Best. Food. Ever.

Well obviously I made it to Catania. I arrived last night, immediately made a friend (her name was charly) and we went out to dinner at this wonderful incredible place on this little side street in the heart of the old part of Catania. The food was amazing I had no idea pasta could taste so delicious. For my second course I had octopus salad, amazing again the seafood here is so fresh everything was pulled out of the water that day. After dinner we wandered back to the hostel and went to bed.

Today I wandered out of the hostile at around 10 and headed down to the Piazza Duomo

then went up via Etna to the Bellini gardens where I stopped and had THE BEST arancini at a place called Saria (prosciutto and cheese).

My hunger sated, I wandered around the gardens

 then headed back down via Etna to the outdoor market. The market wound down multiple streets in every direction. Anything and everything you might need ever you will find here in this market. I bought a butt load of cherries for 2 euro and a pair of pants for 3 euro.

After the market I went to see the roman theater off of via Vittorio Emanuel II. This place was soooo cool! Admission was 5 euro but I talked the guy down to 2 euro. The pix speak for themselves. From what I gathered in the guides and listening g to other people. The Teatro Antico e Odèon was built with volcanic rock in the second century. Catania has been burried by lava a total of 7 times in recorded history. The first inhabitants were Greek then roman and now present day.

 After exploring the theater I went back to the hostel and had a shower. I went back out around 5 and found that the police had taken over Piazza Duomo, apparently they were doing a dress rehearsal to tomorrows "police party" as it was explained to me by a local. They march around to music and stuff.

 Then I went to grab a beer at a cafe at the Palazzo Degli Elefanti. The waitress was very friendly and spoke a little English, we talked about New Orleans and Catania and Taormina and she gave me some tips on where the best beaches were. Then she gave me my beer for half price! BONUS! After my beer I wandered back up to Saria  for more arancini, this time I got a ragu filled one, so good. On the way back to Duomo I got some tiramisu galato, it was OK. I think that the north might have one up on the gelato side over the south, so far at least. Ah and dad, I finally found a cigar shop with partagas, cohiba, and Romeo y Juliet all Cubans. Unfortunately their credit card machine was broken so I'll try back tomorrow, though I have a feeling their CC machine may never have worked (aka its mafia run and they only want cash) who knows. Once I got back to the Duomo I found the guy I had spoken to earlier, he was trying to sell me tourist train tickets (like the duck tours in Boston, yes Pitts it reminded me of you) but he was very friendly, but not overly friendly. After talking for a little while and watching the police dance around with their machine guns he let me go on the tour for free. It was around 730, last one of the day, and the lighting was very nice. I had already walked to all of the destinations the tour went by but it was nice to see them while sitting down and in the evening.

After the tour we parted ways and I headed back to the hostel. And here I am, in the common room about to make some tea and hangout. Unfortunately charly left this morning and there are only my 2 Asian dude roommates here right now and the staff who are friendly. The Asian dudes though are very inconsiderate and annoying. But whatever.
Tomorrow I am going to climb Mount Etna. I'm so excited!

these are some of the other places I went to during the day.

Via Etna

the old Monastary







churches

Rain, rain go away, I guess I'll go to Venice another day

Hike 2 in Menaggio was just just as wonderful as hike 1, if not better. Once I made it up to the pasture where the trails split I took a rout heading up hill. Like the day before I decided to take whichever trail looked most interesting when they split. I ended up going up and around and came out back at the other side of the pasture! I was quite surprised. The views were spectacular and I ended going up much higher than the day before. I got back into town around 3 and walked around the town until 5. After dinner we all (staff included) started a game of uno that lasted until 1230.

I got back to Cassano on Friday afternoon around 5 and spent the weekend lazing around with La and Luca. On Sunday I started to plan my next adventure which was supposed to a 2 1/2-3 week trip to Venice, Florence, Pisa, then beach time meeting up with La and Luca. Unfortunately the weather looked to be less than appealing, rain, rain, and more rain for just about 3 weeks in the entire region. What to do, what to do? Sicily! Southern Italy sounded like the perfect solution so I bought a ticket, booked a hostel and today Wednesday I am off! I am flying into Catania Sicily, its a wonderful coastal city right in the shadow of Mt. Etna, about halfway down the eastern coast of the island. I have my hostel booked there from wed to Monday, then I plan to head up to Taormina, a beautiful area known for its beaches. After that I'm going to head over to Stromboli, a very active volcanic island.

Beyond that I am open to suggestions as to where to go what to do!

Up up up...up

Hiking in Menaggio was excellent! My first day I decided to do a hike to the Tobi waterfall then continue on towards Switzerland. Obviously I didn't make it to the border, but I did  manage to find some really awesome mountain villages. There a number of different trails one can choose from and they eminate from 3 different points in the town; the top, the north side of the waterfront, and the south. I chose to hike from the top of the town and I mean tippy top. It is incredible how they build all of these towns on the mountain sides. It took me about 40 min to surpass the very top of the town (also the oldest part of the town, the castle dating back to the 1500, it was destroyed in 1523, only the outer walls and part of a tower remains) continuing on the cobblestone road I came to the extremely wealthy village of Loveno, just above Menaggio.

Views from Lorenzo

Above this village I came to a church (San Lorenzo) and soon came to the piamuro, the great pasture where the trails begin.

I traipsed on into the woods and came to the waterfall at around 12 and decided it was an excellent place for lunch.

Tomatoes, bread, tuna, almonds, and dried mango. I then continued on to Cardano and Barcola, both extremely small and old villages. I arrived around early afternoon, nap time apparently, so the villages were deserted.

Below, views from the trail leading to Cardano and Barcola.

I decided to call it a day and I returned to the hostile where I grabbed a shower then I headed into the town square to smoke my cuban. I sat on a bench in the sun over looking the lake. I couldnt imagine a more pleasent view for a smoke.

I started to make my way up to the hostle around 5 and met up with my new buddies in the common area. (increadible views) We spent the evening drinking beer and eating pizza and then headed to bed early.

Como, Como, come on over to Menaggio!

Well today has been a fun filled event! I took the train from Milan to Como this morning, a beautiful hour long ride, and arrived on the bay by 1130ish. I will not even try to describe how this place looks cause it is soooooo amazing. Check out the pix, though they do it little justice.
Once in como and oriented I bought myself a ferry ticket for Menaggio for 230 and gave myself a little tour of the little inner town of Como. I bought lunch at a little market on the rotunda and ate in the waterfront park. Glorious.






After a few hours of exploring I hopped aboard my ferry and had a very scenic ride to menaggio.

I arrived at around 330 and had to kill time till 5 (when the hostel reopened from siesta) giving me a chance to explore the small coastal town. I found a great little bar (coffee bar) right on the water that offers free internet and delicious espresso. After my cafe break I headed back up the mountain and stopped at the local market to grab some food that would last without a fridge (tuna in a can, bread, tomatoes, and green apples) for my few days here. Once completed I headed up the hill to the hostel and got settled. I Immediately met 4 new friends, all of whom I can't remember their names, of course. A girl who left today from Australia, a guy from California, a guy from Canada, and an old dude from England. They had all been traveling for varied lengths of time and to all different countries, very interesting. We had dinner together and went out to get teramisu at a local bar. There are about 50 German high schoolers who have stopped at our hostile for the night, they are on some sort of school field trip and they are very noisy. They are supposed to leave at 5 am so i m sure they will be noisy then as well. Boo, we shall see how that goes. Tonight I am exhausted so I am headed to bed early to be up at 7 tomorrow for a hike.

Occupy Bologna

This past weekend was fairly uneventful. Saturday was beautiful, sunny, windy, and in the 80's. La, Luca, and I went to a neighboring town called Lodi. Its about 20 min away from Cassano. Lodi is a small, sleepy, yet very wealthy town. The town square was well preserved  and as you can see from below I got a few great shots.

After our walk around town we all hopped in the car and drove back home so that I could go kayaking on the Adda river with La's neighbor Giorgia and her kayaking crew. It was a lotta fun as you can see and the weather was perfect! Though that river water was cold.

Sunday was a lazy day and I decided to go for a walk and explore my rural surroundings. After walking for about 20 min I climbed up a giant hill of dirt to observe my surroundings and I was rewarded by stumbling upon an old ruin of a farm. As you can see below it was huge and totally awesome!

I made a point to explore every room I could scramble up, on, over, or into and after a thorough examination I claimed it as mine. (I know typical American, right).

Once I finished admiring my conquest I headed back towards the dirt royal I came by only to find it occupied by 2 walkers and a police truck. Needless to say I jumped feet first into the first neck high ditch I could find, luckily there was one right in front of me. Thank god for those Italian farmers and their farming contraptions. After the police truck had escorted to two walkers past the ridge I made a speedy exit back over the dirt hill, through the field and back on to the dirt road from which I came. I meandered on home pretty pleased with my accomplishments and grabbed a shower.

 La got her neighbor to watch Luca and she and I went out to the castle on the river in which there is a heavenly pizza restaurant and peacocks! I'd say a pretty good cap to a lazy day.

Today, Monday, La and I decided to occupy Bologna. She had to work and I had to expand my horizons. I started by wandering away from the train with no direction at all. Which I didn't mind till I got bored of looking at what I can safely assume was the business district. I then asked a hotel person how to get to the good stuff. And when I got there it was pretty good! Bologna is a very old city with some of the original buildings still intact. And we're talking middle ages! There are actually 2 towers that actually survived from that time period, and they are huge. Some of the pix below are of the Piazza del Nettuno 1556,

and a bunch of other old buildings I though looked cool.

Tomorrow I leave Cassano and make my way to Milan, Como, then Menaggio. I will be staying in a youth hostel on the awesome lakeside town for two days for dirt cheap! 36 euro and food is included! (http://www.menaggiohostel.com/) from their I have no solid plans. I may decide to take the ferry to Bellagio and hike the 20 miles down to Como and catch the train home a day or two later. There are some cool little villages where hikers can stop for the night in the mountains. Or I might go to Varenna and do some hiking or just hang at the hostile for a few more nights.

Romeo y Julieta

No dad, I have yet to find any Cubans, but I have found amazing cheese, wine, bread, and olives.

Thursday, after waking up (completely jet lag free might I add) La and I went to the mall to activate the sim card in my Nokia, yay now I can call La and my parents. In this same mall they have a giant grocery. Awesome. All of this amazing food is soooooo cheap!!! la and I got prociutto wrapped brie that you bake till its melty... then omg heavennnn. It was only 2 euros for 2 of them. So after oggeling all of these wonderful items I only ended up coming home with the brie, bread, a bottle of wine (3euro) limoncello and some bath products. Successful I'd say.

 As soon as we arrived home we ate, had a cappuccino, and left to pick Luca up from daycare. From there we explored Cassano d'Adda and I got some wonderful pix of the town. (and some gelato) then we headed home where La made some delicious risotto with mushrooms for dinner.
These are some of the awesone sights fron La's town, Cassano d'Adda.

                                          The Adda River

The old part of town.

Borromeo Castle

Today, Friday, La and I took the train into Milan where she showed me the sights. We arrived around 11 and had to catch the 230 train home to get Luca from daycare in time. So I got a pretty basic preview of the sights in Milan, don't worry I'll be heading back into the city on Monday by myself and I'll have the whole day to walk around.

Milan and its 3 walls

                                                                  

                                                                                 

                                                         














Galleria Vittorio Emanuele
Duomo
Castello Sforezesco

Other things we accomplished are as follows:
I am going kayaking on the Adda river tomorrow at 5 with La's  neighbor
booked our train to bologna for the 14th
I decided on going to Venice the last weekend of may
We decided to see the ballet at the theater in Milan at some point between now and May 23
We are going out dancing in Milan tomorrow, Saturday, night
We are going to the beach the second weekend of June
I am going to Como for a night sometime between now and before I leave for Venice, so prolly the week after next

Phew well that list was more for me than anyone else.

Today, after we came back from daycare and the park, we had dinner with La's  mom and step dad. Homemade gnocchi with homemade pesto. yum. For dessert her step dad, Marco, also made a giant fruit tart. So good.

And now I'm tired and going to bed. All in all I have had an amazing 2 days (god I already feel like I've been here forever... in a good way of course), and don't worry dad. I'm not sure my luck will hold out on the cigar end (cross your fingers) but I'll keep looking for Cohiba and Partagas. Though you might be stuck with a Romeo or some weird other brand.

Also, I'm super tired when I write these at night, so don't judge me on my spelling or grammar... or total lack of coherent thought.

Welcome to Reykjavik

Yes, Iceland!

So first impressions... probably the quietest airport in the world, I mean it, its seriously silent. People are actually talking in a whisper. I like it. Even the crying baby from the 5 hour plane ride has finally shut up. Also ... hot spring like practically in the airport WHAT!!! Passengers are actually encouraged to go swimming during their layover! The sun. It is very very bright and very very hot. It rose at 4 am (yes I saw the sun rise and the moon rise all in one plane ride, don't ask me how I still don't understand it) and won't set until 10 pm.

Humm what else... well, flying in from the US it is very brown and dreary looking but all of the clouds seem to just hang in the sky. And they are not the weird whispy ones from the US they are those huge tall pillow like clouds, so cool.











So I guess in the same way Reykjavik was unique... Copenhagen is not. Don't get me wrong, its new and beautiful and clean and there is great food and actual grocery stores, but other than the grocery stores and cleanliness (and general politeness of everyone) it looks exactly like any American airport. So as I sit here having a Jacobsen Brown Ale at O'Learys here in the Copenhagen airport at what is my time 720 IN THE MORNING (wow I haven't don't that since my Mardi Gras days I guess I'm just acclimating well to the time zone difference) I am feeling right at home. Also, random thought, are all bartenders multilingual in Europe? If so than that is quite an accomplishment for the service industry here.

A super cool view from the plane of the Alps

And now, made it to Milan!!!!!!! Without even a hiccup! I'm at home with Luca and La (her mom made us pizza for dinner yum) and I am going to bed!