The Craziest Parade I Have Probably Ever Attended In My Entire Life, Cooking, and a Cold

           I just went to The Craziest Parade I Have Probably Ever Attended In My Entire Life: Carnevale in Viareggio.  











Carnevale is not just a parade but a whole celebration of insanity and color that lasts about a month.  Just think of it like Halloween, but more chaotic.  Most people wear costumes, some with a theme, and some just crazy.  Mine was one of the latter (shown below).  The floats in the parade were, there is no other word for it, psychedelic.  Nowhere else in the world would you see a reference to one of Sigmund Fraud's theories, John Lennon's disembodied head, or a clown in a tank, driving right in front of you.  Some floats were silly while others were deep and scary .  My favorite floats were the one with the huge robot spider on it, and the one about the dangers of media, a frightening one depicting a huge parasite made of internet icons and computer screens, standing over a hypnotized person with an ipad in his hand. (shown).

     At night the parade kept running, only with all the lights on.  It was beautiful, but I didn't want to see it again.  We decided to stroll around, and I wasted my money on one ride (when another was cooler), at popcorn and pizza, then headed on the train for home.  Today I woke up with a bad cold, and I am staying home while my parents go out to do chores and stuff.  Too bad, but at least I'm here with you guys!

    Oh yeah, I also did a cooking class a couple days ago.  Me and some of the Study Abroad students made spinach and Ricotta ravioli, spaghetti ( with the extra pasta that we made) , artichoke soufflé and strawberry pane-cotta.  I don't like pudding or any of it's family members, so I skipped the dessert, but the pasta was really good! The day after that, we ate with some friends of my parents and I played with their four-year-old son.  I have to tell you, I hadn't eaten ANY salad in those two days so I was really weak and exhausted.  I don't eat beef or pork, so salad is like my staple.

   I think with a little rest and a little lettuce, I will recover from my illness. Until then, PLEASE comment and you will hear from me next time!

Ciao Ciao Meow,

Liv

P.S. Nobody made a prediction, so no one is a fortune cookie this week.  If you are having trouble commenting, there is nothing I really KNOW about system to hinder you. Just go below each post, click the the word COMMENTS and write something nice (or make a prediction) :)

For this weeks, Post Post Contest, I'm going to Rome over the weekend.  Predict what I will do before March 5th and tell me in the comments. Remember, if what you say actually happens, you will be mentioned in one of my posts and you will be fortune cookie of the week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Parla L'italiano?

The answer is: not very well.

   Over the past couple days I have not been doing well in italian, but I have been trying some.  It's hard to do my school work and extra for italian class.  Today I was practicing my verbs in phrases with my Dad for homework.  Italian,like any other romance language, is pretty difficult to speak, but in my opinion, easy to understand.  There are a couple ways to say every word, and you have to pair it with a proper verb-tense to boot.  I'm sorry I don't have any decent examples, but if you get one of those italian dictionary apps, you might see what I am talking about.

    Hearing people speak the language, helps me learn it a lot easier.  If you ever try to learn Italian in Italy, I would suggest watching the children's shows.  I warn you that they are very, um, obscure.  However, stick with it.  Some of the shows I can name off the top of my head are, lets see:

-Mofy

-Pimpa

-Zhu the zebra

  That's everything I can think of right now, there are many others. Things that are dubbed in italian may help you, but not as much. And remember, the internet and google translate apps are your friends, but not all sources will say that something means the same thing.

Enjoy learning your new second language,
Liv!

Liv's World EU : Episode 2

Here it is!!  The second episode is finally here and we are excited to share it with you!
Please take a look at the rest of our travels with the Majer's in Deutschland...and as always, please take a moment and let me know what you think.
Ciao,
Liv

Seaside Renvez-vous

Ahh, the beach,

     I just spent my Valentine's Day in the heat of Cinque Terre ( The Five Towns).  It's winter so there weren't as many hoards of tourists as there are in Summer.  The water was cold, as much as the SF Bay.  Still, I didn't exactly break out the cash to get a swimsuit, which I didn't pack because I'm so clever.  Most of the time we walked all around, because people usually either take the train or walk in the smaller towns.        

We only spent the weekend there because Mom had to get back to teaching, Dad had to get back to working out, and I had to get back to writing with you.  We got to our little home-stay in Vernazza( one of the towns) in the afternoon to explore.  The beach was pretty cluttered because they don't clean it in winter, so in the evening I built a little platform out of the  on the shore.  Some other little local kids were building a clubhouse there too, and some of the more violent boys broke my platform apart, but I was proud of it anyway.  On Sunday we were there for a whole day, so me and my parents took a train and stopped at the other four towns: Corniglia, Manarola, Riomaggiore, and Monterosso Al Mare.  Again, a lot of walking, but there were SPECTACULAR views.  The ocean was turquoise   and froth thick as cream rode on the waves.  Sorry if I'm getting hyperbolic, but it was truly beautiful.  I will never forget it.  When we got home, I had a double scoop of gelato, one mint, one chocolate orange. It was the best weekend EVER!


  And that brings me to another important point: The Post Post Contest!  Today, the winner is my Aunt Nita who predicted that I would enjoy a delicious gelato. I actually had gelato the day after I wrote Flutter Flutter, so she is this post's winner!  Congratulation's Auntie, you can enjoy telling your friends that you are a crunchy pastry that is eaten usually after chinese take-out.  To everyone else, try again on this post, and you'll hear from me next time!

Farewell wherever you fare,
Liv

P.S.  Next week's contest hint on what I'm doing: Cooking and Carnival'e.  Again, the rules are: Predict what you think I will do before I write my next post and write your idea in the comments section.  If you are correct, I will mention you in my next post and you will be the fortune cookie of the week.  Good Luck!

Riomaggiore harbor in Cinque Terre

Beach in Riomaggiore 

Flutter flutter

Hey everyone,
      Before I say anything more, thank you to those who commented.  It really gives me a warm glow somewhere in my liver when I hear from you :). To the McGrorys, the wonderful family who has my dear Sofia in their care, thank you so much for taking care of her!  You are wonderful people!  Also, some students commented from the study abroad program.  You guys are awesome, and thanks for checking this place out in the first place.   It's cool to know people see  it.

    Sooooo, thing that happened since I last posted, hmmm.  Oh yes, I went to the famous opera "Madame Butterfly" yesterday,  hence my silly title. The opera, however, was far from farcical!  I don't think I will give anything away by saying that it is a very sad story about an, er, unlucky wedding and a foolish man betraying a woman's trust.  It was very sad, but I think I only shed one tear.  A one tear performance. The singing was stellar and I felt like standing up and applauding in the end, like they do in the states. It's too bad they didn't do that this performance.  I think if I were on of the actors, it would give me more confidence, but I don't know if they care.

   At intermission, I had a chocolate cake. It was so rich and chewy that I couldn't finish it.  Don't get me wrong, I love dark chocolate like David Tennant loves bananas, but I definitely do not like choking myself silly in the middle of an opera because all my saliva has been soaked up by cocoa powder. On the brighter side, it tasted fantastic!

     The show started really late so we got to out little home on the Alter-Arno at about 12:30.  This morning I woke up at 8 or so (dis-oriented as usual) and went on my computer to play some one hour Minecraft.  Pretty ho-hum, but today I get to go anywhere I want with mi padre (in Florence that is) so I will most likely have fun. Oh and get this, you lucky dogs will get to here all about it next time!

TTFN (Ta Ta For Now),
Liv

P.S. Sofia is an especially lucky dog. Heh Heh

P.P.S. Oh and to my dear readers, here is a new fun thing to do on my site! May I introduce you to (applause please) the Post-Post Comments Contest! Before I do my next post, say something that you think I will do when I'm out! It can be truthful or whimsical, but if it actually happens, I will mention you as the Fortune Cookie of  the Week and you will get a special mention in my post! Good luck, who knows what psychic powers you have!?
   

Pizza pizza!

Hello everyone!

        

              I hope you enjoyed my video, but it's only the first episode!  We will put out another episode soon.  If you haven't watched it yet, please do.  Oh and thanks in advance, for commenting ;) !!!!

    I'm doing some fun things today!  Yesterday I began taking some of  the college classes that the study abroad people are taking ( If I haven't already told you my mom is teach for the American Institute of Foreign Studies (AIFS)  My dad and I take the Italian life and cultures course.  We took Italian on Tuesday. it was very interesting, because the teacher only spoke Italian to us, so it was full immersion!  Then, that afternoon I attended an Italian life and culture lecture taught by the editor of the Florentine newspaper!  She is really cool!  Today (Wed.) I'm going to be taking an awesome pizza making class!  I am really exited to extend my knowledge in the culinary arts here in Florence, and this is a great way to do it!  Plus, you get to eat the pizza for dinner afterward. 

Hope I don't burn the crust,

Liv

P.S. Sofia, my puppy, steadfast my love!  Soon I will return to you in the Golden State. 

P.P.S. Sorry 9'ers!  It'll be the Raiders next year, I hope!

Liv's World EU Episode 1

IT'S HERE!!!!!
We finally finished Episode one of the travel series.  My dad and I created this series together to chronicle our journeys.  It's not up to date with my latest blog entries, but, please check it out and please comment and let us know what you think.  We hope to get another one done next week!
Cordiali Saluti,
Liv