Vi saluto per l'ultima volta-
Well, I'm coming home in less than a week, so I figured I ought to do one last mass impersonal email before I return. I'll fill you all in on what I've done lately, then go off on wild tangents so as to keep this email to a similar length as the rest of them. :)
The weekend after Thanksgiving, I did briefly go to Milan, but I didn't see it at all. Susan and I took the train there, hopped on a bus to the airport, picked up her mother, took the bus back into town, checked into our hotel, got a quick dinner, went to bed, slept, woke up, ate a quick breakfast and hopped back on the train for Florence. I really didn't leave out any detail, except that my bed was awful that night. There, now you have my complete Milanese experience. Pretty sweet, eh? Ah well, like I can complain at all... :)
I don't remember exactly, but I'm sure I diligently went about doing homework when I got back from Milan. Beyond that, the next school week came and went, with a very cool trip to cap it with. My archeology class went to Pompeii, Naples, Herculaneum, Sorrento, Amalfi and Paestum. You know all Pompeii, but I will say it is really cool. Scores of city blocks preserved quite well, complete with gardens and wall paintings and whatnot. A very cool look at ancient Roman life. Herculaneum is pretty much the same thing, but it was more of a resort town, so it has bigger houses. And it is much closer to Mt. Vesuvius, so the ash and lava build up was much much higher. We passed quickly through Naples. We stayed both nights of the trip in Sorrento on the bay of Naples. It was a beautiful town with a very cool nightlife. I've already told you in a previous email about Amalfi, and yes, it's still really cool and really gorgeous. Paestum is a site south of Amalfi where still standing are the best preserved Greek temples in the Greek world. They were built around the same time as the Parthenon in Athens. There were fences all around them, but just dinky ones, and no one was watching, so we hopped the fences and touched the temples. And then we took funny pictures. Pretty schmoov.
This weekend (as I am writing this) has been pretty low key, here in Florence. I've been going dancing every night (on the cheap, of course; you can always find places with little/no cover), and working on my papers during the day. It is finals time now, so I've had to actually do work. Ugh, it IS rough. :) My paper is coming along nicely, and I'll finish it up Monday (another two pages to write) in time to turn it in on Tuesday. I've been distracting myself from that paper by writing this email, so let me get on to something else interesting.
So here we go with the fun stuff: Top things I'll miss about Italy (not ten, we would be here all day) (in no particular order, cuz that would require me to sort them, or something):
- Walking everywhere. No really, its fun! In Peoria, gotta have a car, and in Chicago everyone takes the el or bus, but it's very nice to just take your time and walk where you're going. Florence is small enough to walk around, generally speaking, but some places are an hour or more walking from my house (like the train station), so I've often had to wake up early to get places on time. 'Sall good though.
- Dinner at the Giusti house. Oi, I described in my first email a meal at this house I'm living at, but I'm sure I didn't do it justice. Meals are just consistently huge and great. Greasy, yet good for you. They just put olive oil on everything here, so it's "good for you" all of the sudden. I've still managed to lose weight with this cooking, even though I happily gorge myself at night (must be all that walking...).
- Traveling just about every weekend. I know I'm gonna get back to DePaul and just have this unquenchable desire to hop on a train every weekend and go see a beach or ruins or something. Then I'll realize that I'd have to ride Amtrak. Eww. And there aren't any ruins less than a day away in North America. Ah well. Maybe if I get a job and I have money, I'll get around anyway, just for kicks. Everyone's invited!
- Speaking a different language than everyone else, and slowly getting good enough at it that you know when people on the street are talking about you. Cool experience, 'nuff said.
- Being able to walk outside a bar with alcohol. Heaven forbid I'd rather drink my bottle of beer in a park or walking with a friend. Fighting the symptoms, not the problem with that law, I do believe.
Of course there's a lot more to Italy and Europe than these piddly points I've made, but these were pretty cool indeed.
Now, top things I miss now about home (If this is getting to long for you, go ahead and just delete it, whatever. I'm past the important stuff now. I'm mostly doing those tangents I mentioned earlier.)
- Potbelly's. Mmmm, I want a wreck right now. Soon enough...
- Branko's. Mmmm, I want a jumbo hot dog and fries for like $2.20. Man, food is so much cheaper here, but Branko's is pretty cheap.
- Jimmy John's. Mmmm. Bootlegger.
- Food that isn't spaghetti or tomato paste-based. Just for variety's sake.
- Driving. But not fast, of course.
- Dungeons and Dragons
- CD's for less than 38,000 lire (about $18)
- My computer. Mmmm, fast free (once you get over that whole housing cost thing) internet... And Quake...
I better stop; I've got far too many dumb things I miss. Of course, I miss all you people the most (and even people that aren't on this mailing list!), and I'm so psyched to be getting back to you all soon.
Well, I think that just about wraps up my last email. Wouldn't it be nice if I had some inspirational bit here at the bottom to end this? Yeah, I think that'd be nice too. Ah well.
I think I've learned a ton here, about myself, others and life in general, but it's still too close for me to digest it. Maybe once I get back, I'll be able to write out something nice, but for now, just this. Getting away for awhile totally totally rules. It makes you realize what is really important, and what dumb things you can do without (I've found I can't do without Led Zeppelin). I highly recommend getting out there and seeing cool stuff to everyone. Mi mancate molto, e civediamo presto, ma non tanto presto! Arrivederci!
-Brian