Elfin Forest Adventure

When I was Italy I had 4 months to do everything…and I didn’t know what I wanted to do until I was there, in it all.  And now I have 5 months of college left…and in some ways I deny the fact that there is such a short timeline.  5 months.  That’s it.  Done. I’ve started making a list of things I want to do while I’m in this place and this community.  Some of them I’ve done before want to do more often, and others it will be the first time.  On that list was going to the Elfin Forest.  Not the Elf forest, but the Elfin forest because there was some confusion.

My friends Katie and Alison and I went on a Saturday afternoon adventure.  We went and got Costco samples as treats, then hit up the coffee shop for some warm beverages {otherwise known as hand warmers} before heading to the beautiful town of Los Osos.

The Elfin forest, not what any of us expected.  But it was beautiful and we took pretty pictures.  We watched the sunset and talked like girls do.  We laughed and looked at Morro Rock.  We saw the low {too low} tied of the marsh lands.  And we breathed the fresh air.  It was marvelous and one thing off the do list. 

Yay for Saturday adventures…and many more to come!

Large and in charge

It’s big.

It’s an endangered animal.

It’s a mammal.

It lives in the water and on the Central Coast.

It’s an elephant seal.

When I saw them last week on the Central Coast it was just males that were around.  Come spring time all the babies are out and about.  Talk about big babies!  You can only see elephant seals on the California Central Coast.  I suggest you come for a visit!

Ok, If you look at the pictures not the most beautiful animal.  But they are incredible.  Huge and heavy and yet they swim and dive. Amazing.

 We also went to Heart’s Castle that day.  I loved being able to see the architecture again.  Having been in Interior design class in Italy, I studied many of the art forms that we saw.  Hearst had a unique taste.  Although I don’t really like his style I did enjoy being able to pick out the time and country of the pieces display.  His house is truly a museum on display.  There are so many wonderful things that I could say about that place, but to understand one must experience it.

Hearst had his own private ZOO.  He had a polar bear at one point.  And there are still zebras who roam with the cattle. This the first time that I’ve seen them in the area.  And we saw zebras 3 days in a row! 

Lucky us!

Monterey {Coastal Adventure}

The first day of vacation we {the family} traveled down the coast,

As in the California coast,

 Otherwise called Highway 1,

For you non Californians, be warned this road is windy.  Like a snake.  And I don’t always do well with roads like snakes.  This time it was ok.

My parents repeated the phrase “everyone should take this drive once in their lifetime” before and during the drive.  I agree, but you have to…

a)      Not be in a hurry

b)      Enjoy taking your time

c)       Be willing to stop to take it all in along the way

Before we got to the road like a snake, we stopped off of Highway 1 in Monterey.  I have loved coming to Monterey.  It used to be the place of sea otters and touching sea cucumbers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium when I was little. {I highly recommend aquariums for all ages.}  These days I find it more enjoyable to eat clam chowder on the deck and switch off watching people and the ocean.  It’s always fun to spot a creature out in the kelp.

My favorite clam chowder cart

All gone!

Stay tuned for more coastal adventures!

Check back soon!

It’s been a wonderful week.  I spent time with my family and rested.  Over the last couple of years I’ve learned what rest is and that I don’t take enough of it.

That being said, it’s going to take me a little while to get back in the groove. I loved being by the coast and not having an agenda.  We also didn't have internet access.  Thus, no additional updates.

We had many cameras with our family and everyone capture different events.  Look for updates, but know that I’m rounding up pictures!

Hope you have a wonderful day and check back soon!

At the Coast

I’m off with my family this week, spending time at the coast.  It is potentially our last family vacation for awhile, as just the 6 of us. 

We are going too far and will be cruising the central coast of California.  We are spending time on the beach, visiting Hearst Castle, and going for some hikes.  I’ll be {hopefully} reading a book or two, journaling, and resting.  And the bad news…the house we are renting has no internet access.

I may be popping in to say hello, but we shall see!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Italian Style

Today I was going to do a day trip to Milan. I haven’t been to see anything other than the train station and the airport. It is the fashion capitol of the world. It is only 2 hours away, and that is taking the slow{=cheaper} train.
So I got up early with some of my friends. We knew that there would be a bus and metro strike so we wanted to ride the metro while we could. We got to the train station and looked at the board and this is what it looked like:
So much for a day in Milan. So glad I didn’t get the tickets for the Last Supper that are time blocked. So glad that I had a good attitude about the day. Tomorrows plans were mostly executed for today, and tomorrow, well, hopefully I’ll make it to Milan…

This brings me to “Italian Style” or “Stile Italiano”, a phrase that is used when something is distinctively Italian. It is why the bus and metro strikes are published and even run during the hours that people are going to and from work. It is why the train conductors said, “hey why don’t have a strike today too?” And it is why there is constant honking from double parked cars. Italians do things differently. There’s something that can’t be explained by anything other than saying “Italian Style” and moving on.
It’s the reason that you can see cars parked like this:

It’s reason that businesses usually close from 12.30-3.30pm every day.
It’s why some people seem to not work because there are honestly laws on the number of hours a shop can be open.
It’s the reason that cappuccinos can’t be ordered after 11am and that walking around with anything other than foccacia or a gelato is frowned upon.
It’s the reason that people stare at everyone that they pass on the street.
It’s the reason that politics and religion are not a taboo topic.
It’s the reason that if you go back to restaurant or are friend s with the owner you may get a discount.
It‘s the reason that people travel farther to purchase bread or vegetables from the shop that they have ‘always gone to.’
It’s the reason that fast food does not exist, and meals are elaborate.
It’s the reason everyone says bonjourno or ciao as they walk past.
It’s the reason that they always try to speak in English, even if you are trying to practice your Italian {and they don’t know very much English.}

It’s just the way that Italians do things.
Italian Style.

Take a walk with me?

Will you take a walk with me? We are going to head on over to Valentino Park. Today is a holiday so it’s a happening place!

Isn’t it beautiful? It gets dark here quite early, hence the shifting shadows and bright colored skies.
We have arrived at one entrance with the huge fountain. I haven’t spent much time in this park I love walking through when I have a chance. There is such a unique mix of flowers and plants.

It’s called a park but parts of it are more like a garden. There are paths all around like this one. It makes me feel like I’m in a storybook.

It’s the start of the Christmas season and there is an indoor carnival on part of the property. There is a mix of English carols and Italian carols playing through speakers. There are families everywhere. For me, this park is about capturing moments. The little girl picking up petals with her grandfather in the rose garden. The couple with their first child all bundled up and we watch as trying to take pictures of the little one smiling. The boys racing around the arches and over the bridges playing tag.

It’s starting to get dark so it’s time to walk back for some spaghetti, tea and some reading. Thanks for walking a part of the city with me!

This is a part of the list. Another one marked off.

Cinema, Film, Movies

I have a no flash policy in museums whenever possible. I mean, I find it annoying when the flash catches my eye or catches me off guard. And I figured in a museum about film and cinema that a flash and even a camera would be banned, but I was wrong. And I didn’t know that until halfway through the museum, but I got some fun pics. It's really obvious which were taken with flash and which were not, but hopefully you enjoy them all.
The National Cinema Museum is in Torino and it’s kind of a big deal. I feel like I’m a bad person that it’s taken me this long to get there. It was weird and awesome at the same time if that’s possible. There is a section about film and moving pictures and the history. I thought I knew the basics of cinematography but it goes back farther than I thought. Then there is an area where it shows you how some special effects are done and you can try some of them. I have had the pleasure of doing green or blue screen in jr. high and high school so I just watched the Italians marveled at the idea and had fun. So many laughing people!
I got to look at tons of old movie posters. Some of them I was familiar with and others not so much. The neat thing for me was that some were in Italian and others in English and a few in other languages.
After that I got a little lost in trying to figure out how to go down. The building’s exhibits are configured oddly. But I made it! And there were different screens with clips from different genres. I of course did not take a picture of any of the displays, but think outrageous and you will be on the right track! I found some black and whites of some of my favorite stars and some more movie posters. They have 2 huge screens playing more clips and I watched one that had dancing from different Italian movies.
I am so glad I went, but you have to enjoy movies and everything that goes into them to appreciate it! I know that this was very vague, so if you have questions or want more details ask away!

In the history of cinemtography they showed how to make shadow puppets!

Gone with the Wind, a classic
This seemed fitting...

Love me a little Judy Garland Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but she did it backwards and in high heels. -Unknown

I've been a Cinderella fan from an early age

Visits

This last week I have taken more pictures of cars than anything else. Yes cars. And yes, there will be more than cars in this post. As I’ve mentioned only a few times here on the blog {being completely sarcastic in that statement}, Torino is a city of cars. I had a school trip to part of the FIAT factory this last week. To be honest I was a little disappointed because we didn’t go into the production line like I thought we were. I did get to see some good racing cars though! We went to the Aberth racing part of the plant. Each car is especially crafted by mechanics and engineers. By that I mean that the engines and all the extras are put in individually and with undivided attention unlike the consumer cars we buy. Pretty cool!

A really famous racing car

Since I am a business major, focusing in International Business I figured that it would be good for me to try and see if I could go on an {international} business visit this week. Some other classes were required to go, but I went for…fun. {Yep, I think I have to go with the term nerd to describe that.} We went to two places and this is the first time that our school has been invited to visit. The first one was to Fontanfredda winery which is almost a royal winery. We got to go in the cellars and see the barrels. One of the things that would make me want to work here is that it is a little village and the employees live there. The man in charge of exporting their wines was our tour guide and he and his family live there. He said that it is like living with family. Their signature wine is a white dessert wine called “Asti Spumante”. It is a little more expensive than the competitors but it is world renowned for its high quality.

Which equation would you like on your wine bottle?

They are so huge! And they hold lots of wine. these hold the perfect amount for 2, 4, or 6 people

Down there in the cellar we had to walk through a creepy cave!

The second place we went was Campari. {yep, there is something with the alcohol here in Italy}. Before heading to the factory we stopped in a little town and grabbed lunch. So quaint! But the factory, smelled like a cocktail party. Well, it makes sense since Campari is home to a variety of “spirits” {as our tour guide called them} and liquors that go in all those fancy cocktail drinks. The actual liquor “Campari” recipe is a closely guarded secret. Fun little fact: at this production plant there are exactly 100 employees, {not very many people} making it another one of those tight knit communities.

I enjoyed my little adventure to these companies, and feel a little more educated in the production and consumption or alcohol and liquors.

Bonjour {Paris 1}

There is so much to say about Paris! I have been learning the last 2 months how to live in a city and like it. Boy oh boy was that tested this last weekend. Paris is a city like you have never seen! And I have to say I was quite comfortable in it. Do I still feel incompetent that I don’t speak any other language well? Does looking at French words and trying to pronounce them seem like a headache? You bet! But, I saw a beautiful city full of history and people and places that have a story that makes it worth it to stop and say hello. So here is a rundown of day 1 and how we arrived…

Tip 1: Avoid the RER trains at all costs. If you are going to Versailles tough luck…But we didn’t! yay! But seriously avoid ‘em…

Story 1{arriving}: welcome to Paris, ‘er , the airport way outside Paris. So we had to take a bus into Paris and then the metro. I love metros. But…when you get a metro pass and then wait 30 minutes and there hasn’t been a train in the right direction you look at the other routes. After a lovely waiting underground and extra stairs while carrying luggage we made it to the apartment we were renting and found the key. Another tenant in the building thinks we are the crazy American girls because I couldn’t get the doors open with the code. Sigh. We did it though.

Tip 2: figure out every discount possible. I love that I have an Italian visa in my passport…yay free museums!!! And if you are a young person {between the ages of 18-25} + traveling on the weekend =get the discounted metro pass. {There are discounts for children under the ages of 16 and often 18, but I didn’t fit into that category…}

Story 2{day 1}:The next morning Robyn and I went in search of the usual. Coffee and pastry. We had to walk a ways but we found both in the same shop finally. I had a croissant. With lots of butter and flaky-ness. Can you tell what I’ve been missing?! Butter, you can never have too much butter {name that movie…we quoted it a lot this weekend}
We then took a less amazing metro ride to the cemetery. Yep the first place I went was the cemetery. And I saw the grave of Colette and Jim Morrison, and other famous dead people. And then Oscar Wilde’s grave which is under restoration… who restores a grave? Isn’t it supposed to look old? And really what is restoration going to do, restore the person?
Then we went to the center of Paris, well close anyways. We came up by the Tuleries garden. And we walked around enjoying the leaves and got a crepe. And then we realized we weren’t in the Tuleries garden but across the street. And then we walked to the Tuleries garden, for real this time. And we sat at the pond and people watched. And we got another crepe for good measure. And then I watched people running and vowed that if I ever live in Paris {knowing me highly unlikely…truly highly unlikely} I would gladly run through the garden for exercise.
There is an amazing museum on the corner of the garden called the L’orangerie. It has Monet’s water lilies. And it was amazing! Def in the top two of my favorite museums in Paris.

Tip 3: go to museums in Paris. They are well done and worth every cent. They make me happy!
Next came the famous street. We walked the Champs Elysee and I’ve decided it’s a shopper’s amusement park. There are massive amounts of people and you have to wait in line to get into stores (the winner of the longest line is Abercrombie & Finch). There are lights and famous people shop there and you can buy expensive food. Needless to say we didn’t do any of those things…
We then went back to the apartment and met up with our friends that we were renting with. We tried going to a restaurant that was supposed to be good, but we didn’t make I that far. We stopped before we got there as it was sprinkling and a little bit of a walk. It was a cute little place and it was clear that the locals came here often. I ordered a beef dish {yeah it was steak} and delightful!

A good end to a long day and more to come…

Venice {Parte due}

We woke to the bright sunshine streaming through the windows and none of us wanted to get up. But get up we did. We decided to have breakfast at the hotel and the woman was so sweet. Momma and I got yummy hot chocolate. One thing I want to integrate into American society is small pitchers. Momma got a pitcher of hot chocolate. Daddy got a pitcher of coffee and one with steamed milk. I got a pitcher of hot chocolate. And then there were two more with milk for cereal, yay know for good measure.
After we hit the water on the vaporetto headed for the Rialto Bridge in the daylight. After seeing the bridge, climbing its steps and taking pictures with it as the lovely backdrop we went on our way to Frari Church. It has the tallest tower in Venice. It was nice but since we were there in Sunday there was a service going on so we didn’t go inside. In was so fun to be inside the city. We walked past a coffee shop but we ended up there later.

On the way to St. Mark’s square to see it in the daylight we hit a road block. There was a marathon going on. So I know that Venice is made up of more than 26.3 square miles but it just seems like an odd place to have a marathon. They had to use floating buoyed docks to create a path spanning the Gran Canal. It was a little odd but I guess if you are going to do a marathon why not do it in Venice?! My dad mentioned that it would be interesting to do a triathlon in Venice. The water is gross…sorry I veto that one Daddy! And as you so clearly pointed out biking in a city with water at every turn would be disastrous. Oh the things we joke about in my family!

Again we tried to have coffee in St. Mark’s square but I wanted to people watch and watch the marathon and neither of those were possible from the spots we had to choose from. Instead we weaved our way back through the streets to the first little coffee shop. Daddy and I had coffee with nutella lined cups. Momma had the café specialty and we shared an almond cake yum!

I'm not excited at all... Having a little fun after our coffee We made our way back to the hotel and got things ready from me to leave and then I was hopping on the train. It was a short time, but we covered so much of the city. I loved wandering through the streets. There is a sense of mystery in deciding which alley to take and finding the next bridge that completes the next part of the path like a puzzle.

Today I had an International Business Conference and I can't wait to share what it was all about!