Biagio Antonacci

Novembre 7, 2010

This morning I woke up to go to church... I went to St. Paul's Catholic Church again, English service at 10.00. This time I was not late. In fact, I was 15 minutes early. The message was a good one, the pathway to Heaven, if I remember correctly. There was a group of people, about 30-35, from Ireland attending mass this Sunday morning. Good to get some group 'God time'. Singing the hymns is always my favorite part (I think I like the Catholic hymns more than protestant so far just because they're not outside my range... maybe it's just this congregation's song leader?)

After church I debated going back to the flat or taking a trip into the center. I decided to go into the center and look around some. I ended up going to Zara's because Kristina and Leslie said it wasn't a super expensive store and it was nice clothes, so I went in. Some things were too much, but some were not bad prices. I found a 'stylish' pair of jeans that were only 24 euro, so I bought them. I thought, why not? However, it did take me about 1 hour to look around the store because there were a lot of people in the store and using the fitting rooms and things... and I didn't want to buy them without making sure a "40" was the right size... because A) I've lost weight B) I don't understand European sizes yet. Turns out, I wear a size 40, which measures out to a 31 in US sizes.

After getting my awesome new jeans, I headed back to the house to get refueled and refreshed... and check facebook for info on what our plans were for the movies. It seemed that Gemma and Aneta were the only ones that were expecting to make the movie... so we all decided to meet at Piazza del Popolo, but at differnt times.. so I got there first and waited for Gemma who was walking (the long way around) from Trastevere. There was large group of people at the Piazza and more people kept coming as time went by. Men in uniforms kept walking by... I recognized the Cameriere, but there were other uniforms that were more unfamiliar. Men walked by in uniforms with musical instruments, I began to think that something was going on in Piazza del Popolo today... just a hunch. Then I heard something in the distance, but then it grew into a gastrophony. 7 fighter jets flew over the piazza with jets streaming from them in green, white, and red, just like the Italian Flag. It was amazing, just like from a magazine! Just after they flew over, Gemma found me, she got to see the planes as well. We had to wait a bit for Aneta to arrive, she was dropping a friend off nearby and would be there in about 30 minutes. Gemma and I went to have a cafe'. While were were inside we heard the planes fly over 2 more times, but we figured it was just them returning from where they came. When I walked outside, I saw the tail of the green, white, and red streams... we'd missed taking another picture... twice. Dang. Finally, Aneta arrived, they met each other, and talked a lot about lots of things, I had picked up a brochure from a man, explaining what was going on. It was the celebration of the 150th year Italy was a unified country. YAY! There was going to be a concert later and everything. After a while, we decided to go see "Wall Street", Aneta said that she wasn't going to be able to see it because she still needed to study for her Arabic test, she's trying to find another language to study, she says Arabic is too hard, at least for now. We were at least glad to get to see her for the little while we did.

Gemma and I then went to see "Wall Street". It was in English with Italian subtitles, which doesn't really help me learn Italian, but it does help me pick up small phrases and individual words. The movie was good, I enjoyed the drama and complexity of greed and consumerism... but I enjoyed the fact that it was just an illusion projected to me and that I didn't have to deal with it at such a level. My favorite line from the movie was when Michael Douglas was describing a man who was tricky and always getting away with things... "Like he dances between rain drops...*Like a monkey dancing on a razor blade.*"... A monkey dancing on a razor blade?! How many people read that script, reviewed that film, and edited the final production? I don't understand how they all didn't realize it seemed completely out of place. Gemma and I both looked at each other and just laughed.

After the film we came outside and the concert was just about to start. We decided to climb up on one of the walls surrounding the piazza and watch the concert. The concert was also paying tribute to all of the Italian Armed Forces (hence all the men in uniform). The singer was Biagio Antonacci... We enjoyed the concert a lot and watch with excitement as some kids in the piazza were dancing below us, a great show. After the concert (ancora, ancora, ancora) we headed home. I told Raffa about the concerta and asked her if she knew of Biagio Antonacci, she said yes, he's very famous... his music is kind of like an Italian Phil Collins, easy listening and a little rock thrown in... bellisimo! Then Raffa showed me the cover of the Italian Vanity Fair... Biagio Antonacci... naked (only a record covering himself) He is quite a popular man... especially with the women apparently. I went to his website and keep listening to his songs... they're very enjoyable. I think I may buy some on iTunes. Bella Musica. Here's his website if anyone wants to give it a look/listen.

All in all, a GREAT day... loads of fun!


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