Italian impressions

I've just left the most enjoyable company of Alex and Melissa. We've had a fast-paced tour of the north of Italy, taking in Cinque Terra, Pisa, Florence, Venice, and Lake Como. My favourite part was our day
of walking along the trail at Cinque Terra. At every place we visited, I really enjoyed exploring and experimenting with photos with Alex. We were lucky that Lee and Melissa are such patient travel companions.

Some strange animals we came across included deadly sky deer (deer that are able to be on the road even though there is only sheer cliffs on either side) and the Giggling Mountain Goat (a sure-footed animal that will collapse in giggles in the presence of something funny). Another strange occurrence was a 5 minute hail shower with sunshine on either side.

My impressions of our main stops in brief:

Cinque Terra - simply stunning. I could have stayed longer. Learn how good photos can be at night with a tripod.

Pisa - surprisingly impressive

.
Florence - much better fun this time around. All you can eat and a cocktail for €8 - love meeting a local student for dinner. I realise that I really want a tripod.
 

Venice - FULL of tourists and expensive, but quite an interesting lifestyle. Gorgeous masks and jewellery. Best time to take photos is midnight (with a tripod) - once most of the tourists are back on the mainland.
 

Lake Como - houses jammed into small horizontal spaces - like Cinque Terra - but mountains on a much bigger scale.

In food, drink, life, it appears that Italians have distilled it down to the most important part.
Exhibit A: Espresso coffee
The coffee shot is a fine example of the most important part distilled down - concentrating flavour and caffeine. At the same time, there is no takeaway. Instead there are bars where you stand with your coffee, enjoy your refueling pit stop, then head back into the world.
Exhibit B: Pizza and Pasta
Commonly outside Italy, the best pizzas are the ones with the most ingredients and flavours. In Italy, a few quality ingredients combine to complement each other in a tasty and tasteful dish. Wood-fired pizza in particular are simple and tasty, with the fire adding its own contribution.
Exhibit C: Gruppa
Quite literally distilled down into its alcoholic core.
Exhibit D: Lifestyle
Siestas. I rest my case.
Exhibit E: Fashion
.. Ah, maybe not.

Simply - the best.

Italy driving and Paganello

Learning the driving culture in Italy was an interesting experience.

It started with a taxi ride from Bologna airport to the train station and we added to our experience by driving from Rimini to La Spezia. We learnt:

- speed limits are guidelines
- marked lanes are guidelines
- side of the road is a guideline
- indicators are only used to indicate hazards (which is when all the traffic stops to go over a rise in the freeway or to read a sign)
Pretty much, anything goes. .

Bologna was an interesting mix of old and new. I was a little disappointed with the number of '70s flats, but had some great fun taking shots of brightly painted buildings with window shutters. We also started our daily intake of gelato at a deliciously authentic gelateria.

One of our primary reasons for travelling was to play Paganello, an international beach tournament. I was playing with Super Hot Pot, the defending champions and Lee was playing with WizMix, a mixed version of the Swiss team he played with last year. Lee's team beat their 22nd seed to finish 12th. We were beaten by FemBots, a US team, in the final. Some nerves on our side (for me at least) plus some hard defense on their side saw them off to a 3-1 lead. Our defense was lucky to get a turn and our offence fought for every point. In the end, our sand legs (probably also aggression and skills?) weren't as strong and they took it away 13-5. I loved playing with my team mates, I loved my new Skins, I loved the sunshine, I love that I don't have a sock tan and I have new love of playing on sand - it's hard going and I am sore, but it makes you realize how much impact is going through your body usually, even on grass.

Day trip to Brighton and the London Marathon

With our passports being securely kept at the home office, and a midweek day trip to Sheffield, we decided to spend our last non-frisbee-weekend-until-September seeing some local sights.

Saturday we caught the train direct to Brighton with our bikes to experience the seaside. I use the term 'seaside' on purpose as there is no sand, just a mix of charcoal, beige and rouge rocks. Very pretty in their own way. An hour long walk with my new camera saw us 50m up the beach.

I'm very lucky to have a very considerate and patient husband.

Refueling with fish and chips, we head in the other direction towards the pier with its rides and fairy floss, a very entertaining magician and Henry IV's summer pavilion. A cup of 'sipping chocolate' was our supply for a bike ride along the beach, which increased the travel distance and time between photos. A very enjoyable photographic day for me. There is no going back to my previous camera..

Sunday we checked out the London Marathon. An inspiring number of people in costume. Most people were running for a cause - Oxfam, nurses, kids with leukemia, cancer, rhinos. There was a Will and Kate in wedding finery, numerous gladiators, fairies and a few soldiers carrying packs. One guy was even carrying a washing machine. There was a real festival atmosphere, which combined with Anke (my workmates)'s enthusiasm, has prompted me to consider running one myself. Our day was topped off with a BBQ feast with Tim and Tara.

Visa fun

After arriving back from our Australia trip with 14 days left on our visa, and the UK government changing all the visa rules, we have spent 2 work days, £2000 and an overnight trip to Sheffield to try and stay in the country.

The UK government is cracking down on immigration (Cameron just made a big speach about it today) and they changed all the rules about who can come in and how many people they are letting in each year. Luckily my company is allowed to sponser me and I fall inside the list of people they are allowed to keep in the country. We had a day of panic the day before the visa expired because the UK borders department was dragging its heals issuing a new certificate of sponsorship. There was serious talk of going to Paris or Dublin to leave the country so were weren't here as illegals :)

Because of the rule changes there are tons of people who are applying at the moment so the only place we could get an appointment in time was Sheffield (which isn't the same when it is Fullfordless). We got to see the city the same way we normally see places when we are travelling for ultimate, which is, arrive late, sleep, spend all day in one location that could be anywhere in the world, have 20 mins to see something about the place, the leave. Looking outside from the train, it seems really pretty and we will have to come back.

We are now in the situation where we are hoping to get our passports back before next Wednesday, so we can go to Italy for the Easter long weekend.

Visa extension

This morning we had the pleasure of applying to extend our visa at the Home Office in Croydon. We should not have been surprised that the process was slow moving and full of red tape. After a visit to Australia I can again appreciate the British quirks.

The first step was to fill in the 50-60 page application forms the night before. Arriving in Croydon at 9:45, we were assessed at the front door of the building and directed to a seated queue. Next came a security screen with x-ray bags after which we were in a queue to be

asked our purpose and directed to another queue. Next it was checked we had our booking reference number and we were directed to another queue.

Application stamped and signed, cost determined, upstairs, greeted, payment pages separated from pack, queue, pay, queue, passport details entered, queue, fingerprints and photo taken, queue... By this point it's now midday and they haven't looked at any of the detail in the

application forms.

Our outcome that day was not successful as a previous step of registering the business as a sponsor was not yet set up.

Most businesses have an appropriate by-line: Nike - Just do it; HP - Innovate; Tesco - Every little helps / Safeway - The fresh food people.

Here at the Home Office, UK Border Security, it's Thankyou for waiting.

The dance of the commuters

They leave their homes one or two at a time, joining others already on the move, converging at stations, stops, lights, to spread again, in a string of rushing self importance.
Smokers hungrily sucking down their morning cigarette while waiting for the bus. Leaving their half-finished butt on the ground NEXT to the bin.

(I just don't understand. Are they leaving it for the bums to pick up? Which is unlikely due to the frequency of street sweepers.)
The cars racing to the next set of traffic lights.
Cyclists in their fluorescent yellow, reflective-wear, lights flashing, squeezing through gaps and running red lights.
Motorbikes collecting at the lights, like noisy bugs hitting a glass window.
Pedestrians streaming across the road, oblivious to the changing lights and their perilous position.
People squeezing through the tunnels to catch trains, closer to each other than they would be with many of their family members, moving at a slow walk, pushing so that they can be first to stand still on an escalator.
All of them racing to wait.

Wicked!

Last night we went to see Wicked. It was wicked! And now Spoiler Alert: if you haven't seen it, I recommend you don't read any further....

The overall performance was good, but the production was transformed to fantastic with the outstanding performance of Rachel Tucker, who played Elphaba, the wicked witch of the west. She showed an amazing range in pitch and a depth of feeling in her powerful voice that helped to tell her story. Such a strong lead, she was careful not to drown out her cast members but was clearly in a league of her own. She was just phenomenal.

The story started slowly, but it was not long before I was identifying with Elphaba - many people feel in some ways that they are hard done by and misunderstood, and even different from everyone else.

So many themes were covered by the story, an obvious one - the power of the media to paint someone as Good or Wicked - so that no matter what was intended it was always poorly received.
It was about standing up for those being persecuted, whose own voice was being silenced out of fear.
It was about the difference between external and internal beauty.
It was about the difference between being Good and being seen or believed to be Good.
It was about personal truth and personal responsibility. The ability to recognise and take responsibility for our own contribution to our own circumstances, without blaming others.

As with many human interactions, it's all about perspective and what individuals each believe to be true, in their own reality. This show was an inspiration: the costumes, the performances and the messages to be truly good.