Due euro Carlo

We have passed the one week mark, and we are feeling more and more settled each day. There are definitely still some misadventures here and there. For instance, I wanted to check out a new supermarket today. This one, called Lidl, is part of German chain, and apparently they may have some of the staples that we are having a hard time locating. Anyway, after some very successful navigation (If I do say so myself) of the circuitous route to this place, I saw the sign like a beacon of freedom in the southwestern Asian desert. Unfortunately under that sign was a less welcoming (and surprisingly common) graffiti image of a swastika. Anyway, despite missing the turn into the parking lot on the first try, I finally got there and found it completely empty. If there was an Italian version of tumbleweed (tumble prosciutto perhaps?...mmm prosciutto), it would have found a happy home in this lot. A quick check of the orario showed that they close at 1pm on Thursdays. It was 4:00pm. They stay open to 8pm on all other nights except Sundays when they are closed all day. Good to know. I'll be back. "Oh well," I thought and drove on to the closer if not boring Emme Piu. They also close early on Thursdays, at 2pm. Am I missing something about Italian culture? What is the big deal with supermarkets and Thursdays? Alas, defeated and feeling like a loser for not knowing where to buy a lightbulb, eggs, tea, a nightlight for Eli, dishwasher detergent, and bread on a Thursday at 4pm, I went on at last to the already familiar IperCoop, the grandfather of all supermarkets in the area. This place is so great (apparently) that we have seen roadside ads for it as far as 50 kilometers away. It is basically a Costco type of place that is in the middle of a mini mall. It has most of the basics, and it is a good place to stock up on stuff. Apparently they also have the monopoly on the Thursday afternoon shoppers. Nevertheless, I was surprised that this was the least busy I have seen the SuperHyperMegaWonderMarket of the three or four times we have been there in the past week. I guess Italians, at least Viterbesi, don't shop for crap on Thursday afternoons. Despite feeling some pride at having succeeded (...for the most part. I didn't get the tea. ), I still felt like an outsider for leaving these necessary errands until Thursday afternoon. Live and learn, I guess.

As far as other things are going, we have taken some more trips including a ridiculous trip to Rome to buy toys for Eli. I had head stories about Rome in August, but didn't really believe the hype. Holy shnit was I wrong. We got off the train near St. Peter's, and from the moment we got near the cathedral to the moment we got back to the train station the tourists must have outnumbered the locals 100 to 1. I'm not kidding. Of course we did walk the Bermuda Triangle of Roman tourism, St. Peter's through Piazza Navona to the Piazza della Rotonda (where the Pantheon sits), up to the Piazza d'Espange (i.e. the Spanish Steps), and back to St. Peter's. Why did we go to these sunburned, map-toting, overcrowded, and overpriced havens of scoundrels and photo-ops? As Clooney so eloquently put it in that finest cinematic achievement about the foolhardy Gloucestermen who so bravely gave their lives so you could eat your swordfish steak at Outback Steakhouse, "...because that's where the fish are." In this case, of course, the "fish" were toys for Eli and the American Express office. As it turns out, the toy stores were a huge hit. We got lots of great stuff, and the prices were not far from what we would have to pay in the states. The AMEX office, on the other hand, totally sucked. We walked way out of our way to get there because they don't charge a commission, but the exchange rated was abysmal. We realized we are doing much better paying the fees our bank and credit cards charge us for transactions . Anyhoo, I lugged a huge bag of toys all the way back to Viterbo (see picture in next post), and it was totally worth it because Eli is happy as a clam with the new goodies. He is finally set up properly here in the apartment. This trip to Rome was all business, hopefully the next one will be more leisurely.

The other trips in the last few days included on to a private pool with some folks who work at the school and their son, Daniel. Today we went to a nearby town, Bagnaia, to see the grounds of two palazzos the popes used to frequent when they lived in Viterbo. There is a park adjacent to the gardens and the buildings. Eli had a romp in the grass, and the gardens outside of the palazzos were incredible. Some of the best fountains and landscaping that I have ever seen. See pictures in the next post.

In other news, Eli loves watermelon (cocomero, in Italian). He loves it so much that he stuffs three or four chunks in his mouth at once. It's really a sight to see. The juice starts gushing out of his mouth then he unfailingly tries to point out the light and utter something from his nearly distended cheeks. That's when the chunks come back out with the rest of the juice. It's really a sight to see. I am taking some video and will try to post a movie soon.

Sorry for the long post. The next post is all pics. Hope you all are well. Ciao!

Day Tripping

Well we're starting to feel a bit more settled at the start of our second week. We've made a couple of trips to the super merchado which were fun and interesting, and we've managed a few day trips of sight-seeing as well.

First, a note about groceries here. In certain respects, they're awesome. Sam's in heaven with the array of pork products available (like the good jew he is). The only catch seems to be in the baby food department. All of it looks and sounds disgusting. Most of it is a whitish grey color, and they actually offer pureed horse meat! (I thought Jen would particularly appreciate that). Luckily, Eli's quickly phasing out of the jarred stuff. Otherwise, we're thoroughly enjoying our culinary adventure so far. Unfortunately we haven't been able to eat out yet because Eli can't stay up late enough. Restaurants don't start serving dinner until 7:30pm so we're trying to slowly adjust Eli's schedule so he's more of a night owl.

Our day trips have been great! We went up to Lake Bolsena and the town of Civita on Saturday. Eli loves the water. Civita was awesome as well. It's on it's own little perch surround by steep cliffs on all sides. The only way to get there is by a bridge from the next closest town. It has a population of 15 people year round.

We went to a beach in Tuscany today but forgot to bring the camera of course. I've posted some pics from our Lake & Civita adventure. Off to Rome tomorrow...

Ciao,
the Savages

We made it!

Buona Sera!

Finally we’ve arrived in Viterbo! It was definitely worth all of the headache and stress we experienced while preparing to leave. The trip was relatively uneventful thank goodness, though Eli only slept for 3 hours of the 24 hour epic journey. We’re all in a jet-lagged fog this week, but, ironically, Eli’s handling it better than Sam and me.

Due to the jet-lag we haven’t ventured out much yet, just around town a bit. Viterbo, though an ordinary Italian town by local standards, is beautiful, interesting, and thoroughly authentic to us. The older part of town is considered to have some of the best-preserved medieval architecture in Italy. The rest of the town is still just as picturesque and seems to be mostly of the Renaissance era. Though there is the occasional post-war utilitarian ugliness, which is almost a buzz-kill, is also a nice reminder that this is still a thriving little town.

We live in a beautiful building. It’s definitely old, but we’re not sure how old. No one seems to care how old buildings are around here. When asked, they just answer, “I don’t know… it’s old”. Anyway, our apartment is HUGE - at least when compared to our little bungalow in Rockridge. The ceilings are about twelve feet high, and we have three bedrooms and two baths - plenty of room for visitors (hint, hint). Who would have thought we’d have bigger digs in Italy than America. Go figure. The main rooms overlook the street, and the bedrooms and kitchen overlook the back allies of the medieval section of town.

We’ll take more pictures over the weekend. In the meantime, enjoy these pics of Eli having his first pizza. He loved it!

contact info and skype

Hello everyone! Here is our first post on the blog that we hope to keep going while we are abroad. We are still in Oakland, and we just returned from a 4 day trip to Phoenix. Eli said goodbye to his aunt and uncle, his grandparents, and his great grandfather. We leave for Rome on Tuesday. In advance of our trip I wanted to give you all the best ways to reach us while we are in Italia. Our mailing address is: School Year Abroad/ Sam and Caroline Savage/ Via Cavour 77/ 01100 Viterbo (VT)/ Italia. We will be checking our Yahoo! mail accounts (shsavage@yahoo.com, savagecaroline@yahoo.com) , and we will be using skype with anyone and everyone who wants to chat.

For those who aren't seasoned skypers, skype is a voice over internet protocol (VOIP) that allows users to instant message, talk to one another, and even video conference live online. It is a free download, it's free to use, and it's mac and windows compatible. We would love for all of you to sign up. I've included a link below. Follow the link , download the program, get a screen name and keep in touch with us over the next year. For the voice and video connections you need a computer that is equipped with a microphone and a video camera. Our screen name is "elicarolinesam". Just search for us once you are set up and add us to your contact list. FYI: you can also pay to use skype as a long distance phone service to call any phone on the planet (more or less) from your computer. We don't plan on using it this way, but I have heard that they have great rates. See you online!

for windows users: http://www.skype.com/download/skype/windows/
for mac users: http://www.skype.com/download/skype/macosx/

Ciao!
the Savages