Grand Canal Respite

I really like this photo. Its calm. We, and a lot of other people, were sitting in the shade of a church, out of the hot sun, watching the people meander and the gondolas and the vaporettos (water taxis). It was one of those moments, for me, when I think of the map or the globe and my physical position on it. Amazed that I could be on one side of the world and a few hours later, on the other. That people actually live all around our globe, all the time, each with different opinions and agendas and goals. Yet we can converge in this one spot, or just about any other, if we so choose. Its like when you think of a single word too long, like the words cow or bird, or any other word. If you think about the word too long, it becomes unreal and without meaning. cow cow cow cow cow..... seriously, say that word about 25 times and it will lose all relevance. Anyway, me sitting on that canal, was sort of the exact opposite, everything became totally relevant and meaningful and important.

I hope I haven't lost you here with my rambling.

Happy Wednesday.

Poppies or Weeds - you choose

Poppies are everywhere in Italy. They are like dandelions here in the NW. Well, that's my take on it. They just seemed to grow everywhere, along side train tracks, in huge fields, in ditches, on rocky outcrops. They were just lovely.

This last one is probably one of my favorite shots from the entire trip. I have a handful of favs, this is at the top of that list.

Things I've Learned as an Adult

We learn things as we grow up. We learn to walk and talk and to tie our shoe laces. We learn these from our families, mostly. There are so many things we learn as we grow away from our families. It starts in school, we learn mathematics, sentence structure and about the revolutionary war. We learn how to get along with people who don't have to love us. We learn that not everyone will be a friend now and not everyone will be a friend for life. Some friends are transitory, transitioning, train stationing? Anyway, I love learning and I've realized (duh - I suppose not really a realization, but more of a conscious thinking about it) there are so many things that we continue to learn (not in a school setting), if we are lucky, throughout our lives. Many of them are wonderful, some, not so much.

As an adult, I've learned:

To like avocados -- delicious on toast. That I like most all fruits and vegetables. I really, really try to like eggplant, but, its just not in me. That I like my coffee black. I have just learned this in the last year. I've learned that I'm not necessarily the easiest person to live with. (Ouch!) But, being honest with myself is important here on the old blog. I've learned that my was isn't the only way. That friends are not static. They come and they go and they maybe come back, and then again maybe they don't. That, despite my efforts to be non-judgemental, I can be quite. That I love to travel. That I am mortal and so are my friends and family. That friends often come in forms that are very non-traditional with the advent of the internet. That I have a voice and not afraid to use it, for the most part, any longer. That being over 40 isn't the end of the world and my birthday didn't come with a walker. That what I grew up believing and thinking aren't necessarily how I believe and think now. And that's ok. That unconditional love actually does exist. That I am worthy of it. (Is that TMI?) (oh well). That I take care of others rather well and I don't take care of myself all that well. Just learning that has helped me improve that characteristic within myself. Oh, Oh, that I love nutella (mmmm, nutella, my friend and enemy -- also delicious on toast) That black and white aren't really as black and white as we try to make them. That I have more words and thoughts in my head than I ever thought possible. Who knew I'd have a blog and have it for years. Not me and most definitely not my AP English teacher.

That's my learnin' for today.

What have you learned about yourself as an adult that you may be surprised at? Is there anything that you completely believed or thought or knew nothing about at a younger age that now you can not imagine not knowing?

Randomosity

Random thoughts which have been going through my head today.

Mmmm, nutella. Oh how I want me some nutella, on a croissant, please.

I dreamed about Starbucks original coffee cake last night. One day of no carbs and already my subconscious mind reaches out for them.

How do you accept grey/gray hair? I can accept 41, no problem. But since I took the blonde highlights out of my hair, I've realized I have some grey. boo hoo, sigh, sniffle, gasp, sob. Seriously. Grey hair. Oy!

I miss my family, but hate the 3.5 hour drive. Conundrum the first.

How exactly do I go about winning a medium sized lottery? Not billions, just enough so I can sleep in every day, if I choose, and lay about in the sunshine with my friends having a cocktail on a Tuesday afternoon, for absolutely no reason at all.

Why, why do I now have allergies?

I miss cheese.

Oooh, cheese and a nice red wine would be good right now. (Ok, this isn't a new revelation, I'm usually thinking this one.)

That's about it, for now. They just keep running through my head, randomly.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

I've not been much of a fan of balsamic vinegar. Oh, yes, I like it poured on a plate with olive oil, salt and cracked pepper for dipping deliciouis crusty bread when in restaurants, but, that was about it. In Italy, they eat a lot of bread. Lots. Lots of bread. I was amazed at how much bread they would serve at a meal and they would serve bread and breadsticks and crackers all at the same time. So, "when in Rome..." (hee hee) I ate quite a bit of bread with balsamic and then again, that is what they use for salad dressing. I'm not a salad dressing gal on a normal day, but, I was on vacation and doing / eating a lot of things I normally would not. The balsamic grew on me. After we got home, I decided to try making a balsamic vinaigrette. To my delight, it was rather wonderful.

All the measurements are really to your own taste. If you like a more tart dressing, use more vinegar, less tart, less vinegar etc with the other ingredients too.

Balsamic vinegar - 3 - 4 - 5 Tbsp

1/2 cup good olive oil

pinch or two salt

cracked pepper

Tbsp dijon mustard

1 -2 cloves garlic crushed

1 tsp finely chopped shallot

Then if you want other spices (thyme, basil, dill, cilantro, just to name a few) just throw those in too.

Whip it up with a wisk really well (or since I'm being very lazy with this post, follow the directions you would find for any variety of vinaigrette substituting balsamic for the vinegar) and pour over your favorite salad. I'm actually thinking I might use it as a dressing for a potato salad. That might be quite delicious.

An Italian Train Disaster, Averted

One quick story which is funny now, but not at the time.

So, we are on the train from Venice to Florence. We are sailing along (well, training along), having a nice time, chatting, napping and getting a little snacky. We'd been on the train for quite a while and a couple people in our group had gone to the snack car and brought back a sandwich. I asked Mister if he would go get us a sandwich that we could split. Mind you, the food car is about 7 cars away. About ten minutes after Mister leaves, I take a look at the schedule and realize that the next stop, is OUR stop. Mister does not know this small detail and he is somewhere between 1 and 7 cars away. Well, as soon as I get this figured out, everyone on the train who wished to get off at the next stop is up, in the aisles with their luggage. Its a train, the aisles are very narrow. I grab my backpack, my purse and Mister's carryon and ask the group if they will deal with Mister and my luggage (1 large and 1 medium suitcase... oy) and I take off toward where Mister is.

People blocking the aisles with their bodies and their bags and most don't speak English and all are annoyed with me climbing over them and their bags. "Hello, we all want off, relax American girl, you'll get your chance to get off too." So, I'm continually saying "Mi scusi, Mi scusi, Mi scusi, Sorry! Sorry! Mi scusi" and for those who gave me the super-duper-evil-stink-eye, I had to explain (very quickly) I'm sorry, my husband is 6 cars up and does not know this is our stop.... Sorry! Mi scusi I'm sorry, my husband is 5 cars up and does not know this is our stop..." And did I mention I had 3 bags/backpacks I was carrying. I am certain I smacked more than a few people with the backpack as I made my way through. Do you see how ugly and potentially a serious disaster this was. Fortunately, I ran into Mister about 5 cars up where he was standing, because he could not get through all the people. He was quite curious about why I was there and then a bit irritated when he found out I had sent him on an errand when our stop was soon.

They all were very nice, for the most part, when I explained my situation. I am sure there were many people who did not understand a word I was saying and had stories to tell about the rude American woman who plowed them down on the train to Florence.

That was the last time I'll ever be able to ask Mister for a sandwich on an Italian train, probably any train.

PS - It was a really good sandwich when I finally got to eat it about half an our and a cab ride through Florence later.

~ ~ nutella ~ ~

photo courtesy of Wikipedia

I've seen Nutella and been a bit grossed out by it. I'm just not a chocolate fiend like a lot of people and just exactly how would you eat this stuff? Chocolate and hazelnuts spread on toast? Ick! Just the thought of it was nasty. I tried it once, maybe, can't really remember, I just knew I DID NOT like it.

Well, they eat a lot of Nutella in Europe. I actually tried a bit of it (again? for the first time? who knows at this point) and realized, its really pretty darned good. I sort of wish I didn't know I liked it. I tried it on a croissant, words can not express how delicious that was. Once the nutella was out of the jar, there just seems to be no end to what it could be spread on. Nutella on toast, well, that's just a poor man's donut.

A jar of Nutella, accidentally, ended up in my shopping cart and I accidentally brought it home and it somehow ended up spread as a thin layer on a Trader Joes Ginger Thin and heavens, that is some good stuff. I'm totally recommending it.

Do you like Nutella?

Just Read: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

Author: Anne Fadiman

As I start: I've had this book, borrowed, on my bookshelf for something like 8+ years. Honestly, the cover just never called my name. Yes, yes, the cover of books has a bit to do, sometimes, with whether I want to pick up a book or not. Trivial, maybe. True, yes. During: Its a bit, looooong. The book isn't really all that many pages, just an average number, but some of the information, I just don't care for much. Some is interesting and I breeze right through those parts. Some, I've started skimming. I just sort of want this book to be done so I can move on to something I really want to read. Yes, I'm a committed person, for good or bad, committed. Oy! Done: I'm, sort of, glad I read this book. Its the story of a little Hmong girl with serious medical conditions and how her traditional Hmong family's beliefs clash in horrifc ways with the western doctors who only have this girls' best interest at heart, but can not see past what they know as science. The family does not understand what the doctors are doing and think they are trying to kill their daughter and the doctors can not understand that the family views illness as something spiritual rather than physical and that they have, for all their history as a race, dealt with illness very differently.

Its really a study in the clash of cultures and how we, as humans, each so deeply imbedded in our own culture and world, have such a difficult time beginning to understand other cultures and their very different ways and the fact that 'they' are not necessarily wrong, but just different. I know, long runon sentences, but it was a difficult book. Its not easy to read that what you conceive as right and true and 'the only way' (duh) is not necessarily right and true for someone else. I try to live my life with this thought in mind. I try to live and let live and not to push (too much) of my own agenda on others. But, so many people (I hazard to say maybe most people) see their way as 'the' way. I have (striven, stroved, strived...?...) to do this since about the age of 19 when (D, you'll probably remember this differently than I do, but this is my true memory of things, which, I've learned as an adult, isn't necessarily the way others remember things.... ahem) so, I was 19ish and making an apple pie with my best roommate. I think she was cutting up the apples (or we both were?) and I said to her, in a curious state, not a bossy state, although with me, they can sound exactly the same.... ahem... anyway, I asked why she was cutting up the apples the way she was cutting them up because certainly 'my' way was better. I think she may have taken it as me being bossy and/or rude although that wasn't what I had in my head. In my head, I just wanted to know why so I could decide whether I should change my tactics on apple cutting. Anyway, my point being that I'm just that very strange person who is always in my head trying to figure out the best way to do stuff. And though I can be very locked into my own ways, I endeavor to learn new stuff, if I think its a better way. Oy, this is sounding like I'm on some high-horse or something, and as usual, that's not what my meaning is.

What I am trying to convey is that in reading this book, I realize that I am probably like most people who think my way is the best way but most of my life decisions (i.e. how to cut up apples) does not affect the lives of others. When it comes to physicians it does. And then there is the legal aspect we impose on everyone in this country about health care specifically. Those of certain religious denominations who do not believe in doctors and medicine. Do we have the right to intercede? I'm not making any judgement, its just a curious thing to think about. What if YOU were one of those people who did not believe, for whatever reason, in western medicine, or medicine at all, and someone forced you to take your child in for medical care? What if that child did not survive? What if they did survive? How would you possibly change your core beliefs?

So many questions. I'll let you get on with your lives for now.

A heavy book, in case you could not tell from my ramblings.

PS - I hope I got the apple story at least partly right... maybe we were cutting up onions for stir fry?... Anyway. It comes up in my mind every so often because if memory serves, I think I ticked off my best roommate and I wanted to learn from that, learn to be more tactful that is. Oy, here I go again.

Picassa

I added photos to my Picassa. Just FYI.

Pink is lovely in any country

You know I'm obsessed with flower photos and especially macros and bokeh. Well, my version of them both. I could not resist these lovely pink daisy-ish creatures while in RioMaggiore. They were amazing and vibrant and wow.

And now, our saga continues...

This is RioMaggiore. A beautiful hillside village, the southern most village in Cinque Terra. (OK, creepy aside, if you never click out on any link I ever post, click out this once on the RioMaggiore link above. The person who took the photo for the Wikipedia site must have been standing in almost the exact place I was standing when I took the one below. And, how is it possible that it looks like nearly the exact same boats are in the exact same places. I guess it makes some kind of sense, probably the people who live there and use their boats for their livelihood wouldn't move away, they probably will live there their entire lives and store their boats in the same place each night. It was just so weird. You know? Please know, I'm begging you.)

Each of the five villages making up Cinque Terre and on rugged coastline and built on the quite steep shore. I tried to take some pictures that conveyed the steepness, but it really doesn't come through all that well. The first photo below is the view from the door to the place Mister and I stayed. Those stairs you see, well that's the 'street'. The stairs were very narrow, very steep and each step was a different size. Try carrying a 47 lb suit case down these while you have your carry-on backpack on your back and sandals on.

This next photo is from that same landing, looking the other way, down the "street". Ok, granted, its a side street, but a street nonetheless.

Rio Maggiore is famous for its pesto and and the pasta created specifically (as the story goes) to go with it called Trofiette. Its a short, rolled and twisted pasta that hangs on to the pesto like no other. That's what I'm told.

I originally thought I'd do this Italy posting somewhat chronilogically, but it turns out, I need to do it photologically. As I see a photo (i.e. pink flower above) I'll post and then memorialize. I guess this is just how I need to process it. I doubt you care much, but, its my explanation, if you were wondering.

Paris & Italy Photos

Large Ceramic Sundial in a Manorola, Cinque Terre shop. I wanted to bring it home, but, at nearly $200 I didn't want to have to pack and risk breaking it and shipping, oy, costly.

I created an album in Picassa for the better shots I took. I may snag Mister's camera and upload more in later. He took more time with the camera and actually had his camera out most of the time. Mine was just in my purse, taking a nap for most of the journey. Anyway, there's a link on the sidebar, for your amusement. I warned you, not a lot of photos and they are all snapshots. It feels like a shame, but, the past is the past. Hind sight is 20/20. Don't cry over spilled milk. And any other old adage you can come up with about how you can't change the past. Move forward in a positive direction and all will be better.

Just Read: Brisingr: The Inheritance Trilogy (Cycle)

Author: Christopher Paolini

As I start: I've been waiting for this to come out for what seems forever. Actually I'm not all that 'with the times' so its been out since Sept 2008, but I just picked it up. I couldn't wait to be done reading Middlesex so I could start this one. Nothing against Middlesex, I was just excited about this one. Anyway, as I start reading I've realized its been too long (Oct 2007) and my memory fails me on the details of the previous book Eldest. Brisingr starts out with a very curt recap of past events. I realize that most readers aren't as forgetful as I seem to be so that makes sense, but I keep thinking I'll need to go back and read Eldest again when I'm done with this one. Probably won't happen, I have too many other book I want to read to start going backwards. We'll see.

So, in the paragraph above, I note how my memory had failed me because I could not quite remember all the references in the book. As you may remember, I listen to quite a few of the books I blog about in my car as I commute, this was one of those. I get those books from Audible and they often come in parts because the download would be too large otherwise. Turns out, I'm a dork, and somehow, must have been gremlins, started on the 3rd section of the book instead of the 1st section, where most people would start. Grrr. Somehow I realized this little problem and started back at the beginning and it all made much, much more sense. Oy!

The book was good, more long-winded with less actual action than the previous two. The information was interesting and delved into politics and history of the races. When I read the book, I was under the impression it was the third in a trilogy. Boy, did it have a crappy ending! Turns out, Paolini's 3rd book got too long and had to be broken up into a 3rd and 4th book, hence its now a "cycle" rather than a "trilogy". That is a good thing because there were SO many unanswered questions at the end of Brisingr. Duh, there's another entire book coming at some point. I'm probably the only person who did not know all this, but, there's probably a lot I don't know.

This book to me was decent, but sort of like the "Two Towers" from Tolkien. It was necessary for the whole, but not the best of the series.

IMHH

The good, the bad and the ugly

... in general terms. I won't get into too much ugly. Or, at least I'll try not to.

THE GOOD My favorite thing about this trip was talking with the Parisians and the Italians in their language. Well, me trying to speak French and Italian, as appropriate. I took French in high school for a couple years and then a couple years in college. Having an actual place to use it has never come up. I was so excited to be able to at least understand some of what was being said to me while there. And I understand much more than I thought I was going to. A lot of it was context, but whatever works. When we arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport, a woman came up to me and asked me, in French, where some terminal was. I, of course, could not answer her, but I at least knew what she was basically saying. I then had to tell her, Je parle un peu de francaise, et je ne comprende pas. I remembered tons of French while there using it and I learned tons of Italian words and phrases. I made it a point to learn at least one new word and or phrase each day. That would be my most fav part of the journey, the language(s) remembering, learning new and using them.

Cheese. If I were a superhero, I would be Lactose Intolerant Girl. One day, while quite hungry and unable to really find anything substantial that did not have cheese on it, I just ordered the panini and knew the consequences would come later. Later, I realized, no consequences. So, I tried again. Again no consequences. I then began to enjoy all the cheese my heart desired, within limits that is, and ate cheese at will. Nary a problem. I won't be repeating the test here in the U.S. as I know where that leads and its not a fun place for me. Fun and tasty while it lasted though.

Italian and Parisian espresso. Mmmmm, let me count the ways I love thee. Americans have no idea how to make good espresso. From what I experienced, European espresso is nothing like any espresso I've ever had in the States. Ok, now that I've typed that, there was one exception. There used to be, for years and years, an authentic-ish Italian restaurant very near my office, Allessandros (now closed for business due to the economic downturn our country is experiencing). They had amazing espresso. In Italy, I would walk up to the cafe bar, order una espresso e una croissant mela o albicocca, per favore. Sometimes they would give you a carbonated (frizzante) water as a 'back' and sometimes not. I'd pay the 1.80 euro and have the most pleasant experience. I will think of that often.

THE BAD

Food. Bad. French and Italian food, very bad for Mister's and my digestion. I don't generally eat pork, but mostly what's available is cured pork in one form or another. That and bread and pasta and cheese and wine. Vegetables, difficult to find. The only reasoning I can come up with is that maybe eating out is different from cooking at home. Maybe they eat more veggies at home. Fresh veggies were few and far between in restaurants, at least all the ones we patroned / patronized. Whenever I could find a market with fresh greens, I would buy them and onions and tomatoes and uovo (eggs) for breakfast scrambles. So delicous.

Cheese. I'll miss the cheese. It had no right to make me remember the love affair of our past, knowing I would again have to leave it in Italy as I traveled back to the U.S. Ahh, melted cheese panini with tomato and basil. Oooh the caprese with fresh basil leaves. Wahhh, parmigiano-reggiano lightly shredded onto my pasta al pomodoro. Ok, I'm good. I'll be ok.

THE UGLY

Even after walking for miles and miles and miles, literally, each and every day, after blistered and bruised and aching feet and legs and back, I gained 5 pounds. Yes, yes, it could have been worse, but, I'm still not happy about gaining. I normally lose weight on vacations. Seems all we did was eat, when we weren't walking that is. I'm hoping that getting back to my regular food type and quantity intake will take those pounds off, and quickly.

OK, now some snapshots.

Here is Paris, well, a portion of it, from the plane. I don't know if you can see it or not, but just about centerish, there are two islands in the river, our hotel was on the one on the left. When the shuttle driver drove us up to the front door, he says, "nice hotel". I was very happy he approved, as you never know what you are going to get when you book online.

And this, of course, is La Tour Eiffel, where we would be walking later that day.

So, this is the first of the Paris photos, actually, just snapshots. I'm a bit bummed and irritated with myself for not taking photos. Our entire trip was wham-bam. For the majority of the vacation, I felt rushed and like I didn't have time to savour much. I like to savour when I take photos. Its a time consuming thing for me and I just didn't feel like we had the time if we were going to see all I wanted to see. So, my own fault, there you go. This is the street where our Paris hotel was located. No actual photo of the hotel though...

We were very near Notre Dame, pictured below.

Home again, Home again, Jiggety jog

A carousel near La Tour Eiffel.

What can I say... not much at this point, still processing. It was a whirlwind 2 weeks. Amazing in so many ways and yet, I could have done with out so much of it. Traveling with so many people, we had 15 at the peak, is a bit too many. Everyone, pretty much, for the most part, got along swimmingly. Its just me. I need me time and I need to be the center of, at the least, my own attention. I did not get to spend as much time focusing on me and my wants on this vacation as I would have liked. Now, that may sound a bit, um, selfish or childish, but I don't see it that way. I'm not asking for anyone else's undivided and absurdly inappropriate attentions, its just that I don't get a lot of vacation time so when I do, well, I'd like to spend it on me (and Mister, too that is). I spend an inordinate amount of my time, doing the job that pays my bills 40+ hours a week, taking care of other people. Its what I do and I try to do a bang-up job of it. When time off comes around, I don't want to take care of everyone else. It becomes all about me, as I think it should. Does that make sense?

Also, I had very little interest in taking photos. I did take quite a few snapshots, but my artisticness or creativeness or whatever "ness" you would like to call it, got left at home. So, lots of pictures, not much in the way of "Wow" photos. They'll be forthcoming, right now, my brain is still in Italy, drinking a nice Poliziano Rosso di Montepulciano, listening to the crickets.

Glad to be home.

Green and Lovely - Hens & Chicks

Some of my favorites. Ok, well, they pretty much are all my favorites, but, you probably got that by now.