keskiviikko 4. elokuuta 2010

2010 Italy: We No Speak Americano!

This is my journey in Italy. We made over 1000km by car and train across northern Italy.
This is were the journey took place: Truccazzano in northern Italy. The line shows my path from my home to Bergamo.





Cassano d'Adda


Ciao! I've just arrived from an amazing trip in Italy. Let's see what it included.

30.7

I spent the last night in Lapua, waking up 5 o clock and taking a train first from Lapua to Seinäjoki and then continuing to Tampere. It has been a seriously hot season in Finland and I was amazed how it was so warm already at 6 o clock, I'm used to be frozed to death while waiting the train at early morning. The day before had been the hottest day in the history of Finland - 37 degrees. I had 4 hours before my flight would take off in Tampere airport, so I purchased a book for 2 euros and settled to a nice park to read it and watch the city wake up. Finally I was on the plain - Ryanair, 3rd time this year - and began to continue my book. Telling the truth, it was horrible, what else can I expect? I didn't know how long the flight would take, so I fell asleep. I was also terribly hungry, but - to save money - I choosed starving instead of supporting Ryanair by buying an overpriced sandwich. Once the plain started shaking badly and the safety belt light went on, but I couldn't understand the Italian accent the hostess used to explain the situation. So I stayed calm. Finally - after few hours - the high mountains came to view and I knew I was close. 15 more minutes and we started the landing to Bergamo. There Erica was already waiting for me - so nice to see her again!! It was quite warm outside, but very bearable. We headed for her home in Truccazzano through the corn fields - of which I'm very envious since we don't have those in the north - and I was introduced to her mother. She was just like I had imagined Italian people - very hospitable, even she didn't speak english at all. After settling down we went to see the city close to Truccazzano - Cassano d'Adda - where her friend was coming to see her. The name of the friend remains a secret, since it is surely not possible to pronounce, so may he be called "Gucci" (actually that name was an invention of Andrea, who I'll meet soon). We ate a delicous, famous Italian ice cream, which was just so different comparing to what I'm used to. So soft, so sweet, so delicious! The first thing Gucci had to tell me was the real truth of Italy - the separation between south and north. South is Africa, the place of "Terranos"(I don't know if this expression is an invention of him, obviously it's not meant for 
 public use).



View from Erica's terrace (the building she lives was much better than the one in this picture)

After a while we went back to Erica's place and I changed clothes to eat (actually I had forgotten my hungriness which was almost excruciating on the plane) in Bergamo. Gucci joined us. It started to thunder and rain. Anyway I have to say that Bergamo is now listed as one of my favorite cities - the old town was situated on the hill, and I made a time travel to the medieval time. The downpour was so bad, we 3 got a little wet under one small umbrella. We found the restaurant and started waiting for the food, now that I realized my hungriness. First serving was a kind of pasta which was stuffed with meat. So good, but at the same time, so filling. The next serving was polenta, which I had never seen nor heard before. It was a kind of porridge made of corn and cheese (or that's what it seemed and tasted). The next serving was mushrooms, rabbit and chicken. It was all too good, and I wished I could eat more, but my stomach didn't give in. First time I enjoyed red wine with food, I guess it needs the real Italian food to taste good. That serving included all the traditional foods of Bergamo. After the dinner ("dinner" in Italy is eaten late in the evening, at 9 or so) and headed back for Cassano d'Adda. Gucci's and Erica's friend Andrea wanted to meet us in one of the pubs. Andrea was told to be the craziest but also the smartest friend of Erica. We all took one beer- the guys took one litre, me half litre and Erica the driver's beer. After that the guys were already a little drunk, seems like Italians are incapable to handle alcohol. Andrea introduced proudly his Italian car - Fiat Punto - which had a dent on it due to one unfortunate drunken night when Andrea was trying to put it to garage with low success. This time the car was to stay there, and he jumped to our car. We went to Erica's place to play some cards and maybe sip few more beers. I was taught two Italian card games, which were quite similar to Finnish ones. I was a team with Andrea and we won all the games - we were too powerful. Or maybe Gucci was a little bit too drunk. After that we went to play Fifa 2010 and Gucci sacked out on sofa - drinking is surely not for Italians. I was to tired, it was already 4 o clock in the night. After the game I had to say good nights and went to sleep - first day had included a lot of fun and laugh!

31.7

Duomo di Milani and the piqeons

Skyline Milano


This is were the Rich shop and the price tags are 4-numbered
Second day in the country of pizza. We had to wake up quite early to take a train to Milano. Actually Milano was quite close, but due to roadworks we had to make a part of the trip by buss which made it slower. The buss was all full of people with no air condition. Finally we were in Milano and I spotted something unusually big and beautiful - Duomo di Milano. I really can't find words to discribe it's grandeur! It was about the size of a football stadium and every inch was so delicately detailed. The 3rd biggest church in the entire world! We went to the front side and found groups of pigeons around some who fed them. It didn't take long after I got a handful of corn to my both hands and some black guys whistled pigeons in my arms. Birdlover as I am, I enjoyed that and the guys took pictures of us in front of Duomo (see the picture above). After the corn was finished and few pictures taken, the guys began to beg money: "10 euro! 5 euro!". Finally Erica gave then 1,5euros and they gave up. What a robbery! There was many of them, all cheating tourists who don't necessarily understand the value of euro. We tried to go inside the Duomo but there was some strict regulations that forbidded open necklines and short skirts and shorts. So we weren't let in to see the magnificient interior. Anyway, after we paid 5 euros we were let to climp to the roof of Duomo. There was so many steps that I was completely out of breath! Anyway it was worth it - the landscape across Milano was really beautiful. Up there I was able to see the details more closely. I'm a little acrophobic so I was afraid the church was going to fall down after 1000 years it has stood there. The next place to visit was a gallery full of old paintings, mostly related to religion. They were huge, but after seeing 10 I felt I had seen all of them. Then we visited some old castle in Milano. My feet were so dead, I have no idea of what made me to choose high heels for a trip to Milano.. Some black guys tried to cheat us to buy a bracelet, but we knew what they were heading for and didn't let them to cheat us. Walking hurt so much that I was so ready to go back to Truccazzanno! We rested a little bit and went to buy a pizza for a dinner. Italian pizza was good, but not as good as I had expected! I've eaten better ones, but for sure this was a fast food pizza, not the real Italian one. Gucci and a friend of Erica came and talked some Italian, I just listened without understanding anything. Italian is such a beautiful language that I can easily listen it for hours without understanding anything! And it's not that hard, I've picked few words and learnt some Italian.


In the evening we went to a bar called "Jamaica". It was really Jamaica themed with palm trees and Caribbean feeling. We took a cocktail which was full of all kinds of fruits and berries, I couldn't recognize all of them, nor did I like them all. In the bottom there was some vodka which was flavoured with the juice coming from the fruits. Yam yam yam! Anyway, I was really tired, now that I remembered how less I had slept the night before. So we went back to Erica's place and I fell asleep...

1.8



Early morning and it was time to go to the Lake Garda! We picked up Andrea to travel with us. He made a nice rap out of Finnish words he had learnt (numbers and funny words). The city by the lake - of which name I don't remember - was really elegant and beautiful typical Italian city. I felt so hot and was ready to go to swim to the greenish-blue water of Garda. It was so nicely warm and refreshing at the same time. We played some ball games, swam, took sun and rented a pedalo. So we pedalled quite far away from the beach and enjoyed the unusual silence in Italy during August. So nice!! The lake is so beautiful, surrounded by mountains. Andea sang us some Pavarotti (or something like that, I'm not very good in knowing opera singers) and I felt like "oh, this is the real Italy". After pedaling we headed for the narrow streets of the city to look for a nice restaurant to eat some traditional Italian food. So we found one and ate some fish and pasta (drinking wine, of course). The day in Garda was just great, it wasn't so full of tourists from over the World (tourists from Italy, yes, but I don't consider them as tourists).



We went back to Erica's place, took a shower and started to get ready for evening. Andrea had made a promise to be our driver this night. So, our plan was to go to some Indian pub to smoke some narghile/shisha (I don't really know what is the correct word, we don't have those in Finland). We spend a great amount of time searching for it, but finally we made it. It was really 'off-the-beaten-track', only the locals who really know that place would go there. Still, it was almost full of people. We got the shisha-thing and at first we didn't know how to use it (first time for Erica as well), but in the end we were competiting who can suck the most smoke out of it. It was so fun, and it made us laugh a bit. Or maybe that was because the cocktail we drank, and the one meter of shots! Now we got the real party feeling and took another shisha. Erica laughed so bad se almost fell to the floor. When we were finished, we decided to go dancing to night club in Milano. We danced and sang in the car, but couldn't find the place. It took at least one hour to find it, the clock was like half past one. We had really bad luck, the bouncer didn't let us in since it was so late and they were about to close in half an hour. Hence we decided to find another one! It took one more hour. Half past two we found another outside club, which was - SUPRISE - also closing in half an hour (it was Sunday, so the clubs aren't open that late, I guess). So we danced and sang our way back to Erica's place, though I fell asleep in the one hour drive. Despite the drawbacks we faced, I had amazingly great time that day!! I still have to admit the fact I realised two years ago - Italians are crazy, but in a good way.


2.8





Like always on my trips, I was so tired in the morning. I had problems getting my eyes open after 5 hours of sleep. We had some great plans for that day - Venice! Erica's mum hadn't been in Venice for many years, so she joined us. It was sooo long away, and the roads were so blocked due to Italian travel season - they all wanted to go to Venice. It took about 4 hours to get to the harbour, where we had to pick a ferry to Venice. The 4 hours the journey took didn't bother me, since I was let to admire the beautiful landscapes - wine fields, mountains etc.. It hit me by surprise that there is no cars nor roads in Venice. The ferry was so full of tourists, a little foretaste from what was coming. Venice was almost like I had thought it - picturesque. The streets on the harbour side were almost empty, I really love those narrow streets and old, run-down, romantic buildings. I could stay there for hours just to walk around and enjoy the canals, bridges and buildings.. But that was just the other side of Venice, and we really had to visit the centre with all the sights. I noticed that the close we get to the centre, the more tourists the was. In the end, I could hardly walk. I was stuck in the middle of tourists from all over the World! And the stupid pigeon-feeding-cheaters were back! Ugh, I wanted to go away, I could hardly see the ground under all these people! And what was the building we came to see? Oh, it's under renovation, great. We went to park to eat some sandwiches - a short escape from the craziness. Fortunately Erica's mum has an idea how to get away from this - to go by boat to the isle of Murano - the city of handmade glass. The boat trip took almost an hour, but finally - we had space. The island wasn't as elegant as Venice, but surely more enjoyable than the human jam in Venice. We shopped in glass shops that the island was full of, and I found some souvenirs. Some people even live in this island (almost no one lives in Venice, only tourists), we got lost in some kind of suburb.




Then we decided to go back to Venice, but we had to wait for the return boat for an hour. I was so tired - almost fell asleep on the boat. In Milano the hectic atmosphere was still on. We made ourselves to the clearer roads and looked once more some sights. There's so much to see for the ones intrested in history (not me, as you've seen). I really much enjoyed walking back to the harbour through the one-meter-narrow streets (that smelled a little like drain). What if the whole city was like that? Then this would be my personal favorite city. No cars at all - it was so quiet in some parts. Flowers, bridges, boats - surely a great place to spend honey moon. The streets were full of all kinds of shops - surreal fashion and art. And price tags. Venice is full of those - everything - I mean EVERYTHING costs. Tourists are walking wallets. I am not. Venice is the kind of place everyone has to see ones - it's so unique and one of a kind place. But I felt good watching the sun setting above Venice - I was leaving it behind. Long journey back to Truccazzano, and I hadn't even packed. Sad to leave Italy now, when I have just began to really like it and the people living on it. Once more I have to admit no myself - every country is so unique, so great, that I wish I had enough time in my life to visit them all. I don't have, but I want to explore as many as I can - it's impossible to make favorites when all of them are so different and awesome. :-)



3.8

Waking up, taking my stuff and off to Bergamo airport. Good byes to Erica and that was it! In the air port I met a black man who started to have a small-talk with me, and I imidiatelly noticed he's American. That accent was something I had misses... wait a second, I know that accent! He was from North Carolina and had visited the same places as I! What a coincidence. I loved to listen to him speaking, but he had to go. I had also, Ryanair was waiting for me. This had been a great trip - new experience from a new country. Much was like I had expected, and much was like I hadn't. Still, it always feels good to go back to Finland - even I'm yearning for a new trip very soon, that's for sure. :-) No plans made yet, but before christmas I'll be full of new ideas of how to spend my study benefits and ease my travel fever.