Today’s set of notes and photos from Verona are a bit disjointed – a series of bits and pieces that didn’t quite fit into any other posts from the trip.

On language: Last June, on our first trip back to Italy, after having spent 9 months learning German, I felt my language skills were a real muddle, with German coming out when I tried to speak in Italian, and vice versa. I noticed at the time that when I went to (try to) speak in Italian, I would be thinking in German. Strange.

On this trip, I deliberately tried very hard not to think in German when trying to speak Italian. I was successful for the most part, except when I was very tired, and then the German words would creep back into my mind. That’s not to say that my Italian was great, I just usually wouldn’t allow a German word to come out. Of course, this meant that there were periods when  I felt “at a loss for words” as I groped around in the dark recesses of my brain, trying to recover the Italian word I needed at that moment.

Anyway, on the whole it gives me hope that I may some day get to the point where I can keep my foreign languages from getting intertwined the way I feel they are wont to do now.

On food:

Something old: Having commented on the way down to Verona that we should make sure to have pizza at least once, we wound up having it not once, but 3 different times, going once by ourselves, and then twice more with friends.

Something new: We also got to try a local chain called Tigella Bella: imagine little flat breads the size of biscuits, served piping hot, accompanied by a selection of sliced hams and little dishes with sweet or savory spreads (e.g.cream cheese, cream of zuccini, salsa, gorgonzola, nutella, jams). The idea was to take one flat bread, break it open, and then stuff it with some ham and a spread or two. Fun to try!

Of course, our favorite restaurant (described in this post here) continues to be a standout. There’s an apartment for rent or sale in the building next door … slightly tempting, although Chris might get tired of the Verona-Tübingen commute.

On fortune: We did what we could do ensure good fortune for 2013, eating lentils on New Year’s Day (supposed to bring you wealth), and wearing the appropriate red garment (see here for more info). I guess now we just have to wait and see if everything worked. Of course, I guess we already have had a bit of financial luck: on the 1 hour train ride to visit friends in Rovereto on January 2nd, the woman at the train station told us to buy the tickets from the conductor on the train. We arrived in Rovereto without ever seeing the conductor, so we got a free ride.

I’m hoping that’s not our only financial luck this year, though. 😉

On the photos today: As I said, just a selections of odds and ends, everything from shadows to stars and the Friendly Tourist popping up in some unexpected places due to some experiments with my camera. Hope you enjoy an eclectic set of photos.