Friday, July 20, 2012

Scoot Scoot!

I have rode in a car with a Parisian at night to see the beautiful sites of Paris lit up at but thousands of lights. I loved the thrilling feeling of zooming around the city compared to me walking or taking the sub way.

And now, well it has finally happened. I have been in Italy for 6 days now…. 6 whole days and no one has asked if I wanted a ride on their scooter. I mean really ppl?! No one wants to take me for a scooter ride?! Well apparently not, or not until now! A guy that works with us in Finance in the Italy office was telling me about his moped. I of course said I would love to learn to drive a motorcycle etc. (all too true) and he said, “you should let me take you back to your hotel today on my moped” and I said “OK!!!!” LOL most likely with that much enthusiasm.

Skip to the ride itself:

Before we left work he had asked if he could “speed”, well I wasn’t going to say no to that! The ride began with us zooming along the lake, passing the slow pokes as we went. Soon we are passing the huge lake, that Mantova was built next to, on our right side. In the distance I can see the reminence of the castle which protected the city.


 Mantova is turning the golden color it changes to during the evening The buildings are a beige color but with the sun hanging low in the sky, they look gold. The rooftops are all red clay tiles which gives off a fire color in the evening. With in no time we are at my hotel… so sad. When I get off he asks if I liked the ride, of course I did who doesn’t like to speed around with wind blowing in their face!? He then offers me a ride whenever I want. I will have to take one more before I leave.

There it is, one more item checked off my bucket list!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Food oh glorious FOOD!

As someone who takes great pride in my ability to fall asleep anywhere, on the drop of a hat, it disgraces me to say I could not sleep my first night in Italy. Maybe, just maybe, that is due to the fact that I ate: 3 bruschetta a salad, some of my co-workers curry pasta, and my own filet with a balsamic glaze topped with pine nuts and raisins. OH damn, then I decided a double scoop of gelato would finish off my night perfectly. AHHH the flavors that I savored, I’m sure you are all jealous/drooling as you read this.

 The next day didn’t start too well either. As it was my first day of work, and I slept literally 4 hours in the past 48, I drank 2 cappuccinos at breakfast so that I could be ready for the day’s activities. Oh wait, I forgot to tell you what I had for breakfast! I had a boiled egg, 2 thin slices of coppa (a lovely Italian curred meat), swiss cheese, 2 kiwi, baguette, and did I mention a ton of coffee?! But back to the story, the first day is full of introductions at the facility, with every introduction they wanted to drink a cafĂ©. The first few hours I drank 4 espressos/cappuccinos! I never thought I was going to survive that morning since I started to shake so much from caffeine jitters, but, hey, I did. Two of the men we had met that morning offered to take us to the ‘cafeteria.’ Only this cafeteria was like none I had experienced before. You have to understand, there are many courses in the Italian meal (including lunch apparently.)
  1. First you have an antipasto, which includes heavy starters like bruschetta, sliced meats, cheese, etc.
  2. Next you have the Primo, which is where all the heavenly pastas are located. AHH the pasta is perfectly cooked al dente, no matter where you are.
  3. Secondo follows, this is where you will eat your meat or you can’t have any pudding, I mean gelato ;).
So this structure has followed me for every lunch and dinner since I have arrived. Lunch at work is no different. This free meal included the primo, secondo, and a vegetable all at healthy portions.


Now, I hope you all have some sort of idea how fat I will be next time I see you…. Beware.

Caio my friends, the next post will be about my newly adopted workout routine, or the men of Italy, I do not know!

Xoxo.

S.

PS.
Tell me if there is a topic you are insanely interested in and I will write about it!

Sunday, July 15, 2012

OH HELLLLLL YES!!!  Hello people it is here again, the travel blog per how I see the world. I know the world really needs this. Well well, since my last posts life has changed in such a dramatic way. I am now writing this blog post from Montova Italy out of my corporate hotel room at Casa Poli. Is there a better place to sit and write then the balcony of your Italian hotel? Hmmmm.... NO! I am about to go to a delicious dinner soon with my co-workers so I can't write more at this precious moment, but I promise more soon!

XOXO.
S