The Venetian Arc

Today is my last day in Northern Italy and the last day of my stay here at La Via Antiga. My time here, although short, has been wonderful, mostly because of my two wonderful hosts who spoil me so much! I spend most of my time working in the kitchen with Meris and have cooked and eaten so many delicious things! Ricotta cake, cookies, ravioli, buffalo, pork, espresso, and on and on...The ony thing i have not tried yet is horse (a normal meal in Europe!) since I guess the horse here are not fattened up enough to slaughter, yikes! Meris has made it easy for me to explore some of the so-called Venetian Arc: towns and sites outside of Venice that are less popular, but still worth seeing! The other day I visited Verona, the setting of Romeo and Juliet and saw Juliet's famous balcony along with a bunch of magnificent churches and Verona's own Colosseum (a smaller version of the one in Rome, but was used for the same purposes). Being in the Colosseum was very interesting. I instantly got a weird feeling because I realized that many people stood in the same spot hundreds of years ago and breathed their last breath. Christians especially - sent to die before a crowd all because of what they believed. History is fascinating to read about but its another to visit the actual places things occurred.

Tonight I head to Treviso with Meris for some shopping and maybe a taste of the town's famous Tirimasu, since it claims to be the home of the delicious dessert.

Tomorrow morning Ill take a train to Assisi where I will be staying and working at Casa Faustina, (www.casafaustina.com) an agriturismo on a mountain overlooking the birthplace of St. Francis, that also makes extra virgin olive oil. I'll be helping out with the olive harvest among other things. I'm very excited for this leg of the journey because it will allow me time to travel around one of the most beautiful regions of Italy and also the region where my family comes from - Umbria. I will be at Casa Faustina for a whole month and am looking forward to settling in.

Otherwise I am doing well and enjoying lots of peace and quiet. I watched television yesterday for the first time in a long time and was amazed - it was nice to have an outlet to the outside world even if it was all in Italian! I started watching Italian kids shows since the language isnt as tough to follow. Oh and another thing about Europe that Ive noticed but am not a fan of - mens fashion. Every guy under the age of 30 wears tight pants. I dont get it, but theres something wrong when the men's pants are tighter than mine... oh well. Ill try to post pictures later - not only of tight pants, but of other things as well, but for now im due back to work!

Ciao!