Great Weekend

Wow, I can tell you in advance: this is gonna be a loooong post. BarD arrived Friday with a 2 1/2 hour delay. This was not due to the shitty weather hitting Holland (snow) or Italy (rainy snow), but due to a freak Public Transport strike, which kept all airplanes grounded. For some reason, Italians do tend to strike kind of randomly (although it is not nearly as bad as it was in Athens.....). So he finally made it at 5.30PM. At night we simply stayed at my place, because BarD actually felt a bit ill. We couldnt really have gone anywhere anyway, because there were no trams or metros, so it wasnt really a problem. The next day, the weather turned even nastier, which was unlucky for BarD, because I have had Sun (and cold) for the entire previous week... But we still managed to do a number of sights and some shopping.



These were pictures from the Parco Sempione area, covered in snow...
At night, we met up with my friends from Uni. We were supposed to go to a winetasting, but some Italian planning made sure that we couldnt. Instead we went to a pizzeria and had dinner there. After that, we went to my local Centro Sociale, where my flatmate Michele was playing the music technician to some American bands. It was my first time at the Centro Sociale, and it was quite an experience. A semi-legal bar in an abandoned warehouse, occupied by communists and anarchists. Not the scene I normally hang out with, but it was interesting to experience (and the beers were only 2,50 euros: really cheap!!!)
On Sunday, the weather finally became the way it had been all week before. Sunny. We took this opportunity to go to the Cimitero Monumentale. An absolutely amazing monumental cemetery (hence the name), where we had a lovely stroll. Here are just a few pictures...








After the Cemetery, we went for a lovely walk from the Cimitero to the Duomo and after that to Porta Genova, from where we took the metro home. It was a lovely walk.
Last night, finally, we were going out for dinner. BarDs lovely parents decided that they felt sorry for my financial state and gave BarD money to give me a real treat for once. So we were planning to go to the luxurious Japanese restaurant next door... Unfortunately, when we got there, it turned out to be closed on Sunday. So instead we went to a slightly less luxurious Japanese restaurant nearby (I have 4 Japanese restaurants in close range) and we simply ordered the works. The Full Monty of Japanese food... And it was abolutely amazing!!!! Very, very, very lovely (and costly). Thinking about it now makes me feel full again! Well, after that we went home, as BarD still didnt really feel optimal. This morning we got up early so I coudl bring him to the station at 7.45AM. After waiving goodbye I went to Uni so I could get some studying in before 11, when my first class started.
During lunch, there was a seminar I wanted to go to, but the classroom was too hot to stand it for 5 consecutive hours (I had another class after it), so I missed out on a seminar by Mr. Mass-Collel (for the economists among you, I know I should be ashamed of missing out on a seminar by such a famous economist, but I really really couldnt be bothered)... Tonight I have been at home, watching Baraka. Definitely something everyone should have seen, btw. Very spiritual, but also very nice.
I finally want to ask you to pray for me, because I will visit my local bank tomorrow and ask them to lend me money... I was hoping for a University arrangement, but this unfortunately failed. So instead I will have to borrow directly from my bank here. Otherwise, well, I wouldnt know what to do. I dont have anything left at all and owe my flatmate 2400 euros right now. Hmmmm, something is going wrong, isnt there? Oh well, just cross your fingers for me tomorrow...
ciao,
OJ