Blogpagation: 2008

LARGE POST of amazing Italian adventure part 2: setting: from the beaches of Schilla, Bagnara, Palmi to the countryside of Sant Eufemia D'Aspromonte to the mountain resort of Gambarie to the Miami-like city scapes of Reggio Calabria.

The next seven days is now a three-some as my Vancouver born , fellow Amsterdamer friend Ching-Yin Foo joins us for our Italian and Canadian adventures. The first day, Domenico takes us back into the capital city of Reggio Calabria, located on the boot toe of Italy, across from the island of Sicily. It is situated at the base of the Aspromonte to take us for a tour and explore the sites - pointing out each of the important buildings - this guy really knows his stuff since Domi was elected to take on the responsibility of promoting foreign investment in the area.

The main attraction though was The National Museum of Greater Greece, housing the two famous Bronze di Riace statues. The museum was quite extensive and floor after floor with local architectural grecian findings.

No pictures allowed! but the asianess takes over and I tell CY to pose for a quick shot! yea.

From wiki: During the Roman Empire it was called Rhegium Julium as a noble Roman city. Later Reggio di Calabria became a Byzantine city, and in the 12th century, it became part of the Kingdom of Sicily, and then in the 13th century, it became part of the Kingdom of Naples.

Reggio Calabria is known as the location of the first dated Hebrew book, a Rashi commentary on the Pentateuch, printed in 1475; ^[1] however, scholars consider Rome as the city where Hebrew printing began.

For Reggio di Calabria, the worst earthquakes came in 1783 and on December 28, 1908. The latter quake was the most devastating. Some 80 percent of all buildings in Reggio collapsed and many thousands were killed. Damage was even worse in Messina across the straits. That quake remains the worst on record in modern western European history. It took Reggio a generation to fully recover.

later on we met up with Diego and his brother Antonio who were in the city. We joined the guys for a quick drink and local appies / snacks and then after an hour later were off on their own to do some business.
the Fiat 500, what was then a new model.

mmmm.. Gawd... it would be tragedy to not have the daily Granita with a brioche (pastry). This is gooooooooood stuff!

we stroll along the seaside to take in the windy, sunny and hot weather.

RTL, a national radio station speically chose Regio Calabria as a promotion and broadcasting from the city with lots of festivities following. It is a very good radio station to get an idea was is currently popular in italy.

this place I just wanted to take a pic on their deck, but when we asked, the owner unfortunately was not as warm to the idea... darn missed the shot.. but maybe next time!

After a tiring day, we headed back to the house in Sant Eufemia D'Aspromonte, packed up our stuff , loaded it up in the car and then UP the mountain to Gambarie we went to stay in ... Domenico's family's cabin... yes these Italians are baller.

The drive up the mountain was insane as the lane was enough for 1.5 cars. Everytime cars pass each other.. there's some system for one car to yield to the next.. I believe the people going uphill yield to those guys going down.. buses and trucks are a little more tricky though.

Stepping out into the mountain air was quite the difference from teh seaside... and it definitely reminded me of the air we have back at home in Calgary.

The cabin was NICE with four levels : Kitchen on the first, living on teh second, bedrooms on the third and bedroom and attic on the top - four beds all together. It felt like something in a movie and the whole place was just so cozy... totally something I did not expect on my litle Italian trip - this dude really know's how to impress.

Rocco's homemade red vino!

plenty of meats and fresco pasta sauce in Pina's kitchen.

once settled in, we finnaly chill out after a day of movin' and watch the Da Vinci Code! Man satellite as well.

Every morning, the sun wakes me up and Domenico's mom is already hardcore at work cleaning the house like mad. I go for a run to explore the forest area and take in the paths.
Later in the day, once the rest of teh crew wakes up, we head back down the mountain to Saint'Eufemia Aspromonte and back to bagnara (where the fashion show was) but this time we pay a visit to the beaches on this 35 some degree day.

We arrive and find Domenico's Aunt (zia) has already set up camp with her children Yolanda, Giuseppe and visiting niece Franchesca (from venezia). Giuseppe was fishin out a storm with his buddy and sister as by the time we got there there was already six catches in their little bucket.

CY later dives into the crystal blue-green waters... she later learns there are real fish swimming around her.. which apparently grosses her out.

CY passes out here and there.

for lunch, Domi and I walk to a local bakery flooded with lots of other locals buying their lunch. Domenico eyes a few slices of pizza and also purchases a local snack called the arancino: They are fried or, less commonly, baked rice balls, having a diameter of 8-10 cm, filled usually with ragù (meat sauce), but also with tomato sauce, mozzarella, peas, and other things. On the outside they are simply breadcrumbs.

unfortunately CY and I could only take one slice and a bit of the arancini as it was a little hard to eat something so hot in already scorching 36 degree heat - but the lunch was generously treated by Domi and only wanted us to taste the delicious local specialties , but bit by bit we ate as muhc as we could before the itis took over!

and like many European beaches, Domi insisted on taking a five minute video of this gorgeous girl taking a cool down in the local doccia . even CY thought she had a great body - and she did! those italians... so dirty - but so true haha!

the umbrella was my only refuge from the cancer-inducing sun. Yes I have become that age already - omg I have become my mother.

After many hours on Bagnara's beach, we were about to head as the heat was starting to get too intense for even the three of us by midday. We headed up to the local Torre (tower) and took in more sites of the city and and the amazing views.

After Bagnara - we headed back to the countryside in Sant Efumia where we saw many more of hte cougini as well as nonno and nonna (grandpa and grandma) - you couldn't have gotten anymore home-movie like than this! My goodness they were some of the cutest Italian grandparents I have ever come across.

Nonna's impressive giardino.

the blue table actually reminded me that they were teaching us a card game - darn it I forgot the name already but CY and I were getting our asses kicked by the little ones and the grandparents.

head of the clan. Domenico tried to get me to call him "padrino" (i think) haha.
Afterwards, we went to pick up Valentina from Palmi and then headed back up into the Gambarie to have another GREAT italian dinner. Domi's mom also knows how to impress. Seriously - I think all southern-italian women know how to cook very well - no wonder all of the men look so well fed ;P

mmm - eggplant.

after stuffing ourselves with dinner - Rocco insisted we try dipping the fruit into wine and then eating it. like instant sangria haha.

After the dinner, we chilled out again in front of the TV to another movie and remember passing out about half -way (as usual haha).

Now I can't remember what we did the next day (i'm sure I got the order of the pictures wrong) but there was lots of chillin as I would go for a run every morning, and then hit the italian lessons that I printed for myself. After going through the first tutorial and referencing off of my french I was able to form broken sentences in Italian.

Later that evening, we all got ready for a dinner back at the country-side as Francesca's family was in town (from Venezia/Treviso) thus the entire family was here (I think).

stop on the way down form the mountain to get so shots at dusk.

domenico's zio owned a bakery that basically supplied the small city with it's baked goods - it was a hardcore setup connected to the house - beside it was the accounting office of his parents. talk about minimal comute - you literally roll out of bed and at work!

Giuseppe (pico) was firing some BB shots at a target posted on a tree and insisted CY and I try it out. His uncle was giving us lessons on how to properly fire the weapon - haha that's right mom. Sign me up for the next mafia!

I sorta hit the black parts.

Rocco and Pina.

Now for me - THIS was the MOST memorable experience. It was a little dream of mine to experience an outdoor Italian dinner with an italian family. I don't know why - maybe blame all of that media (like the McCain commercials) but I also imagined it to be at a long table with loud Italian conversations going on and food being passed everywhere. Thanks Domi for unintentionally fulfilling this little dream of mine! An experience I could never forget.

I love how the Italians embrace the bbq stylz of cookin.

lots of fresh food to go around. there's nonno at the head of the table (of course)

Rita's and Mario's padre, and this was one funny dude. The whole time he insisted on communicating with me / in Italian of course, which I loved but had trouble following along unless he used super simple words and talked really slow. I think he embarassed the hell out of Rita - which was even more fun!

they of course broke out the gelatini. bite-sized gelato in a rainbow of flavours.
The night ended too well by trying to take in the whole experience.

After many hours we headed back to the house and off to bed. I was usually last to go as I would stay up readin up on more Italian until I got tired and dragged myself back up into the attic.

We learn that there was a special festival going on in Gambarie, as they were also unveiling the opening of a renovated center square with a complete redone waterfall/fountain art piece.

at the break of the day, Domi took us to the local Dam which was about a 30-40 minute drive. I think he mentioned it was the largest dam in southern italy? (blast my horrid memory!)

We then drove a little further and hit one of the well known hiking trails in the area to a cascate (waterfall). Now this was my kind of vacation! plenty of nature, sun and activity! CY and I were all about it! Valentina not so much when it got too naturey...

domi figuring out the path.

trail markers.

weird pea/seed looking things from the trees.

gorgrous day for a hike - I swear there was yet to be a day without sunshine.

mountain and valley views. A little after this, Valentina was gettin a little tired and irritate and insisted they head back. So Domi accompanied her back while CY and I were destined to see the waterfall.

water fall with 10x zoom! I think it would have taken another 2 hours to wind down the perilous mountain to get to it. yes it was a little anti-climatic.

some boulders at the edge of the cliff for some pristine yoga shots. look at that skinny asian!

hike back to tree lined trails.

wild cows?! nope, there was a farm nearby.. on the mountain! Omg is right CY!

some more prestine yoga ops in the creeks. good thing CY well asian-experienced with the camera.

when we were back in Gambarie, we headed back into the ski town and took the chair lift (albeit the slow sloooow chair lift - but we made last chair!) to take in more breathless mountain views. Yes Domi did know how to spoil his guests haha.

After a full day of activities, we headed to the local grocer shop to pic up come sandwiches and also some gifts for our friends and family back at home. We brought back some Calabrian specialties.

via..gro? perperoncino - one of my favourite words.

all the produce in here looked so good... but was getting pricey.. I think I spent about 75 euros here and my baggage was already full enough!

After lunch, Domi and Valentina took a little siesta while CY and I headed out to check out the new centre square and fountain and decided to people watch at a bench in the middle of the place. All eyes were on us.. what are those asians doing!? haha. man i thikn we sat there for like 1.5 hours.

oohh.. the fancy new fountain.

another amazing cena prepared by pina. Oh those egg thingys.. damn they were good. this time it was local beefsteak and sausages.

Our last days in Calabria, I remember taking these shots as Sunday was a big market day as all the vendors (more so than usual) come out to sell fresh produce and almost any simple good imaginable. darn I whould ahve boughten some of those italian football jerseys... but couldn't bargain the guy down. at least CY got a good deal on some nice lookin' sunglasses!

my favourite "tree" in the middle of a field on teh drive between Gambarie and Sant Eufemia.

back at Sant Eufemia with our luggage. this was a cool shot when the household was getting a fresh delivery of firewood. now you don't see that everyday!

The next day we went to Valentina's city of Palmi to check out the local beach. One last time to take in the prestine blue waters and the Italian seaside before the fantasy was over.

haha this is what we all look like after doing a whole lotta nothing for many hours. the heat was taking its toll on us canadians.

parents were very cute and treated us to lunch... yes Italians are super generous - we tried to do the asian sneakiness of paying for the bill but they are too fast - yes I let my people down.

Last day and last meal with the family out in the sunny backyard of the Rositano house. Domi's sister's friend was also visiting from Treviso (Christina) and her vacation was just beginning as ours was ending.

Haha I remember one time, we went to grab a granita/cafe and one of the local 'bar' (or cafe) and CY and I met some people who we learned was a dude that was head of the mafia or something a rather... I just remember gettin really excited and we were both like damn which we had our camera... then again maybe not.

also went to see a very famous landmark where Giuseppe Garibaldi, landed here with 3,000 volunteers in his march towards Rome, was defeated and captured in the Battle of Aspromonte. from wiki: Garibaldi is considered an Italian national hero as he personally led many of the military campaigns that brought about the formation of a unified Italy. He has been dubbed the "Hero of the Two Worlds" in tribute to his military expeditions in South America and Europe.

the entire Rositano family came with us to Reggio Calabria and we sat together and had one last Granita with them. After spending ten intimate days with Domi's family, they really opened up their arms to us and it's an experience I WILL NEVER forget. It has been engrained into my brain with fantastic memories and experiences I know I will find myself back in Calabria hopefully in the near future. Rocco, Pina, Domi, Sissi and the rest of the family really reminded me of the similarities between their family and my own and it was definitely something that was much needed after being away from home for 8 months. GRAZIE MILLE Domi e Famiglia Rositano - Ching-Yin and I cannot express our gratitude to you all with this amazing experience

right before taking us back into town, Domenico takes us for a tour around the city/town of Sant Eufemia and runs into an old school friend and catches up for a little bit.

After some goodbyes to Sissi, Rocco, Pina and Christina, Domi escorts us to the airport. When we arrive, we learn that the plane was an hour late getting here from Milan... no problem.. I palnned for up to a 2 hour delay to catch our connection to Amsterdam in Milan... that is until the delay was almost three hours delayed...

here is CY, not impressed with the tardiness of Italian transportation (haha what they are famous for too!) We both wish we got flight insurance (I thought my travel insurance covered this but when I called.. nope)...

nevertheless the plane makes it AND in my mind kept calculating over and over but the times were just too pressed and we would have missed our connection for sure... it would have been expensive to fly back to amsterdam if we missed it - I remember that day CY messaged Dennis for me to tell work I wasn't going to make it in for work the next day.

BUT..... LUCKILY our connection was ALSO 1.5 hours - 2 hours DELAYED (i think the flight actually left at 23:30)... omg I remember thinking "there is a god!" man were we lucky.

CY impressed that the stars were in our favour. haha I remember how we devised a plan after getting off the bus that transported us to the terminal. CY was going to go the agent with a sob story if need be to allow us to check in VERY LATE (usually it's a 45 min cut off) while I elbow my way to get our checked luggage. I remember every minute felt like an hour as it took them sooooooo long to get our luggage out (I think it was actually 15 minutes.. which was time we didn't really have). I remember almost hittin some little girl in teh head when I finally spotted CY suitcase. Once I was out the doors into the main hallways.. CY was waiting right around the corner going "HURRY UP!!!! I found someone to let us check in late but we have to hurry ... so just imagine TWO Asian Canadians SPRINTING down the hallways with our rolleys in the airport as Italians were jumping out of the way to let us through. Thank goodness the super nice (and cute) italian counterperson got us through despite us checking in an hour after the cutoff time. Oh mio Dio.

We make it on our Transavia flight!! And it was an odd sensation to hear Dutch again.. right there and then was when it hit me that our little Italian adventure was over.

Here I post CY's note, a summary of our adventures that she put up on Facebook;

"Calabria - An alphabetical guide in chronological order

8:27am Thursday, Aug 30, 2007

*Much thanks to Carlson, who let me tag along on his invitation from Domenico. And of course, much gratitude to Domenico's family for taking such good care of their Canadian visitors. It was far and beyond anything I could have expected*

Vacation– (n) A period of time in which one does nothing whatsoever.

Reinforcements – (n) Restocking of supplies which almost made it into the luggage.
Deodorant: 4 Euros, sunscreen: 14 Euros.

Hot – (adj) All-enveloping oven of warmth; standard unit of Calabrian temperature. Ie: it is hot as hell; it is unbelievably hot; I think the hot has fried my brain. Accounts for siesta

Siesta – (n) Mandatory 20 minute nap after lunch

O Mio Dio – (adj) The most succinct description of Calabria. Usually enunciated in slow, awed tone. Applies to all parts of the following: the food, the weather, the salt content of the surrounding seas. Particularly applicable to: summer tomatoes.

Summer tomatoes – (n) tomatoes with zing, attributed by locals to natural sunlight exposure.
They taste so damn good, yes yes.

Internet – (n) notable only when used in question: Dove posse usare l’internet?

Niente – (n) Ni-en-teh Nothing. Usually indicated and accompanied by hand splaying motion in front of chest area, usually with a downward turned palm. Interchangeable with non capito.

Non Capito – (v) Expression of non-understanding. Sufficient indication with blank stare.

Lentemente – (adj) Slow; Slower. As in Ching-Yin, you speak English too fast. Lentemente, please. Usually accompanied by downward motioning of hand. Also applicable to walking pace.

Cantonese – (n) non native dialect of Calabria. Allows for discussion of otherwise sensitive topics, such as How do we pay?; Is this normal?; If she feeds me anymore, I am going to die

Rapido – Opposite of lentemente. Applicable to eating pace

Perverse – (n) Pervert. Ie: Domi spent a whole day documenting the activities of a gorgeous topless sunbather. Peverse!

Putana – (n) Bitch

Bastardo – (n) Bastard. Female form: Bastarda

Travel Insurance – (n) Necessary piece of travel package when traversing through Italy. Mitigates missed flight connections caused by flight delays. Much more civilised than begging at a check-in counter.

Peeling – (v) The effect of not waiting long enough after sunscreen application to hit the water. General duration: 1 week, followed by enormous sense of relief. Ie: Thank god i'm done peeling!"

by the time we landed back at Schipol it was about 1:30 am and when back in the city it was 2ish... the trains were only running one an hour so CY went baller stylz and got a taxi back to the centre. her treat! man wa sI spoiled.. I was def going to wait for a train.

THANKS CY! wouldn't have had as much fun without a fellow Canuk to balance it out!

Ciao a Tutti!

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Anniversary

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Damn it - not again!

Monday, April 14, 2008

Aside from a great w/e back in c-town...

Friday, April 04, 2008

Oh Edmonton.... you WOULD drag the Canucks down with you.

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Sorry Edmonton but this ain't no April fools :D

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Monday, March 03, 2008

Calabria, Part Due (Augusto 2007)

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