Dio Aiutami!

Today was the day that University began in Firenze. It was also the day that I attended my first class. Archeologia e Storia Dell'Arte Greca e Romana. Come again? I walked in to the lecture hall at 12.55 for the 13.00 start, initially glad to see that there were at least over 50 people already in their seats. This was a promising sign. Now, whilst the lecture took place I began a transcript underneath my notes, a blow by blow account of what took place in the following 2 hours. Here we go.

More people coming into the room. Actually, a lot more. Probably double the amount that was originally in here.
More people still coming into the room. It's 13.10, the lecture still has not begun. I think there are about 200 people in here now.
This lecture theatre is pretty interesting. It has got like frescoes all over the walls. It feels a bit like a church. It's very Florence.
Can't get over the boy to girl ratio in this room. I'm pretty sure that there is 1 guy for every 9 girls.
Lecture has finally started. At last, its 13.20.
No idea what's going on.
A lot of people seem to be writing stuff down, the girl on my right is not however. This is making things difficult.
There has been a break down in communication. Lecturer thought that the projector above his head was working. It is not. He has started fiddling with his computer. Everyone is talking again. Time is 13.35.
Lecturer has now walked out the room. He's gone.
Now he is back with what seems to be the technician.
It's. 13.55. I think he is going to do it ad lib. Oh god, everyone is writing again. Girl on my right is still not writing. In fact, she seems to be packing her stuff up.
Please don't go! Don't leave me. The girl who was sitting on my right, whom I had hoped would be of some help so I could at least get an idea of what she was writing down, has apparently come to the wrong lecture. She has written anything for the first hour, has got up and walked out.
Cheers.
Lecturer continues talking. I am making out words. 'erodoto del 'elicarnaso. Yes I recognise that one.
Lecturer is sitting on a stage behind a vast desk with 4 computers on it. In fact he is almost completely covered by one so that we can only see his head. He is speaking into a mic. The Italians like speaking into mics.
Italian girl on my left asks me what the title of the book was that he just mentioned. I look at her. And in my best Italian reply: 'Sorry, if you do not know, then I do not know.'..... What book?!?!
Lecturer's mic has stopped working. He is still going, I don't think he has realised. No one from the tenth row back can now hear.
This goes on for 10 minutes. One guy has finally shouted out to notify him. Everyone leaughs. I look around.
He is going to have to do without the mic. Prof. De Tommaso Giandomenico, that is his name, is now leaving the stage and working his way up the ailses. He is still holding his mic to his mouth. I'm not entirely sure why, when we have just told him that it is not working.
14.45, coming into the home straight now. Lots of moving has started. People are getting up and strolling out. Lecturer is apparently ignoring them and continuing.
They're flocking out now. Nearly half the lecture hall has left and he's still talking. There are still 5 minutes to go. I'm still very confused
He's waving a book around. What's the title?! I doubt I will ever find out.

Zoomie Zoomayyy

So here is an update on events of the last week or so in Florence. The first thing I want to mention actually took place a couple of weeks ago, however, it was not till recently that I managed to get my hands on some footage (thank you Catriona) of our flat supper and more importantly a game of ‘Zoomie Zoomay’. I couldn’t not include this video clip, firstly because this game is a bit of a big deal in certain circles up in Edinburgh and secondly because it is quite amusing seeing a foreigner try and play this game when even we English find it a bit difficult after a few drinks!

There’s still a lot of work to be done but I am optimistic that come the end of my time in Florence I will have all fellow flatmates coming through ‘Zoomie Zoomay’ and even ‘Slaps’ with as little damage as possible.

Last weekend I received a nice surprise as my Aunt and Uncle happened to be on holiday down near Cortona on the border of Tuscany and Umbria. Since they were flying out of Pisa on Saturday evening they thought it would be a good idea to get me to come out and see them for lunch at VillaMangiacane just outside of Florence before they went on to the airport. It was incredibly kind and generous of them and gave me the chance to relax by a pool and enjoy a wonderful lunch whilst getting away from the thousands of tourists and general humdrum that is Florence at the moment. We enjoyed a lovely lunch and the hotel itself was in a fantastic setting looking out onto the rolling hills of Tuscany with Florence tucked into the hills not too far off in the distance.

One reason in particular as to why Florence is so busy this week is because it is currently the host of the World Cycling Championships of 2013.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdjLQAgFmK8

Now most locals have found this an absolute nightmare because it has completely ballsed up their day to day routine. Roads have been closed, buses have been cancelled and cyclists and tourists have flocked from far and wide to follow this event. I for one have not been too perturbed by the whole thing as it has done very little to affect me. On the contrary it’s been quite exciting and my flat is also ideally placed for part of the course. Indeed I just have to leave my front door, turn right and then again and instantly I find myself up against the barrier of the track with only a mile or two until the home straight.

I have a few video clips of the event and even managed to see Bradley Wiggins race past on his way to a silver medal on Wednesday. Alas, my recording ability was not quite up to scratch as I manage to almost completely miss Wiggins as he goes past since I was much more interested in watching him myself. But I do assure you that it is him!  I'm really sorry also for the fact that I have not rotated the videos either. 

Watching all this cycling has got me all eager to get back on a bike again. You may or may not know but I along with two other friends cycled from Kent to Cannes earlier this year and I am very keen to conquer Italy as my next challenge at some point during my Erasmus year. Hopefully with the help from my trusty two companions from the last adventure!

I went to The Old Stove (Check) last night, an Irish pub, to watch the football. It was Inter v Fiorentina, so a big game for all the locals. The bar was absolutely rammed for the game and I luckily got there early and grabbed myself a seat. They have a good little set up with a TV set up outside the bar with lots of tables and chairs so people can watch the game outside. I was quickly joined at my table by a trio of Italian guys probably around my age with whom I had a few chats throughout the game. I even managed to follow quite a lot of their conversations with each other, even when one was absolutely incredulous that Neto, the Fiorentina goalkeeper, was only a 73 on the new FIFA 14 player ratings! I found this quite amusing.

Fiorentina sadly lost the game 2-1 despite taking the lead. It was a shame but it was still good fun watching the match, especially when surrounded by so many passionate fans. One man would shout, without exception, every ten minutes or so the word ‘VIOLA!!’ at the top of his voice twice when he felt the mood in the bar was getting too settled! Crazy.

In other news I am battling my way through the first Harry Potter in Italian. It’s actually more difficult than I thought it would be since I know the story line pretty well. But that is good I suppose and hopefully it is doing some good for my language. Uni starts on Monday which is also pretty exciting as after three weeks out here I am definitely ready to get stuck into more stuff and hopefully meet a lot more people.

My phrase of the day, I say day, it’s more like post, is: ‘Chi se ne frega?!’ ‘Who gives a damn?!’ Very nice.

Ciao.  

Shenanigans

It has been an eventful couple of weeks since I moved to Florence. It would also be fair to say that a lot of things are done very differently out here than back home. Although, I am absolutely relishing this new found love for 'Aperitivo'. It's the 'done thing' in Italy and involves buying a drink/cocktail in a bar around supper time and then being allowed access to what appears to me an all you can eat buffet. It's great and sorts you out for the rest of the night. I was wondering why this isn't done in Britain and then realised that every person would be like me and go back for 3rds with the food disappearing in no time at all.

Aperitivi has replaced the normal so called 'pre-ing', which is commonly done before heading on out at British universities. This is then followed by a stroll over the Arno before ending up in Santo Spirito. A huge Piazza on the south side of the river which seems to be full every night of the week by 12, with no exception. It is a great hub of energy and people, mostly Italians, who gather with their mates wherever they can; on the church steps, around the fountain that marks the centre of the square, on benches and if that's all taken, then you park yourself on the floor. The only down side of 'Pre's' being thrown out the window is that drinking becomes that bit more expensive.

I had quite a surreal moment last week when strolling through the back streets of Florence in the San Ambrogio region at 3 in the morning with a couple of friends. The 3 of us were somewhat worse for wear after heading back from San Spirito. We came across this restaurant which was still open and before I knew what was happening we were inside with a table for 3. Including a multitude of bottles of wine being brought to the table . Now I don't have any idea what was said before we sat down, during the sitting down, and possibly after. But everyone was talking in Italian, the waiter's were talking Italian (shock) and wine was being sent back and forth with great shouting and hand waving before we settled on a bottle of...errr... white. A panino was placed before me. I tucked in. All the while talking continued around me in this deserted restaurant. It started to become apparent that the 2 guys running the place were turning people away at the door. Who turns up at a place like this at 3 in the morning beats me..... Yet they needed no encouragement to join us and they too cracked open a bottle themselves and sat themselves down at our table. This apparently is all very normal in Italy.

It was not until we stumbled out an hour later that I was filled in on what exactly had just taken place. I completely had got the wrong end of the stick thinking that these 2 waiters were chatting up my friends and for all they cared I could p*ss off. But, as was explained to me, one of them was gay and had in fact found a liking in yours truly. This too is apparently all very normal in Italy... This was all quite a lot to take on board, needless to say we have been encouraged to return the next time we happen to be passing in the middle of the night.

Anyway. I have had a fantastic time so far and with 10 days or so till University starts it will hopefully stay that way for now. Lunch today was hilarious too, taken in the San Lorenzo food market. A huge building filled with stalls and stalls of food sellers. We found a tiny cafe in the corner and proceeded to witness the most bizarre way to run a family food business. It seemed that Dad was in charge and also head of the pork baps. He had 2 daughters, one behind the counter with him. One front of house taking orders. And last but definitely by no means least was Nonna. The mum/grandmother. She made Manuel from Fawlty Towers look like 5* service. She too was front of house and whoever made that decision should be given the sack. Nonna was hopeless. Food was sent to the wrong table, cutlery was forgotten, coke was spilt, food was spilt. All the while the 2 daughters were screaming at 'Nonna' in front of all and sundry. Quite the experience.

Via Maurizio Bufalini

I have arrived! Since I last wrote a lot has happened. Some good, some bad. But, and this is the most important thing - ultimately good. Because I now have a place to stay! As you can see from the title it is on a street called Via Maurizio Bufalini. Pretty ideally placed as it is both incredibly central and also close to the University etc so that's a big bonus.

I cannot begin to describe quite how stressful some moments have been when searching for a flat. 

Lets start at the very beginning. 

I flew out to Pisa with Nige (my Dad) on Wednesday morning. Immediately I was appointed team leader since according to Nige, and I quote, 'I have never been to Florence and I cannot speak a word of Italian.' He was certainly right about the latter. Nige constantly tried to order 'dos', two, of everything and simply replied with 'okay' whenever some poor person said 'Ciao', 'Buona giornata' or 'Buonasera'. Aaannd. Much to my annoyance Nige consistently could not get the name right for the Duomo. The huge cathedral in Florence which is just a stone's throw from my flat. Instead the name was substituted for any other word beginning with D, like 'Domingo', 'Domino', 'Dominio' and so on. Nige on tour below.

I could go on about dear Dad, like how he nearly didn't even get on the flight because of a lost boarding card (looks at me: 'Where is it Ollie? Me: 'How the hell am I supposed to know!?) But I shall not. In the end it was great to have him out here with me and the poor guy must be the first ever person to have gone to Florence for 2 nights and not seen or done any sort of cultural activity. 

So I eventually managed to get a place to live. After about 40 odd phone calls made to these various Italians, most of whom were adamant that it was a girl's room only, ('I assure you I really am a great guy!'), didn't seem to work, or that the room unfortunately was now occupied. However, Filippo and the gang have let me become their newest member of the family. I am living with 4 others. Filippo, who is head of house ad general leader, (Il Capitano), Catriona, who funnily enough is from Scotland, small small world, and she is basically fluent in Italian which is great, Elisa, from Finland who also speaks good Italian and finally Sitara.  

In other news I have become a daily 'reader' of the publication 'La Gazzetta dello Sport', it doesn't beat 'The Game' on a Monday, but still....

And to fully integrate myself I am sure it is only a matter of time before I start shouting 'Ciao Bella' out of my bedroom window.

An Introduction

Ciao! .....

Before I whack out some lengthy spiel in Italian about Florence, art, history and the rest of it I am going to have to stop there because at this stage that is almost the full depth of my Italian vocabulary! I jest, but only slightly. You see, whilst I do study Classics and Italian at the University of Edinburgh, I began my joint honours degree in Italian having never actually studied it before. Two years on and my grasp of the 'language of love' is still pretty poor due to a poor lack of application and a series of refusing to get out of bed on a Friday morning for an 11 o'clock tutorial which in my head did not exist. But not to fear, I have high hopes ahead of my year at L'Universita degli studi di Firenze and with a little bit of effort and a lot of dictionary use I might just be able to return with a lot more hand gestures and a few more extravagant Italian-esque sayings in the bag.

To mark the fact I will be spending my 3rd year at University abroad in Florence, I have decided to set up a blog so that I can jot down not only my various jaunts, involvements and discoveries from a year in Firenze, but so that I can also share my views and opinions on the world of sport. I happen to take a keen interest in football (Calcio as it's called in Italy), Cricket (sadly spelt exactly the same as the Italians don't even know what it is), Golf and Tennis. I was fortunate enough to have spent the whole of my 2nd year at Edinburgh writing for the sport's section of The Journal, Scotland's Student Newspaper, and due to this previous experience of sports writing it has made me all the more keen to continue this hobby via a blog when in Italy.

I fly to Pisa and then on to Florence in 4 days time in the company of Dad, as we look to sort out my accommodation with who I hope will be a lovely bunch of Italians. From there it's pretty much 'Chocks Away'. I always thought that that saying was 'Bombs Away' but apparently not.

Alla prossima volta (Thank you Google Translate)