Verdi in Verona

I arrived in beautiful Verona some hours ago, rattling on the Regionale from Bologna Centrale with my pockets full of used handkerchiefs, my t-shirt wet from sweat and my bag stuffed with Mirga's fantastic pastries (recipe: empty fridge, throw everything in a pan, wrap it up in dough and shove it into the oven). Because I haven't slept last night due to a blocked nose, I almost fall asleep on the bus to the youth hostel, while the four-wheel suitcase of a Japanese tourist takes a life of its own. Summer has finally arrived to Italy, with today being the second hot day on the trip, which has just entered its third week.

Yesterday was Mirga's last day of her Erasmus year in Bologna, and we celebrated it by hiking out to the church of San Luca, on a beautiful meadowy hill outside the city. The half-nude couples (of mixed orientation) frolicking in the grass made our quartet look boringly innocent - we, however, kept our clothes firmly on and our eyes on the views, which reminded Mirga and me of the landscapes in Austria.

Last night was spent preparing the culinary delights mentioned above and cleaning up Mirga's room, which happened faster than we thought but still was no small task. While her Romanian-pop-on-full-volume-blasting flatmates snored in the other rooms, we were packing up an electronic piano and throwing unnecessary paperwork in the rubbish. Mirga continued this while I wrapped myself in my very pink sheets to begin an utterly sleepless night, enforced by the howling trains passing a few metres from our window on Via Masserenti.

And so now, I am alone for a couple of days, a feeling, I must say, not quite unwelcome after two weeks of meeting so many good friends from over a year ago. I plan on spending them by discovering this beautiful city (however, also steering clear of the Romeo & Juliet kitch-factor, which IS substantial here - Romeo bus tours anyone?), trying to create dams for all this liquid streaming out of me, and immersing myself further in John Irving's wonderful novel "A Prayer for Owen Meany". Tonight, I'll go to see Aida at the Verona amphitheatre with a group of Finnish girls I met in Bologna yesterday. No need to say we have quite a lot of mutual friends as they all are fans of choral music.