Adventures in AndreaLand

Well here it is, the day intended to make heros out of unimaginitive boyfriends and spinsters out of us poor single girls with no man to lavish us with ass fattening chocolate, wilting flowers and little fuzzy bears holding pink fuzzy hearts. Amateurs. I received some yummy cupcakes from my cute gay neighbor and delighted in every one of those ass fattening chocolate delights. They didn’t taste bitter at all.
And thanks to all of you who called for updates on the snowstorm, I survived the Winter Snow Blast 2006 just fine with tequila and wine. Jen and I partied it up with the Seattle crew as accumulations grew and spent the greater part of Sunday watching the snow fall, bad tv and eating Mexican delivery. It was lovely.

I recently had a late night epiphany that we are to either accept things or find them unacceptable. So then why is there always so much gray matter moving oozing expanding hiding and seeking the secret spaces of justifiabliity?
I’ve also realized that when one is an unemployed professional graduate thesis draft dodger, it is possible to consume inordinate amounts of crack cocaine coffee while discussing random blither with crazy strangers and devoting many many many hours to the repeated nonadventures of Jerry Kramer George and Elaine.

I’m back in nyc the city that never sleeps big apple gotham city island of manhattan bought from the natives for some shells from long island. Sherry came back east with me to welcome in the year of the dog party down at Chad and Morgans many kisses at midnight and cheers with good friends. Then J&Z took the chinatown bus from Philly for a visit and brought me a yummy warming bottle of amaro that was wearing a hat and sweater! We had several days of sunny and 60 soooo nice but I have a feeling it was a cocktease and feb is going to spank us not the good way.
So now I’m back to real life whatever that means hunting for jobs like on an african safari in my christmas cashmere. Its really too bad I cant gain employment taste testing all of the wonderful little restaraunts in my village because Im doing a damn good job at it. Cuban corn fresh dumplings crispy crepes. Adios 2nd Avenue Deli. Or a movie reviewer since Im watching a ton. Match Point is great. Narnia did not disappoint. Highly recommend Modigliani and March of the Penguins (can you imagine how these little suckers have survived??). I find Belle du Jour kinda freaky. And I’d do Mr AND Mrs Smith.

It has been brought to my attention that some of you may actually still be wandering around andrealand… so here is the latest update in its least descriptive quasi fictional watered down saccharined up form.  I am back on the left coast in the quaint fishing village of Seattle, named after Chief Seattle of the Suquamish culture. Ironically, I arrived on Thanksgiving, the American holiday of celebrating colonization and domination with gluttony and sloth. We are thankful they didn’t have guns. We are thankful they couldn’t drink grain. We are thankful they still let us gamble. (I was banned from thanksgiving grace a long time ago)  Despite all the gorey details, I had a lovely meal with lots of laughter wine cornbreadstuffing with my family later cuddling with Sherry and it felt very good to be home.

We went to see Rent the movie and while the music is still great it somehow didnt quite transfer to the big screen. Roger really on the hills in Santa Fe was just too much. Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes is a great way to measure Big Jims patience. He walked out after twenty minutes.

I am thankful for my beautiful wonderful supportive family and friends who make each day a better one. While I may not have received thirty one spankings on my oh so special day, I did have thirty one million reasons to be grateful.

Soon.

So I after an exhausting two days of travel via taxis buses trains planes from Firenze Rome Brussels Amsterdam Paris I am finally back on American soil. I arrived Tuesday night and while I am still unpacking reorganizing and trying to get settled back into my apt after 3 months absence I am also trying to mentally adjust back into my own culture. And its weaker coffee.
Following the wonderful weekend in Venezia, J&Z made their way back to Firenze. It was great to have my friends stay with me for my last week to share lovely dinners and blood for the mosquitos (they loved Zach poor guy). We saw the magificently perfect David by Michelangelo whose hands are exquisite Jesse cooked delicious dinners for us and I gave them my last tour of the Villa. Last week at the Villa was super sad. I wrapped up my projects submitted my ideas for a working loan policy and tried to soak in the mystery of the place and the lovely experience I was given. Certainly a small cast of characters I spent the past 2 months with and knew Id miss each one in their own way. They took me to a wonderful lunch on my last day pasta and laughter at a restaraunt on a hill overlooking Firenze on the road to Firesole. Had one last dinner at Nuti my favorite pizza place with Jesse girls night out. My last wood and fireroasted pie slightly burned so yummy came heart shaped. I looked up and the old ragged chefs and cute young waiters were all standing all proud. Last goodbyes to my gay boyfriends at the internet cafe (who brought me biscotti so sweet) and the sexy old man at the corner bar who poured me one euro glasses of good red wine and didnt speak a lick of English. So guess I did make some friends after all….
We spent the weekend in Rome many ruins bridges churches and laughter playing our new favorite game Where’s Jesse Zach Andrea among the tour groups. Long Roman Catholic holiday weekend for Italians Pope spoke so city was packed. Met up with my beautiful N’Awlin friend Jenny B who I am fairly certain is suffering from PTSD following Katrina. Unbelievably humbling and infuriating to listen to an individuals story of the storm unmediated by the media. And such a fascinating description of humanity forced into survival mode. Soo much wine grappa amaro pasta and fried cheese homemade by an ancient Italian woman with many stories of catching up laughing and even dancing at a club where Zach shook it down. Next day headache and more exploring Piazza Spagna Piazza del Popolo hillside Gardens dodging perverts Augustus Tome St Peters Square strolled the Tiber under arching trees turning golden the market of Campo di Fiori Piazza Navona Pantheon and along the Colisseum at night. Jenny and Pierluigi made us a delicious mushroom ragu pasta dinner with olive crostini goat cheese sweet tomatoes and berry pie. Such a happy send off.
Last 2 days had 24 hour layover bw Brussels and Paris so decided to head over to Amsterdam for 18 relaxing hours. Spent a mellow Halloween night sitting along the sparkling canals listening to live jazz enjoying cafe chocolate and the northern lights. Next day train back to Paris to catch flight home arrived in NYC in the night so nice to sleep in my own bed for the first time in 3 mos. Woke up to sunny crisp windy golden northeastern fall morning grabbed some Mud and explored the city a smidge. Heard 17 different languages listened to an old man play his guitar sing his soul out You are my Sunshine in Wash Sq Park sharing the experience with 57 strangers who all seemed to welcome me home.
Ive also had calls and emails from those who arent strangers welcoming me back, thanks y’all and I look forward to seeing you soon.

Last weekend I met up with Jesse and Zach again (my friends from seattle, not saved by the bell), this time up in Venice. I had been debating weather or not to spend my last weekend here in Florence, but had been told that Venice was a must-see and most of all, I really wanted to see the Biennale. I am sooo glad I went… Along the way I met a bubbly girl from San Fran who had also gone to NYU and randomly, spent a year living in Kirkland. So we chatted and laughed throughout the 3 hour train ride. J&Z’s best friend Rick Steve (the super nerdy travel guru) describes Venice as "A puddle of elegant decay." I laughed at the absurdity of this description, until I arrived in the fog and had to take a water taxi to the Rialto Bridge, zooming along the Grand Canal past stacked 18th century houses and ornate villas, as if it were the main arterial. I soon learned that in fact, it was. In Venice, streets are replaced with salty green water, cars with water taxis and kitschy gondolas and sidewalks with narrow alleys between old buildings and over 400 bridges that connect over 100 islands that make up the city. I was at first dissapointed to see the city was covered with damp fog, but realized that it only contributed to the overall magical effect and mystery of an ancient city that seems to float on  water. I found our quaint hotel down an alley behind the fish market and we all set off to explore. Venice is infamous for getting lost in and apparently even its lifetime inhabitants often lose their own way. We made our way to beautiful St Marks Square, along the busy narrow streets filled with street vendors selling Murano glass and tourists from everywhere. St Marks was beautiful and the facade of the Basilica is guilded ornate and provides a beautiful backdrop for the entertaining stage that is the center of the square. Although I live in and have visited cities filled with flying rats, I have never seen anything like what I witnessed with the pigeons at St Marks. Millions of themthey are everywhere and it is the most amusing sight to watch the tourists who think its funny to put a little bread in their hand, until they immediately find themselves with pigeons landing on their head hands arms chests children screaming freaking out. Even though it made my skin crawl (bird flu is all the talk these days) I couldnt get enough of watching stupid innocent people so sweetly start to feed them then quickly become part of Hitchcocks worse nightmare… we had a delicious lunch quick rest then later feasted again until late in the night and wandered aroun the quiet foggy streets. Sunday up early to catch the free breakfast (ie bread in many forms) and make our way to Venice’s 51st Biennale, an international art exhibition that occurs every two years since 1895, with different pavilions and over 40 countries represented. Unfort right now in art painting is dead. It was heavy with video installation which is ok but requires a lot of time but also many interactive pieces that the viewer walked in or around including one pavillion where the entire piece was a giant wooden treehouse structure to climb up and around. We managed to hit every pavillion in the Giardino and barely make it to the train station that evening to head back to Firenze. Two days was not nearly enough time to explore the delicate floating mysterious city that is slowly sinking into the marsh and fog it once so elegantly rose above.

Rick Steve isnt such a jackass afterall.

Last night I talked to Mommie on the phone, and the sound of her voice soothed my soul more than any pile of scrambled eggs with prosciutto and asiago and smothered with truffle cream. (Which so far has been a great homesick remedy)  She was curious if her birthday present was going to be from the Tuscan region and when I said that it was but that I was concerned about the weight limit on the small planes she wanted to know how much I weighed these days. My luggage was my concern, not necessarily my new fat ass. Which got me thinking about these new strict weight limits airlines are imposing to combat rising gas prices. Even carry-on items are now being weighed and steep charges are incurred if you are over the limit. I was almost not allowed on my flight from Paris to Pisa. But really fat people seem to have no problemo. So you can gain all the weight you want on your backside but god forbid you support the economy and try to bring home a nice bottle of wine. So just a warning to those of you who are hoping for presents, you can blame the airlines, rising gas prices, and essentially george bush, because I can bring very little back with me.

When I explained to my mom that my own rising weight was hardly my fault, living here in the land of delicious wine, pasta, cheese and gelato, her response was, Oh Andrea I know, I could drink wine with every meal!

Nothing like a moms wisdom to make one feel better.

I thought it would have been easy- Ghostbusters- but maybe some of you are just too young. Of course CB knew it…

Anyway, had to head up to Cinque Terre again before I left so met up with my friends Jesse and Zach who are on their own big Euro adventure. It was a wonderfully hot and beautiful weekend so I am so glad I was able to visit that magical place one last time. Stepped off the train and in honor of Ms Cohen, had a big cone of pistachio gelato…soo good. Layed around in the hot sand, napping and listening to the waves crash while waiting for them to meet me. It was sooo great to be around old friends, lots of laughing and catching up on tales of our adventures.  We picked up some local wine pesto archichoke dip and cheesy focaccia and had a picnic and got ready for dinner. Went to a popular seafood restaraunt and laughed some more over a steaming pan of spaghetti with mussels and clams and grilled swordfish jumbo prawns and baby octopi. There was something quite disturbing about the tiny purple baby octopi with their innocent faces and squishy heads. A little too spongebob squarepants for me. We tossed one to a cat who was prowling around the streets and even he was having no part of it. More gelato- hazelnut this time- it did not dissapoint.

The next day over breakfast on a beachside restaraunt, we debated the hike or just laying around in the sun. The beach won unanimously so we spent a hot afternoon with another wine cheesy bread and yummy dip picnic listening to the waves gently roll in and swimming in the sea hardly imaginable in the middle of October. I even got a massage from a tiny woman with very strong hands for $20. After a quick dinner of pesto lasagna it was hard to say goodbye and jump on the train but had to give a tour of the Villa first thing Monday morning so knew I couldnt play hooky. Jesse and Zach stayed on and are touring around the north making their way to Firenze at the end of the week.

Its weird to think I have less than two weeks left here at the Villa and in Firenze. Although the transisition hasnt always been easy as I start to feel more comfortable and feel the symptoms of Lady of the House set in it will be difficult to say goodbye. The sun still sets brilliantly yet a bit lower in the sky so as my favorite season begins to chill the Tuscan landscape with the colors of warmth I will make every effort to be appreciative of each of the few remaining days left of this wonderful adventure.

And also get in a litle more shopping.