I hate grammar

Mamma mia.

I managed to pass my final exam for the month of July (second last final exam!), written and oral. And I thought I was so going to fail. The Italian has become increasingly difficult at my level, especially the grammar bit. You basically use a different tense for different scenarios, that's apart from present, past (2 types, mind you), future, conditional, there's a tense to use for making opinions, stating wishes as well. Arrrgggghh...oh well, at least I passed. Now it's time for vacation, vacation, vacation!

Hot and Bothered 2

The heatwave has got so bad it has killed some people in Europe.

Article from BBC:

More die as Europe heatwave bites

Greek villages bordering forest land have been worst hit by fires. Two more people have died in Greece amid soaring summer temperatures that have brought forest fires and power outages to South-East Europe. The worst blazes in Greece were reported near Aegio in the south, on the island of Cephallonia and near the border with Macedonia and Albania. Large swathes of forest have also been burnt in Bulgaria, Italy and Macedonia.
Hundreds of deaths have been blamed on the extreme heat, which is due to give way to cooler weather by the weekend.

The temperature has already eased in Hungary, where some 500 people are estimated to have died as a result of the heatwave. In Greece, hundreds of people have been evacuated from areas at risk from fires in the Peloponnese and on the holiday island of Cephallonia.

At least two people died after being trapped in fires on Wednesday. One of the biggest blazes, near the southern town of Aegio, destroyed homes in at least eight villages and forced the temporary closure of the highway linking Athens to the port of Patras.

Meanwhile in northern Europe, the UK has seen unseasonably heavy rainfall and severe flooding.
South-East Europe's heat and the UK's wet weather have both been blamed on changes in the jet stream - a seasonal band of air from the Atlantic that has taken a more southerly path across Europe this year.

'Many fires on many fronts' Greece's electricity grid has been close to breaking point as demand has soared. Searing temperatures have also evaporated rivers used to create hydro-electric power.

The authorities have urged people to limit their use of air conditioners to avoid putting a strain on electricity supplies. "We ask for citizens' understanding," Development Minister Dimitris Sioufas told the Associated Press news agency. "Only with their co-operation can we cope with extreme weather conditions that have not appeared in our country for decades." Greece is battling forest fires in several areas. "We're facing an extremely difficult situation - many fires on many fronts in many parts of the country," fire service spokesman Yiannis Stamoulis told the Associated Press.

What's happening to our climate?

Hot and Bothered

If you think that Singapore is warm, think again. The temperature here in Italy has soared to practically 40 degrees. It's getting almost impossible to step out.

I miss air conditioning.

Food, Glorious Food!

Been a while since I last spoke about food, so here goes...

I had a taste of the best pizza in Italy, in my opinion. Interestingly near my old apartment, which I have always passed by, but had never once stepped in. It's a slightly dingy place, named San Martino's, not glamorous or stylish at all, but man, was the pizza heaven! Goes to show that looks do not matter when it comes to food.

And there was my Tuscan cooking class which was heaps of fun! Real Tuscan cooking! Wey! We made ravioli (something like dumplings) from scratch, using the pasta machine. Brava! And we made biscotti which we later had with Vin Santo. Oh that and eggplant lasagne too.

After which we had dinner the Italian way, with vino, as Elisabetta, our teacher who's a sweetheart, explains the cuisine of Italy. Very nice. Very yummy.

Me working at the pasta machine

Elisabetta, our teacher

My clumsy effort at domestication

Pigging out after working our butts off