the art of riding a bike in Italy

Our main form of transportation is our lovely bikes. They may pass as vintage and could make an antique mall a nice wad of cash...but we enjoy them very much. The funny thing is old bikes are all you see here. 95% of the bikes look like ours and you might only see one or two new bikes a day. So we fit it perfect! We learned, very quickly, that you have to ride a bike as aggressively, if not more, as you drive a car. Riding a bike here is a continuous game of chicken, the old women being your biggest competition! They will not get out of your way and will let you know, by ringing their bell, that they are coming up behind you. Seconds after you hear the bell a little old Granny whizzes by. Taber has become a fantastic leader and clears a nice path for me. He is a bit more aggressive than me, so it is nice to follow his lead. Today, I ventured out on my own...shortly into the bike ride I realized I am highly dependent on Taber as my bike leader. I was tempted to not only turn around and head home, but to also steal a helmet off one of the parked motorcycles. Bike helmets do not exist in Italy, so it would be our only option for head protection. I opted not to steal the helmet, I was already drawing enough attention to myself by going at a snail speed. Within 5 minutes of my journey it was clear that I had to pick up the pace and the aggression if I wanted to make it to my destination without being outfitted in tire marks. I did just that for a few blocks...luck was on my side and I managed to spot a Grandma ahead of me (going in the same direction). I sped up a bit so I was right behind her. She rang her bell every 2 seconds and a path was cleared. It was amazing! She was my leader without even knowing it. Taber makes a much better leader, he knows I am following and will check on me every 30 seconds, but I was happy to have Grandma. The lesson Italy taught me today (Taber figured it out long before I arrived) is to be aggressive, look out for Grandmas (except for the ones addicted to their bell and going in your direction), and that if I want to protect my head I have to steal a motorcycle and that would risk going to jail. I will take a head injury over sitting in a foreign jail.
Reggio is playing Bologna at home tonight and in Bologna tomorrow. He did a great job defensively and continued to rock at bat.
We are working on our blog entry for Venice and will have it posted soon.

The sun has finally come out in Reggio. The city has come back to life, and is now full of people and open shops. What a difference nice weather makes. Living in Washington, it is easy to forget that most people would rather stay in than venture out in the rain. An errand can wait, if it means staying dry. If this were the case in Washington, nothing would ever get done!
We started our day early. Our first stop was at "Cafe Tropical", a very trendy cafe in the town center. Zebra table clothes, low coffee tables, and brown wicker benches take the place of typical cafe seating. Taber got his usual cappuccino, I ventured out and ordered a macchiato...Unlike Starbucks macchiatos, Italian macchiatos do not come with caramel. An Italian macchiato comes in a tea-cup the size of a shot glass, it is straight espresso with a splash of milk and foam. Although it can be taken down in one swig, the barista still takes time to form a little heart in the foam.
After the cafe, we went into two humongous and ornately decorated churches. The first, Chiesa Catterdrale, is a magnificent building worthy of a fairy tale. The church’s design is rich with Religious symbolism featuring details describing the birth, life, and death of historic church leaders . Bordering the interior walls of the church is several sanctuarys, each one containing a tomb with a portrait hanging above. The portraits may be of whomever is buried, we are not sure. We also are not sure who these people were, but whoever they were, they were important and significant enough to have personal sancuarys and be buried in the church. Perhaps the most awe inspiring is the artwork on the walls, ceiling, and large central dome. They are intricately painted with angels and ancient religious scenes. On the walls, circular stained glass windows are framed by gold.
The second church we visited (not sure of the name) is as breathtaking as the first. Four large lion statues sit outside the entrance. They do not hide their age very well, they are chipped and discolored. The most visually beautiful aspect of this church was the massive organ. The pipes took up a wall the size of a 2 story home. The church is in the shape of a cross. Being in the church you are unaware of this, but if you were to get a birds eye view it looks like a cross in the middle of the town center.
The market was open, and full of shoppers. They sell EVERYTHING at the market...fruit, clothes, purses, jewelry, bike locks, hair dryers, flowers, shoes, you can even buy a pair of underwear for 1 euro! We bought two pairs of sunglasses and a bike lock. Both will be put to good use (as long as the sun stays out).
Taber and the guys went out for a team dinner, so the girls were on our own. We went to a restaurant below a historic hotel. The chef and waitress spoke English, which was quite a treat. The cook moved to Reggio five years ago to study, while here he got a job as a cook, and has never left. After dinner the girls met up with the guys and walked to one of the main squares in the town center. Taber and Livingston, the 2nd baseman, had a dance off. Livingston's year experience as a street break dancer put him at an unfair advantage. Taber came up with some impressive moves. By the end of the season, and a little more practice, Taber may win the battle. Livingston is a big fan of Taber. Before Taber arrived in Italy, he bought one of Taber's baseball cards off ebay. Livingston has many fans himself...he speaks 4 languages, is very intelligent, is tech savvy, dances, plays the guitar, and is one of the nicest guys you will ever encounter.
Taber has a baseball game tomorrow and a double header on Saturday. We are considering a trip to either Venice or Florence on Sunday.
We miss everyone and hope all is well.
Sending you lots of love from Italy...

Sundays in Reggio

In Italy, Sundays are a day of rest. If a store chooses to remain open on Sundays, only family members are allowed to work. Combine a day of rest with a day of torrential downpour, and you are left with a sleeping city. Although, a sleeping city turned out to work in our advantage. Our Sunday consisted of eating, sleeping, eating some more, sleeping...repeat. We made it down to the center at 1pm, found an open cafe, enjoyed espressos and an elbatsonie(not sure about the spelling) Spinach filled pastries that Reggio is known for. while reading the Reggio newspaper. We were able to translate the article about Saturday nights baseball game. I am not sure if we should credit our new Italian skills, or the fact that we were at the game, therefor we knew what happened:)After finishing at the cafe, we walked around the center and did some window shopping. OK... I did most of the window shopping while Taber tried to distract me. He thinks if I do not notice the beautiful clothing and fabulous shoes, I will not be tempted to shop. Fortunately (for him) the window shopping was cut short when we noticed an open restaurant. The smell of fresh Italian food is near impossible to ignore...so we got a table for two. Taber ordered the pasta carbinara, it tasted like heaven...so delicious!After our afternoon of eating, we went into a food coma and slept for 3 hours.
Dusty, one of our roommates, has played in Reggio for the past 5 years. He knows his way around the city and what restaurants are open on Sundays. He took us to "La Tavernetta", a very cute restaurant tucked two floors below street level. We felt as if we were in a cave made of old brick. After dinner, we braved the rain and walked around the town center. Three main circles make up the town center. The newest circle, has a large fountain that lights up and changes patterns every few seconds. It is similar to the fountain downtown Olympia, only much bigger. Dusty and Jake decided to take a few runs through the fountain. Taber, Bianca, Chelsea, and I decided we were wet enough from the rain and did not need to run through the fountain. In this same circle, are benches that also light up and play music.
We finished the night with my favorite thing about Italy...gelato.
Although Sunday is a day of rest in Italy, we were able to have a fabulous day and enjoy the cafe, two restaurants, and gelatoria that remained open.
Taber played very well this past series. On Saturday night he went 3 for 4 and made some "Bravisimo" defensive plays.

I have only had two full days in Reggio, and I am already in love with the city. Although I have not yet gone into any of the churches or the museums, the history and beauty of the city is visible by walking around. Every building is different, but all have the Italian charm...flowers growing up the wall, detailed architect, beautiful doors...
In the two days I have been here, I have already conquered driving (yes, Taber trusted me with a car in a foreign country) and an Italian exercise class. Besides almost hitting a rooster, I managed the roads of Reggio just fine. I am sure I got many unpleasant looks while driving (I was too focused on not getting in an accident to notice) and I know, for a fact, I got many confused looks while in the aerobics class. At the beginning of the class the instructor asked Bianca, the girlfriend of our roommate, and I a question in Italian. We thought she asked if we like to dance...we both replied "yes". Shortly into the class we discovered she had really asked "Do you know how to Latin dance." I may be able to come in 2nd place at the Bean/Galle wedding dance off, but I cannot Latin dance. It is close to impossible to move my hips the way Italian women do, I swear they were born with motors in their hips. Needless to say, we gave the other in the class a good laugh. It did not help the instructor was yelling at us in Italian to kick our legs up higher...Italians must also not be born with joints, their flexibility was very impressive.
Today we went to Franco's house, he is a main sponsor of the team. His house is gorgeous, tradition Italian on the outside with a very modern interior.His wife cooked us a delicious meal of ragu pasta, salad, meat, potatoes, bread, chocolate cake, and gelato...it was course after course. I thought my stomach was going to explode after the first course, but it was too tasty to stop. Taber was in heaven with all the food.
Franco, his wife, and two sons speak English very well, so it was quite easy to communicate. I am looking forward to learning some Italian so I am able to communicate with them, and others in the city, in their language.
Although it is nice when you come across someone who speaks English, I feel it is more appropriate for Taber and I to learn their language. So...I am trying to study the dictionary a little everyday. Taber has picked up quite a bit from the field. We went to dinner on our own last night and were able to translate the menu, order, and pay all in Italian.
For anyone concerned Taber would go into withdrawal not having Mexican food for 5 months, he has managed to find a "burrito". It is consists of shaved meat, french fries, cabbage, carrots, hot sauce, and a cream sauce all wrapped in a flour tortilla. In the short month he has been here, he has already become a regular at that particular cafe.:)
Taber has a double header today. I am on my way to conquer another Italian workout class and then to the game.

Krissie is finally in Italy!!!!

Well Krissie finally arrived in Italy last night around 7pm. She had a long day of traveling flying straight from seattle to london then on to milan. I took the train from reggio emilia to milan followed by a twenty minute bus ride to the airport. It was a nice and relaxing train ride back to Reggio where our roomates picked us up and we all went out for pizza! Apparently krissie brought the northwest rain with her because we woke up today with rain in the forecast for the next three days. I am soooo excited that she is here now and she is ready to run around and see Italy!

Double header in San Marino

We had a double header in San Marino Saturday to finish up a three game series. We ended up loosing both games and loosing the series as well. When we arrived in San Marino we stopped at a mall where a resturant was waiting for us with pasta, salad, bread, and drinks. After game one they feed us even more pasta with blocks of cheese. All three games were close and all decided by one run. The second game was over around 1215am and we ended up eating at a restaurant in San Marino around 1am. It wasnt pasta this time......just pizza! We didnt get back to Reggio until 445am. The good thing about this leauge is that you have plenty of time to recover from a trip like that. 4-5 days to be exact.
San Marino is a very small little city that actually is their own country within Italy. It is actually called the republic of San Marino. They have different license plates on their cars, different flag, and different song. You cant live in San Marino unless you are born there or marry someone who lives there. It is an amazing city because the town is on top of three peaks that include some of the best views I have ever seen. There are a few old castles that still stand that actually over looked the baseball feild. It was amazing.

The First home game

Well yesterday we had our first game of the season. It was against San Marino, who won it all last year. We had the biggest crowd in Reggio history with an exciting 300 people! Baseball isn't exactly a fan favorite sport here or even Italians past time. We ended up loosing the game 1-0.....bummer huh. Since the games start at 9pm, a firework show kicked things off right. We had a famous opera singer sing the italian national anthem which was actually reall cool. Then the first pitch was thrown out by the mayor of Reggio......a perfect strike. The game was on TV and aired all over Italy. We were supposed to play today but it was cancelled due to the latest earthquake that occured 5 hours south of Reggio Emilia. They announced that today would be a day of mourning for the victums that died in the quake. So we will play a double header on sat. in San Marino! All in all baseball is the same game in any country. For some reason it just seems more fun over here!!!

Meeting the Mayor

Today was a pretty cool day. All the foreign players, including myself, met with the mayor of Reggio Emilia and the main sponsor of the team in a press conference. It was in the town square where they do all there government stuff. There were news cameras everywhere and newspaper photographers snapping off pictures like we were celebrities. They announced our presence in Reggio Emilia and there expectations of us. Basically it was kind of a big deal. Here are some pics of what went on today......enjoy!

Godo trip

Yesterday we had a double header practice game in Godo. This little town is about 20 minutes from the east coast, near Rimini. To sum it up- there is nothing there! I took some pictures before the game and after. The field was terrible. They are working on it and it will be a little bit better when the season starts. The games went well and it looks like we will be a pretty good team this year. After the game our owner "Franco" took the team out to a really nice dinner in Godo. The bus ride home was something else. All i can say is that italian guys are crazy! It was the most fun i have ever had on a bus! We ended up getting home around 1130 pm.

well today i walked around the town center again. The markets were open in the town square. looks a little like Tijuana, mexico. At least the products they sell does. It is finally sunny after 5 days straight of rain. Stoped at a few cafe's and enjoyed the scenery and some lunch that i cant pronounce. Took a few pics of me in the church. One pic that could have gotten me in big trouble, but i had to do it! sorry mom! Optional practice today and then another practice game in Godo tommorow. Godo is a coastal town in italy about two hours from Reggio emilia. Nothing planned for the rest of the day. Maybe to the gym and then the jaccuzi. And Im sure out to Dinner with the guys somewhere. That always makes for a great night. A fewitalian teammates usually eat with us. They know some english but are willing to learn as much as we are willing to learn their language. Still loving Italy!!!

Va bene

Well I am finally settled in and on some sort of schedule. Reggio is a beautiful place and could see myself living here some day. Here are some pics or the town as a ride my bike around. Reggio is a lot bigger than i thought......enjoy!