Bologna the Learned, Bologna the Fat

I am currently sitting alone, on a double bed in bedroom with two large wardrobes, a desk and a tv cabinet. I would like the emphasis the fact that I am on a double bed because this is the first time in 3 months that I haven't been in a slept in a piece of furniture designed for someone the size of a 12 year olds or in bunk beds. Also, there is enough space in the room for me to actually put my bag on the floor and walk around at the same time, oh my god. 

Hahah okay so FYI, I am in a lesser known town in the north of Italy called Bologna. Bologna is like an intermediate between a big city like Milan and  quiet little village like Modena. That said, there is so much culture, history, art and cuisine to soak up in Bologna that I am surprised it is not infiltrated with tourists !

Fontana di Nettuno (aka Neptune's Fountain)

I had been highly recommended to come to Bologna by my Portugese friend, Sofia, due to it's large population of young people. Bologna is home to the biggest university in the northern hemisphere and is also considered the very first university after being founded in 1088. It is ranked as one of the most liveable cities in Italy due to it's mix of old and new. It is famous for not only it's rich, religious and architectural history but also for it's food, most noteably the invention of quite possible the greatest pasta dish of all kind - spaghetti bolognese.







I arrived in Bologna yesterday afternoon and immeadiately got myself lost in the city. Now you know how when people say "they got themselves lost" in Italy, everyone goes "awww" or "wow" because it sounds so romantic, idyllic or adventurous? Yeah well no, not for me. I quite literally got myself lost in the city of Bologna minutes after stepping off the train. I walked around for about three hours with that godforesaken backpack on, walking up and down streets that all had names which sounded like they belonged to the long lost brothers of Mario and Luigi.

FINALLYYYY, I got to my accommodation which is a little B&B just outside the city centre and my house host quite amused told me I looked a tired hippie flight attendent with all my bags.

dancing life sized puppets?

After regaining some mental and physical strength, I ventured back out to the main part of the town. It just so happens that it is "Celebration of Liberal Arts" week in Bologna, so the whole town square was closed off to traffic and there was heaps of market stalls and street performers. The smell of the Italian food mingled with the sound of festive music and children laughing really made the whole place feel so alive and joyful !









Today, I was quite unfortunately reminded that everything is closed on a Sunday, so the city was fairly quiet. However, that gave me a good opportunity to go see some of the main historical attractions of Bologna! I went to Basilica of San Domenico, which has a marble shrine to this saint decorated with statues by the likes of Michelangelo. I visited the Basilica of San Stefano which is a collection of four of the remaining seven churches where 'Pontius Pilate used the basin in the courtyard to wash his hands after condeming Christ to death'. I visited the Basilica di San Petronio, which I had no idea why it was famous so I decided to sneakily jump onto the end of an English speaking tour group and soon learnt that it was  dedicated the to the city's patron saint and housed the largest sundial in the world.

I am astonished at the amount of churches there are in Italy and the pure dedication, effort and talent that has gone into building them. Everytime I walk into a church I am left breathless by the amount of detail that is in these buildings in honour of religious figures. Being someone who has never had or learnt about any partciular religion in depth, I find these 'offerings' quite astounding. Each time I walk into a church there are people on their knees praying to alters and I find their blind faith so beautiful. I went to an evening service yesterday afternoon and the quiet refletion and peacefulness that takes place when the choir sing is so serene.

view from the top of the tower :)

I also climbed the 498 steps of the Tower of Asinelli, which gave me a panoramic view of the city of Bologna with it's terracotta roofs and massive Piazza Maggiore.

taking a well deserved break

I swear to god, by the end of this holiday I will have thighs which rival Arnold Schwarzenegger and buns of steel from all the towers and staircases I have been climbing !

Asinelli is the right in the middle- one of the tallest in Italy!

There are actually many towers built in Bologna  and the Asinelli Tower is the tallest of them all. It's 'partner' is Garisenda Tower which is a leaning tower (just like in Pisa!), except it is much much taller !

Bon apetite!

To finish my day, I indulged in the national past time of Europe- people watching. After enjoying myself a delicious bowl of the town's famous spaghetti bolognese (mouth watering-ly good !) , I sat on the steps of the Piazza Maggiore and watched the world go by as I enjoyed a yummy nutella and mango gelati

The city of beautiful people

Bongiorno ! (that is about as far as the extent of my grasp on the language reaches)

A slight delay in posting, due to me saying farwell to Switzerland and starting my backpacking trip though Italy !

The hardest part was saying goodbye to my Mum :(

I left Geneva early on Friday morning, after spending a good four hours trying to stuff six weeks worth of outfits into one 7kg bag. I took the train from Switzerland to Italy, where in no time at all, it speed through a plethora of amazing snow capped mountain and lush green hills and arrived in the city of Milan.



Now, I don't want to be all negative and say I hated Milan as soon as I got there... but I kind of did. It was dirty. Really, really dirty. Pulling into the main train station all you could see was grafitti and litter, tents set up for gypsies to live in and beggars roaming the streets with their cheap braclets and toys.
I just couldn't imagine someone like Victoria Beckam actually wanting to come here to shop for fashion !


LUCKILY, just like a new pair of shoes which start off too tight, by the end of the day I got used to the quirks of the Milan and the city of fashion  had most certainly grown on me and cast me under it's spell.

My first point of interest to visit was the Duomo di Milano. Duomo means cathedral, so basically I went to go look at a big church. Unfortunately due to my "attire" I wasn't allowed in, which I found so unfair because I am sure Jesus would be a fan of demin shorts.

The Cathedral square was swarming with tourists, pigeons and beggars. I prefered to stand back and admire the amazing architecture of the building and the just be baffled at the work and effort that went in to carving the ornate designs and torrents.

I then wandered through many streets in the area known as the 'fashion district' of Milan.
Can you imagine my brain exploding as I saw all the beautifully designed pieces of art couture clothing in the windows as I walked past?!
Now, as fortune may have it, it turns out that it was actually Fashion Week in Milan on the day that I was there. I know, can you believe it? I can now say I was in Milan for fashion week, oh my god.
Therefore, every single person I walked past on the street was dressed absolutely exquisitely. Just by looking at them, you could tell that there was a great deal of time and planning and money put into their designer outfits so that the shade of purple of their shoes matched their belt or the gold studs on their bag complimented the detailing on their jumper.

Clearly she knows how to get out of a fine

 Walking back through the main plaza of Milan, with its gold gilded archways and artisically painted ceilings, I saw a crowd had formed otutside one of the restaurants. Eager to see what the fuss was about, I walked over and followed suit of everyone in the mass by pulling out my camera. Turns out it was a Brazillian supermodel doing a couture photoshoot in the middle of the main shopping strip !

Due to the growing crowd, two police officers came over to ask the photographer to move along... and ended up being in part of the shoot with her !

In the plaza there is also a 'lucky stone' which local legend says that if you stand on it and turn around in a circle, you will have good luck for a year !

After a couple more hours getting lost in the streets admiring the fashion, I bought myself a little peice of tradition in the form of a slice of zucchini pizza and called it a night :)









Milan is really quite an extraordinary city because you have the richest of the rich, living right alongside the poorest of the poor. I was slightly taken aback and just baffled that I can look in one direction and see enough Louis Vuitton scarfs, bags and sunglases to satisfy even Jessica Simpson's insane demands and then to look in the other and see a frail, old woman begging for change so she could buy food. By the end of my stay in Milan, I was still unsure as to how I felt about seeing these two extremes in such a close parallel- however, I would have to say overall I enjoyed Milan and most certainly now have the urge to wear tassles on my shoes and oversize my sunglasses/bag/hats.

My French Mecca

After our failed not so successful attempt to complete trinational shopping (thats shopping in three different countries in one day if you're slow to catch on), we decided to take a guided tour (aka Hilary drove us) into the French town of Thoiry which is just across the border of Switzerland.

Now I'll just give you heads up- this is going to be a very girly, makeup orientated post.
So if you're not my Dad or Andy, feel free to skip this update if what I'm going to be  thoroughly describing doesn't exactly tickle your fancy. And if you are my Dad or Andy, I expect you to sit there and carefully read every detail of what I'm about to elaborately write because I am certain that you both miss me giving you reviews, telling you about new products, trying new samples and going make up shopping with me.

Val Thoiry was a very small, local shopping centre and unfortunately, I didn't find any clothing that caught my eye. Adament to buy something whilst shopping in France, I ended up buying french underwear and socks, ooh lala !

HOWEVER, just as we were about to head home, I found the place which set my heart racing and caused me to spend over an hour deciding between two shades of lipstick - Sephora.

You know how some people meditate to reach a state of zen and transcendence where everything is good in the world and feel nothing but pure elation? Well, I reached my "happy place" simply by setting foot into this store.

I kid you not, when I say I literally ran into the store with excitement and delight. My eyes just about exploded when I saw brands like MakeupForever, Smashbox and TooFaced all at regular prices.  Thats right, not the 200% markup on price that is put on good quality, imported makeup in Australia.

After overcoming the small difficulty of a language barrier between me and the shop assistant - I got myself my own personal Sephora translator ! ;) I proceeded to spend the next hour foaming at the mouth over eyeshadows, foundations, brushes and primers all which made me want to chain myself to the register counter and never leave.

In the end I left a very happy shopper with a Sephora brand foundation brush, a Smashbox Oil Free PhotoFinish Primer, MakeupForever matt lipstick in the shade Mat2, some samples of Lady Gaga's perfume Fame and another by Guerlain called Shalimar  and an Urban Decay Naked Palette Edition 2.

YES  I GOT AN URBAN DECAY NAKED PALETTE.

If you're not a makeup junky (which chances are, you're not) then you won't understand the sheer pleasure and feeling of holliness I felt when I saw this palette was actually in stock and on the shelf right in front of me. I have been trying for years to get this baby but everywhere (including when I was in New York City) was either sold out or selling their last one at ludicrous prices.
So now I can say I have the makeup world's equivalent of the Holy Grail and can die knowing that my eyeshadow will be perfect.

Also, just an update on the International McDonalds taste ranking. France did a good job on the fries but sadlly was let down by their chicken nuggets which was not real chicken breast :(

Modern Day Heidi

I am back in at my Australian home away from home in Dardenay, Switzerland with my Mutter and Tante Wendy (translation = Mother and Aunty Wendy) after our four day exploration trip of the north of Switzerland.

Leaving the grizly bears and Berne behind, we moved on to Basel. Just like the city beforehand (and really, every part of Switzerland that I have seen) Basal was a beautifully picturesque city with it's old buildings and neo gothic architecture, ornate lamp posts on the cobbled, winding streets, the colourful window flowerboxes and cursive signs.

Hill top castles are all the rage in Switzerland

The Swiss countryside is like a Hallmark card, it's that perfect. I don't think I will ever get used to the idea of casually seeing castles when I look out the train window.







After learning the entire city of Basel 'shuts down' on Sundays (yes, I am talking major malls with their doors closed) we had to improvise with our activities for the day seeing as shopping was no longer an option. Instead, we had a lovely time wandering along the Rhine River which runs right through Switzerland, with a current so strong the boats don't even need to have an engine on to float down it!

Enjoying a gelati on the Rhine River Bridge :)

The Rhine River stretches for miles and (especially on a Sunday) is a real social place for families, friends and those who want a little bit of time to themselves to come and relax. You could see children wadding in the water, men trolling on their boats, girls laying on the sidewalk soaking up sun in their bikini and women sitting on a nearby bench enjoying the view.

We decided to dip our feet in the icy cold waters just so we could feel like real local ;)

 

This is a church. I can't remember what it's name was because I feel like I have seen enough churches to fill a bible these past few days, but what I can remember is the events of this church.
 For some reason, one of us (I will not take responsibility, even though it was probably me) thought it would be a good idea to climb the to the very top of the steeple. So about 15 minutes of   a winding, slowly narrowing staircase and what felt like a gazillion steps later we (minus Wendy, who I am very sorry couldn't fit on the top step with me and mum up there) had a panaromic view of the city of Basel.






Our seond day in Basel was spent trinational shopping. That's right- shopping in three different countries in one day.
First on the hit list, was Germany where not only did I pick up a few snazzy bargains, I also learnt that German shop keepers really don't know how to smile.

our brains just about exploaded with excitement

I have gone to the liberty of trying McDonalds in every country that I go to, just to give you guys a review. So far, Amsterdam in Holland in by far the worst whilst Germany is coming in first place (due to the heavy salting) followed closely by Switzlerand  (not sure if it was hunger or pure Swiss TLC which made them so delicious)  and then England.



Crossing the border of Switzerland into France was easier said than done (we got lost, twice) and despite not actually buying anything, we did have a nice stroll done the street and were told that they do not serve alcohol at 2 in the afternoon at a French resturant, oh mon dieu!

The following day we went to Zurich, where despite starting off on the wrong foot (rocking up to our hotel at 8pm to be told they are fully booked out because someone cough mum booked the room for the previous night accidently instead) we actually ended up having a lovely time.

In trying to keep this post as short as possible, I'll just say that all the fountains, churches and 200 year old buildings of Zurich were full of the absolute beauty  made me fall in love about ten times over.

Three Little Bears

Today, we left our safe little Swiss house and began our mid-week exploration/vacation to see what the rest of Switzerland has to offer.

Again, we used the amazingly fast, reliable and 'designed to put Metro to shame' trains which leave Geneva station every hour and whizzed through the lush green country side to our first destination - Berne.

Berne is the nation's capital and is in the German speaking part of Switzerland. This said, it took us an hour to find our way out of the train station and to a tourist information centre because the only German phrase which we knew was "Ich bin ein Berliner". Believe it or not, telling people you are a jelly-filled doughnut, does not help you find your way to the nearest toilet when lost. 

ma mere et moi

In the Old City of Berne there is a beautiful clock tower which chimes every hour. It is located at the very beginning of the longest shopping promenade in Switzerland, which (no surprises there) filled in many hours of bargain hunting. I really loved the whole strip- it was such a happy and lovely place to walk around with the bright flower boxes on windows of old buildings, the fountains placed right in the middle of the road to separate the different sides, the street performers playng the guitar, the cello, the harp and every other instrument imaginable. 

a mumma and a pappa and a wee bear

Berne is famous for it's bear pit which has a family of brown bears happily living on the city moat just in front of the middle city gate. Yep, that's right- some people look out their windows and see four brown bears in their back yard instead of a labrador. 

I'm not sure if I'm 19 or 9

 




One of my favourite things which I saw today was all the street art and grafitti hidden in unusual places around the city.  I found the messages they were writing to be really intriguining and much more interesting to look at and read than the horrible tagging and scribble you normally see everywhere. 
Here's a snapshot of a few I saw-

Le pays des montanges, des vaches et de chocolat !

Bonjour mesdames et messieurs ! Comment ça va?

Relax, that's the end of the French lesson for this post (well, maybe). In case you need a translation for what's already been said, I am currently in the country of moutains, cows and chocolate... Switzerland!

I arrived yesterday night, very happy to be greeted by my mum at the airport who flew half way around the world just to visit me. We are staying at a family friend's house in Lausanne, which is minutes away from the beautiful city and lake of Geneva.

The adorable Australian Swiss guard dog

I am loving staying in a real Swiss house where there is a spiral staircase twisting up three floors, a bomb shelter, no lights in the bathroom, my bedroom in the attic and an incredible view of the French Alps from the balcony.







Yesterday, mum, my aunty Wendy and myself took the super high speed train into Geneva for a bit of a wander around the old arcades and to suss out the famous shopping of Switzerland. I quickly learnt that the part of Switzerland we are in is French speaking and had to brush up on le peu francaise je sais (the little French I know). Quite a few times I've had to step in and save mum and Wendy from butchering the language offending anyone and have taught them to memorise a very useful phrase considering their pronounciation of words- "Je suis désolée" (I am very sorry)

beautiful old train station

I love, love, love listening to people talking in French. I think it is such a lovely language and when I can actually understand what they are saying my heart swells to bursting point and I am thankful for all those days Ms Leontiadis insisted that if I was going to talk about food, Gossip Girl and how much I hated school in class that I must do it in French. We walked past a group of school children and listening to their melodic voices chatter away, I couldn't help but think of Madeline !




Simply walking through the city of Geneva provides some beautiful sights itself. From the remains of the massive wall that used to surround the city in order to keep the plague ridden citizens away to the Church of St Paul, the street signs named after famous Swiss people to the fountains scattered around the streets. The every present mountain tops of the Swiss and French Alps (depending in which direction you look!) which can be seen in a distance provide a particular strange yet magnificant juxtaposition to have a bustling city so close to natural beauty.

myspace shot

Today, with the help our of trusty ex-pat tour guide we made our way to  two famous castle of Switzerland. The first- Le Chateau de Gruyère had a very quaint 'Old Town' surrouding it that left you feeling like you had stepped back in time.

Rooms in the castle had been made up in period settings, with original pieces still on display- including walls which had grafitti on them from the 1500's!












The views from absolutely everywhere around the castle gardens where breath taking. It was almost too beautiful at times to look at and more than once I got goose bumps just looking down into the rolling green valley next to the snow capped moutains. 

totally reminds me of Prince Eric's castle in The Little Mermaid!

After stopping at a boulangerie for croissants for lunch, we made out way two the second destination of the day - Chateau de Chillon. Located on the very edge of Lake Geneva, the incredible scenery surrounding castle made me want to actually leave the comfort of my modern, acconditioned shopping centres and high rise buildings and move here instead. 




We ended the day by wandering through a lakeside market in trendy village of Montreux where we also saw the tribute to Freddie Mecury statue and got to listen to more Swiss people converse in the language of love.


On a side note-  I promised I would put this in the blog because it pretty much was a major highlight of my day- the true to form Swiss truck driver who drove about ten kilometers in the emergency lane just so sneaky cars couldn't cut on up the inside, provided us with much entertainment with his Robin Hood ways whilst stuck in a highway traffic jam for an hour.

All good things must come to an end

I feel like the longer I am here, the less frequent my posts get. I'm not sure if that's because I'm getting so used to my London life that nothing really seems out of the ordinary and blog-worthy posting or because I am having so many more incredible experiences, that I don't even have time to paint my fingernails let alone post here.

Anyway, aside from my lack of consistency in updating my blog, things have been really good (and hectic!) over here for the past week. It was the closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games on Sunday so I had been working full steam (15 hour shifts on 4 hours sleep? Challenge accepted) towards that, helping all the prep for the big finale get sorted.

I worked in HLT again for the closing ceremony so I got to see all the big name celebs who performed. Have to admit though, was not impressed by Rihanna who seems like the atypical diva - refusing to eat the meals the chef had prepared and demanding only Nandos chicken, locking herself in her change room for hours and my personal favourite requesting private rehersals at 10pm and then at 230am deciding not to come, which meant I spent my entire shift polishing cutlery and plates.
Coldplay and Jay Z were also there, both of them were lovely except I have to shamefully admit that when serving the latter I had no idea it was him and only realised later that in my mind Jay Z and Kayne West were the same person.

Fireworks from the spectacular closing ceremony!

The Closing Ceremony actually felt quite sad to watch because it finally hit me that my once in a life time Olympic experience was actually over. I can not even begin to explain what an impact this incredible past 8 weeks have had on me and how much I know they will clearly be some of the most important ones of my life. I feel like I have had far too many amazing oppurtnities and experiences being here and that this is just part of some surreal dream.

Our last night at 'The Calf' : ( :(

I feel a tinge of nervousness and sadness knowing that I will won't be walking through Olympic Park each day to start my fun and familiar job as a OFL waitress and the safe routine of Aspers after work followed by bacon parties is no longer.








Tomorrow I will be leaving the security of my ugly, little house in Leyton and starting my solo adventure in Europe which I am very excited about (particuarly the aspect of seeing Mumma Bear in Switzerland). After ten days in the land of cow lovers, I will be heading south and making my way through the birthplace of pasta and pasta. After about two weeks in Italy, I will going over to Spain to meet my soon to be ex roomate to soak up some sun in Barcelona.

The Olympics and London has given me more than I have ever thought was possible and I feel heart broken to be leaving - I don't think I could have asked for a better 2 months. The experiences that I have had, people that I have met, opportunities that I have seized and challenges I have overcome are beyond anything I ever could have dreamt. I have never been happier and more proud of myself than what I am now. So basically London, I love you.