Being British I cannot deal with the following: things that do not function correctly; a disregard for public hygiene; nudity in public places; people that do not queue; having to wait longer than is necessary; having to wait longer than is necessary because people do not queue; exotic wildlife; inadequate bureaucracy; men who think it is acceptable to carry a handbag; and heat. To this day I wonder why I ever wanted to spend a year in Italy.

Read on to find out about my Italian adventures: I did it all - I taught, I studied, I didn't queue, but most importantly, I lived 'La Dolce Vita'.

Monday, 10 October 2011

Adventures on Two Wheels

Though I parted from my fellow tutors on Saturday evening, Sunday had much excitement in store as the rest of the weekend was devoted to getting to know our respective families. I was treated to a visit to Mont Isola.
In the middle of Lago d'Iseo there is a large pimple of an island - that said it really is spectacular. Considering it was my first taste of 'traditional' Italian beauty in a long time, it lived up to expectations.

To visit the island you have to get across by ferry, which we duly did, and then to see as much of the island as possible you have to hire bikes.

Imagine the scene - the weather is, let's say 'close', and we're cycling up, let's say a 'mountain' - pleasant. But not content with leaving it there, let's add something else to the mix: a fly, some vanity, and an epic downward slope. What difference do they make, you may be wondering. Well, much water has passed under the bridge since and I'm still bearing the scars.

It really was quite funny really. On said slope a fly flew into my personal space and not wanting to get the mother of all insect bites on my face I tried to bat it away - BIG mistake. In order to temper the rapid acceleration I had just experienced I thought I had better pull on the back brake. Problem. Which one is the back brake? This one? No, so it must be... this one? Yes! Oh, wait, no... oops. Face full of gravel.

Well done. Day two with the host fam and I've already shown myself to be completely irresponsible and lacking in what most people would call 'common sense': cue explanation of the term 'blonde' over dinner.

I felt really bad for embarrassing the fam in feeling embarrassed for me. I was totally fine about it - to own the truth I found it rather amusing. If I'd had an audience I would have expected them to laugh.

So that evening I elected to keep a low profile and prepare myself for 5 uninterrupted days of English camp fun - easy, especially when (I think to draw attention to my stupidity) my family had put an attractive red dye on my wounds. Smooth.
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , ,
Location: Lake Iseo, Italy

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)