Tanti auguri di un felicie anno nuovo!
Well, Christmas was good – stunning day so went for a ride to the lake and sat on a park bench and had our muesli-bars.
Oh yeah – we had to go to the lake because Santa thoughtfully gave me an early present on the 24th – was down with some friends bouldering at the wall and a whole heap of new holds arrived. So there were a few new problems and the challenge was issued – you close the
bloc, you name it. Excellent! The lure
of a big long unpronounceable Maori name got the better of me....if i hadn’t missed the final hold it would’ve been mine! But alas, a very awkward fall, and the guys learnt some kiwi swear words...and i got a sprained ankle. Bugger! Still, the wee boy with the electric drill who came to fix my ankle for me was a delight! And i got another bloc named after me, so all was worthwhile! ‘Kiwis don’t fly
’. Haha. So, um yeah, we had to go on a flat ride to the lake since i couldn’t really push that hard....A very light mtb Boxing day, followed by some climbing the day after – foot fitted in the shoe even if it was a bit swollen, I just can’t sit still – shoot me. The next day we tried to go climbing outside – set off on our mtb’s to meet Michele – it snowed on the way – yahoo! So we had a caffe. And another. And it was still thick fog and 1 degree. Ah, bail to the gym. Ate yummy home-made-by Michele’s-Mum-cake before biking home in the snow – perfect day really. Especially after i made the most excellent butter chicken curry without butter or chicken. Only problem is i have promised Michele a good curry experience, but not quite sure how to make it a true curry experience without it being a proper spicy curry – a
runny nose is obligatory isn’t it? Not sure he’ll handle that....
New Year was pretty special – it started snowing at about 10pm so we went into the centre of town to partake in the new year festivities with the other Veronese...along with three dutchies and a bottle of champagne that just wouldn’t pop! It was pretty cool looking up into the sky to watch the fireworks display with the snowflakes landing on your eyelashes amid snow covered people and umbrellas. They obviously haven’t heard of having a glass-bottle ban in public places which was a shame as the mess of broken glass (not so much because of uncontrollable drunkards as would be the case in NZ) was a bit of a bugger as the crowd cleared. It was quite amusing as we all wondered what they’d do for the countdown – Aukje was most concerned we might have missed it, but then i reassured her that this was Italy and since when did they do anything actually on time?? Imagine our surprise when the countdown actually began 10 seconds before the stroke of midnight!
So then we meandered along the main street, (whose bright idea was it to try and walk along a tiled street with icy snow on it again??) – great show though – it never ceases to amaze me how important the Italian image is - remind me next time to come out in the snow in stilettos... We stopped off at a bar for a New Year drink – it was the first time I have actually seen drunk people about – but it was very refreshing because everyone was so happy and friendly and no-one was causing any problems or agro. Verona is a very different scene to many places in NZ.... Then made our way home by bike. Very very cool – we were tempted to go for a night-snow-ride but decided the city bike was at it’s limit.
And some more snow would make it more fun....so today (1st) we dressed up and headed out for a bit of a ride in the white stuff. Wow – it’s quite tricky you know! Bugger when you are slipping around in icy-car-slush, bail and get your mtb shoes all balled up with snow....much better in the fresh deep virgin stuff – although i must admit, i was pretty crap and James was far more skilled than me. Still, it was kinda cool crashing off and lying in the middle of the road you normally hoon down on your road bike. And did you know how fantastic it feels when you have a 2 degree soggy chamois stuck to your butt cheeks!
This afternoon called for a nice piece of cake. I had some chestnut flour and decided to make a traditional Italian Castagnaccio or chestnut cake. Well, where is Caffe Cuba when you need it? It was barely edible with lashings of melted dark chocolate and cream on top to disguise the um, flavour. Won’t be following that recipe again! So I am sitting here looking at the remnants (which surprisingly for a cake there is an awful lot...) on the bench – wonder if the birds are hungry?
Oh, funny thing – watched a family walk their cat on a lead in the snow today. Yes. I know. And you should have seen the cat’s face – something like “WTF? I’m not a snow leopard you idiots! And you think i need the lead so i don’t run away in this??”