Adventures in Public Transit

Now all my readers know about my battles with my arch-nemesis the Post Office, but my second nemesis is the public transport system in Genoa, AMT. Not so much for the usual aches and pains of public transport (late buses, packed in like sardines), but for the random magnet it turns me into for the weird and the absurd … and the crazies.

There was the time I got punched by a psychopath while I was taking the bus to meet with hubby, and the time that the bus driver decided to duke it out with a passenger (and totally got his butt kicked). And then when I was hit by a bus….But this evening’s adventure takes the cake in oddness.

First off the bus driver thought he was Mario Andretti running on a Formula 1 track, and zig-zagged between cars like a madman, clearly in a rush to finish his shift and go home.

Well, he passed a car pulled over to the side of the road just a little too close for comfort, and the driver went berserk. He zipped past the bus, crossing over into the opposite lane, honking his horn and screaming at the bus driver. And for a brief moment, I sympathized with the guy, I mean the bus could have taken him out, it was big and the car was small. The car went by and I thought nothing of it.

Then the driver pulled up to the next stop, let on some people, closed the doors and started to pull away. I looked over and saw this guy running up to the bus, like he was trying to catch it at the last second. He ran up to the glass door and smashed it with what appeared to be a big rock or piece of concrete, shattering the glass door. And then he just ran back to his car and drove off!

Thank goodness the glass was shatterproof!

I think this time it was a combo of bus rage meets road rage – the nutcases are everywhere!! And they’re all out to get me!

Many Happy Memories

Saturday morning saw hubby and I rolling out of bed at the last minute, wolfing down breakfast and adjusting ties and sandals straps as we ran out the door.
A friend of mine from when I was working in broadcasting was getting married.
It was a beautiful sunny day despite the thunderstorms of the day before, and notwithstanding our late start we got to the church early and even found parking!
When the bride arrived she was beautiful, of course, and we all marched in and took our places. After her grand entrance, we settled in for the mass.
Which was long and cumbersome and the priest didn’t help by having a monotone voice with no inflections whatsoever. So I was easily distracted and confess to spending most of the mass giggling with a former collegue – and hubby’s disapproving glare.
But when the time came for the vows my ears pricked forward and I listened intently, grasping hubby’s arm, reliving in that very moment that day, now nearly three years ago, when I said those same words – telling him how much I loved him and how I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him – and wishing my friend and her neo-hubby the same happiness I have felt since then.

Right there and then I realized that no matter what problems life may throw at us (and there have been many!) what really matters is facing them together and remembering that as long as you have each other you can do anything.

May the 4th Be With You – A Caturday Post

In geekdom, today is Star Wars celebration day. It is also Saturday. The perfect CCL/Nerd combo for all my readers to suffer through.

So I scoured the internet for those few people who had actually had the time and awesomeness to create Cat Wars erm, May the 4th/Cat pictures. Kudos folks, kudos.

Enjoy!

– Come to the Dark Side! – Never!

Defend yourself!

Leia-cat

Get him!

 

 

 

 

Hiking from San Siro to Creto

…And beyond for those who didn’t cop out early like I did.

You may have noticed a lack of hiking posts lately. I confess to having become extremely lazy in the last few months. Mind you the weather hasn’t helped much either truth be told. Well nigh on two months ago now we had some nice weather, and the Fearless Leader immediately organized a hike, and I bravely gathered up my sticks and went. Also because it was close to my house so I could sleep in, leave whenever I wanted, because slave boy, erm, hubby was willing to come get me with the car.

Well,  it’s a good thing it was close by because halfway through (after the hardest part I might add, I collapsed and gave up. I went home, head hanging in shame, while the others went on without me. Le sigh. And then it took me two months to get around to working on the pictures.

But at long last here they are. Enjoy!

We started from the church of San Siro in Struppa

We met many animal friends along the way

Including a herd of sheep

And a goat!

Cool Cats

Sometimes it’s good to just go out and have some fun…and regress to the age of five.
Saturday was a friend’s birthday so, like the group of acculturated people we are we went out for a big dinner. Undeterred by the pouring rain, we climbed into our cars and drove along the dark, curving road to the restaurant above Sori.
Good wine led to good laughs and reminiscing…and an iPad and a Hello Kitty app.
So, which cool cat do you think I am?

Exploring the Other Part of the Aqueduct

Sorry for the disappointment folks, no Caturday post today! Actually you are lucky to have a post at all as I have battled it out with WordPress for the last hour or so, to no avail I might add…. Oh well. No need for details. However I can give you some brief cat news: Honey has found her new favourite place on the balcony – in my giant planter, sleeping on my peas! I was wondering why half of them were growing beautifully and the other half were so flat and stunted…answer found!

Some beautiful almond blossoms welcomed us to the path

Catkins

 

So back to the main post of the day: Many a time I have mentioned going for nice walks along the aqueduct behind my house, but the truth is the aqueduct is actually very long, running from far inland to downtown (almost). It is divided into different sections and behind my house is only one small part of the whole shebang! So a few weekends ago, hubby and I took advantage of one of the very few days of sunshine we’ve had this year, and went exploring the second half – from Pino Sottana to Trensasco.

Sheer luck – catching this grasshopper as he jumped off the branch – he sure made a heck of a lot of noise!

A little lizard friend basking in the sunshine

 

We saw lots of butterflies, lizards and even a rocking giant grasshopper. We nearly fell into a couple of holes and had to do a wee bit of rock climbing, but all in all a lovely adventure exploring our backyard and soaking up some Vitamin D. Win, win!

We weren’t the only ones out enjoying the nice weather

Insects were busy gathering nectar

And butterflies were out there looking awesome – I have never seen this kind before!

 

 

A Sheldon Caturday

In honour of Sheldon Cooper. Something to sing to make you feel better when you aren’t 100%.

Soft kitty…

Warm kitty …

Little ball of fur…

Happy kitty…

Sleepy kitty…

Purr, purr, purr.

A Fragile and Precious Thing

You know, never in my life would I have believed that by the age of 32 I would have had so much experience with death. From my schoolmate who was brutally killed while walking home from a party, another who committed suicide right after our graduation, two friends of mine who died after long and terrible illnesses at the ages of 33 and 40, and my father’s sudden death. Not to mention the various elderly people in my life who passed away when, sad as it was, it was their time.

But the news I got today, well that one just tops the cake. I walked into school only to find out that a 27-year-old colleague of mine had died over the weekend in a tragic car accident. Twenty-seven and about to get married in July. We didn’t know each other all that well, and I can only begin to imagine what his family must be feeling right now, but I was floored. I felt sick to my stomach. It is 2 in the morning and I have been tossing and turning in bed trying not to dwell on it, but I can’t. So unexpected, so senseless and so horrible. I just can’t stop thinking about it, trying to wrap my mind around it.

I have always been strongly affected by death, it shocks me and it scares me, like it does for everyone, I suppose. I am not a religious person, but I strongly believe in an afterlife, however you want to call it. We all have a soul and it cannot just disappear with a snap of the fingers, because, then why are we put on this planet in the first place? How can a living, breathing smiling person, who you last see saying, “See you next week” just cease to exist like that? They can’t. So I like to think that every single one of the people who die are in a different place, a different plane of existence if you will. But I won’t ever really know, will I? At least not until my time comes.

And when it does, will I be full of regrets for all the things I didn’t do, that I let slip by my because I was too preoccupied by what? My ongoing battle with the Poste Italiane? Too much work? The crazy Italian drivers? The economic and political crisis this country and so many others are going through? The could-have-beens of my past?

No, not anymore. I came home and held my hubby tight, and heard the beating of his heart, that fragile and precious thing that keeps us all alive. It only takes a moment for it to go away. And so it should be cherished for as long as we are here and beyond.

True Vines by Diana Strinati Baur

I’ve recently started to be very furba. When I see a book I like, I tend to use someone’s birthday as an excuse to get it. I buy it for them, then ask to borrow it. And this is what I did with True Vines, by Diana Strinati Baur.

I have actually been following Diana for some time, and enjoyed reading her blog, Creative Structures, where she wrote about her B&B and her ceramics. It was inspiring and fun to see how life was like in rural Piemonte.

And then she went and published a book, so how could I not be intrigued by it? And I was not disappointed. This book resonated with me somehow. It dealt with things that I have often asked myself, wondering how I would react in certain situations.

In brief, the book is a story of a woman who lived thirteen years in Piemonte, after a whirlwind intercontinental romance ending in marriage and a hard yet incredible life tending grapevines and working in a cafe with her husband and his family. When he dies suddenly, she returns to the US in a rush, leaving everything behind, in an attempt to cope with her grief and guilt, and to find herself again. In the process she learns so much about love and family.

The book is well written and what I really like about it is that each and every one of Diana’s characters is flawed, including the narrator, although she doesn’t see it herself, and this comes through in her story. Her inability to open herself up and communicate her feelings and tell herself the truth about things – I felt like I was reading about me.

She moved to Italy for love, and allowed herself to get so caught up in her life here that she “forgot” about her family back home – for a brief time in my life, I did the same thing. I got so caught up in my personal affairs here that I ignored the fact that there were people at home who loved and supported me. I didn’t go home for nearly three years, and phone calls were few and far between. Then I had an awakening, much like Meryl, and realized just how important it all was.

I have also asked myself how I would react if anything ever happened to my husband, something none of us likes to dwell on, but does cross our minds. Would I stay here? Would I go home? How long is the “right” amount of time before I should leave or live again? Would I miss Italy?

Another thing I loved about the book, and something that maybe only a foreigner living in Italy might catch, are the small details about the differences between getting things done in the two countries. Like when there is a little comment about how buying the things to refurbish some furniture would have taken weeks and multiple trips in Italy, whereas it was all finished in under an hour in the US. Or other little things like bureaucracy and paperwork overflowing across the table, while trying to make heads and tails of it all. I would be reading the book on the bus and have to suppress a very loud giggle when some of these things came up.

I would suggest this book even to people who have not lived in Italy, besides the lovely and vivid and well-balanced details it gives about the country it is a wonderful voyage inside a flawed, imperfect soul, trying to heal and on the path to discovery – well written and will certainly suck you in.

Well done Diana and I can’t wait for your next one!

A Belated but Happier Post

After yesterday’s extremely bitter post I will surprise you all by writing something happy…. A sudden turn of events you say? Nah, just a delayed post about my lovely little Easter weekend. Saturday morning saw me battling the pouring rain with a container of cupcakes and late buses as I dashed to meet up with Leah at the train station. The train was perfectly on time, warm and comfortable and the ride flew by quickly. Hubby was there to pick us up at the station and waited patiently as we chief down on coffee and foccaccia.

And then the real Easter holiday began – my mother in law said there wasn’t much to eat, but I knew better. Her there isn’t much usually means five courses instead of ten, but never ever will you leave the table hungry. Poor Leah was completely unprepared and stuffed herself on antipasti. Poor lass.

Wht you doing? You trying to steal my eggs?

But before all that we learned how to make home made gnocchi – and apparently there is a video to prove it. The next day was tagliatelle day… All delicious though.

The next morning the sun broke through the clouds and we walked down to the farm and fed the chickens and the bunnies. Ah the bunnies – they had just had a litter (?) and they were so cute!
The rest of the day was spent eating (again) and barely surviving the subsequent food coma.
All in all a great getaway from the stress of city living.

 

We’re off to see the wizard, the magical wizard of Oz…

Look carefully in the top lefthand corner – there they are!