Mini-Challenges Marinated in Anxiety

I had to go to Montichiari yesterday to pick up the keys for our new house.  Our landlady doesn't speak a lick of English, but I had to call her to make sure it was alright for me to come today.  I envisioned making the trip, only to wait outside an empty house all day.  We have to move most of our stuff in on Thursday. This week will be busy, so I knew yesterday was really the only chance I would have.  My stomach was in knots over the thought of speaking Italian over the phone.  I tried it the night before for something else and that was an epic fail.  Finally, I realized I just had to suck it up and call her.  Praise God that, amid the confusion, I was at least able to establish that is was okay for me to come over today.


Now on to my next challenge of the day: taking a bus.  I've ridden an orange (city) bus a couple of times and have started to understand the system.  However, I had to take one of the blue buses that go to different cities in the province of Brescia.  For days I had scoured their website, trying to make sense of the different schedules and the cryptic pricing guide.  Google Translate was invaluable throughout this process, by the way.  Finally, I thought I had figured out enough to board the big blue bus.

I did get on the correct bus, but when I asked how much it cost, he rattled off something in Italian and closed the door behind me.  I wasn't sure what was going on, so I just sat in the front seat and waited for something to happen that would make sense.  Before we made it out of Desenzano, another guy got on and didn't pay either.  He sat right behind the driver and the two of them talked the whole time.  It may as well have been Chinese.  I tried to eavesdrop but ended up just tuning them out and soaking in the Italian countryside and villages, including the John Deere tractor that stayed in front of us for most of the trip.

After the other guy got off the bus (there were only a few people), I asked the driver about the bus stop I needed to go to and the payment.  Thankfully, his last stop of the day happened to be across the street from our neighborhood, and the ride turned out to be free.  I think it was because he started in Montichiari and was just coming back.  I plan on taking the same bus on Friday so we'll see if my theory is correct.

Thankfully, I knew where I was and walked to the landlady's house.  She was out gardening and showed me into her house, which was amazing.  She did most of the talking.  I nodded my head and said "si" when I understood the gist of what she was saying.  Sometimes I did it even if I had no clue, but was tired of saying "Non capisco" (I don't understand).  She is a really nice lady.  Stereotypical older Italian lady: full of excitement and still dresses from another era. 

With a lanyard full of keys (the landlady didn't even know which ones they all were), I headed to another bus stop that would take me back to Desenzano in 10 minutes.  I did have to pay for this one (only a couple of euros) and the bus driver was not nearly as nice, but I was just glad to sit back and know that I had achieved my goals for the day.   

Daily Adventures

This week has been a good one.  Meeting new people, seeing new sights and lots of exploratory walking.  It has been a glorious week of sunshine.  Below are just random photographs during my various outings.

 

You say your public restroom is too small for a bidet?  Try a bidet on-the-go! All it requires is more concentration to make sure the target is acquired and stays inside the perimeter.

 

Upon arriving, we were told that this was a venue for plays.  However, it is now a restaurant that offers live concerts, which I'm sure would be fun to go to but I am still in search of live theatre.  While researching Milan and La Scala, one of the world's most famous opera houses, I discovered that nose bleed, view obstructed seats are actually quite affordable.  They also offer behind the scenes tours of the various scenery, prop, costume, and rehearsal warehouses for only a few euro.  Road trip!

 

Sitting at a cafe, drinking bitter espresso with lots of sugar.

 

It's hard to see them in the two pictures above, but there were little birdies hopping around in search of croissant crumbs.  One even landed on the edge of my table a couple of times. 

 

Steep hills

 

I have heard that the Desenzano castle will be open every day beginning in April. 

 

Just a pretty tree. Spring is on its way!

 

I had to wait for the mass of children in blue to turn the corner before I could proceed down the street.  I'm not sure what was going on, but they all had pompoms of red, green, and white (Italy's colors).  They were being escorted by a policeman in front and in back of the procession.

 

One day, I walked to the next town north of us, which was a couple of hours away, Padenghe sul Garda.  It was kind of disappointing, because much of the view was covered by tall hedges and resorts that were gated.  The town itself wasn't really that great unless you were camping out or laying back in a lounge chair by the rocky beach.  I did get some shots before the view was obstructed.  This was just outside of Desenzano.  The populated area across the "bay" was where I ended up.  The way the coastline curves, it feels like the lake is really not that big.  However, once you turn to the left after that curve, it is still a long way to the top of the lake.  Once we get a car, it will be nice to drive around the lake.  I've hear that is a beautiful trip. 

 

This was an awkward moment.  After I took this picture, I realized there was a man just out of shot to the right.  He was shirtless and was pulling up his pants.  Thankfully, his bright white boxers covered his unmentionables.  My guess is he had just finished a refreshing swim. I started power walking as soon as I saw him, though, in case he decided he wanted the camera.

 

Most of the way did have sidewalks.  However, there was still plenty of road that did not.  I walked on the outside of the guard rail when there was room.  When there was not, I just walked on the road with my hand held over the rail, in case I needed to hurl myself into the trees to get out of the way of a distracted driver.  Thankfully, the Italian rule of thumb is to stay close to the middle line because of so many bicyclists.  There was only one close call and that was because roundabouts don't always have crosswalks or any extra room on the sides.  All in all, I got plenty of exercise!

 

On the way back, this sight interested me.  Usually, when I see trees on a slope like this, they are curved upwards.  However, most of these trees had grown diagonally.  It's probably more common than I think, but it reminded me of a Tim Burton film.

 

The next day, I visited a Roman villa, right here in Desenzano.  I had tried to find it the day before. (Italian road signs are kind of screwy.)  It was a small structure when you think of Roman ruins but it was still really interesting.

 

Imagine if all the floors in your house were mosaic pictures.  I was impressed.

 

The small area was really pretty.  One of the employees followed us at distance to make sure we wouldn't deface the property or enter a restricted area.  I must admit I was tempted to hop over a rope to get closer to the area above and probably would have had she not been there.  So, kudos to her for a job well done.

 

I saw this in the grocery store and wanted to get it just because I've never eaten a orange that still has the stem attached.  It was juicy goodness.

 

Eating gelatto in one of the town piazzas after walking an hour round trip to get the most delicious pizza ever.  Linus pizza is more like a calzone with the toppings baked inside the thick, soft crust.  There will be one in our future residence of Montichiari. 

Molto bene!