kareina

I did manage both my yoga and a workout last night before sleeping, and slept well enough that I didn't hear him come home, though I did notice he was at the computer when I got up for my 03:00 trip to the toilet. This morning I started my day with a workout, and then took public transit to the Centrale station, where I dropped off my luggage. It was still early enough that not many places were yet open, and I thought about heading over to where I remember there having been a fabric store when I lived in Milan five years ago. I could have gone back down to the metro and taken the other line two stops to the right area, but since it was early I decided to just walk, and started heading down the street I walked every time I took a train out of Milan, since I preferred to walk the half an hour to the station than wait 3 minutes for the next train. Soon after I started walking a man asked me if I could give him money for food. I said that I had some food I could share, but he wasn't interested in my handful of peanuts. Then I remembered: food. The bag of food I left in U's fridge. Including one of those really yummy pasties I had taken out of the freezer. Ok, that is worth heading back for.

I reached his apartment pretty much exactly one hour after I had left, but this time he was awake, so not only did I get to collect the food and borrow the toilet, but I also got to enjoy a bit more time visiting and another hug. I may not have gotten to the fabric store, but then again, there is no guarantee that I would have been able to find it all all, if it even exists anymore.

Then I went into the city center, where I was going to meet L. at noon. I arrived a good 30 minutes early, and thought about heading up to the roof of the cathedral, since I love that place (and, on a nice clear day like today, it might be possible to see the Alps from there--it does happen, sometimes). But in the five years since last I was here they have changed things--now, instead of going to the door of the stair way and buying your tickets there and heading straight up, that location is only a queue for people who have already purchased their tickets, on the other side of the building. That queue was moderately long, but when I went to the other side, and saw the really long queue for purchasing tickets, I realized that I wouldn't have time to stand in that line and get up the roof before L. arrived, so instead I just waited on the ground.

When she arrived she asked if I was hungry, and I was (never mind that I had enjoyed that pastie only half an hour before), and she asked what I was hungry for. When I said vegetarian, she suggested a Hare Krishna place she knows, and we started walking. A short time later she ducked into an alley way, and walked up to a small door and rang the bell. A woman wearing a sari and an interesting bit of white paint decorating her nose let us in, and L. bought me a membership card, which she will keep to use for the next time she wants to bring someone there.

This was a very interesting restaurant--the entry area was a little gift shop where one can buy crystals, scented oils, the Bhagavad Gita, etc. Then there were two conjoined rooms with lovely arched ceilings. The rooms contained only round tables for eight, and we were seated at one, and then as others came in, they were seated with us. There is no menu at this restaurant--your only choice is the "small" meal, which costs €9.50, or the "large", which costs €13.50, and you get what they cooked today. She double checked with them to be certain that the food was not only vegetarian, but also without wine or vinegar, since I don't eat foods containing either, and they assured us that it would be fine for me. It was.

They brought out a basket of tasty bread rolls to start, and I managed to stop at only one. Then they brought out our trays. I, of course, ordered the small, so my tray had a small bowl of a flavored rice/vermicelli, a small bowl of green beans & carrots with a spicy sauce, another, slightly larger bowl of a green salad, with grated carrots and a white sauce I actually liked, which is a surprise, I normally hate any sort of sauce put on a salad (remember the part about vinegar?). It might have been yoghurt based?? There was also a desert which had a bottom cookie like layer that wasn't too sweet, then a middle custard like layer, which also wasn't too sweet, then some cream, and finally a slice of strawberry on top. I enjoyed the desert, and asked what it was. I was very surprised to find out the custard like layer contained carob--I normally don't like carob, since it often tastes too much like chocolate, which doesn't taste good to me.

After we were done they gave us the tea list, sorted by which chakra each tea is meant to help. I suspect that mine are just fine, so instead of worrying about that aspect, I looked at the ingredients of the teas (all of which were herbal). Every tea contains at least one ingredient I like, but most of them also contain either licorice or anise, neither of which I care for--only one was free of those two options, so I ordered it (the "Harmony", which, the tea list claimed, is meant to balance all seven chakras, and is described as a "chai" style tea, without black tea, but with traditional chai spices).

After lunch she needed to head home to change before heading out to one of the Milan Fashion Week functions this evening, so I hopped on the metro to the station closest to the health food store from which I used to buy most of my groceries. They have very substantially changed that store in layout and design, and, probably in what they carry. Not certain if I like the changes or not. I did see lots of very yummy looking fruits and veg, but knowing I would be taking a train to Venice, where I would stay in a hotel without kitchen access, I left them all in the store. I did consider the little tiny glass jar of goat-milk yoghurt, but decided that it would get too warm to be nice for breakfast, and, having just eaten, I wasn't going to be eating it anytime soon, so that stayed in the store, too. I did, however, pick up a box of echinacea tea, since I have yet to find it in Luelå, and it wouldn't change the weight of my luggage.

While in the area I looked for the store that sells only cashmere sweaters, but I couldn't find it--I didn't even see a building of the shape I remember where I thought it should be, so I don't know if I looked in the wrong place, or if it has gone out of business or moved in the last five years. This is good, because it means that I didn't spend lots of money on a new sweater. But then again, I love the fabric texture and shade of blue of the two I already have from that store, so if they had had any more in that colour, but longer, I would have loved to have picked one up.

From there I decided to just walk back to the Centrale Station, since it was only a 30 to 40 minute walk away, and I wanted the exercise. I collected my checked luggage and went up stairs to go find the ticket machines on the train platform. Only to discover another thing that has changed since last I was in Milan: It is no longer possible to walk onto the platform area if you don't have a ticket. There are guards and gates now. No x-ray machine like at an airport, but way, way more security than they used to have. But that left me confused--one used to buy the tickets on the platform. It took a while to discover that I needed to head back down two levels, to very near where I had picked up my luggage, to use the ticket machines there. The very next train to Venice was to leave in 15 minutes, and would require changing trains somewhere down the line, but the one after that was a direct train, and leaving in 35 minutes. They both were due to arrive about the same time. Easy decision, I will wait and take the easier trip.

That gave me time to search the station for a gelato shop, and have a Fior di latte gelato. It wasn't the best I have ever had (this was a little portable stand attached to a bike, so clearly, it wasn't made fresh in house), but it was ok, and got bonus points for being conveniently located close enough that I wouldn't miss my train.

The train trip to Venice was lovely--beautiful views of the snow-topped Alps most of the way, and an occasional cute stone farm house. For the last half an hour of the trip the sun set and it started raining, so the view was gone, but that wasn't really a problem.

The hotel I am staying at used to be a monastery, and was built in the 16th Century. Luckily for me, it also has wireless, and isn't far from the conference I will be attending tomorrow. Speaking of which, I had probably better post this, do my yoga, and get ready for bed, since I actually have someplace to be in the morning.

Those of you who know me are not surprised that I am so fond of record keeping that I check my bank balance on line promptly after each time I spend money. Today, for the first time since moving here, I used my "bankomat" card, rather than paying cash in the grocery store (when I first arrived I didn't know how long I'd be without a card, so I pulled out a rather hefty pile of cash to live on till I had a card, as I didn't want to pay the fee for doing a transaction with a human more than once).

As a result of these transactions and my prompt looking at my account this evening, I'm now fascinated by the difference between the bank I used in Australia and the one I'm using here in terms of what information is available, and when.

The Australian bank shows an up-to-the minute "available balance", whcih includes any transactions which have happened via "efpos" (paying by bank card, for those of you unfamiliar with the Australian term, which might stand for "electronic funds point of sale") today, but the list of itemized transactions does not include details about the current day's (or whole weekend, as the case may be) transactions. This wasn't a problem when that "available" balance matched what I thought it should be, but, sometimes, some other transaction I didn't initiate (such as a housemate having deposited cash for bills into our account, but hasn't yet seen me to tell me about it) were included in that total, and it was then impossible to reconcile my account with the bank records until the next business day, when those transactions finally appeared on the list.

This practice stands in marked contrast with what the Italian bank shows on my screen when I log in and look up my account balance. It has a screen whcih lists all of the cleared transactions, and at the bottom lists the "Saldo contabile finale in Euro" (Final account balance in Euro), which does *not* include today's transactions. However, below that part of the screen is another section, which lists the two transactions I did today, listing the store, time, day, and amount of purchase. So now I know precisely what has yet to clear my account, but it doesn't show my revised bank balance. Oddly enough, I think I like this method better, since, presumably, if the total I spent in each location matches what I think it was, then the total remaining in the account should match what I think it is. However, I still think I'll check again on Monday, to confirm that it does.