Angry Birds

I'm not a video game person.

At all.

The last time I was into a video games was Super Mario Brothers when Nintendo first came out. Before that we had Intellivision.....

...yeah, that was a long time ago. I loved games like Burger Time - a little chef that made giant hamburgers and was chased by fried eggs and sausages. The more mental, the better.

One day a few weeks ago my chum D. put her new iPad in my lap and started up Angry Birds. I couldn't believe what I saw.

Seriously? Sling-shotting birds into structures to smash into pigs? This is RIGHT up my alley.

I downloaded the $5 version and we've been playing it ever since.

There is only one problem with it - Ziggy can't sleep when we play it. All the smashing glass, pigs snorting, chirping birds - it keeps him up. He stares at us the entire time we're playing. Kinda like this:

Yeah, pretty distracting.

The Perseids 2011

Last weekend we watched The Perseids again. Remember last year?

This year rather than draping ourselves all over the car we were way more prepared. Camping chairs, a thermos of coffee, star charts and the new laptop - I have a super nerdy astronomy program installed...I know.

Plus, we have lived here long enough to know it's freezing at night: alarm went off at 2:00am, we donned socks, pants, t-shirts, sweaters, winter fleeces and bundled up in sleeping bags once we got out there...and it was still cold.

Anyway we drove out to Metchosin and found a great spot in a clearing - we were the only ones there. The only downfall this year was the full moon. It was so bright you could almost read by it.

Brad has been complaining about the weather ever since we got back from Italy. One of his favourite things is when it's hot enough during the day to go out at night in a t-shirt and shorts and feel comfy.

Yeah, that never happens here - especially in Victoria.

So at one point the wind started picking up....

He was SO disgusted with the weather, it was hilarious. I was laughing so loud I probably scared away all the wildlife for miles. I guess you had to be there, but seriously! It's the middle of August and we are this bundled up?

We stayed out a for a couple hours this year - we saw lots of meteors and learned a couple new constellations and had a great time so it was well worth it.

Of course afterwards we went right home to bed, which is almost the best part.

Italy Part 9 - Food

I know you guys have been waiting for this.....the "food" post!! We didn't skimp on the food. Why would you go to Italy and not EAT? We spent $1,500 Canadian on food - It was worth it.

The very first morning we woke up starving. And grouchy. We left the apartment and weren't exactly communicating well:
"Where do you want to eat?"
"I dunno, where do you want to eat?"
After a couple rounds of this mindless banter, we just went into the first tourist trap restaurant we saw.

I ordered a 'sandwich' with prosciutto and mozzarella. When they served me Wonder Bread made with Oscar Meyer ham and likely processed mozzarella, I looked twice, then looked behind me and said "I'm in ITALY right?" I couldn't believe it.

That was the worst meal I had, it was nice to get it over with!

One night in Rome we decided to take a chance and eat at a restaurant outside of the Pantheon....because well, it's the Pantheon. I can't think of a better backdrop for a great dinner.

I ordered lasagna and had no idea what I was in for. It was like nothing I've ever eaten. There was something in that stuff that was so ridiculously good I could hardly stand it. Bacon fat? Cocaine? Whatever it was, it was amazing.

And how the hell do they get all the cheese to melt except those giant medallions of mozzarella right in the middle?!

When it's 42C, you can't eat. So during the day we would eat breakfast (see previous post) then not eat until8 or 9 at night. It was too hot and there weren't may restaurants open. And anyway, who wants to cook when it's that hot?? If we did end up eating during the day, we would order "cheese salads":

Seriously - right up my alley. Who wouldn't love a giant plate of cheese? And that white bean bruschetta? One of the best things we ate.

Beer was expensive (6 Euros) and the wine was cheap....so cheap. We were paying on average, 4 Euros for a half litre of wine. The only downside was that they don't serve you water when you sit down, you have to buy it. Sometimes 4 Euros for a big bottle. And you needed it, every time. Did I mention the heat?

We had this meal in Bologna on a day I thought I would melt:

One day in Rome we stopped to have a snack and some wine - radicchio with melted gorgonzola cheese - it was delicious. Who knew?!

Dessert was amazing too. This was my favourite dessert - Tiramisu. The way it should be - the cake style. We had this one in Venice.

Italy Part 8 - Coffee

Behold.

One of the things I was most excited about when we went to Italy was drinking coffee. I love coffee - you have no idea. I think a good coffee is one of the best things in life.

Every morning we would get coffees and pastries for breakfast. It was the perfect way to start the day when it was so hot. The last thing I wanted was a gigantic breakfast with greasy bacon and piles of potatoes.

Brad didn't even like coffee until about three years ago when he asked to try a cappuccino of mine after dinner one night. Since then he's been drinking it more and more, then when we were in Italy - all he drank was espresso. Seriously.

Since we've been back, we've found one place in Victoria where we can actually get a good macchiato. Discovery Coffee is amazing. Other than that, we're a bit lost.

I used to only drink decaf. A few months before we left on our trip, I ramped up my caffeine intake so I wouldn't be a hot mess in Italy.

It seemed like no matter where you ordered a coffee in Italy, it was fantastic. If only it was the same way here!

Worst Week Ever

There is something wrong with the universe this week. I've been getting hit with bombs everywhere I turn.

It started with site meetings and trips to city hall that went no where. More problems on site than solutions, upset clients, looming deadlines with no help on two projects, uncooperative workmates and it all culminated today.

This afternoon I realized that I made a huge mistake on a set of drawings. I specified a quartz product that is the wrong colour. And you might think "Well, how bad can it be really?"

Um, yeah...

It was supposed to be a sparkly white...the quartz installed is dark grey.

Seriously?

And I have one more day to go.