As you know I just came back from Italy. It was relaxing overall but I'm so exhausted.
I didn't think I was even going to make the flight on Thursday night. I took a van from Baker Street to Luton which normally takes 45 minutes, but actually took me 2 1/2 hours. Apparently a water main burst in Brent Cross, plus it was raining, so we barely moved. I was freaking out, but made a run at the airport and luckily made the flight. Ryanair wasn't as bad as I'd expected, but holy crap the flight attendants were 12 years old! No wonder the flights are so cheap! Micky picked me up and we stopped at her friend Andrea's band's studio to say hi and watch them practice some Jimi Hendrix. Their studio is located in the public library. Isn't that considered an oxymoron or something?
On Friday I slept until 2:00 pm, then went to Treviso to shop, walk around and get an aperitivo with Liza (Micky's sister.) At night I went with Micky to the local gelateria to meet up with Irene, Andrea and some other friends (note - I've done this with her at this gelateria since I was like 15 years old, small towns are so funny.) We went to see one of the Marco's play in a Mexican band in one of the local Spresiano bars.
On Saturday we laid around the house the entire day like the lazy people we are, then I went with her and a bunch of her friends to a few bars in Treviso. Nothing too eventful but it was good to practice my Italian. I've actually begun thinking in Italian like I did when I lived there which is really strange.
On Sunday, the same peeps from Friday night went to the town of Bassano, which is famous for this bridge that connected WWII Austrian-owned Italy with Italy. There's some bullet holes in the bridge somewhere but I couldn't find them. The night followed with a pizza and some Amelie.
On Monday, Liza and I went to Venice. I've been there six times before (not to brag or anything) but this time was amazing as it was "L'acqua Alta" (High Water.) About twice/year, the water floods Venice due to the full moon, the tide and the wind, and I happened to be there for it this time. Piazza San Marco is the first place to get flooded, and the city sets up platforms to walk on so you don't have to walk on the water. The following photos show it all:
Leaky Venice
Brave People Stopping for Lunch
Check out the reflection of San Marco in the water:
Moi Looking Very Short
Oh yeah, the inside of the church got flooded as well!
La Bella Città 
Me In My Ugly-Ass Puffy Jacket On the Rialto
Grand Canal
Liza and I walked around, met Micky after her classes and headed back to the Spres. I caught my flight (which left 20 minutes early - are they technically allowed to do that?), took the shuttle to the Thameslink and arrived home around 1:00 am. I'm having such a desire to write the rest of this entry in my poor Italian but no one (Italian or other) would be able to undertand it.
So, I did well on my first paper! I got a "high" 60, whatever that means. I'm very pleased. I had a celebratory Stella at the school pub when I should have returned to my seminar. That's okay because half of the class was drunk for the 4:00 pm dissertation workshop which was slightly comical. We had our department Xmas party where I drank too much wine (perhaps that's the cause of my current headache?) They hired the strangest entertainment - some avant garde poet who was saying things like "Do you play with the lion who you also stuff? Oh, circus of my life!" It was really odd and made me feel uncomfortable. After that I went to a pub near the school with some classmates. I was with a Palestinean guy, a Chilean girl, and four Turkish dudes (I truly am starting to appreciate the concept of an international-friendly school.) I then bused it home with my friend Mehmet. I'm pooped now so I'm going to bed.
Current Music: The Bees - One Glass of Water
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