Allison's Wonderland

So I got settled in my new home, and decided that it was about time to take a shower. I had cleaned the whole thing earlier today which was good, because there were dead flies and a bucket stuck in there. Come to find out, my shower is not only a shower but it also functions as a bidet. Interesting combination but I guess it could work. The shower is a corner unit and is pretty small. It is cornered off by an old fishy shower curtain. Not fishy smelling, but it actually has fish on it. I know what you were thinking. :)


Anyway, that's besides the point. I turn the hot water on, so I don't have to step in a freezing cold shower. The only thing that turns on at this point was the bidet. I turned up the water pressure and the shower head started going, so I step in. As I'm standing there covered in shampoo, the shower head just randomly turns off which makes the water pressure in the bidet spout go crazy. It completely blasts me and its of course at an awkward angle. Not too comfortable I must say. I won't go into any detail, but it kinda hurt to say least. Meanwhile the water is flying so high that it's reaching the ceiling. I desperately started to fumble with the hot and cold nobs to turn the water off.

Well in doing so I just turned the cold water off. Now I have hot water scorching me. You can only imagine how wonderful that one felt. So I scream since my skin was on fire. I'm standing on the side of the little tub and I grab the shower curtain to steady my balance. I almost fell out and probably would've taken the whole shower curtain with me. After a bit of a fight, I finally got the water turned off. I then turn the water back on more carefully this time with both hot and cold. The only thing that continues to work is the bidet spout. So I get down in the bottom of the shower and try to get the shampoo washed out of my hair. Like I said the shower was a small little thing and it was very cramped in the bottom. I was getting so frustrated because the bidet spout only would shoot up and the top of my head was a soapy mess. Then a glorious moment happens and the shower head turns on. I quickly finished getting clean just to make sure that I had the water head working.

After I was finished I go to open up the curtain and there is a huge puddle of water on the floor. Just my luck. So I find a towel and a sponge and start sopping up the mess. It was not fun. Maybe next time I'll take Ronaldo's advice and shower upstairs in Simona's nice shower that has a shower door and a shower head that does not date back to the 1970's. :)

December 24th me, Simona, Mattia, and Gianluca moved ourselves up to Prato Nevoso. Currently there is no snow, but fortunately its been cold enough that they were able to make enough snow to open one run. The Christmas season is one of Prato's busiest times and one of the biggest money makers for the resort. Without snow its been a tad bit difficult to bring in the business. That's just a little background information for ya.

Here in Prato I have free reign of a little apartment which is normally rented by the Nonne (grandparents). This year they were kind enough to let the Au Pair use it, which is me. :) The flat is decorated very 1970's with wood paneling and this greenish yellow wallpaper. There's a very strange smell that comes out of the bathroom that we can't seem to be rid of, but other than that its gonna be home for the next 3 months. In the flat there are four little bunk beds that remind me of Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs. Although there's only 4 beds and only one of me. I like it. I tried out every bed just like Goldie Locks and the Three Bears and decided on the bottom right bunk. I have my own little balcony with a beautiful view of . . . the road. :) The kitchen is tiny but I pretty much eat with the fam all the time so I don't really have need of it. I had a fight with the shower/bidet and you can read about that in my next post. The bathroom is small, but it suits me just fine. Its the warmest room in the flat so I like being in there. But yeah the shower is a shower and also a bidet. Kind of strange. But like I said its home! Simona, Mattia and Gian are only two floors up so I get my exercise. Hopefully we can get some snow soon! Then I want to hit the slopes!

Christmas Eve started out wonderful for me this year. Just wonderful. I got on Facebook at about 2:00pm my time in Italy and about 8:00 in the morning East Coast time to find out via Facebook that my Grandpa Harvey died. Can you hear the sarcasm in the first line? There was nothing more I wanted then to be in New York with my family. I love my family so very much and especially when there's a loss I just want to be with them. So that was difficult.

We ended up moving everything up to Prato Nevoso the morning of Christmas Eve. Although there's no snow, there is still one run open so Simona is able to work with the ski school and teach ski lessons. Everyone here is pretty down about the snow factor so I think everybody isn't feeling very Christmasy this year either. In Italy, Christmas is definitely not as big as the states. At the house in Villanova the only decoration was the Christmas Tree. In Virginia we have like the whole house decked out with one tree upstairs and one tree downstairs. On Christmas Eve, Mattia and I tried to set up the little baby tree in the house on the mountain. We also hung stockings and lights. Later in the evening I met up with the other three Au Pairs and we had dinner at Hotel Mondole'. It was actually very good, but most of the dishes were fish. And I'm not a big fish eater. Plus there was a lot of them where the fish looked the same dead as alive and I just can't eat that. As you can see in the pictures. All four of us had a fun night.

Simona and Gianluca both work seasonal jobs, so they really don't have Christmas off. We woke up in the morning and opened gifts and then they both set off for work and Mattia and I chilled in the house. Simona got me a shirt and a mouse pad from this Italian designer who has a line that uses just maps. I like them a lot. It was a very very different Christmas then I'm use to. But it was still Christmas and no matter where I am in the world, Baby Jesus still came, so whatevs. :) I did receive a package from Dad and Jeanne that I waited to open just so I could have something to look forward to in the evening. I was surprised with ski pants, coffee, tea, Resee's Egg's (my favorite), slippers, iTunes and Amazon gift cards, and hmm...I feel like I'm forgetting something, but oh well. :) Oh and did I mention that with Italian taxes it was 50 bucks for Dad and Jeanne to ship from the states and another 46 Euros to actually receive the package!?!? Thank you Italian government! Gianluca was kinda enough to pay the sum, but I felt so bad! Yikes. I quickly warned everyone who said they were going to send me a package to NOT just because 46 euros is half my pay check for the week! Anyway, that was Christmas for me!

Christmas time, is a time for eating and over indulging. I thought we ate a lot in the states when it came to Christmas time, but Italians might have Americans beat.

Every year at Christmas, the Airaldi family gets together and eats a meal prepared by Lala. Lala is the same lady who taught me how to roll ravioli, and my hard work was about to be eaten. I was excited to see just how it tasted! Simona, Matti, Gianluca and I had to make the long trek to Lala's house which consisted of one flight of stairs. Needless to say we did not work our dinner off on our walk home. We were the first ones to arrive and everyone else trickled in pretty late. I think the three sisters were getting a little upset. The three sisters consist of Anita (Gianluca's Mom), Mimi, and Lala (the cooking expert) You can see them in the picture with me.

The table was totally decked out and there was more food there than I could have imagined. We had about three different antipasti's. My favorite was roast beef with this weird sauce on it. It tasted soo good! We had shrimp, fish, salmon, lots of bread, vegetable salad, etc. I was getting so full off the antipasta. We had about three of those, and then there was first, seconds, and the main dish of ravioli. There was wine everywhere, white and red, and everything was chaos. Kids were screaming and running around, adults arguing about what food to pass and where to sit. Just the way Christmas dinner should be. :)

When the ravioli came out I was so excited. The ravioli I rolled was a tad bit bigger and it was kind of fun separating Lala's ravioli from my own. I guess that's just the difference between America and Italy. Everything's bigger in America. I must say, it tasted pretty darn good. Then there was dessert. They brought out different wine Moscato and Champagne, and Pannetone. Pannetone is this bready fruitcake like dessert. I'm not a big fan so I passed on it. There were two huge bowls of fruit and of course chocolate. I was stuffed and over whelemed by all of it. Lala did an excellent job and I don't even know if she ate the whole evening. She was so busy! I never saw her sit.

So the next night, after our huge dinner at Lala's, we had reserved spots in Prato Nevoso's make it snow dinner. It still has not snowed yet and the shop owner's, ski instructors, and real estate agents all got together in order to pray and eat for snow. Their businesses are suffering! If I were to write a book about my trip to Italy it would be entitled Pray. Eat. Snow. :) Not really, but anyway, the dinner was at the very top of the hill and had a beautiful view of Cuneo. This dinner lasted about 4 hours. Food is important in Italy and it very well should be. You don't get the reputation Italy has for food by well, having bad food! We ate till our stomachs hurt and didn't end up leaving the place till almost 1:00 in the morning. They had the roast beef anitpasta thing again and I loved it!! YUM! And if you're wondering about the picture of the three guys, I took a picture of them together because of their colored sweaters. Most Italians wear black I've noticed so this was a little splash of color. :) I think they are all ski or snowboard instructors. Not sure about the one on the left. I definitely have gotten my fair share of Italian food since I've been here. Till the next meal! Buon Appetito!

I decided to split up my Genova post, because it was a bit lengthy. I left out an extremely important detail about my trip on the first post, which is . . . drum roll please, the beach. Simona and I had a long talk one night about the pronunciation of this word. Italians say the word "beach" like Americans would say the word "bitch" and it makes me laugh whenever Mattia or Simona say it. Just thought I should add that tid bit of information in there.

The Bonavita's, Simona's parents, have a membership to the Dingy Snipe Club right on the water. After Simona and I's excursion in the morning we went with Mariella (Simona's Mom) and Mattia to the club. It was so cool because Mariella and I walked there and she started to pull out a key. She opens up this random door in a wall and it has a spiral staircase down into what looks like a dudgeon. It was pretty much a secret passageway under the road to the club. It was so cool. I knew if that was the way we had to get there, I was going to like this place. The club wasn't anything extravagant, but it was nice just the same. When you first walked in you were greeted with a wall of windows looking straight at the water. I loved it.

We walked down to the "beach" and watched the waves knock across the outer wall and the rocks. The coast here is very rocky and most of the buildings are 10 feet away from the water. I put parenthesis around the word "beach" because the beaches here are like nothing in the states. We would not consider these places beaches because its all made of large stones. Its super weird. The kids pull out their beach chairs in the summer and play in the rocks. Very different then what I'm used to but hey, that's okay. That's why I'm here. :) I'm pretty sure I will be wearing my flip flops at all times.

We hung out at the club for a little while and then Simona, Mattia, and I met up with her 94 year old grandmother, nicknamed "The Bis". At first I kept thinking that Simona was calling her "The Beast" which I thought wasn't that nice of a nickname, but then I got it striaght. She was so cute, and we rode in the Smart Car to meet her. First time in a Smart Car, and I don't know what's smart about it, other than being small. Perfect for Genova because of the street sizes and parking lots. Parkings lots don't really exist in Genova so its a "make your own spot" kind of a place. Like I said, perfect for Genova but not I-95. A semi-truck would eat you for lunch.

The next day, Simona took me to my absolute most favorite place so far. I looked it up in my Lonely Planet Italy Guide, and to my amazement, it wasn't even listed. CRAZY! The place I'm referring to is called Boccadasse. The neat thing about Genova is its a town of about 600,000 people but you go to places like Boccadasse and it feels like maybe there's a few hundred people around if that. It looks like a small fishing village from back in the day. A place you picture when you think of the Italian coast. I loved it there. I sat on the rocks and took pictures. Then Simona and I climbed the stairs and went to the little church at the top of the hill. I'm excited to go back during the summer time to see Boccadasse in full swing. It has a "beach" right by the water which is supposedly packed during the summer. I can't wait to find out for myself. It is just a five minute scooter ride from where the Bonavita's live.





Later that evening Ronaldo and I (Simona's Dad) went for an hour walk right on the seaside. It was nice, but super windy. It was one of those blustery days that you get by the sea, but it was beautiful just the same. He showed me the different summer homes done in an old Medieval style architecture, the monument for the sailing of Girabaldi where he launched his il Mille (the thousand) to settle Sicily. It was a great little walk and a wonderful visit. Hopefully we'll be returning again soon, but probably not until after the winter season. Till Springtime!

Genoa, Italy. I think I'm in love!

Or as the Italians say, "Genova". I got to play tourist today in Simona's hometown and it was wonderful. I wish I came from such a cool place, although I do love the Burg. We left Mondovi last night around 9 and got into Genova at 10:30 p.m. The view at night was just as spectacular as the view during the day. Genova is unique in the fact that it is a town squished between the mountains and the sea. The city is long down the coastline, but it is not very wide. While driving there on the autostrada we probably went through at least 35 tunnels if not more.

Since we got in kind of late, we talked with the Nonne (Grandparents) and then went to bed. The next morning I had one of my many dreams come true. I got to traipse around Italy on a scooter. No, it wasn't a Vespa, but it was a scooter all the same and I was happy. I didn't drive though. Although maybe one day I would like to, we all know what happened on our Bermuda excursion...so needless to say I rode behind while Simona took on the crazy Genovan traffic. Today was actually a holiday so traffic wasn't as bad as normal. In English the holiday translates to the Immaculate Conception. Mattia had Thursday and Friday off of school, so that's why Simona decided that it would be a good time to come.

I love everything about Genova. The sounds, the sights, the smells. Everything. We parked our scooter at the entrance of the Old City and our first stop was the home of Mr. Christopher Columbus. It was a charming little place and we took pictures in the little garden area. Our next stop was through the gates of the Old City and into The Chiesa del Gesu. It's a church. There are a lot of churches in Italy but they're all beautiful! Unfortunately since it was a Catholic holiday, they were having mass so we were unable to explore & view the two paintings by Ruben that grace the walls. Oh well. Next time.

Afterwards,I went and explored the open market while Simona took a phone call. This woman handed me this black thing that tasted like chalk, ash, and licorice. I spit it out. It was probably some form of sin sin like the talk about in the play, The Music Man. Needless to say it was gross. There were all kinds of cheese, beef, and pastries for sale and I wanted to buy everything! After the market Simona and I walked to a cafe' where I experienced the most amazing cup of Joe on the planet. This type of drink is original to Genova. I got the Amaretto and Simona got the Mimosa (which is Nothing like Mimosa in the states). Mine's the one on the left in the picture. I got a little embarassed because I asked the lady for the Toilette and ended up walking into a closet. I looked like an idiot. She was nice enough to point me in the right direction. My Amaretto coffee was out of this world and I can't wait to have another!

Our next stop was Cattedrale di San Lorenzo. This place was made of black, white and pink marble and was gorgeous! The cool part about this church, is in 1941 during WWII the British dropped a bomb on this church where it was filled with Italians attending mass. The bomb did not explode and is considered to this day to be a miracle. So of course I had to take a picture. The sad part is, during the war, the roof was ruined and is now replaced by a new, modern roof which is not as pretty. You win some you loose some. Oh well.

In the Old City of Genova they have these streets that are so stinking narrow you think you might be smothered! They're called caruggi. Simona told me that in the old days, these streets served a greater purpose. In order to keep out the unwanted enemy from the sea, the residents would pile furniture in the caruggi so the intruders would not be able to pass. Pretty smart if you ask me. I just would not want to get stuck in the maze at night. Just a tad bit unnerving.





After we wound our way through the caruggi we made our way to Port Antico. This place was beautiful and housed the Genova Aquarium. From the pier of the port we had 360 degree views of the city and sea. It's December as well and it probably was about 65 to 68 degrees. I was running around in jeans and short sleeves. I was also able to get my Italy pin while there which made me so happy! Its my first pin I've bought since I've been in Italy. We then started our way back through the caruggi, but first had to stop at Piazza de Ferrari. This plaza was beautiful and housed this enormous fountain. Next time we visit Simona wants to take an open bus tour of the city, which I'm all about. I can't wait! I love this place! We walked back to the scooter where eager Christmas shoppers had spit out gum onto these beautiful marble streets. Its crazy how much marble is around this place. One night Mattia took me down into the storage closet to show me where the Christmas tree was, and guess what the flooring was made out of? You guessed it. Marble. In the storage room basement. Its nuts! Anyway...Like I said I love this place!

Food. Wine. More Food. More Wine. Mangia. Mangia. MANGIA!!

I had an unusual experience this morning I probably won't ever be doing again in my life. Needless to say it was fun. I woke up at about 8:30 and headed downstairs to Lala's house. Lala is Mattia's Great Aunt. She told me her real name, but I forgot already. Lala only speaks Italian, so we didn't have a whole lot to talk about. :) My job today was to help make ravioli. If you don't know what that is, which every person probably should, its pasta filled with meat, cheese, veggies, etc. I have never made my own pasta before so this was pretty cool.

Lala had mixed up the filling the night before so it was ready to go. The pasta was sitting in a big blog on the table. At first I just watched. It was fascinating to me. I normally just buy pasta from the grocery store, boil it up and eat it. Pretty easy. This was a process. She cut the pasta, which looked like bread dough, into smaller blobs instead of one big one. Then she cut the smaller blogs into even smaller ones. After that was done, she would put the pasta into this thing that reminded me of a ringer washer. My Grandma use to have one and I liked to watch the clothes go through and get really flat. Essentially this is what Lala was doing with the pasta. She would run each piece through about 4 or 5 times in order to get it super flat. Then she would sprinkle flour on the table and get globs of the filling on a spoon. She would spoon it out on in a little line and then fold the pasta over on itself.

This was my favorite part. You had to take the pasta cutter and cut the excess off. This is the reason why ravioli always has the jagged edges. Then Lala would pass the little line of pasta blobs to her husband who then cut them into the ravioli shaped pieces. He put them in a container and once it was full would carry them down to the freezer. We spent about three hours doing this, and we weren't even half way through! CRAZY! The excess dough that we would cut off wasn't able to be used again for ravioli as it got too dry, so we would change the contraption on the ringer washer thing to make thin pieces of pasta instead of flattening it.

It was so fun! That night Lala invited us over for dinner and we got to eat the fruits of our labor! Haha! Not the ravioli because that will be eaten for Christmas dinner, but we ate the spaghetti. Its a wonder why Italians are not huge and fat because they eat kind of a lot. For dinner we had spaghetti in Bolognese sauce, meatballs, spinach, lots and lots of bread and Grassini, ham, mozzarella cheese balls and then for dessert there was Panettone (fruit cake type thing), and my favorite, different cheeses like Brie with homemade marmalade. OUT OF THIS WORLD!! I felt so fat! They also go against the American mantra of do not eat after 8 p.m. Dinner starts at 8 so, like I said. They should all be huge!!!

Pasta Recipe - This feeds A LOT OF PEOPLE - Pasta for about 3 months. :)

1 Kilo Flour
9 Eggs
2 Tbls. Olive Oil
Pinch of Salt

Mix Together
Roll in flour like you would bread (Just like bread dough)
Put it in the pasta machine and flatten. :)

Filling - Whatever you want! This one was beef and pork, spinach and cabbage

Yesterday, Simona, Mattia and I went to this church with a round dome and then we also went to the tower of Mondovi. It was pretty cool. I really liked the church. This gets me to Mass. Simona's parents were in town this weekend, and they were going to go to Mass, so I decided to tag along.

We made Meatballs in the morning and then we were off to Mass! 10 Minutes before Mass starts I already have a problem. I have to pee like a race horse and after asking Nonna (Grandma) where the banjo is, I get the torturous reply of, “The church doesn't have one.” In order for me to go to the bathroom before the service I have to go outside to one of the local shops. Why did I drink that huge cup of coffee this morning?!? Aios MIO! Nonno (Grandpa) graciously offers to take me back home in order to do my business, but by this time, the choir starts singing. I thank him, but decide to wait it out. Here we go!

The priest comes out and is dressed in this gold and purple dress like thing (?). Not sure what it was. I would love to see Pastor Jonathan in that outfit on Sunday! He would receive some emails I'm sure. The choir boys or whatever they're called, because they never really sung, were in red and white dresses. I think I might be embarassed to wear that, but none of them were. These guys were my source of entertainment throughout the service. I couldn't understand a word of what the priest was saying so I had to find other places to look. If anything, the service was extremely good people watching. The choir boys kept whispering to one another. One looked like he wanted to kill someone. I don't think he was happy to be there. Everytime they would get up off the stage, when they came back, they would bow before this book. Kind of strange. I'm assuming it was the Bible

It was amazing to me that with a town of 6,000 people, Villanova has this huge church right in the middle. It's not your rinky dink kind of church either. The walls and ceilings have beautiful paintings of Biblical scenes, the walls are marble, and marble columns are everywhere in colors of red, gray and green. It's amazing. I also noticed that they do not heat the church. Everyone sits with their coats on. If you don't, you'll freeze.

At one point during the service this monk looking guy with kind of a hunchback came around to collect everyone's offering. He carries this thing that looks like a fishing net. He also has a severe under bite. Of course Mattia makes a comment about why his jaw is the way it is and has Nonno and Nonna laughing. By the time I figure out what's being said, I start laughing too. Anyway, He comes down each row giving you the stink eye. I didn't have any euros with me to give, so I just smiled at him. That's when I got the death look. Yikes! The death look from a hunchback monk with a severe under bite. I was a little scared. I'll bring some Euros next time. I did notice that almost everyone gave something. Maybe they were scared of getting the stank eye too. I don't know.

During the service, there was a point where we had to get down and kneel on the benches in front of us. I asked Nonna, “What do we do now” but that was kind of a stupid question, as I could have just followed the crowd. I knelt down and WHOA I felt like I was 85 years old. My knees started to hurt the second I was on the wooden bench and then trying to get back up was also a nightmare! When did I go from 24 to 85? Not sure. That's why I have Mattia around to keep me young and spry! We stood and sat about 5 different times during the service. I just followed like a little lost sheep. They also did communion where the priest puts the little wafer on your tongue. I didn't wait in the long line. I just surveyed the situation. Today was Saint ChinChila day. I'm sure I'm spelling it wrong, but whatever. He's the Patron Saint of Music. There was a band after the service, so we stuck around to hear them play. The whole time I was thinking, “WHERE'S THE BATHROOM!!?!?” I probably won't be revisiting Mass, but maybe. I guess we'll just have to see.

My Thanksgiving to say the least was a little sad...

It started off with meeting Robert at the British school in Mondovi. Simona was nice enough to drive me over there. Afterwards it was me in the house. By myself. All day. In Italy, Thanksgiving isn't a holiday. Why would it be? There were no pilgrims and indians who settled their differences with one another and became friends. Nope. Just another day on the calendar. Kathy Skyped me while putting her bird in the oven and have made before. I guess I didn't use enough milk because it was like paste. I could've laid bricks with that stuff. Oh well. For the most part I think it was a success. I didn't realize Gianluca didn't like apples so instead of eating the apple crisp he put his iPhone in the gelato. Hahah...it made me laugh! :) I was able to Skype the family, which was wonderful! Got to see my little Raeleigh gill whose turning into a fat little chunk of lard! :) I love it!!!

I woke up this morning ready for my first day of school. I haven't been to an actual class in over 2 years. Class started at 8:30 so I had to wake up early. Something I am not fond of doing. I grabbed my lunch pail, kissed Mom goodbye and got in the car with Dad as he drove me to Mondovi where my school was. As he dropped me off I waved goodbye and waited for him to turn the corner as he consistently waved goodbye as well.

Okay, this is not how it went at all, but seriously, being dropped off today at school made me feel like a little kid all over again. HA! Gianluca was nice enough to drop me off, but I didn't wave, and I did not cry. I also did not need a lunch pail as the class was only two hours. :)

Simona and I had checked out the school on Monday. The class is free, and is offered by the state of Italia. I was just nervous about who I would have in class with me. The teacher was cute, but she knew no English whatsoever. Her second language is French as is most people around here.

Come to find out the class is made up of 3 Morroccan's, 2 Chinese girls and about 6 Congonians? I don't know what you would call them, but they're from Congo in Africa. Guess who I sat by? I think I fit in best with the Asians, because the three of us had no clue what we were doing. Everyone else spoke French, so they at least had a grasp on the class. Needless to say, I sat there for two hours and learned how to say, Io Sono Nada Il cinque Augusta, Uno Milione nove cento ottanta sette. I was born on the 5th of August 1987. :) I learned some other words as well, but ya know...it was difficult to understand. Simona picked me up, which was nice of her as well so I didn't have to take the public bus. I'm a little nervous about the public bus as I have no idea where it goes, or the fact that if I do get lost no one will understand me. :) Worst. My next class is Monday! I'm going to give it a couple more tries before I decide whether or not to keep going. I meet with Robert tommorrow who works at the British school. Maybe he can point me in the right direction on my journey to speak Italian!

PRATO NEVOSO

Sorry it's so long, but bear with me!

I have been waiting awhile to get to Prato Nevoso. Actually, its been a little over two weeks, but whatever, I've been waiting! I really wanted to know what this place looked like since I will be living there for the next 3 to 4 months. Curiosity is killer!

After Simona and I dropped Mattia off at school, we headed up to the mountain. Of course we had to stop at the bar on the way. We went up these twisty turny roads, past towns that will never see the sunshine due to the mountains, and a beautiful blue mountain stream that you could probably drink out of with no problem. We finally got to the top where Prato sits, and I can honestly say, it wasn't what I was expecting, but I really don't know what I was expecting. It is weird because I haven't really had any expectations on this trip so when I find out what something is, I'm never disappointed. I kinda like that. We then stopped at another bar to meet up with Francesca and Evan, where we got yet another coffee. I love this place! :) Those who are coffee addicts NEED to come to Italy. Anyway, we went to the ski school, and I must say I got the better end of the deal. While Francesca and Simona cleaned the school, I roamed, wandered and explored the premises. Maybe I should've helped, but I was much to eager to explore.

I took my big camera out and tried to look "official". I didn't want to get yelled at by a big Italian man, because number 1, I wouldn't know what he's saying and number 2, I did not want my exploration hindered in any way. I thought I might get yelled at since I was walking on the slopes, but whatever. I didn't! After walking around the slopes for about an hour I was getting really cold, so I started to head back to the ski school. Then lo and behold across the street, down this hill I look over and see the ruins of an old stone farmhouse. I hopped over the road and was in heaven! This place was so cool and it was in the most picturesque setting. Whoever lived here, had a view that could not be bought. On one side is this beautiful snow covered mountain (Artesina) and in front, way off in the distance but clearly visible, is Monte Viso. This mountain is spectacular and is supposedly the inspriation for Paramount Picture's Logo.

I seriously was in heaven. I took pictures for like an hour and a half. I also went down into this valley like thing and found a mountain stream. It was so beautiful. Naturally I had to pee outside. Why do I like doing this? I don't know, but I just do. No one was around, so I was safe! I sat down and just took in all the beauty. It was going on 1:00 and Simona called, and asked if I got lost. It was going on lunch time!

I met her and Francesca at the ski school and we headed over to the bar again. We met up with Gianluca, and his mother Anita. This is where I had the weirdest, probably one of the worst hamburger's of my life. After reading through the menu, I just wanted to give it a whirl. A cheeseburger is a pretty Americanized food, so I wanted to see what an Italian burger would taste like. The lady asked what I wanted on it so I told her mayo, cheese, ketchup and that sounded fine. When the burger came out it was on panini type bread. Okay, no big. I'll eat that. But when I bit into it, it was covered in mayo. Like covered. I opened it up and I couldn't even see the burger. So I tried to scrape off all the excess. It didn't have any ketchup on it either. Just mayo. Wasn't a huge deal. I then got to the burger, and it was extremely thin. It tasted like the country fried steak from Cracker Barrel, only without the fried part. I reluctantly ate the whole thing, because the lady who made it was watching me. I didn't want to let her down. It's big not to waste food in Italy.

Before eating my burger I washed my hands and when I got in the restroom I was suprised. First I thought I was in the men's, but no, it was an unisex restroom. The toilet was in the floor. How do you use this thing? I didn't want to find out. It was weird. After I got done washing my hanny pads, as mother would say, I asked Simona about the toilet. She said in Italy most public restrooms are this way because it's cleaner. As a female, you just got to get down and squat. I'd rather pee outside. :) Ha! It was just fun, so I had to take a picture.

After lunch we of course had to have coffee and chocolate. It's just the Italian way. We went back to the ski school and I headed for the hills. Literally. I went to the opposite side this time and came across this field like thing on the top of the hill with the best view of Monte Viso. I had to sing "The Hills are Alive" and twirl because it was just that kind of a place. So I did. :) Needless to say it was a beautiful day with just me and myself in the hills. I can't wait to go back! Maybe next time I'll learn my lesson and order something a little more Italian off the bar menu. :)