Italian for Spanish Speakers

Italian for Spanish Speakers

 (Italiano - Lección 1 - Pronunciación )



I found the following youtube video by "EnSimplesPalabras" to be extremely useful on my self study for Italian. Though I've used both English and Spanish videos, this has assisted me on the pronunciation part.  He also has some youtube videos for anyone wanted to learn French and Portuguese. 

Italiano - Lección 1 - Pronunciación on  youtube   by En Simples Palabras  

Norway

"In old age we are like a batch of letters that someone has sent. We are no longer in the past, we have arrived." Knut Hamsun

Stavanger & Fjords

Nature in abundance surrounds the Fjords

when you take a tour towards countless rainbows, waterfalls and awe-inspiring mountains. I had some of the best salmon with potatoes during my tour. It was the freshest salmon I have ever tasted and the creamy sauce was light yet delightful for the potatoes that came with our lunch. Finding celtic symbols gives you a sense of history and the constant overcast surrounding us brought a sense of nostalgia.
  Stavanger was one of the cleanest cites I've been to. The charming old town was quite silent as I walked around the cobblestone streets. I'm sure in the summer it is more vibrant since it was really cold when I was there. Regardless of the weather, there was still plenty of shops and trolls to find.

Split, Croatia

“We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” – T. S. Elliot

 My visit to Croatia was a last minute stop.

Come here if you want to go off the beaten path in europe as you encounter a charming  medieval town within an ancient Roman Palace. The Palace of Diocletian from the 4th century stood out in the night time. We got to avoid the large tourist crowds, and continue shipping at the underground tunnel that had many charming shops. The Palace of Dicoletian is under UNESCO protection which includes a black spinx that was brought from the Dicoletian himself. I enjoyed walking around town and people watching as I sat by a cafe right by the sea.
 I bought some very interesting art pieces in the underground market passageway which was something I wasn't expecting to find.  The Dicoletian Palace was having a wedding the night we found it by accident. I wanted to take some pictures but it seem unfitting at the time. I wished it wasn't so dark outside, since I didn't have a tripod for my point and shoot camera. Some of my night pictures came out kind of blurry, but hey, it's not everyday you run into ancient ruins, so I took whatever pictures I could.

Trieste, Italy

"La vita non è né brutta né bella, ma è originale!"   (Life is neither ugly nor beautiful, but it's original!)
Italo Svevo, "La coscienza di Zeno"

Trieste was the first town I visited in Italy.

Though it was a charming town to walk in, I took the train to Venice on my first day here. When I came back in the night with my friends, I was amazed how beautiful the town lit up as I had my first scoop of delicious chocolate gelato.
    On my fourth day here, I volunteered for a church cleanup at "Tempio Nazionale a Maria Madre E Regina" in Monte Grisa. Italy's country side is stunning. I need to move to Italy one day to fully grasp the history, the people and the language. There is only so much reading you can do before you get a full connection of the country. I noticed some of the older Italians spoke a different dialect. Being the curious person that I am, I google it to find out that in Trieste they also speak Triestine, a dialect of Venetian. In addition, there is a small Slovenian population here, with the border being so close to Trieste. Slovenia is another country I have in my bucket list to visit, sooner then later, I hope.
   When I was on top of the hills at Monte Grisa, I saw the "Castello di Miramare".  For a moment there, I felt like I was in a story book. Proud that I had taken the off beaten path for a day, I promised myself to do this more often in the future. Having a good blend of tourist attractions and off beaten paths to smaller towns. After cleaning, the priests invited us to an Italian lunch they had prepared for us to show us their appreciation.  Nothing beats a hands down home made Italian meal.

New York City

Follow my blog with Bloglovin I  love.... NYC!

"I am not afraid of death, I just don’t want to be there when it happens."
Woody Allen

The first time I came to NYC in 1995, it was on

NewYear's Eve. My friend took me to a Jamaican neighborhood underground party and I had my first taste of Jamaica food. But a lot has change since then. I returned for fleet week as a sailor and got to experience my first Yankees and Boston Red Sox game, broadway show, ride up to the Empire State Building and a tour of ground zero.  I spent a lot of time giving tours to the civilians on our ship when I realized that I had to come back in the future and experience NYC in a longer visit. You could be here for a month and still not see everything. That's why I booked myself a reservation to Pink in the City Hostel for about 3 to 4 weeks in 2010 during the fall season. After that, I started coming back through out different seasons in the summer, winter and spring.  Since I only live 4 hours away, my $30.00 round trip tickets from megabus or greyhound has made it easier for the visits

Bahrain

Manama

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change" Charles Darwin

 I enjoyed a lot of the local dishes and a night out
with my friends at the Hard Rock Cafe. There was plenty of shopping to do at the Seef mall and open air flee markets which are often referred to as the "Souq". I got to barter prices at the souq and bought some mink blankets, a cook book I didn't understand, scarfs, and some artsy stuff from the locals. Right before my ship was leaving, I stock up with a good amount of snacks, spices and other things from the Carrefour since I wasn't going to see land for a while.

Bahamas

Bahamas

“I wish I were a girl again, half savage and hardy, and free... Why am I so changed? I'm sure I should be myself were I once among the heather on those hills.”  Emily Brontë,  Wuthering Heights

From snorkeling, kayaking to horse riding, Bahamas is

definitely a place I let my hair down to have fun and relax by the white sand beaches. Living in Florida for many years gave me the opportunity to hop on a cruise at a short moment notice. I enjoyed the eastern caribbean cruise, why? Because it felt like a vacation from a vacation. No worries of planning, reservations for a hotel or where to find food since everything was on the ship.

Xunantunich Mayan Ruins, Belize

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” - Mark Twain

Get your sunscreen, insect repellent spray, and

camera if you going to travel to the tropical country of Belize. There is so much to do here but I only had one day so I chose to see the Xunantunich Mayan Ruins. I took the tour bus from Belize City and found out that the ruins was minutes away from the Guatemala border. There was an earthquake the night before, how lucky of me not to be on top of the ruins. Yikes! The Xunantunich ruins, had a 130 foot tall pyramid and well maintained grounds. As I was taking pictures of the stone carvings, I was really impressed with the hieroglyphs.  Once I climbed  El Castillo, I was able to get a better view of the Guatemala border and its tropical surroundings.

Gibraltar the Rock

“Juventud divino tesoro
Ya te vas para no volver
Quando quiero llorar no lloro
Y a veces lloro sin querer”      Rubén Darío


I didn't know too much about Gibraltar except that it would be possible to hear Spanglish. My mother

use to forbid us to use Spanglish when we were younger so that we could developed each language naturally. Nonetheless, since it's something I could relate to, I thought it was pretty cool to hear the locals speak English, Spanish or Spanglish. I was also surprise how close Africa was from Europe via the ferry, 35 minutes!  Gibraltar was the first European country that I visited and a great way to introduce the history of British territories. England, I shall visit you one day, perhaps on my way back from Morocco, hopefully. Every ship that goes to the mediterranean must go through the Strait of Gibraltar. And like I mention before, you can also take a ferry to Morocco if you decide to go to Africa one day. This is definitely on my bucket list. Other then the history, the rock, caverns, tunnels and monkeys, I took advantage of a volunteer opportunity to clean up a cemetery and church with my friends and mingle with the locals as we ate all their food. Well almost, not really, the food part.

Albufeira, Portugal

"Nossa maior tragédia é não saber o que fazer com a vida." (Our biggest tragedy is not knowing what to do with our lives)
José Saramago

A great place to go shopping in the market and barter with the locals for a good price on items. I bought a couple of bottles of 'vinho tinto verde' and brought them back to the ship to take back to Florida. If you're a seafood lover like myself, go to the seafood market or try a seafood dish at a local restaurant. Other then that, relax by the beach during the day and go to the strip in the night time to listen to music or dance.
     I didn't get a chance to go out in the night, I had to return to Spain that night.  Though, I would of gone to a discoteca and danced to some Latin house music. I love swaying my hips to Latin music, actually I love swaying my hips to any music, especially to Shakira, Thalia and Celia Cruz. I love going out dancing in Europe, I have never had to worry about missing my favorite Latin American music. When I used to live in North Carolina 15 years ago, I was homesick and culture shock. Growing up in California gives you a sense that America as a whole was a melting pot.  That is the great thing about traveling, it exposes you to new cultures and ideas and forces you to learn more about your own home country.

Jebel Ali / Dubai, United Arab Emirates

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” Henry Miller

You can go snow skiing or snowboarding in the mall in Dubai.

The mall has every major store that you can find in NYC or LA and it seemed pretty westernized to me. However, it would be wise to be respectful and aware of the cultural customs of Dubai. Make sure not to take pictures of females, show a lot of skin, and ask for permission to take picture.
I found out that there were a lot of manmade islands as I went for a tour. When I arrived to the mall via the bus, I've never seen so many lamborghinis, ferraris, porsches, etc in one area waiting to get valet parking. Good grief... it definitely felt like a playground for the extremely wealthy, a place to party and to meet for business. It's Las Vegas in an international style. Though this is not my cup of tea when it comes to places I prefer to visit, it didn't stop me from having a great experience with my friends. 

Suez Canal

"Denial ain't just a river in Egypt." Mark Twain

The Suez Canal was opened in 1869 to provide navigational traffic between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. This makes navigating from Europe to Asia economical beneficial without the need of navigating around Africa. It takes most ships 11 to 16 hours to navigate through the Suez Canal. It is 300 meters wide( (984 feets) and 163 kms(101 miles) long. It's extremely important for ships to reduce speed to prevent erosion to the canal banks by the ship's wakes. Follow me from the North to the South of the Suez Canal as my ship leaves the Mediterranean to enter the Red Sea enroute to the Persian Gulf.

Venice, Italy

“Il mondo è un bel libro, ma poco serve a chi non lo sa leggere.” (The world is a beautiful book, but of little use to those who do not know how to read) Carlo Goldoni

Ciao bella! Venice, from the surface, is romantic.

I say from the surface, since I never lived there before. There were a couple of rainy days when I was there, but somehow, it brought a wave of romantic nostalgia over me. I let myself get lost in the streets and entwined my imagination with every corner I found.
    Embracing myself to the Italian way of life as I order a tomato salad only to find out that it was only tomatoes with olive oil. My friend got the lettuce salad and we exchange half our tomatoes and lettuce to make a salad for each of us. We had some pasta that was delicious as I finished my meal with a small cup of expresso.  These are the nuisances that make the trip more interesting, as you become entwined in the city of....la vita buona...   
          The next couple of days I found a couple of masks that have gone well with decorating my apartment. Even though I had used only a point and shoot camera, I was still able to print some pictures in black and white. Venice has help me complete a couple of things off my bucket list. I always wanted to decorated my apartment with some art pieces or pictures that were made by me.  I now have some pictures of Venice in random places in my apartment. I want to come back and use a film camera since I have taken an interest to darkroom room photography. Even better, come back and take art classes in Florence. But for now, I'm still learning how to use my Om-d Em-5 camera that I just bought.

Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace to the right and Saint Mark's Basilica left)

Santa Maria della Salute Basilica

San Marco Basilica

Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs)

Cartagena, Colombia

"La vida no es la que uno vivió, sino la que uno recuerda, y cómo la recuerda para contarla."
(Life is not what one lived, but what One remembers and how One remembers it in order to recount it)
Gabriel García Márquez

I had a blast in Cartagena, Colombia. At times it reminded me of Puerto Rico, except that Puerto Rico has more tropical colors, hills that reminded me of San Francisco and more salsa music vice the cumbia music in Colombia.
     I got to practice my Spanish with my taxi driver, which lately, the only person I had spoken to was my mother.  I make sure to speak to my mother at least once a week in Spanish, who is from Mexico, to keep up with my fluency. It's a great feeling to go to any Latin country and feel a connection with the people. I was born and raised in the US, and even though I enjoy being American, I also enjoy my connection with my Latin American roots.
       The taxi driver that I hired for the day took me to every place that I had wished for. He told me some stories about Colombia, some great tips, and he took me to an up and running mariscos(seafood) place where he knew the owner and I didn't have to wait in line.
  So what happens if you don't know Spanish, pick up a couple of phrases or show that you made an attempt. During my visit, the Colombian people as a whole, were warm an welcoming.

St. Catherine of Alexandria Cathedral.