Mussels in Brussels!

Brian Nazzaro

4/29/16

Essay 3

Travel writing

Mussels in Brussels

    During my first and only spring break experience in college I traveled across Europe on a bus tour. “Bus2Alps” is the company that took me to 5 countries in 10 days! We started the tour in Florence, Italy then to Barcelona Spain, Paris France, Brussels Belgium, Amsterdam the Netherlands, and lastly Berlin Germany. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience. I can say that my favorite city was Barcelona because not really knowing anything at all about it, I was amazed by how beautiful the city really was. We spent two nights there after a long 18-hour bus ride from Florence, Italy. My second favorite city was Amsterdam, the Netherlands! Being an American I have heard many things about this colorful city, and I can honestly say that they are all true… and then some. The city and its people are very free, having legal weed in “coffee shops”, legal prostitution in the red light district, bike lanes going throughout the entire city. It was extremely different than any other city I have ever been to but I really like the idea of how free and legal everything is.

    A quote from our bus tour guides was “this is the week you will never, ever forget” is something that really rings true to me because I can honestly say I have never traveled, seen, and eaten so much new stuff in western Europe. Espically in Barcelona it was an extremely wealthy city with some beautiful architecture, it is a really old city but it made me want to stay longer than 2 days after being there and walking around. It really makes me want to stay here in Europe for a lot longer than 4 months. I hope to one day come back and live here again after seeing so much in my short time studying abroad, I really learned to understand that there is so much more than what I have seen and what we as Americans think of the world. I would recommend the Bus2Alps bus tour to any study abroad student I talk to because they really opened my eyes to what is out there in the world besides New England.

    Another great city we we traveled to was Brussels, Belgium. Ironically the bus group was not even there for a full 5 hours before we traveled to Amsterdam. We had no idea what was going to happen in this city in roughly three days after we first got off the bus. The terror attack by ISIS in the airport that killed many people but, when being in the city just before it happened I personally felt very blessed and happy I was not involved in any way shape or form! My parents were extremely nervous after they heard about the attack in Brussels knowing I was there during this same week. We never went near the airport while there since we were on a bus tour but we were walking around most of the central part of the city and went to a bar with over 2,000 kinds of beers. The bar was called delrium and the menu looked similar to the holy bible, expect filled with beer. A pretty breath taking view if I say so myself.

    I was very happy to go on such an amazing spring break tour and meet many European people who I spoke with for a very long time and hopefully continue for an even longer time with the help of the Internet. Being able to exchange words and ideas with all these people I could never dream of meeting without being abroad in Europe studying with Plymouth State, I could not have done it without my parents help. All I know is I will be back in Europe one day, maybe even as a citizen instead of on a student study visa.      

“Note to self: Don’t break a bone in another country!”

Brian Nazzaro

3-28-16

Travel Writing

Travel Essay #2

    When I first confirmed I would be spending my spring semester of my junior year far away from home in southern Italy, I obviously didn’t know what to expect. I have heard many stories of people, “coming back different” and “changing for life.” So I hoped for something similar since I will be getting prepared for my 4th and final year in college at Plymouth State. But, one of the last things I expected to do about a week in was break my dang ankle while at the gym. To be clearer, I actually have a hairline fracture on my right outer ankle.  

   

    While trying to get more used to my new life in Sorrento and make it more similar to what I do at home, I obviously signed up for the gym in town. I use the gym as a stress reliever and it has become more of a hobby/interest to me, unlike most people who drag themselves to the gym and complain about it, I go to the gym on a daily basis because I enjoy my alone time in “the iron paradise.” No, I am not a typical meathead gym “bro” but, when people found out I broke my ankle in the gym I can only imagine that’s what they thought. Me in a tank top with a bandana doing the bench press with one arm, loudly grunting at all Italians who dare stare at me. But, I was actually on a pull up/dip station with not a lot of room available within tight quarters. So when I came down off the bar a little quicker than normal without checking the ground underneath me, my ankle actually rolled and received my roughly 81.64 kg’s in between two pieces of parallel metal supporting bars on the ground. Literally as soon as it happened I knew I broke it. The pain was like none other! I heard something “crack or pop” initially so I truly felt like I was going into some type of shock. I then lay almost helpless on the stairs at the gym in a country where I don’t speak the language nor do I know a single person in the gym at this actual time. So like any other smart American I sat there in pain for about 10 minutes contemplating what to do… I found a worker at the gym and luckily (thank god) he spoke English and was more than helpful with me. After getting the Wi-Fi password I was able to call one of my roommates, Tayler the 33 year old from Minnesota and beg him to come to the gym and then basically be my human crutch, at least until we got back to our apartment more than a half a mile away, or 1.1 km.

    Hopelessly hobbling from the gym to my apartment was almost like torture, having about 500 different thoughts going through my head at one time I was not sure what was best for me to do. Tayler, suggested to just get me home to elevate, rest, and ice my what we thought was just a “sprained ankle.” I foolishly agreed and walked more than ¾ of the way home. Soon after stopping for a rest I noticed the size of my ankle had certainly not gotten any smaller, in fact it only grew in size! It looked like I was trying to smuggle some type of lacrosse ball inside my ankle joint, and it even felt like I was. Fortunately, when we stopped for a rest there were some young, smart and extremely nice local Sorrento boys asking me “what the fuck happened man?” While they all quivered as I showed my ankle off like some type of badge of honor to them! They told me to get to the hospital right away, I initially declined but they followed up with calling an ambulance for me so after about 25 minutes an ambulance shows up and I’m on my way back towards the gym. Truthfully those Italian boys being there probably helped me out a lot because if I had made it home I would have just wanted to go to the hospital the next day after elevating and icing my ankle for the night.

    When I was first being treated at the local emergency room at the hospital in town I was sitting in a wheelchair for about half an hour before I was even attended to. Granted they can’t *poof* make my ankle better or cut it off, being treated would still be better than sitting there wondering what the doctors and EMT’s are saying and what the hell they are laughing at… But, soon after Tayler and another friend from SAI, Hunter came to the hospital emergency room to see what was up. They soon after were equally as irritated and kept asking the doctors what they can do about my pain, and trust me I was in a great deal of pain! “No pain, no gain” they say at the gym, haha just kidding I am not that foolish I know it is very easy to avoid an injury at the gym but accidents do happen. But, soon after getting an xray that night and pain killers I was told (in very broken English) “it is very important you take this medication every day in the cast.” If I was smart enough to ask why I would have found out sooner that the medicine they had to give me were blood thinners to make sure the blood in my body is going in and out of my ankle also, so I don’t have to get it amputated, have a blood clot, stroke, heart attack or die! So I soon realized this was honestly no laughing matter at all and cannot be taken lightly. Of course it can be for anyone but, me the one with the broken ankle but that is life.

    And now here I am about 2 months later still with one crutch in hand hoping to return back to the hospital some time this week to make sure my ankle is healing properly and to ensure I wont be leaving Sorrento in worse condition than I was before I even got here. So, note to self: DON’T break a bone while in another country!

A plain cheese pizza

Brian Nazzaro

3/2/16

Food essay 

Ever since I was a young kid, pizza has always had a special place in my life. I never was a huge fan of toppings, up until the last few years I have experimented a lot more than I ever have. From pizza day in the school cafeteria to pizza parties at summer camps, there was something almost magical about seeing a box with cooked bread, red sauce and cheese. Early on, I learned that everybody eats their pizza differently than the next person. Almost anything kind of topping can be placed on pizza, the classic pepperoni that Americans love to foods like anchovies to barbecue chicken and pineapple, every pizza pie is like its own special creation. Even the pizzas themselves are all different shapes and sizes. Especially while being in Italy this country is basically home of the pizza (and pasta). But, there is one place in particular, Napoli, Italia is known to have started the creation of the margherita pizza. While growing up in the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts there weren’t a massive amount of great options for pizza. Besides going to the North End, of Boston also known as little Italy, just ordering in from Domino’s and Pizza Hut was a typical occurrence of where I come from.

While spending a semester abroad in southern Italy for 4 months I knew I was going to be trying a whole lot of unfamiliar and new foods. But, just because some type of food isn’t “new” to me doesn’t mean it can’t make me the happiest to eat it! I know I always feel warm and complete after I eat a big meal that I enjoy, sleepy is also another feeling. But, the place that had my fantastic plate was Naples. My roommates from Plymouth State University and I spent a long weekend here looking to escape little Sorrento. So, we traveled to the third largest city in Italy looking for food and a good time. The food I had that I can still mange to taste on pure memory was margherita pizza. But, this “plain” pizza was unlike any other pie I have had, it tasted amazing. Just how the way the warm gooey, mozzarella cheese fell off the thick but doughy bread right into the highway of my mouth into my belly. Naples Italy is actually known to have started margharetta pizzas. Which I find amazing because the pizzas back in America whether they are just a plain regular cheese or covered with toppings seem different! Maybe it’s the years of love and hard work the chefs have put into these works of art. Or it might even be the lack of preservatives and GMOs used on the actual food. Some way I know I will be going back to Naples to have another plain margharetta pizza but, when in a place like Italy I know there is more than meets the eye to a cheese pizza here. I might even travel back with my mom, who is coming to visit in mid April. But, even though I have eaten roughly 10+ pizzas while being in Italy I have not enjoyed a pizza as much as I did in Napoli. I find it quite interesting since the ingredients are made basically the same even if your in Sorrento, Naples or even a city in the north of Italy. Maybe it is the brick oven style they use to have the pizzas cooked. I am not a chef but, I have been speaking to my friend who is in culinary school in Providence, Rhode Island at Johnson and Whales University and he spoke particularly high about how all of the pizzas are prepared in a brick oven instead of a conventional oven, which they use back in America. The Naples cheese pizzas all seem to be made with love and care, and prepared well. I just can’t wait to go back to Napoli to try another restaurant’s style of a “plain boring” margherita pizza.

breaking a bone in a forein country...

When I came to study abroad in Sorrento, Italy I never really expected to be on crutches 2 weeks into the program...
One Thursday night at the gym in town, Spa Ulysse I was doing some light sets of pull ups on a "power tower" which has the attachments to do calisthenic exercises such as pull ups, dips and leg raises with your back rest on a pad. See the picture below for reference
 http://g02.s.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1.ZGgFVXXXXatXpXXq6xXFXXX8/27683/HTB1.ZGgFVXXXXatXpXXq6xXFXXX8.jpg

EXPECT this station has to parallel pieces of metal on the ground supporting it, and as soon as I came off the pull up bar (without checking to see where my feet were landing) my right ankle rolled directly between the both of them, having my full 81.6466 KG body weight on my ankle joint. I heard a literal crunch and collapsed onto the stairs right next to me trying to not pass out (or cry! lol) because I thought I broke my ankle instantly.
And I was correct! After hopping about .7 miles from the gym back to my apartment with my other roommate Tayler, I had some local Italians call an ambulance for me because my ankle had swelled up to about the size of a tennis ball and we all knew something was not okay.
Turns out I have a hairline fracture on my ankle and the story is NOT even over yet...

To be continued

Views from southern Italy

Last weekend a few of us Plymouth State students and a few other Alfred State students went on a hike just outside of Sorrento to do something fun and new with our day.
Here is a photo of me taken while we were on the hike, I was standing in front of mt Vesuvius. Im actually really glad to have gotten a picture while in front of this notorious mountain! The guys and I had just swam in a little lagoon type area and I was very cold and tired when the picture was taken but, we all know a picture is worth 1000 words
https://mail.plymouth.edu/service/home/~/?auth=co&loc=en_US&id=7084&part=2

Sorrento Semester!

Ciao,
This blog was created for my travels while living and studying abroad in Sorrento, Italy! I am studying at, Sant’Anna Institute in Sorrento. Sorrento is on the Mediterranean sea just south of Naples, Italy.

More to posted coming soon!

 Here is my school here