2017, What A Year!!

Finally back here on Blogger to write something after such a long time. Hey, I've been busy!! ;)

Anyways, I believe a post to quickly sum up what this year has been to me has to be written. After all, 2017 has been -was by now- quite different and, to a certain extent, unique. Why? Well, many things happen, although obviously the main role has to be given to my time abroad -which has not come to an end yet!-. Yes, I spent almost 11 months in Cambridge -by the end of my permanence there, they will be 13- and what a life changing experience this has been! I've worked a lot, spoken and hopefully improved the language I love, met some new people -although, let's be honest, not as many as I had hoped-, seen some bits of England -have a plan to turn that 'some bits' into 'a part', but this is another story-, lived alone, etc...

Everything started almost by chance, I remember last January I was confused and kind of panicked because I was struggling with life in general: what should do, I have no clue, I have just graduated, yet I can't think of anywhere to go, etc...Then, almost out of the blue, I got this hint: Cambridge! Thanks to the family and their support I managed to quickly sort everything out and bob's your uncle! I was flying on the 10th of February. How scared I was, how sad -I spent the previous couple of days crying, which doesn't happen that often-, yet I made it. I was lucky, I didn't have to face any major problem -even though it wasn't exactly a piece of cake eh-, and eventually, a month later, I had a job, a place to call home and everything I needed to start a life. Then from that moment on, work became the main highlight of my days, as it was to be expected, although I managed to fill the very few gaps here and there with some lovely trips. 

The first one I'm going to talk about can but be my short and yet no less lovely comeback home for Easter: I probably didn't know back then, but that was going to be the first of many sleepless nights to catch coaches/trains/planes, etc... All the love I got at home made it more than worth it though! ;)

Second one following the chronological order, Copenhagen in June. I remember how little time I had to try and organise what little I could organise in advance -had barely time to book flights and transfer to Stansted!- but it was great! Theresa and Giacomo were so kind and generous in hosting me during that couple of days with such short notice and I got to spend a couple of days with two dear people in a city I love. :)

Then, of course, the holiday in Croatia with the lads. Again, nothing too special in terms of activities or places, just the Fantastic Four partying their way around Pag, trying -and failing- at getting some tan and generally having a blast. 

It was a hard and exhausting summer work wise, but luckily I managed to find room for another little escape: the dear Aurelia was in Brighton in late August and I absolutely couldn't miss that chance to spend a day with that lovely girl. And we actually enjoyed each other's company quite a lot! She is a fantastic person and got to become quite important to me, despite not having seen her that much so far. My only regret, not having more time to spend with her :(. Hopefully we will have another chance soon, right? I can't wait! -dunno if you're reading this darling, but if you are know this: I'm so looking forward to it!!! :)

Talking about meeting lovely people, Havanah and I got to spend a day together in London in late October -I couldn't have asked for a better present (we actually met on the 25th, literally two days before my bday ;) )-. I have already said a lot about this lovely human being, I'm just adding that I hope we won't have to wait too much to arrange another reunion -I wonder where though...We first met in Italy, then in England, which means we should probably find some "neutral" ground for the third one (good things come in threes, don't they? ;) )-. 

Last, but not least, I was lucky enough to have 2 days off in a row one last time, therefore I picked Edinburgh for a short visit. I wrote a whole blogpost about my time there, I'm not going to repeat myself, except for this: I will be back there soon! :)<3

2017 was an important year in terms of feelings and stuff as well: a couple of short stories that didn't really work out due to several reasons, and then, rather unexpectedly, she came. I have to say it, I don't have memories of times I felt like this. It's something that popped out as a consequence of that awfully long amount time spent talking to her -I don't regret those many many hours on the phone, I'd do everything again and again because she's such a special person-. Yeah, everything beautiful and sweet, except for the fact that there's only one major obstacle between the two of us, enough to make it currently impossible to work. Despite that, we continued bonding -I might seem stupid to the most of you reading, but the 'walking away' strategy turned out to be impossible to be put into practice-. I'm not even capable of doing it now that the major obstacles have become two! I won't say much, just that I was expecting this to happen and tried to do everything to be emotionally and mentally prepared...and yet it hit me so hard! Thankfully, I am at home and everything around me -including a bunch of lovely people (you know who you are, thank you all <3 )- is kind of helping ease the pain. Despite this, it's been an awful couple of days -and the weird thing is that I feel genuinely so happy she got the happy ending she deserved! You understand now how fucked up I am? I mean, this is being one of the rare cases in which I can't control and deal with my emotions, which sucks for the control freak I am! I can just wait for time to hopefully heal all wounds and understand that probably it just wasn't meant to happen, because I don't see any other rational explanation that can actually justify the current circumstances! :)

Anyways, apart from that -I've written more than enough about it for today, better to stop now-, Christmas has been as magical as always! I was so excited to see the family again, I truly love all of them every day more, they give me all the strength and support I need to go on and they are undoubtedly the main reason why I've made it so far, they deserve all the credit <3. Talking about dear people, I got a box filled with biscuits and other delicious stuff coming from meine Freundin Franzi. She was so sweet and literally made my day -if you are reading this, I won't call you greedy anymore, I promise! ;)-. Also, I wasn't expecting her to be so talented at baking (never underestimate her, second lesson I've learnt! ;) ), I will have to send the tastiest Italian stuff back to her sooner rather than later to hopefully reach the same level, because she raised the bar so high! ;)

Now, these last few lines to wish you all a Happy New Year, hoping that 2018 will be a year full of the best life has to offer -in my case, I am happy with good health and happiness for my beloved ones and all the people I care about. Then, should I get a couple of extra wishes, why not being a tad more selfish and going for a 'happy ending' for myself as well, or even for some ideas regarding my future, or for living some amazing moments with friends and other dear people...yup, those three would be very much appreciated eh, but the first one is on top of my bucket list for the year! ;)

Thank you so much 2017, for everything you gave me, you were a year to remember! Now let's draw the curtain and let's enjoy the following show: 2018 looks rather promising -but no spoilers eh! ;)

And apologies for any typo and the flat (oh so crappy) writing style, I'm definitely out of practice!!

Edinburgh

Che titolo banale, vero? Il fatto è che non sono riuscito a trovare niente di meglio! Eppure ci ho pensato un bel po' su eh, ma niente, buio totale...Io ritengo sia dovuto al fatto che le emozioni lasciatemi dalla mia -assai breve- permanenza a Edimburgo siano talmente varie che sintetizzare il tutto in poche parole è davvero un'impresa!

....

O forse è dovuto al fatto che, quando si tratta di nomi, titoli o quant'altro, la mia immaginazione fa semplicemente pena, però come scusa è molto meno ad effetto, quindi teniamo buona la prima motivazione, eh? ;-)

Comunque, dopo un mesetto ho di nuovo una ragione più che sufficiente per buttarmi sulla tastiera e passare un paio d'ore del mio tempo a raccontare aneddoti sulla mia noiosa -ma non troppo- vita.

Ormai sta diventando una piacevolissima prassi: quando ho due giorni liberi di fila -cosa che comunque capita molto di rado- devo assolutamente andare da qualche parte :-).

Questa volta ero indeciso tra Dublino, Amsterdam e, appunto, Edimburgo. Esclusa la prima per questioni meteorologiche -penso ci fosse più pioggia che aria in quei giorni-, ammetto che scegliere tra le due rimanenti non è stato facile. È da un po' ormai che voglio visitare la 'Venezia del Nord' e questa sembrava l'occasione migliore per farlo. Tuttavia ho pensato che sarebbe stato non sfruttare il fatto di vivere nel Regno Unito per visitarne quanto più possibile, anche perché non rimarrò qui in eterno. In più, io continuo a sperare di riuscire ad organizzare il mio primo viaggio ad Amsterdam con qualcuno prima o poi, penso che andarci in compagnia la renderebbe ancora più speciale :-).

Quindi, Edimburgo. A posteriori, non rimpiango assolutamente di esserci andato. La capitale scozzese è una città unica, un misto di storia e contemporaneità, una città all'avanguardia che non dimentica le proprie origini e tradizioni. Una città grande, ma non troppo -molto più "visitabile e vivibile" di Londra-, il che è stato un bene per me, visto il tempo limitato. Pur non visitando quasi niente di "specifico" (aka musei e gallerie -troppi per poter scegliere-) e non prendendo parte ai molti interessantissimi tour guidati attraverso le vie e i segreti della città, posso dire di essere riuscito a conoscere Edimburgo, a sufficienza da volerci ritornare il prima possibile :-). 

Ammetto di essere stato fortunato, in due giorni non ho beccato neanche una goccia di pioggia. Ciò mi ha permesso di apprezzare la magia e i bellissimi colori di Edimburgo ancora di più. Per farlo è bastato davvero poco: un paio di giri sui tradizionali autobus a due piani, svariate passeggiate tra Old e New Town, percorrere a piedi il Royal Mile per poi salire fino ad Arthur's Seat per ammirare un panorama fantastico reso ancora più speciale dalle luci del tramonto...anche spendere 17 pounds per fare colazione con piatti tipici fa parte di tutto questo insieme che ha reso indimenticabili questi due giorni -fidatevi, l'haggis è delizioso <3-.

Il mio unico rimpianto è non avere avuto una macchina fotografica decente, c'è così tanto "materiale da fotografia" ad Edimburgo! :'-(

Da sola, questa è una ragione più che sufficiente per tornarci, la prossima volta meglio attrezzato perché ne vale davvero la pena!

A presto Edimburgo!! :-)

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Such an ordinary and flat title, ain't it? Well, I just couldn't find anything better! Yet I thought quite a lot about it eh, but still nothing, pitch black! I believe the feelings and emotions I experienced in Edinburgh were so diverse and so many that summing everything up in a bunch of words is practically impossible!

....

Or maybe that is simply due to imagination not being my greatest quality when it comes to names, titles or captioning, but as an excuse it's far more pathetic and less captivating and profound, therefore let's stick to the aforementioned one, shall we? ;-)

Anyways, a month later I have more than a good reason to jump on my keyboard again and spend a couple of hours to narrate anecdotes regarding my boring -but not too much- life. Yes, I am back and ready to post something!!! :-)

By now, it's become quite an enjoyable custom: whenever I have two days off in a row -which doesn't happen that often eh- I try my best to organise a trip to visit somewhere new :-).

This time I just couldn't decide between Dublin, Amsterdam and Edinburgh. Taken the first one off my list due to bad meteorological conditions -to say the very least, there was going to be more water than air over that couple of days-, choosing wasn't easy at all. I admit I have been wanting to visit the 'Venice of the North' for quite some time by now and this looked like the most suitable time to do it. A great opportunity that I decided to pass after realizing that not making the most of the fact that I actually live in the UK to visit as much of it as possible would be a shame, especially considering that my time here isn't going to be eternal. Moreover, to tell the truth, I am still hoping I can organise my first trip to Amsterdam in a way to go with someone else. I really believe this would make it that extra bit special and thus unforgettable :-).

Which means, Edinburgh. Looking back at it, I have absolutely no regrets. The Scottish capital is a unique city, a mixture of both history and modernity, a place where traditions and the new merge together perfectly. Vast, but not massive and easy to "live" -a lot easier than London, to give you an idea-, which happened to be great, considering the limited amount of time I had. Despite not visiting anything "specific" -under normal circumstances, I'd have spent countless hours in the museums, the galleries and in taking part in the many guided tours through Edinburgh streets. From what I read, there's so much to find out about the city, so many secrets, so many stories and tales...Yup, I can't wait to be back there!!! ;-)

I couldn't have been more fortunate, I didn't get a single drop of rain in two days -quite a rare occurrence in the UK, as I've learnt over the past months-. This made my visiting even more special and allowed me to enjoy the magic of Edinburgh and its bright colours to the fullest. And to do that I merely needed some random wandering around, to take a couple of hop on-hop off bus tours, to move from Old Town to New Town and vice versa, to walk through The Royal Mile and then climb up to the top and reach Arthur's Seat -the view from up there was truly something special. Watching the sunset and its colours with the city in the background...Spectacular!

Even spending 17£ on a breakfast was part of the things that made my days there unforgettable -trust me, their haggis is delicious <3.

My only regret, I didn't have a proper camera to portray all of this, in fact I am quite disappointed with the quality of the photos I took -I was expecting something more from my phone (you can see what I'm talking about here, on my FB -scroll down for Edinburgh photos-). 

Oh well, this is more than enough for me to fly back there as soon as possible and spend more than literally a couple of days in one of the most beautiful cities I have seen so far! ;-)

Until we meet again, Edinburgh!

Half A Year Abroad!!

Gosh, it feels oh so weird to be back here to write something!
I know, it's been definitely too long -almost two months!- and this time I can't even use the "nothing has happened" excuse, since something actually occurred! ;-)

But this isn't going to be the blogpost in which I'll explain how much fun I had during those -very- few days in Croatia with my friends, or how come there has been photos of me in pitiful conditions spreading on several socials. No, this is just going to be a short collections of thoughts after these past 6 months here in Cambridge and, more in general, far from home.

Let's begin by stating the obvious: time flies. I mean, look at me: six months ago, at this same time, I had just landed foot on Cambridge soil for the first time in my life and now I have a house, a safe -but rather stressful at times- job...I have a routine and a life, though I'll admit not as exciting as I had hoped eh...Oh well, I guess that's a kind of price I have to pay to be able to maintain myself, right? :-) And I still have some time to turn this thing around! :-)

Anyways, to think that summer -although I wouldn't call it 'summer'- is almost over...Wow!! Apart from my aforementioned holiday, I spent most of my time working -we got quite a few busy days at the restaurant!- and generally chilling or hanging around here in Cambridge. This means that, when I get home by the end of the year, I won't have much to tell about England or the UK in general, since I won't have the time to organise many trips around the country, and that's a shame. On the other hand, considering how easy it is to fly over here from my hometown in Italy, I now I'll be coming back soon after finishing my experience here, this time with the intent of enjoying as many things as possible as a tourist, without the pressure of a deadline coming from work.

Apart from that, I am still rather satisfied with my accomplishments -pass me this word- so far. And this despite the fact that, even though probably I am too demanding, I feel I still have a lot to learn and to improve language speaking, although I am happy to see something has changed eh... ;-)

Oh well, as I've already said, I still have quite some time and I am sure with this attitude, by the end of my permanence here, I am going to have very few regrets.

Now I'm about to end this post, which is lacking in sense and order so badly, since my shift begins soon. Apologies to those who'll have to read the Google-translated version of it, I know it sucks, but I didn't feel like writing in both languages :-(. See ya all soon!! :-)

A Month Of Nothing, Then Strawberry Fair & Copenhagen (With A Hole In My Ceiling As Well!)

Avevo quasi finito il post, salvo poi scoprire che, non so per quale motivo, si è cancellato, quindi devo riscrivere tutto! :-(

È passato decisamente troppo tempo dall'ultimo post, vediamo di invertire la tendenza e di pubblicare qualcosa dopo quasi due mesi! :-)

Il riassunto di Maggio è presto fatto: molto lavoro, molta routine e poco altro. Bello, eh? 

Paradossalmente sono capitate più cose in meno di due settimane di Giugno! 

Seguendo l'ordine, partirei da Strawberry Fair. La mia padrona di casa me ne parlava da un pezzo, descrivendolo come uno dei festival musicali/artistici più conosciuti. A quanto pare, è una ricorrenza annuale qui a Cambridge da molto tempo, tanto da essere ormai diventato una tradizione e un evento che attrae migliaia di persone. Se queste erano le premesse, io non potevo certo perdermelo, no? ;-)

Detto fatto, ho trascorso qualche ora molto piacevole in Midsummer Common, l'area sulla quale si è svolto il festival (tra l'altro, ho saputo poi che ogni cosa viene organizzata e montata da volontari, il che mi ha stupito, vista la "dimensione" del tutto) -per una volta la giornata era bella, con sole e una temperatura lontanamente estiva-. Purtroppo, causa lavoro, non mi sono potuto godere il momento clou dell'evento, la serata, ma sono contento lo stesso. 

Se qualcuno mi chiedesse di descrivere Strawberry Fair in una parola, direi "colorato". Più che dalla musica e dal cibo -il cibo!!!!! Miliardi di bancarelle e stand, il paradiso <3-, direi che sono stato colpito dai colori. Ognuno vestito in un modo diverso, secondo il proprio stile e, perché no, il proprio modo di vivere, dal più tradizionale a quelli un po' più "pazzi", bancarelle e tende di ogni tinta, ecc...tutto questo ha dato vita ad uno spettacolo per me pazzesco! Mi ritengo fortunato di avervi assistito, seppur in minima parte e, forse, senza comprenderne appieno le sfumature, è stata proprio una bella giornata!! :-)

Un paio di giorni dopo, mentre il mio turno serale della Domenica stava per concludersi, la mia adorata manager ha deciso che era arrivato il momento di rivelarmi l'orario della settimana successiva  -notare l'ampio preavviso- e, meraviglia!, avrei avuto Lunedì e Martedì liberi!! Da qui la mia testa si è come ridestata da un sonno profondo e ha cominciato a lavorare: dove potevo passare questi due giorni liberi? Vista l'unicità dell'evento, di certo non potevo stare a Cambridge! Ovviamente, non c'era tempo per un viaggio "in regola", quindi Amsterdam dovrà aspettare un altro po'. E poi l'illuminazione: e se andassi a Copenhagen? Passerei due giorni in una città che adoro in compagnia di due persone che mi mi avrebbe fatto piacere rivedere. 

Bam, detto fatto, dopo aver contattato Bristy, via a casa e, tempo un'ora -21.45 > 22.45- avevo due voli -a costo di non dare soldi a Ryanair, mi sono fatto 4 ore di corriera per partire da Gatwick-, un autobus e due biglietti del treno e quindi un viaggio! Copenhagen, ovviamente, è come me la ricordavo: una delle città che più mi ha colpito. Ovviamente non vedo l'ora di tornarci, anche se per passarci qualche giorno può essere necessario vendere un rene ;-).

-il viaggio di ritorno è stato un poco movimentato (due tentativi di atterraggio falliti e parecchi movimenti alquanto bruschi, per la gioia della mia pancia), ma anche questo fa parte del gioco, no? ;-)-

L'idea di prendere e partire è qualcosa di nuovo per me, qualcosa che adesso ho la possibilità di fare e che non vedevo l'ora di sperimentare. È qualcosa di bellissimo, vista la sensazione di libertà che trasmette. Di colpo, è come se il mondo -magari non proprio tutto tutto eh, perché è parecchio grandicello ;-)- fosse alla mia portata, in attesa di essere scoperto. E questo bisogno, questa voglia di vedere sempre di più...ho la sensazione che non is placherà tanto presto! ;-)

Ci tengo a ringraziare Giacomo e Theresa per avermi ospitato a casa loro ed essere stati così gentili con me, nonostante mi fossi praticamente auto-invitato poche ore prima. Spero di poter ricambiare in qualche modo!!

Adesso si torna alla vita di tutti i giorni, sempre pronti a cogliere ogni opportunità per vivere altre avventure come questa!

PS: Ah sì, dimenticavo l'ultimo pezzo del titolo. È vero, ho un buco nel soffitto della cucina. Credo sia l'ovvia conseguenza di avere una struttura in legno e una perdita in una tubatura. Prendete nota, cari i miei inglesi, il legno con l'umido marcisce e, per quanto assurdo vi possa sembrare, diventa incapace di reggere il peso del piano superiore della casa. Lo so, pazzesco eh? E ve ne dico un'altra: con i mattoni, o quantomeno un po' più di attenzione al momento di mettere i tubi, queste cose non succedono!! :-)

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I had almost finished writing this post, but then Blogger decided I had to give it another try and deleted my draft! Hurrah!! :-(

Anyways, it's been definitely too long since I last posted something on here, therefore I believe some change is needed, the ship needs to turn around after almost two months of sailing in the Sea of Boredom! ;-)

May summary, short story even shorter: work, routine, period. Exciting, isn't it?

June's first couple of weeks have easily smashed the previous months in terms of "events", you're about to find out why!

Following the chronological order, I'll go with Strawberry Fair first. My landlord had been talking about this arts & music event for quite some time, describing it as probably one of the most known traditions in Cambridge and one of the most popular fairs. She must've used some Jedi tricks on me, because, at a certain point, I found myself eager to see it with my own eyes. Talking about persuasion, eh? ;-)

Jokes aside, I just couldn't miss it!

And I didn't come out disappointed at all! The air and the atmosphere there were incredibly alive and vibrant, I could almost feel the energy of those thousands of people gathered in Midsummer Common, some of them singing, others drinking, but all of them enjoying themselves. I believe the volunteers who allowed all this to take place are to be thanked in the first place. They managed to put up the whole thing and they did it without being paid! Hats off to these men and women, they  did an awesome job and the fair being a success was probably the best reward for them.

The weather, as weird and unusual as it might seem, contributed a lot, since we had sun and summer-ish temperature -shocking, isn't it? ;-)-. Unfortunately, I missed the fair climax, the night, having to work, nevertheless I enjoyed myself a great deal.

Were I asked to describe the event with a single word, I'd say "colourful". Yes, this is what caught my eye the most, more than the music and the food -the food!!! Countless stands and shacks where to taste so much delicious stuff, my personal heaven <3-. Everyone dressed up differently, according to their style and, why not, their way of living as well. Starting from the "traditional" items, I saw people wearing the most crazy stuff. This, their colours, the life, the energy, etc...This is what made the whole thing so amazing to me! 

A couple of days later, while my Sunday night shift was coming to an end, my oh so lovely manager decided it was high time for her to reveal me my schedule for the following week -she gave me 3 hours notice before said week started, I am impressed!-. The miracle!! I was going to have both Monday and Tuesday off!! My brain suddenly woke up from its hibernation and started working at a feverish speed: where to spend these two days? Not in Cambridge, not at all! This is the second rarest even after the Big Bang, I need to make the most of it somewhere else!! Obviously, I hadn't got enough time to plan something in details, therefore Amsterdam will have to wait just a bit longer. And then eureka!! What if I had gone to Copenhagen? That'd mean spending two days in one of my favorite places together with two lovely people I missed so much!

Bam, while polishing glasses, I was texting one of said friends and, once back home, my plan started to take form and be every minute less chaotic. One hour later -21.45 > 22.45- I had two flights -dind't give money to those bloodsucker called Ryanair, even if this meant I had a 4 hour journey by coach to reach Gatwick-, one coach and two trains booked and my stuff packed: off to Copenhagen (I was so excited I survived not having dinner ;-) )! 

Copenhagen was exactly as I remembered it, simply lovely! Needless to say I can't wait for my third time there! ;-)

-on my way back, I had some troubles due to some rather annoying and fairly strong wind which initially prevented the plane from landing and disturbed many stomachs. No, it wasn't a smooth trip at all! But it's all part of the game, isn't it? ;-)-

This thing of leaving without having planned everything at least 2 weeks before is quite new to me, but I was eager to experience it. Honestly, I have never felt so alive and free before! Suddenly, the world -not all of it eh, I reckon it's quite huge- seems to be there in front of me, waiting for me too pick a destination and take off for a new adventure. I am becoming more and more addicted by the day, I can't wait to be on the plane again -provided it's going to be a safe flight eh-. Only, I wouldn't mind finding some travel buddies with whom sharing all these emotions, but I am confident that will happen as well at some point! :-)

I cannot end this post without thanking Theresa and Giacomo for hosting me despite I had just self-invited myself there with less than 12 hours notice. They were so kind and generous with me and they had a huge role in creating the atmosphere that allowed me to enjoy such a short trip. Thank you guys!!! :-)<3

Now back to normality, waiting for the net crazy adventure to happen!!! :-)

Oh, right, I almost forgot: I have a hole in my kitchen ceiling. I am quite sure this is the obvious consequence of having the main structure of said ceiling built in wood and a leak in the pipe. I feel the need to remind whoever builds houses here that wood+water isn't a nice combo at all, since the wood rots and therefore becomes weak and unable to sustain the weight of a second floor. I know, it's hard to believe, but it truly happens! Another Easter Egg for you: using bricks might be a nice solution, especially if you aren't going to pay more attention when installing the pipes!

 

 

Easter In Italy!!

Quale migliore occasione per organizzare il (seppur breve) ritorno in patria se non a Pasqua? Nessuna ovviamente!!  Pasqua in Italia, oltre al riunirsi con tutta la famiglia, significa abbuffate da record -nel mio caso è tutto raddoppiato, essendo la mia famiglia divisa (tanto meglio, si mangia di più ;) )-.

Era una cosa organizzata già da qualche settimana, appena saputo che avrei avuto Pasqua libera, ho chiesto se era possibile avere uno/due giorni per tornare in Italia a festeggiare. In un impeto di generosità, la mia superiore mi aveva accordato ben 2 giorni, in modo da fare tutto il weekend e io ovviamente, al costo di svenarmi con i biglietti, ho prenotato subito, nel caso cambiasse idea ;-).

E così Venerdì alle 2 di notte, dopo aver lavorato 6 ore e senza un minuto di sonno, sono uscito da casina con la mia bella valigetta e mi sono fatto tutta Cambridge a piedi per andare alla stazione delle corriere (ho scoperto dopo che c'era una via più corta e priva di gente ubriaca e potenzialmente molesta ;-) ). Da lì, aereo alle 6.20 e atterraggio alle 9.10 a Treviso -rivedere le montagne è stato spettacolare-. Oltre alla mezz'ora (!!) persa al controllo passaporti, tutto è andato bene ed è stato bello riabbracciare il padre e andare subito a rifocillarsi con una tipica colazione all'italiana (il vero cappuccino e la vera brioche). 

Le ore di sonno ancora non si fanno sentire, perciò ho potuto concentrarmi sul pranzo pantagruelico a casa di mamma -non esagero se dico che quasi ero commosso alla vista di tanto buon cibo! ;-)- e poi, perchè no, cinemozzo con i friends (qui un poco di abbocco sulla poltrona mi è venuto eh, nonostante il film non fosse proprio uno dei più silenziosi). Chiudiamo il Venerdì con un'altra cena in compagnia della family. Le 39 ore di non-sonno si sentivano molto bene, tanto che la maggior parte della serata l'ho passata seduto su una comodissima sedia reclinabile in condizioni alquanto pietose ;-).

Sabato è stato il friends-day, tra pranzi fuori e derby agghiaccianti e poi serata insieme. 

Domenica, prima della partenza -fissata per le 22.30- c'era tempo per un altro pranzo, stavolta con l'altra parte della family. Anche qui, compagnia piacevolissima e, manco a dirlo, cibo ottimo <3. 

Salutare tutti un'altra volta è stato difficile, una parte di me non voleva partire (a costo di lasciare a Cambridge una valigia e molta roba da vestire. Ero disposto a fare questo sacrificio pur di stare ancora con le persone a cui voglio bene), ma rispetto all'altra volta è stato decisamente più facile -credo che avere una casa e un lavoro mi diano un poco di tranquillità in più eh ;-)-.

Il viaggio di ritorno è stato un po' movimentato: troppe persone per un aeroporto minuscolo come quello di Treviso => ho dovuto fare l'italiano e saltare la coda al controllo passaporti per raggiungere il gate in tempo (due controllori per 300 persone mi sembrano un tantino poche comunque eh). Alle 2 di lunedì sono andato sotto le coperte e ho potuto riposarmi dopo un weekend faticoso, ma che è stato comunque uno dei migliori di sempre. Se penso a quanto tempo dovrò aspettare per mangiare delizie simili (aka qualsiasi cosa comprata e cucinata entro i confini dello stivale) e, soprattutto, per stare insieme alle persone a cui voglio bene un po' di tristezza mi viene, ma sono anche contento perchè tutto va bene e ho la fortuna di vivere un'esperienza che pochi hanno la possibilità di fare.

Per oggi è tutto, alla prossima!! :-)

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Easter was definitely the best chance to plan a glorious (and rather short, sadly) comeback to Italy. Why? Well, everyone knows that Easter usually means spending some time with the whole family and, above all, eating like there was no tomorrow -in my case, everything gets doubled, since my family is split (even better, more stuff to eat! ;) )-.

It was a plan I had been toying with ever since I was told I wouldn't work at Easter. I took the chance to ask for another day off in order to have enough time to actually make the trip. I still can't believe how generous my manager was, or why she did that, but she gave me 2 days off besides Easter, which makes the whole weekend! Obviously I booked the flights as soon as I had a chance (bloody Ryanair), in case she changed her mind (likely to happen, she's quite a moody person)

After 8 straight full days at work, after finishing Thursday's shift I was euphoric. I didn't care not to have any time to sleep or to even rest, in a few hours (7.30 to be precise, from 2 am to 9.30) I would've been hugging my beloved ones and walking on homeland soil! I mean, how can you even think about being tired?! ;)

So, once I walked through the whole Cambridge with my oh so noisy (Ops!!!) luggage (carefully avoiding those groups of drunk -and therefore potentially dangerous- people) I got on my coach and, an hour later, I reached Stansted. The flight was ok -seeing the Alps again was awesome, they make such a breathtaking view from above!-, apart from the fact that, after landing in Treviso, we had to wait for sth like 45 minutes to have our passports checked. Luckily, my father, whom I was so happy to hug, understood I needed to eat something and immediately drove me to a bar where I finally had the chance to taste a real Cappuccino and a real brioche -quite cliched, I know ;-).

Surprisingly enough, I still wasn't feeling tired, therefore I was completely able to focus my attention on the enormous -and delicious- lunch at my grandmother's. I'm not lying when I say that view was a tad touching eh ;-). In fact, I started to feel sleepy a couple of hours later, while in the middle of a not so quiet movie at the cinema with friends -what's wrong with me?! 

Anyways, there was still enough time left to have another meal, this time dinner, with my mom's family. Here, I feel I need to apologize to my relatives for my pathetic and pitiful conditions. Yes, as you may have understood, I wasn't exactly being the life and soul of the party. To give you an idea of how knackered I was, I tell you I spent most of the night half asleep on a oh so comfortable armchair. Come on, I had been awake for 39 hours in a row by then!! ;-)

That aside, it was lovely to see everyone again! <3 :-)

Saturday was more of a friends-day, spent having lunch in town and watching some horrific derby and then out for the night.

On Sunday I was going to leave at 22.30, therefore I still had more than enough time for a last, but not less huge, feast, this time with the other half of the family. Somehow, eating could be considered the main highlight of my permanence in Italy...I think I could as well change the title of this post into something like "Eating my way back to Italy at Easter" ;-).

Parting again was, as you can imagine, quite difficult to go through. I'm not lying when I say a part of me didn't want to leave, even though that'd have meant leaving a significant amount of clothes, a suitcase and other stuff in Cambridge. Yes, I was willing to sacrifice all of this to spend some more time with my beloved ones. On the bright side, this time I had accommodation and a job to come back to, so I wasn't in such a desperate situation ;-).

I'm not going to complain too much about the odyssey that was the comeback trip. I'll just say that you can't expect an airport that small like Treviso's to work efficiently with hundreds of people wanting to fly simultaneously => I had to bring out my Italian genes to give myself a chance not to miss my flight, which  means I jumped the queue at the passports (only to be stuck in a room with more than 300 people waiting for the gates to open!). To cut it short, I was in my bed at 2 am and finally able to have some deserved rest after a lovely, but tiring, weekend. 

I really loved to come back home for a few days, I loved to see everyone and to spend time with them and to eat such delicious food, I can't wait to do everything again (especially the food bit eh ;-) ). If on one side I was -and I still am- a bit sad for leaving, on the other hand, I'm always happy and more grateful for living something not everyone can do. I feel blessed for having such opportunity, I'll always feel that way.

And now, before getting ready to go to work (back to normal life eh), I'll say goodbye. See you soon!! :-)

Day Off In London!!

Dato che nemmeno questa volta mi era stato dato molto preavviso riguardo i miei giorni liberi, non ho potuto organizzare nessun viaggio particolare. Ciononostante, non mi andava di stare a Cambridge tutto il tempo, dovevo fare per forza qualcosa, così mi sono detto: "dove potrei andare in giornata senza perdere troppo tempo a pianificare cose?". Una volta posta questa domanda, la ovvia risposta era una sola: Londra. Era l'idea migliore, sia perchè c'erano molte cose che avevo lasciato da parte la volta scorsa (e ci sono tuttora), sia perchè mi servivano solo 10 minuti per prenotare la corriera e il viaggio era organizzato.

Quindi, sveglia alle 5.15 (!!!!) di Mercoledì e partenza alle 6.45 da Cambridge. Per fortuna mi ero vestito, ci mancava davvero poco perchè trovassi i pinguini in giro per Cambridge! :-)

Comunque, ho dormito per la maggior parte del viaggio (circa 2 ore e mezza, di cui quasi la metà spesa per attraversare Londra e raggiungere Victoria Coach Station!) e mi sono svegliato con un paesaggio un pelo diverso davanti a me. Diciamo che a Cambridge non abbiamo una gigantesca ruota panoramica, o una torre dell'orologio così grande, tanto per dirne un paio ;-).

Non avevo un programma vero e proprio, l'idea principale era vedere un paio di posti che avevo saltato l'ultima volta, Camden Town su tutti. Oltre a quello, si è trattato essenzialmente di girare e apprezzare il fatto di essere in una delle città più estese e importanti al mondo in una bellissima giornata di sole.

Per prima cosa ho fatto un salto a Fulham Broadway che, in caso non ne siate al corrente, è la fermata della metro del quartiere dove si trova il mitico Stamford Bridge, lo stadio del Chelsea. Non sono entrato, anche perchè il tour era parecchio costoso, ma mi sarebbe piaciuto molto! :-)

Camden è, beh, è Camden. Diversa da ogni cosa, un posto dove si respira un'aria quasi di libertà. Un poco ricorda Christiania in quel di Copenhagen, anche se molto meno "oltre" del quartiere danese (la prova di quanto dico è che a Camden si possono fare foto, se capite cosa intendo ;-) ). Colori, bancarelle, artisti di strada e lo street food. Una vista -e un profumo- molto attraenti, senza dubbio ;-).

Ho trascorso più di 3 ore cercando di vedere il più possibile, anche se sono sicuro di essermi perso qualcosa eh ;-).

Dopo Camden ho intrapreso un tour delle aree verdi, dato che ho trascorso il resto del pomeriggio tra Hampstead Heath e Primrose Hill. Se cercate qualche ora di pace e tranquillità e se, come me, non vi trovate troppo a vostro agio nel caos cittadino, soprattutto il primo è quello che fa per voi. Silenzio, luce, natura... Hampstead ve lo dà. Primrose Hill è leggermente diversa nella sua "spettacolarità": dalla cima della collina, infatti, si gode di un panorama mozzafiato su tutto il centro di Londra. Peccato non essere stato lì alle prime luci dell'alba, sono sicuro che sarei rimasto a bocca aperta :-).

Da lì, cena a Camden e, a costo di perdere la corriera alle 21.00, un salto allo stadio per accarezzare l'atmosfera id una grande partita in corso ;-). Ovviamente poi ero con i minuti contati e, una volta raggiunta la fermata di Victoria, ho dovuto correre fino alla stazione delle corriere per poi non trovare il mio gate, chiedere informazioni col fiatone -impossibile formulare una frase di senso compiuto, non so come il tizio mi abbia capito- e raggiungere a pelo la  mia corriera. Inutile dire che, sfinito, ho dormito per tutto il viaggio di ritorno!! ;-)

È stata una bellissima giornata, anche se rinnovo quanto detto: Londra è bella, offre ogni possibile opportunità, in termini di attrazioni e attività, ma è decisamente troppo caotica per i miei gusti. Ieri poi avevo un filo di mal di testa, quindi a tratti la confusione era quasi soffocante. Ovviamente vale la pena sopportare tutto ciò eh, si tratta di Londra dopotutto!! Dico solo che sono contento di non viverci e di aver scelto Cambridge, molto più vicina ai miei gusti e molto più "a misura".

Ecco, magari prendere le corriere ad un orario un pelo più decente non sarebbe stato male, ma non importa ;-). Detto questo, tra una settimana mi toccherà fare un'altra levataccia per prendere l'aereo, ma ne vale assolutissimamente la pena!

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When you aren't told when your days off are enough in advance, organising something special is always rather complicated and usually it requires some kind of 'sacrifices'. In my case, waking up at 5.15 to catch the bus 1 hour later to go to London was quite a challenge, but I was willing to do everything to finally begin putting my head out of Cambridge a bit. Obviously, London wasn't really my first choice, having been there a few months ago I'd rather discover some new places you know! Nevertheless, I enjoyed my time there yesterday, despite not having a real plan :-).

Not having seen Camden back in October, that was the first thing on my list, but before that I decided to make a quick visit to Fulham Broadway, the neighbourhood home of Chelsea FC and of its impressive stadium, the Stamford Bridge. I didn't want to throw in 30 quid to visit the pitch and the inside of the stadium, so I stayed out and took a couple of photos (everything was being arranged for the match against Man City, so it was quite hectic and busy around there), but I had fun the same :-).

I was lucky because, since when I woke up in the coach (judging by the landmarks around me, I wasn't definitely in Cambridge anymore. You know, we don't have a massive clock tower, nor a huge wheel and definitely we don't have any skyscrapers ;-) ) I was hit by a warm sun which made the spring air even more enjoyable :-).

If I had to describe Camden using just one word, I'd choose 'different'. I think it's the most appropriate one, because it sums up perfectly what that place is, different. Some similarities with Christiania, even though it's not as "extreme" as the danish neighbourhood if you know what I mean (photos are allowed in Camden for insance ;-) ). The sight of so  many colours, so many people and street artists, so many weird things and such an incredible display of street food (again, it reminded me of Papirøen in Paper Island - obviously I'm talking about my lovely Copenhagen again ;-) - ). And of course you can't ignore the massive amount of goods and souvenirs that cover the thousands of stands in Camden! ;-)

I spent there something like three hours and a half, not doing anything special except wandering around and trying to see as many things as possible -I even took a couple of selfies, discipline I am very slowly getting better at ;-)-.

After Camden, but not before having answered I don't smoke marijuana to no less than 3 people,  I felt I needed a break from the chaos of the city (to be honest, I wasn't even in good shape yesterday), hence why I headed toward Hampstead Heath, where I spent the following 2 hours on a bench, just enjoying the weather and the peace around me. That was truly the paradise, and so was Primrose Hill, but in a different way. From the top of the hill, it's possible to enjoy the view of the city centre and of Regent Park. I was there at sunset and if the panorama was stunning at that time, I can't imagine how breathtaking it must be at dawn!

If the day so far hadn't had any pathos, don't worry, I was saving it for last: I almost missed my coach because of my brilliant idea to go back to the stadium, just to take a photo and see the atmosphere on a match day. As a -obvious- consequence,  I had to run a lot to be able to go back to Cambridge, and I did catch the coach, just in time! No need to say I slept over the whole journey ;-).

I had a great time in London, even though I'll say once again that, despite everything that the city offers, talking about attractions/activities, it's not a place I'd enjoy living in. Too much chaotic and overcrowded, too much traffic...at times even suffocating! All this to say I am happy of choosing my little Cambridge, definitely more livable and generally better for me :-).

Of course, I do like the idea of going to London every now and then eh, but, considering also I am alone, having always fun might be difficult.

Anyways, I hope this was just the first of many adventures and that I'll have the chance to visit as many places as possible! :-)

-Only, next time I might want to catch the bus a tad later in the morning -although I could consider it as some good training for what awaits me in a week, when I am going to catch the coach right after work in the middle of the night! ;-)-

Going Home?! General Update

Non manca molto ai due mesi trascorsi qui a Cambridge e ormai penso di poter dire che ci sono, ce l'ho fatta. Mi trovo bene a vivere qui e mi sono praticamente abituato ai ritmi del lavoro e mi trovo molto bene al ristorante dove sto. Davvero, riconosco di essere stato molto fortunato in tutti i sensi, dalla velocità con cui ho trovato il posto al tipo di colleghi che mi sono capitati, tutte brave persone.

Tutto sta andando bene, di recente mi è persino arrivato il tanto sospirato NIN, il che significa che adesso sono legalmente inserito nel panorama lavorativo e, stando a quanto mi era stato detto non più di due settimane fa, ora ho tutti i requisiti necessari per aprire il dannato conto corrente e potermi atteggiare con la mia bellissima carta senza dovermi più fermare a contare le monetine ;-).

Ora non mi resta che imparare a gestire bene il mio tempo, in modo da poter utilizzare il giorno libero (e parte dei guadagni) per girare un po' e visitare qualche bel posto. Ovviamente non si potrà trattare di viaggi eccessivamente lunghi, non ne avrei il tempo. Per ora sto prendendo in considerazione mete raggiungibili facilmente da qui, come Norwich o Ely. Anche Canterbury mi interessa, non importa se ci vorrà più di qualche ora e vari mezzi per arrivarci ;-).

Ultimo aggiornamento: ho aggiunto gli Harry Potter studios alla mia lista, è tassativamente obbligatorio andarci (sono a Watford, che non dovrebbe essere troppo complicata da raggiungere, spero...;-) ) e passarci quanto più tempo possibile :-).

Per concludere in bellezza questo cortissimo post, la notizia più bella: tra circa 2 settimane torno a casa!! Non so come sono riuscito a strappare due giorni liberi oltre a Pasqua, ma ce l'ho fatta! Ovviamente, anche se mi sono svenato per farlo perchè Ryanair fa schifo/è pessima/sono dei ladri/meritano il peggio, ho preso subito i biglietti (vi dico che aggiungendo 100-150 euro al massimo mi facevo andata-ritorno a LA o a San Francisco) prima che qualcuno cambiasse idea e mi dicesse che devo stare a Cambridge. Saranno 3 giorni intensi, considerando che devo partire da qui alle 3.50 am del 14/04 e da Treviso ale 22.45 del 16/04, ma non importa perchè non vedo l'ora di incontrare tutti, parenti e amici. Ovviamente ne approfitterò per mangiare come si deve eh perchè, non importa quanto io sia bravo ad adattarmi ecc ecc, ma la cucina e i prodotti che trovi qui non reggono minimamente il confronto con quello che c'è a casa ;-).

Penso che questo sia tutto per ora, spero di avere tante altre cose di cui parlare molto presto!!

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By now, I have been living in Cambridge for almost two months (already!!! ;-) ) and I believe I can safely say I've made it. I do think I was right when I chose this -not so- small and yet lovely town, I think it has everything I could ask for, including a good strategic position to reach some bigger places, should the need arise ;-). Moreover, I have got accustomed to the work schedule and I have learnt a lot about the job itself, which is great. Speaking of which, I recognise being extremely lucky with everything, including obviously the incredibly short amount of time I needed to find a profession and the fact of sharing so much time with a bunch of lovely colleagues. That makes everything easier and definitely more bearable. No need to talk about how much I like living in my current house, my landlord is probably the best person I could've asked for as a housemate, really! :-)

Considering I finally got my -too much- long awaited NINo, everything is going way too well. Thanks to that, now I am finally legally authorized to work here, which is great I guess ;-). Now I should have everything I needed to open that bloody bank account and act cool with my brand new card when I need to pay sth instead of looking miserable and a tad pathetic while counting tons of coins ;-).

Now, besides the daytime being longer, I need to learn how to handle my own time in the most efficient and effective way, in order to make the most of my very few days off (and of part of the money I earn), hopefully by visiting some nice place and thus exploring the country at least a little bit. No need to point out I won't be able to organise too long trips due to the lack of time, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy it at all! :-)

Right now, I'm currently keen on visiting Norwich and Ely, both of them easy to reach by coach/train within very few hours. Oh, I am definitely considering Canterbury as well, probably because of my mother's influence -the woman has been pushing me into going there ever since I left Italy you know ;-)- and obviously because I myself want to visit what seems to be a lovely place :-).

The very last thing I added to my to-visit list is a tour in the Harry Potter studios, which is totally mandatory, I'm not leaving England without going there! -fanboy mode on ;-)-

And last, but definitely not least, I'm going home!! Yes, I managed to get two days off besides Easter, which means I will have a whole weekend to spend with my beloved ones -be them family or friends- whom I am missing as never before. Obviously I bought the tickets right after getting this unexpected gift from my boss because you never know, she might change her mind. I am definitely pissed off at Ryanair though, I paid way too much (I'm telling you, I'd need to add just 100-150 euros to the money I paid to have a two way ticket to LA or San Francisco, which is insane!! :-( ).

Anyways, that's definitely going to be a heck of a trip, considering I'm finishing work at around 0.00 and the bus for Stansted leaves at 3.50. Moreover, two days later, on the 16th of April, the flight from Treviso takes off at 22.45. Nevertheless, I am super excited also to try this new night-ish way of travelling ;-). And obviously I will take the chance to eat some good food, which is something I'm missing so much (don't misunderstand, I'm doing fine, but the cuisine and the products I have here can't be a match for what I will find at home, I'll tell you that for sure ;-) ).

As I said, everything is going way too well now, I think I should probably expect and be ready for a sudden turn of events because it's not possible I'm going to get only the positive stuff!

I think this is it for now! I hope to have many more things to write about soon!! :-)



Oh, by the way, I'm quite happy also with the whole language thing: I'm noticing some slow and minute improvement in pronunciation and fluency, but I am not satisfied at all yet, even though this is somehow rewarding for me :-).

One Month Of Cambridge

Dopo un bel po' di tempo -avevo un post quasi finito qualche giorno fa am i recenti avvenimenti me l'hanno fatto cancellare- penso sia ora di pubblicare qualcosa, no? ;-)
Non sarà molto lungo perché non ho voglia di starci troppo tempo (e purtroppo non ci saranno foto, per via di un problema che non riesco a risolvere :-( -date un occhio al mio Instagram se volete vederne un paio- )

Dunque dunque...Beh, partiamo dal titolo: oggi sono  trascorse esattamente 4 settimane da quando sono arrivato qui. Ebbene sì, già quattro settimane. Potrei però dire, allo stesso tempo, solo quattro settimane, dato che mi sembra passato un secolo da quel 10 di Febbraio! ;-)

Un mese in cui è successo un po' di tutto ma anche un po' di niente. Il primo impatto con la città, il traino delle valigie, l'esplorazione compulsiva e ossessiva, il cambio di casa, le ore passate al mio centro commerciale preferito, il nulla, la ricerca del lavoro, ecc...Proprio questo ultimo punto ha segnato probabilmente i giorni "peggiori" da quando sono qui. Sapete un po' tutti come son fatto e che tendo a scoraggiarmi forse un pelo troppo facilmente. Ed è quello che succedeva non più di una 8-9 giorni fa, quando, nonostante i CV portati in giro, non avevo ancora ricevuto nessuna chiamata.
Poi, quasi per caso, sabato scorso sono capitato in una pizzeria, ho lasciato il CV e, incredibilmente, in men che non si dica avevo avevo la prova due giorni dopo.

Dopo quattro giorni di lavoro dietro al bar di una pizzeria, tra errori, madonne tirate per ogni goccia d'acqua sui bicchieri appena asciugati e per ogni bicchiere rotto (solo uno finora ;-) ), posso dire che sarà difficile. Si tratterà di abituarmi e prendere il ritmo, oltre a, come sempre, dover vincere alcuni lati del mio carattere che un po' mi frenano in certi casi. Se da un lato sono molto contento perché finalmente ho una situazione quantomeno stabile, dall'altro mi dispiace perché, per via degli orari e del tipo di lavoro, non avrò molte possibilità di girare per il paese e vedere nuovi posti. È davvero un peccato essere così vicino a tanti posti ricchi di storia, arte e cultura, o semplicemente spettacolari dal punto di vista naturalistico, e non avere il tempo materiale per poterli visitare :-(.

Comunque, per adesso va benissimo così, poi vedremo che accadrà prossimamente :-). Ora torno a godermi il mio giorno libero e a prepararmi psicologicamente per la maratona che sarà questo weekend. Ho paura!!! ;-)

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After quite some time -I had a post half-written for last Friday, but many things happened and I had to delete it- I'm posting again!! ;-)
Unfortunately, this isn't going to be as long as some of you might expect. Apologies, I simply don't want to spend much time on here right now (and again, no photos, since I'm still going through some struggles with Photobucket -visit my Instagram if you want to see a couple of the nice shots I've taken so far!- ).

Anyways...Well, let's start with the title: today I've been living in England for 4 exact weeks. Yes, it's already been a month since that 10th of February -although I feel I could as well say "it's only been one month". Gosh, it seems to me I've been here for a century!

A month in which a bit of everything happened, but also a bit of nothing. My first days and my adaptation to Cambridge, the moments spent eating -not so much- junk food -worse week of my life, food related-, the exploration, the chilling, the change of house, the way too many hours spent in my favorite spot at the shopping centre, the research for a job, etc...This last point was probably what characterised my worst days here. You all know me, you know how easily I tend to lose confidence and faith if things don't go the way I'd like them to. Well, no more than 8-9 days ago I was losing hope, due to not having received any call despite the amount of CVs delivered around. Then, randomly, I happened to walk into a pizzeria and to come out of it with a trial scheduled for 2 days later.

Now, four days -and many mistakes, some cursing for finding drops of water on the glasses and for breaking (only) one of them- later, I can say it's going to be difficult. I will need to get accustomed to the shifts and to plan my days accordingly, not to mention the I-need-to-defeat-my-crappy-nature thing again. Don't misunderstand, I'm happy and relieved of how things have been going lately, I can but be, since now I have that stability I needed and I have always believed to be vital for me, not only now, but in everything I have done so far. The only drawback I can see is that this new schedule is so damn full I don't even have time to catch a train/a bus and spend a couple of days visiting some interesting place. I had hoped to have this opportunity, there's so much culture, history, art, or even pure beauty in this country! It's a shame being so close and being unable to see it, really frustrating. But oh well, we can't have anything, right? :-)

Anyways, for now I'm happy with the way things are, then we'll see what will happen next :-). Now let me go back to enjoy what's left of my day off -which includes getting psychologically ready for the awfully full next couple of days, since I failed in finding a way to manipulate time at will and make this weekend go by in an instant ;-)-. See you!! :-)

Exploring Cambridge!!

Well, what can I say? It's already been a week since that 10th of February, but to me it looks like a month!! What I'm sure about though is that I'm handling it quite well, all things considered, which is rather surprising!

The only truly tough day was the last one before leaving: I still remember how nervous, anxious and, I would add, sad I was feeling. And now everything is almost completely gone, which means I'm able to fully enjoy my time here.

The impact was fairly traumatic though, and that is largely due to the (way more than) crappy weather conditions: I can understand the cold and the rain, and even some fog, but not the snow!!
That aside, I didn't have to struggle a lot to find the hostel I had booked for the first night, even though, to be honest, the luggage slowed me down a lot (must've cursed like never before haha ;) ).

I also got to socialise with my roommate for the night, I believe we went on talking for 2-3 hours before going to bed. I was so tired and my English -which is not special at all in and of itself- was completely lost by 1 am, I cannot imagine how big his effort to understand my twisted reasonings must've been! Nevertheless, he was a good guy for sure (I couldn't believe a 20 year old person could talk about such elevated topics!)!

Another highlight I'm never going to forget is that time of the following day when I carried about 40 kg of luggage from one side of Cambridge to the other. Did beat my cursing score of the previous day here, no doubts!

Anyways, Maggie, my host mother for the first week, has been such a kind person, willing to help me with anything I might need and I'm thanking her a lot for this. She even offered me permanent accommodation for the following months! What I'm gonna miss the most though, beside her and my lovely giant bedroom, are the cat, Snowie, and the dog, Milka. I have never seen such a famished -and yet adorable- cat and such a crazy dog, I swear!! :-)

All in all, this has been a nice week. Since I was lucky enough to impress the very first landlord I met on Sunday and thus solving the accommodation thing immediately, I decided to use the following days only to try and see as much of Cambridge as possible. As in every city, there are some things I like and some others I don't, but my review so far can but be extremely positive. Especially when you get to see it with the sun, Cambridge is lovely. You can feel so much history by just walking aside the walls of the many impressive buildings (mainly colleges of course ;-) ), which are truly huge. Honestly, I would love to be enrolled in a course just to have permission to walk freely inside them and feeling cool while doing so ;-).

Yesterday I even visited the Fitzwilliam Museum which, I got to say, left me positively impressed. It offers quite an interesting collection of pieces of art that covers many centuries and is related to multiple cultures. I found some of my favorite works here, which made me appreciate the whole exhibition even more ;-).

One thing I'm not going to miss in the future is the food though. I basically got only some grab-and-eat stuff up until now and I'm ok with it, though I do miss a cooked meal a lot. I can't wait to go shopping and use my chef-level cooking ability ;-). But eating this way has been interesting as well: here it's much more common to just walk into the first supermarket, grab some random stuff from the shelf and eat it on a bench or while walking. Some small cultural difference with how food and meals are perceived here :-).

What else can I say? Mmmh, except from averaging almost 10 km per day by foot there's not much left...

Oh right, I love the fact that finding a free wifi is the easiest thing to do here, even though I have my favourite spot where to suck internet from while comfortably sitting on a bench. I'm talking about the huge mall in the centre, where I also enjoy listening to all the awesome and incredibly gifted people who stop by to play the piano and create some great fantastic music. Oh if only I could play the piano!! :-(

And for now I guess I'm calling it a night! I apologize for the many typos/mistakes I'm sure I have put into this post, but I do not have much time to revise it and I wanted it finished before tomorrow!
Right, for tomorrow things are going to get a tad more serious, since I intend to begin my proper search for a job, which includes several other things to take care of and to arrange, but if a good beginning makes a good end... ;-)



Prima o poi tornerò a scrivere anche in Italiano, abbiate fiducia!!! :-)

A Big...No, A Huge Step Out Of The Comfort Zone

So, here we are, the time has eventually come. I've been mumbling quite a lot about what title I should choose for this short and monolingual post, and I've come to the conclusion this is by far the most appropriate.

Yes, what I will be doing tomorrow can but be called a huge step out of my comfort zone and, in a wider sense, out of my world, my safe little bubble.

I'm going to be completely honest with you: with the date of my departure coming closer, a part of me -do not ask how relevant- began refusing the whole thing. This part of me just didn't want to carry on the project I had been dreaming of for a while. Hence why the last few days have been, well, pure crap (huge thanks also to the misery and the cold that came to torment me, as if this emotional struggle of mine weren't enough). Saying goodbye to everyone you love has been probably the most difficult moment I've found myself into, especially as I don't know when I'll be seeing them. 

End of part one, the sad one.

Part two:

This is the half of the post in which I'm going to show the jubilant part of me, which I am pretty sure (see the positivity here!! ;-) ) will completely defeat the melancholic one in the next days. 

After all, I'm a few hours away from going to Cambridge (which is in the country with the language I love and I have always wanted to "explore") to try and live there for a while. I am aware I'm fulfilling one of my ambitions and I can't wait for everything to begin!

Of course, I need to be realistic as well: I know there are a few chances things aren't going to go well -after all, I am going there completely and utterly by myself, with no help at all-. I need to accept this and try to overcome any fear I might have in order to just live the whole thing as it should be lived, with joy, happiness and will to learn. Pretty much a kind of holiday which might help me growing up a bit ;-).

And being there alone doesn't mean I'm going to face the thing alone. I am so lucky to have such an amazing and caring bunch of people around me willing to stand my moaning and reassure me with the right words. Thanks to all of you!!! <3 :-)

Last but not least, I am not risking anything -except for some money eh ;-)-. Worst case scenario, I can always catch a plane and be back home in the blink of an eye! 

That's all folks! Hope to have many awesome things to write about in the close future! :-)

Good luck to me!!!! 

As In All Stories, We Have The Sudden Turn Of Events!!

Così, all'improvviso, ecco arrivare il colpo di scena, quell'elemento in apparenza di minima importanza, ma che si rivela in grado di stravolgere e mandare a quel paese anche i piani e progetti più elaborati e a prova di bomba.

Ecco, questa è una descrizione abbastanza accurata di quanto mi è capitato qualche giorno fa. Ironia della sorte, tutto è nato appena un paio di giorni dopo il mio ultimo post dove, già quasi in estasi, parlavo di quella che sarebbe stata la mia avventura oltremanica. Post che, a questo punto, potrei benissimo cancellare, dato che la maggior parte del contenuto trattato al suo interno non esisterà più. Ho infatti deciso di abbandonare il programma e la "tabella" che mi apprestavo a seguire al momento di trasferirmi in Inghilterra. Perché? Beh, perché faceva schifo!

E no, non mi sono svegliato tardi, come può sembrare, semplicemente ho ricevuto i dettagli adesso. Come da me scritto nella mail di motivazione per la mia rinuncia, il programma offertomi non rispecchiava per niente quanto mi era stato proposto in origine, e quindi non giustificava la spesa (che già di per sé sarebbe stata consistente, senza bisogno di aggiungere i costi di 4 ore -come minimo!- al giorno sui mezzi pubblici). Per rendere la cosa meno noiosa, non mi si chiedeva di prendere un solo mezzo, bensì 3. Riscaldamento con una ventina di minuti di autobus, per poi proseguire con i 55 minuti di treno e finalmente scendere in pista con altri 45 minuti di metro. Il tutto (moltiplicato per 2, perché c'è pure il ritorno) come antipasto per poi arrivare alla portata principale, ossia lavoro in un Hotel (anche se sul sito io ho letto B&B) e poi tornare a casa una volta finito. Dimenticato qualcosa? Ah sì, il corso di Inglese serale!

Non male come primo mese a Londra eh? Penso che qualche minuto per vivere sarei comunque riuscito a trovarlo, senza comunque chiedere troppo ovviamente...

Prima che mi si giudichi come troppo schizzinoso o impreparato a fare un po' di fatica, vorrei dire che le ragioni per cui ho gentilmente rifiutato sono altre e un pelo più profonde.

1) Io ho pagato fior di soldini (che, ricordiamo, non crescono sugli alberi) per un'attività "professionalizzante e altamente qualificante", da loro chiaramente differenziata rispetto all'altra offerta (più economica, ma consistente in semplicissimo lavoro di fotocopisteria), e poi mi trovo in un hotel? Ancora, non è per il posto, piuttosto per il fatto che una cosa del genere me la trovo anche da solo, e per di più retribuita (perché questi internship li facevo a gratis ovviamente ;-) )!

2) Le spese + mancanza di tempo. Oltre al malloppo che avrei sborsato per vivere e prender parte a queste attività, si sarebbe aggiunto il cash dei trasporti. Il tutto senza un'entrata proveniente da un lavoro che, vista la mancanza di tempo, sarei stato impossibilitato a trovare. Capite quindi che, seguendo questa via, sarebbe stato impossibile per me cercare di prolungare la mia permanenza lì oltre il mese iniziale. Ma allora cosa vado a fare?

3) Questo è un po' un bonus, che comunque mi sento di includere tra le cause di questo ripensamento: il comportamento a mio parere disonesto e poco serio dell'ente che ha organizzato il tutto. Come fai a pretendere un pagamento entro 28 giorni dall'arrivo e dare i dettagli del programma per cui io pago a -29 giorni?? Nel mio caso specifico, il bonifico non era ancora partito -grazie a Dio- perché avevo voluto e dovuto aspettare fino all'ultimo e perché c'era la Befana di mezzo. Che fortuna eh? Anche perché ho idea che quei soldi non li avrei rivisti haha ;-). Per di più, mi proponi di accettare un cambio del programma dopo che ho rifiutato quando avresti già dovuto offrirmi la migliore soluzione? Eh no, così non siamo mica d'accordo!

Adesso spero solo che non sorgano casini vari con penali e cose del genere. Loro vogliono fare i furbi e si aspettano che paghi l'intera somma del tirocinio, quando a) io non ho firmato niente; b) questo non c'è scritto da nessuna parte (anzi, l'unica penale prevista ammonta, semmai, a 100 £ -le pagherei tranquillamente-, una somma leggermente inferiore alle 550£ richiesti; c) siete delle carogne.

In sostanza, ho cambiato idea e ho improvvisamente realizzato che, con i soldi messi da parte che non verranno più buttai nel cesso spesi dovrei avere una base piuttosto solida per sopravvivere mentre cerco un lavoro e una sistemazione fissa. Senza contare che non sono più obbligato ad andare a Londra, il che non mi dispiace affatto come cosa ;-). Adesso sto cercando di ripianificare il tutto, chiedendo anche consiglio a tutte quelle persone che qualcosa in merito ne sanno e, ovviamente, consumando giga a vagonate sull'internet ;-). Vedrò se scrivere qualcosa quando ci saranno novità più precise ;-).

Com'è buffa la vita, no? Per una serie di coincidenze verificatesi allo stesso tempo, io non ho pagato, ho cambiato idea e così facendo, magari, ho aumentato le probabilità di vivere una bella esperienza e raggiungere i miei obiettivi :-). Quando si dice il destino... ;-)


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Out of nowhere, we have the unexpected turn of events, the result of multiple -and apparently of little importance- circumstances that has got the power to overturn and, ultimately, smash completely any plan/project previously made.

Now, this is quite an accurate description of what happened to me a week ago. Ironically enough, all this stuff came out only a couple of days after the last post where, almost jubilant, I described my upcoming adventure. The way things are right now, I could as well delete that post, since what's written there is basically not going to happen anymore. As you might have already sensed, I have indeed made up my mind and decided to leave the schedule and the plan that had been set up for me once moved to England. Why? Well, that's an easy answer: it sucked!!

In case you were wondering, no, I didn't change my mind for no reason at the very last moment, as it might seem. Rather, I received the details at the very last. As written in the mail I sent to them, the programme that had been scheduled for me differed completely from what I had been offered originally, thus it wasn't worth the expense (which was rather consistent in and of itself without any need to add the cost of 4 hours per day -at the very least- on the public transport). To put it short, my day was organised in three phases: public transport all day, work at an hotel and, not to leave some free time aside, an English course (a low-quality one I think) in the evening.

Not bad as first month in London, right? I do think I'd still have managed to find a couple of minutes to live my life though, I'm optimistic...

In case you're thinking of me as a picky and spoiled person, who's not ready to go through some labour and struggle, let me tell you have jumped to the wrong conclusion. The reasons for which I kindly refused are different and a tad deeper.

1) I had paid a considerable amount of money (which doesn't grow on trees, as we all should remember) to take part in a "professional and a highly qualifying" (cit.) internship -I'm quoting the exact words they used to differentiate this activity from the other internship, which was cheaper but, according to them, not as worthy as the first one- and I end up in a hotel? Again, I'm not complaining about the place itself, it's more the fact that I don't see the point of paying for something I can find on my own and for which I'd receive a salary (I was almost forgetting: these were all unpaid internships of course ;-) )!

2) The cost + the lack of time. As already said, I simply couldn't afford to add the cost of the public transport -not famous for being cheap, especially in London!- to the sum I was already supposed to pay. Add the fact that I'd not have had time to look for a proper job to maintain myself and we say goodbye to any idea of extending my stay there further than that one month. This way, it'd have been a waste of time and money.

3) This is a bit of a bonus one, but I do feel appropriate to put it among the causes: I believe that, besides letting down my expectancies, their behaviour was quite dishonest. How can you expect a payment to be done by 28 days prior to my arrival and then let out such key info as the workplace just ONE day before this deadline?? Luckily -and thank God- my transfer was still in stand-by due to banks being closed for the Epiphany, so I had time to stop it. But what if I had paid, let's say, a month ago? I have the feeling I would not have seen that money again, dunno why...Maybe because apparently they're asking for a refund equal to the total amount of the internship cost (550£), despite what's written on their website. According to that, if I notify them of my resignation, I will have to pay a cancellation fee of only 100£. I find their attempt quite disgusting, but I hope no further problems are going to arise!

Anyways, to put it short, I changed my mind and as soon as I did it, I suddenly realised that, with the money I'm not going to flush pay anymore, I should have quite a solid possibility to maintain myself temporarily while I'm looking for a job. Not to mention I'm not forced to go to London now! Instead, I can freely choose my destination and that is awesome! Of course I do need to put some effort to plan everything from the very beginning, which involves spending hours on the Internet and harassing plenty of people for advice -I'm genuinely sorry for that!!- (get my implicit request for help here!!! ;-) ).

I will eventually write something more as soon as new plans are made, since for now I'm into a kind of deadlock.

Still, it's amazing how a couple of events which occurred simultaneously -me delaying my payment and changing my mind- can unexpectedly create new opportunities that seem to be even better than the original ones. Thanks to this renounce, I do believe I will have better chances of living an awesome experience, provided that things go in the right direction, and of not wasting an opportunity like this one. Such a strange thing is destiny... ;-)

Moving Abroad??

Prima di introdurre l'argomento chiave del post penso sia quantomeno opportuno fare anche qui gli auguri di Buon Anno (in ritardo, ma ormai è diventata la consuetudine su questo blog ;-) ).

Si è infine chiuso un 2016 molto positivo, ricco di momenti fantastici e traguardi che hanno messo in secondo piano qualche momento no, che comunque deve sempre esserci.

Sicuramente ricorderò l'anno passato come uno dei migliori e più importanti di sempre. D'altronde, una laurea non si prende mica sempre eh! ;-)

Per non parlare poi dei viaggi! Mai come nel 2016 infatti ho girato e visitato posti che non avevo mai visto (intendiamoci, in realtà si è trattato di due vacanze e di qualche giretto veloce ;-) ). La prima volta in Inghilterra, a Londra e, per di più, da solo non si scorda mai ;-).

Ovviamente anche il viaggio a Copenhagen merita un posto speciale, sia per la compagnia che per l'esperienza in sé. Come ho già detto, sono rimasto davvero colpito dalla città -per certi versi, la preferisco a Londra- e non vedo l'ora di tornarci!

Gli ultimi mesi del 2016 sono stati un po' un periodo di pausa e riflessione, in cui mi sono rilassato (anche un po' troppo, ma ormai va bene così ;-) ) e ho riflettuto con scarsi risultati sul futuro. Ovviamente, non ho preso una decisione definitiva riguardo cosa "voglio fare da grande", penso che sia ancora troppo presto e di non avere tutti gli elementi necessari per prendere una decisione tanto importante, che poi inevitabilmente condizionerebbe la mia vita. Ci sono ancora troppe esperienze che vorrei fare, cose che vorrei imparare e luoghi che vorrei visitare!! :-)
Ecco perché non mi sono iscritto subito ad una specialistica, c'è tempo per quello ;-).

Ma quindi come voglio impiegare i mesi futuri? Non posso mica starmene con le mani in mano, quello sì che sarebbe tempo buttato, considerando anche quanto veloce passi quest'ultimo :-).

Chi mi conosce sa che ho sempre avuto una sorta di pallino, un chiodo fisso, soprattutto per il fatto di essere stato costantemente in contatto con le lingue durante gli ultimi tre anni: quello di trasferirmi per un po' all'estero -in Inghilterra nello specifico-. Questa sarebbe una vera e propria manna per me, anche considerando una futura carriera come interprete o traduttore. Quale modo migliore di perfezionare la lingua in ogni suo aspetto che farne una costante quotidiana? Nessuno, fidatevi. Soprattutto per uno con il mio carattere (tendo ad imparare le cose provandole più e più volte), un'opportunità del genere consoliderebbe le mie conoscenze e mi aiuterebbe a raggiungere un livello più alto. Sarebbe una grande soddisfazione personale acquisire una certa fluenza con l'Inglese, sfatando un po' anche quello stereotipo dell'Italiano che ha difficoltà a parlarlo ;-).

Senza contare che sarebbe un'esperienza di vita fantastica!! Vivere da solo, in un paese straniero, confrontarsi con abitudini e modi di fare diversi,... Fantastico!!! :-)

Ecco perché a Febbraio, precisamente il 4, se tutto va bene, sarò su un volo Treviso-Londra senza biglietto di ritorno. Per il primo mese starò in famiglia e seguirò un programma/corso specifico, poi però starà a me. Non so ancora se e quanto riuscirò a rimanere lì, però è superfluo dire che un mese sarebbe poco. Ci saranno dei momenti difficili, soprattutto all'inizio, e sarà una prova molto ardua per me, anche perché dovrò confrontarmi con certi aspetti del mio carattere che in questo caso potrebbero, diciamo, remarmi un po' contro :-). Tuttavia, se tutto andrà per il verso giusto, come mi auguro, sarà grandioso!

Concludo ripetendo che sarà una grandissima opportunità in tutti i sensi, che non devo assolutamente sprecare. Wow, se solo penso a dove stavo poco più di un anno fa, quasi non ci credo. Un po' di strada sembra che l'abbia fatta, no? ;-)

Un altro piccolo grande sogno si sta per realizzare, ho quasi la pelle d'oca!! :-)

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Before getting to the main topic, I think I should use this post to wish you all a Happy New Year (belated, as always on this blog ;-) ), since this is the first one of 2017.

-implicit resolution for the new year: I'll try yo write more than I did in 2016 ;-) -

I do not want to talk about how I spent the New Year's Eve, I'm just going to tell you I wasn't in the mood for massive celebrations. Moreover, I worked both the 31st and the 1st, so yeah...Guess I'll make up for it next year? ;-)

This 2016 that has recently come to its end has been quite a positive year for me, filled with many awesome moments that somehow helped me to ignore the negative bits.

I'm definitely going to remember it as one of the best -if not the very best!- years of my life. Hey, a degree isn't something you get on a daily frequency! ;-)

And of course I can but mention the trips! 2016 has been the year in which I finally managed to travel and see places I had never visited before (to be honest, two "major" trips and some one-day stuff aren't really anything, especially for someone who's a pro in travelling, but for me it's a huge improvement :-) ). And hey, the first time in England, in London and, in addition to that, alone is quite an unforgettable thing ;-).

The Copenhagen trip deserves a specialmention as well, both for the company and for the experience in itself. As I've already said, I fell in love with that city -maybe even more than I did with London- and I can't wait to be back there!

The last couple of months of 2016 were a kind of holiday, in which I took a break (maybe a bit too long, but at this point it's no use having regrets o mumbling about it) and some time to reflect with hardly any result about the future. As you can easily imagine, I still haven't decided "what I want to do as an adult", I think it's still too soon and I lack many variables. Honestly, I don't feel ready to take such an important decision that could have awful consequences on my life if too rushed. Moreover, there are still way too many things I want to do, stuff I want to learn and places I want to visit!! ;-)
This is one of the reasons why I am currently not enrolled in any Maser course, there's plenty of time for that ;-).

So how am I going to spend the upcoming months? Of course I can't just stay here twiddling my thumbs and waiting for something to happen. That would be wasted time, and time is not something  we can get back I'm afraid!

Who knows me, is aware of my "obsession": considering my career, I've always been fascinated by the idea of moving abroad - aka to England- for some time. That'd be exactly what I need to master the language I love the most, but which I feel not completely "mine" yet. I honestly hate losing fluency and vocabulary as soon as I stop attending classes for a while (I'm not being too severe, trust me. Besides, you certainly will have noticed this if you've been reading my blog for a while ;-) ).
And considering the possibility of being a translator or an interpreter in the future, this is what I need to build the bases required to succeed in said field. Knowing my nature as a languages learner, the only way to build said bases is to make that language something I'm actively in touch with daily (I learn more with practice than with books you know ;-) ). I'd be extremely proud of myself if I managed to do such a thing, prouder than I've ever been, that'd be my victory :-).

I'm not forgetting all the other perks and consequences of living alone, in a foreign country and of having to deal with a different culture and different habits...What an awesome experience this is!!! :-)

Here's why in February, on the 4th to be more precise, provided everything goes well, I'll be on a plane with my one-way ticket to London. I'm staying with a family and I'm following a given programme provided with a course as well for the first month, then it's up to me whether I manage stay there or I have to come back home. No need to say I intend to do everything that is in my power to prolong my staying there as much as possible. I'm aware I'm probably going to go through some hard times but hey, I'm definitely going to learn a lot from them as well! ;-)

Of course you can keep your fingers crossed for me, I'm going to need as much support as possible, now more than ever! ;-)

I honestly hope not to waste this opportunity, also because I do not want to fail those who have backed me up in taking this decision.

One last thing: if I think where I was a bit more than a year ago, I hardly believe all this is about to happen, where is the old me? Left in the dust somewhere behind I guess... ;-)

Another little dream of mine is about to turn into reality, I'm so thrilled (and a tad moved as well) and I feel blessed for being so lucky :-).



Apologies for the many typos and for the clumsy style, I lacked the time to revise the whole post and I am currently a bit rusty!