Giro d'Italia

Feb 19, 2005 07:49

I have neglected this journal for a long time. Here is the Cole's notes version of what I have done lately. From September through mid-January I spent no more than two consecutive weeks in any given location.
  • Sunday September 13th pack up and leave Lodi, my home since January, 2004
  • Arrive in Civitavecchia, near Rome for a week. A beautiful site on the sea.
  • Monday September 20th, arrive in Candela, Foggia for a week.
  • I got notified of a high profile job in Ticino, the Italian part of Switzerland. Wednesday I am in Foggia (a 3rd world area I sometimes think) drive up to Lodi and spend the night and then Thursday morning I drive into Switzerland. It is quite a contrast to go from Foggia to Lodi to the Ticino in 24hrs. It's all Italian but it is all so different.
  • I have a wonderful 10 days in CH land and then I am back in Lodi mid October for a few days
  • I take 2 weeks off and go to Colorado to see my grandmother and help my friend harvest corn. I had a fantastic relaxing time.
  • On the return trip I was supposed to spend the weekend in London with my mum's husband however I get assigned to a job in Zagreb, Croatia and I have just one night in London with Laurie. Too Bad.
  • Zagreb was amazing. A short trip but I would happily spend more time there. The power plant is in the city limits, the people were really friendly, the city was very beautiful. This was my first trip into former communist Europe
  • Between a couple bad decisions and some bad luck my return trip from Zagreb to Milano was a disaster. I decided to take a train from Zagreb, through Slovenia into Venice. But it didn't work that way. Instead of arriving in Venice mid-afternoon I ended up in Austria late in the evening. I ended up renting a car there and driving to Milano, spending the night in Bolzano. I did go over the Brenner pass but missed the beauty of it because it was night and I was fighting to stay awake
  • I spend another two weeks wrapping up loose ends in Lodi before traveling back to Salzburg to return the rental car. I took the train to Innsbruck and spent a night there. I found a bar to have dinner in and by chance ended up beside an Irishman and spent the evening chatting with him. It was a great bar, lots of attractive people of all ages and social groups, a rare find.
  • From Innsbruck I take a train to Foggia. This time the Brenner pass was spectacular.
  • After 10 days in Foggia I head back north, I spent time at a variety of sites fixing problems on both a planned and unplanned basis. I made a small fortune over US Thanksgiving weekend. ka-ching.
  • I was supposed to go to Castajon, Spain for 10 days but that was canceled at the last minute so I went to Edinburgh to see my Gran instead. I met up with Colin in Glasgow staying with him at his flat after having a great (and expensive) night out in Glasgow.
  • On a Monday night in December, I was back in Lodi. I learned that the plant in Zagreb could not get online and make power. First thing Tuesday I drove to Zagreb from Lodi. The highways in Slovenia were new and empty. I was in Zagreb just after lunch and I had them back online making power by the evening. It was a quite a rush. The pressure is always on as when a plant is forced offline. It is a wonderful feeling to find the problem and fix it.
  • I spent about a week at Ostiglia in central northern Italy and stayed at the Hotel California where I think I met the nicest old couple in Italy.
  • I flew to Toronto on December 18th for two weeks of holiday at my dad's.
  • Just before New Year's I drove to my apartment in NY. I had not been there since the summer.
  • I had an amazing New Year's eve with Brittany and her friends a little outside of Boston. It was somewhat saddening to actually have a life for a few days and no that I was going to have to return to Foggia.
  • I got back to Foggia at the start of January and I have been there since then.

I finally am escaping Foggia, if only for 24 hrs. I am about to catch a Ryanair flight from Bari to Stansted so I get to go to London and have something different for dinner. I am back in Foggia on Monday.
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