New Tenants

After practically turning into a hotel during the summer, my apartment experienced a low period throughout the fall and early winter. No visitors! However, this sad state was recently turned around upon the arrival of Doreen and May, who stayed with me for about a week in mid-January.



They look really tourist-y and adorable in the above photo. But does your impression of them change if I add that they were marveling at the Fountain of Neptune in Piazza Maggiore, especially the fact that the "fountain" function is represented by water squirting out of mermaids' breasts? (Would a US city ever allow this? In the name of art, maybe.)

While Doreen is a beloved old friend from NYU - literally, from the first day - I had never had the chance to get to know May, and this was a great opportunity. Considering that Do and I haven't had the chance to spend much time together since I moved to Bologna, it was really as if I was exploring new friendships with both girls. And they were sooooooo good to me! See below:

Pancakes (somewhat like crepes) for breakfast with honey, yogurt, apples, bananas and nutella.


Polenta, tuna, baked tomatoes, salad with pears, salmon spread.


This is only a small example of their culinary generosity. Not to mention their cleaning skills. And the fact that Doreen gave us an amazing private yoga lesson. But the real best part was just hanging out with these two terrific women and enjoying a full, warm, sweet-smelling apartment.

Love! (And they have the cutest haircuts.)


I am trying to convince them to come back. I wish the Atlantic were smaller.

New Friends

It's still too strange and sad for me to think about writing a memorial post for our beloved, deceased cat Dinkie. However, it feels much more cheerful to introduce our new kitties to Blogger. These two new entries to the Gilmore-Valenze household probably weigh a collective 10 pounds, but they're already wreaking havoc. Thankfully; we need them!

This is Lulu, who's a female between one and two years old.


And the oddly-named Carrot - who knows why the shelter gave him this name - who is a male around 7 months old. His name is subject to change. (Suggestions?)


HOW CUTE ARE THEY???????? I wish I could import them to Bologna - or visit them in Cambridge. My apartment really, really, really needs a cat.

High Line Hijinks

This is a post that I've wanted to put up here forever and I kept putting it off because it required a search through old photos. Done, finally! I am becoming much more proactive in 2010.



This year I visited the new and amazing High Line, a park in New York City that has been created out of an old stretch of railway line. The line was above-ground on the west side of the city, and it was closed for years. Now it's been refurbished and replanted and there are wild plants, amazing wooden benches for sunbathing, art installations - basically it's the best park ever.



To all Glee fans, PLEASE NOTE THE BILLBOARD! How could I not have taken note of this earlier? I would've started watching much sooner.



I learned on an educational Jet Blue flight (TV watching can teach you things!) that the plants were specifically chosen because they can grow wild there. And many of the railway pieces were added to help with authenticity.



And the traffic observation deck (above) is genius.

One of the reasons I was so excited about this park is that I visited the High Line before it was re-done, while I was still a student. In the company of two creative, adventurous friends, I snuck through a fence and onto the tracks. At that time everything was gray and deserted, and probably pretty hazardous. But it was totally enchanting. We were above some of the city's most busy streets, walking over traffic and pedestrians and stores, peering into apartment windows. We were exposed, but felt totally hidden.


(I took this photo on 1600 ISO film, which is why it's so grainy. Ah, the days of real film!)

It's wonderful to see the new park but I have to admit that there was a tinge of something bittersweet. I'm so glad that I saw it "before" - I think that the experience really enabled me to appreciate the current "after". The place in the photo above doesn't exist anymore - but now it can be appreciated by everyone. I guess I'm just barely unselfish enough to be happy about that, and still pleased that I got to be an explorer there, once upon a time.

(Sorry for the cheesy blog title. Couldn't resist.)

Import Export

I love Christmas lights. I actually should've done a better job of photographing them in Bologna, where they are the best in the whole world (in my biased opinion), but the ones in NYC aren't bad either. Italians put them on every street and Bologna has them not just over the street, but in the market, in the porticoes, on the towers, everywhere. It's beautiful. I'm sad that they'll be gone when I get back.



It's good to think that 2009 is ending, even if all of the year's little loose ends can't be tied up and left in December. I'm sure that 2010 will be better!

Speaking of great things coming in 2010, here is one:

Eataly, Flatiron Building, New York City, Summer 2010! Yipppeeee! Full of Slow Food and good vinegar and rabbit ragu and basically every other delicious thing to come out of Italy. Probably fewer people will want to visit me, now that a part of Italy (and Bologna, though mostly Turin, where Eataly comes from) has been directly transported to Midtown. I'm almost jealous.

No More Snow

This is the weather in my Italian home:


This is the weather in my American home:


That's why it's pretty great that we're going to Florida for 6 days, starting tomorrow. This is what it looks like, there:


Yay!

Hot dog!

My NYC trip has been completed (see gourmet culinary exploits above). All my presents are wrapped. It's really Christmas. There's the same bittersweet feeling of being in one place and feeling as if part of me is elsewhere; I should be used to it, but with possible upcoming decisions about my big future, it feels even more poignant than usual. And our catless house feels rather empty; I think that we all keep expecting Dinkie to be in one of his old hangouts, and he's not.




Hopefully more snow and festivities are coming up; along with visits to shelters and new animal friends. The first step is stuffing my face with Christmas Eve dinner. Hurrah!

While we may not know the identities of our future kittens, we do know the identity of our future vet. She's already preparing the ensemble that will help make her seem friendly to her patients. (No comment about the cash; it has more to do with vegan-food-related tips than with animals.)



P.S. The location pictured below is a the view from my friend's house in a town called San Lorenzo in Collina. It's about 20 minutes outside Bologna in the hills. Her house is a bit chilly, but the view makes up for it (note: that's the exact view from her bedroom window).

Bad Blogger

It's Christmas and I haven't blogged in forever. Probably it has to do with the fact that I felt the need to write a fitting farewell blog for my beloved cat, Dinkie, who passed away this fall. But it's probably better to get back to blogging, even without the right memorial post.

I'm in Cambridge for the holidays and it's been a wonderful whirlwind of activity so far. I'm looking forward to more food and Florida and possibly even new kitties.



More soon.

Grownup Homework

About 6 months ago I decided to enroll in a graphic design class. Among other things it has provided me with unlimited junk food, constantly occupied weekday evenings, new friends, a disrupted eating and sleeping schedule, body painting experiences, and most importantly, a little info about graphic design, which I really enjoy.

The photo below is a basic representation of what I do with my free time. It may look like hieroglyphics to you. It still feels that way to me, pretty much. Plus, there's the fact that I'm taking the class in Italian, while web code is in English, but my computer programs are in Italian because I got them here . . . um . . . help me.



However, there is an immense satisfaction that comes from actually creating my first web page after months of lessons. And my little Flash buttons actually scroll and enlarge the way they're supposed to. And (sometimes) I actually manage to fix my own problems. Pretty cool. The only problem is that now, when I look at a really fancy website, I almost faint from the realization of all the work/sweat/misery that it took to create it.

P.S. Advice/suggestions are more than welcome. However, the color scheme above was chosen after hours of obsessive-compulsive deliberation. Please do not comment on it unless you have a real problem with it. (For a closer look, click on the photo; it'll load much bigger in a different window.)

Blueberries for All

I went home for a few weeks at the end of August/early September, and it was (as always) a wonderful trip. Especially because I didn't have to get any teeth pulled. Plus, we went to Vermont during the best weather ever. Is it really necessary to state how beautiful Vermont is?



And blueberry picking is up there with the best activities of all time (along with strawberry and apple picking). We had a grand time and picked a bajillion berries. The only problem with these situations is that you pick so much (because picking is fun!) that you pick more than you can eat, and then spend the next week or so trying to give fruit to everyone you know. But berries picked in Vermont are so much better than supermarket berries, so they're a good gift.



Rosa and I worked on our photo posing skills. We may have perfected the art.



And again. We are explorers of a new land, or something. Either way we deserve a high score for duplicating our poses!



Blueberries aside, though, it's important to comment on one of the things that the US does better than Italy, and that's cake. Cake with frosting. How I miss it! However, I made a special trip get a slice of red velvet cake, excited to eat the whole thing, and I started to feel sick halfway through. Perhaps my time abroad has weakened my stomach - sad!



What else? Oh yeah. Smartest cat ever. Notice that he hangs out and watches TV just like a human?



Dinkie is the best.

Puglia-ing

I will now repeat something that I've already written at least twice on this blog. I love Puglia. There are many positive things about this region of Italy, the heel of the boot, probably too many to count. But here are some. The food - see capers and tomatoes above - is fabulous.

Plus, there are really good mussels.


And figs, and watermelon.


There are meddlesome but endearing relatives who like to know what you're up to. The vacation wouldn't be complete without them.



I stayed for 5 days with my friend Francesca, ex-roommate and frequent celebrity on this blog. Her family's beach house has its own claim to fame: it used to be the beach house of one of Italy's most important musical stars, Lucio Battisti. This year Francesca's father was invited to a gala honoring Battisti. Unfortunately the sponsors thought that Dr Ruberti actually knew Battisti, but he actually bought the house 15 years after the musician's death and never met him. So this plaque, which reads "for the precious testimony of many years spent with Lucio Battisti at Porto Cesareo", is extremely mistaken! It was too late; Francesca's dad accepted it politely and then escaped from the party.
Anyway, the house is beautiful and spacious and right on the water; I'm lucky to have visited two years in a row!

All this being said, I think that the most beautiful characteristic of Puglia is the sea.

I want to go back, now!

Abandoned Altars

Twice this summer I went to what is one of my most favorite places in Italy: the Santerno River near Moraduccio. The river itself is beautiful - clear water, deep pools among lots of shallow little streams, a waterfall, greenery, birdsongs, etc. Basically, it's paradise. And you don't even get sand in your hair, because it's replaced by big, smooth white rocks. They're perfect for sunbathing, if you enjoy such activities.



The counterpoint to this river is the old town of Castiglioncello, which sits high above the river on a mountaintop. It's been abandoned and the half-collapsed, decaying buildings and churches are an amazing sight. To get there, you have to climb about 20 minutes up a dirt road, and suddenly you find yourself among stone buildings with splintered wooden rafters and blackberry bushes growing up inside the old houses. According to this website, the inhabitants already numbered a sad 85 in 1833. A friend told me that the residents all left to come to the USA. Or they realized that their village was incredibly inconvenient, since the road is basically vertical, and they all moved down the mountain.



As always, in any isolated part of Italy, amazing food can be found at super low prices. The nearby restaurant (which, I believe, is named "The Waterfall" or something equally creative) is full of truffle ravioli and steak and amazingly thick mascarpone. Plus, the owner has 5 Siamese long-haired cats that have to have their eyes bathed 3 times a day. She is a superwoman.



The funny thing about my visits to the river is that, the second time, we HAD to replay the exact same experience again (day by the river, late afternoon climb to abandoned town, extravagant dinner before heading home) because it was amazing. And surprisingly enough, it was equally wonderful the second identical time. This must be proof that originality is overrated in the face of good food and days spent lounging by bodies of water.

Biological Clock (or not)

At the beginning of August I spent four days in the Dolomites, a mountain range in northern Italy that is actually a section of the Alps. I don't know any Americans who have heard of them, but in Italy everyone goes there to ski and enjoy nature or whatever. I'd never been (I don't know northern Italy very well at all), but I received an invitation from a choir friend whose father spends his summer avoiding civilization in these isolated mountains. How could I not accept?



The weekend was a fantastic mix of food, hiking, sunshine, and family time (I was staying with three generations of my friend's family: her kids, husband, and her parents). Regarding children, I had the important revelation that some - maybe a very select few - are truly amazing. These kids, Mila and Nico, are beyond wonderful.



Smart, funny, affectionate, sensitive - if I have kids one day, they'd better turn out this great. Mila and Nico accompanied us on every hike and were great sports; being small, they were also talented wild berry harvesters. This is important in these mountains, where the wild berries are amazing.



I enjoyed the scenery, especially because it's light years away from Bologna's landscape - even the architecture seems to come from a different nation altogether.



Plus, the dialect is a mix of German and who knows what. The kids and I understood very little of what was said, even when the locals were speaking in Italian - their accents were just too much for us. We let the grownups figure things out.



Between forests, ancient cowpaths, lessons on the significance of Harry Potter and mushroom scavenging, it was the best long weekend I could've hoped for. And we've already started discussing possible babysitter exchanges during the year. It's probably one of the best surprises to come out of the entire summer!

Fresh Towels Galore

Somehow it became August, which means that soon summer will be over. I have no more guests coming to visit me, at least as far as I know, so I can obsessively clean my apartment and eat weird meals in peace. Actually, though, I had great times with the people who visited me this summer. Having guests is so easy when you live alone! I could hand out keys and maps and towels like nobody's business, and there were no roommates to worry about. Here is a photographic representation of my summer guests:


Gallatin invasion, part 1. Anthony and Christine are probably the lowest-maintenance guests ever. They somehow trained their stomachs to be hungry only upon command (if only I had that talent). And they had matching red sneakers, so I never lost track of them.


My super adorable cousin and cousin-in-law (well, almost). How cute are they? It was so nice to have first-time Italy visitors who not only appreciated the phenomenon of Italian fashion, but actually got to know Bologna better than me. Eataly fans unite!


Gallatin invasion, part 2! Chinaka came to Italy and Venice almost moved her to tears. Plus, she was speaking Italian after five days here. I think that she should get ready to move.

However, if I'm going to host guests full-time, I think I need to get ahold of a washing machine. And a bigger coffee-maker!


By the way, I'm a zebra now.