Author: kaitlyn

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Heading home from Milan

I got to visit Milan one last time. It worked out really well because my friend Dan who lives here is moving back to Brazil next week and I got to see him and go to his going away party.

Now I’m heading back to the US. It’s a long flight with a layover in Stockholm (not on the way). I leave at 6:30 AM Italy time and arrive in Newark at 3:15 PM EST.

This trip has been wonderful! I’ve seen so many places, met so many people, done so many things. Here are a few of the things I’ve learned these past three months.

How to carry my suitcase up and down the train station underpass to my platform.

How to schedule my train itinerary so I don’t have to carry my suitcase up and down the underpass.

How to take a shower in a tub with no curtain and leave the bathroom cleaner than when I started.

That toilet seats are not that important at home if it’s just girls.

All laundry should be turned inside out to be washed.

I do not do my laundry as well as I should. According to Filippa.

If I don’t get married soon, I won’t be able to. According to Filippa.

You can get canned pumpkin in Rome, but not pie crust.

Bananas make you fat. And I eat too many of them. According to Filippa.

To turn the water heater on an hour before I want to shower.

Washing my face with warm water in the morning is a luxury.

To light the stove with a lighter. With one hand. While I fill the pasta pot with the other.

Everything is cheaper in the US. Especially clothes. Especially US labels. Except espresso and pizza.

Vodafone is an evil company.

Heat in October is a luxury.

Fresh ricotta is nothing like what we buy back home in 12oz containers. The mozzarella is pretty amazing, too.

How to avoid eye contact with cruising Italians.

No matter how hot it is in the Metro you keep your coat on, hussy. Or be prepared for the stares.

The best place to buy cloths is from the street vendors. Actually that’s the best place to buy anything.

How to pee while squatting like a pro. (Thank you two years of bicycling in San Francisco.)

To recycle almost everything. My q-tips where the only thing I had to put in unsorted.

Where to find the three best gelaterias in Rome.

How much I love (and sometimes hate) Italians.

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Leaving Rome

I traveled for September, seeing new places (Cinque Terre, Pisa, Siena, San Gimignano, Volterra, Florence, Berlin, Munich, Neuschwanstein, and Milan). For October and November I have been a part-time student, part-time tourist, part-time resident in Rome. I could immediately feel the difference between traveling and living in Italy, just like I remember from four years ago. I’m glad I spent a longer period in Rome opposed to continuing to travel. Besides that it is exhausting to travel, it is a completely different experience.

Now I am on the train from Rome to Milan. I’ll spend two nights there before I take off for my long trip back to the USA. I’m sad to leave Italy, especially sad to leave Daniele– but very excited to come back to the US. These past few weeks I have been constantly sick with a cough (so I can’t sleep), scabies, and more often than not a light fever. It’s really taking it’s toll on me. I’m actually a big of a wreck between it all.

[Edit] Link to Rome photo album:
https://picasaweb.google.com/kaitlyn.hanrahan/20101001Roma#

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Scabies

I’ve had an itchy rash developing over the last two weeks. Fillipa and Daniele called it an allergy, but I was pretty paranoid it was something like bed bugs. Especially since Daniele already had an “allergy” and that seemed like an odd coincidence. But it didn’t really make sense that I would have bed bugs now, after living in the same apartment for over a month. It wasn’t until I complained about my itching over twitter that my friend Jared gave me the answer: Scabies.

I got the idea that I probably had Scabies on Monday night but I had to wait until Wednesday to go to the dermatologist. My experiences with the Italian health system have been pretty good. I went to the ER/Clinic first, where the doctor wasn’t 100% sure what it was and told me to go upstairs to the dermatologist. She knew immediately that it was scabies. Apparently there is an epidemic. I was the third person she had seen that day with the same problem. The cure is intense but quick. It only takes four days. There is a surfer soap I use at the start and end, an oil I put on every night, a pill I take at night, and another lotion I can use for dry skin. The clinic is free, but I had to pay to see the dermatologist, something like 15 or 20 euros.

I already had plans to see Daniele that same night. I wasn’t dreading the “Hon, I have scabies” conversation too much since I was pretty sure he had started it. But he maintained that his was just an allergy. He gets a sort of eczema every winter with the dry air and the hospital soap. But on closer examination, his “allergy” had spread past his arms. There was no arguing we should split the soap and oil.

My original theory was he got them at the hospital and gave them to me. How else? But now that I’ve been paying attention I see all the different places I could have gotten them first; like trying on cloths, or sitting in public fabric-lined chairs. But I maintain that he gave them to me. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

That night I met and had dinner with Daniele’s family for the first time. I ate possibly the best meal ever, and got to know his parents and younger brother. Not to go off on a tangent on the meal. But we had gnocchi with pesto (the pesto they made with Daniele’s basil), Eggplant parmigiana (not like in the US, it was layered and baked like lasagna), Grilled vegetables (eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers covered with bread crumbs), buffalo mozzarella, spinach and broccoli, roasted chestnuts, little pastries, limoncello, and coffee. So many courses! So good! I loved his family, too, of course :)

Later that night I developed a really bad fever. And the smoker’s cough I’ve just learned to live with from living with Filippa got noticeably worse. I think I might have bronchitis or a flu or something. Like scabies isn’t enough!

I’m actually not as grossed out as I would expect myself to be. The rash was unbelievably itchy. Unbearably so. It woke me up in the night on Monday. It’s actually a bit of a relief that what I have is something that can be cured so quickly. If all I had was a reaction to an unknown allergen, that could take months to go away. I may have ripped my skin off. Yesterday I was on the Metro, trying not to touch anything, since public transit is so gross. Then it occurred to me that it is a pretty safe bet I am the sickest person on the Metro between my cough, fever, and scabies. Isn’t that something!

Here is what scabies looks like, if you want to see. Not as gross as you would probably think.
https://picasaweb.google.com/kaitlyn.hanrahan/20101001Roma#5550645294719667826

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Halloween

For Halloween Danielle and I went to Old Calcata with another couple, Gerlando and Valentina (I’m probably not spelling those right). Calcata has a pretty interesting history. “In the 1930s, the hill towns’s fortified historic center was condemned by the government for fear that the volcanic cliffs the ancient community was built upon would collapse. Local residents moved to nearby Calcata Nuova. In the 1960s, the emptied historical centre began to be repopulated by artists and hippies who squatted in its medieval stone and masonry structures. Many of the squatters eventually purchased their homes, the government reversed its condemnation order, and the residents of what had become an artistic community began restoring the ancient town.” –Wikipedia

Just as advertised, it was a medieval hill town full of artists and hippies. It’s a popular destination for Halloween with all of its condemned medieval goodness. The art shops were open late to peak into. The whole town was decorated with fake spider webs. There were also lots of jack-o’-lanterns and a few monsters. The little town museum was open and free. They even had a live band and a fire in the town square. It was pretty good.

I was happy to see a lot of people in costume and even more with a hat or some type of half-effort costume. Almost everyone had the “typical” costumes. For example more than half of the women were dressed as witches. I think we left near midnight, and people were still pouring in, some with more interesting costumes.

After Calcata we went to Gerlando’s for dessert. Valentina had made a bunt cake. We also had limoncello made by her mom from their lemon tree and booze soaked cherries (recommended!). It was all really good, but it was really late at night by then, and the clocks had changed the night before, so it felt even later. But only to me. Apparently the three of them have learned to overcome the need for sleep at normal hours from years of working as nurses. I had to be the party pooper.

[Edit] Link to Rome photo album:
https://picasaweb.google.com/kaitlyn.hanrahan/20101001Roma#

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First month in Rome

I have finished my first month in Rome. I didn’t write very much during this time. At first everything was really busy and hard, then life seemed sort of everyday and not worth writing about.

My first week all I was doing was trying to find an apartment. It was very stressful. I was hating Rome but trying to withhold judgment. Everything was so hard. I couldn’t understand the Roman accent. No one is friendly. Now I’ve made it my mission to help every lost tourist I can, or to talk to them if we’re somewhere like the Metro. So that they might have a better impression of the people in Rome than I got my first days.

Things got better immediately after I moved into my apartment. I was living in a nicer part of Rome, the historical center, and I had Filippa. I made friends at school, through CouchSurfer, and through Filippa. I met Daniele, who took me out of the touristy zones I had been frequenting. It took a few weeks, but I was eventually able to understand the Roman Italian accent. Live is now pretty good, actually.

I finished my four weeks of language classes; made friends with a few of the girls there. Amy from Texas has been living in Rome for a year and a half with her Italian boyfriend she met back home. Sofi, Hungarian, is here considering going to university in Italy next year. Kimiko, Japanese has moved here to Rome and would like to work in tourism. Chiemi, also Japanese has been living here a year. Now I am studying on my own. Since I have plenty of people to practice with, this is better. I can work on the things I need to improve most. I am still spending plenty of time studying even without the motivation of class everyday. I signed up for the CILS level two (B2) test. This is the same test and level foreigners have to take to apply to an Italian university. It might be a little beyond my level, but I have nothing to lose if I fail.

This past month I have been having different Roman adventures in the afternoon, evening, and weekends.

If I don’t go out at night, I typically walk around my neighborhood, by the Spanish Steps and Piazza del Popolo. There are a lot of designer shops around here with beautiful window displays.

It is maybe a 10 minute walk to the Trevi Foutain or Pantheon. I go there a lot, but it’s a little too tempting to not get a gelato when I do.

My second Sunday here Filippa and I went to the beach. We took the train and it was about 30 minutes away. It reminded me of a city beach in California, nice but you know it is much nicer if you go just a little further away. Unfortunately there are still those horribly annoying venders. So every few minutes you are asked if you would like to buy some sunglasses, necklaces, or some other crap. I was prepared in advance that Filippa wore a two piece because I saw it drying in the bathroom. It also fits perfectly with her Italian personality. That’s old Italy, not today’s Italy with lots of American influence. I mean, we don’t even have a toilet seat, I don’t expect her to have my idea of modesty. She didn’t wear the suit top most of the time we were at the beach, but again, that fit perfectly well with what I expect from her. I’m pretty sure she never wears a bra, so why would she keep her bathing suit top on at the beach?

The following Sunday Filippa and I went together to Porta Portese, but we split up pretty quickly. Porta Portese is a gigantic market every Sunday. Everything you can think of is there. Clothes, shoes, and jewelry, sure, but also furniture, housewares, animals, books, and all sorts of other things. A lot of the same things vendors sell in the center you can find there for less. I would like to go back one more time.

I also made a Pumpkin Pie. It was a little tricky finding all the ingredients here. It was definitely tricky converting the recipe to metric. Not only is it metric, they measure in mass. Cups and the other units we use are all volume. Each ingredient has it’s own conversion rate. And they sell butter in two different size sticks here. It was a fun exercise in 2nd grade mathematics.

[Edit] Link to Rome photo album:
https://picasaweb.google.com/kaitlyn.hanrahan/20101001Roma#

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Musei Vaticani

Today I finally went to the Vatican Museum. When my mom, Aunt Linda, and I came to Rome four years ago we made our “Vatican” day Sunday. We did this to get our stuff blessed by the pope, not realizing the museum is closed on Sundays and we would miss the Sistine Chapel. I’ve been waiting for a whole free day to see the entire thing; that was today.

I visited for about six hours. I saw everything, from the Sistine Chapel and the Rafael Rooms to the modern art and Vatican stamps rooms. I planned ahead to take my time and spend the day there, so I packed a small lunch. As I was about to leave the cafe, the table next to me needed another chair. I called over to them that I was leaving, and as the girl still standing turned to thank me and take it, I saw it was my friend Med Murray from High School! Then as I looked closer I saw that Cecelia Gondek was also there. The third girl was a friend of Cecelia’s from grad school. We caught up and chatted for a little while. Meg had been working in a recording studio in New York until last February when she moved to LA. Unfortunately they were continuing on to Tuscany the next day, so we couldn’t make other plans, but it was a really nice surprise.

Here’s us in the cafe:

[Edit] Link to Rome photo album:
https://picasaweb.google.com/kaitlyn.hanrahan/20101001Roma#

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Places in Rome

This post is just for me to remember all my favorite places here in Rome.

Vatican Area

Castroni
American Groceries
Few different locations

Panifico Mosca
Via Candia, 16
Pizza to go. Perfect to grab before waiting in Vatican line.
Metro: Ottaviano

Greater Vatican Area / Via Cola di Rienzo

Gelarmony
Via Marcantonio Colonna 34
00192 Rome
Neighborhood: Prati
http://www.gelarmony.it/
Phone: 06 3202395
My favorite gelateria, Sicilian, so you can also get a fabulous cannoli!
Right next to Mondo Arancina
Metro: Lepanto

Mondo Arancina
Via Marcantonio Colonna, 38
00192 Roma
06 9761 9214
mondoarancina.it‎
Delicious fried rice balls. Right next to my favorite gelateria.
Metro: Lepanto

Pantheon Area, all very close

Della Palma
Via della Maddalena, 19/23
Gelateria with lots and lots of flavors

Divino
Via dei Pastini, 112
0669941328
2.50 euro Beers

La Casa Del Caffe’ Tazza D’Oro Dal 1946
Via degli Orfani, 84, Roma
Tel 06.6789792
www.tazzadorocoffeeshop.com
Iced espresso

Gelateria Artigianale Buccianti
Via Guistiniani, 18/A
www.gelatosimplyitalian.com

Misc.

Pompi – il Regno del Tiramisu
Via Calpurnio Fiamma, 67, Roma
Tel 06.768635
King of Tiramisu
Metro: Re di Roma

Gelateria Origini
Via Del Gesu 73/a, angolo via Pie di Marmo, 00186 Roma
Via Degli Olmetti 3-, 00060 Formello, Roma
Tel 06.45473915
All natural gelato

Doctor Look
Via Domenico Tardini, 20 (near Cornelia)
0666144972
Hair stylist

UPDATE July 2011, July 2012

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Kevin and Andrea Visit

Kevin and Andrea (friends from Northeastern) are taking a Mediterranean Cruise that stopped in Rome. So I got a visit from them yesterday. They got in at 10am and had to be back at 4:30, so it was just a short excursion but was great seeing them and we got a lot in the short time.

They came into St. Peters station, Daniele and I met them there. It’s near the Vatican, so we went there first. And since it was Wednesday the Pope was giving his blessing. We chilled out with Ben [http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/index.htm] for a little while and did a loop around the square taking pictures. Then grabbed a little snack of arancini at a place that is only arancini. Yum! Then we went to one of the hills, Gienico, maybe? I can never remember those names. There we could see the whole city. Then we headed into the historical center where we luckily found great parking right away. We had just enough time for quick stops at the Roman Forum, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and some gelato before it was time to bring Kevin and Andrea back and Daniele had to go to work.

I got a lot of great pictures. They should be up today!

[Edit] Link to Rome photo album:
https://picasaweb.google.com/kaitlyn.hanrahan/20101001Roma#

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Visa Issues

Today I had to visit the police in Rome. As procedure, I gave my passport to Filippa to show them as soon as I moved in. At a hotel or hostel they send all the passport numbers everyday. At a private residence, the owner has to bring the physical passport. Only they did not like it and I had to go there in person.

I came to Italy / the EU with a tourism visa. Americans can travel to the EU (and lots of places) with this type of visa very easily. We just get a stamp when we arrive, nothing has to be applied for in advance. In the case of the EU, we can stay for up to three months before we are supposed to return to the US for six months. But keep in mind we only get stamps when we arrive. It is virtually impossible to know when we leave or how long we stayed after the fact. It is extra confusing considering the visa is for the whole EU. Thousands of backpackers travel Europe for years at a time, and no one really knows or cares because they are never in one place very long.

When I came out here I took the cheapest flight possible, a very long flight from SAS that stopped in Stockholm and eventually dropped me in Milan. No, I did not get to see Stockholm. Since I first touched down in Europe in Sweden, that is where my visa is from. I had all but forgotten about this, it seemed so unimportant.

In Italy, if you are staying for more than one week, apparently they want you to have an “Italy” EU visa. I was unaware. I only even ran into this after being in Italy a month. I had never stayed at the same hostel for more than one week. Also, they were hostels, so only my passport number was being sent, the police could not see that my visa was from a country other than Italy.

So at the police station it was not a very big deal, I had not done anything wrong (and I knew it). We went right in, because of course Filippa knew them all. They just needed me to fill out a form, since I am here for more than one week and my EU visa is not from Italy. So why am I so upset? This form that will stay with the Italy police says when I arrived in the EU, and when I plan on leaving, more than my passport says. Now the Italian police know that I have used up my tourism visa until May 23th (six months after I leave). They said I could still go to Spain (for example) or I could come back to Italy with a work or student visa. But I’m bummed that I can’t just drop in to Italy for a visit until May 23rd.

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Out with Filippa

Last night Filippa took me out for gelato near the Pantheon. I mentioned before she knows everyone in the neighborhood. She took me to a bar / restaurant nearby just to introduce me to everyone who works there. She is telling everyone she is friends with my parents. Then while waiting for the bus, she pointed out the Carabinieri. I asked the difference between the Carabinieri and Polizia and she called them over and had them explain, chatted with them until the bus came. Later we passed a police station and she had us go in, chatted up the girl working at the desk, and had her explain the difference again. And model for me the difference in uniform. When we walked out she said to me in Italian, “I’m not exactly normal”. (In case you are curious, the polizia are civilian, and the cababinieri have a military structure.) We got delicious gelati and took cover from some rain in a museum entrance across the street, where she knew the people there as well. Then we went to the Pantheon, which was amazing. The noble families in Italy (or maybe just Rome) still get married there. Rome seems smaller with Filippa.

[Edit] Link to Rome photo album:
https://picasaweb.google.com/kaitlyn.hanrahan/20101001Roma#