Between Chocolate and Pizza

Guess who's back...no this is not a rap song

2011-11-10T15:56:00.003+01:00

Well, I decided to give blogging another go. I quit blogging because too much was going on, which is kind of contradictory I know.

In the last year a lot has happened.
I got a full time office job all on my own ( so whoever told me it wasn't possible in Italy without help, You were wrong! ha!).
I moved and 'shacked' up with The Italian in our own little home in the eternal chaotic city.
I have gone through several traumas going back and forth to the comune/ASL/INPS/... .
Which - in short - went like this.

My love for Belgian beer has only increased as has my love for the cucina Italiana which hasn't been the best for my hate of the scale.

More updates soon...

Hup Holland Hup

2010-07-06T15:35:00.005+02:00

For the past month I have been watching a lot of soccer. After Italia returned to the bel paese, (and Belgium not even participating, but we will be back!) I have started to support The Netherlands (also). Who'd have thunk?*. One thing you cannot accuse the Dutch of is that they don't support their country. For the game between Holland and Japan we went to the Bull Dog Inn. When Holland is playing, this pub fills up with Dutch tifosi dressed up in orange. It was really nice to -although my Italian is decent- actually understand EVERYTHING people say ;).
So here's a little video clip (I picked the one from 2008, cause I just like it more, but there's also a 2010 version), which shows those crazy dutchies in all their glory. (Belgians :can learn something from this!)
For this evening :HUP HOLLAND HUP!!!! GOOOOOOO HOLLAND!!!!

PS : Yes I did start supporting Holland in this World Cup, but this still doesn't mean I like Heineken. ;)

* for those not aware : there's some sort of love-hate thing between Belgium and Holland.

Roseto Comunale

2010-05-26T08:54:00.007+02:00

The weather has finally turned around and the sun has come out to play. So last weekend we went to the Rose Garden. For about a month a year you can visit the Rose Garden and when the weather is nice, it's gorgeous out there. An amazing view over Circo Massimo, people lying on the grass enjoying what seems to be an oasis in the chaotic city, surrounded by roses.

When? Open daily from 10.00 to 19.00 including Sundays till June 13th
Where? Via di Valle Murcia (Aventino)
Entrance : free

World Press Photo 2010

2010-05-20T10:28:00.003+02:00

Last Saturday was the 2nd Edition of Night of the Museum, which means state-owned museums were open from 20.00 till 02.00 and free!
The Italian and I went to check out the Museo di Roma in Trastevere for the World Press Photo and the Stephen Shore exhibit.
Very moving photographs and definately worth a visit.

You can see the World Press Photo 2010 until the 6ht of June at the Museo di Roma in Trastevere.
The Stephen Shore exhibit will be showing until the 23rd of May.

Oh no they didn't....

2010-05-18T10:02:00.004+02:00

Rome did not win the scudetto this year. I wanted to write some posts about it earlier, but didn't want to jinx it. (I have become frightingly Italian in certain things - just kidding). After 45 minutes we were virtually champions. The first half of Siena-Inter ended in 0-0 and Roma was winning by 2 goals.
I was listening to Carlo Zampa* on the radio and was quite moved. To thank the players, the fans started to sing songs including Roma, Roma, Roma. What a beautiful team. I hope next year will be the year of As Roma.
Being around some Laziali has tested my patience and theirs over the last few weeks. But soon we will be rooting for the same team as the World Cup starts : Italy...
Belgium is not playing the World Cup unfortunately.

* famous Roma commentator

There's a first time for everything....

2010-02-22T16:06:00.005+01:00

For a couple of weeks my haircut had been driving me crazy. My hair was (yes, was, past tense) just too long, covering my eyes. In four words : it drove me crazy. After hearing horror expat stories of Italian haircutters who just don't know how to do a decent cut, I always went to get my hair cut whenever I was in Belgium. Even though I will soon be escaping Rome chaos for a weekend in Belgium, I decided not to wait (yes, it was driving me THAT crazy) and pick an Italian salon and just get it over with. So, I am no longer an Italian hairsalon virgin. It was quick and painless, and I'm actually really loving my new hair.
And if that wasn't enough excitement for one weekend (I have a boring life), for the first time ever, I drove to the city center. I had driven before in Rome -the GRA, the highway, to the beach - but never in the city center as in : lungotevere, san giovanni, etc... After getting that hair cut, I must have felt very adventurous or something, because I did it. Parking along lungotevere in one of those small parking spaces and while seeing car lights approaching from behind at high speed and everything.
After that I really deserved that Mojito in Trastevere...and that glass of wine.
Luckily I didn't have to drive back...

Snow in Rome!

2010-02-12T10:38:00.006+01:00

For over 10 years I have been coming to Rome. Now living here for about a year and I have never, ever seen this.
Snow in Rome! All over Europe it has been snowing more than usual, but who would have thought the snow would even reach Rome!

Belgium, here we come....

2009-12-18T18:46:00.006+01:00

The Italian and I will be going to Belgium for the holidays and we both couldn't be happier about it. First of all because we haven't seen my family in a long time and second of all because we both need a break from Italy and Rome.
Belgium is currently covered in snow and we have a pretty big chance of having that White Christmas after all. Apart from one big suitcase filled with clothes, we are also dragging another big suitcase with us filled with cakes, torrone and other Italian holiday goodies. Today when buying the torrone, the Italian candidly pointed out that I always said that there was only 1 kind of chocolate in the world. Well his exact words were more like : " You always made me two ***** like this about how chocolate had to be Belgian." Yes, Belgian chocolate is still the best chocolate in the world, but I'm still also buying the torrone. (You can never have too much chocolate imo)
I will surely return to Italy with an extra five kilos on my body, but I'm not holding back this time. Homemade fries, belgian beer, cream tomato soup and endless christmas markets with glühwein, jenever and other bodywarming drinks.
Now if only the airport won't be closed for the snow....
Happy holidays to all! Have a lovely Christmas!

Bio Testaccio

2009-09-23T11:12:00.002+02:00

Last weekend was the weekend of the 'altra economia' in 'la città dell' altra economia' in Testaccio.
In La città dell' altra economia there is a bio-shop for food, one for other items including fair trade products, a Bio Bar and a Bio restaurant. But last weekend there were all stands with bio food, clothing, books,etc. as well. Even the bio-guy from Biolà* was there.
I ate the best pannocchia ever from one of the stands. The shops are ofcourse always there and one Sunday per month the stands will return.

If you are in Rome definately worth checking out.

*Biolà is a biofarm in Fiumicino, but every week they travel to different places in Rome and set up there with their little van to sell milk straight from the cow, meat, mozzarella, ricotta, honey,... You can find the schedule, products and prices on the site.

The highs and the lows

2009-09-15T09:52:00.003+02:00

It's been months since I last blogged. The past months were filled with highs and lows and for some reason I didn't feel like blogging about it at the time.
This is what's been going on :

The highs :
* In July the Italian and I went to Belgium. We stayed there a couple of days and then drove my car (full with stuff) back to Italy. We stopped at Lago di Garda and San Benedetto del Tronto and then drove to Rome.
* In August my mom and sister came to visit us in Rome, which was great.
* In September my cousin and her boyfriend came to Rome, we had a blast.

The lows :
* For some reason I'm still not getting used to Rome. I have pretty much always lived in a small village in a small country. I never thought this would be an issue, but the big city chaos is sometimes just too much. I then dream of a house with a big garden in which I grow my own vegetables. I guess there is a farmer inside of me somewhere that I didn't know about.
* The househunting is not going fast enough for me. We have seen it all by now. Houses with water in the walls, bad roofs, houses in the midst of about 20 electrical poles, near the river that floods, agency people who don't give you any information except for : 'this is the kitchen, this is the bathroom...' (why would I pay you thousands of euros for that?!)
* The jobhunting is -to say the least- horrible. Nobody cares apparently that I speak all these languages and have a degree. When I came here I was willing to earn less than what I earned back home, but some of the salaries I have seen here are just ridiculous.
* Making new friends has also proven itself to be harder than it is.

Solution :
* I need to step up my game. Easier said than done, but not impossible. And when I wonder if I want to step up my game, I need to slap myself in the face and realise that the only thing I can change is me. Not this country or its jobmarket or its obvious chaos. I need to stop comparing Belgium to Italy, cause in the end it just makes me unhappier.

Now I know what to do, but how do I do it?

The Weekend

2009-05-25T09:02:00.004+02:00

This weekend I realised how out of shape I am. It being 30-something degrees in Rome has forced me to give up conceiling clothes and wear something more revealing. I don't necessarily have a problem with that, until I discovered the belly fat I collected around the waist last winter and the winters before that. Seeing pictures of the Italian and me in London in 2004 (that's only 5 years ago, you know!) didn't make me feel any better. Five years ago I had a flat belly! Well, ok, I never really had a flat belly, but you get the point. Being shocked that one can look very different in just 5 years has given me a brilliant idea to solve my problem : I need to work out. Yes, I know, it's shocking and of course I didn't come up with this just now, but the idea of having to get in a bikini really soon has made this realisation even more painful. If you didn't get this from my blog sooner, I should tell you I might not be the most dedicated person when it comes to exercise. I just love food, I can't help it. And more importantly it loves me.
Anyway, to celebrate my brilliantness, The Italian and I decided to have aperitivo in Trastevere. And yes, I do see the irony in that.

Il Bioparco

2009-05-04T18:16:00.007+02:00

The past weekends have been quite full. A couple of weeks ago my family came to visit us. It was their first time in Rome which was kinda exciting, so we saw lots and lots of must-sees. Also the weekends after that were filled with museum visits, sightseeing etc. Blog posts to follow.
Last weekend however, we went to the Zoo. Being a good vegetarian and all*, I do feel for the animals. Caged and locked away, but the other side of me just loves to see the animals and walk through the park. It was a beautiful day yesterday, not too warm, so perfect for the first zoo visit of the year.

* Not that one necessarily has anything to do with the other, but you get the point.

Brilliant

2009-04-07T09:41:00.004+02:00

The probably 'stole' this from the T-Mobile commercial, but this just made my day. I couldn't stop smiling watching it. If you are having a crappy day or just want to feel good check this out.

PS : Is it normal that this made me a little home sick?

Tragedy in Abruzzo

2009-04-06T14:56:00.005+02:00

Last night around 3.30 I woke up shaking. I woke The Italianup saying : "We are moving, we are moving!". He replied : "Don't worry, it's just an earthquake." What? It's JUST an earthquake? I'm Belgian, we don't have earthquakes! (ok, not entirely true, there was a small one a long time ago and I slept through it)

Luckily for us, it seems Rome is fine, but my thoughts go out to those near the epicenter of the quake in Abruzzo. As I keep reading the newspapers they constantly report more and more people who died. 92 already and numerous people homeless.

La Montecarlo

2009-04-03T11:09:00.004+02:00

Last weekend we had dinner at La Montecarlo. A friend of The Italian recommended it, so we decided to check it out. It's one of those typical places where there are too many people ( also waiting outside), very fast service, not enough space but good food. And -also important- it's cheap.
There were a couple of mistakes made, but they were quickly corrected. The pizza was good - according to the Italian and the Tonnarelli cacio e pepe were very tasty! Also the fritto misto was excellent. If you want to have a quick and good bite to eat without spending too much, this is the place for you. If you want a quiet romantic dinner, you might want to check out another restaurant.

Romantic economical crisis option : you could have dinner at La Montecarlo and then take a walk on Piazza Navona, which is nearby.

Kim Kong Clijsters is back!

2009-03-26T12:29:00.003+01:00

After many rumours, it was finally confirmed a few minutes ago at a press conference : Our Kim is back. She will be playing Cincinatti, Toronto and the US Open. Well, we were kinda planning on going to New York... so this might be the perfect timing. The most important thing is that she is having fun again in playing the game of tennis. She said she doesn't have to win every game anymore and that's fine. It's understandable her family comes first. But after all our leading ladies in sports seemed to be quitting, it's good to have one back. Ever since Justine Henin stopped playing I just didn't watch women's tennis anymore. But for Kim I'll be setting my alarm clock again in the middle of the night to watch her play and I will be dusting off my Belgian flag. Welcome back Kim. Welcome back.

You know you are integrating in Italy when....

2009-03-09T09:34:00.005+01:00

Except for feeling like a total foreigner when standing in the metro while towering over everyone including the men, I'm starting to feel more at home here in Italy.

Ten reasons you know you are integrating well in Italy - in no particular order :

1. When crossing the street and a crazy driver shows you the 'areyououtofyourmindwomansign' - you know the one with the hand in front of the face - and instead of yelling something at him, you gesture back saying it all.

2. When you become fussy about your pizza. Nonono I don't want the thick crusted 'Napoli' pizza, only the very thin one and make it ben cotta.

3. When you -while speaking Italian- throw in a lot of 'però's' for no apparent reason.

4. When you walk in the center and whine about the many tourists.

5. When you don't get offended while getting 'Ciao Bella' , ' Amore', ... yelled at you from across the street

6. When you want to cross the street and you are the only one who dares to go out there and raise your hand at the driver so you can actually cross the street and all the flocks of tourists follow you.

7. When you understand there is a lot of traffic, because two drops of rain fell out of the sky.

8. When you are in Panorama and people come to ask you where the salt is or when you are at the metro people ask you if it goes to ''Piramide''. (I must add I absolutely don't look Italian)

9. When you actually defend Italy and put down Belgium in a discussion about politics - I can't believe I actually did this, seems a bit stupid in retrospect.

10. When yesterday you spotted a tourist in a t-shirt and flip flops while you were wearing your winter jacket and thought they were the ones who were crazy.

More than a suitcase full of food...

2009-02-04T12:44:00.005+01:00

Last weekend I made a little trip back to Belgium to see my family and to bring over some more stuff. My first weeks in Italy weren't always easy as you could read in my previous posts and I started to create a bit of an unrealistic image of what Belgium respresented. For example I began to worship Belgian food and could not believe my eyes when in Italy you can't even buy brown sugar. Which by the way is needed to make one of my grandfather's famous dishes and therefore Belgium rules over Italy. You know that kinda of thing. I am ashamed to say I got a bit carried away. Because - let's face it- although Belgium's very nice (uhum), Italy isn't so bad. And I realized this when I came back from my little trip back.
When I was in Belgium last weekend, I couldn't sleep from the cold. And although I loved seeing my family again and eat Belgium food again (sorry Italy but making fries is not something you are good at), I also realised that being with The Italian makes me happy. For years we only saw each other a couple of days a month, and now being apart for 4 days, I started to miss him.

I had a lot of fun though. I went to the hairdresser. (I still have to find one in Rome and I'm very picky about my hair and therefore my hairdresser) I went shopping with my sis and my mom, went out for drinks and food, etc.
I left Belgium to return to Italy with a suitcase full of items I cannot find here and more importantly with a more positive attitude. I am sure there will be more moments in which I will find myself whining about not being able to eat Belgian fries or chips or speculoospasta.
But for now I'll take that ride on the positive attitude-train because it does make life brighter after all.

A Beautiful Day

2009-01-26T13:37:00.009+01:00

Yesterday Rome was covered in sun. It was about time, the last weeks it has rained more in Rome than it rains in Belgium I think. And it did start to get me. Having no job is harder than I thought.
I quit a job I was good at to find myself now with lots of free time and no pride. Cleaning and washing doesn't really make me feel like I actually contribute to anything at all. As I'm struggling to find my way, the rain didn't make things easier.
So to cheer me up the Italian took me to the center yesterday to have one of the best gelato I have ever had at Giolitti. We took a walk to Piazza di Spagna, the place where almost 10 years ago I met the Italian for the first time. He was having an icecream.

You've gotta learn to crawl before you learn to walk

2009-01-13T21:14:00.008+01:00

Maybe I was too naive when the thought of moving to Rome came in my mind. The first week there was homesickness, getting irritated by Italian chaos and being frustrated to have no friends of my own here. Then feeling like an idiot because I felt that way and not doing anything about it. You can call it a vicious circle if you will.
The Italian has been working and I have been sitting at 'home'. He told me several times to get out of the house and go somewhere, but the rain was my perfect excuse. However, today I felt like I had whined enough, so I dragged myself of the comfortable chair and went to buy stamps at the post office in Piazza Bologna and afterwards I wanted to go for a run. So I took the metro, got off at Bologna and entered the huge post office. (You should know that I grew up in a tiny village in Belgium with like 10.000 inhabitants) I took a number and got a bit confused : 200 people before me? ''This surely must be a mistake!'' I thought. But no, it wasn't a mistake. In the moment I had entered the postal chaos, the big board had number 200-something on it and I had number 400-something. And when it finally was my turn I went to the desk, paid for the stamps and without the lady giving me the stamps she told me she had to go away for a moment and I had to wait. Where was she going? Was it too hard for her to just give me the stamps first and then go away? I waited for what seemed like eternity, then she finally returned and gave me those precious stamps. Maybe they still have to print them first?
At that point it was raining so hard that running might not have been such a great idea anymore. But since I got kinda frustrated by the post office experience, I had to do something. I had to work out some stress. So I took the metro to the Colosseo and went running in the rain while Italians looked at me thinking I was some crazy chick for running in the rain without an umbrella or a jacket. It was nice and I felt a lot better afterwards.
This made me realise that I should be enjoying the beauty of the city and the culture instead of sitting at home. I'm sure there will be more moments of homesickness or frustration. But until those kick back in, I'm going to do what I want to do. Enjoy the adventure.

From Snow to Rain

2009-01-07T17:48:00.003+01:00

With a delay of more than 3 hours I arrived in Italy 2 days ago. I left the cold and the snow in Beautiful Belgium behind, to find less cold and rain in Beautiful Rome. Although I really love to be in Rome, the first signs of homesickness have kicked in. But it was time to make a change and I'm happy I did it. It's just that I have the most awesomest family in Belgium...

The Movies

2009-01-03T11:41:00.004+01:00

In the last two weeks I went to the cinema 3 times. The first time we saw Transporter 3. Not my choice, but I seem to have a weakness for Jason Statham (nothing to do with his looks). It wasn't bad for an action film. Then - really not my choice - we saw The Day The Earth Stood Still. And although Jada Pinkett and Will Smith make cute babies, this might have been the worst movie I saw in 2008. I'm no fan of most alien movies, but this was just ridiculous. Anyway, so yesterday was my choice. My first choice was to watch Changeling, but they weren't playing it at the time we went. So I chose Pride And Glory. Which turned out to be a good choice! I was sold when I saw that Edward Norton was playing in it and he didn't disappoint.

Time is a tricky thing

2009-01-01T18:22:00.005+01:00

Time is tricky. You think you still have lots of it and then the moment is there. The moment in which the time is up. Months ago I decided to move to Italy in January. And I had indeed lots of time. Now the time is pretty much up and I still need to do so much. I had planned to pack in the last two weeks and figured that it would be enough time to do everything. But I forgot to plan some time to meet friends. I forgot to plan some time to meet family. I forgot to take the holidays into account and the countless Christmas parties. I forgot to plan time to be emotional and femotional. The last two weeks were all about that... meeting friends, family, go to Christmas and New Years parties and be emotional. (and gain about 5 KG, another reason to be femotional) I have three days left to pack and get everything ready and basically detox from all the spumante, wine, beer, prosecco, amaretto jenever and other brain damaging liquids I had.

I'm not a big fan of New Year and esp. of New Year resolutions. But in the moment you don't have time to do the things you need to do, I usually find time to do the things that are useless to do. ( Example : In my student years, my student room was never so clean as during the exams.)

So my New Year resolutions for 2009 are :

Lose those 5 KG and maybe some extra (just to be safe) and get into shape!
Adapt to a new life in Italy and lose some of my much too pragmatical ways
Learn better Italian
Figure out what I want to do professionally
Find a job
Make new friends
...

But my first resolution is to come up with a really good plan to accomplish all the resolutions.

Ryanair vs Easy Jet

2008-12-02T10:59:00.007+01:00

I had quite the weekend. Last Friday I flew to Rome (with Ryanair) thinking my last hours on planet earth had presented themselves. There was so much turbulence that the plane didn't stop shaking and it took about 50 minutes to actually put the plane down. Another five minutes and I would have had to search for one of those cute little paper bags. Felt sick all evening but still couldn't pass up on my future mother-in-law's home made pizza. Last weekend was the last weekend I flew to Rome before moving in January. The Italian will be spending the holidays Belgian style and then we will go back together. Writing this I get kinda nervous. Not so much for the move, but for all the things I still need to do. I'm the master procrastinator.

On Monday I flew from Rome to Milan for a job interview. I think it went alright. I had a talk with the Italian H&R manager from the company I work for now. He told me, what I already knew, that they didn't have a job opening in the company we have near Rome, but that he was going to see if he could do something for me anyway. It was a very long day, but I figure that it's never a bad thing to know people like him (read : with his connections).

The flight from Rome to Milan was the first time I flew with Easy Jet. I had made sure I took the smallest trolley I had so I didn't have to check in any baggage. The (young) girl behind the check in desk then decided to show me what kind of power she had. She asked me to please check if it would fit in one of those iron baggage size things. It didn't ofcourse. The little wheels must have stuck out for about half a centimeter. I had woken up at 6 and had a headache from hell, so I wasn't particularly very amused by this. She got very rude in telling me I couldn't take the baggage with me. Ofcourse when checking in for my Milan-Brussels flight (again with Easy Jet) about twelve hours (!) later, the nice (older) lady at the check in didn't see the problem and let me take the trolley as hand luggage.

I blame the Italian. He was with me checking in in Rome, and the rude girl was obviously struck with the 'Foreign Girl Has An Italian Boyfriend and Therefore Is Taking Down My Chance Of Happiness By 1' -fever.

I say to her : go find yourself a Belgian guy and we'll call it even.

And then the bubble burst...apparently people are not equal after all.

2008-11-06T08:57:00.009+01:00

Just when you think people are doing the right thing, just when you think we are moving ahead in this world... that's when you read an article about Prop8. Prop8 wanted to overturn a state Supreme Court decision that granted gay couples the right to wed in California. And they did it.

Also in other states in the US people voted YES on the ban for gay marriage.

Unbelievable. In the first place this is not about marriage, this is not even about gay people, this is about equality! Apparently there are a lot of people out there who feel that straight people should have more rights than gay people. I got quite sad and angry when I read this and most of all disappointed. Hopefully they can turn this around again.

Someone explain to me why people get bothered by two people getting married because they love eachother, cause I don't understand. According to me this is just plain discrimination.

I'm inviting all the gay people who did get married or want to get married to Belgium. Yes we have gay marriage and adoption. Here it doesn't matter if you are gay or straight and for that I'm proud to be Belgian.

Can we just for a moment...yes we can!

2008-11-05T14:25:00.006+01:00

Barack Obama will be the 44th president of the US of A. The first black president in America. They made him the symbol of many things..mixed races, change, a new image for America in the world after the last horrible 8 years of Bush.

The man sure knows how to deliver a victory speech. I particularly enjoyed this part :

''It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled ....''

And also McCain gave a very nice speech I think. I have to admit that I do respect that. Not necessarily for his VP pick, but he did lose like a winner.

Today the criticism already starts : What will change for Europe? Was McCain a better choice for world economy? Will Obama be able to commit himself to do all the things he promised?
I understand, people need to ask these questions and I think it's a good thing.

Ofcourse he will not be the answer to all the world's problems and will not only do good things. It would also be unfair to put so much responsability on one man.

But can we just for today.. maybe also tomorrow and next week.. have that feeling of Hope. That feeling that we are World Citizens. In a World where colour of skin, religion, sexual orientation, physical condition,.. does not matter and that we are all the same. That we are all people. And that we should just Love. Can you just leave me in my bubble.. just for today?

London DAY 2 and 3

2008-11-03T12:29:00.006+01:00

DAY 2

I really wanted to buy a new jacket so we went to Carnaby street to end up with just buying some tea. Went around Regent and the likes to look for shops.
The best thing about visiting a city for me are the walks. I don't need to have seen everything that you are supposed to see. I just love walking around.
We checked out some museums and also went to Tate Modern which I really love. We found out there was a Rothko exhibit but decided not to go because of time and money. (what a stupid decision!)

In the evening we checked out more of the Concrete&Glass festival and saw Lykke Li play at Cafe 1001. They were really great. I love it when bands are better live than on record after loving the record.

DAY 3

First we had to drag our bags to another hotel, thanks to the friend of the Italian. ( see previous post)
The hotel was not really my thing. Clean and everything, but too business like. It did have a nice Apple IMac in the room with free internet though.
After playing with the IMac we went to Portobello market and Camden. Camden is for a lot of people probably too crowded, but I still love the neighbourhood and all the little markets.
For dinner I found this vegetarian restaurant online which got all great reviews.
After taking several tube lines we found out it was full, and since we were starving we didn't want to wait.
Before we had run into a pub that seemed nice, so we decided to just go for it. We ate for
like 12 pounds. This included vegi burger + chips for me, burger and chips for the Italian, a jacket potato to share and two huge beers. The food was great and the scenery entertaining including a drunk middle aged lady who fell over in the middle of the pub and stayed on the carpet floor for about 10 minutes.

After that we went back to the Tate, I really wanted to see that Rothko exhibit but we didn't make it on time... damn it. (I guess we have to go back before January 2009)
To get over this disappointment, we decided to hit the hotel bar, I had what was the best Mojito I have ever tasted and The Italian enjoyed his fancy Scotch.

* pictures to follow

London : oh how I heart thee..

2008-10-28T12:04:00.005+01:00

DAY 1

The Eurostar is one of my favourite ways to travel : a mere two hours and you are in the middle of London. I really wanted to go to this Art&Music festival in East End London. But a certain friend of a certain Italian told us that that neighbourhood was comparible with the Bronx in New York. Now, I have not been in New York (it's on my list!), but when I heard 'like the Bronx' I was a tiny bit worried. So we booked two nights in 'The Bronx' to avoid having to take the tube late at night and then moved to another hotel to see the more touristy sites of London.

But East End London/Shoreditch is fine, I didn't get what the fuss was about. As a matter of fact I really loved the neighbourhood. Great art shops, nice pubs, great atmosphere... Anyway, the hotel was great! - and I am one picky chick when it comes to hotels. They don't have to be all that fancy, but they have to be clean! We went to pick up our wristbands for the festival and had lunch /dinner at Cafe 1001. Best vegi burger and pasta salad I probably ever had in London and a great place to hang out! After having freshened up at the hotel, we went to check out the festival. There were so many bands playing and art shows in different venues all over Shoreditch.
We saw an amazing photography show in Shoreditch Town Hall. The photographer was inspired by a poem by C.P. Cavafy and that message came across very strongly in the beautiful pictures she took in the Olympic Rain forest. Very strong images and huge prints.

Ow and another great thing about art shows : free drinks.. and there were plenty...

DAY 2 .. to be continued...

The last couple of weeks...

2008-10-20T12:23:00.006+02:00

A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks. Some nice things and some horrible things.
I decided to only write about the good stuff...

The Italian and I went to London two weeks ago, which was great. London still rocks -incase you were wondering... will be writing about that in another post.
I tried out some new recipes. I usually stick to pasta with tomato sauce alla me, but suddenly I wanted to try out something new. Does this mean I am slowly turning into the perfect housewife?

Because the Italian loves his peperoni on bruschetta I decided to do a test run before I poison him with my creation. I actually found this perfect recipe on the frutto della passione blog.
The problem was that I didn't have all the ingredients. So I decided to swing it. I grilled the peperoni and garlic, peeled them and added cream cheese. ( I only had cream cheese which was already flavored with herbs). Added salt and pepper and voilà : a tasty spread for my sandwich.
It tasted quite good actually. But that was not all...
Since going on vacation in the US last year, I couldn't stop thinking about those oatmeal raisin cookies. For some reason I can't find them anywhere here. So - yes you guessed it- I made them myself . Pictures to follow later.

I also gave Jamie Oliver's recipe for pasta with little round tomatoes a try.
You just take yellow and red little round tomatoes, garlic, fresh basil, some aceto balsamico, some olive oil, salt and pepper. Cut the tomatoes in half, put in a big bowl. Add all the other ingredients and mix while bruising the tomatoes a little. Boil some pasta and add all together... It was delicious and very easy.

On top of that I packed a whole bunch of stuff for The Big Move, cleaned, did laundry and washed my car.
A productive weekend it was indeed...

I feel like...

2008-09-22T10:04:00.012+02:00

I feel like I have aged at least 5 years the previous weekend. Why?

Well :

* On Friday I spent 4 hours ( yes 4 hours!) at the hairsalon. It was absolute torture. Besides the waiting I was struck by the - gossip magazine overload syndrome.

* On Saturday I spent my morning at the post office to send the fridge magnet for the fridge magnet swap of the At Home in Rome Blog which actually went quite smoothly. (Surpring as post offices here always make problems) After that I went grocery shopping, which in general is not a good idea to do on a Saturday.

* Saturday evening there was a housewarming party of a couple of friends of mine in Antwerp.

It was really nice and fun.. which resulted in me staying way too late. I got home around 4.30h. I'm still ''young'', but I'm not young enough to go out till 4.30h and not sleep enough hours. So strange how this can change during your 20s. When I was in college I had no problems staying up late and waking up early. Now in my late 20s (ugh!) I just cannot.

Which resulted in ....

* Sunday : buh.. I felt like I got wasted on Saturday, which was not the case. ( I was driving, so there!) But still I felt like I had a hangover or something. I was just incapable of functioning all Sunday long. And today it's not very different.

The Sunday Blues has made room for the Monday Morning Bad Mood*.

* Expected to go away in an hour or two

US Open - I just couldn't watch it

2008-09-10T14:09:00.001+02:00

Over the past years I absolutely loved to watch Women's tennis. I would watch all the Grand Slams and major tournaments, so it might seem strange that this year I didn't watch any game of the US Open. I just can't.. after the departure of our number one player last year, Kim Clijsters, we were so happy to still have Justine Henin left to defend our national colours. Kim was more about the fun, Justine was all about the competition. With Kim quitting last year, I watched more Justine games and became an even bigger fan, then came May 2008.. Justine announced her retirement.

The player with the most beautiful backhand in Women's tennis decided it was time to do something else. I tried to still follow the US Open this year, but I just can't root for the Williams sisters or the Russian girls. I don't think Women's tennis is what it was and secretely hope Justine will make a come back, but I guess that won't be happening. Let's hope some other champ will stand up to bring some great tennis back to Women's tennis .... I miss The Backhand.

The one with the moving...

2008-09-10T13:19:00.000+02:00

Finally we have a date set for my big move to Rome. My boss knows, my parents know, my friends know.. pretty much everyone knows now that The Belgian will still be celebrating Christmas in Belgium, but will be celebrating La Befana* in Rome. I have worked out some issues with my boss and we came to this agreement. She and all my collegues are really excited for me ( I think!) and my friends are already planning trips to Rome expecting to be able to crash on my not-yet-existing Roman couch.

I do get a bit emotional sometimes but I was surprised by how easy it is to let go of material things like my car/furniture which I won't be taking probably. And yes it is hard to not see your friends and family, but Belgium and Italy is not THAT far away so I expect to be going back for a quick visit quite often.

I wonder how other people went through this process and if it was easy/difficult to let go...

* La Befana : 6th of January!

London Baby!

2008-09-10T12:50:00.001+02:00

Yes yes yes.. The Belgian and The Italian are going to London. It was actually me who really wanted to go, but The Italian was convinced rather quickly. I have only been to London once, but fell in love with it. They often say you either like Paris or London and although Paris is a fine city.. I wouldn't doubt for a second and pick London any day. I just love the atmosphere of the place. Booked our traintickets... isn't it wonderful you can just take a train and a mere two hours later you are in the middle of London without have to be there 2 hours before to check in etc etc.

I'm really looking forward to visiting the Concrete & Glass Festival in East London. It's an Art&Music Festival with lots of bands (Lykke Li, Errors,...) and lots of art shows in several venues around East London. Will def report after we have been!

As you might have noticed...

2008-08-22T12:49:00.000+02:00

I'm trying to find the perfect background.. well, maybe not perfect but one I like. It's a long process of nights lying awake trying to figure out how to make my blog look nicer... right.. it might still change over the next few days/weeks as I'm still not really happy with it..
Ps : it might have been better to think about backgrounds, headers, etc. before starting this blog, but it wouldn't have been so much fun, would it?

On weddings and whatnot...

2008-08-20T13:05:00.001+02:00

Last weekend the Italian and I attended my cousin's wedding. Yup the Italian was in itty bitty Belgium and witnessed his first Belgian wedding. Yup his first, as most of my cousins and friends are not really 'the (conventional) marrying kind'. Somewhere between the wonderful dinner buffet, too many glasses of wine and the decadent dessert buffet, THE conversation started. Who will get married next?
I sometimes hear stories of girls who have -since they were little- dreamed about the big day with the white dress and I never quite 'understood'. Some years ago I was still an avid defender of the 'why would anyone get married'-theory. After that I started to understand why someone would want to get married and now.. well.. now I'm even considering it myself. Maybe I do want to get married someday. A sentence that some years ago would not have crossed my mind!

Even though I thorougly enjoyed the ceremony and the dinner and party last weekend, I doubt I would ever want to get married that way though. The (expensive), you-are-the-center-of-attention-for-a-day day, but getting older I do get now why people want to do this..

TMML - This made me laugh

2008-08-07T16:22:00.000+02:00

A Belgian guy followed his TomTom driving in Sicily.. and you see what happens :

http://www.agrigentonotizie.it/notizie/leggi/27583/raffadali-tradito-dal-tom-tom-finisce-giu-per-le-scale.html

Apparently even TomTom loses his way in Italy and sent the guy down the 'scalinata'. I think it's great to see all the Italians helping him by lifting his car back up. I wonder if Belgians would be so helpful... any volunteers to drive down some stairs in Brussels and test this theory?

It's official..! I'm getting nervous...

2008-08-06T11:53:00.000+02:00

Last week I finally asked my boss if it was possible to find me a job with the company in Italy. ( same company, but different as they don't make the same things as we do)
She already knew I was toying with the idea of moving, but I never made it a 'sure thing'. Now, you should know that my boss and I get along very well, so she agreed to take it up with her boss and then some higher people to check if there was a possibility. I don't know yet if it will be possible, but it's nice they are checking it out. Even the P&O lady is helping me figure out some practical stuff even if they can't move me and I have to quit. This is all wonderful and I can't believe they are willing to help me with this in such a great way. However it's making me nervous.. the move is becoming very real all of a sudden and it's scaring me a bit.
The fact that one of my best friends gave me some tissues that say 'Friends Forever' didn't really help and almost made me cry. And today my boss asked me if they can put out an anouncement next week or so to tell the whole company... so yup there is not way back.. To be absolutely clear : I don't want there to be a way back. I'm sure about going to Italy, being with the Italian, getting rid of taking planes every 1-2 months... still I'm getting nervous.
Nervous, but also excited to live with the Italian, in a new place, with a 'new' culture,and (hopefully) making new friends...
Yup.. this kid is growing up... or so it seems...

Bookclub : Khaled Hosseini - The Kite Runner

2008-08-05T13:54:00.000+02:00

I'm always careful about hypes. I didn't like Titanic, The Da Vinci Code-book ( ok I gave up already after 20 pages), and more of those overhyped movies or books. There was a whole hype around this book, probably also because it's the first book Hosseini had ever written.

The story is situated in Afghanistan and is very beautifully written. You can imagine exactly how the atmosphere was and I really love that about a good book.

It is sometimes a bit hard (yes, I'm sensitive), because some bad things that happen are described in detail.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, although I have to add that I like the first chapters more than the last. It's an easy read, even in English for someone who's not an native speaker.

Today Is A Great Day For...

2008-07-31T08:41:00.000+02:00

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the grass is making my nose itch..today is a good day for some nice catchy rocky/poppy/indie songs. Partially inspired by StuBru playing on the radio at work, these are the songs that will make today a good day, heck even a great day.

In no particular order :

The BlackBox Revelation - Gravity Blues : Belgian band. Young guys, Runner's up at Humo's Rock Rally* in 2006. They have even played in the US and will be playing in Belgium/ The Netherlands and Germany in sept/august. I also love the video for this song.

The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name : Ok, this song has been out a while, but I still love listening to this song driving in my car with the sun on my face. It makes my head bob even in the morning, and that's a rare thing.

Freaky Age - Where Do We Go Now : This is a Belgian band of guys who are only like 16 years old, but this is one catchy song. They are playing a whole bunch of dates this summer/autumn, so maybe I'll go check them out.

Air Traffic - Time Goes By : Not necessarily a band that has come up with something that's totally new, but I can't help really liking their album Fractured Life and Time Goes By is perfect for singing along in your car (or at your job, depending on your collegues) while banging your head.

A Brand : Time. I really liked their first single,Riding your Ghost in 2004, but Time shows that they have grown as a band. Great song.

If you haven't heard about some of the songs, you should definately check them out and let me know what you think!

* Humo's Rock Rally is an important contest in Belgium for rock bands who are starting out

Belgian Pride - sort of

2008-07-23T13:00:00.000+02:00

Last Monday was the National Day of Belgium. Now, I'm not a very 'nationalistic' person and I don't remember ever watching any parades on the national day. The only moments I feel some sort of Belgian pride is when for example the Belgian soccer team wins, which in the past years has pretty much not happened at all.

For many things Belgium is not an inspiring country :

* it rains here most of the time (even when the weatherman says it won't);

* politics have been kinda crazy the past year.

I'm not actually sure if we currently have a government or not;

* the quality of the roads could definately be better;

* the fact that we are so small that most people have no clue where it is.

I still regularly see American journalists on tv referring to Belgium as the capital of Brussels.

I don't blame them, the Belgian government does just not do enough to promote the country correctly.

Having said that, I do think journalists should do their job and do some research.
* Belgian soaps, tv shows are mostly really boring

But on the national day I did think about all the things that do rock Belgium :

* Belgian Chocolate : THE best in the whole world, no competition.

* Belgian Beer : Again, the best in the world.

* Belgian Waffles : ditto

In general Belgian food is just really good.

* Sports : Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters ( tennis), Kim Gevaert ( Running), Tia Hellebaut ( High

Jump), ...

* Art : Victor Horta, James Ensor, Henry van de Velde, Rene Magritte, ...

* Music : K's Choice, Deus, Ozark Henry, Jacques Brel, Arid, Hooverphonic, Toots Tielemans,..

* Some political decisions: Euthanasia law, gay marriage/adoption law, anti-discrimination law,

first country in the world to ban clusterbombs, ...

* Social Security, facilities, education are all quite good and of a high level

* There's no dubbing movies/sitcoms in Belgium, we have subtitles.

* Some beautiful cities: Ghent, Antwerp, Bruges,...

* ...

So when I make the comparison between the good, the bad and the ugly, I must admit that Belgium is not such a bad country to live in after all. I still want to move though...

Bookclub : Dan Brown - Angels&Demons

2008-07-22T13:24:00.000+02:00

I finally finished Angels&Demons by Dan Brown. Since last summer I was stuck on page 400-something. I took it with me to Italy as I thought the atmosphere would help me to pick it up again, considering that it deals with a bunch of 'historic' facts that have to do with Rome.

And so it did. I finished it quite fast actually. I'm still not sure what to make of this book.

It's entertaining and once you get caught in the story you really want to read on. It's also nice to read about places like Piazza Navona, cause you can exactly imagine them. But some things that happen are just a bit too unrealistic for my taste.

To other people who've read this : what did you think about this book?

Back to the Chocolate

2008-07-22T00:06:00.000+02:00

Yes yes yes.. I have been slacking on the blogging.. that's because I was enjoying my time so much in Italy I didn't have much time to do anything but just that.. enjoy..
I did lots of stuff - about which I do intent to blog later - but for now it's all about sadness.
I'm back in Belgium. The country of chocolate and beer but unfortunately also the country of rain in July (I actually had to put on the heating today cause I was freezing).
I would blog about the crappy weather more, but right now I need to do some serious wallowing...

Birthday

2008-07-07T12:06:00.000+02:00

Almost a week ago it was my birthday... it was quite a treat. The Italian cooked lunch for me and did the dishes! I was explicitly told not to lift a finger, which was easy.
In the early evening we went to the 'Giardino degli Aranci' to find some shadow and enjoy the beautiful view of Rome you get from up there.
We took a little walk around Piazza del Popolo and we met someone famous!
It went like this.

Me : oh my god, do you know who that is?
Italian : who, what, where?
Me : That's Ellen Degeneres and Portia De Rossi.
Italian : Who? ah yeah that comedian you like. Go to them and ask for a picture no?
Me : Noo, I'm too shy and I'd look like some crazy person.
Italian: Come on , it will be fun
Me - After thinking long about it : ok

So we went up to them and took a picture and she was really sweet actually.
Afterwards I told the Italian, you know that Portia will be in Nip/Tuck right?
And so he cursed and regretted the fact that he didn't take a picture with the hot girl who will be in the series he likes.

After that we had dinner at 'Il Margutta'. A vegetarian restaurant, the best vegetarian restaurant I ever ate at. I never really bothered looking for vegetarian restaurants in Rome cause :
1. You can find a lot of vegetarian things to eat at pretty much any restaurant in Italy
2. The Italian used to be an avid meat eater

But because The Italian has changed his ways (not under my pressure!) and has become an aspiring vegetarian, we went to 'Il Margutta'. I read about it on the Red Scrapbook blog and it seemed nice. It's a bit expensive though, but because it was a special occasion, we went for it anyway. It was absolutely wonderful. Service, food, drinks, everything was perfect.

So I had a really great birthday... well apart from the fact of getting older ofcourse...

Amalfi, Ravello, Paestum, Atrani etc...

2008-07-02T11:12:00.000+02:00

Last weekend we went to the Amalfi coast. We found a little bed & breakfast the day before and got lucky they had one room left. We arrived around lunchtime and dropped all our bags at the b&b and went on our way to see Ravello. Very cute little city, with amazing views.

Having not read a thing about the Amalfi coast before leaving, we didn't realize these little towns were all so small and you could actually see them in an hour. We had lunch in Ravello and went on our way to Amalfi. In the evening we had a great dinner at 'our' b&b. It had a spectacular terrace filled with lemon trees and amazing views on the coast line.
The day after we decided to head to Paestum and then head back 'home'.

Belgian's Holiday

2008-06-27T20:05:00.000+02:00

The Belgian (me!) has arrived in Rome for a three week holiday.. yay!
I should also start to think about the practical issues of moving here,
but right now it's all about relaxing.. and getting used to this boiling heat!

Geek

2008-06-25T23:56:00.000+02:00

I just finished the 5th year of my Italian class. One night a week, three hours, a whole schoolyear.
Today was grade day. Went there and it went a little like this :

Me : I'm here to pick up my grade

Teacher : So how do you think you did?

Me : Alright, worse than last year though

Teacher : How much did you take last year?

Me : I don't know, around 80%

Teacher : Well, you shouldn't be so modest! Your result is ... 88%

He said I made a very good exam. Ok, really, this doesn't mean so much, it's just Italian. Still I felt again like a little girl whose teacher just told her she did good! Because let's face it, that didn't happen anymore since like primary school. Not because I didn't do well after that, but - from my experience- high school teachers and university professors don't give a crap about their students.
But that's a totally different discussion.

Point is that I was proud of myself for doing well. It sounds geeky even writing it down, but it's the truth! (I do shamefully have to admit that I didn't study for it that much)
The problem with this result is also that it shows that I'm not that bad at Italian, the only thing that's missing is the guts to actually speak it around Italians... which could be useful!

After my intention to blog more, I also need to speak Italian more.. with all these good intentions it kinda feels like the 1st of January...

Blogging Newbie

2008-06-24T23:26:00.000+02:00

Today My Italian told me that if I really wanted to do this blog thing, I should actually blog.. I thought he had a point! So that's my intention for the future.. blog more! I can use the excuse that
June is always quite a busy month because I need to get everything done before I go on holiday (yay!). But truth is also that I'm very good at procrastinating. Everyday I was thinking about writing a new blog, but I thought I would do it the day after. Well, no more!
Also, because I'm kinda new to this blogthingy, I didn't know that people had to login and register before posting a comment, so I turned that off now.. So no more excuses for not leaving me comments! And me from my side.. I promise to write more.. and possibly also about more interesting things. Really! You'll see!

Soccer Fever

2008-06-15T12:07:00.000+02:00

When I was younger I used to watch a lot of soccer. Not just the national team, but also the Belgian league games. I don't anymore. BUT when there's a European Championship or a World Champion ship I do watch soccer. I love seeing all these countries compete and everybody dressing up in 'Their' colours. Unfortunately the Belgian team has been going through a rough patch the last couple of years and we aren't in the European Championship this year. One of the good things of having an Italian boyfriend is that noone is surprised I support the Italian team. Unfortunately they haven't really played very well. If they don't beat France on Tuesday and Romania wins against Holland, they are out of the Championship.
I have lots of Dutch collegues who are pushing me to support Holland together with them, but until the Italian team is out, I can't, I won't, I shall not.
After that... you could spot me wearing one of those (ridiculous) orange shirts...
Let's hope the Italian team stays in though, I wouldn't want to miss all those good looking guys in their tight shirts and shorts..
Because let's face it, when it comes to having cute soccerplayers, there is only one Champion and that's Italy.

Blogster

2008-06-08T23:45:00.000+02:00

More interesting news to follow soon.... check back!