Stuff

Ciao everybody

I hope you're all well. I'm generally well, but have been suffering from a couple of maladies over the last couple of days. I seem to have pulled a muscle in my shoulder, which has somewhat curtailed my intensive push-up regime. It's starting to feel better now though, so I'll get back on it. When I come home you may mistake me for a white Bruce Lee. But obviously, I'm alive, he's not.
I've also felt a bit down, which is disappointing, as I'm generally quite enjoying life here. One of the drawbacks of not really knowing many people here is that I spend alot of time by myself, and I'm prone to thinking alot. This is the root of my malaise I think.
I also have a bit of sunburn on my back which a mosquito then thoughtfully bit, so it's double as itchy and uncomfortable but only a tenth the fun.

But enough of my grumbles. Since my last post, I found out that the Carabinieri are multi purpose. They can stop you and give you traffic tickets, but then if you turn nasty they can also become a crack team of commandoes, similar to the A-Team. I don't think any of them are afraid of flying though.

On Wednesday I had the day off so went to Aranzano to go to the beach. There are beaches in Genova, but they're all of the big-stones variety, and I was in the mood for some sun, sand and scratching mosquito bites. So, off I popped to Aranzano. It's about half an hour away on the train, so a good hour after boarding, the train pulled in to the station. The beach was not sand, but a heady mix of stones and gravel. It would have made a better driving surface than most roads back home. Although it was called a beach, it was really the 3 or 4 metres between the sea and the road that they couldn't build a bar on. To compound this, I think I was the only single person there, so for two hours I sat while loving couples kissed and canoodled (an underused word) all around me. Oh, the joys. Needless to say, all of these factors did not make it my favourite excursion I've had, but it was nice to not be working.

On Saturday night Stevie, Simone and I went to Forte Speroni, a castle on a hill in Genova to a concert by one of their friends' flamenco duo. However, their friend wasn't playing, and was being substituted with another guy. We tried to explain to Simone that calling them a duo is technically inaccurate, but he wasn't having any of it. They also have a fourth member.
It was quite surreal. The castle is waaaaay up a hill, and it was all cloudy at the top, so when we looked out of windows you could just see clouds. Also, there were a number of rooms with different acts, and you were led around by a guide when each was finished. Some of them had amateur dramatics, which were amateur and dramatically bad. But there was a room with good looking girls who danced like they were in a harem of a Persian prince (or at least I imagine that was the effect they were going for). That was easy on the eye, and then after that the flamenco duo/trio/quartet played. The guy was freakishly good, and Stevie and I both turned a vibrant colour of green. He was really excellent.

Last night there seemed to be a lightning storm over the hills to the west, which was very impressive to see. For about 45 minutes I sat on my balcony in the darkness, watching the sky light up. It was pretty cool, and (less-cool if I actually believed it) how I imagine the rapture might look from a distance. It must have been a distance away, as there was no thunder to be heard.

I've just booked my flight home, so as of the 29th July I shall be back in the mean streets of Porty. It will be nice to see you all, if only so I can dazzle you with my tan.

Ciao the now