Thursday, August 31, 2006

Too tamad to narrate..

Ever since I got back, I've been feeling less than eager (is there such a term) to narrate (racontare in Italian) my (mis)adventures in Italy. So, from this moment on, this will just be a normal blog with normal ramblings and such. Maybe I'll be eager enough to racontate (wth?) my trips.

And hopefully, I'll be in another adventure soooon! (Went to Bantayan a couple of weeks ago and suffered from Murphy's Law -- it's bound to go wrong, but it was worth it!)

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Cutie!

Someone mistook my email address for her friend's and sent me a couple of pictures of her son, Gil. I just want you guys to see how cute he is. Pwedeng pag-lihian. I'd translate her email to English if I knew how to speak Portuguese. :)



Oh, trivia trivia.. there are a kazillion Silvas in Brazil, like Reyes or Santos here in the Philippines.. so imagine how common Isa Silva or Isabel Silva is.

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Stromboli 3

Prior to our climb, we spent the entire afternoon going around and lounging at the beach. The town itself was amazing, but I wasn't too fond of the beach. Maybe it's my colonial mentality talking but I wasn't turned on by the black sand and black stones. Here are some pictures:

Me having lunch


Me and Annie outside our hotel room


Me and Annie (again) walking along their narrow streets (all their streets are this narrow)


Me and Micki on the peak of the town


The beach


The "sand" that's found on the beach

If there's one thing I regret not doing, it was to not rest before the "climb". I had not slept well the night before, (actually, I was not sleeping well when I was in Italy) plus I was walking around the entire afternoon. I should've stored my carbs and I should've rested at least for 4 hours. (I had the time anyway.) BUUUT, since I was trying to make the most out of this helluvanexpensive weekend, I pretended I was fit enough to do whatever the hell I wanted to. I was so psyched to climb the volcano. I'm sure I would do my mountaineer boyfriend proud.

The climb was roughly 900 meters. The first 600 were trails and the rest were all ash. We left around 6 pm to get there around 9 to see the eruptions (with lava and smoke and the entire shebang) then get back by 10pm or so. It was a piece of cake, to be honest. But (deng deng deng), since my blood was low that time, I couldn't handle the altitude and the steep climbing. After 300 meters I backed out. Yes, the wuss in me sought it best to just go down, since I was slowing up the group. What a disgrace! To think I was the most excited to go up! Oh well, if I can't do it, I can't do it, right? Sayang lang, I could've made Raf proud.

to be continued ulit...

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Singit lang..

Alessa "tagged" me...

Four jobs I've had in my life:
1. Contributor for iConnect's website
2. Billing deparment at Makati Med... was I a "biller"?
3. Fundraiser
4. "Designer" kuno/Art teacher

Four movies I'd watch over and over:
1. 3 Ninjas (potangina)
2. Amelie (helps me with my close to non-existent French)
3. I don't know
4. I don't know

Four places I've lived in:
1. Sanlo (2 houses)
2. Pesaro, Italy (for Oscar's BMT)
3. Manhattan & Paris (for vacay-tion)
4. Reggio Calabria, Italy

Four TV shows I'd like to watch:
1. More episodes of G.A., D.H. and P.B. (Prison Break)
2. Jem and the Holograms minus the low-quality recording
3. Coupling Season 5 (wala na)
4. Drawn Together

Four places I've been on a vacation:
1. Rome
2. Sicily
3. London (last year)
4. Scotland (last year)

Websites I visit daily:
1. Google mail
2. Multiply
3. Yahoo mail
4. Google.com

My favorite foods:
1. Isaw kina Nel
2. Menudo/Mechado something with tomato sauce
3. Sandaya's beef yakiniku
4. Ginataang kalabasa with tuyo

Four places I'd rather be right now:
1. Beach
2. Beach with Raf
3. Spain
4. Anywhere but here (na kasama si Raf)

Four friends I think will respond
1. I
2. have
3. no
4. idea

Stromboli 2

I couldn't back out. Heck, I had already paid €71,00! (Talagang garapalan e, hindi man lang nag-round off nalang to 70...) Sayang lang ang tatlong-libong piso ko (plus plus plus). So anyway, us three girls brought goodies (gastos nanaman), packed our bags and got ready.

Since we lived 50 minutes away (by foot) from the school, so we got picked up early early morning to catch the 7am boatride to Stromboli. Our trip went like this: We took a Roro from Reggio to Messina (Sicily), then drove from Messina to Milazzo then took a SuperCat from Milazzo to Stromboli. The trip took close to 3 hours. Normally I would just drop dead and sleep until 2 minutes before reaching destination, but for some strange reason, I couldn't sleep at all. Or it was the mababaw kind of sleep -- the one that gives you a big headache when you wake up.

But.. my first view of Stromboli was breathtaking..

The volcano. You can see the steam/cloud coming out from its crater


The city

I loved the architecture!! It made me feel I was in a small Greek town. (Although I have yet to see one).

To be continued ulit..

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Stromboli

Stromboli is said to be one of Napoli's pride and joy. Stromboli is the name of an active volcano, which releases clouds during the day, and erupts during the night. Or baka meron din during the day, hindi ko lang napansin. Anyway, Stromboli is also the name of the island. Stromboli is also a place for the richest of the rich. In short, because of its touristy tourist spots, touristy din ang prices. SHET.

The university I went to,Università per Stranieri Dante Alighieri, every so often, plans excursions around Italy during the weekend. This was one of them. Part of the itinerary was to climb the volcano and to see the eruptions at night. I thought I would want to do my mountaineer boyfriend proud, to climb up the volcano, take pictures, and be a mountaineer (not a mountaineer's girlfriend). So, us three girls decided to go.

The initial expenses for the trip €71,00. (In Italy they use commas sometimes), which we had to pay a couple of days before the trip. It was quite pricey but the person in-charge told us it covered everything... so, ok na diba? BUUUUT, the day before we left the PIC (person-in-charge) gave us a sheet saying in order for us to go up the volcano, and see the island, and to eat, we had to pay around €30-40,00 extra. TANGNANGSHIYETSIYAAAAA.

(to be continued...)