Here in Verona!

This is the first chance I've gotten to really sit down and write and post pictures. I was more jet-lagged and exhausted the first day I got here than I ever have been - and then slept 13 hours Friday night: midnight to 1p, "Italy time." Which I like to call "inconvenient." 6 hours ahead of NY/FL, 9 hours ahead of LA! Not easy.

So to start from the beginning...

Obviously, I made it here safe and sound with the flight to Rome then the connection to Verona (and got my bags right away - a rarity I've been told). I was actually quite lucky with the Alitalia flight to Rome because the back of the plane was almost empty, so I got a window seat and aisle seat all to myself. I only slept about 45 minutes total just because it's still hard to get comfortable, but I did make friends with two older blonde ladies from Pennsylvania who were "spontaneously" going to Rome for 6 days.

I met them in line while we waited to board, which was confusing as there was no real line nor any real announcements, which didn't surprise me. I was asking them if they heard what rows they were boarding first and we struck up a conversation. The one (we did not exchange names!) had been all over the world for her work, but really fell in love with Europe after her son moved to Brussels for a government job for 3 years. He had twins and she would fly to Brussels to visit and babysit them while her son and daughter-in-law would go on vacation for a couple of weeks. She said she fell in love with the old architecture and the history of Europe, and then convinced her friend (they work together in Pennsylvania) to go to Rome for a few days because she was "itching" to visit.

She really liked to talk, in a good way, and I enjoyed all of her stories. They thought it was really cool that I got to come over here for a film. We parted ways at the Rome airport. I posted some pictures on Picasa (link at the bottom) of shots from outside the plane. We flew over Corsica (I felt smart that I knew that!) where the mountaintops were incredible. Especially with the early morning light on them. I also have pictures of the ground a few minutes before landing. So green and well-manicured.

I noticed upon entering the Rome airport (after a packed bus ride from the airplane to the terminal – this happened in Verona, too) that the airport was unusually quiet. And not for lack of people, it’s just that everyone was calm, checking their departure gates, calmly waiting to go through security once again. Maybe it was because it wasn’t even 7a, but STILL. Also, it smelled incredibly nice throughout. No kidding.

After going through security and trying to find my terminal, I was asked by two young Polish girls where to go to terminal B. In Polish. They couldn't understand me, I couldn't understand them, but I pointed them in the right direction. However, they were confused because in order to get from Terminal C (where we were) to Terminal A or B, you had to go through a passport check-point. The girls were in front of me and the guy at the window checked their passports thoroughly. Then, I came up and he barely looked at it and waved me away! And when I landed in the Verona airport they did the exact same thing. I went to put my bags on the conveyor belt at customs before leaving the airport, and the one guy checked my passport, asked where I was coming from, he told the guy who was checking the bags, and that guy laughed and made a face like, “American?! Oh please, keep walking, I don’t need to see your bags!” and waved me off immediately.

Back to the Rome airport: After a brisk 20 minute walk to the farthest possible terminal, I waited a couple hours for my next flight. Funny enough, I’d say that 90% of the people on the fully-packed flight were Italian business-men. They were all in suits (all wearing cologne, by the way, but not the stifling, cheap smelling kind we’ve been accustomed to) and all had brief-cases and nothing else. As soon as they all sat down on the plane, it seemed like 50 newspapers simultaneously opened up and didn’t close until we landed about 45 minutes later.

I went straight to work when I got here, checking out apartments and such, and finally stopped for lunch with one of our Italian PAs on Via Sottoriva, which literally means under the river – but the PA told me that "riva" is not "the river" exactly, but it’s referring to the outside part of the river, the border b/t the river and the land… or so he said. It was hard for us to understand each other, though obviously his English is much better than my Italian. For example, he didn’t understand when I asked “How did you find out about this job?” but he did understand if I asked if he had siblings, etc. But he tried so hard, and he’s a good sport. We talked as much as we could.

I walked around the Verona city center on Saturday for a few hours (pictures at the link below) and had caprese salad and tortellini in Piazza Bra (which, for the record, is so expensive b/c it’s a tourist trap – it’s like eating in Times Square – not to mention it was about 4p in the afternoon and they know no other restaurants are open!). I also bought a jar of Truffle “cream” (which tastes like olive tapenade to me) at one of the stands, and can’t wait to eat it with some breadsticks or crackers, or even over pasta, if I ever get to a kitchen!

I also tried driving this mid-sized (HUGE to Italians) Audi rental car that Gary and I share. Probably not the best idea, but I know I’m going to have to be an expert at some point. I promptly went the way I didn’t want to go and ended up on an autostrada (basically a highway) going out of town (there was a large sign that said VERONA with a huge X over it, so I was pretty sure I was leaving Verona) and eventually found my way back to the hotel miraculously. Let me quickly sum up why driving is a nightmare here:

Literally, there are no street signs – if there are signs, they say things like MILAN-THAT WAY or VENICE-THAT WAY, similar to a sign we have saying “I-75 OCALA” which don’t help if you’re trying to stay in town.
The streetlights are incredibly low and hard to see.
There are blind spots at almost every corner – not to mention the worst is right outside our hotel!
People barely stay in their own lanes. In fact, they almost never do. They mostly drive down the middle of the two lanes.
Speaking of lanes, sometimes two lanes are not even marked, so it’s hard to tell if there are two lanes or just one big one! Or if one if for left hand turns or right-hand only, etc!
I still can’t figure out for the life of me how to tell if you’re on a one-way street or a two-way. There aren’t yellow vs. white lines to help with that.
There are more roundabouts than I can count. And not only do they have like 8 different roads splitting off from them more often than not… the rules are totally different! In EACH. Sometimes you yield, sometimes the person inside the roundabout yields, but most of the time they just do whatever the hell they want.

I know it sounds like I’m complaining – I’m really just terrified and want to find the grocery store by myself!

I also went out last night with a lot of the people working on the film, and that was really nice. We went back to Piazza Bra and Piazza delle Erbe and even ended up back on Via Sottoriva, quickly becoming my favorite “Via” in Verona – probably because I don’t know any others.

A link to the photos: Italy photos!

Since this is so long, I’ll finish by saying I hope I can continue to update and post pictures every few days! But I know this first week is going to be tough and very busy. But I’m glad to have the work as a distraction from being away from my family and friends! :)

Thanks for reading, and I’ll hopefully be moving into an apartment in the heart of the city soon so I’ll have American TV and a kitchen! I know, I know, American TV. But it’s a comfort – all I have in the hotel is depressing CNN!

Til next time…