Nasty!!!

I don’t know what it is, but I get really disgusted by toenails and fingernails! Especially if they aren’t well kept! Its one of the first things I notice. Ironically, I also can’t stand the sound of clippers! Whenever Maurizio has to clip his nails he has to warn me and I have to turn the TV up loud and he runs water in the sink so I don’t hear it. Yes, I realize I am strange but if I hear it I cringe. It doesn’t really bother me when I do it myself but I can’t stand filing my nails. It makes me crazy!

Anyhow, I guess you can understand how I must feel when while walking to the gym one day I barely missed somebody’s nail clippings as they threw them out the window. I literally saw them falling in front of my eyes! GROSS!!! They could have fallen on my head if I had been any faster. Or another time as I was returning home and I turned my corner and almost tripped over a gypsy lady cutting hers off with a knife! It makes me want to puke!!

This afternoon, I had just called my sister when I heard click click click! I knew what it was immediately and I told my sister “Someone is cutting their nails I can hear it!!!” Since I knew it was coming from my window, I ran to the window and YES across the street there was a guy cutting his nails and letting them fall to the ground below him. Keep in mind, we live on a pedestrian street and it is always filled with people so, these poor people taking their Saturday afternoon stroll were greeted by his nasty nails on their head!!!! Seriously people do this inside and put them in the garbage or flush them down the toilet. I really don’t want to watch you groom yourself and I definitely don’t want to wear it if I just happen to be passing below your window!!!!

Gelato Festival

Sunday afternoon I woke up pretty late. I have been so anxious about moving that I haven’t been sleeping at all. So by the time I woke up and had my ritual caffe latte it was already close to 11:30. The weather outside was hot and sunny but I didn’t have much to do all day so I decided to go ahead and do my run. I knew it was going to be hot at 1:30pm but it looked a bit overcast so I wasn’t worried. Boy was I wrong, those 5 miles were BRUTAL! While I was stopped at a cross walk at the end a 65+-year-old Italian man ran up beside me and we discussed how hot the weather was and both continued jogging across the road. WOW he was a trooper, at his age; I hope I will be doing the same when I am older.

After some running I took a quick shower and headed out wet hair and all to the Festival of Gelato. Most Italians believe that you get sick if you leave the house with wet hair and Italians have also asked me about it, why we “Americans” do this. You always see college students running around the city with damp hair and most don’t understand this and give you concerning looks. To me its quite funny and I usually tell them that us “Americans” just aren’t as delicate as Italians! ☺ So, after receiving my many concerning looks I arrived at Piazza della Santissima Annunziata.

The festival was basically a setup throughout the major piazzas throughout Firenze with local gelato from shops around the city and Italy. You could purchase an assaggio (taste) for 1 euro or purchase a card, which allowed for more tastes. There were many different flavors and many people enjoying the cold delights in such hot weather.

This festival was exactly what we all needed in the city during such a hot week.
See a few pictures below:

Race for the Cure Roma

Sunday Maurizio and I made our way to Roma for the Susan G Komen race for the cure. It was a race composed of a 5k competitive and non-competitive run and a 2km passeggiata (stroll/walk). I knew there would be a lot of people but didn’t expect as many as we saw. To give you an idea, our race numbers were in the 32,000’s and we pre-registered. There were still a lot of people registering the morning of the race. There must have been 50,000 people there, which is great considering all the money goes towards breast cancer.

This event was Maurizio’s first race and I was really excited for him to participate with me. He has run a little bit with me the last months but definitely hasn’t been training for a 5K so he was a little nervous. I felt terrible because he had worked 11 straight days without a day off and now I was making him run 3.1 miles. Ouch!! Oh well, he was a trooper and never complained about it.

We had to wake up at 6am. Because Maurizio worked late the night before and we were preparing all our stuff we didn’t get to bed until around 2am. When we woke up it was very hard to get moving and by the time we made it to the train station in Florence we were able to just barely sit in our seats before the train departed at 7am sharp.

We arrived in Roma at 8:45 and quickly made our way to the metro station in Termini. It was already packed with people in their pink shirts! When the train arrived we packed ourselves in so tight, many people didn’t even fit and had to wait for the next train. Everyone was so cute in all their pink gear. When we finally got to the Circo Massimo stop everyone pushed off the train and we all climbed the stairs to the street where we met thousands of others in their pink. It was very cool to see everyone participating.

After we got our t-shirts and race numbers we found a hiding spot in the bushes for our backpack and crossed our fingers we didn’t get in trouble. On a side story my family has a joke about us and a backpack in Rome. When Maurizio and I were in the process of filing for his green card we had to travel to several Italian cities to sign papers etc. When we came to Rome we had carried all our documents in a backpack. Well, the embassy didn’t allow backpacks inside so we didn’t know what to do with it, I asked several hotels if they would hold it that we would even pay but they refused. So, I went across the street from the embassy and just threw the backpack in the bushes next to a tree. When we came out of the embassy there was a sort of Italian swat team surrounding the embassy entrance and the backpack on the opposite street. We had to run up to the Italian officer (who was holding a large gun) and explain that it was our bag and why we left it there. Thankfully we were only scolded for not telling them in advance. So, whenever we have to leave a backpack somewhere we tread with caution. Thankfully nothing happened and our bag was still there when we returned.




The race started at 10am and we were right in the middle of the crowd of thousands. I have to say, of the 3 races I have done in Italy, this was the most organized event I had ever seen. I was impressed considering the amount of people that were there. We took off on and ran the 3.1 miles, which took you past the Circo Massimo, the Roman Parliament Building, The Roman Forums, and circled around the Coliseum. It was amazing and the race went by super fast. By the time we made it to the side of the Coliseum it was already 3km. I couldn’t believe how fast it went by. When we got close to the finish line I ran ahead so I could see Maurizio cross the line, when he arrived it was 30minutes and 34 seconds. He did so well! I was so excited for him. He had achieved his goal of finishing in 30 minutes and not walking once. He said he had a lot of fun so hopefully this will inspire him to do more races with me when we return to the states!




Have a look at some video below!

PaperBack Exchange in Florence, Italy

So, I have to write about this in my blog because it was the 2nd bad experience I have had with the English bookstore in Florence. I will try to keep this short mostly because it’s just me being upset with the lack of courtesy from this particular store.

The first time I heard about the Paper Back Exchange in Florence I thought it was such a great idea. It’s an English bookstore where you sale used books and receive credit towards the purchase of other used and new books. I read so much here that I thought this would be great! The first time I went to the store, I was looking for a travel book of the Tuscany area. I was interested to see what the store was all about so I went in. Since it was my first time to the store I wasn’t sure of the layout. I browsed around a bit, was never greeted by the two English girls/ladies behind the register, and couldn’t find the travel book area. I noticed the girls had been in conversation the whole time and slowly approached the register to ask for the travel section. I stood by the register waiting for them to stop their conversation and hoped they would acknowledge me. Keep in mind I was literally right in front of their faces, they were blatantly ignoring me. So, after about a minute of standing there I finally said “excuse me for interrupting but I was hoping you could tell me where your travel books are” this was followed by one girl saying “can’t you see we are talking?? They are over there” she pointed in a direction. I replied with a “sorry” and immediately left the store without even looking at the books. I later found what I was looking for at the Italian bookstore for a price I am sure was cheaper. So, after this experience I had a bad taste in my mouth and never went back.

My friend Andrea had sold some books to the store and had a credit of 15euro and some change. Before she left Europe she gave me the credit to use since she wouldn’t need it. It was super nice of her. This was over a year ago. Since I haven’t been back, I still had not used it. So, the other day I decided to go through some of my books and sell them to the store and use the credit Andrea gave me. I gathered about 6 books and left for the store. When I arrived I immediately approached the register and asked if I could sell back the books. The girl behind the register (I believe American because she didn’t have an accent) was very nice and took the books. She told me to go ahead and browse around while she figured how much they were worth. So, I started looking at the cookbook area, which is directly in front of the register. While I was looking I noticed an Italian man came to the register and they talked about his break etc. (in Italian) and then she walked towards the back. I thought she was going back there to work out the price of my books. I kept browsing the books and it only took me about 5 minutes to find what I wanted. An Italian Vegan cookbook for Maurizio’s collection. I was waiting, waiting, waiting… the girl didn’t come back. In the mean time, I saw a student come in with books and she went to the register, the Italian man behind the register took her books and told her how much credit she had. After a few more minutes another girl came in with a big bag of books. She asked the man “do you buy back books?” he said, “yes, let me see them”. She then put the big bag on top of the desk and he said in a very rude manner “TAKE THEM OUT OF THE BAG! DON’T JUST THROW THEM UP HERE” the girl was embarrassed and very apologetic as she started rapidly taking the books out of the bag. I couldn’t believe how rude he was; he was such a jerk (well I really had better more vulgar names for him). So, she got credit and left. I still hadn’t seen the girl. I still didn’t know how much credit I had. My phone rang and I stepped to the entrance to talk to Maurizio for a bit asking him about the cookbook. After I got off the phone with Maurizio, I decided to ask what was going on, it had been well over 15 minutes. I went to the register and asked the man “excuse me, do you know where the other girl went that was here” he replied sharply “which girl, there are several girls that work here, not everyone is here today, some are off, one is in the back, one is on break…..” I interrupted his rudeness and said “I apologize, I am looking for the lady that was just here speaking with you” he said “like I said, one is in the back and one is on break I don’t know who you are talking about” so I said, “I don’t know her name, she had a nose ring and blonde hair” he replied “Who?? What is her name? I don’t know who you are talking about”. I decided this conversation was going nowhere so I tried a different approach.
“Okay listen, I gave some books to a girl just a few minutes ago, she was supposed to give me a price but she never did, I have been waiting”

“Well what is your name”?

“My name is Whitney but that wont matter because she didn’t write my name down, she just took them and told me to browse around”

“Well how am I supposed to know then??”

“I don’t know, that’s why I am asking where she is?”

“WHO are you talking about”?

Then I noticed my books on the shelf

“I think those are my books right there, the first one is the same title I turned in but I can’t see what’s underneath.”

“Those aren’t your books, I priced them and you didn’t give them to me”

“I already said I didn’t give them to you, I gave them to the other girl but I am pretty sure they are mine”

“Those aren’t yours!!!”

Then I just started walking to the back to find the girl myself.

“Wait, are these yours?” He pulled them from the shelf

“Yes, those are the ones I just brought in.”
“I priced them, they aren’t yours”

“Look, I don’t know who priced them but I am not leaving until I have the books or I have the credit, either way”

“Are you sure these are yours?

“YES, they are mine”

“What’s the big deal???” as he slams them down “HERE!! Here is the price”

So I gave him the cookbook and Andrea’s credit. It worked out that I didn’t have to pay any extra and that he owed me 5cents. He got the coin from the register threw it down on top of the cookbook and said, “THAT’S ALL”

So I said “Grazie” and left.

I will NEVER go back to that store. You are much better off going to the Italian bookstores; you can still buy books in English there for better prices and a more tolerant and friendly staff. Anyone who reads this, I hope you don’t waist your money in that store. I really have nothing good to say about it and have had friends with similar experiences.

here is the link to their website http://www.papex.it/

Guarda Firenze 2010 10K

Well, I ran in my last race in Florence before going back home for the summer. It was a local 10K non-competitive race. The race itself was open to everyone and was setup to help promote health and fitness for young people and to basically get the community of Florence together in activity.

I knew the race was approaching but had sort of forgotten about it. Then Friday May 7th I happened to look on the Firenze Marathon website where they list local runs and saw that the 7th was the last day to register. So, I threw on some clothes and headed out to register. I went to the closest sports store to register only to find that so many people were interested that they ran out of registration forms. I then had to walk a couple miles to another store (in the rain) where thankfully they still had some. I got my race number and information packet and was all set for the 10K in two days.

I researched the race map and saw that the course was going to be tough. Thankfully I had run the area a couple times but it is pretty brutal if you aren’t used to running hills. I definitely am not trained in hill running and need to work on that for future races.

Anyhow, race day was completely chaotic! We were supposed to be able to pick up our race shirts the morning of the race at 8 am, however, they didn’t have them ready so we had to wait until after the race. When we arrived to Piazza del Duomo there were people everywhere. On top of the main event which was the 10K they also a course designed for kids and another course for walkers. There were basically three starting points in the Piazza and no one seemed to know where to go. Everyone was mixing in with each other and there were thousands of people there. The 10K started at 9:30am and like I said, at the gate there was everyone mixed in, people were in their wrong area etc. People were crammed in the Partenza area and then the gun sounded you could barely move. I am NOT an aggressive runner, in the sense that I don’t like to push and shove. This particular race was FULL of these aggressive runners.

It wasn’t a competitive race so they weren’t giving out prizes and they weren’t really keeping track of time so there wasn’t really a need to push everyone especially since it was a personal test. If you had your own stopwatch you would be able to see how you did. However, once the race started you were pushed along. I was basically running in place for the 1st 2km. It was so packed. As we were crossing Ponte Vecchio I saw a small boy trip and because we were so close to each other, about 3-4 people fell on top of him. Then some runners came by me elbowing there way through the thick crowd. It was sort of scary! You have to be careful running on those old cobblestones as it is, its much scarier if you have to worry about someone pushing you down.

So, until the 2nd km I couldn’t really get off to my running pace and after the 2nd km started the really fun part, complete up hill. It was a gradual, steady incline from km2 to km6! It really kicked my butt. My calves were feeling it. I was able to make up a little bit of time on this part of the course but not much. There were just a few dips in the hills and I would run as fast as I could and tried to catch up. After km 6 it went downhill to km7 and I was able to make up a lot of time. At km7 the course leveled out until the end back at the Duomo.

This was the first race where I didn’t have a whole lot left in me by the end. I was able to kick it in a little bit at km9 until the finish line but not near as much as past races. I was mentally and physically exhausted. Then the worst thing happened. At the end of the race, you basically slammed into a brick wall! Everyone who finished was stopped immediately and you had to stand in a crowded line in order to pass through the gates. They were handing out little cards to say you completed the race and it was terrible. I had just finished, I was hot, sweaty, and thirsty and now I had to stand in a cattle call for about 15 minutes. It was gross, people rubbing up on me with their sweaty bodies! YUCK! So after you passed through this line, you moved into another crowded line where you had to pick up your race shirt. That took another good 15mins. Then I finally found Maurizio who was waiting with some drinks for me. It was absolutely insane. But all in all it was a pretty good race. I ended up finishing in 58:18, which was really slow, but considering everything I was okay with it. It was still a lot of fun and another really good experience of Florence.

In the video below you can see some of the people at the gate and finishing the race as well as the entertainment of the old fashioned flag throwers dressed in the old time clothes. They usually are present for city events.

Una Tragedia (THIS IS GRAPHIC CONTENT!!!!)

Una Tragedia

A Tragedy

Note *** this is graphic content***

Monday on our way home from Livorno Ferraris we witnessed an awful tragedy. We had no idea what was happening but it definitely made me rethink my own problems. I guess the saying is true, no matter how bad you may think you have things, there are always others who have it worse. Be thankful for what you have.

On our way home I found myself aggravated, we had made the travel from Livorno Ferraris to Novara and all the train tracks seemed to be at a dead stop. We were going to miss our connection in Milan with the Eurostar and we would be late getting back to Florence. We were at the end of our trip and I was ready to get home to my own house, in my own bed. This bump in our road was a major annoyance to me. I was happy at least that we weren’t going northwest because the trains going to Torino were delayed 60-80 minutes. What the heck was going on??

Finally our train was approaching the binario (track) and we were still on time. Just before boarding it came over the loud speaker that the reason there were delays was because someone had been hit by a train in Magenta. At this moment I felt terrible for the anger I felt and immediately prayed that the person hit was okay and we also prayed for the family. We didn’t know how bad it was.

Magenta is a stop on the way to Milano, actually only a few stops from Milan. We were still on time with our train and we still had the chance to get our connection. We weren’t worried about this anymore we couldn’t stop thinking about what was happening further down the tracks in Magenta. Everyone on the train was talking about the accident trying to get more information from the conductor. He didn’t know anything just that someone was hit.

As we approached Magenta, the train stopped completely. We knew we were close but had no idea what we would find in the town. I figured that perhaps someone was hit as the train was taking off or hopefully that it wasn’t anything too serious.
I was wrong, VERY wrong.

The train approached the station and the first thing we saw was the fast train, which normally goes to France. It was stopped a little way up from the station. Next, what we saw I can’t even describe the horror. The accident remnants were still there and you could see everything. The train pulled in slowly and to our right was the remnants of what had happened. You could see all the yellow numbered placks on the ground marking the start of the accident #1 to what I could see was all the way down the track to #6. There were white chalk circles everywhere. There were 2 large pieces (body parts) far apart covered in sheets and there were pieces of blood and bones scattered all over the tracks and some on the station platform circled in white chalk. There was a shoe right beside my window. It was terrible. It was complete horror like something you would see out of horror movie. It was as if the body had completely exploded.

I will never get this site out of my head. I felt terrible, I felt sad for the person, for the family and even more for the feelings of annoyance I had felt earlier.
Maurizio and I both began praying for the family and the person.

Later we found out after reading the newspaper that the person hit was a 23 -year old boy. Apparently the boy had some psychological problems and the authorities think and based on witness accounts that the accident was a suicide. The boy threw himself in front of the fast train as it made its way through the station. The train was going at top speed. How awful it is that this 23 -year old boy had such problems on his shoulders that he didn’t feel he could go on.

Please remember there is NOTHING so bad that God hasn’t given us the strength to survive. Our life is precious and we must live it to its fullest.

*Sorry for the graphic detail above

Il Compleanno di Bruno, 73 anni

Bruno’s Birthday, 73 years

This past weekend Maurizio and I made a visit to his hometown in Livorno Ferraris to celebrate his father’s 73rd birthday. Since we have come back to Italy Maurizio and I have been able to celebrate 4 birthdays with his father. Bruno made sure to point out to Maurizio that these were the first 4 years his whole life. When Maurizio pointed out all the years that extended from his birth until he was 14 when he left his home in Italy his father jokingly pointed out that those didn’t count because he had to come then.
(Bruno, my father in law, the birthday boy)


Maurizio’s mom made sure to point out that Bruno always gets a party on his birthday unlike everyone else. Not only is May 1st Bruno’s birthday, it is also a national holiday (a holiday for workers called Festa dei lavoratori).
(Davide, my nephew and Teresa, my mother in law)

Since usually no one works on this day Bruno has always been able to have friends an family available on his birthday. This year was no different and all the family got together to do carne alle brace. This basically means on the grill except the meat is cooked on a piece of stone. At Maurizio’s home they have two wood burning stoves, one is the Pizza oven and they other is for the brace. They both can act as typical wood burning ovens.
(burgers cooking on the stone)

(Salvatore, my brother in law Rosanna's husband. The grill master)


One thing we never lack at Maurizio’s mom’s house is food and this day was no different. We had meat galore. There were sausages, pork chops, steaks, chicken, hamburgers, and hotdogs. With those we had french fries, various salads and condiments. For dessert my sister in law Rosanna made an awesome tiramisu with strawberries. It was DELICIOUS!

Needless to say we were all stuffed after the lunch and we all went outside to visit and play with my niece Matilde and nephew Davide. I can’t believe how much I have been able to see all my nieces and nephew grow. Its only been 4 years but they have grown so much since I first met them. They are all turning into beautiful young ladies and a gentleman. In particular I have seen my niece Francesca grow from a young teenager to a beautiful young woman. Its been such a great experience and even though one day I wont be able to spend as much time with them I hope they will always remember these first 4 years we have had together. They have been able to see me go from being able to only say Ciao to hopefully now feeling comfortable to have a conversation with me. I love them all very much and definitely consider them my Family. My Italian family, La Mia Famiglia Italiana.
(Davide playing soccer)

(me and Matilde after I dressed her up with a little makeup)

(Erika (niece), Salvatore (brother in law), Matilde (niece), and Francesca (niece))

(matilde and sara (mother of Matilde and my sister in law). She is married to Maurizio's twin brother Riccardo)

After some hours resting and digesting it was time to start dinner. We all decided that for dinner we would have home made pizza cooked in the wood burning pizza oven. This oven is awesome and definitely not something we Americans are used to having but I have made Maurizio promise to build us one in the future. My sister has already picked out where she wants hers at her house too. Anyhow, Maurizio and Rosanna made the dough and laid it out, then Rosanna went to work covering the pizza’s with homemade pizza sauce (made from Teresa’s, my mother in law, tomatoes) left over sausages, mozzarella and some were topped with prosciutto cotto (cooked ham). Needless to say they were delicious especially when being washed down with some cold beer.


All in all we had a very nice visit with the family and celebrating with Maurizio’s dad. I am not sure if I will get to see everyone together again before I leave for the states but I know and I hope they know they are in my heart with me everyday no matter where I am.

Have a look at the video of the family and making the pizza: