Where fore out thou Juliet?

Warning: This is a long one!


Yesterday we went to Verona. It was about an hour train ride from Padova. Although it rained most of the time we were there, it was still absolutely beautiful. It was a very medieval town. We got the chance to see an old Roman arena as well as some of the ancient Roman entrances to the city. My favorite part of the city was the balcony of Juliet since Verona is the city in which Romeo and Juliet is based. Under the balcony was a statue of Juliet in which you rub her breast for good luck. Fun, right? We had a good laugh over that, but had no shame in getting up there and cropping a feel. Some of the Italian men were getting quite fresh with poor Juliet. Haha! Good thing she was just a statue. At the entrance to Juliet’s courtyard was a tunnel that was covered wall to wall in love notes and names in which tourists get to sign or leave a message. It was really fun to read what some of them had to say. Of course, I signed my name among the masses of others already there. Maybe I will finally find my true love at last. Doubtful!

Also while traveling yesterday, Katie’s cousin, Lindsey, got quite a lot of attention from the Italian men. She was wearing black knee-high dress boots with flat heels that somewhat resembled cowboy boots. Well, apparently the Italian men loved them because at least three different men made comments on them. We are pretty sure that one asked if she could ride him like a cowboy. It was pretty funny. Don’t worry we didn’t take him home with us. Wink! Actually, the Italian men have been pretty polite. We haven’t been followed or harassed by them at all. No one has followed us like the Frenchmen did while Amanda was in France. Too bad! Some of them are pretty hansom. Haha! Actually I ran into a guy at the internet café yesterday from Pennsylvania. He heard me talking English and asked if I was from the States. He is here studying at an oncology program for a year. It was nice to have a conversation from someone from back home because not as many people here speak English as I thought. Either that or they are pretending not to.

I have fallen in love though—with gelato that is. It is so good! I’ve had it everyday I’ve been here. It is like ice cream but much more creamier and richer. Also, I had my first pasta dish yesterday. It was just Spaghetti Pamodoro which is spaghetti with tomato sauce. It was very tasty. Katie is in love with the pizza here. She can scarf a pizza all by herself and has done so repeatedly. I had a bite or two of hers, and it was pretty amazing. The crust was delicious. In fact, her and her cousin eat a lot. They would fit in with our family just fine. Haha! Usually they polish off a bottle of wine at each meal too. I haven’t had much wine yet. It is hard for me to get use to wine at each meal. I have been sticking to water mostly. Yep Dad, it took me living in another country in order for me to drink water. That’s only because milk is not really offered out and is not sold in huge quantities at the store. Not to mention they do not even have skim milk here. I think I might go into milk withdrawal. Oh well, I will have to make do.

Some other things I have noticed here in Italy is everyone smokes. I’m pretty sure I saw a bunch of ten-year-olds lighting up. It is crazy. Sometimes the outside air just reeks of smoke. Also, they take their dogs everywhere—stores, cafes, train stations, and even the trains themselves. Yesterday there was a dog just wondering around loose in the train station. I thought it was a stray until the owner called it over. The fashion here is also very different from home. They are very trendy which is not that surprising since Italy is known for its fashion industry. Becca, you would love it here. I can picture you in so many of the clothes I see in the windows. You would go broke though. Clothes and everything else here is rather expensive.

Well, I guess that about sums it up. I’m sorry this is such a long one. I actually wrote it at my apartment and then copied it into my blog. So I had a lot of time to write. I know you are all busy people so never feel obligated to read it. I’m mostly writing for my parents (so they know I’m still alive and not getting into trouble) and for myself as sort of a journal of my travels. Until next time, ciao!