd want to get  my money's worth.

I also found out today Naor's correct name.  It turns out he isn't American.  His family are actually Russian Jews who have settled in Israel so his native language is Russian.  In my defence he speaks English with an American accent and Naor, when spoken with a strong Italian accent, sounds a lot like "nord" which is Italian for north.  Also his father is currently in NYC for his work.

Today in the "grammar" section of the class we studied no grammar at all.  If I'd wanted to improve my knowledge of Italian grammar I'd be peeved.  However, since I'm trying to improve my communication skills this is actually good for me.

Today we were paired off and given a topic.  One of us had to write a short argument in favour and the other against it.  We read them aloud and the rest of the class voted on who was the most convincing.  My topics were

•  "Travelling is never tiring" - against
• "Cruises are the ideal holiday for families" - against
• "Baths are better than showers" - against

The class voted in favour of my opponent every time :-(

After the coffee break we were paired off again and had to come up with a grant proposal to improve life in Bologna.  I was paired up with Livia and our proposal was about measures to improve the air quality and reduce noise in the historical city centre.  One of our key proposals was to ban buskers.  This won us Arianna's approval and the grant money.

The school doesn't have air conditioning so we keep the windows open for fresh air.  The school is also near a square where buskers play every day.  Yesterday it was a flautist.  They were a competent musician but only knew about 3 different pieces of music.  It got old fast.  Today there was someone playing a trombone.  That musician had a wider repertoire but it is not a particularly lovely instrument.  This evening there is a woman on a bicycle riding in slow circles around the piazza at the end of my street.  She has an amplifier strapped to the back of the bike and is singing into a microphone as she pedals.  Props to her ingenuity but she is not very good and she is very loud.

I had a new conversation  teacher this afternoon, Giulia.  I dutifully showed up at the school at 2pm.  I'm not sure why.  I had been told 3pm.  I had put 3pm into my calender app.  I was forced to go to a gelateria far from the school to fill in the time.  It turned out for the best as that gelateria, Gelateria Galliera 49, is the best one I've been to so far.  I had pistachio and chocolate with sour cherries.  Both flavours were Absolutely Delicious.  It is just a shame it is a good 20 minutes walk from my apartment.

My conversation class went well today as Giulia and I actually had a conversation.  She would ask me questions and follow up on the things that I said.  It is a shame I'll have Miriam again tomorrow.  I'm putting together a list of questions to ask her, such as which city would she recommend I visit on the weekend.  That should make the hour go more easily.

For dinner tonight I went to a randomly chosen trattoria near my apartment.  It was a good choice.  I had lasagna with bolognese ragu and a side salad.  The lasagna was Good with generous amounts of ragu and bechamel, although not as much cheese as I would have used.  What I really liked was the wine list didn't just list wines by the region but also had a brief explanation of what each one tasted like (e.g. dry, fruity) for us tourists who have no idea of each region's characteristics.  Simple but helpful.  For dessert I had a baked ricotta cheesecake with raspberry coulis which was also very Good.

Off now to think of questions for Miriam tomorrow.

Day 32 - New Classmate

# Gelati: 1, Distance Walked: 6.7km

We had a new classmate join us today, Luisa from Brazil.  She has been part of this class for sometime but had been in Rome on a holiday.  As a native speaker of a romance language, she is another person who can speak in Italian without pausing.  I believe she has been in Italy for 10 months and had applied for a visa to stay for longer but it has been denied.  At least this is what I understood from what she said.  It is very frustating to be the least fluent in the class.  I hope Fall doesn't leave any time soon.  She is the only one who is as bad as me.

In class this morning we first did the homework out teacher, Diana, had forgotten to give us yesterday.  This was to write a short paragraph describing what we would do if we had 100,000 euro to spend on a holiday.  I was the only person who said I'd spend it on 1st class airfares, my own chauffeur and luxury hotels.  What is wrong with these people?

Next we took it in turns to read aloud from an article about myths about the Romans.  Nero was maligned apparently.  Who knew?  The teacher repeated every paragraph not just the ones I read aloud thankfully.  Our grammar lesson today was on the passato remoto and common antonyms.  Most of which I already new.  Again, a boost to my ego.

In our conversation class our teacher Arianna paired us off.  I was paired with Livia, the Frenchwoman.  We had to roleplay a conversation.  Our conversation was between two friends trying to decide where to go on holiday.  Arianna wanted us to do it like "proper Italians".  That is, with verve, interruptions and much handwaving.  Livia and I happily obliged but the others were much more restrained.  Not convincing at all, even if they were more grammatically correct.

Fall and Luisa had to argue about what to buy a friend for a wedding present.  This sidetracked the class thoroughly.  Arianna is 32 and all of her friends are starting to settle down and get married.  She's been to 5 weddings in the past year.  The Italian tradition is to give money, typically around 100 euro.  This is getting quite expensive for her and she had lots to say about it.  I much prefer the Australian tradition of a gift registry, although this does presuppose not all the gifts are expensive ones.

My lunch for today was a roll with mortadella (it is a traditional food here after all) with grilled eggplant (my veg for the day!).  It was Decent.  My gelati was from a cremeria Miriam (my conversation teacher) had recommended.  It was Decent/Good-is (pistachio and hazelnut).  However, it was some distance away and not really worth the walk.

My afternoon class with Miriam was hard work today.  I'd prepared several anecdotes and used them all up.  Miriam isn't much of a conversationalist.  I told one about Jack being sick and that I knew he was ill because he didn't want to eat.  That is a clear sign as he eats a lot and is fat.  I told her he is a completely black cat and my vet had said it was a good thing black is a slimming colour.  That got a laugh from her, which was good, but she didn't ask any follow up questions.  She could have asked me what colour are my other cats, are they fat or thin, how old are they?  A whole bunch of questions that I would have known how to answer and which would have kept the conversation going.  Instead, after laughing, she just sat there smiling at me so I had to start babbling about something else.  The whole hour was spent with me talking about random things that I had words for.  Urgh.

Tomorrow I had a different teacher, Giulia.  This will be easier as I can just repeat all the getting to know you stuff again.  However, I get Miriam again on Friday.  I might try asking her questions or asking for advice.  I'e run out of stories to tell.  I hope I get a different conversation teacher next week.

After my conversation lesson I went in further search of a pair of comfortable shoes.  This time with success!  Yesterday I went to an Athletes Foot shop but the salesgirl (she looked all of about 16) was completely bemused by the notion that shoes could come in different widths.  Today the saleswoman (she looked to be my age) knew exactly what I was talking about.  She was able to show me 3 different pairs that fit me.  She was also willing to do the whole interaction in Italian, rather than lapsing in English at the first sign of me butchering her language.

Sadly the pair of shoes that fit the best only came in pale green.  We both agreed that since all of my clothes are either red or purple, these wouldn't be the best choice.  I had to settle for a slightly different style in white.   The saleswoman also considered the white pair were more my style.  Such fun to discuss fashion and style as if I had any!

For dinner I went to a restaurant that was recommended to me by both the company I'm renting my apartment from and also the school, Trattoria dal Biassanot.  This is a word in the Bolognese dialect with the meaning given below.  Two out of three ain't bad.

I had an antipasti of prosciutto and cantelope which was Good.  The melon was ripe so it was tasty and paired well with the prosciutto.  For main I had strozzapreti with Bolognese ragu.  This was also very Good, although there was more sauce than, strictly speaking, was appropriate.  Still, as it was very tasty sauce, I forgave them.  For dessert I had tenerina which is a traditional flourless chocolate cake with marscapone.  Sadly this was just Decent.  The cake was a little dry and the marscapone had been mixed with cream and lacked the tang you get with just marscapone.

I really must eat more vegetables.

Day 31 - First Day of Class

# Gelati: 1, Distance Walked: 9.0km

When I showed up for class this morning 2 of the teachers recognised me.  I was surprised.  While I was here for a month before, they have students who attend the school for several months.  Also, I was at the school 2 years ago.  I didn't expect to be that memorable.  I hope it was for good reasons.

There are 5 students in my class.  Livia, who is from France, and also started today.  The other 3 students are American.  Andrea has been at the school since January, North (I think that's his name) has been there since February and Fall (again I think) has been there a few weeks.  When Livia, North and Andrea speak a torrent of Italian pours out of their mouths.  Fall, at least, speaks slowly and has to think of the word she wants.  Livia has a strong French accent and North just mumbles so I didn't understand a lot of what was said today.  

Our teacher for the morning session was one I'd had last time.  I still don't remember her name.  We started by talking about markets.  We took it in turns to read out paragraphs from an article about famous markets in various Italian cities.  The teacher repeated every paragraph I said, but not any of the others.  I didn't think my accent was that dire, but apparently it is.  On the plus side, I knew almost all the words.  We then revised the conditional tense.  I had no trouble with this, unlike some of my classmates, so that was also a balm to my ego.

We then broke for coffee & pastries.  I stayed with my classmates and we were good and spoke to each other in our best Italian.  Only Andrea and I bothered to get a pastry.  What is wrong with people?

After the coffee break we went back to the classroom for the conversation part of the day.  Our teacher now was Arianna who I remember (both her and her name!) from last time.  She also remembered me.  We each were given a card with an emotion written on it.  We then each had to describe a time when we felt that emotion.  

Andrea started and launched into a detailed explaination of which I understood about every other word.  I never did find out what the emotion on her card was.  I think it might have been contentment.  Livia's was worry, mine was digust and North's was disappointment.  Fall had left for the day for reasons I didn't catch.

Finally we finished for the day.  The school's owner asked me how it was going.  He offered to move me to a lower class but I declined.  The content of the lessons is easy for me, it is just that my classmates are so much more fluent than I am.  Still, I think it is good for me to have to listen and speak a lot more than I'm comfortable with.

For lunch I just bought a piadina-y thing from a shop near my apartment.  It was a circle of bread stuffed with sausage and fried onions that had been folded in half and toasted on each side.  It was Dull.  The bread was doughy, the sausage tasteless and the onions few and far between.  Why skimp on the onions, which presumably are cheap, but include lots of meat?  It would have been much better with more onions.

In the afternoon I had my 1 hour conversation lesson with yet another teacher, Miriam.  I think I'm the only student having individual classes in the afternoons as the place was deserted each for us.  It was easier than I expected.  I did most of the talking, which was not easy, but it was (relatively) easy to think of what to talk about.  It was all just getting to know you stuff.  Have I been to Bologna before?  Why do I want to study Italian?  Questions about family and where I live and such like.  The only problem is I keep getting asked what I do.  I just say I'm retired and I do very little.  I will have to think of a more interesting answer.  More importantly I will have to think about what to talk about with Miriam tomorrow!

After my conversation lesson I went shopping.  The typical weather for this time of year here in Bologna is low to mid 20s.  It is actually 30 to 32C all week.  When I was packing, at the last minute, I threw in a pair of shorts and a summer dress along with a couple of short sleeved tops so I'm ok for clothes.  However, I dithered about packing the sandals that are easy to walk in versus the sandals that are stylish.  Since I was going to Italy, and didn't expect to wear them a lot, I opted for the stylish sandals.  I'm now wearing them all day every day and they are giving me blisters.  I tried various shoe shops but Italian shops don't cater to people with short, fat feet so I had to settle for a buying a big box of bandaids instead.

For dinner I went to a randomly chosen trattoria near my apartment.  It was a bit of a disappointment.  Their food was Decent but that is all.  I finally had tagliatelle al ragu (aka spaghetti bolognese) and for dessert chocolate "salami" with marscapone.  The salami was made with dark chocolate, cocoa and crushed biscuits held together with melted butter.  It came straight from the fridge so eating it was a challenge until I let it soften a bit.  I was sure I'd send pieces flying across the room otherwise.

As I was leaving the restaurant the road was blocked with a demonstration going past.  There must have been several hundred people in it.  I'm guessing from the rainbow flags it was some sort of Pride thing.    There were also 6 or so riot police following on behind in full riot gear.  However, they were just strolling along, swinging their helmets in their hands.  They were clearly unbothered.

Now I'm off to think about things to talk to Miriam about tomorrow.  I keep reminding myself it doesn't have to be true, I just need to know how to say it in Italian.

Day 30 - Climbing out of Bologna

# Gelati: 2, Distance Walekd: 16.2km, # Floors Climbed: 44

Once again I had a leisurely morning, getting up late, eating a leisurely breakfast and spending way too long on my Italian revision.   I didn't set out until 10:30am.  The plan had been to walk to a park on the outskirts of the city, amble around it and read my grammar book for a bit.  However, by the time I got to the outskirts it was well after 11am and it was turning out to be a warm, sunny day.  I decided to skip the park and walk up to the Sanctuary of the Madonna of San Luca.  I walked up to that church last time I was here.  I remember it was a far-ish distance out of town but you could walk under porticos the whole way so you weren't walking in the sun.  This is true.  What I had forgotten is that it is also a far way uphill from town.  Below is a picture of the city from the sanctuary.  If you squint really hard I think you can just about see the two towers in the city centre.

When I got to the sanctuary I had more problems.  There wasn't a lot of space to sit.  There were spots in the shade and there were comfortable spots to sit, but all the comfortable, shady spots seemed to be occupied by nuns.  They seemed perfectly happy to stay put for hours.   Nobody was rude enough to ask them to move along.  I settled for a shady spot.

My Italian is improving slowly.  I did manage to buy all my food today in Italian.  I got a panino with prosciutto & cheese from a deli, my morning gelati (pistachio and zabaglione - Good) and my afternoon gelato (pistachio and orange with candied almonds - Decent) without lapsing into English.  Small victories.

For dinner I went to a restaurant that specialises in Roman food, Osteria Da Fortunata.  It had been recommended to me on a food tour I took last time.  It was worth the recommendation as the food is all very Good.  I started with a zucchini flower stuffed with mozzarella then I had strozzapreti alla carbonara and finished with zabaglione again.  I am now pleasantly full.  I'm glad I didn't order their tiramisu.  The people at the next table did.  It looked tasty but about 3 times the size it needed to be.

No more leisurely starts tomorrow as classes start.  Let's hope the brain functions.

Day 29 - Ambling Around Bologna

# Gelati: 2, Distance Walked: 10.8km

I slept in this morning and then had a leisurely breakfast.  I then discovered the drawback to having your own apartment, instead of staying in a hotel.  You have to make your own bed.  You don't have to cook your own breakfast but I did anyway.  At least this way it won't be such a terrible shock to the system when I get home and have to cook all my meals myself.

After breakfast I decided I really should do my Italian revision (vocabulary and verbs) before heading out.  A bit like daily exercise.  Do it first, so you don't keep putting it off and end up never getting around to doing it.  My regular routine usually takes me 30 minutes.  This morning it took me an hour as I kept making mistakes and having to repeat a lesson.

After I finally finished my homework I sauntered out to amble around my new neighbourhood.  My old apartment had been in the University district.  This one is in the old Jewish ghetto area.  Not far away.  Perhaps 1km.  But far enough that I thought it would be good to find new cafes, gelateria and supermarkets.

I also had a little shopping to do.  Now I've spent a night and a morning in my apartment I had a list of things I was missing.  The key one being a tea towel to dry the dishes (I have to do my own washing up now too).  I was wondering where on earth would I find such a routine household item in the centre of a city.  It then dawned on me to buy a trashy tourist one and take it home with me as a souvenir.  Of course, as soon as I had this bright idea, do you think I could find one anywhere?

In my ambles I saw a lot of dogs.  Not just small ones, suitable for life in apartments.  But big ones, including a husky.  Why?  I also saw this dog with her two puppies.  A much more sensible sort of dog to have in a city.

I also came across a gelateria that must be in all the guidebooks as it usually has a queue out the door.  However, I arrived 5 minutes after it opened and there was only 1 other person inside.  I had ruby grapefruit and pistachio gelati.  It was perfectly Good but I wouldn't queue up for it.  I see a lot of people queuing at famous places.  I haven't had anything that Good in Bologna.  Most of the food is very Good but there are so many places where you can get Good food here, just move on to somewhere else if your chosen place is busy.

For lunch I went to a pizzeria I'd eaten at last time I was here.  I'm not sure why I bothered taking note of it.  The pizza was Decent.  I don't regret ordering it but I wouldn't make a trip just to eat there.  

I was amused by my waiter.  With Italian speaking guests he was very chatty and took time to explain all the specials of the day.  With English speaking guests he was much more brusque and didn't bother with the specials.  I choose to put that down to his limited English skills.

After lunch I went back to my apartment for a bit.  I read a little of my grammar book and then, I have to confess, watched a couple of episodes of Murderbot.  The TV in my place has subscriptions to Netflix, Disney+ and AppleTV.  It is set up to use English.  I really should switch it to Italian but I'm enjoying Murderbot too much to miss out.  It isn't as good as the books, but is still fun.

Later in the afternoon I headed out again in my continuing search for a tea towel.  I managed to find more gelati - pistachio and custard with lemon peel this time.  Again Good but not worth queuing for.

I also went to a supermarket.  I have decided to have the last of the salami and cheese for dinner as I had an enormous lunch.  I went to a different supermarket as the one I went to yesterday didn't sell fresh bread!  

This one did but in a perspex display case that I had great trouble figuring out.  I asked another couple for help but they were tourists too and couldn't work it out either.  Eventually an employee took pity on us and showed us what to do.  Each section of the case stored a different type of bread roll.  Each had a shovel whose handle fitted through a slot at the front.  You used the shovel to push your chosen roll(s) out the *side* of the drawer.  You could then pick up just those rolls and put them in a bag.  No handling off or sneezing on food you weren't going to buy.  Very sensible once you've worked out the system.

I also bought a couple of cans of (non-alcoholic) mojitos.  The supermarket had all sorts of cans of ready-mixed drinks - mostly alcoholic ones.  I think my liver will appreciate me getting the non-alcoholic option, given I had wine at lunch.

I'm not sure what to do tomorrow.  I could see if there is a concert or a parade to watch I suppose.  Alternatively I'm thinking of getting myself a picnic lunch and going to a park.  There are several just outside the historic centre.  If I take my grammar book with me (and actually read it) it will be a more productive use of my time than just ambling around.