400!

Happy 400th to me! I've now been blogging for a bit over a year and I think my age is starting to show. And by that, I mean both my recent laziness and the numbers you see on the blog archive (right).

When I got my internet back I realized that I had completely forgotten about the blog milestone. Someone needs to explain to me why when I add up the numbers on the left, today's entry actually counts as the 401st, but when I'm in my edit posts page it says today is my 400th. Mathematics will continue to remain a mystery to me.

This morning we had a 7:30am wakeup call since Posh was leaving for the airport before 9:00am. I took a 30-minute nap while she got ready and then helped her call a taxi. I mention this because a few days ago, Patrizio (my conversation teacher) had taught us how to talk on the phone (comparing familiar vs. courtesy) and even how to call for a taxi, so I wasn’t as scared as I would have been. After Posh left I went back to bed until a bit after 1:00pm. 

Il Castello dell'Imperatore in Prato

Killer and I took a short day-trip to the neighbouring small town of Prato. She had been meaning to visit it for months now and while I was a bit hard to cajole, in the end I gave in since it was a beautiful sunny day and my laundry (and Harry Potter) could wait. It ended up being a nice quaint town with a castle, medieval walls, and, as always, lots of churches. First we visited il Castello dell'Imperatore (pictured above). It offered a panoramic view of the town and strong winds which made for fun pictures like the one of me to the right.

We followed the sound of music and heard a band playing, then wandered around to a tower and luckily got there in time for a free tour.

Palazzo Pretorio was originally constructed in the 1200s to serve as a site for judicial and law matters. It is now undergoing restorations and will be a museum in a few years. That being said, it has been closed since 1998, which shows, yet again, how long it takes for things to get done in Italy. We were on the third floor and one of the windows didn’t close properly so the wind made it bang against the wall, showing some damage to where the impact was. How long does it take to repair a window latch? Five to ten minutes?!

Which reminds me of my classroom. Since I arrived, the door of our classroom (which is just across from the reception) has not properly closed. My teacher said it has been broken for four months. It was finally fixed a few days ago, but before then we always had to prop a stool behind the door to keep the door from swinging open. Now the only thing left to fix in our classroom is the window that also doesn’t properly close (the glass is also cracked but that’s another problem entirely). Patrizio said that Italians are known for l’arte di arrangiarsi, loosely meaning the art of improvisation. Since things take forever to get fixed, they find creative solutions to problems, i.e. the stool. 

We walked to Prato's Duomo and then wandered the streets. I ate a couple frittelle and then we found a chocolate bar (the location, not the food) where we had hot chocolate and cenci, a thin Florentine pastry powdered with icing sugar. Needless to say, I didn't have dinner later.

Il Duomo 

 Shopowner and pet

When Killer told me about Prato before she had mentioned wanting to see the river that bisected the town. We walked in search of the river and just when we were about to give up, we found it. Unfortunately we never found the entrance to the walkway that went along the river, but Killer managed to find some french fries.

The Bisenzio River

When we went to the train station to get home we were met with 2 delayed trains. One was delayed for 60 minutes and the other for 50, meaning that we’d have to wait around 40 minutes. Oh Italy, you never fail to disappoint me. 

Prato's hills are tinted red in the sunset as we wait for our train 

Today’s word of the day: arrangiarsi. It means "to manage, do the best one can". It should also mean "to be Italian".