Same time

I'm not writing this blog anymore cause I'm not travelling, but I like to update in few words these few months:

I came back from Rome to Maniago at the end of June, and for a bit I stayed at home doing nothing apart sending CVs around looking for a job.

A month ago I started a Tai Ji course at my friend's gym, at the same time I found a part-time job at a betting shop..

At the same time I found a new girlfriend (actually she found me :-)) and we're planning to move to a new house to live together..

Everything at the same time..
Like they say in SE Asia.. "Same same.. but different!"

Blog Buzz

Hey guys!
Check my brother's new blog on

CARPA251

See you!

Weekend at Anthony's

Last weekend was a great workshop time for me and my friends, just needed to refresh the good work.. Thank you Anthony!
Some pics here:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/photo.php?pid=5286825&fbid=433184353148&id=613868148

Summer?

This year summer seems doesn't want to arrive in Maniago, during the day we just started to see sun and warm days, but as daylight ends the temperature start feeling breezing like early spring (someone says winter, but I think it's exaggerated).

It's a banal observation to understate the fact that I came back from Rome, it's a couple of weeks now: hotel job ended at the end of May, and at the moment I'm looking for a job here in Friuli.

Well, I'm not really into it, maybe it's the crisis period that especially here hitted the manufacturing industry, lots had already lost their jobs, and many others to come.

Offers are not that awesome, only temporary with very little money, so I prefer to study and prepare myself for September, for starting a new course as fitness and martial arts trainer.

That's all for now, just wanted to write something to update the blog.

Tourists in Rome

We have a guest in hotel who's pretty much living with us, bacause his employer just take him to go working and then drop him off at hotel at dinner time.

Monday he had a day off, and since he's never been visiting Rome we went to the city to do some stroll around most famous places, to take some shots.

The plan was to see a couple of places in an easy way, but with Rome it's never easy.

There's just too much of everything, and after the first hour starts the "Oh my, it's only 200 metres from here, I can't miss it!" feeling.

It's something unexplainable, cause even if you've been there hundreds of times, if you want to show someone these places you start getting this disease again, and walk with your camera in hand like a Japanese (with no offense for Japanese people).

So in the end we "just" walk around taking pics for 7 hours, thanks goodness we stopped for lunch, otherwise I wouldn't survive the day.

The thing was that I wasn't on my day off, so I skipped sleeping to go, something that you enjoy on the spot, still enjoyin' after you arrive in hotel just to have dinner and start your shift, but not much when it's 2am, 7 hours to go and a bunch of tourists is keeping you awake.

Hopefully we'll do it again, planning a shift break after ;-)

By the way: was just great!! :-)

Snow Time!

Just few pics of the amazing snowfall that we had here in Nemi yesterday, enjoy!

Friul

After few days home I came back to work really relaxed, I didn't think that this short holiday would have such a big effect, but that's what homeland does usually to me.. homeland and spritz with friends :-)

Home

This week I'll be home for my well deserved holidays, I can't believe it! :-)

Program will be busy, so hopefully I'll write about it and show you nice pics as I'll come back..

Family portraits, friends reunions, some good snow time, the usual.. :-)

New Proposals

For this 2010 I have the usual proposals that never come real objectives, as usual.. :-)

The only objective for this year, at the moment, is start training not only for Tai Ji as usual, but also for get in a shape which allow me to wear my clothes, or soon I'll have to start buying all new bigger stuff.
This holidays, altough I worked them, we ate like was no tomorrow, and I didn't pay any attention of number of pieces of cake, nor which kind of cake was..

Merry Christmas!

Wish you very happy holidays, if you have them, if instead you're working like me wish you to have fun with your workmates, eat and drink till you drop! :-)



A thought for all the people that in this period will not have a great X-mas:













people from Abruzzo that still waiting for their new homes;

everyone that lost his job, or is working without getting paid;

everyone that doesn't have a house, a job, or even a family...

Merry Christmas to you all

Umbria Tai Ji 3

Yesterday we went for a private workshop at Anthony's place.
Altough we didn't have day off, but both me and Lele had to work afternoon shift, we decided to go at least for the morning training, leaving immediately after to run back to Rome.

At the beginning I was not so enthusiast cause I don't like tight schedules very much, but the thing with Tai Ji is that when you're training you start to put things in a different perspective, in a way that make you accept Anthony's invite for lunch, with obviously being late for work after..

In the measure of the Universe, a couple of hours is pretty much nothing, and that's maybe one of the best lessons that Tai Ji can teach :-)

Lost in Switzerland

Since I came back from this trip I was thinking to write a post to put together all the impressions and stories about this week..

There would be lots to say, from reunion with part of my family, to discover a new world just near ours, made of different countries all mixed together with languages and uses..

An explosion of chocolate that can knock you off with hyperglycemia just stepping into it..







Best Bratwurst in Zurich, and maybe in the world..





Stefano, my cousin that after twenty years that we didn't see each other still looks the same, apart that now speaks four languages.. but swears in Italian at hockey games





Getting lost during my walkings trying to reach city centre, with the amazed looks of my pics and the comments: "Did you arrive here BY FOOT?"




Learning a language that is spoken but not written..

The love fot the unknown, for the discover, for the travel...

And, most of all, the Love itself, in all is power and in the nostalgia for the object of yours...

See you!!

Holidays!

Today last day of work, a double shift night-afternoon and then I'll be off for a week.. Yay!

Because November is a quite month in tourism industry, usually we can easily get days off from work, also in this way we can rest to be prepared for the craziest month of the year.. of course December and its holidays!
That's one of the things of this job, you rest when everybody's working, and work when they have holidays, but I like it this way :-)

I think next week I'll have the time to keep update this blog, otherwise keep a look for the news after 24th.

Zurich, ich komme bald ;-)

La Mano di Ferro nel Guanto di Velluto

Last Sunday we had a Tai Ji workshop in our hotel here in Nemi.

It was directed by Anthony, holding the students with his usual mix of music and martial arts, even after several times it's always a new discovering, really awesome.


It was a very pleasant day, altough I didn't sleep at all due to a party that we had in the very same room, which ended around 5.00 am.

I'll spare you the description of how was the room after 300 drunk people danced for 6 hours, only thing was that we had to rush to clean the most we can until workshop started.


We had wonderful meals at the restaurant, people were really happy of the day so I think we'll having another one next year :-)

Ahh, Cymru!

I'm back from Wales (Cymru in Gaelic) from two days and I've just the time to write few lines about it, cause today Anthony is coming here in Nemi for tomorrow's workshop, plus there's full booked for almost ten days from today so we're quite busy here.

Cymru is one of those place that change your state of mind, whatever happened to you before: got evidence of that this year especially.

We left Rome almost in a hurry, cause for the days before departure both me and Lele we were quite busy at work, so when we got our way out of Stanstead terminal and discover that our confirmed car to rent was not available to us, cause we had both prepaid credit cards which Hertz doesn't accept (obviously nothing was wrong when we booked the car!) our mood was quite not good, all the accumulated stress was flowing out in a continuos series of deadly attacks to all those car rental clerks (luckily for them only in our minds).
After this shocking moment, thinking about going to Leicester by train or bus, we found another company whom accept our money straight away, in 20 min we got the car.

Only thing was that despite of its name (Budget) they charge us something like triple the price of Hertz rental, so from now on this company will be known as Awesome Budget, or Blow Your Budget.

Our budget was then put enough down to let us think about eating only apples for the following days, but there was not much time for thinking, cause we had 100 miles driving on unknown streets up to Leicester, with already almost one hour delay for the beginning of the workshop.

This vacation must be a sort of lesson from the Universe, cause when we got to the place we discovered that no one was there, and at that point we realized that we forgot to write down Eli's phone.
After a trip to around the city, looking for a Internet cafe, we decided to check in first in the hotel, then we write an SMS to Eli and we tried to get to the workshop after lunch.

Now a praise for this message, first of a long serie, with which our teacher Eli explained directions to two Italian blokes at their first driving experience in UK: "Le12 8tz. It's a community hall, give me a call if you want."

Needless to say that we got to the place after sunset and after have looked in every house or hall in the hood, finding no one, so for that day the only right thing to do was having a fish 'n' chips and a movie at the local cinema, before driving back the 25 odd miles to our hotel in Leicester.
Next day we start from the morning, we even bought a UK Sim card to try to talk with him or with someone there at the workshop who could explain us something about directions, for us is still hard to believe that someone that lives in a place is not able to explain how to get from one place to another in his neighbourhood.
If you want to find an excuse you can say that Central Midlands is packed of towns and cities full of roads and buildings pretty similar to each other, but the thing is that we asked them 10 odd times before finally get there, just one hour before workshop finish.
Along the way we managed to flat a tire, so inside that hall last thing we wanted to do was relaxing doing Tai Ji.

We changed the flat tire in the car park and after we drived all the morning to get there, without lunch we start the 180 miles driving to Wales.

Thank goodness we stopped to fuel and toilet along the way, this vacation was starting to look like a working trip..

And then everything changed when we got to our hotel in Llandovery: we start to chill out immediately, and after few hours, a steak and a couple of faboulous Welsh beer those two days of nightmare were over.

We spent wonderful days visiting some towns around the area, this year with the car we enjoyed a lot the contryside, although I didn't took lots of pics cause I think most part of this place you can't just see with your eyes, you have to be here to understand it.

If you want to see them you can go on my facebook account, and that's all folks! Today it's a working day, this afternoon Anthony and the other friends from my town are coming for tomorrow workshop, so next post will be more "martial" :-)

Lessons with Anthony Walmsley - Tai Ji Matrix Exercises 3

Lessons with Anthony Walmsley - Tai Ji Matrix Exercises 2

Lessons with Anthony Walmsley - Tai Ji Matrix Exercises 1

Lessons with Anthony Walmsley - Combination 6

Lessons with Anthony Walmsley - Combination 6