September 22nd-29th

Another week gone by, and more memories made. This last week was relatively uneventful at school. I wen to class as usual and made it through all of the lessons alive. It is a little rough at times with the two I have in classes in Spanish, but luckily those two teachers are the best ones I have. I find that I am really most excited to go to those because not only are the teachers good, but because the classes are in Spanish it forces me to really learn and interact with my classmates during group wok in Spanish! Next week I have a couple of exams, and this week I have to turn in some practical work...shouldn't´t be to hard but the work is starting to pick up.

Don´t let this fool you, I am definitely still having a blast! This last weekend I had an action packed trip to Italy. I went to Bergamo which is a city in the north about 45 minutes from Milano. Why Bergamo right? Well, while in Portugal I met some cousins of my direct cousins that live there, and they had invited me to come to their house and spend some time. Needless to say we had a ball. I arrived Saturday evening (I know what you are thinking...Saturday night, why the heck would you arrive Saturday night. Well maybe I screwed up the ticket purchase, off by one day in each direction, arrival one day after I wanted and departure the same...so be it, I knew it would be a blast either way, and the bonus was that they hadn´t started school yet.) Sebastian picked me up from the airport and we arrived home to his brother Martin working hard on some appetizers and cocktails! They had invited a few friends over and we all sat around chatting. I was surprised at how much Italian I actually picked up on...not as hard as I thought. After appetizers it was time to go out on the town to check out the night life! We went to a couple of local bars, and then to a party thrown by one of their friends. It was pretty cool, the party was out doors and up in the forested area above the city. We parked on some lonely road and hiked about 10 or 15 minutes up the side of the mountain until we finally arrived. It was really cool getting to spend the night as the locals do, and see how it was.

The next day we decided to go to Milano. Martin stayed home because he was studying for an exam so it was just Sebastian and I that went. While there, he showed me the more important sites of Milan. We went to a castle in the middle of the city which was the castle of the first wealthy family in Milan. It was quite spectacular. After touring around the grounds, we walked across part of the city to the main Cathedral. It was breathtaking. A beautiful piazza with a huge cathedral with extremely intricate architecture. I just imagine the people working the stone and the number of man hours it would take to build such a structure. We were there on Sunday so Mass was being held, we watched briefly but from a distant. I was surprised that the Church wasn´t very full, but I am sure it would be a nightmare trying to find a seat during the holidays. The last real touristy thing we did in Milano was go to a little place with a cup shaped whole n the ground. Apparently if you spin around three times with your heal in it it will bring you good luck. It was not clear to me which way I was supposed to turn, and people were turning all sorts of directions and times, so I just hope that I did it correctly!!!

After the action packed half day in Milano, Sebastian and I went to Città Alta. The old city above Bergamo. It is absolutely spectacular. An ancient city with four main doors in the outer walls, one to Milano, one to Venezia, one to Switzerland, and hmmm one to (I don´t recall). In Città Alta we walked around the exterior of the city, or most of it, and toured the two Churches in the central piazza. One of the Churches was where Papa Giovanni XXIII body was up until 2000. There was a nice sculpture and memorial display there. We also toured the fort at the highest point of Città Alta that protected it in early times. All in all, it was beautiful and wrapped up a great day.

That night we were wiped out, stayed in cooked and watched a movie. MMMM FOOD! Martin is quite the cook, I learned how to make a few different dishes this weekend that I didn´t know how to before. Sunday night, he made us an octopus risotto that was extremely good. It´s probably because John makes a mean Risotto that I never tried, simply because I was scared to not make it as well as he does! Lame right, not any more, Risotto cook off when I get home!!! Another thing in the food category now that I am thinking of it. I am not sure if it was mental or really that much better, but we ate a mean Parmesan cheese from the local market, mmm mmm Good.

On Monday Sebastian and I were off again as Martin studied, Exam was today Tuesday, so Monday was the last day for him to cram! Anyways, Sebastian and I went to Lago di Como. The lake is absolutely huge and sits in the pre Alps just due North of Milano. The drive to get there was beautiful, through the country side and through some small towns. We dropped down into the valley where the lake sits and were thinking of what to do. Sebastian had only been there once or twice before and not for years, and I had not done any homework so we were just flying by the seat of the pants...not quite sure if we missed anything really special there, but we had a great time. We walked along the shore of the lake for a while and took in the sights from a far. The only ting that really stood out to go see was the main church in the center. After looking at the lake and the surrounding cities on the hills from a distance we made our way to the cathedral. A very pretty Cathedral with what appeared to be a couple of cooper or brass domes, at least that is what I would guess due to the color of the oxidation? I am not expert though. After walking all around the labyrinth of small streets looking to the sky to try to find it without a map, we made it! Again, unbelievable architecture and detail...how did these people have so much time on their hands?

Kind of an aside, I think to my self, why is it that I am so blown away by the churches and buildings and old cities? It is such common place for everyone here, yet at every new sight I am peering through my camera taking pictures in awe. I feel as though I should be going through these cities in a carriage, or on a horse. It is as if I am living in the past. Old people sit and watch the world go by, time goes by slower, things are calmer...Very different from back home...

Back to Lago di Como, while we were about to leave, we saw some train tracks heading straight up the side of the mountain to a small little town probably a thousand feet or so above the city of Como. It looked pretty cool, and had to be an amazing view from the top so we went to check it out. the ride up was awesome, extremely steep, and the sights from the top were amazing, pictures can´t do it justice. There were a few hundred unbelievable houses at the top, most of them quite old and on large pieces of land, they must have been vacation homes. There was not much more than the homes, and a couple of little tourist bars. We wandered around, and looked over the lake at a few different vista points. We even saw a float plane take off from the lake (pretty cool, I had never seen that before!)After making our way back to Como, we made the trip back home to Bergamo. Once again, Martin cooked a wonderful dinner of Penne and red cabbage with a Gorgonzola cream sauce. I am not usually crazy about Gorgonzola, but didn´t have the guts to tell him so I gave it a good shot and really actually enjoyed it, even surprised myself!

Well that's all or now folks.

Pictures to come later this week, before Thursday that is, as in TOMORROW! Thursday another adventure will begin, 4 friends and I are off to Munich for Oktoberfest!

Hope everyone is well.

Much Love from the library in Getafe!

Phil