Summer movies

I'm missing out on all the big summer movies! Spiderman 3, Shrek the 3rd, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and all the ones coming up in June and July. :( I miss watching movies at the cinema. The experience is just not the same at home. It's a lot worse when I've only got my small laptop and puny speakers. Sigh! It usually takes some time for the movies to come out in the cinema here coz they need to dub them first. Chances of finding a cinema here that shows movies in original language is zero. Doubt that Verona (30 minutes by train) has any either. Well thanks to the internet, low quality version is usually available within a week. Either watch that or wait. No other choice, just have to live with it. So far, I've managed to watched a decent quality Spiderman 3 and a not too bad quality (cannot watch in full screen) of Shrek the 3rd. A friend has just downloaded Pirates and hopefully I'll get to watch it this weekend.

Trip to Val di Non

Went for day trip to the San Romedio Sanctuary and Canyon Rio Sass last weekend. Both places are within 90 minutes from Trento. The San Romedio Sanctuary housed one of the most important church in the Trentino region. It also has very interesting history and legends. The main church is very very old and very beautiful. Not grand beautiful like those famous churches but antique and serene beautiful. No pictures were allowed so I can only keep it in memory. We stopped for lunch at tranquil Lake Smeraldo and then walked towards the canyon. The entrance fee is 6€ and you get to wear a raincoat and a hard hat. The raincoat was not really necessary as there's not much water. Some parts of the canyon is quite narrow that I can barely walk straight through without turning to the side. What's amazing is the engineering of the suspended metal "floor" we get to walk on. Well, the rocks are great too but I can't really tell what's the difference. Hehe.


Lago Smeraldo: An artificial lake next to the canyon.

Inside Canyon Rio Sass.

Cooking pasta

Fusilli con pancetta, i pomodori e i piselli
(Spiral pasta with bacon, tomatoes and peas)

I didn't know before that the various shapes and sizes of pasta is used for different style of cooking. And there are tons of different shapes and sizes. For long thin strands, spaghetti is No. 5. The number starts from 1 which is the thinnest and goes up to maybe 10 or more. As for the sauce, there isn't much variety here. The pasta sauce section in the grocery store is mostly filled with just tomato paste or tomato puree. I guess the people here just buy the base sauce and add whatever they want inside later. I don't find sauce like those Prego makes. For wet sauce, tubular pasta like penne is more suitable to hold the sauce. Well, I had to use fusilli since I ran out of penne and as a result, there's more sauce left over on the plate. Didn't have bread to clean it either.

Buon Appetito!

Europe Vs. Italy

It's very true! Even the Italians agree. Hehe.

Largo di Garda

Took a break from working on projects during the long weekend and went for a day trip to Lake Garda. It's one of the largest lake in Italy and the Trentino side of the lake is surrounded by mountains. It's just beautiful. The weather was nice albeit too windy sometimes. I guess the wind is good for activities like sailing and wind surfing. We went paddling in the lake for an hour, had lunch, and just walked along the lake to the next town. Such a relaxing day! It's nice that it's only 90 minutes away by bus and it's free when you have the yearly transportation pass. It's probably the best 'freebie' we get here. Hehe.

Riva del Garda


Main beach in Torbole
The night train from Bonn to Milan was quite a nice experience. They even served breakfast! Arrived in Milan central station at almost 8am and headed to the tickets counter to buy a ticket to Trento. I was told that there would be a strike that day and trains would not be runnning. Even if I leave with the next train, I might still be stuck in Verona. The girl at the counter asked me to return later in the afternoon to get the latest update. So I decided to walk around the city and checked my luggages into the luggage deposit. Bought a day transport ticket for 3€ and went around the city. It's such a shopping heaven! Anyway, I went back to the train station at 2pm and was told that the next train leaving for Verona would be at 4:30pm. I insisted to buy the ticket anyway coz I didn't want to queue when the train starts to run again as it would be a very very long queue. Plus I know tickets for regional trains are valid for about a month so even if I ended up staying over in Milan, I could still use it the next day.

I went back to the city to continue sightseeing, mostly window shopping as no luggage space and returned to the train staton at 4pm. I checked my luggages out and found a spot to sit and stare at the information board. The board finally updated the platform number for my train and I quickly rushed to get my ticket validated and get on the train. There were already dozens of people on the train. I managed to get my luggages into the luggage compartment and an old gentleman was already sitting there. I stood next to my luggages and more and more people boarded the train. Since it was the first train out to Verona, the whole train was packed. We barely have space to stand and people were standing inside the toilet in the next compartment. When the train finally moved, everyone felt relief. After an hour, the train became less packed and after 2 hours, I finally got to sit but I started to worry that I might be on the wrong train since it shouldn't take so long to get to Verona. Another half an hour went by and I started to see familiar landscapes and I confirmed with a fellow passenger that we were finally in Verona. Got off the train to board the next train to Trento. This time the train was already there and there were plenty of seats. While waiting for the bus home in Trento, I met my friends who also got stuck in Milan. They reminded about strikes on Fridays. Oh, now I'll definately remember to keep that in mind. Well, I finally got home at around 10pm.