Italy Day 25

Today was what I like to call, and uneventful eventful day. Meaning, I mangaged to go to work, having dinner with my advisor, and go out to have drinks with some of my housemates. Nothing spectacular, but I got myself out of the house.

Oh, who am I kidding. I WENT TO SEE THE ACTUAL PAINTING OF THE LAST SUPPER! Yes, it was totally worth it! (If you intend to see it you have to book about 6 months in advance.) Now, I do love art, but I prefer for it to be free, located around a city, and just so easily ignored by people that it becomes beautiful to me. All right maybe I’m being over dramatic, but I’m just being honest.

I wasn’t too enthusiatic about going to see the painting because it had been retouched and I already knew what it looked like on Google. It’s like going to the Smithsonian to see the Ruby Sleepers or the Hope Diamond, yes they are fascinating gems, but images are readily available.

After my visit to the Last Supper, my advisor took me and my housemates out to dinner. Surprisely, he took us to a restaurant we had wandered into before and the waiters remembered. Had a great Marina pizza with mozzerella and then headed home…

And then, we found Zog.

My Day:

Went to see the Last Supper.
Ate dinner with my advisor and chatted about the Italian lifestyle I’ve been living so far.
Decided to go out for drinks with some housemates who had never been to Navigli. We recommended this hole-in-the-wall spot that we remembered had rock music and English speaking bartenders. The only problem was that we couldn’t find the place. We ended up walking around Navigli twice and when we finally stopped searching and decided to just settle on a place, I looked up and their was the place. Almost as if it was glowing… “ZOG”
Two Americans in front of Zog laugh when I shouted “This is it!” After our mad search and expressed that the same thing happened to them.

What I Learned Today:

Zog may or may not actually exist. It might be one of the Twilight Zone type of places that appears only when you need it. However, Zog and MOMO are two places you MUST go to if you go to Navigli. Zog for music and drinks. MOMO for aperitivo.
Don’t just sit in a restaurant after you have finished your meal and don’t plan to order coffee or dessert. You are holding up tables and Italians are too polite about meal time to really tell you to scram. When we finally got up to leave I swear the Italians did this…
People of Italy are not ones for shyness. (On average) They will walk up to you and tell you that they think you are pretty. They will stare at you. They will glare at you. They will do whatever they so please. So be prepared to learn social customs.
When Italians drink, they become more self conscious of what they are doing. Moderation is always kept, but classy is the goal.
American music is what is on the radio. Honestly, I really have yet to hear a song that isn’t in english and from America. Italians know all the words too. It’s my slice of home in Italy. American rock music is what led me to Zog.
The rain was something vicious today! I couldn’t believe it. I of course don’t have a raincoat here. Or an umbrella. I only have a plastic poncho that is clear and made me look like I was wearing a garbage bag. I got stares.