First Day in Italia

Today, Tiffany and I arrived in Italy. It was not an easy trip, though. Chris’ friend was supposed to drive us to the airport, but he was out of town so Tiff and I had to walk all the way to the train station in the snow with 5 bags! We also had to switch to 3 different trains. People helped us along the way, but it was no picnic. When we finally got to the airport, we were relieved and got a suit case cart. We checked in, had a nice lunch in the terminal, and waited for our flight. We had a lay over in Zurich, Switzerland and then had a delayed flight to Milan because of the weather. I was worried because I told Valentino that we’d arrive at 9:20, but we didn’t get in until 9:50. He and his parents were waiting, though, and we greeted each other traditionally, with a kiss on each cheek. His parents dress really fashionably, I think it’s because they live near a fashion capital. His mom has red hair and was wearing all black and super high heels. She is really short though, and so is his dad who wore ripped jeans. They told us they were taking us out to eat a traditional Italian dinner. The city we drove through reminded me a lot of how Spain looked. At the restaurant, Valentino’s parents ordered us 4 big pizzas because they wanted us to be able to try the different types. They were all thin crust and really good. His dad got some pasta. Afterwards, they insisted we have dessert. They didn’t have tiramisu for Tiff, but we got chocolate gelato instead. They also made us eat a warm apple cake with chocolate dipping sauce. It was different and also really good. At his house, Tiff and I have almost our own apartment. We’re downstairs with a bed, TV, table and chairs, our own kitchen, and our own bathroom. It’s really nice! Tomorrow, we are all going to Milan to shop, I can’t wait!

Segovia

Yesterday, we traveled to Segovia. It is a more touristic town, so I was finally able to get some magnets and other gifts for my family. I also bought a full size flag, which I’m really excited about! This is the town with the aqua ducts- this cool looking bridge thing that transports water from the mountains to the city. I’ll try to put a pic up on here to show you, but if not, ill have pics of it up on Facebook. We also saw some really nice landscapes and churches. Our house mothers packed us lunches to eat in Segovia. There was a festival going on there though, so it was so crowded we couldn’t find a place to sit. Finally, we just sat on the side of some buildings in the street and ate our lunch like homeless people. Segovia is also home to the Alcazar, one of the castles that Walt Disney used to design his. The castle was so huge and pretty inside. We climbed 152 stairs up through the tower to go on top of the castle. I would love to live there, and I couldn’t believe how big it was. The moat around it was at least 6 stories below the entrance, and then you still have to take 152 stairs to the top. I can only imagine how many floors it must have. It also had a lot of things made out of gold on the inside including tapestries, furniture, and the walls and ceilings. Of course before we left Segovia, we bought ice cream. It is so unbelievable how much better the ice cream is here! I’m going to miss it so much. What I don’t believe, is that it is made by Nestle! I don’t know why Nestle sells all their crappy stuff to America and ships all the good ice cream to Europe. It is so much softer, but doesn’t melt as fast, and has chocolate chips in it, and never has freezer burn.
After Segovia, my Italian roommate Giulia made us pizza. She said that the pizza is just like you have in Italy. We had crust with tomato sauce on it, and then small slices of provolone scattered that didn’t cover the whole pizza. Then she sprinkled it with parmesan cheese and oregano and topped it with cherry tomato slices. It was really good! When I get home, I’m going to try to make some of the stuff she does. Later, we went out to a popular club here, where an older man was having a bachelor party. The guys looked like they were in the mob with pin-striped suits and hats. They were so funny looking because everybody else in the club was young. The man said this was his 5th marriage! If I failed 4 times before, I don’t think I would try again, but I guess divorce is very common here. Me and my friends practiced our Spanish with them and they gave us a few pointers about Valladolid. At first, they seemed like creepers but in the end they were just sweet old grandpas that just wanted a little fun.