Mostly about me, too boring?

Happy birthday!

2009-06-01T19:56:00.000+03:00

Normally I would say this would be as good a day as any other to start writing my blog again, but it's not. It's a better day than most, since exactly one year ago I moved to live in Paris.
Now of course this is not a breaking news since if you did not know about this, it means we are absolutely not in touch, hence you couldn't care less about the city I live in. :)
So let's recap what happened during these 643 (or 1 year, 9 months, 4 days) since my last post.
Last time I wrote I just left Finland to moved to Den Haag, in Holland. So I have to report you about my experience in Holland and France.
The fans of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" among you will surely appreciate my accurate description of Holland after living there for almost one year: mostly boring (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy#Mostly_Harmless).
I can't hide I was happy to leave the country and leave that period of my life behind me. I went there with four good friends and since then only one of them is still in Holland and went so far to start his family there. The other four spread around: me in France, one in Sweden, an two back home in Finland and Turkey.
That was one negative part of leaving Holland, since it's not easy to part from good friends.
An other thing I miss it's my huge flat. I had a 140 sqm flat on two floors just overseeing a park. It was just awesome. Now here in Paris I have a much smaller flat nowhere near a park, and it was damn hard to find it.
To be fair, some pretty funny stuff worth remembering happened in Holland. I will just say "shellfish, what shellfish?" Yeah, I know. It's an inside joke, but that's life. ;)
And then I found a job in Paris, again for my "historic" employer.
I was supposed to move in April but then I was able to push it a bit to June.
Coming to Paris was an historic change. I started to meet people the same day I arrived, and I kept meeting cool people ever since.
At the very beginning I was so thirsty of social interaction because of our miserable life in Holland that I was going out every evening. Bars, restaurants, picnics "En plein air", river cruises, and a lot of friends from Italy or Finland introduced me their friends in Paris.
I've heard many times that moving in Paris can be alienating and that's very hard to meet people. I know exactly what that means. There is so much stuff going on in Paris and everyone here is so busy that you really have to make an extra effort to grab someone's attention if you want to meet them again. Because there is always a party go to, a friend calling for a drink or some other cool stuff. So for an outsider it's hard to fit it.
Paradoxically, my miserable life in Holland helped me out. I was so anxious not to end up in Paris as I was in Holland that I did all I could to make friends. And I managed. :)
Fast forward: one year later.
Incredibly as it might sound to whom knows me well, I'm still in Paris and I still enjoy it. I get to travel a bit thanks to my work (I was in Slovenia, Germany and Italy).
I do speak some French (but I have no clue how to write it), I still meet cool people (albeit I have to admit very few of them are French) and most importantly I have no plans to leave for the time being.

I've heard I have a new reader. ;-) So I'm curious to see if my last post will be noticed. ;-)

Au revoir,

alfonso

Like a swiss clock

2007-08-28T22:29:00.000+03:00

Well, an other month.

Man! Time flies!

Originally (that is, three weeks ago), I wanted to blog on the weekend I spent in Italy to pick up my motorbike. I guess I will do that, but I want to write something more later this week (lazy bastard!).

So, let's start from the beginning.

As soon as I moved to The Netherlands, I had the wish to reunite with my beloved motorbike, so exactly the second weekend (!!) after I came here I flew to Italy, one way... ;-)

The organization started well in advanced. I had to unblock the insurance (otherwise I couldn't drive!), find a flight and find the best way to come from Italy to The Netherlands.

Unblocking (reactivating?) the insurance was the hardest part: I had to keep my finger crossed hoping that the new papers from the insurance would be able to travel 500km in three days. If you never sent mail in Italy, you can't understand this point. ;-)

About the way to travel back with the motorbike, at first I planned to drive all the way, sleeping in Germany Saturday night. It was just 1.000km, and on the German highway (the autobahn) there is no speed limit... But then a friend gave me a great idea: bring my motorbike with the train! Of course, no electronic ticket for that, so I had to buy it over the phone and a friend in Milan picked up the ticket for me.

And finally, the cherry on the icing: the motorbike, to run in Italy, needed a compulsory check to a mechanic (so called "revisione") since four years are elapsed since I bought it. I found a mechanic's number through a friend and (incredible!) Saturday morning was his last workday before holidays!

To be totally ready, I borrowed a GPS addon for my mobile phone, so that I would be able to see the road with it.

So, as you can see, it was planned as a typical, relaxing weekend.

I landed in Milan Malpensa airport around 10pm and the first good news came to welcoming back in my home country: the first bus for Lugano was leaving in about an hour. I decided to do something nice for my sisters (who hates to drive, especially to pick me up) and I took a taxi to the train station. During the short ride, I had to listen to the driver's complains because in the whole day he just had two customers, both going to the closest train station. I didn't feel really sympathetic towards him, thinking about the 100 EUR he would charge for the 50km from the airport to Milan.
Nevertheless, I reached the train station (about 25 EUR). The train brings me much closer to my parents' house. I told the change in plan to my sister and I started my journey.
About one hour later I was at the station. My sister was already waiting for me (maybe the first time in ten years?) and I reached my parents' house around midnight.

Few minutes after stepping into the house, we started arguing, but I am not gonna talk about that... ;-)

After dinner I started preparing for the next day. I prepared a small baggage, made sure the motorbike was all right and I checked the papers from the insurance (they actually came on Thursday!!!).

The next day, Saturday, I woke up at 6am, since the appoinment at the mechanic was for 9am. Since the motorbike was not used for more than one year, I disconnected its battery, which went totally flat in the meanwhile.

Using the appropriate cables, I connected the motorbike's battery to the car's, in order to turn it on. As you know, the battery charges while you are driving. But you need to drive for a while before the battery has enough power to turn on the engine again. So, if my engine would stop, I would be in trouble.

I started driving toward the mechanic, but once I was in the right town, I didn't know how to find it. I stopped to ask to someone and to avoid the noise, I turned off the engine. You guessed, the battery was still too low to turn on my engine again. I felt so stupid! But I had been lucky, I was on a slope: I just let the motorbike go freely downhill, I put the gear on and I turned the engine on.

Once I reached the mechanic and I started talking with him, he told me he didn't plan any work for that day. He was only supposed to clean before holiday period, but he did an exception to help me since at the phone I explained my situation to him. That (i.e. "an exception") is what I miss about Italy. Here (pretty much like in Finland), a rule is a rule, and the concept of bending a rule doesn't have space in people's mind. Somehow I have the feeling that here in The Netherlands they just enjoy red tape (burocracy).

Less than an hour later, I was on the road again, heading to Milan to pickup my train ticket.

I reached my friend's place, picked up the ticket and headed to Verona, where the train would leave. I was even there before the scheduled time to load the train! ;-)

Now a little cultural corner about Italy: the nice and friendly personnel from the train company (Trenitalia) that was supposed to check-in the drivers was speaking ONLY ITALIAN. The train was heading to Düsseldorf, it was full of Germans and Dutch, but the guy didn't speak a word of English, German or Dutch. I cannot guess for how long he did that work, but still the car's plate was "the ID", with the result that people always showed their passport when he was asking for "auto ID"... No comment.
Luckily a lady from the German train company (Die Bahn) was speaking German, English and Italian. By the way, the website for this service is dbautozug.

This is what my motorbike looked like after they loaded it. They also locked it so that it wouldn't move, but the picture was take after they took the locks away:

For the first hour or so I was alone, and then in Bolzano a family (father and son) from Germany joined my coach. They were actually a very funny couple. The father was probably on his late forties, and the son was 10 or so. They had a week of holidays together with a motorbike. We had a nice chat during the evening.

The next morning, around 7am, I was ready to drive from Düsseldorf to Den Haag, except I didn't have a clue which way to drive! This is when I turned on the GPS, but how to see the mobile's screen while driving? Have a look:

This looks crazy, I know. But believe me, it worked! I linked the mobile to the engine's key.

Without the GPS I would have been so lost! Sunday morning (7am) in August in Düsseldorf. There was nobody to whom ask for any indication.

Believe it or not on the highway the phone didn't move up to 200km/h in the autobahn.

Yes, this is the other thing I wanted to tell you. I reached twice, only for few seconds, 200km/h. It wasn't particularly fun. It's probably the kind of stupid thing men do. I did.

There were two way to tell when I crossed the border from Germany to The Netherlands. One was a sign on the side of the road, the other was that everyone slowed down to 120km/h. :-(

At that was it. I finally have my motorbike here with me! The fact that everything went exactly as planned made very happy.

But I cannot hide the truth to you. After four years, I had the first small accident with this motorbike. Few days ago I went to the cinema and while I was watching the movie it started raining. The area where I live is a damn maze of tram rails, and even if I know all the theory about it, I slipped on one tram rail. My bruises are almost gone, but my little bike will carry the scar for much longer. I guess shit happens. :-(

Stay tuned! More soon on the incredible amount of red tape in The Netherlands.

alfonso

The Netherlands

2007-07-28T20:01:00.000+03:00

Almost two months! This is for sure the longest time without any update in my blog. So what happened during these two months?

Well, I think it's quite a long list of events I'd like to talk about!

In June I spent a week of holidays in Italy, and I went for the weekend near Naples, where my grandmother lives. I really would like to create a special post for that weekend, so more about it later.

Then in July I was contacted for a job offer (and this is the main reason that kept me off the blog) and here you go.

NOW I LIVE IN THE NETHERLANDS!

I left my previous employer and I started a new job in the same technology area I used to work. But this time I will not have to travel, which I think it's good, so I will be able to have a more stable lifestyle and I will visit my girlfriend more often (she lives in Paris). You're free to quote this sentence when I will start complaining about lack of traveling in my new job! ;)

Of course, a change of country brings a lot of other changes too! I had to plan a move (and it wasn't easy, believe me), try to sell my furniture (which I managed to do!) and find a new flat in The Netherlands.

But now I'm here, and I like it! A live in an area of The Hague called Scheveningen. It's a very nice looking street, with only two floors building and it's very quiet and peaceful. It's only 10-15 minutes far from the sea as you can see from this map.

Yesterday I went walking on the beach with a colleague and I took some picture. Here you can see how many windsurfs and kitesurfs there were in the sea. It was really windy, but really great.

I really enjoyed walking and talking on the beach. It was very nice. In the evening we had a nice Argentinian dinner and we went home pretty early. For the whole week we slept about 6 hours a day because we were commuting to a different city. 4 extra hours every day.

I spent today doing laundry and answering emails and planning my trip from Italy to here with my motorbike. I bought a one-way ticket to Italy and I plan to drive back with my motorbike. So finally, after 17 months, I will start using my motorbike again! Great!

Enjoy!

alfonso

Poetry

2007-06-07T20:44:00.000+03:00

Hi all.

These days, on the BBC, I can see the new advertisement for Italia (did you know Italy spent 45 millions Euro to relaunch Italy's image of which 10 millions were used for the new web portal http://www.italia.it?).

I have to say, I really like it. I couldn't find the video online.

A voice reads some Italian poems and sentences from novels.

I really like one poem by Vincenzo Cardarelli that I've never heard before:

Non so dove i gabbiani abbiano il nido, ove trovino pace.
Io son come loro, in perpetuo volo.

I don't know where seagulls have their nest, where they rest.
I'm like them, perpetually flying.

So I changed the old description of the blog which was:

Sono un emigrante, ma del XXI secolo. Così invece delle cartoline e della valigia di cartone, ecco il mio blog... Spero mi aiuterà a rimanere in contatto con gli amici!

Also, regarding poems, there was one poem I wanted to share with you. This is by Cecco Angiolieri a poet who lived in Siena in the XIII and XIV centuries:

S' i' fosse foco, arderei 'l mondo;
s' i' fosse vento, lo tempesterei;
s' i' fosse acqua, i' l'annegherei,
s' i' fosse Dio, mandereil' en profondo;
s' i' fosse papa, sare' allor giocondo,
ché tutt' i cristiani imbrigherei;
s' i' fosse 'mperator, sa' che farei?
a tutti mozzerei lo capo a tondo.
S' i' fosse morte, andarei da mio padre;
s' i' fosse vita, fuggirei da lui:
similmente farìa da mi' madre.
S' i' fosse Cecco, com' i' sono e fui,
torrei le donne giovani e leggiadre,
e vecchie e laide lasserei altrui.

Translation:

If I was fire I would burn up the world;
If I was wind, I would blow it apart;
If I was water, I would drown it,
If I was God I would throw it into the pit,
If I was the pope I would be doing fine
And cut off all the Christians’ nuts;
If I was Empereor, what would I do?
I would cut off everyone’s heads with one blow.
If I was death, I would embrace my father;
If I was life, I would run away from him:
Likewise with my mother.
If I was Cecco, as I am and always have been,
I would take all the young and good-looking women
And leave the ugly ones for everyone else.

Au revoir,

alfonso

bitter cabbages (cavoli amari)

2007-06-05T20:31:00.000+03:00

Hi all.

THIS IS FUNNY or at least it is for me... :-)

Yesterday I went to have dinner at a friend's place here in Paris. She did food shopping and then we went home and chat while she was cooking. At some point she started freaking out saying something like: "Oh my God, how could I forget that?". I didn't know what she was talking about but after she calmed down I realized she forgot buying cabbage. Since it was already 8:30pm and we were not in the centre of the city, she was sure we couldn't get a cabbage, but I told her I was sure we could find one.

So we went out and tried all the groceries shops around her place but they where all closed. So I tried to ask in a restaurant (mind you: I don't speak a word of French and English is not so common here, but I managed to find always nice people willing to try to comunicate with me) and they told us about an other groceries shop nearby. That was open, but he didn't have any cabbage. I said: "You see: this is already good news, now you know an other shop near your place which is open long hours!".

But then the real fun started: I started to go into each and every restaurant trying to buy a "chou" (the name in French). In general people were reacting in a nice way. In the first restaurant they tried to ask in the kitchen but there was no cabbage. I learnt that cabbage is not a common food ingredient in French cuisine. :-)

But then I saw a Japanese restaurant and since my friend was cooking Japanese food, I thought that I found my solution! I went in but unfortunately the people inside the restaurant didn't speak neither English nor Japanese (my friend is Japanese). So I started to ask about "chou" and they said they had it. Great! When I was about to pay, I read on the check "chou salade", so cabbage salad. I started to explain them I needed the full cabbage, but it was not so easy without a common language between us! Finally the younger waitress said: "home cooking?" and the magic was done. Few mintues later I walked away with a plastic bag and a cabbage, and a big smile.

Ciao,

alfonso

Oulu

2007-06-01T21:30:00.000+03:00

More than two weeks silence... I'm really a lazy guy!

This post is about last week. Actually I will change the date to last week so that there will be no record of my laziness... ;-)

I spent the last two days of May in Oulu, which is a town (130.000 people) around 500km north of Helsinki. Something that you learn flying north from Helsinki is that it's very hard to say who lives north. This should be a lesson for the "North League", an Italian political party whose main political idea is to distinguish Italy in who lives North and who lives South...

As you might easily imagine, the city is very quite.

Unfortunately there is not much that I can tell you about it, since I was there only one night and I didn't really go around. I had dinner in a Turkish restaurant called Istanbul and it was very good!

The only story I have is from my previous trip to Oulu. Since the weather was cold (500km north of Helsinki, just to remind you) I decided to go to the cinema. During the movie I moved my jacket and my mobile phone that was in a pocket fell on the floor. When the movie ended I found the mobile phone and walked away. During dinner I realized that I lost also my GPS receiver in the cinema. When I went back an other movie was already started in the room, so I couldn't go and check. I told what happened to the people working in the cinema and I left my number.

No I know it's not easy to believe it if, for example, you live in Italy. But at the end of the second show I got a phone call and they even brought the GPS back to my hotel. Welcome to Finland.

Ciao,

alfonso

Pizza Italians

2007-05-14T14:35:00.000+03:00

Last weeks Beppe Severgnini, an Italian journalist and book writer was in Finland, so (following his usual custom) a pizza was organized in the country for all the Italians that follow his forum on the internet called Italians.

It was actually a very funny evening. On his forum, he mainly gives voice to Italians who live abroad. Some people are complaining about the country they are visiting, some people are very happy to have moved abroad. Some (like me) complain that Italians don't really have a choice anymore if they want to have a decent salary and a challenging job without any "hidden sponsor" that puts them in a nice and cosy position...

This is the picture from that evening of the people seated at my same table.

Alfonso

Vappu (two weeks later)

2007-05-14T14:15:00.000+03:00

I've been lazy these last weeks, but now it's time to update the blog.

Two weeks ago, Tuesday 1st of May, in Finland there has been a great party that every year involves all the population: Vappu.

This is already the second year I write about it. You can read about last year Vappu.

Year after year, I still love this holiday and I would do everything possible to have the traditional pic-nic in Kaivopuisto, a nice park by the sea. This year I was especially happy since the weather was bad before and after Vappu, but on 1st of May the sky was blue and the temperature was not so cold. :-)

I will try to show you some different picture than last year. In this first picture you can see the huge crowd in Senaatintori (whit the big white tuomiokirkko in the background):

This is a picture taken during the pic-nic: as you can see drinking and partying take a toll... :-)

Happy Vappu! Hyvää Vappua!

alfonso

Faces

2007-04-25T18:35:00.000+03:00

Hi all!

I'm back in Helsinki, Finland... :-O

I was looking at my pictures, and I realized that I shoot very rarely faces, but I also think that when I do so, I get great shots. The first is from San Miguel De Allende in Mexico, the second is from Krabi in Thailand.

Enjoy!

Songkran: the most regulated wild party

2007-04-20T13:22:00.000+03:00

Last week it was Thai New Year.

It lasts from 13th to 15th of April. The party highlight (for "farang" - foreigners in Thai language) is a stroll in Khao Sarn Road in Bangkok where everyone is armed with a plastic water gun and powder to cream everyone's face.

I feel really lucky since I spent Songkran with Thai friends. On Thursday evening we went together to a big club called "Holliwood" where most of the people were Thai. The place is really different from any club I've ever been before. There is a huge catwalk in the middle on the floor and there is live music and a huge amount of girls singing and dancing on the catwalk. The one thing I was most impressed by is how all Thai people were paying respect to unwritten rules. Up till midnight, hardly nobody shot water with their gun and then, after midnight, the wild party started. While the people started shooting at each other, on the catwalk the girls were less and less dressed (please note: most of the audiance in the club were Thai girls). At the end a group of them had just a star on their nipples... I'm not sure about this last batch of girls, but all the other after the show on the catwalk were just joining the crowd and mingle with them.

Anyway, something I really liked was that nobody throw anything (other than water) and for the whole night (despite the heavy usage of alchool) the guns were always loaded just with plain clean water.

I feel great respect for a population that can enjoy a wild party without loosing respect for some basic rules. After unexpectedly shooting a complete stranger, the usual custom was to bow with join hands to salute and thank the shooter... :-)

The first pictures are from Flickr (just search for Songkran or Kao San). The following shows one of the many great performances in the Holliwood. :-)

Yellow Monday in Bangkok

2007-04-04T12:34:00.000+03:00

Hi there!!!

I'm in Bangkok, Thailand!

This is my second week here and I can say I really really like it! There is so much more to see and to do here (I can already imagine the comments...). The touristy weekend was great. I saw the Grand Palace, China town, Wat Po, Wat Arun and I spent one day with two colleagues in the "Ancient City". But also during the week there are so many things to see and do! The night bazaar, Thai massage, Thai boxing...

I wanted to share with you this quite interesting thing I saw last Monday. Most of the people in the street (and also in the office) was wearing a yellow shirt. Thailand is yellow on every Monday to celebrate the king 80th birthday and the 60th anniversary of his access to the throne.

Coming from Europe (and from Italy) it's really striking to imagine that Thai people care so much about their king to dress in a specific way on their own will to celebrate him.

I also had a very interesting conversation at lunch about the traditional Thai culture. Quite interesting (at least from my point of view) to learn that even so far away from the reach of Catolic teaching, in the old Thai culture was very important to have sex only after marriage.

As you say in Italian: "tutto il mondo è paese", literally: "all the world is like a small town": the habits are very similar in every corner of the world! :)

Next week: holiday in south Thailand. I truly deserve them!

Ciao,

alfonso

Munich (two weeks later)

2007-04-04T12:10:00.000+03:00

Hi!

I know, I know, I've been really lazy lately, but these days I've been really busy...

So before I tell you something about my present location, please let me share these pictures with you about my hotel in Munich and tell you something about my week there.

As you can see, the room was on two floors!!! :) It was the first time I see something like this and I really like this kind of setup, so I just decided to show it to you! The hotel was really close to the city centre (Hauptbahnhof).

About Munich: the week there was really great! I met some new colleagues and I also met Riccardo, and old flatmate from my time in Milan as university student. Sooooooooo long ago!!!

7 years ago he moved to Munich and he has been living there since then. It was a real pleasure to see him and get to talk to him. He has a good suggestion for a nice club for every night, so I've been partying quite much there. On Saturday night we went to a small club called Cohiba (if I remember it right) and we met an Italian friend of Riccardo: Pietro. As soon as we started dancing we met two girls and start talking English with them. You guessed it: they were Italian... ;-)
So we started dancing and after the place closed we went on to an all-night-open diner. We said goodbye at 8am. A very funny evening indeed. :-)

Ciao,

alfonso

Munich under the snow

2007-03-21T16:37:00.001+02:00

Munich under the snow
Originally uploaded by fonso78.

Hi there! This week I'm in Munich. Today should be the first day of spring but look at how the city looks this morning. :-)

Munich under the snow

2007-03-21T16:37:00.000+02:00

Munich under the snow
Originally uploaded by fonso78.

Hi there! This week I'm in Munich. Today should be the first day of spring but look at how the city looks this morning. :-)

Home sweet home

2007-03-18T18:03:00.000+02:00

Home sweet home
Originally uploaded by fonso78.

Hi all. Just landed in Helsinki and I found a warm welcome waiting for me: a snow storm... :-) I spent the weekend in Milan, where I saw few friends and I had a ride on my motorbike. It was a very nice and relaxing weekend. :-) Tomorrow I'll fly again. To Munich! Ciao, Alfonso

Happy Birthday to me!

2007-03-14T03:24:00.000+02:00

Yesterday (Monday) it was my birthday. I'm now 29 and soon I will be 30. Amazing.

I received a lot of messages from you (my friends!) and I was very happy about it.

Usually is not really something important for me but maybe since I'm not in the best mood these days I appreciated it even more.

Thank you!

It's the second birthday I spend in Latin America. Last year I was in Brazil... ;-)

To celebrate I went out for the weekend to Querétaro and San Miguel de Allende, two very nice cities about 4-5 hours bus from Mexico City.

In San Miguel I rented a horse with Amelie (a French friend) and I had a ride in the countryside. Very relaxing. Trotting was not very good for my back, so yesterday I was very soar... :-)

It was my first time on a horse and I was very surprised how simple it was to learn the basics. They helped us climbing the horse and then they put us in closed ring and taught us for 20 minutes how to let the horse go straight, turn left and right and trotting. Afterwards we rode in the countryside for one and a half hour.

Monday evening I went to eat in very nice Japanese restaurant, as you can see from the picture. :)

Happy birthday to me!

Cheers,

alfonso

I'm a horse

2007-03-10T06:56:00.000+02:00

Today, after a meeting with the customer I went with some colleagues in a restaurant and we had a long (very long - as you can see) business lunch.

Among the very many subjects of conversation (believe it or not, two guys at the table worked in Japan for several years... guess what was one of the main topics?!?!) we bumped into Chinese zodiac. Since I'm not really used to check zodiacs, I had a look on the net and I found out I'm a horse.

Then, once at home, I read that page, and frankly I'm quite impressed. Here is what I think it applies most to me:

- Horse people are active and energetic. Horses love to be in the crowd.

- The horse is very quick-witted and is right in there with you before you have had the chance to finish what you are saying: he's on to the thought in your mind even before you've expressed it. In general, the Horse is gifted. But in truth he is really more cunning than intelligent - and he knows that. That is probably why, most of the horse people lack confidence.

- All Horse people invariably leave home young.

- Although they have boundless energy and ambition, Horses have a hard time belonging.

- The Horse is hot-blooded, hot-headed and impatient. He is a bit of an egoist, well, selfish sometimes, that it is rare for him to interest himself in any problems except his own. And though this egoist works only for himself and for his own success, his work nevertheless benefits everybody.

- The Horse is a worker, adepts at handling money and a good financier. But unfortunately, he is also famous for suddenly losing interest on something. In his relationship with opposite sex, the Horse is weak. He will give up everything for love.

- Being born a Horse, there are many contradictions in his character. Horses are proud yet sweet-natured, arrogant yet oddly modest in their approach to love, envious but tolerant, conceited yet humble. They want to belong, yet they are burdened by their need for independence. They need love and crave intimacy yet often feel cornered, pressured.

- Hard working, self-possessed and sharp, the Horse skillfully acquires power, wealth and respect. However, the Horse's sometime-appreciated frankness can be tactless. The Horse's impatient pursuit of success may become selfish and predatory. Horses can be obstinate.

- With the Horse, movement is everything. Freedom and independence are as essential to Horse-born people as the air they breathe. A low boredom threshold, both in terms of interests and friendships, is characteristic of those belonging to this sign, and adds a whimsical quality to the otherwise level headedness of these folk. Consequently, they tend to act on impulse, and this means there is an element of unpredictability about them.

- They love to take center stage and delight audiences everywhere. Sometimes rash and willful, they can be prone to rapid changes of mood and, although seldom really explosive of temper, when they do see red, it is not a pretty sight. Those who have suffered a Horse's rage will never feel quite the same about him again, for his fits of temper are inevitably a bit childish. If he wants to succeed, he has to master them.

- Resourceful and self-confident, Horses approach all things enthusiastically. Quick-witted and mentally alert, they are quick to catch on and efficient in all their undertakings.

- He is an extrovert and he needs to be surrounded by people who approve of him and flatter him.

- When they fall in love, Horses seem to lose all logic, all sense of perspective.

- Noncomformists, free thinkers, thirsting for life, Horses risk daring romantic adventures.

By the way, according to the Chinese zodiac, a good match for me should be born between Jan. 25 1982 and Feb. 12 1983. Leave a comment if it's your case... ;-)

alfonso

PS As you see, it won't last with a Dragon...

I don't really travel that much...

2007-03-07T06:05:00.000+02:00

Hi all!

Few days ago (the 24th of February) it was my blog's first birthday.

It's been a while since I started writing this, so I think it's good time to stop and think.

During this year I traveled in Brazil, Check Republic, Italy, France, Austria, Poland, the UAE and Mexico, so it's time to draw the world map again.

I also did some math, and it's not really true that I travel a lot... During this year I was abroad only 45% of the time... This means I've been in Finland much more than I thought I would be able to bare. ;-)

If you care for comparison, my previous map is here.

Now I'm again in Mexico, and you know what? I really have no clue when I'll be back in Europe...
;-)

Now, let's have a beer.

Ciao,

alfonso

UPDATE: I did some mistake when I was trying to find out how much time I spent abroad. It is 60% of the time, not 45%... ;-)

create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands

Cars on ice!

2007-02-26T16:22:00.000+02:00

Cars on ice!
Originally uploaded by fonso78.

Here you go! Straight from the track! We are having the same practice that is compulsory for taking a driving license in Finland. We experience car reaction with different kind of weather, like ice or snow, while trying to avoid a sudden object on a straight path or in a curve. I wanted to write now, just in case I don't get to see the evening. :-)

UPDATE: after some practice each of us (we were 13) had to perform a final test. A slalom in three "doors" where the maximum allowed speed was 60 km/h. Winner was the one that went correctly through the three doors, keeping control of the car at the maximum speed.

I'm the proud winner, having crossed the doors at 57 km/h. :-)

Kalle

2007-02-23T00:03:00.000+02:00

Kalle
Originally uploaded by fonso78.

Thursday night at Kalle. This is one of the most famous "tradition" I have in Finland. I don't want to comment it. I just want to remember it. Anybody sees something different here. Young studs want to find some friendly faces, older ones... also. Enjoy Kalle!

Driving on ice

2007-02-22T18:09:00.000+02:00

Hi world!

Next monday my workmates and I will go to drive on ice... Have a look at the track on google maps.

It should be a lot of fun. I'll keep you posted!

Ciao,

alfonso

Back in Helsinki

2007-02-20T10:07:00.000+02:00

Back in Helsinki
Originally uploaded by fonso78.

Hi all!

After more than one month I'm back in Helsinki. As you can see from the picture now everything is white and there is much more light. Check out this web site about how the daylight change over the months here in Helsinki. Quite impressive. The weather is still really really cold (between -15 and -20), but it's manageable. As usual, I look forward to the next trip and I'll keep you posted.

Cheers,

alfonso

Be happy if she says no...

2007-02-14T02:16:00.000+02:00

For the first time since I came to Mexico, Last week I went to eat at McDonald to have a quick bite.

I found this ad: "Celebrate when they say no, since the best (girl) will say yes".

I always thought advertising was a great creative work. Now I think that a little bit less. :-)

alfonso

09/02/2007
Originally uploaded by fonso78.

Living in Italy with 1.000 euro

2007-02-12T07:26:00.000+02:00

I will write this in English, even if I'm talking about a TV reportage in Italian.

This evening I was looking at national Italian broadcaster (RAI) web site. I do that quite often when I'm abroad to see how bad Italy is doing. My hidden hope is that Italy will one day realize the incredible situation it's in and do something about it.

Quite frankly, the hope is fading...

I want to link this video about people who is living with 1.000€ a month. I'm not sure for how long the video will be kept on the website, so take the time to watch it.

In the video you can see how this young generation (they call it so in the reportage, even if they are over 30 years old) is forced to make choices against their will. They have to keep living with their parents or live in shared flats, without the luxury of a car or of summer holidays and with the costant threat of some unforseen expense (like the dentist) that inevitably force them to ask money to their parents. Obviously marriage and kids is a kind of daydream for them. They can only buy clothes in sales and food in wal-mart kind of store.

I have very mixed feelings about this. One side of me thinks it's a national shame that in a country that supposedly is part of a forum for the world's major industrialised democracies (the G8) people barely survives. I believe that if you work you should have the right to live, not just survive. 1.000€ a month means surviving to me. On the other side, I think that everybody is responsible for himself/herself and nobody stops any of these people to try their luck abroad (as I did). Basically this is the same opinion I expressed in my previous post about leaving Italy.

Once I created my personal chart do distinguish between a country where I would live and a country where I would not live. If your salary allows you to afford a house in the city you live with a mortgage of 10 or 15 years, it's worthy to live and work there.

Let's take Milan. When I was working there my salary was about 1.300€ net a month. Usually banks grant you a mortgage so that your monthly instalment is around 1/3 of your salary.
A decent flat of around 60 square meters costs around 200.000€ in the suburbs of Milan.

One of the best options for a mortgage in Italy is called Mutuo Arancio, offered by the worldwide famous ING Direct group. They have a very nice tool where you can select the price of the house and the monthly instalment you are able to pay and you see how long the mortgage will last. Calculate your mortgage length. Input 200.000 in the first field (cost of the flat), 160.000 in the second field (the mortgage covers maximum 80% of the full price) and 450 in the third field, then press "Calcola" ("Evaluate"). A nice popup will inform you that with your inputs the mortgage will be longer than 30 years, and the bank does not allow that.

The site offers you the opposite tool: you can calculate your optimal monthly instalment based on the preferred duration of the mortgage. Calculate your monthly instalment. Enter the same inputs and select 15 years of mortgage. You will see the monthly instalment is about 1.200€, which means that your net salary should be of around 3.600€ to afford it.

With my personal evaluation tool, Milan (Rome would be the same, if not worse) does not qualify as a city where I can live in given my salary.

So what are the alternatives? Basically I see only two (with an optional third):

a) go abroad to get a decent salary
b) do something that will grant you that kind of salary in your own country
c) start working as a manager in the company your daddy founded

How about me? I blow (c) when I decided to study computer science, and I can't say I regret it. At the moment I'm stuck with (a), but as it's more and more clear by the day that this choice does not make me happy. So my only left hope is (b).

How to do that? Well, at the moment my best guess (left alone the chance to sell my body in Viale Zara) is to go back to school and get an MBA. But this is a totally different topic and maybe I will talk about it some other time.

I guess I'm not really making a point, and I don't think I have a point to make. I just needed to write about this to get rid of some of the frustration I get when I see how Italy willingly put herself in a toilet and desperately trying to flush it.

Too bad I'm not a computer grafic guru. I would love to create a picture where Italy (represented as a map with arms) is in a toilet trying to flush herself. ;-)

Probably something interesting would be to try to understand whose fault is this. My easiest guess is that greedy politicians in the last 30 years would make an easy target, but I guess the real situation if far more complex than this.

Alfonso

Finally, I'm ItalianS (and Acapulco)

2007-02-09T07:13:00.000+02:00

One of the most famous Italian newspaper as an online magazine called Italians, that mainly hosts the view of Italians who live abroad.

As such, I read it every now and again.

Few days ago I wrote a letter and I was published, so I'm now an official ItalianS... ;-)

The web site is http://www.corriere.it/solferino/severgnini/

Here is the translation in English, plus all that I wanted to add but I couldn't (there is a limitation on the size of the text):

"I'm a 28 years old man (not boy). I come from Lombardia but my parents are from the south (so the need to travel to find a proper work doesn't come to me as a surprise).

I write from Mexico, where I am for a work project. In december I was in the United Emirates, before in France, Italy, Austria, Brazil and so on.

When I talk about my work people is usually very interested, almost jealous. But the one time I offered a job interview in my company to a friend from Rome, he kindly declined.

Oh, I almost forgot. I should say I live in Finland, even if I live there 2 or 3 months each year.

I started working for the same company in Italy, but because of the salary and of the career chances, I decided to go abroad, and I ended up in Finland.

I see many friends ready to work hard, to move, to leave their house and I see they find good job opportunities.

Of course it would be easier if Italy had salary and job opportunities comparable to France or Germany (let alone North Europe). I would have really liked not to leave my friends and my family, but since Italy is in this situation, I had to make a choice and walk away.

This is why I think it doesn't make much difference to complain about how things go while staying in Italy. Which country (except dictatorships) after 10 years you say exactly the same people running for the elections?
In which city where living costs are comparable to Milan or Rome, you see salaries of 600€ or 700€?

I remember the comment of the Economist after Italy's elections and the end of talks on the youth labour law in France. The problem is, said the Economist, that still too many people don't feel any problem (since, I add, they have privileges they didn't work hard to get) in these countries and it will take still a lot of time (I add, a deeper decline) before these people will understand that without a clear and radical change these countries are doomed.

So, come on, let's all emigrate. Maybe after that the country will understand the need for a radical change e maybe in some years will be able to come back in our loved country."

So far, what I wrote to the magazine. The only thing I want to add is that the price to pay for this life is getting higher by the day, and if there would be any chance to have a challenging job with a comparable salary in Italy, I'm quite sure I would take it. So stay tuned... ;-)

Then, let's talk about Acapulco!!

Last weekend I went there and I have to say it was quite amazing to lay on the beach while in Finland it was about -20 degrees.... About 50 degrees diffence.

No words, just a picture.

Bye,

alfonso

New York City

2007-01-23T19:56:00.000+02:00

Hi all.

I know. I've been really really lazy. I thought often to write about my Christmas holidays in New York City, but until they will create an interface from my brain to my computer, thinking about it won't be enough.

So now I'm here, two weeks later, writing about NYC. I loved the city.
I left Milan the 26th of December and I came back the 6th of January. So about 10 days. I had a very good time there and it's hard to explain what I liked the most.

I think the greatest thing of NYC has been how nice it was to stay at a friend's place. Melanie, a friend I met in Turkey in 2005, hosted me during this holiday. During my project in Istanbul I used to walk back and forth on Istiklal Caddesi looking for people to hook up with. And then I saw these two girls sitting on their own, chatting in English. I went there, I introduced myself and I asked if I could have a drink with them. They accepted and this is how it started. We had quite a good time together, discovering nice restaurants and playing Backgammon. Melanie was supposed to be a backgammon champion, but somehow I managed to win after just a couple of days playing with her... ;-)

After Turkey we tried to keep in touch, and when Paola (an Italian friend) invited me to spend Christmas holidays in NYC, I was very happy thinking about the chance to meet Melanie and Baris. Baris is an old friend (we know each other since more than five years now) that I was very close to back in Finland in 2000. He then moved to live in New York.

So much about the background story. Let's talk about the trip. Of course I did everything that a respectable tourist in NYC has to do. Central Park, Broadway, Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, ...

But most than everything, what I will always remember about the trip was Mel's life. Chatting with Lisa, the next door neighborhood, or having xxx coming down from his flat to smoke in Mel's apartment (sorry for the missing name... I'm bad with names). The dinner at the pool bar (it's weird, I know, but this was NYC!!!!), playing a crazy table soccer match against two asian guys while one of them was just shouting, whatever happened: a goal done, a goal taken, a fast ball, a slow ball, everything. The dinner in Jersey city talking about how hot was Lisa's butt with that particular pair of jeans while eating a very good spaghetti and meat balls...

Most than everything, I saw what kind of life I'd like to have, and I saw how far it is from my own. Probably this is why I didn't want to write this blog entry. ;-)

What else? I really have to mention two more things: my incredible camera, that costed me about two salaries, but I really love playing with it and the junk in the box (if you don't know what I'm talking about, YOU HAVE TO SEE IT):

1) Cut a hole in a box
2) Put your junk in that box
3) Let her open the box, this is how you do it!

By the way... 10 days after my return to Helsinki I was sent to Mexico... But this is an other blog entry...

One last thing: shower is not a sin. ;-)

Ciao,

alfonso

Alitalia strikes back

2006-12-23T15:32:00.000+02:00

After my last encounter with Alitalia, I promised myself to avoid it as much as possible. But when I had to book a flight from Dubai to Milan, Alitalia had a direct flight and I couldn't resist it.

The Alitalia flight was due to take off at 8.50am this morning so I reached the airport around 7.30 to check-in but I saw something wasn't right when I noticed that the flight was not listed. After some time I found the Alitalia desk and I saw the flight was delayed by 10 hours, as you can see in the picture.

Ten, just in case you think of a typo.

After few minutes of astonishment I called our 24 hours travel helpdesk and they booked me on a Lufthansa flight to Munich (from where I am writing this) with a connection to Milan. Probably I will be in Milan 5 hours later then expected.

Once again, GRAZIE ALITALIA.

I sincerely hope the Italian unions that made this possible (by vetoing against any real privatization) will always use Alitalia flights to really understand the monster they have created and to suffer for it like the customers do on a daily base.

Marry Christmas to you all,

Alfonso

2006-12-15T18:06:00.000+02:00

Hi all!

Today is holiday in the middle east, so I took some time to post my images and to share with you this icredible experience!!!

The first picture is quite self commenting... Nutella Arabic style! ;-)

The next picture is from a lift I took to go to Nokia's office in Abu Dhabi. It's the first time I press a "PH" button. PH stands for penthouse, "attico" in Italian. But of course other memories came to my mind if I think about penthouse... ;-)

The hotel I'm staying is quite big and there are several bars and restaurants inside it. In the basement there is one pub with motorbikes video games. Now this is also possible in Europe. But here in the Emirates REAL MOTORBIKES are connected to the videogame!!!! AMAZING! I will try to play with it tonight.

And finally, yesterday while I was walking back from the beach I passed by the "Emirates Palace Hotel", one SEVEN starts hotel in Abu Dhabi. Click on the picture to see other pictures of this incredible hotel. Parked at the hotel I found a number of government cars:
- 37 BMW 745 (around 100k€ each)
- 19 Audi A8 6.0 (around 125k€ each)
- 45 Mercedes S600, S500, S450, S350 (from 80k€ to 150k€)

All of the same color... 8-)
I couldn't take a picture because it was too dark for my mobile phone...

Desert Safari in Dubai

2006-12-09T16:44:00.000+02:00

Hi world!

I landed in Dubai yesterday at 3am but since this is my only free day in Dubai (the weekend here is Friday and Saturday, so Sunday is a working day) I got up early to do some tour of the aerea.
In the picture I stand next to the Hammer that will bring us into the desert. :-)
There will be a camel ride, dinner and a belly dance show in the desert.

Enjoy!

Pikkujoulu, Risiko and Dubai

2006-12-08T01:06:00.000+02:00

Tuesday evening Giuseppe invited me to his house to celebrate pikkujoulu. Pikku means little and Joulu means Christmas. It's a very tipical Finnish party usually done between mid-November and mid-December. It's a typical party among friends and for work teams. It was a very pleasant party and as usual Giuseppe had many guests and I had the chance to meet new people. I even met a French girl that lives with her boyfriend 100 meters from my apartment. When we both asked to Giuseppe why he didn't mention this to us earlier, he said something like: "Yes, now that you make me notice, you are right. You leave really close to each other!" ;-)

As you can see, Santa-Giuseppe came to visit us and brought us a lot of nice gifts!

The next day it was a bank holiday in Finland (Indipendence Day), so I invited few friends for a Risiko (Risk, in English). Most of them were still drunk from heavy partying Tuesday night and at the end we were only four: Giuseppe, Nathalie, Massimo and me.

Yes. I had the red army. I LOVE winning at Risiko... ;-)

And last, but not least, finally my next trip has been announced:

Fiat Lux

2006-12-05T08:38:00.000+02:00

Fiat Lux
Originally uploaded by fonso78.

Hi there!

I've almost forgot! There a HUGE news about my flat that I didn't deliver to you yet. Finally, after only 9 months (you might call it a pregnancy, if you wish) of my movement to Helsinki, I bought and connected lights on the ceiling in my flat. Great, isn't it? And you didn't hear it all still. The funny part is that these damn lights don't give any light at all since the blue colour stops most of the light.

You might want to know how did I survive 9 months without lights. Easy: there's is a trick. My kitchen has few neon attached. :-)

Last weekend I also borrowed some tools from a colleague that I need to finish building some small ikea thingy that I bought back in February. Seems like I'm trying to make some order in my life. Will I have any luck? :-)

If you wonder, the title is Latin and it means "light came".

Alfonso

Free hugs in Helsinki

2006-12-04T01:45:00.000+02:00

Free hugs in Helsinki
Originally uploaded by fonso78.

Hi!

Last week, while I was walking home after work, I saw three girls offering hugs for free. I never came across something like this before, so I thought to take a picture.

At first I was a little worried that they could get mad at me for trying to take this picture, but I was so positively surprised to see that this girl actually moved under the light to help me take a better picture. And she looked quite happy and smiley.

You can really meet nice people in the dark Finnish autumn! :-)

alfonso

Sulu - Solo - Alone

2006-12-01T15:15:00.000+02:00

Hi there.

One friend from Italy (from Sicily) made me hear a song by Mario Venuti about a Sicilian boy that is working alone in Milan. As you might (or might not) know, during the second half of last century it was very common for young people from souther Italy to move to the "rich but cold north or Italy" to find a work. This experience is actually quite personal for me since my parents, both born in south Italy, move in the north looking for work and that's how they met.

Nowadays this still holds, but most probably numbers are smaller. Obviously, it's quite interesting to draw a parallel from my parents' experience (and many other souther Italians') and my own.

And here you go, the original lyrics, the lyrics translated in Italian (many of my Italian friends would not be able to understand all the words) and a translation in English.

Sicilian: Sulu

Cancia culuri a sira luntanu
Ogni profumu ca pottu cu mmia
Resta 'nto cori e ghintra a me manu
A terra chi fuma e mi lassa sunnari

Stari luntanu pi travagghiari
Picchi si restu nun pozzu campari
Fammi moriri ma no'ccà
Sulu, sulu

Sulu,sulu,sugnu sulu 'cca
Ca travagghiu pi campari

C'è sempri friddu e u suli è annigghiatu
chi amara vita ca fazzu!
N'attrovu nuddu ca iè com'a mmia
E gghiettu sangu pi quattru rinari
Quattru rinari si!
Mancu l'amuri mi pozzu pavari

Puttari a cruci no è travagghiari
E di stu 'nfennu vulissi ascappari
Fammi moriri ma no 'ccà
Sulu, sulu.

Famminni iri, ti ricu famminni iri
Comu lu ventu supra lu mari
Fammi ternari, signori, fammi ternari
Intra 'na rutta je lu me cori
Famminni iri, ti ricu famminni iri
Comu n'aceddu, famm'avvulare
'Na la me terra ca sapi di sale

Italian: Solo

Cambia colore la sera lontano
Ogni profumo che porto con me
rimane nel cuore e nelle mie mani
la terra che fuma e mi lascia sognare

Stare lontano per lavorare
Perchè se resto non posso campare
Fammi morire ma non qui
Solo, solo.

Solo, solo, sono solo qui
dove lavoro per campare

C’è sempre freddo e il sole è annebbiato
che amara vita che faccio!
Non trovo nessuno che è come me
E butto il sangue per quattro soldi
Quattro soldi si!
Nemmeno l’amore mi posso pagare

Portare la croce non è lavorare
E da questo inferno vorrei scappare
Fammi morire ma non qui
Solo, solo.

Fammi andar via, ti dico fammi andar via
Come il vento sopra il mare
Fammi tornare, Signore, fammi tornare
Dentro una grotta è il mio cuore
Fammi andar via, ti dico fammi andar via
Come un uccello, fammi volare
Nella mia terra che sa di sale.

English: Alone

The evening is changing colour far away
Every scent I bring with me
stays in my heart and my hands
the earth is smoking and it lets me dream

Being away to work
Because if I stay I won't survive
Make me die but not here
alone, alone.

Alone, alone, I'm alone here
where I work to survive

It's always cold and fog covers the sun
my life is really sad!
I can't find anybody like me
And I work really hard for few money
Yeah, few money!
I can't even buy love

To bring a cross is not work
And I'd like to run away from this hell
Make me die but not here
alone, alone.

Let me go, I say let me go
Like the wind over the sea
Let me go back, my Lord, let me go back
my heart is inside a cavern
Let me go, I say let me go
Like a bird, let me fly
to my land that tastes like salt.

Update on the last few weeks!

2006-11-22T16:21:00.000+02:00

Hi all!

This is just an update since I didn't write much in the last weeks.

A couple of weeks ago I went to Warsaw, in Poland, for a work seminar. There were more than 150 people mainly from European offices. The seminar was very interesting and we had A Lot Of Fun! I met also some very nice colleagues from all over Europe. The picture on top is an example of what "huge" means. Food portion in Poland are HUGE! :-)

An other thing I noticed in Poland is that nobody walks in the streets in the evening! The city seems empty, but then if you enter a club you will see a lot of people!

In the other picture is an other work event: after I came back to Finland I went curling with some of my colleagues. It was actually funny, and like always I broke my clock when I felt on my wrist. :-/

No big deal. I fix it! :-)

What else? I'm now in Finland, and God only know how long I'll be here for. Hopefully soon I'll be sent in some nice place in the sun. Cross your fingers! :-)

Cheers,

alfonso

First snow in Finland

2006-10-31T11:45:00.000+02:00

First snow in Finland
Originally uploaded by fonso78.

Welcome back to Finland!

I came last Sunday and I already noticed that nothing has changed while I was away. :-)

Well, almost nothing. The "Sauna bar", a nice place near my apartment where you could drink a beer and play pool is now a gay bar.

But everything else is like I left it. I left summer in Italy (about 25 celsius) and I find winter here. Today, as you can see, it started snowing. :-(

Also my neighbor is still the same. I had a dinner with few friends yesterday and at 9.30 pm she came to complain for the noise. She is about 35 years old, and I tried to be very nice to her, but she's just complaining every single time I have friends at home.

Quite annoying experience, I would say. I hope this experience will teach me to check the neighbors before I'll buy a house. :-)

Kart in Milan

2006-10-31T11:34:00.000+02:00

Kart in Milan
Originally uploaded by fonso78.

Hi there. Sorry for being so lazy. It's been a while since my last post.

I took this picture 10 days ago in Milan, when I went karting (link to the karting site) with Andrea and Vincenzo, old friends from university time. We know each other since 1996, so it's 10 years now!

We always liked to play with karts but of course now we are not the same big group we used to be... Yeah, I know, good old times... :-) Marco now is always busy, George is abroad and many other are somehow "lost".

What to say about the race? I wasn't the worst driver and neither the best. Provided we were three, you pretty much now the whole story now. :-)

Something that is very hard to transmit with words is how fun it is to perfectly overtake your friend in a very difficult curve.

As they say, "boys and their toys" :-)

This is a picture of the track, and on the website you can actually watch a lap from an in-car camera. Funny!

Carcano theater

2006-10-07T15:38:00.000+03:00

Carcano theater
Originally uploaded by fonso78.

Last Thursday my friend Eddie called me and asked if I wanted to go to the theater. I thought it was weird since I was in Milan and he was in Luino, quite far away. But he was not asking me to go with him, but with a friend of him!

Eddie knows me very well, and it didn't take too much time for him to convince me once he used the magic word (cute). :-)

So I met Tamara and we saw "The taming of the shrew" (la bisbetica domata).

Meeting Tamara was a nice surprise, we had a lot of fun! But the play was soooooo boring!

In the picture, Tamara show how her dress match the theater wall. :-)

Ivrea's advertising

2006-09-28T14:54:00.000+03:00

Ivrea's advertising
Originally uploaded by fonso78.

The caption reads "in the most difficult time, being confused is much easier".

It's the ad for obituary services.

A room with a view

2006-09-28T10:32:00.000+03:00

A room with a view
Originally uploaded by fonso78.

And this is the view from my hotel in Ivrea.

Quite nice! :-)

Da Ivrea con furore

2006-09-27T16:09:00.000+03:00

Da Ivrea con furore
Originally uploaded by fonso78.

This is the first day of the rest of my life.
Today I came to Ivrea, a little town near Torino, in north-west Italy.
This is a key location for one Italian main telecom operator.

During my time in Italy I will spend few days a week here. I don't really fancy the idea to drive 250km (125 x 2) every week, but I got the impression that this is a kind of "my way or the highway" situation.

Today it's a nice and sunny day. Promising! :-)

In the picture, an old monastery now acting as restaurant, where we had lunch.

Alfonso

Zahlen, bitte

2006-09-24T19:25:00.000+03:00

Zahlen, bitte
Originally uploaded by fonso78.

For all of you that don't speak German, the title means "the bill, please".
It's actually one of the first things I learn in a foreign country. Meaning is: an other project is ended. My time in Vienna is over and next week I'll start in Milan.
Yes! Back "home". I'm very happy that I'll see all my friends.

Just for my personal diary, I'd like to mention a couple of things I've done during my last week in Vienna. The great Giger exhibition at the Kunst Haus Wien. Giger is the artist who "invented" Alien. I really liked the whole show.

The World Press Photo. From their website: "first and foremost, World Press Photo is known for organizing the world's largest and most prestigious annual press photography contest". The pictures vary from sport, nature, life, news and so on. Some are a real fist in the stomach. But this is the world we live in. So it's good to know what's going on around it. You can look at their pictures also online.

Finally, the picture attached was shot in Helsinki, yesterday night. Summer is over, but still the weather is quite nice, so the youngsters are still willing to enjoy some open air activity. ;-)

Toreada

2006-09-23T22:12:00.000+03:00

Toreada
Originally uploaded by fonso78.

Hi...

Few days ago I got my new phone (Nokia N93) so I thought it was time to test some new application to directly blog from my phone.

The picture I used for this test was taken last December in Ecuador. It's me, bullfighting! ;-)

Be aware, I'm about to talk about some boring technical stuff...

With my old phone I was blogging using MMS to email feature. In practive you create a normal MMS and you put an email address as a recipient. Very easy, but MMS have the bad habit to resize my pictures before it receives the recipient, and so they look very bad when they get uploaded to to my blog. No big deal, since the camera of my old phone was not very detailed. But now my new phone has a 3Mpixel camera.. ;-)
I can't allow MMS gateways to ruin them!

So I remembered of a blog that wrote about how to Flickr from an S60 mobile phone:
- How to Flickr from ShoZu?
- How to Flickr from Nokia Flickr Uploader?
- How to Flickr from Nokia Lifeblog?

At first a tried ShoZu but I didn't like it so much. The application itself was slow, and for any reason I was having some error that prevented me to correctly upload pictures on my Flickr account:

A problem with your flickr account is delaying ShoZu uploads.

Your flickr account may be full or you might have exceeded an upload limit.
Visit your sharing site for more information about the problem.

Don't worry about re-uploading your photos, they are safe on our server and will appear on your sharing site once the problem is fixed.

One great feature of ShoZu is that it automatically backs-up your contact list online. This is a great added value, but since the core-application didn't work as expected (couldn't send my pics on Flickr) I gave it up. Also, it was too intrusive. With ShoZu installed, anytime I take a picture I see a popup that asks me if I want to "Save to Flickr" or have "More options". I want to decide when and how to upload my pictures! I don't want to be asked EVERY TIME!

An other quite nasty missing feature of ShoZu is that I couldn't find anyway to choose my Wi-Fi as access point. The only available APN were the GPRS/UMTS ones. Maybe good for telecoms, but not for me. If I'm in a WiFi covered area (e.g. in my home!) I want to enjoy the free ride.

Just right now, I'm trying to use it again to remember what I want to say about it and this time the upload worked. But even so, it went as far as upload the picture on Flickr, but not on my blog (which is the main reason for me to upload to Flickr), so once again, ShoZu is not good for me.

If it wasn't intrusive, I would keep the application just to regularly backup my contacts, but since it's nagging every single time I take a picture, it's going to leave my mobile pretty soon.

So then I tried the "Nokia Flickr Uploader". I will give for grented you read the article that I linked earlier, so I won't repeat "the basics".

At first I didn't understand how to make it work following the blog, but then I found this tutorial on Flickr website and I found out that I needed an add-on configuration file (here).

It worked just fine, but I was only uploading my pics on my Flickr account, not on my blog. Reading around I found out that there were two so-called "server":
- http://www.flickr.com/services/atom/ (to post only to Flickr)
- http://www.flickr.com/services/atom2blog/ (to post on both Flickr and your blog)

The page was focusing on uploading via Lifeblog, but I liked the interface from "Open Online Service". I found it quick and simple. So I had a look in the cfg file, and I saw that it's a simple xml file.

So I created a new cfg file changing few key fields:
- configure_file service_id (I used "flickrblog")
- title (I used FlickrBlog)
and the most important one:
- endpoint_path (you need to put http://www.flickr.com/services/atom2blog/)

If you really have spare time, you could also change the icon associated with it. It's an SVG file encoded using base64 for binary to text translation. Here you can find some freeware to encode/decode base64.

Following the rest of the tutorial made the trick, and now I'm able to directly post on my blog!

I was satisfied with this, so I didn't really try LifeBlog!

Cheers,

alfonso

Why pictures now

2006-09-12T00:25:00.000+03:00

Saturday I went at the Mumok Museum in Vienna for a photo exibithion.

The title is "Why pictures now". You see, I love pictures.

Pictures of breathtaking views, of great event of history, of habits of people different from me, of cultural "evolution" (ever seen this great picture of guys in Rome whisteling after a girl in short skirt? Italy during the after-war boom), of beautiful women, advertising (especially if old), you name it.
But these were "just" pictures there. It's probably my big ignorance, but I could find any good reason to spend time in that museum during a warm day.

Except for one idea shown in one "art piece" by Emily Jacir called "From Texas with love". The footage showed an endless road, shot in Texas. Below the TV set there were a cd player, a remote control, an headset and a list of songs to choose from.
The caption of this piece of art read: "If you had the freedom to get in a car and drive for an hour without being stop (imagine that there is no Israeli military occupation; no Israeli soldiers, no Israeli checkpoints and roadblocks, no 'by-pass' roads...) what song would you listen to?"
I never heard about most of these songs and I choose "I can see clearly now". Which one would you choose?

I also found this other picture interesting. It was among a number of pictures all by the same artist. The caption reads: "If it doesn't make you horny, it's not art".

Alfonso

Vienna Kursalon

2006-09-06T12:59:00.000+03:00

Yesterday I went to Vienna Kursalon to hear a concert for tourists.

I had sits for 2nd row, just behind the "V.I.P." row... So to show you a picture of the whole room I had to find it on flickr... ;-)

From the press release: The repertoire spans the works of Strauss, Lanner, Ziehrer, as well as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and traditional "Schrammeln" and Salonmusik.

During some performances, the orchestra is joined by two ballet dancers or by two opera singers.

It's a big mash up from different types of music, ballet, opera, but it's perfect for tourist (like me!). The only downside of being so touristic is that it was full of old fellow from US. Not a big deal, if just this nice lady wouldn't have set next to me. Man, she smelled old! I guess the smell was from some chemical to preserve her sweater from rotting (or maybe her from rotting...).

But at the end it was a very pleasant happening. ;-)

Cantinetta Antinori Vienna

2006-09-05T12:41:00.000+03:00

Life at its best.

Sunday I met Kit, a girl from US and yesterday we went out for dinner together.

We were by her hotel, in Stephansplatz (the very downtown of Vienna) and it was already quite late, so we didn't want to walk a lot to find a place. Just next to the hotel entrance there was a nice restaurant with tables on the street (see the google map). You could tell it was very nice, by its look.
We sat down and open the menu, and strangely enough everything was in Italian. So I asked Kit if she planned it (to bring me to an Italian restaurant) or it was just a coincidence. She was as surprised as I was. It turned out to be the Cantinetta Antinori, a restaurant born in Firenze and now present in Firenze, Vienna, Moscow and Zurich. From the menu I understood that originally the reason for the "cantinetta" was to able to have some food while tasting Antinori's famous wine (especially Chianti).

I felt it was time to revenge for the way too many lunches at "noodle house", a crappy chinese I'm forced to visit almost every lunch, and for all the Wiener Schnitzel (a.k.a. "cotoletta alla milanese") that I've eaten here in Vienna.

I went for the "tagliata di manzo" (sliced veal) and I adviced Kit for "costolette di agnello" (lamb ribs). I asked the waiter (a nice girl from North-East Italy) for some advice on the wine and we got a great bottle of red wine from Toscana. Unfortunately I forgot the name... :-(

Even the dessert was full of surprises: Kit choose a basil ice cream and I got for the first time in my life stawberries with balsamic vinegar. Great!

The price was related to the level of the food and service, and I would say it was totally worth the money!

Cheers,

alfonso

Dura la vita a Milano città

2006-08-29T12:21:00.000+03:00

It doesn't really make sense to post this in English, since I want to talk about an Italian song... So, back to Italian!

Avete mai sentito questa canzone? L'ho sentita un paio di volte alla radio nei mesi scorsi, e mi è proprio rimasta impressa. Forse sarà il fatto che come l'autore, sono scappato da Milano?

Ecco il testo:

DURA LA VITA A MILANO CITTA’ – Pablo Ciallella

Du du du du du dura
Du du du du du dura

Mi trovo a Milano senza casa e senza lavoro
Appena sbattuto fuori di casa dalla mia ragazza
Perché l’ho tradita e lei l’ha scoperto
In più mi manteneva da un bel pezzo

Dormo sul pavimento dell’ufficio del mio amico Gianfranco
La mattina mi alzo e vado a lasciare i curriculum agli interinali
Mi presta 50 euro ed io mi sbatto per cercarmi un alloggio
E intanto mangio alla mensa dell’opera francescana
Qualcuno vende le lattine di coca cola a prezzo solidale…

Dura la vita a Milano città se non sei nessuno e nessuno in regalo niente ti da

Du du du du du dura
Du du du du du dura

Trovo lavoro al Burgher King di piazza Duomo
Trovo da cantare in un locale del centro
4 ore per 50 euro
Il simpatico gestore mi imponeva di cantare pezzi allegri
Meglio se in spagnolo
Io mi sentivo tristissimo e solo

Du du du du du dura
Du du du du du dura

Cerco di riconquistare la mia principessa
Che intanto se ne è fatti altri 3 o 4 per pura vendetta
Mendicavo inutili perdoni, inutili illusioni
Quell’amore andava buttato via come i sacchi di immondizia
Che buttavo via al Burgher King
Il Duomo è sempre pieno di colombe…

Dura la vita a Milano città se non sei nessuno e nessuno in regalo niente ti da

(Du du du du du) lei era una che quando stava con me
(Du du du du du) certe cose non le faceva
(Du du du du du) chissà perché dopo che io l’ho tradita
(Du du du du du) si è data da fare per superare il problema
Parlandone a fondo con altri
Dimostrandomi senza più amore tra i denti
Quanto fosse diventata brava e quando mi dovevo pentire ormai
Di quell’infame azione fatta tempo fa
Ma non era mica quello il motivo…

Dura la vita a Milano città se non sei nessuno e nessuno in regalo niente ti da
Dura la vita a Milano città se non sei nessuno e nessuno in regalo niente ti da

Tanto che a un certo punto ho detto vaffanculo e me ne vado via”
Addio tram, corso Vittorio Emanuele
Anonimato bestiale, fashion e lacrime, modelle di marmo con le tette plastificate
Case discografiche morte di noia, di sonno, di rabbia e di soldi

(Du du du du du) cinema strapieni di chi come me vorrebbe fare della propria vita un film
(Du du du du du) ma si becca un surrogato di tutto
(Du du du du du) per la gloria di un altro
(Du du du du du) il Duomo è sempre pieno di colombe…

Dura la vita a Milano città se non sei nessuno e nessuno in regalo niente ti da
Dura la vita a Milano città se non sei nessuno e nessuno in regalo niente ti da
Dura la vita a Milano città se non sei nessuno e nessuno in regalo niente ti da

Deutscher Peter

2006-08-26T16:36:00.000+03:00

Da Piero il tedesco...

This weekend I went to Klagenfurt, south Austria. I took a walk towards "devil's bridge" and I stopped for lunch at a restaurant called "German Peter". Unfortunately it started raining so I didn't see the bridge itself and I went back to the starting point by bus...

The Italian menu said:

Da più di 500 anni la nostra famiglia cerca di viziare tutti i suoi ospiti e gli amici della casa con la nostra ospitalità della Carinzia.

hail in my hometown

2006-08-25T11:24:00.000+03:00

Hi there.

Silvia, a friend of mine told me to have a look at a website for regional news about the area I lived my first 18 years...

Some pictures here and here.

Yesterday, the streets of Dumenza (google maps and wikipedia), my small village, looked like this:

Mind you: the village is situated just 411 meters over the sea level and this happened 2 days after the end of summer.

As they say in Italian: "non esiste più la mezza stagione..."

Roughly translated: "nowadays the weather is always shit". ;-)

Alfonso

Brno motogp

2006-08-21T11:51:00.000+03:00

20.08.2006

It's two weeks now that I'm in Vienna and since Brno it's so close, I decided it was a good chance to watch my first motogp race. I came a little unprepared... I'm on the grass (sector C) with no plastic chair, so I have to stand up to have a good view.
But to see it live it's really funny! :-)
Vale yesterday got the pole position, he was the best during the warm up and there is no cloud in the sky, so it seems a pretty promising day...
FORZA VALE and always WLF!

Let's get political!

2006-08-08T20:39:00.000+03:00

Hi all.

Few days ago a good friend of mine sent me a link, asking me make the test and share the results. So I decided to share it with all of you... ;-)

http://www.politicalcompass.org/

I'm not so sure this is a wise move, but even if it's not wise, it won't be my first time. So I can live with it.

Anyway, my comment on the result: even if I expect myself to be somewhere on the left rather than on the right, I guess there is something not working fine with this test. How it would be possible otherwise that I sit just next to the Dalai Lama and Mandela? Give me a break!

I think what probably put me there (rather than anything else) is my profound belief that religion should not be part of society. Can you blame me? I think religion wars (and peace, for what matters) claimed much more lives in human history that illnesses or economical/political wars.

Anyway, to get back to the result: do you have any suggestion on which Italian political party stands in the same area?

Also about politic: last weekend I came across an interesting article about pensions. I’m not so sure if it was only targeted on UK audience, but I found it profoundly scaring. Here are some lines from it:

[…] you need capital equivalent to 20 or 25 times your desired income. So for an income of £20.000 [a year, when you will retired] you would need £400.000 or £500.000.
[…]
[Without taking into account inflation] a real return of 3% a year, after costs and tax, would be a pretty sold achievement. Than means a sum would take 24 years to double. So if we assume inflation is 0 for the next 24 years (!!!!), a 36-years-old would need to invest £250.000 now to have £500.000 at age 60, and a conservative income of £20.000 a year.
[…]
These are hugely depressive numbers for most people. But the same calculation can be done in a different way: save £100 a week, or £5.000 a year, for 24 years and your likely pension will be just £6.600.

It’s all fun!

Cheers,

alfonso

How cynical am I?

2006-08-02T14:39:00.000+03:00

Hi all!

I've found this on a blog, and I found it funny. As many people (including myself) see me as quite a cynical bastard, here is scientific truth about it... ;-)

You Are 48% Cynical

Yes, you are cynical, but more than anything, you're a realist.
You see what's screwed up in the world, but you also take time to remember what's right.

How Cynical Are You?

Small update about life in Paris: I'm in hell. Working 10am - 10pm every day. The end of it is approaching (Friday is my last day) and I cannot really say I enjoyed it 100%. But on the other side, I made some new friends (the picture has been taken at Jardins et Palais du Luxembourg with my new friends from Brazil):

Always Late In Take-off, Always Late In Arrival

2006-07-27T12:12:00.000+03:00

A story on how a nice weekend by the beach can become a nightmare thanks to Alitalia.

I planned last weekend long ago. I wanted to fly to Naples, to go to a small town called Ascea, some 100km south of Naples, in south Italy, where my grand mother lives.

Problem is, I didn't take into account one big random factor: Alitalia.

The plan was to fly from Paris to Rome and then from Rome to Naples on Friday, and then viceversa on Sunday.

My first flight was scheduled for Friday at 18:40 from Paris main airport: Charles De Gaulle. So at around 16:30 I took a taxi from the office to reach the airport. I was at the airport around 17:15, I checked-in and I went to the gate, to find out it was incredibly hot (who is the genius who designed the all-glasses ceiling of the airport? It acts exactly like a green-house.). At about 18:00 they started to load the flight. Only problem is that it was the previous flight, which was about one hour late. My flight, scheduled to take off at 18:40, started to load people only around 19:30.

All the people that had connecting flights from Rome were of course worried that they might loose their flights, and Alitalia personnel in Paris kept telling us that MAYBE the connecting flights would have been waiting for us.

Later, on the plane, we got insurance from the flying attendants that our connecting flights received a telex and that they would have waited for us in Rome. So just after landing I started running from terminal B to terminal A in Rome, and I can tell you it's a long run.

Once we reached the gate for Naples, the finger (the corridor that connects the airport and the airplane) was still attached, but the door had already been closed and the man near the entrance refused to open the door because he didn't have the authority to do so. By the time his boss came, the finger was disconnected. We started to argue, and once we asked how it was possible that in the first flight they told us that the second flight would have been waiting for us but that didn't happen, the incredible reply from her has been: "In a case like this, in the first flight they always tell that the second flight would wait for passenger. They do so to keep you quiet, to avoid arguing". I was stunned.

Of course, as you can imagine, this Alitalia officer said nobody could have been blamed for this (actually our idea was not blame but crucifixion) and our only option was to stay in Rome for the night (in a hotel paid by Alitalia) and then fly the next day to Naples. We (I was with an other guy who lost the plane) asked if Alitalia would have instead paid for a car to let us drive to Naples. The officer called her superior, and we didn't get approval, so no car paid from Alitalia. We were really pissed off already, and we decided to try to rent a car and split the costs.

We asked all car rental agencies in Rome airport but there were no cars available without previous booking. We were lost. I felt so frustrated. I was next to a car rental desk and I heard the employee talking to a customer, explain him where to live the keys once arrived in Naples. WHOA! That guy was renting a car to go to Naples airport. What a coincidence! I asked him if he could have given us a lift, and he kindly accepted it.

So I found a way to reach Naples more or less one hour later than the flight (the two cities are quite near)! Great! I still had one problem to solve, which was my own rented car. I booked a car from Naples to drive to my grandmother's house, but the office closed at 11.30 in Naples, while now I was supposed to reach Naples one hour later! I called the office in Naples and a very kind girl told me that if I would promise to show up, she would have waited for me. I couldn't believe my ears. She was very kind!

So all set, I found myself on a car with two strangers driving from Rome to Naples. The two men actually were really nice, and we had a pleasant conversation. Once I arrived in Naples I collected my car and I went to my uncle's place to sleep there and drive to my grandmother's place the next day.

And here is a beatiful picture from Ascea:

Do you think this is over? Wrong. It just started.

Sunday I was supposed to go back using the same route. So I drove back to Naples airport, I gave back the car and then I checked in. All was fine, except the flight was announced to be 20 minutes delayed. So I decided to use this time to go to the Alitalia ticket counter and ask for the refund of the Rome - Naples part of the ticket that I didn't use. They were supposed to pay me in cash the same amount of money of a train ticket from Rome to Naples in first class. I reached the ticket counter and I saw an other man before me waiting to talk with the lady, but the lady was busy at the phone. Without hanging up the phone, she asked him what he needed and then she went back to her phone call. Since the first man already left, I was closer to the ticket counter and I could hear her. I realize I was waiting because she was kindly talking with her son or daughter ("be good, do your homework" was the last thing she said before hanging up). You can imagine I didn't take this as a good start. I tried to explain to her my case and before I was able to finish she was already certain she couldn't help me. Then she said something she shouldn't have said. When I asked if she could maybe call Rome to ask for instructions, she said that was only an internal phone, so was not allowed to call outside.
WHAT THE FUCK!?!?

She was speaking with her son minutes earlier and now the phone became only internal? I decided I could not talk with her anymore, and I wanted to talk with her superior. I went to his office and I explained him the situation. He came with me to the ticket counter desk and started to look into the problem, looking at the computer and trying to phone around. While he was doing this, the same lady that talked to me earlier kept herself busy trying to convince him that there was nothing to be done. She was arguing that since I didn't receive any written paper from Rome, I was not entitled to my reimbursement. I hated her. She didn't to anything to help me, but even worse, she tried to convince the (probably) only working Alitalia employee on the whole airport to stop helping me. In the meanwhile there were other people in need of help, and again she said she couldn't help them.

The guy even tried to go to his superior and ask if he could help me, but 20 minutes later he came back to me saying nothing could be done.

Hei, are you worried about my flight from Naples to Rome? Don't worry! In the meanwhile the take off was delayed from 20 minutes to 1 hour. Of course, not all in one step. First 20 minutes, then 35, then 50 and then 60. You see, if you would know the flight was delayed one hour maybe you could have decided to have a walk or something. This way is so much more fun!

So the guy couldn't help me, but before I went to the gate areas, I asked this man to stand with me near the ticket counter and near the lady that talked to me earlier. When both were listening to me I told him that first she was talking to her son and then she told me the phone was only intended for internal calls. I think she really deserved it. Incredibly the man was not shocked, but at least she became all red and started shouting. I think it's just fair that for a little while she had the same feeling she distributes to all her customers. ;-)

So 1 hour and some minutes later than the scheduled departure, the flight took off. This time I was not afraid to loose my connecting flight since there was two hours connection in Rome. But, you guessed it, once I landed in Rome I realized there was no hurry. The connecting flight to Paris was already delayed by more than one hour. So I had a lot of time at hand, and I decided to use it to have some other good times with the Alitalia employees. I went to the ticket counter and I told my story once again. The automatic, built-in answer from the girl was that it was not possible to give me any money, but I was lucky as there was some kind of boss next to her who asked what was my question. The boss commented: "of course you can refund him if you can check on the computer that he missed the flight because the first flight landed too late". 10 minutes later I walked away with my money.

I guess what I really learned from this experience is to try to avoid Alitalia as much as possible in the future.

By the way, if you didn't notice, try to read the first letter or each word of the title... ;-)

Ciao,

alfonso

Visited country

2006-07-19T14:03:00.000+03:00

I found this website on Mac's blog ( http://re-immigration.blogspot.com/ ).

Mac is an other Italian-turned-Finnish. We met in Finland in 2001.

I was just looking for something like this. I'll try to keep it up to date.

The website where you can create your own map is here.

Sadly, I've visited only 23 countries, only 10% of the total.

I promise I'll try to improve! I still miss HUGE AREAS! Africa, Asia, Australia/Pacific... and probably the Middle East, even if this website puts Turkey there.

By the way: I also added this calendar to the left. Eventually, if I wuold keep it updated, it should help you know which city in the world I'm in. I just found out that one friend of mine was in Istanbul last year at the same time like me. One of the reason I have this blog is exactly to keep in touch with my friends... So hopefully now it will be a little less likely that this will happen again!

alfonso

Life in Paris

2006-07-18T21:00:00.000+03:00

Ciao!

Here I am, in Paris. I'm staying in this (quite ugly) hotel in Montparnasse. Is quite centrally located, and of course is deadly far from the office (in Saint-Ouen, just outside Paris). It takes about 45 mins by metro and unfortunately the incredibly good looking building receptionist already declined my offer for dinner.

Something funny just happened.

After work I went to Saint Germain Des Pre for a drink and I decided to check for an hotel in that area. I was guessing the hotel rate I'm paying is a discounted Nokia rate, but when I was asked more than double in Saint Germain for a similar hotel I was quite speachless... Needless to say, I guess I'll stay in Montparnasse. ;-)

alfonso

Plan changed

2006-07-12T21:00:00.000+03:00

Arrivederci Milano, bonjour Paris!

My plans changed. I was supposed to be in Milan three weeks, but now it seems I'll be in Paris for the next three weeks.

Let me know if you are around Paris, we might as well meet at the Champs-Elysées...

:-)

alfonso

Campioni del mondo

2006-07-10T09:00:00.000+03:00

Ok... ok...

This is not a big peice of news, but I'm happy because I saw the match in Rome, with few friends so I got the chance to party all around the city. At the end of the match we want on the street and we walked all the way from Piramide to Piazza Venezia.

Quite a walk... But let's start from the beginning.

I flow to Italy last Friday and I went at my parents' place. I hade a ride with my bike (at least something good it's coming out from the fact that I didn't manage to sell it) on Saturday and on Sunday morning I woke up 7am to drive to Malpensa airport. I bought a flight from Linate to Roma and from Roma to Malpensa. This way it was much cheaper. So I drove to Malpensa to leave my car there and then took a bus to Linate.

The reason I'm telling this, is that on the way from my parents' place to Malpensa, something happened:

My parents' place and the airport are about 65km apart. Most of this road is hurban road, so speed limit is from 50km/h to 90km/h. The last 10 mins are on highway, where the speed limit is 130km/h.

As soon as I hit the highway, and the speed rose from 90km/h to 130km/h the hood took off.

While I was driving, the hood opened up and it smashed on my front window. Not a funny experience I might say. Luckily given the hour (very early) no car was around so I managed simply to drive the car on the emergency lane and get out from the car to see how could I fix the damage. The car looked like an open tunafish can.

I simply tried to reclose the can, and I drove to the airport.

I think the people who designed the lock mechanism should go to jail. I cleraly heard a loud sound when I close the hood the day before, so how the hell could I have guessed that it didn't close properly?

Back to Rome and the world cup match: around 3am I went back to my friend's apartment, collapsed on a couch and one hour later I was on the road again to drive (my rented car) to the airport and catch the 6.40am flight to Malpensa. It was way too funny to drive 2 and a half hours from the airport to Nokia's office, especially if you think it's only 70km mostly of highway and it should take approximately 1 hour. I love traffic in Milan! ;-)

alfonso

Back in Italy!

2006-07-05T21:00:00.000+03:00

Ciao!

Today I just found out that I might get back to Italy for three weeks, working in Milan. I'm very glad that I'll be back and that I have the chance to see all my friends, so reserve some of your precious time for me in the following weeks!

Alfonso

Editorial choice

2006-07-01T21:00:00.000+03:00

Ciao!

I took a couple of decisions today:

- I decided to switch my blog to English. I have quite many English speaking friends, and I'd like them to have the chance to read this blog if they want to. All my Italian friends read and speak English fluently, so why not?

- I decided to fill the gap on July, when I actually never posted any entry, with a couple of entries with a faked date. You see, the reason why I didn't blog is because I'm fucking lazy. I never downloaded pictures from my camera, so I didn't blog because I didn't have my pictures. But I'll post taking pictures from the net. I might put my own pictures at some point.

alfonso

Alitalia.jpg

2006-06-25T17:04:00.000+03:00

Alitalia.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

Che figata l'Alitalia... :-)

ho fatto un salto a casa dei miei sfruttando un giorno di festa in finlandia. Due giorni di volo e uno a casa...

Ora affronto il mostro di fine livello: partenza da Malpensa con volo alitalia. Al gate d'imbarco c'erano sedie per 10 persone. Conoscevo già questa trappola e ho rubato una sedia da dietro i banconi alitalia. Livello superato.

Seconda trappola: nessun imbarco privilegiato per carte elite. Qui niente da fare. Bisogna fare tutta la coda.

Il famoso trucco del miraggio: ci fanno salire sull'autobus (dove ovviamente si schiatta di caldo) per poi farci scendere. Persa una vita, si ritorna al gate.

Minuti spasmodici. Nessuna spiegazione e la gente con un breve tempo per il cambio che inizia a vedere la sconfitta. Loro sono fuori. Game over. Coincidenza persa e notte ad amsterdam.

Dopo 20 min (senza alcun annuncio o spiegazione) sembra che il gioco riparta. Tutti di nuovo sull'autobus.

Mi posizione in modo tattico sull'autobus pronto a scattare davanti a tutti sull'aereo. Ho un po' di bagagli e non voglio rischiare di perdere dei punti per aver disperso le borse in tre scomparti diversi.

Credo di avercela fatta. Vedo il cancello per il livello successivo (a.k.a. la scaletta dell'aereo).

Ma spunta l'ultima minaccia. Il simpatico omino ammette candido: "Non può entrare. L'autobus ha fatto più in fretta del previsto. Non siamo pronti."

Non demordo. Ormai vedo la meta. L'ultimo scossone arriva da una ragazza che spinge e sgomita sulla scaletta per far salire una povera minorenne che si stanno rimbalzando in 3-4 nell'ultima ora. Se avesse avuto la peste la trattavano meglio. La ragazza sgomita, spinge e convince il personale di bordo a firmare per la consegna del "pacco". È ritorna giù, sempre a scaletta stracolma.

Si entra. Ma da 20 min ancora non si parte.

Secondo round: amsterdam! :-)

Zetor.jpg

2006-06-23T14:26:00.000+03:00

Zetor.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

Cena finlandese!

Ieri sera, dopo la partita dell'Italia, siamo andati tutti insieme da Zetor, un ristorante finlandese. C'erano un po' di italiani e qualche finlandese.

Il menu è molto particolare. Il mio piatto si chiamava "pimp my reindeer" :-)

e poi, come ogni giovedì sera che si rispetti, siamo andati in un locale chiamato Kalle. Non serve andare con gli amici, tanto li trovi tutti lì il giovedì... :-)

Porvoo.jpg

2006-06-22T22:08:00.000+03:00

Porvoo.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

Porvoo!

Lo scorso weekend sono andato in una delle più antiche città della finlandia.

Non ho spedito prima questo post perché la settimana è stata occupata dalla notizia della fusione nokia siemens...

È stata una bella gita, ma la settimana è stata occupata da un'altra notizia... :-/

Pranzo finlandese

2006-06-12T13:58:00.000+03:00

PranzoFi.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

Visto che sottolineo sempre i difetti che vedo nella finlandia, è giusto evidenziarne anche i pregi.

D'estate la temperatura permette di pranzare all'aperto, e la foto è stata scattata dalla veranda della nostra mensa. Pace, verde e uccellini che cantano. Non male! :-)

alfonso

1, 2, 3, prova, mi sentite?!?

2006-06-09T11:05:00.000+03:00

Ciao!

Scusate l'assenza, ma oltre alla mancanza di validi argomenti di discussione, c'è stato anche un problema tecnico che mi ha impedito di scrivere sul blog per un paio di settimane.

Tutto risolto (almeno per ora!).

Se siete curiosi di cosa sia successo date un'occhiata qui e qui.

Continuate a leggere (ma c'è ancora qualcuno che legge?!?) perché in questi giorni vi scriverò del mio soggiorno a Budapest. Quando scende la sera i palazzi lungo il Danubio sono spettacolari! :-)

alfonso

Un fiore...

2006-06-01T19:11:00.000+03:00

Fiore.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

Ciao a tutti!
È da un po' che non scrivo, ma il punto è che non ci sono novità...
La prossima settimana andrò a Budapest per lavoro, ma poi torno al volo ad Helsinki. :-(
E fino alla fine di giugno sono qui. Poi chissà? Ciao!

Curling.jpg

2006-05-18T18:23:00.000+03:00

Curling.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

Questa sera sport! :-)

Siamo andati a giocare a curling con un gruppo di colleghi con cui sto seguendo un corso. È un sacco divertente, ma fa un freddo boia! Ci sono i condizionatori per mantenere il ghiaccio sul pavimento! :-)

Al fuoco!!!!

2006-05-08T10:48:00.000+03:00

L'unica novità degli ultimi giorni qui ad Helsinki è che nei pressi della stazione centrale un edificio ha preso fuoco (probabilmente l'incendio è di natura dolosa).

Ecco qualche foto presa dalla galleria di foto del quotidiano nazionale:

Vappu

2006-04-30T17:23:00.000+03:00

Vappu1.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

VAPPU!

Oggi e domani la finlandia festeggia la fine dell'anno universitario. Almeno questa credo sia stata l'origine di questa festa! Oggi però è una festa per tutti: è la festa più famosa dell'anno e segna l'inizio della "bella stagione".

Si inizia verso le 5 quando la statua nella foto viene ripulita da alcuni studenti. Per farlo vengono appesi ad una gru e calati vicino la statua. Alle 6 in punto, dopo essere stata pulita, viene calato un cappello bianco sulla testa della statua, che segna l'inizio dei festeggiamenti.

Più tardi si va a fare festa nei vari locali. Domani si continua: tutta la città si ritrova per un enorme pic nic in un grande parco vicino al mare. :-)

Vappu2.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

Ecco gli studenti appesi alla gru...

Vappu3.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

Ed eccoli all'opera!

Vappu4.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

6 in punto. Viene messo il cappello sulla statua. Comincia la festa!

Vappu5.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

E subito dopo tutti mettono il proprio berretto.

Buon divertimento!

Ho passato la serata a Eatz, un locale vicino la stazione centrale. Il tema della festa era il brasile, e nella foto si possono intravedere le ballerine di samba (delle finlandesi). Anche i gruppi di musica brasiliana erano tutti composti da finlandesi, eccetto il cantante di un gruppo, venuto dal Brasile per l'occasione! :-)

E questo è il parco, la mattina del primo Maggio! Fa sempre un certo effetto la prima volta che si vede la scena. Vedere così tanti finlandesi accalcati in un unico posto è veramente raro. Direi che si può vedere solo per Vappu!

E questo non c'entra nulla, ma per continuare la tradizione del McCalabresa mi sembrava adatto!

Alla prossima!

Home sweet home

2006-04-26T15:00:00.000+03:00

Lunedì notte ho dormito sul pavimento, ma martedì, anche grazie a Minna ho finalmente iniziato a costruire i mobili di IKEA che avevo comprato due mesi fa, prima della partenza. Abbiamo iniziato con il letto verso le 8, e subito ci siamo resi conto che non avevamo gli strumenti adatti... I cacciavite portati da Minna erano dell'anteguerra, e non avevamo neppure un martello. Così Minna (visto che io non parlo finlandese) ha chiesto una mano ad un vicino, che a quanto mi ha raccontato dopo non è stato molto amichevole, ma ci ha prestato un po' di attrezzi.

Ad un certo punto però ci mancava ancora un cacciavite a stella decente, così Minna ha chiamato un ragazzo che conosce e che vive vicino casa mia. Io nel frattempo ho trovato il mio coltello svizzero, e mi sono dato da fare con quello. Ormai a metà della "costruzione", Minna è scesa con le chiavi di casa per farsi dare il cacciavite da questo tipo. Per non essere troppo scortese, le ho detto che non c'era bisogno di tornare subito in casa. Poteva magari bere qualcosa sotto casa con il tipo e poi salire più tardi. Verso le 10,20 squilla il campanello della porta, ed ho pensato fosse Minna! Invece era la tipa del piano di sotto, visibilmente alterata che mi chiedeva di smettere di fare casino! "In Finlandia ci sono delle regole e bisogna rispettarle!!!"
Avevo quasi finito, così le ho chiesto un po' di pazienza ed ho finito di mettere in piedi il letto.
Più tardi, a letto finito sono sceso da Minna e dal suo amico per una birra prima di andare a dormire. Prima di chiudere la porta la chiamo e chiedo conferma che lei avesse le chiavi.
Arrivato al locale, mi squilla il telefono. Il tipo di AirFrance è arrivato con la mia valigia (che ieri non aveva fatto in tempo ad arrivare in tempo al volo Parigi-Helsinki). Allora chiedo a Minna la chiave e lei mi dice che non ce l'ha.

Ecco, questa è una scena che vi siete persi. Non ce l'ho fatta a trattenermi. Ho iniziato ad alzare la voce. La avevo appena chiamata per confermare, ma ovviamente lei aveva bevuto un pochino, quindi non aveva affatto capito la mia domanda... A quel punto non ero più sicuro di averle dato le chiavi prima, così ero incazzato nero. Poi fortunatamente le ho chiesto di guardare bene nella borsa e lei aveva le chiavi.

Palla al centro. Buonanotte.

weekend a Milano

2006-04-26T14:44:00.000+03:00

Tornando da Rio a Helsinki, ho fatto tappa a Milano. Sono atterrato venerdì, ed ho passato la giornata in una Milano in piena primavera (se n'è accorta anche la mia allergia!). Venerdì sera ho cenato con gli amici che non erano scappati per il ponte del 25 aprile: Margherita, Claudia, Gigi, Azzurro e Simona. Ho anche visto al volo Anastasia...

Poi sabato sono andato dai miei genitori e domenica ho fatto uno splendido giro in moto (devo ammetterlo! Gli amici e i parenti li posso anche sentire al telefono, ma solo quando sono in Italia posso godere della mia moto!!!!). Sono partito da Luino e passando per Ponte Tresa, ho guidato fino a Lugano (in Svizzera). Arrivato al lago l'ho costeggiato tenendolo sulla mia destra fino a rientrare in Italia. A Porlezza ho proseguito per Menaggio passando dal lago di Lugano al lago di Como. Lì ho di nuovo ripreso a costeggiare il lago scendendo verso sud, fino a raggiungere Como dove mi sono fermato a bere qualcosa. Lì ho anche incontrato Paola (che abita vicino Como) e dopo un po' sono ritornato a casa. Per fare prima sono passato da Varese, ma la strada è stata molto meno piacevole.
Questa è una cartina dell'area.

Mi spiace non aver avuto la macchina fotografica sul tragitto. Il paesaggio dei laghi è proprio bello!

Lunedì sono ripartito e facendo scalo a Parigi sono tornato ad Helsinki, dove mi aspettava il mio caro materasso sul pavimento...

E' severamente proibito giocare

2006-04-21T17:57:00.000+03:00

Image_19.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

Ciao!

Sono tornato oggi dall'Italia, e questo è il mio "commento politico"... ;-)

Le ultime due settimane

2006-04-17T05:43:00.000+03:00

Ciao a tutti!!

Non mi sono fatto vivo per due settimane... la mia innata pigrizia per un po' ha avuto il sopravvento! Nel frattempo però ho fatto comunque qualche foto per voi, e quindi eccoci qui per il riepilogo!

Il biliardo ha preso il sopravvento nelle nostre serate... Con i miei due colleghi finlandesi ci siamo dati a gran partite... Solo che qui i tavoli da biliardo all'americana (quello con la 8 nera, per intenderci) sono un po' rari. Così ci siamo ritrovati a giocare a 8 ball su un tavalo da biliardo... Questo due foto sono state prese quella sera.

Persino Tero (foto sopra) che è molto più bravo di noi due, faceva una fatica bestia a mandare le palle in buca. Le distanze sono proprio diverse, ed anche le sponde. Comunque non mi lamento! E' stata la prima volta che ho battuto Tero a biliardo (va beh, culo, ma anche quello serve!)

Questa foto invece è di domenica scorsa (il 9 aprile). Mentre tutti voi eratate intenti a mettere la croce sul vostro simbolo preferito, io mi lanciavo con il parapendio (paragliding) da Pedra Bonita!
Sono salito con una specie di dune buggy su questa montagna, e poi mi sono lanciato con l'istruttore. Il tutto dura circa dieci minuti e si atterra sulla spiaggia. Per vederla dal satellite cliccate qui. L'emozione più intensa è lanciarsi nel vuoto, quando si corre finché non c'è più la terra sotto i piedi.

Martedì mattina mi sono svegliato alle 5 di mattina per andare a fare la prima lezione di surf della mia vita su una spiaggia vicino all'ufficio. Un gruppo di colleghi si trova due volte a settimane per surfare dalle 6 alle 8. 4 o 5 pagano un istruttore, mentre quelli più bravi non ne hanno bisogno. Sono riuscito a stare in piedi per circa due secondi... ;-)
Non avevo il cellulare, ma potete vedere qualche foto tramite google.

Ed eccoci a questo weekend. Sono andato a trovare Cristiane a Sao Paolo. Ci siamo conosciuti circa 6 anni fa ad Helsinki, mentre facevo l'Erasmus. Da allora non siamo stati molto in contatto, ma essendo qui in Brasile ho cercato di riprendere contatto con lei. Mi ha invitato per il weekend che ho passato con lei ed il suo fidanzato. La loro ospitalità mi ha sorpreso molto. E' stato proprio un bel weekend! Sao Paolo è molto diversa da Rio. I paulisti sono precisi, lavoratori, ordinati, ma si divertono un po' meno. I carioca (abitanti di Rio) invece sono famosi per essere un po' più pigri, ben abbronzati e pronti per passare una giornata in spiaggia. Questo luogo comune mi è sembrato abbastanza veritiero: Sao Paolo è molto più grigia e molto più inquinata di Rio, ma è anche molto più ricca in termini culturali, architettonici ed artistici! Abbiamo anche visitato la pinacoteca, dove (fra te altre cose) c'era una mostra di arte italiana curata da Sgarbi: Luz y sombra en la pintura italiana entre el Renacimiento y el Barroco.
La foto è di un quadro di un'altra sezione, ma mi è piaciuto molto!
Una coincidenza che mi ha colpito: poiché tutti mi dicevano che a Sao Paolo si mangia una ottima pizza ho deciso di chiedere a Marcus e Cristiane di portarmi nella pizzeria migliore che conoscono. Alla fine siamo finiti a Piola, che per i miei amici di Treviso e dintorni, non è certo un nome nuovo! Piccolo il mondo!

Ed ora buona notte! :-)

Cristo01.jpg

2006-04-02T20:34:00.000+03:00

Cristo01.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

Corcovado!

Che ve ne pare del cristo redentore?

Già, qui arriva l'autunno. E nonostante la temperatura sia sempre bella alta rispetto all'europa, il cielo è coperto! :-(

Un'altro weekend da dimenticare...

Per fortuna che dal sito della rai posso vedere tutte le varie trasmissioni sulle elezioni... (?!?)

Autostra.jpg

2006-03-26T22:41:00.000+03:00

Autostra.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

Che palle!

Piove! Così nel pomeriggio insieme ai due colleghi finlandesi qui con me siamo andati a "Barra shopping". Sembra che sia il più grande centro commerciale feell.america latina... E passiamo il tempo al cazzeggio. :-(

Fumare.jpg

2006-03-26T04:40:00.000+03:00

Fumare.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

Questo weekend non sembra niente di incredibile...

Ieri siamo stati in un paio di locali troppo rumorosi per i miei gusti, oggi il cielo era nuvoloso e questa sera andremo nella solita zona, Lapa. Speriamo sia più divertente di ieri!

Porcao.jpg

2006-03-23T02:51:00.000+02:00

Porcao.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

Cena da Porcão! :-)

Avevo già visto una cosa del genere a Praga. È un posto dove si paga un forfeit e ti viene dato un piccolo disco da tenere sul tavolo. Rosso da un lato e verde dall'altro. Finché il disco è girato dalla parte verde, i camerieri continuano a servire carne di tutti i tipi. Squisito! :-)

Maracana.jpg

2006-03-19T23:29:00.000+02:00

Maracana.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

Maracana!

Il più grande stadio del mondo!

Buona partita! :-)

Spiaggia.jpg

2006-03-19T18:47:00.000+02:00

Spiaggia.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

Senza parole... ;-)

Santana.jpg

2006-03-19T02:20:00.000+02:00

Santana.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

Questa si che è vita! :-)

Oggi sveglia moooolto rilassata, poi spiaggia, poi un riposino e verso le 7 siamo partiti per andare al concerto di Santana!

Buon sabato sera! :-)

Concert.jpg

2006-03-18T05:26:00.000+02:00

Concert.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

E ora concerto!

Party.jpg

2006-03-18T04:34:00.000+02:00

Party.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

Party da Keijo!

Siamo 2 italiani, 4 finlandesi, 2 svedesi, 1 cilena, 3 colombiani, 1 messicano...

Un gran bel party... :-)

ora andiamo in un locale ad incontrare alcune ragazze brasiliane conosciute in ufficio!

BUON VENERDÌ SERA!

Ecco dove sono!

2006-03-15T19:13:00.000+02:00

Ciao a tutti!

Mi sono messo un po' a giocare con Google Maps per mostrarvi esattamente dove è l'hotel!

La spiaggia a sinistra è Ipanema, mentre quella a destra è Copacabana. L'hotel è in una strada che le collega! ;-)

La mappa è interattiva! Potete cliccare il mouse e trascinare l'immagine, e vedrete quello che c'è oltre la porzione mostrata. Potete anche zoomare di più o di meno con la barra verticale a sinistra. Magari se siete curiosi di dove sia Rio all'interno del Brasile! Lo dico perché ovviamente io non lo sapevo... ;-)

Ci vuole un po' per caricare la mappa (da me appare dopo circa un minuto). Se non la vedete, aspettate un attimo!

MacCalabresa

2006-03-14T02:30:00.000+02:00

MacCalab.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

:-)

Tanti auguri a te...

2006-03-13T03:59:00.000+02:00

Già! Oggi (qui sono ancora le 11 di domenica) è il mio compleanno! Mi avete fatto gli auguri? :-)

Resoconto della giornata:

- ho passato tutto il giorno sulla spiaggia a prendere il sole. Risultato: ora ho le gambe che sembrano due semafori. Per fortuna almeno in faccia mi sono messo la crema, altrimenti sai che figura domani in ufficio? :-) Gran bella giornata. 30 gradi, bagno nell'oceano e un buon libro da leggere al sole.

- ho iniziato a leggere 1984. Mi rendo conto di non essere proprio il primo ad elogiare questo libro. Ma già solo il primo capitolo mi ha colpito per la serie di immagini così reali che evoca. Veramente interessante.

- per cena siamo andati a mangiare pesce. Proprio una bella cenetta, anche se avrei preferito dividere il tavolo con qualche bella brasiliana piuttosto che il mio collega finlandese... C'est la vie!

In spiaggia non ho portato il cellulare, così al mio ritorno ho trovato un piao di chiamate senza risposta. Pensavo che avrei trovato anche qualche messaggio, e invece niente. Eppure mi pareva strano che proprio nessuno mi avesse scritto. Dopo un po', mentre uscivo per cena mi è venuta la grande idea di cancellare un po' di messaggi vecchi...... Il telefono ha cominciato a squillare senza sosta! Mi sono arrivati quasi 20 messaggi... Morale: il mio stupido telefono non mi avvisa quando termina la memoria... Devo ammetterlo. Di solito degli auguri di compleanno non me ne è mai fregato molto. Ma qui, con pochissimi contatti con gli amici a cui tengo, mi ha fatto proprio piacere ricevere gli auguri!

alfonso (fra poco sono 30!)

Pan di zucchero!

2006-03-13T03:52:00.000+02:00

Sabato io ed il mio collega siamo andati sul "Pan di zucchero", la collina che si raggiunge in funivia da cui si vede tutta Rio.

Ecco un paio di foto:

E questo invece è il famosissimo Cristo redentore (quella a cui fa il verso Ronaldo in una pubblicità di qualche anno fa) avvolto nella nebbia. Magari il prossimo weekend lo andiamo a visitare!

alfonso

Un mese fa: l'ultima cena in Italia!

2006-03-13T03:01:00.000+02:00

Ciao!

Ieri, mentre passeggiavo, mi sono messo a guardare le foto che stavo facendo ed ho ritrovato le foto della cena fatta prima di partire.

Eccole qui. Se qualcuno vuole la propria foto cancellata, basta una mail!

Andrea e Nati! Due dei miei più vecchi amici di Milano! Ho conosciuto Andrea 10 anni fa, durante i primi giorni del primo anno di unversità. Memorabili gli anni prima della sua partenza per il militare. E per fortuna che allora non c'erano così tante telecamere, viste le volte che siamo passati davanti al Duomo in macchina... :-)
Nati è la fidanzata di Andrea. Memorabili le nostre serate al tropico latino di Piazzale Bacone. Con Nati che segretamente cercava di uccidersi mentre io e Andrea parlavamo di computer. Lì ho capito che l'amore non ha limiti! :-)

A sinistra, Gigi e Vincenzo. La strana coppia. Conosco Vincenzo esattamente da quando conosco Andrea (o forse da qualche giorno in più?). Ma il tempo per lui si è fermato. Sembra ancora un ragazzo di 18 anni (e non solo per l'aspetto!!!).

Gigi invece l'ho conosciuto su una chat, stesso periodo. Già: c'è chi incontra le biondone, io ho incontrato Gigi... :-)
Ricordo ancora cosa gli ho scritto mentre ci davamo appuntamento in un bar a Brera: "non puoi sbagliarti... sono con una mia amica che ha i capelli blu..." (Laura!!! Mi manchi!)
Immaginatevi Gigi, bravo ragazzo di buona famiglia, dopo aver letto il messaggio... :-)

Poi ci sono Fabio (Azzurro) e Luca. Che non si vede in questa foto e neppure in quella dopo. Imboscato. Fabio e Luca li ho conosciuti pochi mesi fa, tramite Eddie. Mi piace frequentare il loro gruppo, ma sfortunatamente da quando li ho incontrati sono stato spesso in viaggio.

Fabio ha un ferro vecchio che si ostina a chiamare moto (ovviamente per l'esame della patente la sua non la accettavano come moto vera, quindi si è fatto prestare la mia!!!). Per la serie: "Whose bike is this? It's not a bike baby, it's a chopper..."

Luca cucina proprio bene. Però ho il sospetto che parte del gusto prelibato delle sue cene derivi dai microorganismi unici che vivono nel suo frigo. "Non aprite quella porta..."

Genny, Andrea e Simone.

Io e Genny ci conosciamo da qualche anno. Ci siamo conosciuti una delle sere più alcoliche della mia vita. Una festa in tram organizzata per gli studenti Erasmus di Milano. In pratica ho (pateticamente) attaccato bottone con lei per via del fatto che non conosceva la geografia della Basilicata, dove è nata.

Andrea e Gianfranco (qualche foto più in giù) sono due amici conosciuti qualche estate fa negli Stati Uniti, vicino Chicago. Lavoravamo per la stessa società (da cui sono scappato alla massima velocità possibile) ed eravamo lì per una grande americanata. Un corso di due settimane per farti sentire parte di questa "grande società". Quello che mi è sempre rimasto poco chiaro, è il fatto che nonostante (quasi) tutte le persone siano molto in gamba (vedi A. e G.) nel complesso la società sia un posto orrendo. Grandi bevute al "Social Centre" e tante risate, in 7 in un stanza doppia a Chicago. I grandi laghi sono veramente grandi!

Simone. Ci conosciamo da sempre. Da piccolo andavo in vacanza a pochi metri dalla sua casa al mare. Un ragazzo sicuramente sopra la media. Grande chitarrista, gran cervello ma soprattutto un grande amico! Una delle cose che apprezzo di più quando vado al mare sono le chiacchierate con lui. Davvero piacevole parlare con qualcuno con una visione così chiara delle cose, ed anche così schietto.

Enrico, Sara, Fabio e Luca (imboscato!).

Anche Enrico l'ho conosciuto da pochi mesi. Tramite Monica (che ho conosciuto tramite Elena (che ho conosciuto tramite Anastasia)). :-)
Laureato in legge (avvocato non si dice, porta male) rampante. Un giorno vincerà un processo grazie a qualche cavillo per tirarmi fuori da una galera certamente meritatissima.

Sara. All'inizio ho pensato che il mio commento sarebbe stato "e magari se lei fosse stata con me..." invece penso che il commento giusto sia "alla fine il passato e' passato".

Elena, Marco, Giorgio e Lorenzo.

Elena la conosco da 9 anni. Anche se a lei non piace sentirselo dire, un vero genio. Ma soprattutto una amica pronta ad ascoltare i miei (perenni) lamenti. Marco per ora è "solo" il fidanzata di Elena.

Giorgio e Lorenzo li ho conosciuti tramite Elena, e parte un paio di sere ed un bel weekend sul lago di Como, non ci siamo frequentati moltissimo per ora!

Andrea e Gianfranco!

Io con Genny e Gio. Giovanna l'ho conosciuta perché studia sempre sempre con Genny. Fra pochi giorni si laureano. In bocca al lupo! Gio è una delle ragazze più dolci che conosco.

Simona, io e Simone.

Simona: meglio non fare commenti in pubblico... :-) Fabio potrebbe non apprezzare! :-D

Grazie per essere venuti alla cena. Mi ha fatto proprio piacere rivedervi prima di partire per Helsinki! :-)

Ovviamente siete tutti invitati a venirmi a trovare!

alfonso

I Simpson dal vivo!

2006-03-08T14:50:00.000+02:00

Oggi, in uno dei vari e ripetuti momenti di cazzeggio quotidiano, mi sono imbattuto in questa
href="http://www.repubblica.it/2006/c/sezioni/spettacoli_e_cultura/simpson2/simpson2/simpson2.html">notizia...

"I Simpson prendono vita in Inghilterra sigla con attori veri"

Per lanciare l'ultima seria, è stato prodotta una versione della singla iniziale con attori in carne ed ossa... Date un'occhiata!

Che caldo!

2006-03-05T17:03:00.000+02:00

Image_17.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

Ora vedremo se funziona anche da Rio... :-)

che caldo ragazzi! Questa mattina verso le 9 c'erano già 30 gradi. Ho scattato la foto a copacabana, ma pare che ipanema sarà anche meglio. Peccato che il portoghese non sia così facile da parlare come lo spagnolo...

Riesco a leggere i cartelli, ma comunicare è proprio difficile! :-)

New Clock

2006-03-04T20:14:00.000+02:00

NewClock.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

Sono a parigi. Aereoporto CDG. Nel tentativo di tenere un bassissimo profilo a Rio ho lasciato ad Helsinki un po' di cose, tra cui l'orologio.

Che ne dite, questo andrà bene oppure attrarrà cmq l'attenzione?

Sono con un mio collega. Il nostro volo è fra 4 ore, alle 11.

Parking in Helsinki

2006-03-03T10:20:00.000+02:00

Image_16.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

stamattina sono andato a fare la tessera sanitaria finlandese con Anne, che come lavoro aiuta le persone a stabilirsi in finlandia.

Arrivati al parcheggio, lei ha tirato fuori quel foglio, chiamato un certo numero in base alla tariffa ed ecco... Parcheggio pagato! :-)

Nuovo centro commerciale a Kamppi!

2006-03-02T18:51:00.000+02:00

Kamppi2.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

Oggi hanno aperto 5 piani in un centro commerciale proprio in centro! È pieno di gente e questo posto è proprio grande! Credo che questo sia il primo vero centro all'americana qui ad Helsinki. Ho anche incontrato Milja, una delle pochissime ragazze finlandese che ho conosciuto in queste due settimane (non sono più il ghepardo di una volta...)

Home sweet home...

2006-03-02T16:02:00.000+02:00

Home1.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

Home2.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

La mia nuova casetta? Che ve ne pare? Potete ammirare il mio finto frigo nuovo, un po' di accozzaglia di roba di ikea comprata ieri e tutte le scatole del trasloco dall'Italia. Appena consegnate. È veramente un casino ora, ma visto che parto per rio sabato non sapevo come altro fare. Una mia amica si è offerta di mettere a posto casa durante la mia assenza, quindi la prossima volta la foto dovrebbe essere molto più carina! :-)

ora devo aprire tutti gli scatoloni alla ricerca di magliette e scarpe estive!

Buona fortuna... :-)

Il compleanno di Fiona

2006-02-28T22:53:00.000+02:00

Image_16.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

Questa sera sono andato a vedere la casa nuova. Il proprietario vuole mettere una strana clausola sul contratto... Se gli gira, può aumentare il mio affitto del 10% ogni anno. Non so se firmerò il contratto. Ma l'appartamento è proprio carino! :-)

Dopo aver visto l'appartamento sono andato a bere un po' in un locale con Minna, una mia cara amica finlandese. Poi sono andato a cena con un po' di colleghi per il compleanno di Fiona, una ragazza neozelandese. Fuori nevica in maniera ESAGERATA! E io ho bevuto un po' troppo... :-)

Commuting

2006-02-27T21:04:00.000+02:00

Ciao!

Ho pensato di darvi una idea di cosa voglia dire per me andare a lavorare.

Oggi la temperatura registrata era di -15 gradi.

Il percorso che faccio è questo (preso da Journey Planner):

Il viaggio inzia a sud (quello è il centro di Helsinki).

Esco dall'albergo e scendo in metropolitana.

Poi prendo la metro per una fermata da Kamppi a Rautatientori (Stazione Centrale).

Questo è l'interno della stazione centrale.

Poi passo al tabellone centrale e cerco il primo treno per Leppavaara. Ce n'è uno ogni circa 10 minuti.

Ed ecco i treni. Ma per i binari per Leppavaara c'è da camminare un po'.

Ed eccomi qui! Si nota che non c'è la tettoia... e stamattina nevicava!

Questo è l'interno del treno.

E questa è una foto dal treno. Notate le spiagge dorate, la sabbia fine... :-)

Infine, arrivato a Leppavaara prendo un autobus per l'ufficio (l'ultimo tratto in blu, sulla mappa).

Ed eccomi arrivato! 20km e 38 minuti dopo (secondo il Journey Planner). Come si vede dalla mappa, il viaggio mi porta ad uscire da Helsinki (i confini sono quelle righe blu), e quindi il costo del biglietto di sola andata è 3,60€ che scende a 3,10€ usando una tessera (che contiene un chip RFID) che si può ricaricare in moltissimi negozi. Ovviamente è anche possibile comprare un biglietto tramite cellulare, ma solo per un viaggio all'interno dei confini di Helsinki. Rispetto all'Italia il prezzo del singolo biglietto è molto caro, ma i prezzi degli abbonamenti sono allineati (ad es 9€ alla settimana per Milano e 21.40€ ogni due settimana per l'aerea di Helsinki). Per me l'abbonamento costerebbe 41,40€ ogni due settimane (Helsinki + Espoo).

Non riesco a dormire

2006-02-27T02:28:00.000+02:00

Solo le 2.30am e non mi sono ancora addormentato. E pensando che è domenica sera, e che ormai non sono più uno studente Erasmus, non sono neppure uscito per andare a dormire presto! :-(

Così mi sono messo a leggere un po' di notizie su internet. Ho cercato altri blog di persone che vivono ad Helsinki. Ne ho trovato uno che diceva di continuo che lui sa che Dio l'ama. Non lo linko nemmeno, mi ha spaventato un po'.

E poi ho trovato questa notizia: Finland: Free WLAN opened in central Helsinki. Sembra che in una area molto famosa di Helsinki ora sia possibile collegarsi gratuitamente ad internet. In realtà ci sono molti bar che già offrono la connessione gratuita. Speriamo che l'iniziativa si espanda presto al resto della città!

Brazil!!!

2006-02-26T14:58:00.000+02:00

Ciao a tutti!

Quando venerdì mi sono deciso ad aprire il blog, in realtà avevo un piano segreto... :-D

Era da quando ho accettato il nuovo lavoro ad Helsinki che pensavo di aprire un blog, per raccontare le cose che mi capitavano intorno, ma l'evento che mi ha convinto a farlo è stata la notizia che forse la prossima settimana andrò a

RIO DE JANEIRO!!!

Finalmente il primo viaggio in questo nuovo lavoro, e devo dire che mi è andata proprio bene!!!

Alcuni dati:

Le previsioni del tempo di Helsinki e quelle di Rio.... Notate delle differenze?

Carnaval - Esquentando os tamborins, originally uploaded by _Claudio Lara ♫ ♪.

Un altro esercizio: provate a confrontare questa foto con quella che ho spedito ieri. Ci sono alcune piccole differenze. Provate a scoprirle...

Sfortunatamente non vedrò il carnevale... Atterreremo il prossimo weekend, quando sarà tutto finito...

Ma non vedo l'ora!

----

Varie ed eventuali

Oggi cazzeggiando ho incrociato questo video. Se avete voglia e tempo, dateci un'occhiata. E' sull'attacco alle torri gemelle...

Blini!

2006-02-25T20:20:00.000+02:00

Image_14.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

Blini!

È una specie di pancake russo. Alcuni colleghi mi hanno invitato per questa cena...

C'è un ragazzo olandese, un ragazzo australiano, due ragazze neozelandesi, una ragazza polacca e una... mi sono dimenticato!

Keep it simple

2006-02-25T18:27:00.000+02:00

Ok. Per oggi ho perso abbastanza tempo. Prima di prepararmi per uscire però, vorrei fare questa riflessione. Per fare un po' di test e attivare un po' di funzionalità ho dovuto creare account con i seguenti siti:

Blogger, per il bog
Hello, per spedire più facilmente foto dal PC sul blog
Flickr, per postare direttamente dal cellulare
Yahoo, perché ora Flickr è stato comprato da Yahoo...

...per la serie... Single Sign On! ;-)

A domani!

Kamppi, Helsinki

2006-02-25T18:19:00.000+02:00

Image_14.jpg, originally uploaded by fonso78.

1. Sperimentazione in atto... :-)

Sembra che potrei postare direttamente sul blog dal cellulare. Funzionerà?

2. Con il servizio diretto di Blogger è stata una cocente sconfitta... Vediamo con Flickr!

3. ARGGGGGGH! Con il secondo tentativo ho postato solo su Flickr, ora forse ci riesco...

A proposito, la foto è quello che si vede dalla mia camera d'albergo. Il Radisson SAS Royal di Helsinki!

Questo lo sto aggiungendo dal web: FIGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATA! Potrò mandare sul web tutte le cose che vedo in giro! L'unica cosa è che mandando un MMS come email non sono riuscito a specificare il subject della mail, così il titolo originale del post era "Image_14.jpg". Ora l'ho cambiato a mano. Ma credo ci sarà qualche modo per specificare un subject in un MMS! Stay tuned... :-)

Mi stanno boicottando!

2006-02-25T17:19:00.000+02:00

Ecco, e questo è il terzo post. Ma non vale. Perché è ancora sabato, ed ho appena scritto un'altro post. Diciamo che vi manderò il link lunedì, e non se ne parla più... :-)

Anche perché so già che scriverò un altro post appena finito questo...

Stavo leggendo ancora l'help di blogger, ed ho visto che è possibile postare sul proprio blog direttamente dal cellulare, così ho pensato che era un modo semplice e veloce per spedire foto sul blog. Ecco, questo l'ho pensato un'ora fa. Poi ho scoperto che per ora il servizio è attivo solo con operatori telefonici negli Stati Uniti, e così mi sono messo a cercare un po' in giro. Penso di riuscire ad attivare il tutto tramite Flickr, ma di sicuro non sarà SEMPLICE e/o VELOCE! :-D

El Ombligo del Mundo

2006-02-25T16:23:00.000+02:00

Eccoci qua. Secondo giorno, secondo post.

Girando nel mio profilo su blogger ho visto un link per postare la propria immagine, ed eccoci qui. Vi siete vinti 'sto bellone... :-)

Ma passiamo a quello di cui volevo scrivere: ieri notte. Verso le 11 mi sono fatto una doccia, poi ho sentito Giuseppe e ci siamo dati appuntamento da Baker's.

A proposito di Giuseppe, dovete sapere che da quando sono arrivato ad Helsinki, il 9 febbraio scorso, ho solo frequentato e conosciuto italiani. Ma questo sicuramente sarà l'argomento di un altro post...

Cmq, tornando a ieri, i locali Finlandese sono famosi per mettere sempre musica vecchissima. Tanto per intenderci, ad un certo punto il DJ ha anche messo la colonna sonora de "La febbre del sabato sera" (vedi il post di ieri!). Ad un certo punto, mentre mi facevo in giro per il locale sento le prime note de L'ombelico del mondo.

A me Jovanotti piace molto, e in particolare quella canzone mi ricorda il mio primo periodo passato ad Helsinki, 5 anni fa, quando ho passato qui un anno grazie al progetto Erasmus.

Così sono andato verso la pista per ballare, ed è stata una bella sensazione. In un certo senso, mi sono sentito al sicuro. Era come se in fondo non fosse cambiato nulla. Avevo ancora 22 anni, ero uno studente universitario, avevo un sacco di amici di tanti paesi del mondo e mi divertivo come un pazzo. Poi Jovanotti ha cominciato a cantare, e con mia grande sorpresa la canzone era El Ombligo del Mundo (mai sentita prima di ieri)...

Ora, io lo so che è difficile da capire, ma tutto d'un tratto quella sensazione che le cose andassero bene è sparita! Mi sono sentito di nuovo con tutti i miei anni, con tutti i miei problemi, con tutti i miei dubbi... E poi sono tornato a casa.