When I got to Heather and Lynnea’s apartment, I realized that I was definitely not in Montenegro anymore. It looked much more “European” with little windy cobblestone streets lined with old Italian apartment buildings, complete with little flower-pot lined balconies and tons of old world charm that is so apparently lacking in Bar.
The girls live in a building that is rented as a bed and breakfast when they aren’t living there. It was four floors and they lived on the third floor technically. It was strange to think about how they have daily interactions with roommates. I’m so used to living by myself at this point, that it seems strange to have a language barrier with someone you have to share your personal space with.
Anyway, after I dropped off my things, they told me that there men’s club had a match that night. I was excited to watch and see what they do for entertainment (they always go watch their men practice and play so they seem to know that team pretty well). When we got there it was really apparent that Heather and Lynnea are really well-liked by everyone involved in the club. Many old Italian men seemed very excited to see them (it was mostly coaches, owners, and members of “the society”).
doing our fan duties!
After the match we wanted to hang out with some of them, but they all seemed to be going home or out with their families, so instead we went to a little pub to grab some dinner. There was a soccer match playing so it was PACKED (i forgot how into futbol they are!) with people yelling at the tv when something good--or bad--happened. The restaurant didn’t necessarily serve Italian food so we got chips and salsa, french fries and little sandwiches. It was really good food and SUCH nice company. I really forgot how nice it is to be able to speak as quickly and informally as I want to hand have people not only understand me, but speak back the same way. I think they were also happy to have a little dose of familiarity.
After dinner we went to this place that Heather had been raving about all day. It was this little pastry bakery (I forgot the name) that sold these italian pastries that are injected with whatever filling you want such as custard, cream, chocolate or all of the above. I just got chocolate and with the first bite I knew why she had been bragging about how good it was. YUM! I wanted to turn around and buy about 20 more for the walk home. They were so good, and they’re now on the list of things my family will try when they come over in the summer.
The next day Heather and I walked around and I got my tour of her city. It is about double the size of Bar so there was a lot for me to see. It’s funny because when they were telling me about it at the beginning of the season they were like “its soooo small!” but compared to Bar, it was a good-sized area with a lot to see. For some reason all of the stores are closed on Mondays in that town so we just went to get a cappuccino and pastries.
Apparently in Italy the mindset while drinking coffee is much different. For example, when we went to get coffee the first time they didn’t even want to sit down. I thought this was entirely too strange considering in Montenegro they can sit with the same cup of coffee and talk and waste time for a solid hour.
I made Heather sit down and actually enjoy her coffee rather than inhaling it and then we continued on our way stopping in the few stores that were actually open. Once again, it was nice to be spending time with someone I’ve known for a while.
you WILL sit down and you WILL enjoy your coffee!
We came back and decided to cook lunch. (does it sound like I was constantly eating? I’m pretty sure I was...) Heather cooked herself some pasta and pesto and recruited her Italian roommate to make me some carbonara. Words cannot explain how delicious that dish was. It had pancetta and was awesome. Heather said she was glad she didn’t make it because I wouldn’t have had the same experience. Well mark that one off the list: eating pasta cooked by a true Italian...I recommend everyone find a way to make this happen at some point in their life.
There was a little bit of down time before the girls had practice, so we took the time to just talk and compare different aspects of our lives and we found that even though we were in different countries, dealing with different people, and doing different things, we really have so much in common. Every time they would say "oh it's weird...here they _____" I found myself saying "I KNOW!!". After we wasted some time (much like my typical down-time in Bar) we headed to practice. The gym was FREEZING and since I was getting sick I thought it would be best to rest, although they all wanted me to practice. As a whole, their practice was very comparable to mine. When they finished, we went to an "american food" stand. This was clearly NOT american food, but more what they envisioned us to eat. Obviously Italians think Americans have HORRIBLE eating habits (which I don't completely disagree) because what we ordered was a hot dog, french fries, mozzarella, mayo and ketchup all in a baguette sort of thing. It was called a wurstel, and I will gladly admit it was delicious.
delish. look at those innards...
heather has obviously been around the block a few times. she doesn't have the excitement in her eyes like I did.
Lynnea's was subpar from the beginning. She opted for her french fries on the side.
After we waddled home, it was just another relaxing night at the house. I had to wake up early to get to the train station in the morning (told ya it was a short trip!) Nothing exciting to report from the trip home, just lots of traveling, which was uber tiring. I had to get an early train to make sure I caught the plane on time to get home for practice that I had that night. Eeeek, I hope this post wasn't just a lot of rambling!
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