The days after Christmas

Sorry for my absence, again! The problem is, Christmas festivities take up a lot of time, with all those lunches, dinners, relatives around...
Now, though, most of that is gone, and that makes for extremely boring days! And, unfortunately, these aren't even particularly nice: from ill grannies to parents about to undergo surgery...that means spending a lot of precious time at home! :(
Of course, this isn't making me particularly happy; but then, I realise that in a couple of days I will be in the mountains to celebrate New Year's Eve!
Weird winter, this: it hasn't snowed at all, even in the mountains...and it's not good! But it's going to be fun anyway!
Stay tuned for more coming in the next few days!

Christmas week

Haven't been posting for a few days. You missed me, didn't you? :D
Honestly, I haven't had that much to say, last week.
Boring, sad days...apart from Friday night, when I had dinner out!
In the weekend, though, things went better: I got my first Christmas gifts and met up with a dear friend! Last night, though...
I went home slightly late, and started watching a new TV series! 100 Code, it's called. It tells the story of an American detective, Tommy Conley (Dominic Monaghan), who goes to the stunningly beautiful city of Stockholm (where else?) to investigate on a serial murderer who, apparently, started killing in New York City and then continued his spree in Sweden. Here, he is teamed up with Stockholm Police detective Mikael Eklund (Michael Nyqvist), whose methods are entire different from his new colleague's...
I've just seen four episodes so far, that is, just one third of the whole series, and I already love it! I'm not giving you any further information...if you're interested, just watch it!
Quite apart from this, I wish you all a nice week, and...see you soon! :)

Boring days

I am so sorry for not regularly updating my blog in the last few days; the problem is, I couldn't find any inspiration to write.
Don't you think, however, that I am going to give up with this! I am sure that I will find new ideas soon!
The last few days have been quite boring and poor of things to do; Also, my grandmother has been hospitalised a fortnight ago, due to lung and heart problems, and only went home on Monday, even though she'd better have undergone rehabilitation at a specialised clinic. Other than that, my fitness plans are still going well, even though my instructor isn't exactly as serious as he ought to be: he prefers fooling around with women and girls instead of giving useful tips to us guys, he keeps telling stupid jokes and references sex-related topics every now and then. Annoying, isn't he?
All my closest friends are feeling well, some have exams, others are working, and it's always nice to hear from them!
I'm already thinking about Christmas gifts: I think I'll spend a couple of days abroad in February or March, but still I haven't decided where to go exactly. I have an idea, though...
On the other hand, I am sure my beloved sister is going to buy me a book. Chosen by me.
See you all soon! :)

Weird dreams

It's not the first time, nor will it be the last one. Last night, after having watched Fjällbackamorden, I was having a very good sleep. Then, all at a sudden, I started to dream. A strange one.
Let me describe it.
I was attending a high-profile rallycross event on what appeared to be an improvised track (seriously? Professionals racing on an improvised track in world-class cars? Can't be real! And it wasn't.)
A heat was about to start, and one of the teams found itself, for no apparent reason, without a driver, so...They started looking for a replacement...among the audience! A member of the audience was about to be randomly selected to compete in the race!
Weird.
And, of course, that one was me. Don't ask why.
I lined up on the starting grid, don't remember which car I was in. Full throttle, anti-lag system on, green light, off we go. I was, APPARENTLY, racing against the likes of Petter Solberg, Johan Kristoffersson, Timmy Hansen and others. Me, a 21-and-a-half year old who's never driven anything faster than a Toyota Prius. Can't be real.
A couple of corners into the race, while trying to defend my fourth place, I spin. Sixth place out of six. But I keep pushing. By the end of the race, I manage to get to P3, behind Solberg and Hansen. And there I stay, till the chequered flag.
I repeat, once for all, that it all was A DREAM. I would also like to specify that I hadn't drunk anything else than water before going to bed.
But still, I wouldn't mind if anyone ever gave me a chance to drive in there...
One for the closing photos,  the one with the sunset, is mine. The other isn't, and therefore belongs to its rightful owner.

A new week begins

Today is the last Monday in November. A new week begins. Today is going to be a pretty normal day: university right now, then lunch, a little rest, training for an hour, dinner, family time, sleep, and repeat. Still waiting for videos from the Nismo Festival to be uploaded. Speaking of racing, yesterday marked the end of the World Rallycross championship season, with Robin Larsson winning in Argentina, and Petter Solberg being declared world champion for the second time; the title was to be decided in this race, as Timmy Hansen of Sweden was a definite contender, but he still got a honourable second place as well as the Teams' Championship title. Unlike in F1, where Lewis Hamilton's domination became clear a few races back (and, in case you were wondering, he is NOT my favourite driver).
That said, I wish you all a pleasant week! Stay tuned for more contents coming in the next days!
I'm closing this post with a picture of the sky, last night at sunset. I loved those colours.

Public transport

Every Italian commuter knows the struggle, especially if they use trains. Delays. Cancellations. Heating systems gone mad (completely off in winter and on full power in spring). And, today, was no exception.
I arrive at the station. My train is 40 minutes behind schedule. But, even in that case, I'd have had all the time to get to university. Then it is cancelled. Having used them pretty much every day for about eight years, I was prepared to such events. So I had to call my father who picked me up and drove me to a nearby village, where I could catch a bus. Which, luckily, was on time. And heated. Even though the man sitting in front of me reeked disgustingly. But that's another story...
Then I found out, the train I was waiting for was stopped by a breakdown, so they had to send an engine to tow it. Which means...It hasn't been cancelled at all!!!
ARE YOU JOKING, OR WHAT?
This, then, is the everyday life of an Italian commuter. If you are reading from abroad, I sincerely hope that railway services in your country are not this rubbish. Ours aren't even cheap...
As EVERY CLOUD HAS ITS SILVER LINING, last night I watched Fjällbackamorden. And that's nice.

Just another Friday

Friday, or: the worst day of the week in university.
Just one lecture today: Media professions. Boring as hell. Doesn't seem to make much sense either. But here I am. I luckily have with me a good read for the breaks, and once again, it's Camilla Läckberg.
Last night, boredom was taking over. I watched some Top Gear. Being in a brace yourselves, winter is coming mood (as it's already rather cold, here, but not freezing or snowy! 😁), my choice went for the Winter Olympics special. Speaking of winter, it's definitely the most boring season of the year, or at least, it is here. But, elsewhere in the world, things are surely different...just look at the photo below! (Picture belongs to its rightful owner)

Business as usual

Today has been...A pretty normal Monday. University in the morning, then lunch, some free time, training late in the afternoon, and so on. Unremarkable, in one word. But not boring! Once again, my training efforts are paying off, having lost a further 2 kg over the last fortnight. I started doing that without expecting great results...but I was wrong! Sometimes I just tend to underestimate myself...
I'm sure I will achieve some of my goals by Christmas...but then, I'll have to be careful with the typical lunches and dinners! 😃
Other than that, I'm enjoying a cosy evening, and tomorrow, in the evening...it's Fjällbackamorden time!
What will be shown next? One of the many series based on Wallander? Hopefully it will be!
Hope your week has begun in the best possible way. And wish you it will keep on being nice!
See you soon! ☺

Every cloud has its silver lining

It all seemed very nice, when every single day in early November was sunny and warm. But now...The enchantment is over! It's all foggy and chilly again. As it should be, here, in this season. Not yet freezing cold, luckily!
But, as we Italians say, not all the evil comes to harm you, so even though the weather has changed (worsened, to be honest), it brought some nice things, too.
First of all, I just started reading The Preacher by Camilla Läckberg, and it's really, really nice! Thinking about the places where it's set always puts me in a good mood!
Second thing: after a few weeks I have learned how to use Snapchat. And on there, I think I am making a new friend: her name is Katya, she is roughly 18 years old, lives somewhere in the UK (where, I suppose, she was also born) and her father is a famous personality. Whom I hold in great esteem.

A warm, sunny November?

Yes, you have read it right! A couple of weeks ago I was telling you about the typical autumn weather in this part of Italy, that is: cold and foggy! Now that the month of November has begun, things seem to have changed. Dramatically. Early in the morning, it's chilly as usual. But later in the day (not much later, around 11)...Thanks to the shining sun, it settles on a lovely 20°C! Nice, for sure, but as soon as you realise you've gone out wearing warm clothes, it starts to be a little too warm! It feels a lot like early spring. But with the beautiful colours of autumn. And that's not bad at all!

How I fell in love with reading...and why, once again, we'll live happily ever after

My dear readers and friends,
I am now pretty sure you know that my favourite hobby is, and has been for quite some time, reading. For the second time, I would like to say this is more than an interest; it's more of a love story, just like the one with the English language I described last week. And however strange it might seem, this one started even earlier!
To be honest, I don't remember how, but at the age of three and a half years, I was already able to read. What I clearly remember, though, is that this fact caused mixed reactions among the people around me: schoolmates made me unpopular; teachers were half impressed, half shocked; but the worst of them all were some parents who started pressing on my parents with stupid theories on my mental health. Twats. Just like the children they gave birth to. And with whom I never became friends, and rightly so. But that's another story...
In my childhood, then, I spent most of my time reading, instead of playing with the others. But not reading comic books, children's magazines and stuff like that: no, I was a lot more interested in science, nature and technology! Very nerdy, then!
In primary and middle school, my reading skills were, as a matter of fact, better than my mates', and I was extremely proud of being able to read long and complex words without slowing down and reading them syllable by syllable, as they did. There has even been a time when I developed a passion for...medicine data sheets!
During the secondary school years I started reading novels, in addition to everything else, but at that time, there wasn't much to improve anymore...
Having attended a technical school, I clearly was the only one in my class with such an interest, and that made my literature and history teacher very happy!
Not much has changed since then; every day, on my journey to university and back, I always read a few pages, just like I do in the breaks between a lecture and the following one. And, if I'm not too tired...before going to bed!
Reading, then, has been more than a passion, to me. It's an important part of my life. Something I love.
And don't forget that...

A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies... The man who never reads lives only one. George R.R. Martin

P.S. I know, you will be wondering: oh, you talk about love stories with a language and with reading, don't you have time for a girlfriend?
Well, at the moment I am happily single, and yes, I have never had any love stories with girls. Is it because of my personality? Who knows? All I know is that my soulmate is hiding somewhere among seven billion other people, maybe we have already met and known, maybe we are still ignoring each other's existence...only time will tell.

Feeling better

I can now say that I have already started feeling better! My day has been cosy, warm and a bit sleepy, to be honest, but thanks to my personal nurse (my mum, who has been doing just that for a lifetime)...everything is going well!
I need something nice to end this post. What's better than a selection of photos from my early childhood?

Not a nice day

No, today's not been a nice day for me! I woke up with some kind of intestinal virus, which is taking me to the toilet every few hours! But that's not the end of it: it is also accompanied by a temperature around 38,5°C (that means fever) and a headache too! Bloody hell!
So, tomorrow I will stay at home. Where I would have stayed anyway, because tomorrow is the day of the Freeing. What does it consist of? It's an old tradition from Pavia: on the first Tuesday of November, members of university students' societies known as Goliardia go around town, wearing garishly coloured cloaks and hats, entering the various secondary schools around town, as well as the university itself, blowing whistles, trumpets and horns, and shouting things like We've set you free! Now go away!
And every secondary school or university student's day of lectures and classes ends there. Usually, no later than 9 in the morning.
In secondary schools, it is one of the most eagerly awaited moments throughout the school year. But once you have grown up? It all starts to feel a tad...childish, isn't it?

Dedicated to my readers

My dear readers and friends,
My first week of blogging is now over. Of course, this has been just the first week of a long adventure, in which you will all get to know me better than you already do, even if you think you know me well enough, there will always be some traits and shades of my personality that you weren't even suspecting! :) (all of which are nice things, don't worry!)
I have already started planning some of the topics I will treat in my next posts, but I don't like spoilers, so...stay tuned, it's just matter of a few days!
Looking at the stats, the top five countries by number of contacts are Italy, the USA, Russia, Sweden and Britain, and I'm more than satisfied with the number of contacts, which has been more or less steady during the week.
What makes me happy, most of all, is the fact that I already started receiving compliments from my regular readers, and that's exactly the kind of thing that gives you motivation, that persuades you to do more and better; thank you, from the bottom of my heart!
All things considered, I promise that I won't disappoint you with my upcoming contents, and if there's something you didn't really like, just let me know; a little criticism never killed nobody! :D
To close this post, I have chosen this picture of a bridge at sunset; I don't remember where it has been taken exactly, as it's not my work, but it puts me in a good mood. And that's exactly why my choice went for it.

A happy weekend

Time to make a little balance. Yesterday, as I have told you, I visited one of Europe's largest classic car exhibitions, and, honestly...couldn't really understand what all the fuss was about. Not that it has been a complete disappointment, but still, it's a bit far from what I would call exciting. I have been to several other similar exhibitions before, and after reading a lot about this one and its previous editions, I wasn't really expecting to see that most of the exhibitors (at least, the Italian ones) were pretty much the same as anywhere else; there were lots of cars on sale: cars of every kind (small family saloons, hot hatches, convertibles, sports coupes, big luxury cars...) and price range (from a few grand to a million euros and more), but there were so many things you couldn't see them all in just one day! And of all the cars on show, which were considerably less than those on sale, none of them really caught my eye, as I had already had the opportunity to see them in other occasions (and not just on static display!).
Today, though, I woke up after a good sleep, happy and healthy, and the second thing I did was...helping mum with making some kind of cake! It's one thing that always puts me in a good mood, just like cooking anything else! And, hopefully, it's going to taste as good as it looks!
But I must not forget that, however good it's going to be, I shall not eat too much of that or my fitness efforts will be pointless :D (and as you know, I'm very happy with my fitness efforts as they are starting to pay off!)
That said, I wish you all a happy and pleasant Sunday and...catch you up tomorrow! New week, new contents!

Foggy weather (and its implications)

So...here we are, on a typical autumn day in Pavia! Many people joke about this fact, by saying that this town, as well as its surroundings, in this season, feel more like they are in England, rather than Italy! I must say that I have been to England twice: the first one in 2012, as part of a project endorsed by my secondary school, that involved spending a week of late September in the beautiful town of Winchester, Hampshire, attending language lessons and brief internships at local businesses: I had been placed in an estate agency, and liked it! Considering the season, the weather wasn't much worse than it usually is down here: rather cold, foggy, rainy; business as usual! The second time was in 2014: to attend the amazing Festival of Speed in Goodwood, West Sussex; an event I still fondly remember for a variety of reasons and I hope I'll be able to attend it again! It was the last week of June...but I wasn't really expecting to mostly have sun on the four days of the event! (A small sprinkle of rain came in the last day...While I was on my way to the hotel, so...)

Anyway, back to the lousy weather concerns: the thing I hate the most, when the weather's not good (and it happens often, down here...) is that EVERYONE WHO'S DRIVING LOSES THEIR MIND AND EVEN IF THEY HAVE HAD THEIR BLOODY LICENCE FOR THIRTY YEARS THEY STILL START DRIVING AS IF THEY WERE LEARNERS. And that annoys me.

It may be needless to say, but I am one of the few young people who still enjoy the pleasure of driving, regardless of the weather. Of course, I do realise that it is safe to reduce your speed if you drive under a downpour (and I always do so), but doing 60km/h on a road with a limit of 90, just because it's starting to pour? It's a bit excessive, don't you think?

That said, I have never experienced road rage incidents and always drive as safe as possible. 

Closing, here are a couple of photos of Pavia in the fog: quite a common sight to me, but if that's stopping you from visiting it...be aware that in my opinion, it's part of its charm (on the other hand, has anybody ever thought that London is an uninteresting place just because of its weather?)