Italy: A Snapshot

Arriving on a Tuesday night and leaving on a Thursday afternoon does not provide sufficient time to obtain a complete picture of a country--unless it's Vatican City. This case does not involve Vatican City. 

William, my coworker and roommate, and I went to the boot-shaped country of Italy. Thanks to Ryanair, you can fly roundtrip to pretty much every country in Europe for less than the price it takes to fill up your car. Crazy (and wonderful).


MILAN


Here are a couple short video clips at Piazza del Duomo. Sorry they look bad. Blogspot destroys the quality of posted videos. Ha. 

We spent pretty much all day in downtown Milan, meandering through city streets and parks, taking photos and video footage, and attempting to survive the scorching heat. Here are a few photos from Milan:

Everyone was sleeping on benches and in the grass under trees during the early afternoon heat.

 Parco Sempione

There were these guys who would shove corn seeds into your hand without asking and then whistle for the pigeons to come eat them. Then they'd want you to give them money. Ha, apparently you aren't supposed to feed the pigeons at all and can get a fine for doing so. 

Here's William. They got me as well a little bit later. One second I was innocently taking in the beautiful surroundings, and the next I had three pigeons fighting for corn in my hand.

PARTNERS

TWR's Partner organization in Italy (CRC) has some pretty awesome stuff going on (huge ministry with over 150 volunteers). Their building was in the middle of being remodeled while we were there, but we got a chance to film some of their live radio show. Here's a pic of two guys in the studio. I'll be piecing some short clips together soon for a TWR Quickvid.

We stayed at the CRC director's home in Seregno. He and his wife, a couple from Germany, have been with CRC for 30 years.

FOOD

It's not a common occurrence to find yourself in Italy, but when you do, you have no choice but to partake of the food--liberally. Pizza, panini, and pasta was joyfully consumed. Also, I had the best ice cream I've ever had. It was mango-flavored. So good. 

MISC


We had a couple hours in Bergamo before flying out. It was a very wealthy city. There were lots of nice sights, but the only photo I will put in this blog is of an elderly man confidently jaywalking across four lanes of moving traffic. Sure enough, he made it safe and sound to the other side. Well played.

Thanks for reading this blog update. Ciao, amici!