Another update the NEXT day?? Do I deliver or do I deliver? Wow.

So after the Castle, you remember, FRIENDSHIP BRACELETS! ... we wandered a bit through the streets of Milan in search of a basilica or two...

On our way there we encountered...

but I did!!

I was told sometime during this week that there would be a surprise on Saturday.  Believe me, I was surprised when the alarm went off at 7 AM this SATURDAY morning. After a difficult time deciding what to wear (how do you dress for something you have no idea about??) we got onto the subway...

After a little "trick" about which subway stop we would get off at, we ended up at the train station. 


After some intense investigative skills on my part (I looked at the departure screen while we were sitting at the platform...) I figured at that we were going to MILAN!  A place I've wanted to go since being here but never have because it's so close it's easy to just think that you'll get around to it eventually (yet sometimes never do).  Well, I definitely want to go back.

We spent the two hour train ride reading, Daniel The Lost Symbol and me Luftslottet som sprängdes. Though we probably should have slept...

After a confusing little adventure in the Milan train station (the signs to the subway lead to nowhere) we walked outside only to discover an entrance to the subway. Perfect.

Milan's central station: a majestic building, inside and out.

Daniel, having been advised by someone actually from Milan, led us to the subway stop DUOMO (Cathedral) and this is the sight we saw immediately upon ascending the steps from the subway:

 

Duomo di Milano

WOW.

Not only was the duomo fantastic but the square was huge and full of people and slightly to the right was the famous Galleria Vittorio Emanuele.

 

La Galleria - don't worry, you should recognize the inside.

Inside the galleria was every expensive store you can imagine and tons of people. But wow, it was pretty.

Ceiling, inside, floor.

At this time in our adventure it was about noon and we were hungry.  So, following the advice of Daniel's milanese friend we ate paninis at "Luini."  These were not your average panini, it was like an unsweetened doughnut with cheese and meat inside! Maybe that was a bad description but you get it. They were delicious.  And the line was proof enough of that.  The shop was located in this little back alley and the line was just huge.

Luini and Daniel with his fried panino

After our little fried snack we decided to start to explore... we walked back through the gallery and I tried to take a picture of one of the menus for you to show the outrageousness of the milanese prices (15 euro for a pizza!) but I'm much too awkward.  First of all, I don't want to be "that" tourist who takes pictures of everything (I so am - 130 pictures, just from today) so I try to be discreet about it and it just results in a blurry picture because I've already started to walk away before the camera has a chance to take the picture. I usually end up walking into something or someone in the process as well. So much for discreet I guess...

So on our way to wherever we were going (nowhere in particular) we passed a (couple) Prada stores and when I am a millionaire I will buy these shoes... (and maybe the bag, too - just for kicks.)

Ah, shoes.

Anyway, this is where we ended up...

Castello Sforzesco - which we know nothing about.

We do know, now - it took Daniel a bit of time to learn - that even when you hear the word "free" you should still not stop and acknowledge the African men outside of tourist sites. Well anyway, we ended up with free bracelets and the tried to guilt us into giving them money - and if Daniel had had any change on him it would've worked, too.  He still feels like he stole his bracelet... I don't! FREE!  They said they're for "long love" or maybe long life... but I think that changes, depending on the demographic.

FRIENDSHIP BRACELETS! YEAH!

Inside the castle we found...

Well, among other things, a sad Asian statue.

Okay, it's 11:30 at night and, like I said before, we were up at 7 today; so I'm going to have to pause here for tonight.  This entry is already unbearable long anyway so the second half will have to come later.

Until then... give a hug, lady bug.

PIZZA!

Nu är jag 22. En ytterst obetydlig ålder. Nästa (juridiska) tröskel är pension vid 65. Jag måste säga att det var roligare att fylla arton och tjugo. Det var även lite skillnad att fylla 21 eftersom jag har varit i Amerikas förenade stater ett par gånger.

Men nu är det slut på sådana steg i livet på ett tag...

Så, på fars dag, den åttonde november, fyllde jag år. Dagen började inte helt smärtfritt klockan 7.30 (Sarah hade beslutat att stiga upp så fort hon vaknade första gången så att jag inte skulle vakna också...) med frukost på sängen och Sarahs ljuvliga morgonstämma. Frukosten bestod av pannkakor med nutella, ostkorv och ägg, med kiwi bredvid. Och presenter!

It's 8:30 at night, I haven't eaten dinner, the dishes aren't done, the house is a mess, the recycling needs to go out, the laundry needs to be folded and I have more homework to do than even imaginable, so I thought, what better time to update the blog?

So first I'd like to show you what I came home to the Monday before Halloween...


Daniel had gone out before he had school Monday morning and found Halloween decorations (something I'd tried to do but failed at) and put them up.  It was very exciting to come home to! Very festive!

So the week before last Isabelle came to visit and despite it not being the most ACTIVE week ever, we had a lot of fun. I think total we watched about 5 movies but we also...

had pizza...

went shopping...


saw the olympic arch of Torino...

put Isabelle to work...

played with godis...
explored the neighborhood...
went shopping again...

went to the cinema museum (well, Isabelle and Daniel did - I had class)

took the lift up to the top of the cinema museum...

appeared on the "big screen"...

went back up in the lift, this time at night...
explored Torino at night...

waited for the subway...

had hamburgers for breakfast...

went shopping...
had gelato...

and spent a lot of time med bollen in bed...

Overall it was a very fun week and I can't wait for her next visit!! (Snart?!) I'm sorry I couldn't go into more detail but homework is waiting.  Only 5 weeks left of the semester and I could not be more ready for a break from school.

Last but not least, yesterday was of course Daniel's birthday which, despite a few small catastrophes, was quite a success.  He can tell you about it later...


see ya, cheetah

I swear that a new blog entry will be on it's way soon updating you on the adventure-filled (sort of) week we had while Isabelle was here.  The current week has been a busy one and I haven't been home from school before 6 pm a single day... often it was later.  Not only has it been a lot in school but a certain someone's birthday is on Sunday... Don't expect an update before then... but maybe sometime this coming week when life slows down a bit. Who knows.

Until then....

Eftersom jag hemskt gärna ville se tryffelmarknaden som Sarah var på helgen innan, så åkte vi dit tillsammans i helgen. Först åkte vi till Asti, mest för att se hur det såg ut där. En medelliten stad med en stadskärna full av marknader var det första vårt norra öga skådade. Jag köpte strumpor.

Since my last entry was so boring I though that it was only fair to update again soon and minimize the amount of text and multiply the amount of pictures by about 20. So this is my attempt (sorry, I'm long-winded).

ALBA:
Saturday for me was spent on a day trip with USAC to Alba.  Not only is Alba very famous for their wines and cheeses but also for their truffles (You might even say that they are the world capital of white truffles).  Between October and November every year Alba hosts a large Truffle Fair every weekend complete with open markets, wine tasting, medieval things, etc etc.  Sundays are the big days in Alba but we were there on a Saturday and missed out on the medieval stuff, which was fine. (It's a medieval city so expect pictures of medieval castles and churches)

Our day started with a bus ride and then a quick walking tour around Alba. This is what we encountered:

The past couple weeks have been fairly uneventful...  My past week was absolutely filled with exams, 2 midterms and a final so the past weekend, despite being long, was filled with studying and the things you do when you know you need to study so you don't do anything exciting but end up not studying and wasting the time that could've been much better spent if you'd just admitted to yourself in the first place that you probably weren't going to study anyway and done something exciting. Exhausting, i know.

Really quick, I'd like to comment on the sudden arctic temperatures we've had lately. Right now it's 50 (10) degrees and that's probably the warmest it's been all day! I wore my winter coat to school yesterday and was still cold. I know we're halfway through october, but basically last week it was hardly under 70 (20)! We recently put this wonderfully fluffy comforter on our bed and also figured out how to actually keep the shower at a steady temperature (as opposed to fluctuating between scalding and freezing) so those will help with this transition to winter that I am not ready for.

So the last weekend started for me on Wednesday at 11 AM... I had class Thursday but had already decided not to go since I still had an unexcused absence to use up (you can't let those things go to waste!) and my final was the following Thursday (yesterday) so I decided to get it in before the week of the final. So Wednesday was spent doing homework and things but basically all of Thursday and Friday were spent not doing productive things at all despite the pages and pages of reading I had to do.

Wednesday night was also Spanish night, put on by Erasmus and what they call "International Week," which actually means one international theme/day EVERY week....  I don't know if International Week is what I would've called that. International WeekS maybe.... So like I said, Spanish night was Wednesday at the "Millionaire's Club."  By the time we got there, at a time which we considered to be early (10), the line outside was huge... We learned that this wasn't so much because it wasn't such a hopping party (though, it was) but because they made everyone fill out these forms and get an "International Week" ID card thing.  It was incredibly unorganized and annoying but we got some of the forms early and jumped most of the line.  By the time we got inside they were all out of promised red bandanas and sangria...  We had a good time but ended up taking the last bus home pretty early so we didn't have to pay for a taxi and because Daniel had class at 8:30 the next morning.

Friday I made a dinner which included mussels and clams for the first time ever and they actually turned out very well. I was a bit nervous when after cleaning them for what seemed like hours, I put them in the fridge with a wet towel over them like it said to do and when I got them back out again half of them were open (which usually means dead).  But once I tapped them they closed up again which was both cool and kind of gross.  Clams were much easier, much more expensive, and in my opinion, much better. Daniel preferred, of course, the mussels.

Saturday and Sunday turned into panic study days for me yet still, full of procrastination. On Saturday I also had to run over to a friend's apartment to borrow the book for our Art midterm since there aren't enough copies available for the whole class... So all of that reading had to be done Saturday night so that I could get the book back to her on Sunday.

Monday I had my art history and history of government/Italy midterms.  Government wasn't too bad despite it being 10 multiple choice questions, 10 short answers and THREE essays, all that were to be completed within an hour and fifteen minutes (since the professor went over in his lecture). Talk about hand cramps after that exam. Holy guacamole.

I hadn't studied much for art since I had that second and a 3 hour break in between. I didn't do much studying during the break but it doesn't matter because it wouldn't have helped. I don't even know why she assigned the reading she did because it had nothing to do with what was on the test. Oh well, you win some you lose some.

Monday night was full of homework I hadn't had time to do during the weekend and by the time Wednesday night came around when I was supposed to be studying for my Italian final I had a REALLY hard time making my brain work again...  The final went well and it feels wonderful that it's finally Friday.

Tomorrow I'm going on a trip to Alba and the Piedmontese countryside.  In Alba we're going to a truffle (the expensive mushrooms, not chocolates) fair which sounds like it's going to be all kinds of exciting activities. I'll bring a camera and let you know how it goes.

Now, at 9 PM, we're waiting for dinner to be ready and then we're going to play Alfapet (Swedish scrabble that we play in Swedish and English), have tea and go to bed. Exciting Friday night, I know, but we like it. Plus I have to be up at 7 tomorrow....

So I know, my life is exciting - don't let this entry end!! - but I think I've exhausted every boring detail of the past two weeks of my life and now I leave you with a just as average picture of what once was a beautiful sunset behind the alps and is now a sub-par picture, mildly blurry and with mediocre colors. WOOHOO!

 

Mañana, iguana!

I måndags åkte mamma och pappa hem efter ett par dagars vistelse här i Turin. Under den tiden hann vi med en hel del, om man säger så.

Today, the 26th of September, marks exactly one month in Torino. Also on this day we decided to FINALLY take pictures of the city we've been living in. But we'll get to that later...

Like Daniel said, last weekend we didn't do a whole lot... cheese fondue on Friday night (our apartment smelled awful all weekend) and Ikea again on Saturday. We were practically out of glasses at this point, you know... haha just kidding.

This past week in school has been fairly uneventful.  The highlight of our week was probably buying a very small little toaster oven that, as the name suggests, works as an oven.  This will hopefully decrease our olive oil consumption exponentially, not to mention open up many possibilities when it comes to making dinner. That very same day we got the oven I proceeded to burn myself on it, but it was worth it... I have now, in the past two weeks, burnt both of my hands and have some pretty intense scaring on my right middle finger (olive oil). And now I can never be a hand model...

Wednesday, despite having only 2 hours of class, I ended up being in and around school all day.  I was doing homework and then went to get this code that I need to open a bank account. Well I wasn't planning on getting it that day so I didn't have my passport with me, just a copy of the picture page, but my program director said it might work anyway. 2 hours later... it didn't.

Wednesday night there was an Erasmus (Daniel's exchange program) welcome party.  Daniel went to a pregame with some Swedish guys he had met and I went to a different party with some of the Europeans (and French Canadians) from my school.  It was a lot of fun and there was no cover to get into the disco, which was nice. It was really crowded and there were tons of students there from all over. We met up there later but I went home earlier than Daniel did since I had class at 9 the next day... Why do I not go out when I DON'T have to get up at 7 am? I don't know.

Thursday I finally got my code thing so I can open a bank account (hopefully) this week.

Yesterday I had my first "visit" for art class.  We met for two hours in downtown Torino to go on an architecture walk. I forgot a camera but today Daniel and I kind of did the quick version of the walk and took some pictures.


So that's a quick historical tour of Turin, in a nutshell....

Friday night was "Green Night" in Torino.  I got an email about it from my directors who said it would be lots of people, open museums, markets, concerts, etc... It sounded like a lot of fun so Daniel and I went to check it out, and met up with some people from my program.  There were lots of people but not a whole lot to do... The email said that it was between 10 PM and 3 AM and we were out around 11 and everyone was packing away their booths (which were open earlier in the day when I was in town).  So we didn't walk the whole way to the river (where there was supposed to be a fire show) but instead walked about halfway and went home and went to bed. It was a bit of a disappointment. Maybe we just didn't make it to the good stuff, who knows. 

OH, we did NOT just go home and go to bed yesterday... Our house has an alarm system that they turn on around midnight and turn off in the morning... it hasn't been an issue because if we know we're going to be out after midnight we just ask them not to turn it on that night. Well we didn't go out until about ten and felt rude disturbing them just incase they were asleep.... Well, now we know that it's worse to disturb them at 12:45 when you come home and the alarm goes off and the lights turn on and your landlord comes out in his underwear to turn the alarm off... needless to say we felt (and feel) awful.... It won't happen again.  We tried to text him when we left to tell him not to turn it on but we discovered today that we had the wrong number...  oops.  We even did something very Swedish today when we were about to leave and heard them in the stairway... We waited in the doorway until they went inside so we wouldn't have to face them!! Awful, I know. Maybe we should bake them a cake or something in our toaster oven...

Today we had Swedish pancakes for breakfast...

Egentligen finns det i nuläget in mycket att rapportera. Vi var på Ikea igen i helgen för att köpa lite saker som vi hade kommit på att vi saknade (riktigt choklad, till exempel). Annars har vi mest kollat på Scrubs och ätit magisk soppa. Soppan har fått namnet från inte nu i söndags, utan söndagen innan dess, då vi som vanligt veckohandlat tidigt i veckan, och när söndagen kommer sitter vi här utan mat, och med stängda affärer. Men den söndagen lagade Sarah soppa på nästan ingenting, och den blev fantastiskt god, så hon gjorde den igår igen. Egentligen ska man rosta vitlök, men vi har ingen ugn, så hon bara lägger i lite extra vitlök som den är i soppan som annars består av potatis, morötter, lök och buljong. Detta mixas till en slät soppa och blandas med grädde. Magisk soppa. Utan ingredienser!

Sarah: 0                       Daniel: 5

Midweek updates are not nearly as exciting as post-weekend updates, both for me and (i'm sure) for you.  But since today, Thursday (at 12:15!), my weekend has already begun I will give you a recap of the week.

Rain. School. Rain. Eat. Rain. Sleep.

Among other things...

Monday I can't remember doing anything too exciting. I went to school and Daniel (finally) started school.  The building he goes to school in (at?) is actually connected to Lingotto mall (remember the boat?) and only about a 10 minute walk from my school.  So Monday after I finished class Daniel came over to meet me and we traveled home together.  I had my first Italian exam on Tuesday so Daniel made me study while he went grocery shopping...

Tuesday was my Italian exam... thanks to 10 points of bonus I ended up with a 99%. YAY. Too bad it was all review. We'll see how the next one goes.  After the exam I went over to meet Daniel at school.  We were starving so we had lunch at Lingotto and then I went home and Daniel went back to school. I took a nap and then met up with a few girls from my program for aperitivo (a drink and all you can eat snacks for 5 euro!).  On our way to the bar we happened to pass the hotel that Bordeux (the French soccer team that played Juventus Tuesday night) was staying... Holy guacamole. There was a giant crowd of Juventus supporters standing outside yelling for probably 2 hours... I took a picture but it's incredibly blurry. Sorry.

After a very long aperitivo (way longer than any Italians stayed) we decided to go have dessert at another cafe.  Unfortunately we decided to sit outside and a pigeon decided to poo on me.  I of course didn't notice until we were going to leave and then I was thoroughly grossed out and got to travel the hour home in the cold rain in a tank top. Lovely.  According to Americans it's good luck in Italy to be pooed on by a pigeon. I've never heard an actual Italian say that and I can tell you, I don't feel so lucky.

Wednesday was more school and more homework. Then I went BACK to Daniel's school (I know) to meet him when he got done. We went to the grocery store over that way to get a few things for our lunch... HAMBURGERS! I write it in caps because we spent the entire last week saying hamburger (and occasionally hotdog) with an "Italian" accent. AMBERGUH! (otdoge) They don't pronounce H's here...  It was extremely entertaining. Try it.

After lunch we lay around for a while not really doing anything until we went and met some people from my program, Alex (the swede on my program), Ashley and Dallan, to have aperitivo and then watch the Inter vs. Barcelona game. The place we had aperitivo was nice and had quite a large assortment of food.  Depending on the place you have aperitivo the food can either be really good or really bad.  I've had everything from chips and peanuts to pasta and salami.  After that we went over to a pub to watch the game. It was pretty crowded and we ended up watching the entire first half in black and white because they couldn't get the projector to work right.  It was a fairly uneventful game and ended up 0-0.  We had a good time but were exhausted by the time we got home.

Today I had 2 hours of class and now I'm done for the weekend!  Lunch today was gnocchi alla carbonara. Delicious. 

Also, in other exciting news, today was the first sunny day in quite some time and it was wonderful! I was beginning to think I was in Sweden again...

We're going with our landlord in about an hour to go set up bank accounts. We'll see how that goes...

Until then, fat hen!