This one is a bit rushed… a little sloppy… and only the half of it

This week classes hit hard. Everyone has dealt with some form of stress. Mine was just the realization of classes finally sunk in and trying to piece together a common schedule. Everyday day seems different and if I don’t attempt to plan a schedule and stick to it, I wind up looking at the clock at midnight asking myself, “Where did the day go?'’ On top of having a lot of things to balance at once, I am constantly trying to fit a bike ride into my day.

I took Monday off from riding because it is my rest day, which I needed after such an adventurous weekend in Switzerland. Canyoning and climbing the Swiss Alps took a toll on my legs, but totally worth every minute. I rode with Chris on Tuesday down through the valley. At one point, a local rider, Fabio, was now cycling directly behind me, so I jumped (accelerated), and he followed. Next thing I knew, we had gone 3 km at full speed. When he pulled up next to me, I said, “Parlare Inglese?” And I was surprised to hear, “Yes.” We talked for a bit. Riding easy on this back road, Chris caught up to us. We had descended down the hill and we’re surrounded by woods. The trees are old and huge. You’ll see a lot of large Pine trees, trees that look like Oak trees, some Palm trees here and there, pomegranate trees, pear trees, and apple trees. The farmers are starting to harvest the corn as well.

After we stopped on this main drag, which I’m starting to get quite familiar with, we had some water out of the tap and Fabio told us he was taking us up a climb. It was pretty challenging. Short but steep. There were gradual climbs and some of the sharp turns where tough, because the tighter you took the turn, the steeper the transition was. When Fabio asked Chris, “How you feeling,” Chris said, “Good… but this my fourth day of cyclinggg.” It was definitely pretty advanced for a beginner, but Chris is getting it down and didn’t even struggle. Cycling is as much mental as it is physical, so if you can control your emotions and ignore the burning pain in your legs, then you will be able to so much more than you ever thought possible.

Once we had reached the top, we stopped to talk and exchange phone numbers. I did wind up getting a cell phone over here. It is a little LG flip phone. It’s through the company TIM (pronounced team). It is a pay-as-you-go phone. I am glad I got it, because I already have a good amount of locals in my contacts. When Fabio typed my name into my phone, he showed me to confirm he spelled it right, only it said,
“Jack.”
I said, “No… -K-E”
He shows me again, “J-A-K.”
“E,” I said.
He shows me his phone again, “J-A-K-I.”
At this point, I’m laughing pretty hard. I forgot the Italian “E” is pronounced differently than it is in English. So I said, “Um… A.”
He shows me, “J-A-K-Y.”

Now, at this point, we are all laughing pretty hard. When I finally point to the letter “E,” and he types it in and I confirm it. He looks at his phone [which says JAKE], then at me, and says, “Jakey?” haha

Wednesday, the lack of sleep finally caught up to me. I had to take a two hour that afternoon, but I woke up refreshed. I’m still feeling a little out of it, but resting up this weekend will help a lot.

Thursday was a brief history over Venice. The Republic of Venice gained an indestructible reputation for being able to ward of all enemy attacks for over a 1000 years! Some other major issues discussed: day trippers, the debate on building ‘’flood gates’’ to separate the marsh from the sea, and the art, romance, and the canals. The CIMBA program offers both business classes and journalism classes. The Journalism professor,

“Ok remember water energy bar today special: TOMB MOUNTAIN!!” - I read this text message from Fabio at 9:00 am on Friday morning in the middle of marketing. I had no idea what was in store for me. With a name like Mounte Tomba, I could only imagine something very interesting. I ate a pretty big lunch, it was spaghetti noodles with a butter and olive oil sauce that had parsley, red pepper flakes, and I mixed in some chicken. I headed out to Asolo to meet Fabio. I was only a little nervous about what pace we’d be ascending, but when I met Fabio, he said it’d be a slow climb because he had ridden 110 km the day before. Mounte Tomba is about an 1,800 foot climb, with around 13 switchbacks, and it finishes with 3 straight vertical ’stair step’ climbs. These were tough. Straight up with no help from the curve of a switch backs. The views from the top were spectacular. It was a bit hazy, but I could see most of the surrounding towns. Part way up, we stopped and looked out over Prosecco country and the Piave River. Taking the climb slow with a low cadence really works your legs and builds up power at the same time. It was a nice constant pace. Then came the decent. The sign said “8-10%” grade. At times, the breaks were literally just something to hold on to. I would release them just for a second to see what that did. Instantly my speed would jump from 32 km/hr with full breaks on to 55 km/hr with no breaks. I don’t know how the pro’s can descend mountains at 70 km/hr.

Saturday, Chris and I spent the day with Ron. We biked 75 km in the morning and had our mid-ride caffe and apricot marmalade croissant. I’ve had a lot of croissants lately, but they get better and better every time. The Pasticceria’s here make everything from scratch. I don’t always know what I’m ordering, so I trust my eyes… if it looks good… then it probably is reallllllllly good. We went to the Pasticceria down the street from Ron’s place. As the conversation bounced around between the three of us, talking about things like how the mother and two daughters sitting behind us, eating some of the largest Italian-esque milkshake I’ve seen. Ron made a comment that the shake will probably suffice as their supper! Another element was the staff at this Pasticceria, all ladies, all beautiful. When I offered to pay, I walked inside, walked right up to the lady behind that counter, and confidently began my attempt to pay in Italian. As soon as the word, “Ciao,” fell out of my mouth… is when I realized, that’s about as far as I’ve gotten in the ‘Dinning out’ section of my Learn Italian book. When I butchered the order, “un macchiato, un Cappacino, a un caffe,” she looked at me blankly. When I made eye contact with our server, and gave her a look that said, “Miss- I’m dying here… help!” She rattled off our order and as the 5 of them continued laughing, I smiled, laughed, and walked back outside. Ugly, but successful- I’ll be back.

Saturday night I ate out at Osteria San Marco up the way in Crespano. It was a great meal. Everything was really simple. Two simple seared pork chops, sorry dad, sautéed spinach, roasted potatoes with a side of grilled polenta. Afterwards, they offered a free Grappa drinking… which is very much like “rocket fuel.” A definite sipper eh.

Sunday was another great day of riding- 92 km, put me over 200 km on the weekend. This time Ron, his friend Raymundo, Chris, and I headed northwest. We split the mountain passage and cycled our way north on a bike path that would continue on to Austria and Germany. We, unfortunately, forgot our passports… next time though. The rides we go on with Ron, already we begin on a level that is unmatched, in respects to expectations and anticipation. This is his playground, this is his backyard, and all I have to do is come along for the ride. Because the roads literally keep going, it is such a treat to follow his lead, with no worries about getting lost or how to get back.

Monday, a trip to Venice came about to celebrate Yom Kippur. Five of us guys put a nice shirt on, tucked it in, grabbed the nice pair of sneakers and headed to the one of a kind city for a one of a kind experience. As we stepped off the train, the next step was to find the Jewish Ghetto. It was easy to find, following a sign or two, we entered an alleyway that led us into a court yard. I could hear chanting, but we continued to walk around and check things out. The temple was tucked away amongst the other buildings. From the outside it didn’t look like anything special, but it had two sets of glass doors that stood out. We talked to someone outside, who, for good reason, was extremely interested in what we were doing there. After it was made very clear, we were in fact, not a terrorist group, we made our way inside. The temple was more than words can describe. I will try- but I highly recommend making your own voyage out here to see it. It had marble pillars, ancient looking seating, large opened windows, metal hanging chandeliers, and red curtains hanging from the walls. The most amazing part, was sharing the experience with people whom the only common denominator was one, very deeply rooted, spiritual connection.

On Wednesday, we had our first CIMBA formal dinner. It was at Hotel Foir, in Castelfranco. We bused down their to find an amazing antipasti spread. One of my favorites was the octopus salad. Also, the fried Asiago cheese ball. The ultimate, something I’d never seen before, a server slicing fresh slices of Proscuito ham off of the leg. It was delicious! We made our way from the garden out back downstairs to our tables. The next course was another first for me, Pumpkin and Truffle Risotto. Awesome. You couldn’t ask for anything better. I was so surprised to see the pumpkin, but thoroughly impressed. The secondi was a flat noodle with a Bianco Ragu sauce. Then the main course, which was a seared and sliced steak, with rosemary roasted potatoes and roasted veggies. The food was all served to us by that wait staff. Each would come around and ask if we wanted more… it was great.

Now, to jump to the current, I am wrapping this blog up early. This hasn’t been entirely proofread, sorry. The first travel week is upon us and I thought I’d post this before I left. I’m off on an overnight train to Munich. I’ll be site seeing tomorrow, Saturday (10-3-09). Sunday will be THE FEST OF OKTOBER, OKTOBERFEST! FINALLY! HA! AH! Then off to Paris from 10-5-09 – 10-7-09. Fly to Barcelona from 10-7-09 – 10-11-09.

Everyone- CIAO!

Peace and such, Jacopo (It’s Italian)