Royal Wedding, arghahaha

Everybody say - Royal Weeeeddddding!!!!
Forget Wil and Cate, I really went to

see these two lovebirds - the LJs. Hadn't seen LJ in

over 1.5 years, and especially wanted to get to know LJ2

The most royal weddingesque thing we did -

Go to a restaurant called the Duke of Cambridge

Wils' new title

Dominating Burrell market, and

stuffing ourselves with raclette, ham, smoothies,

cheese, etc.
From the Tower Bridge
Reuniting with LJ with our favorite activities -

drinking champers while singing karaoke
To make it even better, LJ2 got us

a private room complete with props
And back in Italy, continuing my culinary adventures -

making pizza, and yes I tossed the dough in the air
Cacio e Pepe, so simple, so good
Hanging with the Pope on Easter Sunday at the Vatican,

somehow he failed to warn me that he would be shutting

down the airport and messing with my flight the following

weekend

Royal wedding - When I booked my ticket to London, I didn't realize that it was the same weekend as the royal wedding at first, but then figured, why not? I didn't actually arrive in London until the wedding was long over, but the British flag dresses were still out in force. My first impression after stepping out of the tube was, "Oh, right this is what order and logic feel like again, and even better - people understand me!" London rolled out the royal treatment with beautiful weather, even better than Rome. The LJs also rolled out the royal treatment with a private karaoke room filled with champers and Mariah Carey; American TV shows and couch laying; sushi eating and sake; raclette, Spanish ham and Comte cheese; a trip to the Duke of Cambridge restaurant in honor of Prince Wils' new title; frolicking with the kiddies at the Princess Diana memorial in Hyde Park; a walk over the Tower Bridge; a trip to St Paul's to reminisce about past royal weddings; a breakfast that included eggs instead of just various bread products; and a Starbucks coffee (my first since January 2010, frankly it could have been any coffee in a to go cup larger than a thimble and I would have loved it). You may not think all of these have a lot to do with a trip to London or the royal wedding, and I know you wanted to hear about all the hats and the kiss from Buckingham Palace - but they're royal treatment for me since I don't get most of these things in Italy. It felt a bit like a mix of home and being back in New Zealand, combined with a bit of Royal wedding kitsch. The LJs and I had a good time making fun of all things British, and just saying Royal wedding and harharharing all weekend. It was my first European trip since moving here, and I'm definitely loving being able to visit other countries/places so quickly/easily, and have a great friend so close! Thanks LJs! Had a blast and can't wait till our next adventure somewhere on the Continent

And in true Italy fashion, when I arrived at Gatwick in London to fly back to Rome, I was informed that my flight was delayed by an unknown amount of time because the Pope had decided to shut down the airport. At first I laughed cause I thought this was just some good British humour, but no it was no joke. Good ol' Benedict decided to shut down the airport so he could fly his buddies in and out for JP's beatification. I finally made it home 4.5 hours after I was scheduled to, at 1am, at which point of course all of Italy's public transport is no longer running. It all made for some good laughs and definitely made me feel like I was coming home. Oh, Italy

A few recent Italy realizations in honor of my 100 days in Italy (exactly on May 14th):

-I've recently noticed how many songs Rome is in, no matter the genre

-I can finally contemplate NZ without breaking down in tears. This realization has given me a new love for my thesis, as it transports me back to NZ every time I work on it (don't take this as that I don't love Italy. There was going to be an adjustment/mourning period no matter where I went afterward and I'm sorry Italy has gotten the brunt of it, but it had to happen)

-The linked arm behind the back stroll (Clasp hands behind back and sloooooowly meander along). This might be my favourite, but I think it might only be allowed for those over 70. No matter, I've been practising in my terrace as I'm pretty sure its a learned art an must take many years of practice given the age group executing it

-Being called Bella everyday/all the time. We should really adopt some equivalent, even if it is commonplace and doesn't necessarily mean you're pretty - it doesn't get old

-Customer service, now this could be a love/hate as there is actually no customer service in the American concept of the term (i.e. something breaks, and someone comes to fix it and gives you a refund or gift for your trouble). But feeling like your dry cleaner, banker, coffee dude, prosciutto man, etc. are all your special friends because they really make you feel that way - by asking about your family, where you're from, stopping to chat when you run into them, calling you Bella, having a dance party together, the list goes on. Is it weird that my favorite people all perform some service for me? Well, not in Italy

-Accepting that things will not work, so when they do, it's like a great surprise. I can now laugh at all the ridiculous inefficiencies and illogicalness of life here

In Italian language news - I managed to meet two of the five Italian language exchangers that responded to my ad - Claudio and Guido. A lot of you expressed concerns about these encounters, so you will be happy to know that I not only survived, but I made some new friends. While neither of these raggazzi are dating material (both shorter than me as just one reason), they are very patient with my Italian and have invited me out twice since our first encounter. Hopefully before long, thanks to them, I will finally be able to speak

Today my first visitor to Italy arrives - James Beall himself. He informed me that he purchased a new wardrobe to be "fashionable" in Italy, so I'm looking forward to that, and fattening him up with Italian food, having an excuse to be a tourist for a few days, and our general bonding time. It will also be a good experiment as I don't even feel like I know how to live here, so showing someone around is going to be real interesting.