Torno; Ritornero

Well, it's my last day here in Urbino. I'll be leaving tomorrow morning, real early, to head to Venice. I'll spend three days there and then take a night train to Rome in order to catch my ten hour plane ride to Toronto, and then my 4 hour ride from there to Edmonton.

Since I last talked to you, I've talken a trip to the South! I stayed in Sorrento for four nights, and it was great! I took a day trip to Pompeii, one to Naples and one to Amalfi. I also met a whackload of Canadians, which was just awesome. I met some Italians, too, and they took us out on the town, and also two lovely ladies from New York who said I could go visit them anytime I wanted. Who's up for a trip to the Big Apple?

Then I headed up North to Civitanova Marche, where Andy's parents live, and we had a really fun night for his birthday! Dinner with friends at the house, then drinks out.

Anyways, after getting back, I had one more week of work. It was a weird week. Doing lots of things for the last time. Nerone, the wonderful man who throws the concerts at his farmhouse,. threw me a going away party with just a few friends. It was really wonderful to see everyone out there one last time. Then, Sunday night I had a dinner with Giorgia and Lucia, and we ate gelato under the stars. Monday night was dinner with Val and Andy and Agata. Probably with worst dinner I've had there, considering it was the last. (Don't get me wrong; the food was delicious.) Last night I went out with Eliska for a last bottle of wine at Caffe del Sole, and tonight I'll be at the house, for a last dinner here with the kids and Ales.

I wish I could sit here and type to you for hours about all the details and stories from these trips and outings, but it being my last day, I need to make sure everything is packed, and this includes my computer.

Considering how slow my first months seemed to doddle by, my last half really snuck past me, and I'm quite sad to leave. People have very rarely said goodbye to be, but just "See you when you come back!"

As I kissed Sarah goodnight last night, she hugged me around the neck and said, You aren't allowed to get up. She had a pretty good hold on me and kept me imprisoned for a good five minutes. She said, You can't leave, and gave me lots of kisses. Before I started to cry I told her the other kids needed good night kisses too, and she hesitantly let me go.

A lot has changed, and I really feel at home here. I know I can always come back, and I will always have friends and a family here, but, for now, I'm leaving on a jet plane, and I don't know when I'll be back again.

It's been the most amazing journey, I've seen so many amazing things and met the greatest people. But it's time for me to come home, to see all the amazing people I left in Canada nine months ago, and get started on the next part of my life. I'm really, really excited at the thought of landing, seeing everyone over the course of the Summer and lots of Welcome Home hugs!

So, as my trip seems to have been, I have split emotions, one from each extreme.

I do plan on finishing this blog over the Summer, adding pictures from all of my trips, and telling the stories along with them. It's just that this last month was full of very precious time that I think I used rather wisely. I want to thank all of you so much for the support and following and can't wait to see all your shining faces!

This is my last post from Italy. See you in Canada!

Ciao for now.

Tanti Auguri a Me!

It was my birthday last week!

I had a really good time. At midnight on May 10th, we ate tiramisu (That Valentina made!) at Val and Andy's with Nando and Agata. They also gave me the best present ever. They got an MP3 player and filled it full of Italian music! I was pretty pumped and I've already listened to all of it.

Then the next day, after my morning work, I did nothing, which was awesome, and then Ales had bought be a cake and we all ate together! Sarah was a little grumpy and cried because it wasn't her birthday, but I was too absorbed in the delicious cream/pinenut cake that we were eating to notice. Then, after my afternoon work, I took off to the theatre with Giorgia and Lucia and some of the Spanish girls from the dorms, and we watched 7 very beautiful Spanish men who were very talented at Flamenco, Ballet, and numerous other types of dance. I couldn't take pictures, but look them up. Los Vivancos, I think. Turns out they are 7 brothers, but there's 36 of them. 1 father, 7 mothers, 36 kids.

Then, we went to Caffe di Sole and had some birthday wine and I got presents! They gave me a nice wooden ring with a big seashell on it and an inscence burner. But the fun didn't end there! Well that evening did, but on Thursday I met up with Eliska, who is from Slovekia and I met her at my Italian lessons, and she'd bought Prosecco, gelato and bubbles! So we drank and ate out in the sun, and then started blowing bubbles around. Then these real cute little boys came over and started playing with them! It was so much fun. I thought they were German, but it turns out they were Australian so I wished them a good day and fun trip! It was a very fun day. It's nice to talk to other people who are here for prolonged periods and talk about what you miss and what you like about it here and what makes you crazy and stuff like that. It's really funny because we speak Italian together, but it's neither of ours first language. (Grammar on that sentance?)

Then, this weekend I was supposed to go to Fano, but the weather was awful, as it has been, and my friend Pamela was going to Bologna for a Reggae concert. Anyways, I called Val to see if she wanted to watch a movie, but turns out she was at her parents place with Andy. They invited me over, so I packed in literally 4 minutes in order to catch a bus to Pesaro in order to catch a train to... Civitanova Marche! The biggest baddest city around. Just kidding. It was pretty tiny and off the map. But, then Val and Andy picked me up, their smiling faces on, and took me to... Porto San'Elpedio a Mare! Which has no train station. We ate with her parents, who I met once before, and it was delicious. Chicken cooked with peppers, breaded eggplant, roasted potatoes and then cherries for dessert! I ate pretty much the whole bowl. No one else seemed very interested because they have them all year there, close to the sea. Then we got all dolled up and went to San Giorgio, which I guess is there old drinking pond. We spotted an ex of Val's and some friends of Andy's. It was fun! We went from one bar to another, though, because the first one was pieno di persone sciffose Which means it was full of gross people, as Val said. So we went to Joeys! Without the appostrophe and everything. It was a real pub. Turns out it's run by a bunch of Australians, but none of them were working that night. Either way, the funniest thing happened:

So, this girl walks into the bar. Ouch. We've all heard this joke. But seriously, she walked right into a glass door. Everyone stopped to stare, and it was right beside our table, so we made sure she was ok, and all was good. She went to the bathroom and came back and that was when we all noticed it. She'd actually broken the glass. All cracked up. The door, and us, too. So, we chatted with her and then her friend came over and murmered somthing to me.

"Cosa hai detto?" (What did you say)

"Non sei Italiana?" (You're not Italian)

"No, sono Canadese." (No, Canadian)

"I'm Irish!"

Ha! So they moved on over to our table, and we had a wonderful evening of Italian/English conversation and I tried a wonderful drink called Cleopatra's secret, which had red wine, cherry sugar and beer.

Then, around four, we rolled into Andy's parent's house, which is actually an Agritursm place, so I got a whole big hotel style room all to myself. I slept very well.

In the morning (afternoon, really...) we went for a walk out to see the baby goats they have and the olive trees and things of that sort that I come to recognize around here. They have a peacock, too! That's not so usual.

So anyways, it was Sunday, so they invited over the grandparents and we had a grande lunch of delicious pasta, breaded pork, roasted veggies and then cream with strawberries.

I really shouldn't eat for a week.

Anyways, then we took another trip back to Val's parents to pick up some stuff, take a stroll along the longest beach in Italy (it looks like Beverly Hills) and then head on the hour and half car trip home. It was a really wonderful week, but a shame that the weather has been so awful! I've heard from everyone that it's so unusual how cold it is, how much rain we're getting and that usually they are all going to the seaside by now. Like they're doing in the South.

Which, lucky for me, I am going to in two weeks. Well, a week and a half, really. There is my last concert out in Cavallino this weekend, then the next weekend I head South, then I come back for one more week of work, then 5 days vacation and then flight home.

I'll let that shock you for a minute.

(Ps, I'll be adding pictures this week! And I am starting to think that I'll have to finish the London trip and Switzerland pictures when I get home, because I sure don't have a lot of time to get onto the internet these days! Thanks, everyone, for your patience!)

Summer totally stole Spring's spot

Allora.


Ciao!

Just going to through this out there: Tomorrow is May 1st. Having seen this on my calendar, I’ve realized how much time has gone by, and therefore also the last time I’ve written to you all. I hope all is well!

Here, tutto e a posto. I just realized I’ve been saying that wrong all these months, but I’m still learning everyday! I am taking a higher level Italian course, now, and my cinematography course is finished. However, we are now all working together on making a short film! It’s a lot of fun, and they are all so nice. We did, however, drop one of our members. Having tried to talk to him multiple times about changing the script without asking and not listening to our ideas, we told him he could start working on a team with us, or working on his own. He chose to work on his own. Anyways, it’s been going smoothly since.

Other than that, Spring has pretty much come gone. In my humble, Canadian opinion. It’s Summer and don’t tell me anything different. I am stifling hot everyday, burnt all over my shoulders and dehydrated like mad. What are the folks around here wearing? Jackets. Pants. I even saw someone with a scarf and touque the other day. What are you thinking?! I do actually ask them that, and they just say I should wait and see what July is like. Thanks for the invitation, but instead of melting like a cone of gelato, I’ll head back home.

So, with these seasonal changes came all sorts of fun things. We are going to La Fortezza almost everyday after school and the kids are moving onto shorts and skirts and cute sandals. I get to dress them everyday, so it’s sort of like playing Barbie’s sometimes. Picky, smart Barbie’s that can talk, but Barbie’s none the less.

Also, there are lizards wandering around! Like, everywhere! It’s so cool. They run all over the side walk, and one was completely frozen in fear the other day, I got a good look at it, but before I could get a photo, Bella was going for the kill, so it ran off. Anyways, I just think it’s so weird that they run around here like ants run around Alberta.

Then there’s the not so fun animals. Ales found a dead scorpion in the flat today. She said it was the first one she’s found here in two years of living here, but to be careful and sure to wear slippers around the house. It was all tiny and black and she told me about how dangerous they were and where they lay their eggs and stuff. Should sleep well tonight. Jeepers.

Over at Val and Andy’s, we have taking to watching the sun go down off their deck. Venus is always bright and center over the ever ongoing hills that seem to be shadows upon shadows of each other. They have a sweet view. Mind you, everyone does in Urbino.

Last Saturday, I went to another concert in Cavallino. The ones on the farm just out of town. There was a band there that played Folk music from the Marche region, which is where I live. They were a lot of fun, and they even used me as a prop for one song! Sadly, it was a song about my Father, Mother, Brother and Fiancé all dying. But luckily it wasn’t about me, it was about a girl named Rosalina. Albert called me this for the rest of the night.

Pamela was there again, too, and she’s invited me to her place for a weekend in Fano. I’m trying to see when I can take off and see her! I’m hoping to go the weekend just before my Birthday for an early party!

Tomorrow is a working holiday in Italy. Literally called the Holiday of Work. Guido is coming tonight, and hopefully that means I have the afternoon off, because I would like to head for a huge bbq Val and Andy have invited me to.

As of today, I have only one month and a half left here. It’s surprising how much that hit me. It was good though. Reminded me to enjoy what I can and do as much as possible. It’s such a short time, but I really can’t wait to get home, too.

BIG NEWS! I have been in talks with my friend Cheyanne from Edmonton about getting a place together when I get back. And we’ve found one! Well, she found one. Ha, she did all the work, but either way, there is a wonderful two bedroom main floor on the South Side of Edmonton waiting for me to move my things into. I’m really excited and can’t wait!

So, having said that, I was talking with a lady the other day at the park, who asked me how much longer I’d be here. She said, Wow, that’s going to be hard on the kids. Yep, I said. And me. The girls and Leo are definitely like little siblings I never had. I love them very much and it will be hard to go.

But, having said THAT, I am looking forward to waking up without kids wanting cornflakes and having to clean dirty bottoms and struggle with getting them into the bath, then twenty minutes later out, and all the work I do in general.

As you can see, I have many mixed feeling, but I suppose it’s all that can be expected.

Oh, the other thing I’ve noticed is how quickly the sun goes down here. Whereas is Canada it takes forever to get from in the sky to behind the treeline, here it just sort of drops out. Day/Night.


Anyways, I hope you’re all doing wonderful and that May starts off with some good weather, including rain for those fires, and flowers blooming bright! There is a tree I sat under today, and you could hear the bees taking all the pollen. I looked up and it was FULL of them. I found a new sittin’ spot after that, but it was so cool.

London:There's always more

So, here are some more pictures of my London Trip!

This is just fantastic.

In and Out

A Ballroom. I want one.

The Hard Rock Cafe! Ah!

Look at all those daffodils! (Spell that right? I'm going with no.)

Part of a monument to S. Africa, and three other countries who sent soldiers in the war.

Another pert of it. It's full of poppy wreaths.

Buckingham, again! This guy did a little march about. That was about all the action I saw there. They do the Changing of the Guard every two days, so I planned to see it my third day, but it was cancelled for some reason or another.

Squirrels and birds! These guys run the city.

I. Love. These. Birds. They are so pretty!

So, these and the above are from St. James's Park.

These are HUGE birds. They were really pretty, but also rather docile, so they just sat really far away and slept.

Epic. The phone booths. I even got to use one! But we'll get to that later.

Ok, ok, I'm really proud of this. A Bus AND the Parliament Buildings.

Mind the Gap.

Big Ben! Ah! He was very impressive.

Green Gumboots. This one is for Amy Bridges.

More of Big Ben, a bit closer.

A protest on the local grocery store.

They were camped out and everything.

Westminter Abbey. You'll see much more of it later.

Statue of a guy and a lion.

Parliament, and a guy on a horse.

A statue that I swear I saw in Paris. Which one is the real one?

Across the river Thames.

This boats were wicked. They hop onto land, too, and give water/land tours of London. Their huge and obnoxious on the road, but I wanted to take one.

So, I walked some more and saw a lot on my first day. Then the sun started to come down. And here is Big Ben, on my walk back.

And a bus going to Elephant and Castle! I love that place!

The London Eye

The Eye, looking over London.

Parliament again

A T.S. Eliot poem along the boardwalk

Big Ben again

The restaurant I had eaten at earlier in the day. I had spicy fish cakes and chatted with an English artist and his brother, a law stident. They were looking for their other brother, who by the sounds of it, is a tad flaky. It's funny what strangers will tell you.

So,. this was my first day in London! I really loved it, by this time. There was a lot that reminded me of Canda, compared to Italy. Including the big roads, English words, separated buildings and the weather. I went back to the hostel and met my roomates. One of which was having trouble speaking English, and then I found out she was from Italy, and so were a lot of the people staying there. The other two girls were from China and studying in New Castle. More about them all later.

Real Time Update: I got back from Switzerland three days ago, on the 11th. It was maybe my best trip so far, and I had the best time. I saw so much, ate so much, and just enjoyed spending a week with Alex, after five years apart! I met a lot of her friends, and her parents, too. I do have pictures and stories and will get them going as soon as I finish up London!

The kids are good. It seems that every time I go away, it takes some adjusting when I get back, but this time it only really took an afternoon, and the next morning everything was back to normal. They seemed to have missed me a lot, and when I picked Sarah up from school she looked at her friend with a huge smile on her face and said, "That's my babysitter!" and ran to me. Benni, who hasn't given me a kiss in months, because now she's 6 and she thinks their gross, took my hand last night and gave me a peck on the cheek. Leo showed me his new toy that he got for Easter and we played together, which is a nice break for him, because I'm real competition.

Another anniversary to mark! Two months from today, I'll be heading home. It freaks me out. Because if I look back to February, it went by so fast! And these months are warmer, I'm really loving it here, and I have lots to do, so I know things will be moving really fast. I have two more trips planned, but I'm not sure where yet. I just have the time. I plan on staying in Italy, though. Maybe one trip North and one South. Either way, I want to get some ocean time in.

Good luck to all you students heading into exams and finishing papers! I don't envy you, but I believe in you.

Belated Easter and the Wonderful Swiss

Happy Easter, everyone! I hope you all had a nice, relxing holiday!

I am fist going to war that I am on a Swiyy keyboard, and it blows chunks. As in, nothing is where it's supposed to be, so if I make more mistakes that usual, that's why.

So, yes! I'm in Switzerland. I may have mentioned before that I have a friend who lives here. She is Swiss, and she lived and went to school with me in Grimshaw in Grade 10. We've kept in touch for five long years, and have finally seen each other again. It's been a really amazing couple of days, and we still have 3 more to go! On my firstday we walked around Chur, where she lives, and even though everything was closed for Easter Monday, it's a cute ol' town and we found some Mexican food wiht Argentinian wine. Delcious. Then today I met her best friend Martina who drove us up to Davos, which is the highest city in Europe. There was still snow all over the mountians and the gound, and even people there skiing and snowboarding. But, it was still really hot! The sun was out and it was nice enough to go about without a jacket. We took a full walk around the town (which call itself a city, but really it's very small), saw some cuckoo clocks, ate a delcious lunch together in the sun, and then drive back down all the winding roads back to Chur, where we had some McDonald's ice cream to cool down, and picked up some pretzels for supper. Like. Giant, delicious pretzels. We picked up a movie, too, and enjoyed a chill night in together. It's been a long time since I've had some wine, good food, a girly movie and girls to chat with about it all in one night. It's so much fun!

I got here Easter day, since the trains were all full on Easter Monday. I had spent themorning with the family, including Guido who was there for the holiday, and I gave the kids some chocolate that mom sent from Canada, some bracelets, tattoos, pins and stickers, all from Grimshaw, Alberta or Canada. They loved it! I even got a big chocolate Easter egg from Guido and Ales which had a really nice silver pendant in it. We then had lunch of rabbit. On Easter. I know, but it was really good.

Then, since it was a holiday, I had no bus to Pesaro to catch my train, so Guido said he would drive me, and then the whole family piled in. They dropped me off, and then took off for a day together in Pesaro. It was a little sucky spending Easter day on a train, but I was just so excited to see Alex at the station after all this waiting!

I will definately have a lot of pictures for you, but not until I get back to my own computer. I hope your April is goin well! When I get back from this trip, it will be a month until my Birthday, and then one more month until I am done work here.

I had some trouble getting my flight changed, but I finally did, and I will be coming in June 14. Also, I am glad to say, that I have said yes to my friend Cheyanne to be her roomate, and we are now looking for a place together in Edmonton. Well, she's looking, haha, I am afraid to say I am no help. I am excited to get back home, but these next two months are just going to be so hot, so much fun, and so exciting, so it is, as usual, a lot of mixed feelings.

So, tomorrow we are going to Zurich, then the next day, Alex has tickets that we can use to take us anywhere we want in Switzerland, so we might hit up the capital city, Bern, or who knows where. Then I am meeting Alex's parents and here sister, and her mom has set up some sort of spa thing at her house. I have to say I've never done a spa thing at a house, so we'll see what it's all about. I am staying with her and her boyfriend, Ronny. We happen to have no languages in common. So. It's been a lot of Ciaos and waves, and that's about it. But he seems very nice and we are all going to go out on the town together on Friday night.

That's my Swiss schedule, and I am just so ecstatic to be here, that whatever we do together is going to be fun, a fatamorgana, if you will. Haha, that is an inside German joke.

Speaking of German, I have been so used to understanding everything for so long, that when I got here and everyone was speaking German, I was a little in shock. I really hadn't done any reseach and had to ask Alex how to say things like yes and thank you, but I got by. The weather was nice today, and looks great for our trip to Zurich tomorrow.

Have a wonderful beginning to April, everyone, and Lorraine I hope your big day goes off without a hitch and congratulations! Wish I was there to share the joy with you, but I know there will be plenty to go around!

London: In pictures and words. Wonderful English words.

Me being on time!

This is an important picture, because as a wonderful start to my trip, as I may have said, I missed my bus to Rome. Instead I hopped a but to Pesaro, train to Rome, plane to London. Whoa. What a day.

Falconara! Whenever I go to Rome, or come back, this is my change station. I know it all too well. But the bathrooms are free and there's a cafe. Can't complain.

Chilling out in Rome for the afternoon. With the palm trees. (Awesome.)

Monument in Latin.

There was this one spot, on the way to the Church you'll see in a second, that was called Via di Quattro Fontane (Road of four fountains) and this was one of the fountains! There was an intersection that had one on each corner 

Then I chilled here and checked out our current passing from Winter to Summer. Flowers planted in the ground, but no leaves on the trees quite yet. I mean, not there is, but when I took this picture there wasn't.

Ah, another constant reminder of the passing of time. Construction.

And here is Santa Maria Maggiore. It's very large, very blocked off by fences, and has a very large pile of chairs sitting outside the door. I have no idea what was going on, but maybe it was spring cleaning. Either way, I couldnt go in.

Another Church neat the station, which I returned to in order to catch a train to the airport

So, then I got on the train, then to the airport, at which I went through security twice for security reasons, then our plane left a nice hour late, which got me into London at 2 in the morning. I believe I mentioned this already, too.

But anyways, I got up and had a look around the place!

My first London photo: The Bus! I took this guy from the hostel, which isn't as close to the center as I would have preferred, to Victoria Station, and bummed aroung the major sights for my first day.

The Shakespeare! I bet they serve things like ale.

Maybe my favourite photo from the trip:

Ha! I relaly did need these, though. I kept looking the wrong way, and then a car would come from the other direction, and then all hell broke loose. Really I just screamed and stepped back.

Did I know you could win an award for Cornish Pasties? No. Know I do. This is why we travel, folks.

Man on a Horse!

Ha!

This is the station I arrived at, the station I used as a referance point, and the station I left from. Nice place. They're doing some remodelling, though.

Little Ben!

There was no Simon's.

Check this out! You wanna pee? Do it here. In the classiest public bathrooms in the world, or so I think.

Buckingham!

There was an this exhibit that opened the day I got there! I took it as fate! But I never went.

Buckingham gates! There were tons of people, even though it was March, chilly and there was no changing of the guard that day. I'd hate to push through the crowd on a hot day in the summer!

The gates. Plated in gold and adorned with crests.

The fountain outside of Buckingham Palace.

The Palace itself

Some gates leading to Green Park

A sweet behind look at a statue

Here are some more gates attached to the Square. Each pillar represents another of the Colonies.

Some closeups of the fountain. I liked these folks.

And these ducks! There are SO MANY birds in this town. You just wait.

The other side.

View of the Eye from the Palace! Everthing is so close and you can see such wonderful views of all the sights from all the sights' views. (That last sentance totally makes sense.) 

The fountain and a clean up crewman.

There we go! The pillar of Canada! With the Albertan crest and everything.

Heading away from the Palace to Green Park...

...which looks like a wonderland.

Which is where I found this monument, which I mention in the last post.

And there was one perfect Maple leaf, that just happened to settle on the plaque. Pretty perfect, sometimes, this world of ours.

So! That did not condlude my first day, but I am going to do this trip in Blog parts. Like I did with Paris. And some of you may say, "Well, Carrie, you didn't actually finish your Paris trip in the Blog." That may be true, but I'll do better by you all this time!

Real Time Update: I have, in fact, arrived back in Urbino, and things are back to normal. Or as normal as they can be here! I missed the kids a lot, and when I arrived back, I was surprised with two days alone here, too. Ales and the kids were at Livorno, where Guido lives. I enjoyed some time in the house alone, but I was antsy to see everyone again! Anyways, they arrived, and it was weird because the kids' voices seemed odd to me. I suppose not hearing kids for a week, the ear gets unused to it. But, they talk enough, so I got used to it right quick. They told me all about thier trip, and I told them all about mine. Sounds like we all had a good time!

They kids had school for a few days, but now Easter break has started and I am currently, honestly, working, but Sarah is having a nap and the two older kids are playing games, so I took this opportunity to chat with you guys!

I also saw Giorgia and Lucia the day after I got back, who then left the day after that for their holidays at home. They secretly bought me an Easter present while we were out, which was a Chocolate egg, and inside was a cute charm that I made into a neclace! I also had a great dinner with Val and Andy and their friend Nando, who is a hoot. We ate delicious pasta with delicious mushroom sauce. I had gotten them a London dart game, all magnetic and cheap, so as we played in broke, but then we found a plastic leap frog and made an obstacle course on the table for it. It was awesome.

Anyways, on the 3, 4 or 5, I am leaving for Switzerland! I knew these two trips would be really close together, so I'm trying to take it easy and relax while I'm here. Been playing at lot with the kids! I am here with all three of them today, so we made cookies and we might go to the park altogether.

The weather: It is springtime. The flowers are out, the leaves are budding, the dog is back (she was at a kennel while everyone was away) and the kids are seemingly more mature and more immature. That's the way they are contantly changing, keeping my life interesting! I am glad to be back with them and to my normal life. Now, when I first said that to myself, I was like, Yep, all is back to normal. Uh. No. Then it slapped me in the face that this is not, in fact, my life. It is now, but in just over two months, I'll be back in Edmonton. Weird to think about, so I don't. Constantly excited to be getting home, with the coinsiding excitement of being here, with the impending new-home sickness I'll have, with the joy of seeing Canada and all its inhabitants. It's weird. But, I'm happy in this moment, and really that's all we have.

Oh, and my status on Facebook was, in fact, an April Fool's joke, just so anyone who saw it knows. Pretty good, though, hey?