Those summer nights

Hello old friends,

Let me apologise, I've been absolutely rubbish this month. Especially considering that last month I was basically blog obsessed. I doubt anyway cares that much, but if by any chance I have left you high and dry, I am sorry.

June has brought some good things. The weather has shifted to a true Mediterranean climate. Very hot and sunny. I wake up every morning eager to get up, for the sole reason that my bed has been baking in the sunlight since sunrise. During the day, as keen for a tan as any Essex girl may be, I fear burning on my way to get a coffee. It is glorious!

A view from my spot on the sand.

One way we've been making the most of this beautiful sunshine is by making the occasional day trip to Castel Gandolfo. The nearest beach to Rome (Ostia) is famously ugly... or at least that's what the real Romans tell us. Although I suppose they've never been to Southend pier and are simply used to the beauty of the Amalfi coast. Either way, I plan to go there eventually, but the lake is about an hour's train ride away from the city and is beautiful. We went mid-week, before the school's finished and so only had to share the shore with about six other people. Perfection. Bliss. You take my point.

We loved our afternoon. We sat of the sand, read books and sporadically went to swim in that gorgeously blue water. We wandered away for coffees and ice creams and came home tired by the sun and our lazy day, during which I read at least half of ‘The Battersea Park Road toEnlightenment’.

It is said that in summertime the days grow longer and the nights shorter. However, this has not been my experience. As summer has begun the Italian population seems to have woken up from a semi-hibernation and is completely rejuvenated. For the past 3 weeks I haven't returned from a Saturday night out earlier than 5am. Gosh.

Furthermore, most of our favourite events have moved from little clubs into large open air spaces. Fun! Most of them also have booths selling very cheap wine. Double win!

Now I remember why I wanted to move to Italy. Sunshine and wine.

I would never claim to be a football fanatic. Mostly because at my first attempt my brother and all male friends would jump in with controversial comments about how I've never cared in the slightest. That may be true. I'm not overly bothered. However, this month we've all been getting very much involved with the Euros and... well, drunk beer. In the group stages we've been showing our support for both England and Italia, but if things go well over these two evenings we're going have to make a very tough decision Blood and patriotism vs. we're in Italy and would have to take some stick. Only time will tell...

Despite all this revelry in the sun this month has also had it's challenges. My next work deadline is approaching and, as you may remember from here, all the work I have to submit to Warwick this year must be written in Italian. I've now completed my second module report and am researching an planning my final extended essay. There had to be some price for this beautiful year abroad! However, despite the freedom of the essay I'm hating it, partly because it's hard to concentrate on anything in this heat. And the fact that I'd rather be outside playing!

Well, I'm now closing in on the end of my Italian adventure, but I'll be sure to keep you posted on the rest of my fun. Also rather excitingly, after four years of friendship my friend Jess and I now live in the same city- even if it is only for a few.

I have a match to pay better attention to now. This is why we don't usually watch them at home...

A real page turner.

When I was home my mum gave a book. A book she read over a year ago, but I've had to wait for, as naturally she leant it to all of her sisters and half of her one thousand friends before I got my hands on it. It was definitely worth the wait though and I gobbled the whole thing up in less than a week. God love transport for the time it gives to bookworms!

"Make it a rule never to give a child a book you would not read yourself."
-George Bernard Shaw

The book was Me and Mine, a portrait of an Irish family living in London. It was heart-warming, anecdotal and quite honestly it made me think so much of my own family. Not just because they were from Longford and reading the Longford Leader, which once reported my own parents marriage- completely inaccurately! This book is a real page turner and I quite literally couldn't bare to put it down. I'd thoroughly recommend it to anyone. It depicts family exactly as I think it should be, a hub of loving intrusion and jest, both in spite and because of each member's imperfections as well as their strengths. 

"The definition of a page-turner really aught to be that this page is so good, you can't bear to leave it behind, but then the next page is there and it might be just as amazing as this one."
-John Burnside

As you know, at Christmas I got a Kindle. This was a very practical decision, supported by two very simple reasons. 

1. Books are very expensive here, especially foreign ones.
2. I have my luggage allowance to think of, and lots of books would certainly weigh me down.

As much as I enjoy playing with my new toy and the delights of finding literary freebies, it was wonderful to have a real book in my hands again. A real page turner, complete with pages to turn!

Having devoured this treat so quickly I have now returned to my new found technological ways and you could say I'm even being conscientious by having started North and South, by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. This is one of the set texts for 'The English Nineteenth Century Novel', a module I hope to take next year at Warwick. I'm really enjoying it. I can't help but wonder if people really were as eloquent as characters in these old novels though. Margaret Hale, the protagonist, speaks so poetically as she describes her old rural home to her new friends in the North that I wonder have we forgotten the power of poetry, simply become too lazy to fully describe all that we perceive, or rather have become sadly unaware of the beauty and the music in the world around us? 

I'm just a quarter of the way through now- thank you Kindle and your handy little percentage bar- and am really enjoying this read. I hope the rest of the books on this reading list treat me as kindly.

Also, yes... I have seen a BBC adaptation of this tale. And no, it doesn't hurt to imagine the dashing Richard Armitage as the leading man, John Thornton. Do you judge me, fellow Literature students? 

I'm going to stop now as I have a book to be getting back to...

p.s. If you like the sound of either of these books, here are the links to them on the Waterstones website.

• Me and Mine, Anna May Mangan,  http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/anna+may+mangan/me+and+mine/7441649/
• North and South, Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell,  http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/elizabeth+cleghorn+gaskell/north+and+south/8585681/

Life in a northern town

"The traveller sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see."

-G.K. Chesterton.

I live in an incredibly touristy city. That's not to say it's in any way overpowered by the sightseeing masses, but merely to state the fact that Rome is beautiful and people flock here with a packed itinerary and often only two or three days to completely check off their 'To-Do' List.

This week I went wandering in the north and caught up with a couple of friends from Warwick and they gave me a glimpse into their lives and showed off what their towns had to offer. I found myself in both Milan and Pavia and, I must say, I really enjoyed the freedom of not having any notion of what one 'has to' see in either place. Obviously Milan is famous for fashion (and general fabulousness), so of course Laurelle and I did go shopping... mostly gawping after all the labelled loveliness (which a student budget just doesn't happily lend itself to) as well as going for sushi (which seems to be Milan's culinary favourite, judging by the sheer number of restaurants). The only really touristy thing we did was going up on the roof of the Duomo.

It was lovely, partly because our sole motivation was how stunning the cathedral is. We didn't even go inside or read any of the information about it. Sometimes it's just really nice to remain ignorant and appreciate beauty in somewhat awestruck silence... in the sunshine... on a roof... with an incredible view.

My entire weekend with Laurelle was really peaceful and and chilled as we just gave ourselves loads of time to talk and catch up and not make any real effort. That being said, we did have two big nights out, go on funfair rides, play in a children's park and ride bicycles all over the city. It's actually really funny how much fun we had when we weren't even trying!

  

I arrived on Thursday, which happened to be Festa della Donna, a day of appreciating women and making them feel special. Ironically, we ended up at a Playboy bunny themed party in a club called La Banque, which luckily was not as cringey as it sounded! Friday consisted of the Duomo, shopping and dinner down by the Navigli canal and Saturday was the action packed bicycling, fun fair riding, sushi and swings adventure. It was brilliant.

On Sunday I jumped on the train and headed over to Pavia, which is a smaller city about which I knew absolutely nothing. It was charming, however, and I'm glad I've learnt the joys of an Erasmus tour as I don't think I'd ever have thought to explore that little corner of the world otherwise. Agata and I again spent a lot of time just wandering around. We did get the train out to a pretty monastery but, this is being Italy, it was closed for absolutely no reason! She took me to a cool live music club and again, it was just lovely to catch up with a friend and take in the sights that I didn't even know there were to be seen. For example, her university is much prettier than mine and get a load of this view...

Well, I'm back in Rome now which means back to work and back to play The weather's not turned, as it would have in England after a week of sunshine, and so Anna and I have started taking our Kindles to the park and happily ignoring each other. Which is lovely. I'm reading Elizabeth Gaskell's 'Wives and Daughters', it's not a bad shout. You've got to love it when a nineteenth century author's favourite word is 'banter'!

Now, just to make the title of this post almost make sense, here's a little 80s flashback.

The sun has got his hat on.

"The sun has got his hat on,
Hip hip hip hooray,
The sun has has got his hat on, and he's coming out to play!"

Sunshine makes everything seem better. Fact. Here in Rome winter seems to be well and truly passed and ever so gradually Spring is....erm, springing. For over a week now at least a few hours of the day have been 'just sit outside and enjoy the sunshine' beautiful and a few days ago I even got a whiff of some freshly cut grass. It was bliss!

My aunt and I chilling in the sunshine.

Since my last post my life has been a total blur. I've been busy working, both as a volunteer and also in my new job teaching English as a second language, as well as enjoying a trip from two of my aunts. Not to mention what I consider to be a pretty impressive marathon of fun, with not a single night in for over a week. Well done me.

The whirlwind that became my social calendar couldn't have been a bigger blessing as it pulled me straight out of the misery that is ever February. It never ceases to amaze me that the shortest month of the year can drag on for so long and make the world and everyone in it so miserable! However, I catapulted into March and the completely exhilarating madness that I knew it was sure to bring. Yippee!

As I mentioned earlier, two of my aunts, my two gorgeous godmothers, came to Rome this weekend and spoilt me rotten.  It was a lovely visit. It was just a really chilled few days in which we wandered around the city and enjoyed the sunshine, the views and each others' company. My Mum kept emailing me how jealous she was of us! I really miss my family sometimes as we've always been so close, so it was really wonderful to get to share a piece of my life here with two people who mean so much to me.

What with this Thursday being 'Festa della donna', or more simply put 'Women's Day', I'm going to take this opportunity (or any opportunity really) to gush about my amazing family, on this occasion my Mum's side. My Mum is one of four sisters and after my grandfather died young, leaving my grandmother a widow at 41, the family became entirely female. For me this meant growing up surrounded by amazing women as role models who've also always supported me as confidantes, advisers and, most importantly, friends. At one point over the weekend one of my aunts had something of a revelation when, during a relaxed evening in the hotel bar with a bottle of wine, she turned to her sister and said 'I can't believe it. Clare looks like an adult' before continuing to have a mini muse on how little and blonde I used to be and how I now have a life, in a foreign country. She's right though, it's a bit mental. Life. I could ramble on for ages, but I'll leave this train of thought at end with the all important conclusion that I love my aunts. Apparently it was really obvious that we were having a lovely time. Even a taxi driver commented on how happy we looked just to nattering away together!

With my godmothers, by the Trevi fountain.

So far March is hectic, and it doesn't show any sign of slowing down. Thank goodness! This week I'm heading off to find some fellow Warwick Erasmus students in both Milan and Pavia and so I'll be writing up my adventures soon.

p.s. I finished Tess of the D'Ubervilles- it wasn't nearly as depressing as I thought it would be. I actually rather liked enjoyed it.

p.p.s. I've stumbled upon an artist called Wakey!Wakey! and am loving him. Here's one of my favourites from the album 'Almost Everything I Wish I'd Said Last Time I Saw You...'

Broadening your horizons

I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that, besides Christmas and my recent trip home, in the five months since moving to Italy I've only left Rome once. Back in September I took a train into Tuscany to visit a friend from Warwick, but since my return I've been a real house cat, content with my urban surroundings. However, a visit from my parents who, like me, have already enjoyed the bulk of Rome's tourist wonders (numerous times), seemed like the perfect opportunity to broaden our Italian horizons and head off to pastures new. Therefore, last week I was on a train at ridiculous o'clock in the morning, well eight o'clock, headed for Siena, just to shake things up a bit.

Checking out the view from the top of the Torre del Mangia

Siena was beautiful, and even though it's been a fortnight since the last snow, the frost in some parts of that medieval town was still yet to thaw and so we got a special view. What a treat! Walking over the cobblestones of the higgledy-piggledy streets in the sunshine was lovely. It was the first day of real sun since the snow, and I'm happy to report that ever since it seems as those winter truly is on its was out. It was a great day and now it seems I've been bitten by a trip bug. Having shown both of parents up by being the only one brave enough to climb all the way to the top of the Torre del Mangia and look out over the the Piazza del Campo, in fact the whole town and beyond, I can safely say my Italian horizons have been well and truly broadened. The view was spectacular! Next month I'm really excited about getting back on the road for more adventures. I'll be visiting new places and old friends whilst catching up with other Warwick students in both Milan and Pavia, before all of us out here on our Erasmus years head over to Venice to check in with our tutors, marvel at the town itself and look ahead to next year and our re-entry into real life.

Deep breath. It's still many months away.

Also keeping me busy next month will be my lovely visitors. I'll be beginning March with my two beautiful Godmothers joining me in Rome to check out the sights and sample the vino. Then it shall come to a close with two of my best friends from home coming over to get a full status report, because you know there's more to it all than what I put on here! I love when people come to visit because I get to do all the touristy things which always help me to fall back in love with Rome as I share them with people who I love, and who love me enough to fly all the way to Italy to see me! I'm particularly looking forward to these visits as I've been working on a list of things I still haven't done; such as go inside the Castello Sant'Angelo and go up to the top of the dome of St Peter's. When my parents were here my mum pointed out that they probably won't come back to Rome now, at least for a very long time, as this was in fact their third trip since 2009. This meant that they were really keen to make sure they'd seen all the most important bits, and having had so much time here overall that didn't just mean the main tourist spots. For example, we visited the church of San Giovanni del Laterano, because that meant they've now seen all four of the main churches of Rome. In fact they saved the most important for last. We went round the gallery at Villa Borghese (lots of marble nudity) and my mum made a point of going back to Trevi to throw in some coins, not quite giving up hope on coming back, I think!

It was great seeing my parents and since they've left I'm rather proud of what a busy bee I've been, booking all my trips. Watch this space for my tales.

p.s. Still loving my Kindle and 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles', although I never thought I'd have to worry about my book running out of battery on a train!

p.p.s. I like trains.

Attacking ATAC.

For those of you who are unaware, ATAC is basically the Roman equivalent of TFL (Transport for London), they are responsible for all of the public transport here in Rome. A system which, when working well, is rather good- considering that as a student I can buy a monthly pass for only €18. However, it never works flawlessly! For one thing, the buses don't come anywhere near regularly enough for a capital city and more often than not I, in my impatience, end up taking the imaginary bus instead of waiting! Just so you know, most Italians do not view this waiting as a problem, they'll happily just stand there for half an hour in order to take the bus for only 2 stops. It's madness! I realise this is probably how they feel about me walking almost everywhere.

Another common feature of the ATAC system, and all transport in Italy (as I gather from the grumblings of my fellow Warwick students) is lo sciopero. Translation: the strike. About once a month it seems the good unionised workers of ATAC decide 'nope, not today' and the whole city stands still, just like the empty trains and buses. As grand scale standstills go, it's not nearly as much fun as a city-wide game of musical statues would be, but there you go, such is life. No one ever listens to my brilliant, albeit barmy, ideas! As a native Londoner I feel obliged to insert a mini rant about how this would NEVER happen in London. Yes, the tube drivers strike occasionally, but everyone still gets to work and it's mostly just something to talk about.

However, it's not the infrequent buses or the monthly train strike that's got me all riled up. That would be silly, for annoying as these things may be they are fundamental to transport in Rome and anyone dwelling in this historic hub of society must accept them as normal and part of the city's eccentric charm. No, today I'm ranting because without giving ANY reason whatsoever this evening I had to walk home- across the whole city- because there was no Metro B Line during the RUSH HOUR.

Yes, in an hour when every bus and train carriage in the city is packed tighter than a can of sardines, and probably not smelling much better either, no explanation was offered as to why there were no trains. There was a bus replacement service though, with buses being half the size of a railway carriage. Madness! My 25 minute commute took two hours. Two hours from Testaccio, past the Colosseum, through Domus Aurea, past Santa Maria Maggiore, to Termini, all the way to uni and then my normal walk home. Thank you very much.

It's not all doom and gloom though. As I mentioned before I often end up walking most places, and quite like it. I was mostly upset about not getting my Kindle time on the train. I'd so been looking forward to playing with my new toy and getting lost in 'Wuthering Heights'. I'm such a geek!

So, sorry for the pointless rant, but now you know how transport works in Rome. Basically, not quite as it should and sometimes not at all!

p.s. TFL is much better than ATAC, but here's proof that not everyone loves them.