Week 10: Rovescala

Sunday:

Took the train as usual to church. Some kind of attention warning was given out not sure what was said fingers crossed it wasn't too important! The two sister missionaries were leaving as they had finished their missions so new ones next week, they got me to add them on Facebook so we can keep in touch. 

We had a barbecue lunch and after we went to see a castle and medieval village. Which as it turns out wasn't medieval but built by a duke in the 18th century it is very nice though. 

Drove back and had an early night.

Monday:

In the morning Alessandra and Stefano had to go to Milan for work so I stayed back with the kids. What a fun morning that was. Refusing to do homework, fighting with each other. Fede wanted to start with summarising chapter 2 not chapter 1 in his excercise book. All in all I was glad when their parents returned. 

Tuesday:

Rainy and cold so spent a lot of the day inside eating and watching movies. 

Wednesday:

In the morning me and Fede played spies which involved turning the sofa and table into a tent/prison and me getting shot at a lot and killed. After lunch me and Bea went on a bike ride and picked up Alice and Sofia then we all rode in the pick up up to the motorcross pitch to see Fede ride. 

Thursday:

In the morning we went to look around Pavia. It is a little bigger than Piacenza but still quite small. At least it stayed sunny. In the afternoon the girls came round again and we went on a bike ride around Scazzolino together. Then when we came back we walked into Rovescala to take ice creams. A tiring but fun day! 

Friday:

In the morning I tidied and hoovered up my room. Fede and Bea argued for a lot of it. Tried to coax them into English no success. Sofia and Alice came over to play but left quite soon as their aunt was coming to take them to Pavia to see a butterfly exhibition yuck! After lunch Fede and Bea wanted to go on a bike ride but I said not until they had both done some English. Fede started and then refused to finish so in the end only me and Bea went. After that Bea went horse riding and Alessandra dropped me off at McDonald's where I could use the wifi to google my family and Jemima was there so I got to speak to her too! 

Rovescala has a festival this weekend which I had forgot about until I went to bed and I could hear the singing. Tough nights sleep. 

Saturday:

Pretty much spent the day on no sleep. After not being able to drop off until the band stopped singing I was awoken again by thundering rain at 4 in the morning. Scared of water coming in under the balcolny door I picked up everything attached to the floor of mine - shoes and suitcases - and put them on the other side of the bed to be safe. Luckily it stopped after a bit and I managed to get some more sleep. Today was another weird day yet again noone wants to do any English so I am bored. Can't go out because it's cold and wet. The only exciting thing is the bicycle race going past. 

This afternoon the showers drain decided to stop working and it up chucked water all over the bathroom floor. Alessandra after mopping it poured some acid chemical thing down it to dissolve whatever was blocking it and it smelt horrible it really made you feel sick. 

In the evening we went down to Rovescala again for the festival. They had a live band...with an accordion. Let us now say I hate that instrument with a passion! One song MAY sound good played on it but a whole nights worth was awful. Still it was a fun night free food and music and it didn't rain. 

Day 27: Stormy

This morning the weather was glorious. The sun was so warm and it was a beautiful clear sky. However by lunch time the weather soon adjusted to that prescribed by the weather forecast. Storms and rain.

The thunder is so loud sometimes that you jump when you hear it because the contrast between that and the silence is scary. The lightning is also blindingly bright even with the sun to compare it too. Also the rain is cold and heavy and miserable. 

This morning when we took Bea to her horse riding lesson I had a lesson too. The horse I rode was called Anastasia she is actually a pony and the starter horse they use for people who are new to the school. I haven't ridden a horse for so long. I had to brush her down and the her saddle was put on and I walked her into the covered arena. I remembered how to and managed to mount her first time. Left foot in the stirrup, grip the front if the saddle and swing across. Walking I had I problem with, trotting proved a little more difficult. I sort of remembered how to do it but it was a struggle. So many things to remember. Shorten the reins, sit far forward on the saddle, arms centred together and out and heels down. Then propel yourself up and down in time with the horse using your legs. My legs are so sore. So actually is my butt I didn't completely succeed in the up down movement which resulted in a lot of clashing between me and the horse. Namely me bouncing up and down all over the place. I'm so out of practice. However when I began counting one-two one-two under my breath it became easier to do and I think I had a pretty good session considering I haven't had a lesson for several years! Being on a horse is so much fun. I'm having another lesson next week and hopefully for the continuation of my stay. Fingers crossed I will be able to trot confidently and perhaps gallop by the end! 

Shortly after we got back it stared to storm. Whilst riding the weather had den very fair and pleasant. We waited for Fede and Stefano to come back from the mechanics where they had gone to pick up Fede's motorbike and then had dinner. For dinner part of it was melon (the small orange one) in slices with pig meat called copa. It actually went very nicely together I was surprised. 

After dinner, we looked at photos on their laptop of different holidays throughout their childhood. Then watched TV. As the weather is so bad we can't go out. 

We all napped in the afternoon. I was so tired. After that the weather seemed to improve, so we drove into Santa Maria della Versa to pick up so bits. On the way back I got to drive! I thought it would be hard wth everything flipped over but it was fine I only struggled in the way of hitting the windscreen wipers when I needed the indicators. It was so nice to drive again!! 

When we got back, me Fede Bea and Stefano went on a walk as it was not raining whilst Alessadra stayed to prepare the pizza for tea. 

Before tea me and Bea went through horse riding terms in English and Italian. I had to look a few up because I couldn't remember them. 

Then pizza and fanta for tea! I've lost count of the amount of pizza I've had while being here but it is wonderful stuff. 

Bea and Stefano watch another horror movie on TV so I escaped the room while I wait for dinner. 

After dinner we watched a thriller on TV. It was a little confusing but I liked it. Then we watched the football match. 

Buonanotte. 

Day 10: Buses, Trains and Trams

Last night it was throwing it down with rain and this morning it still was. It was so heavy and thick it was like a wall. We had planned to explore Milan in the morning but it was too wet and thundery and lightningy so it wasn't very safe.

Instead we spent the morning inside. I plaed chess with Fede and read English books with both Fede and Bea to help with their pronunciation. I taught Fede how to tell the time in English and quizzed him on it throughout the day also. 

After lunch it had brightnened up, we went to tutor Elga's boys but only Alessandro today. After the tutoring we went into the centre of Milan to sight see. 

We took a bus to San Androgomo which is a Romanesque style church from the 900's. Parts of it are much newer though. They expanded it during the renaissance and their are baroque side chapels and tombs in other styles.

You can use the tickets for bus, train and tram. When you get on transport your ticket is dated and timed by a machine and it is valid for use an hour and a half after your first use. 

San Androgomo

I couldn't decide if this ceiling was painted or stone worked?

Mosaic behind the altar

Medieval fresco

In the church you could go down into the crypt. They have the skeletons of three saints buried there it was a little freaky they were in a glass coffin so you could see all their bones. 

After the church Alessandra took us to the university she studied law it, it was opposite. Also nearby was the Milano monument for the dead unknown soldiers of World War II there are about 5 thousand soldiers buried in it.

We arrived there too late because sometimes it is open and you can go in and look round it.

After that we walked into the centre of Milan. They have a huge shopping centre full of extremely posh shops. I saw Louis Vuitton, Versace, Cartier, Prada etc. they also have Abercrombie and Fitch and more high street shops like H and M. 

The buildings of the shopping centre were very big and beautiful. There were frescoes above the shops and huge mosaic floors. 

Glass roof and a fresco

The crest of Milan as a mosaic on the floor.

After looking at the shops we went to see the remains of a Roman Imperial Palace that was once here. The diagrams show it to be huge but all that is left is pretty much rubble. 

Also, like at the castle we visited last week there were lots of the protected cats around enjoying the sun.

We went into a bookshop to pick up something for Bea to read. They had an English section! After much deliberation I chose to get the Book Thief over the Fault in our Stars. It promises to be a good read! My first purchase in Milan. 

After the bookshop they took me to see a famous theatre and opera house called the Scala. It's well known for it's ballets and orchestra but it has been clasped for two years or so for renovations to the inside. Opposite the Scala there was a statue of Leonardo da Vinci who helped design and build it. 

Leo

The Scala. 

In the evening lots of Mosquitos come out, so they put out boxes with candles I to keep them away they also look very pretty. 

Buonanotte

Day 9: Quello = Kwello not kello

Curse my Spanish lessons! I get it totally mixed up with Italian!

Today in the morning again I went over the Elga's house to tutor her sons Alessandro and Francesco. Today we focused on reading aloud and pronuncing words correctly. We worked on reading the questions and exercises aloud and also pointing at various objects and labeing them. We also looked at telling the time, parts of the body and how to introduce yourself in English.

After that we came home and had lunch, after which Alessandra had appointments  so me and Federico played chess again. I'm so out of practice he beats me every time! After chess finished we practiced reading aloud. Fede read from an English copy of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, we read about six pages and made a list of all the words he struggled on to practice and attempt again tomorrow. After that I read aloud from Fede's Italian book. My promouciation is so bad! It doesn't help that the alphabet is pronounced differently and has letters missing!

The Italian Alphabet is: ah, bee, chee, dee, ay, ayffay, jee, ahkkah, ee, jay, ayllay, aymmay, aynnay, oh, pee, koo, ayrray, ayssay, tee, oo, vee, tzaytah (a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, I, j, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, z). This one word in particular 'quello' I keep pronouncing as 'kello' but it should be 'kwello'. My Spanish education makes it harder because the words are so similar but not the same. 

After reading we all went on the wii Mario tennis, then Beatrice did her piano practice and Fede practiced his guitar. When they had finished we watched a movie - Guillaver's Travels - in Italian with English subtitles so they could compare languages and see the English spellings. 

There seems to be a lot of summer storms in Milan. It is sunny one minute and then the next it is throwing if down with rain! But by morning it is as if it never rained. The thunder is very loud and the lightning very bright too. 

The sky

Can't really see the rain but the view from the balcolny 

For tea we had fish. Fede can't stand fish the taste or the smell so he has to eat in a separate room to the rest of us. 

I started re-reading Jamaica Inn again. After reading Rebecca I didn't particularly like Daphne du Maurier, but Jamiaca Inn is incredible! Why do we always have a soft spot for the 'bad' guys in literature? Jem Merlyn may be a horse thief but like Mary Yellan does you feel a strange attraction to Jem.

The attraction to Jem is probably helped by the fact that he's played by a rather good looking actor in the BBC version with a rather sweet accent. 

Ciao