Ahi quanto amo l'amante amata

Well it's been a while since I've written in my blog. I longer have long hours to sit and write the thoughts of my soul now that school has started and I have assignments and wedding plans to keep track of. So basically I'm just going to pt up some pictures from my trip in Italy with Carrie. I'll try to be short winded so as not to spend too much time on this blog. If you want more details, try looking at Carrie's blog, porsche-a.blogspot.com, since that's what girls are good at.

Days 1-2
Rome

Anyway, to fill in on what happened at the end of my stay in Italy, I met up with Carrie in Rome on Tuesday, August 18th after staying in Florence for two days. I nearly missed my train to Rome, so my friend Alessio drove me to the station on his scooter...scariest fifteen minutes of my life. The train was ten minutes late so I made it with no problem. I must admit that I was a bit nervous to see Carrie again. Who knows what would have changed in the last two months. All of my doubts were dispersed the second I saw her. I had missed her so much, and after waiting two months it was surreal being able to be with her again. We immediately set out on touring the city.

On wednesday we went to see the fountains of Tivoli, but Carrie told us to get off at the wrong stop, so we had to wait 30 minutes to catch the next train.

This was probably one of my favorites of all the fountains

The Villa d'Este is a huge house with hundreds of fountains in its backyard

More cool fountains

After we got back from Tivoli we decided to go to the Trevi Fountain. Aww...how romantic.

While in Rome we stayed in the mission home with Carrie's mission president. The building was constructed in the 20s and was owned by one of Mussolini's daughters.


Days 3-5
Sardegna

On Thursday afternoon we took a plane to Alghero. We stayed the night in a little town called Fertilia before heading to Oristano the next day. Since this was the only night of the whole trip that we'd be alone, I decided to take advantage of the moment. After we had found lodging at a hostel we went for a stroll along the oceanfront.

Twilight along the coast

Alghero on the opposite shore

So we took some pictures by the shore and we had a rock skipping competition, and then we found a nice place to sit down and watch the day's light fade behind the hills. And that's where I decided to propose to her.

Carrie took this picture of me before I proposed to here, but where I'm standing is the very spot where it happened.

Post proposal

And check out the blingin' ring I got for her at a market in Florence

The next morning we returned to the same place so we could see what it looked like in the daytime.

This is why all Italians dream about going to Sardegna...not to get engaged but because the coast is beautiful.

Look how much Carre loves me

We went to the beach in Fertilia and saw a beached whale. Unfortunately there weren't any marine biologists to be found.

So many treasures in this picture. Carrie doing a modeling pose, the woman wearing black who's large and in charge, the guy riding his bike with his shirt hiked up

This is a picture taken from Alghero towards Fertilia

What else was I supposed to do to keep my shirt dry?

The Angius family who we stayed with in Oristano on Friday night

Highlight of saturday, running into Steve Cangialosi from Sanremo

We ate lunch with some of Carrie's friends. These people forced us to eat more seafood than I will ever want to eat

On saturday afternoon we took a train to Golfo Aranci where we had to catch a boat back to the mainland.

Sunday morning as we came into the port of Livorno

Worst night of sleep I've EVER had

Here's the boat we took back to Italy. We were exhausted after the voyage because it was so hard to sleep on the boat.

We stopped on a bridge to eat breakfast before heading to church

On Monday we were in Prato, another one of Carrie's cities

We also went to Florence on Monday. I'm talking to Alessio trying to work out when we'll meet so he can give me my bag.

Carrie and I bought wedding rings on Ponte Vecchio, seen here in the background

This is the store where I bought Carrie her ring

This is the store where Carrie bought me a ring

And it took us less than an hour

Meeting with Alessio to pick up my bag. Yes, I'm also eating gelato. I was trying to hide it but Carrie decide to take a vertical picture.

On Wednesday we decided to hike through Cinque Terre before heading to Sanremo.

Manarola

The coast during our hike

Our final destination before hopping on the train, Vernazza

Oh, the places you go!

In the last two weeks I've taken several mini trips to visit small cities near my house. Last week I went to Monteriggioni, which is about 5 km away, and then I rode my bike to a castle called the Chiocciola. Last weekend I went to Pisa and Lucca. So here's a bunch of random pictures from the last two weeks.

Hanging up my laundry outside my bedroom, it's harder than you'd think

Rita was so impressed that I hung up my clothes so neatly, apparently Logan just threw everything on the clothes line.

Countryside as seen from the walls of Monteriggioni. Me wearing my slumdog millionaire shirt which I have grown to love. You can't go an entire week wearing the same shirt and not have good feelings towards it.

The walls of M.ni as seen from the inside

Taking a stroll around the outside of the city walls

Still Monterig. This was when we showed up ten minutes before Rita came to pick us up. Luckily we only stayed in this city for an hour, because that's about all the time it takes to see everything.

Logan and I rode to a sunflower field near our house.

Jesus wants me for a sun...flower!

Sunset over a grape vineyard

Sunset and an olive tree. I totally love olive trees, fyi. If I had to pick a favorite tree, olive would be in my top three. Hmm, I would probably put it in the number three position, right after coastal redwood and peach, because we know that no one can resist a tree full of peaches.

I think the reason this picture is so epic is because I took it while riding my bike

This picture I did not take while riding my bike, but Logan did

Who thought hay bales could look so cool?

Probably someone's tool shed, but built in the 1400's of course

I accidentally took this picture using the sunset setting on my camera thinking it was the sunny setting. This is one of my best pictures from Italy. The castle is called La Chiocciola, because it has a staircase outside the tower, which we never did find

Sure the castle has a super lame name (the snail), but I would totally live there

More hay

Fun at Pisa. I'm flashing the classic asian peace sign as a japanese girl holds up the tower

This guy is original...he's punching the tower

My two travel buddies getting the standard Pisa shot

I wonder if the tower would actually fall if all the tourists stopped pretending to hold it up

I should be too embarassed to put this picture online

One of my favorite Pisa shots. If you look closely, you'll notice that I'm not the only one flashing a peace sign

This was my second attempt at kicking down the tower. I initially thought this picture was a failure, but after a closer look I realized this picture is a great success for myself and anyone who hates really short people

"...and she is the whore of all the earth."

In Lucca. Both this church and the duomo look exactly the same.

Anfiteatro. This was actually something cool in Lucca. The entire piazza is enclosed and is oval shaped.

Incredible lunch of mozzarella and crudo on a brioche

Sunset as I was waiting for the bus to go see AC Siena get worked by Sampdoria in exhibition

Call the cat Bojangles. The bane of my existence in Italy.

Not a great picture because it's a night shot and there was nothing around to steady my camera. However, I had just watched Quantum of Solace the night before and Logan and I found the street where James Bond first enters Siena.

In this picture there are two of my favorite and least favorite things. My favorite things are Nutella (usually eaten with bread) and ice cold San Pellegrino aranciata. My two least favorite things are in the picture behind me, Rita's spoiled grandson Thomas (pronounced toe-mas) and the cat, Mr Bojangles.

Quando a Roma vai...

Last weekend a couple friends from BYU came down to Siena for a quick visit and then we headed off to Rome. It was a great weekend, and that's all I have to say about it. I think the pictures will speak for themselves.

You can't see us all, but there are 6 of us in this tiny car, from left to right there's Colin, me, Logan (probably behind my head), Annika, Dave, Ross

We went to Siena on Friday night, and of course we walked by the Monte dei Paschi di Siena, one of the oldest banks in Italy

Colin's shoes smelled like a wet dog, so before we headed into Rome he tried to remediate the problem with some magical powder

This picture looks like it's from my first visit to Rome in 1972

Colin and me in front of some random ancient person's personal chariot racing stadium

St. Peter's Basilica and some roman columns

Apparently Ross likes bigger women with pasty skin

Rock'n'Roll in front of the roman temple

Ross becoming part of history. I was really hoping to get this picture with some carabinieri running at him, but unfortunately no one seemed to mind him.

Our tourist group at the Roman Forum: Ross, Megan (a canadian girl we met), Dave, Annika, Colin

Let's get ready to ruuuuuummmmbbbllllleeee!!!! I would totally pay to see a gladiator fight in the Colosseum

Ross loved using his new tripod

The shadows of Dave, myself, Colin, and Annika

Mommy Ross passing out hand sanitizer before lunch

Notice that everyone else is done eating and Ross is just starting? Well he finished the rest of his spaghetti in about 30 seconds.

Trapper Joe visits the Pantheon. Little did he know that the Pantheon is the burial place of Vittorio Emmanuele II and Umberto I, the first two kings of Italy

Colin, Megan, and Ross enjoying their first gelato experience

The masses of people who came to the Trevi fountain in hopes of being miraculously healed when they jump in it

The spanish steps=not that cool

We took a wrong turn in the subway station and had to come back down 3 escalators

My first camping experience in Italy. These people camp in style...running water, hot showers, restaurant, wireless internet

Our pimped out ride. We're airing it out because Colin's shoes made it smell like a garbage can

Our campsite, only 15 feet away from our nieghbors. I had to wrap up my feet in ace bandages because they hurt really bad form walking the day before

One of the signs leading us to Happy Camping. We were definitely happy to find the place considering it was 11:00 at night when we arrived

Waltzing through the subway station on our way to the Vatican after going to the real church for sacrament meeting.

I'm not sure what Ross is reading so intently. I have my theory that there's a painting of a naked woman.

Colin looks like he's feeling the effects of the hepatitus he picked up in Africa

St. Peter's Basilica. It was freaking hot there....who decided to put black stones in the piazza?

The royal court jesters getting ready for their audience with the pope

The main altar in St. Peter's. The first thing I though of when I saw the altar was the scene in Aladdin when Jafar turns into a huge snake.

Underneath St. Peter's we visited the tombs of the popes. Here's my least favorite pope, Bonifacio VIII. He was responsable for exiling Dante from Firenze.

St. Peter's basilica was huge. Everything was elaborately decorated and I loved walking around and seeing all the tombs of past popes and looking at the intricate floor designs, cupolas, and other symbolic figures.

The gang heading back to the car so we could drive back to Siena

Perdindirindina

Last week I decided not to be lame, in both senses of the word. I decided not to be lame (meaning boring) and go home after work as is my usual custom. I decided not to be lame (meaning not able to walk) and use my feet still covered with bug bites as an excuse to not travel during the week. Deciding not to be lame turned out to be a very decisive decision. I went to San Gimignano. The city was magical. The entire city is set on a hill top, surrounded by ancient walls and overlooked by a dozen towers. I followed a wedding party to the piazza del duomo where I sat down and watched them all get ready to enter the church. It hasn't been a rare occurence for me to see weddings, except the bride and the groom were english.

Countryside on the southern end of the city

5 of San Gimi's towers as seen from the piazza del duomo

Logan wanted a picture of this attractive British girl at the wedding, and check out the hat on her friend in the pink.

San Gimignano is a very small city, and so other than the museum of wine, there weren't many buildings that I wanted to visit. I only had two hours before I needed to take a bus back to Siena, and I spent all of the them walking leisurely, through and around the city, up and down the narrow streets, in and out of the olive vineyards. Despite the crowded streets, tourists flocking to buy ceramics, and the weddings of english oil barons, the city remains a memory of Italy as it once was, like a monument from a forgotten era of glory, raised up to remind us of where we come from.

Two towers as seen from a small garden near the top of the town

Working on my modeling career by the city wall

Random church and countryside

More modeling shots, this time workin it with some wind

I love olive trees, so here's a picture of one of the many olive vineyards in the town

I will prune it, and dig about it, and nourish it that perhaps it may shot forth young and tender branches, and it perish not.

Working on my asian pose

Random church I saw on my nature walk

That house in the background is going to be my crib one day

I think with this shot my career is ready to take off

I love the old lady talking from her window

The lizard that was supposed to eat all the fleas in my room

I took the road less traveled...

In this week's episode of Grant's Weekend Adventures in Italy we will hear about Grant's (of course) trip to Milano, featuring special guests Lago Maggiore and Monteviasco. Stay tuned for more details after a message from our sponsors.

A guy and a girl in an apartment. The girl leaves the room and the guy heads to the fridge, where he grabs a Coca-Cola Zero. The doorbell rings, it's the girl's father. The guy takes a drink of his coke, and several helicopters show up with members of a swat team, who quickly clean up the apartment, taking the guy with them. All the other buildings seen through the window begin to explode <Coca-Cola Zero: The impossible made possible>.

Okay, that was my attempt at describing just one of the ridiculous commercials I have to deal with on a daily basis. As you probably already found out from the first line of this blog, I went to Milano this last weekend. I found really cheap tickets through a bus company, and I ended up paying half as much as I would have spent by taking the train. I arrived pretty late on Thursday night and I was immediately welcomed into the city by Odivio and Stefania, whom I stayed with for 3 nights, and unbearable, humid heat. My room felt like an oven and I didn't get to sleep until late. On Friday morning I had planned on going to Lago Maggiore, and so I took a train to Gallarate where I was going to meet up with Odivio before going to the lake. My visit to Lago Maggiore was far from touristic, as you'll see from the pictures of our adventures.

Train ride to Gallarate. How's this for an artistic self portrait?

After driving along the lake for about 30 km we decided to head for the hills. At this point it was time for lunch, so we stopped at a small café and had some sandwiches. Odivio found the most amazing ice cream, called Nero. It's an ice cream bar covered with Perugia dark chocolate, incredible.

After another half hour of driving we came to the shuttle to get to Monteviasco. The town is located about 1000 m above the nearest paved road. The only way to get there is by taking the tram or the trail. We took the tram up and then hiked down, and it took us about an hour to get back.

The entire town was made up of small houses constructed from shale. Many of the houses had beautiful red flowers hanging from their balconies.

The narrow "streets" of Monteviasco. Apparently cows roam freely through the city.

More houses and flowers

Our ticket to the top. We would have taken the tram back down, but it didn't leave for another 2 1/2 hours, and since we saw everything in 15 minutes, we went for a hike.

Probably just another church dedicated to the Madonna

In my excitement to take this picture I forgot to recite 3 Ave Marias. I could have used those 200 days of indulgence, because we all know what they say: when in Rome...

This is actually what I look like when I run. That's pretty embarrasing

This is what the trail looked like. It was made up of slate steps and more switchbacks than you could immagine.

We took a quick visit to the river once we got done with our hike

This is the town nearest to Monteviasco

Baah Ram Ewe

Back to Lago Maggiore

The mountains around the lake were really hazy when we got back down, but it still made for some great pictures.

The coastline of Lago Maggiore

Check out our sweet ride, the DHL shaggin wagon

Evening sets in on the lake

After our sightseeing tour was over, Odivio was going to take me over to Lugano (but on the Italian side) to see the lake there. We traveled for about 30 km in the wrong direction, realizing our mistake only when we arrived at the swiss border. I guess the Swiss are not too keen on letting large empty vans into their country, in hopes that they don't become large vans leaving the country full of chocolate and army knives. We retraced our steps and decided it was still faster to go to Lago di Lugano in order to get back to Milano. The drive was amazing.
Upon arriving back in Milano some storm clouds began moving in. Within minutes the darkening evening sky was periodically illuminated by blinding branches of light followed by the familiar roar of cannons. I stood on the balcony and thought back to the numerous storms I had watched as a missionary on a balcony several kilometers away. Then came the rain, at first hesitant and then insistent, which washed away the summer heat. The rain let up right as we were leaving for dinner, where we met up with Filippo and Stefania. Everyone felt like pizza, so we all indulged. I chose the montanara, with funghi and crudo, but it didn't turn out quite as well as I had hoped. I should have picked the usual cappricciosa. Thanks to the rain, I was able to sleep much better on friday night. On saturday I spent a good part of the morning traveling around the city. There were two members that I really wanted to visit whom I hadn't seen yet. I passed by the first apartment and everyone was home, but Enzo, the man I was hoping to visit with, was asleep after having worked the night shift. First failed visit. Then I took a bus and a tram and a subway to my next destination, a Philippino family. Second failed visit. I hopped back on the metro and headed to piazzale lotto, a most familiar place, and then took bus #78, the same one we used to take to play soccer on saturday mornings, which went right past the street I used to live on.

Later that afternoon I passed by Enzo's apartment again and he was actually awake. It was great talking to him and catching up on everything, but I was sad to see his look of tiredness and resignation. Nonetheless it was great to see an old friend. And as we left I watched his son Simone, who looks a lot like the kid from Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, mimic the dance moves to Michael Jackson's Thriller. We decided to skip dinner and instead we had some gelato (figuriamoci se no). That night I watched a movie with Odivio called Ricomincio da Tre featuring Massimo Troisi. The next morning I went to church, etc. Then I was off to eat lunch with the Redaelli familyin a small paese outside of Milano, and then we raced back to the city in order to get my things together before the bus left without me.

The bishop's son Davide getting ready to water a tree

The bishop's son Davide helped by his sister Giulia as he waters one of the trees in front of the church.

Ghigozie, my favorite exiled Nigerian prince, speaking with Filippo about returning to the motherland.

Roberto and Giulia Redaelli, the family I had lunch with on Sunday afternoon

My favorite people in Milano: (left to right) Stefania, Odivio, Filippo, Stefania

As the bus to Siena slowly drove through the city streets I thought of everything I had seen that weekend which brought back fond memories: watching the thunderstorm from the balcony, sleepless nights in the unbearable heat and humidty, a car on the side of the road negotiating with a prostitute, riding the subway, waiting only 7 minutes for the next bus to come, seeing tons of philippinos, and seeing thesame streets I walked as a missionary 3 years previous.

Herbie goes to Monte Carlo

Last weekend I decided spur of the moment to go to Sanremo. I had been toying with the idea for several weeks, but then I made a phone call on Tuesday to a friend to see where I could stay, and then when he called me back that evening everything was set. So on Thursday afternoon at 2:00 I stepped onto my first of many trains which would carry me 430 km across Tuscany and Liguria. You're all thinking that 430 km isn't too far, which is true if you're traveling by car, but on a train it's a different story. Stopping every 20 or 30 km tends to lengthen the trip, and then add in delays, changing trains, broken air conditioning, crowded cars and that about sums up my 8 hour voyage. I was very lucky that I didn't miss any of my connections, all of them were less than ten minutes. My connections were in Empoli (7 minutes) , Pisa (5 minutes), and La Spezia (15 mintues). I was really worried about catching the train in Pisa, so I ran from my train to find a train going to La Spezia. I hopped aboard and put my bags down, but noticing that the car was empty I looked outside to double check. I had boarded a train to La Spezia that didn't leave for another 30 minutes, so I ran back down under the tracks praying that my train hadn't left yet. I got on with several minutes to spare.
The train ride was quite enjoyable. Not only did I have 2 different books which I'm reading, both highly enjoyable, but I also passed the time with the crossword book Carrie had sent me. And when I didn't feel like doing anything, the italian countryside was always a welcome companion. I traveled through Viareggio and looked at the buildings still charred from the tanker explosion several weeks earlier. I passed through Carrara and marveled over the beautiful mountains, famous for the marble they have provided for some of the world's most famous edifices and artistic masterpieces, now scarred indefinitely with bright, immaculate, treeless slopes, which glisten like glaciers from afar, anachronistic under the unforgiving tuscan sun. The train slowly made it's way past Cinque Terre, at every town more and more genovesi got on the train from returning from their day at the beach. I haven't seen many tropical coastlines in my lifetime, but I must admit that the Italian riviera (called the Riviera of Flowers by Sanremo) is fantastic.
Upon arriving at the familiar train station I had to walk through the underground tunnel to the front entrance. As always, at least half of the moving walkways were broken. Ciro and Francesca pulled up to the station right as I was stepping outside. They took me to a kebaberia to grab a bite to eat, and I had forgotten how amazing kebabs are, they are foreign to Siena. Then we drove around the city for a few minutes before stopping at a gelateria. The night was quite late already, but before leaving Ciro grabbed a container of gelato for breakfast the next day. The drive up to Ciro and Francesca's house took at least 30 minutes. They live in a smalley valley full of olive vineyards and wild chestnut trees. It's a heavenly place. The rest of my trip flew by and before I knew it I had to go home. I had gone to Monte Carlo on Friday to visit some old friends, soaked in the beauty of Ceriana all day saturday, gone to a baptism saturday night, and then went to church on Sunday. I had to leave church early to catch a train at noon, and I sadly said goodbye to Sanremo as the train weaved its way along the Ligurian coast.

Ciro with our breakfast "alla palermitano" on the balcony. There's nothing like dark chocolate gelato for breakfast.

Francesca, Ciro's fiancè

Don't mind Francesca or me in this picture, but check out the view from the balcony

My convert Marco Vaccarono working it at the Au Royalty. The pizza on the bottom was specially made for me: capricciosa with parmiggiano.

Pizzaiolo Marco with his apprentice Grant

The Vaccarono's restaurant, which is located right next to the main port of Monte Carlo and is also right next to the starting line for the grand prix.

Ciro preparing to cut wood for our barbecue on Friday night

Pretending to contribute to dinner

Ciro watering his vegetable garden

Francesca preparing dinner

Ciro putting the grill in the fireplace

Lamb ribs and lamb sausage, which we bought from a Moroccan macelleria

Grilled goodness

Ciro spying on his 80 year nieghbor as she tended the vegetable garden. I think he was making sure she was alive

Ciro in his sweet track suit feeding the cats their breakfast of pasta.

The old 1988 volvo station wagon (that's for you KP) and Ciro and Francesca's house

One hell of an upset stomach

Well last week I finally made it down to the operating room. The only thing holding me back was a bright green pair of scrubs which was unreasonably difficult to get ahold of. Last time I tried to get scrubs I went on a scavenger hunt in the hospital and ended up with nothing. This week I went to the exact same place and the lady asked what size I needed and handed them over. Hooray for people who don't care about beaurocracy. So on Wednesday of last week I arrived at the hospital extra early (8 instead of 9) so that I could see the first surgery from start to finish. It was a lot more interesting than the usual routine of visitng patients in the oncology wing. I saw two surgeries, both requiring the removal of major organs. The first patient had a tumor in his kidney, so the surgeon removed his kidney. This was quite surprising to me because I only thought they were going to remove the tumor, instead I see the surgeon reach down into the patient's abdominal cavity and pull out his kidney, it was similar to the scene in the second Indiana Jones when the temple priest pulls the guys heart out. The second surgery was also quite fascinating, it was a stomach removal and duodenum relocation. After the surgery was finished Prof. de Stefano took me to a seperate room and he disected the stomach to show me where the tumor was. All I have to say is I would hate not having a stomach.

I know this picture looks sketchy...but that's a used surgical glove. I found it in the pocket of my scrubs when I put them on.

On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week I toured the duomo and its related edifices. I visited 4 different sites in all, il duomo, la cripta, il battistero e il museo dell'opera del duomo. The interior of the duomo was incredible. I didn't bother taking any pictures because I knew that none of them would come out. The floor is covered with intricate marble designs depicting various biblical and historical events (not to mention 8 different versions of the Madonna). The ceiling of the duomo is painted a brilliant blue with bright white stars scattered throughout, giving an effect similar to looking up at the night sky. Among many of the artist who contributed to the interior of the duomo were Michelangelo, Donatello, and Bernini. The baptistry wasn't really that interesting, I only spent about 5 minutes to look through it, but the crypt was quite neat. The air conditioning in the crypt worked great, and to keep the area cool there was a huge wooden door at the entrance. I was definitely expecting to see HBO's original cryptmaster when I walked in. Both the crypt and baptistry are located underneath the duomo, which was partially built on a hill. The crypt is located within the remains of a church dating back to the tenth century.

One unique aspect of Siena's duomo is that it is a lot smaller than was originally planned. The current building was finished sometime after the year 1100, but construction for a much larger duomo were underway before the year 1300. The interesting thing is that the new addition was never finished because the plague wiped out over half of Siena's population. What remains of the larger, more glorious duomo are a series of pillars and several walls. When going through the musuem of the works of the duomo we were able to climb to the top of the unfinished front facade. the following pictures were taken from atop the fantellone.

Piazza del Campo and the Torre del Mangia

If the duomo had been finished, the lengthwise section of the current duomo would have become the crosswise section in the church's crucifix shape.

This is one of the unfinished walls located near the crypt. Framed in the doorway is a pillar which has been built into a palazzo. Also notice how the building at left (museo dell'opera del duomo) has also been built around the existing wall. (Obviously this picture was not taken from the top of the facade)

Some random church overlooking the southern part of Siena

Sono figo

I thought translations like this only happened in Asia