My story about Astoria

Hello my dear friends! How rarely I share my news here, on the dusty pages of my old London friend meaning my dear and beloved blog. Even though I changed my occupation, visited new places, met new people, and so on and so forth. However today I want to talk about something different, more precisely about an incredibly happy event that happened recently.

I’ll start with a background (not from the birth of Christ, as I love to do it, but still…) I have a friend Lena, whom we have been friends for about 12 years with and a few years ago she introduced me to her (at that time) student Pavel. Pasha (short name for Pavel) sent me some information about Astoria hotel on the 29^th of July, 2020. The hotel was announcing a competition for a suitcase label that will be handed over to hotel guests and printed in the catalog. The label should have reflected the spirit of the journey, the history of the hotel, traditions, and much more.

Astoria Hotel. The photo was taken from the internet.

Most importantly Pasha wrote me a message saying:

The meaning of it was: “Go ahead, my talented friend! Everything has come together: travels and love for it, art”

I must say, Pasha knows how to motivate. His words about everything coming together gave me a lot of encouragement! I really thought that the contest was made for me (as I consider myself as an artist-traveler). But, for some reason, I “put off until tomorrow what could be done today”. In other words, my friend sent me the competition information at the end of July, the deadline was at the end of September, and I only sat down to start with the sketches on September 16th or so. I was glad that I had quite a few ideas, that Astoria inspired me, and when I read a little about the history of the hotel, studied its official website, it became even more interesting for me to draw.

Then, at some point, it seemed to me that everything was lost, I wasn’t sure that it was a good idea to participate it. Sometimes it happened that way. Sometimes there is only one step from hatred to love, and there is only one step from genius and self-confidence to disappointment.

In the end, I did a few sketches. By the way, here I would also like to thank my good friend Mila Berillo (fashion designer), because she gave me a couple of good (albeit subjective, but important) advice after seeing my works and, in my opinion it helped me a lot. In fact she gave me a very good advice about the work that was chosen by the jury so Milla, thank you so much!

Here are some of the sketches drawn with a pencil (after I made some of them in CorelDraw and here I would like to thank my musical-pedagogical college in Omsk where I studied design and I remember how to use some designer programs even after 11 years of my graduation)

And that time, the work had been sent. Standby mode was on. But at the same time I did not wait for the announcement of the results day and night. I was running around in the bustle of my beautiful days and did not even notice how the end of November came. It was at that time that I received an email from (already my fairy, my namesake) Natalia Yermashova, who said that my work was among the three winners!!! (and by the way there were a few hundreds of participants!)

There were no limits for my happiness. I felt on top of the world. On that day I was still at home, feeling under the weather but my mood changed incredibly right after reading that very important email to me! I immediately remembered about the chain that life had built for me: my friend Lena (from Omsk) – Pasha – Astoria – my participation – victory. A wonderful chain involving my dear friends in it was happiness! I would like to share some more interesting moments of my joy and interesting conclusions on this matter.

1. It was in 2014, when Crimea became a part of Russia and we had a very difficult time, terrible relations with America, that same year I won (more precisely, received the audience award (the highly voted winner) and therefore I took the second position out of several hundred design works from all over the world !!!) in the American competition (provided by Kiesza (singer))! It happened at such a difficult time for Russia. There were those who dissuaded me, because what chance could a Russian girl have in an American competition (also in 2014). But there is always time for miracles!

Here is the link for the contest and its results: https://www.talenthouse.com/i/sozdai-web-art-dlya-kiesza/submissions

2. It is 2020 nowadays. It’s a very hard and strange year for everyone, for touristic field, the hotel business in particular. And here I was again marked by the jury of the competition!

3. Astoria. It happened that I was temporarily in Omsk and was trying to move to Europe 5 years ago (I don’t remember how many times I tried to do this, haha. In general, at some point I decided that while Europe was not available to me, I applied for a job position at the beautiful Astoria hotel in the city on the Neva. And thinking that I could get an interview on Skype, I was really disappointed (their HR said to me: “Natalia, do you understand which hotel you are talking about? This is the Astoria hotel! We do not make any interviews online. If you want to work with us, you need to fly in and personally attend the interview.” Which is what I actually did. I flew to Saint Petersburg, went through two stages of selection, it was a very interesting experience, exciting and memorable. As a result, I did not go to the third stage, and I had less chances there than in the first two. At least it seemed to me. But, in fact, it was the Astoria hotel that motivated me to fly to the beautiful city of St. Petersburg, and now, 5 years later, this hotel plays an important role in my life again. Thank you, my Beautiful Astoria for such an active participation in my life!

4. Preparing for the competition and studying the hotel and its charms, I realized that I really wanted to have breakfast there. It seemed like there was no reason for me to stay in it, but coming for breakfast was something I really wanted to do!

And now, thanks to the Universe that always listens to my (and everyone else) desires, I won a certificate for a weekend in the hotel. It’s for two persons with breakfast included. I couldn’t believe my eyes! Dreams coming true (some of them for sure). But then I almost immediately realized that I would be much happier if my parents use this certificate when they plan to visit northern Venice. And I will be so happy to settle them in Astoria. But, since the desire to have breakfast at the hotel didn’t disappear I am still planning to go there for breakfast with a friend of mine, no matter how much it costs. I just want to do it. And it means that it will be so.

So, the first thing that I got from the wonderful St. Petersburg hotel was a magical dinner and a solemn reward taking place in the zoom. Dinner was also important because Marius Ackermann prepared it for us (the chef of the following hotels: Astoria and Angleterre).

The photo was taken from the internet.

For 20 years in the profession, he managed to work in the best restaurants in Germany, Great Britain, Austria, Switzerland, including restaurants with Michelin stars. Marius had a chance to cook for Barack Obama, Melania Trump, King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz and many others. In general, no matter how crazy and posh it may sound, I felt that at least at this point I stand alongside the above-mentioned people. It’s funny, don’t you think so?

I don’t know why it happened but my special dinner was supposed to be delivered to my home, but was actually delivered to the city center, to a cafe during my meeting with a friend.

Then I went with this huge box to the dentist, and then I got home… it was really nice and touching seeing the labels of the three winners placed on the box, including mine. These are indescribable feelings, a huge range of emotions and definitely very happy ones.

So, the ceremony was held in the zoom. One of the winners was in the sky (the girl was flying on an airplane) and was unable to attend, so there were two of us (the winners) as well as representatives of Astoria (including the CEO – Gerold Held, on the photo below)

and members of the jury (from the owner of the gallery to the editor-in-chief of GQ magazine). The conference took place in the format of the jury’s communication with each other, discussion of the quarantine and the current situation, travel, presentation of some products that we had in the dinner box, presentation of the contest labels (three winners and the winners themselves) and, of course, dinner itself.

My friend Nika helped me a lot. I can actually say that it was Nika who worked in a tandem with Marius and she was bringing all the dishes to their logical conclusion at home. I also touched some dishes with my creative hand but since I followed the conference attentively and was there, inside, I left my friend Nika alone and didn’t help her much. I knew she could be trusted and the dinner was excellent. Thanks again to Astoria and, of course, the jury for their choice! The event was over and the joy is still with me.

Our menu for that very special evening (though it’s in Russian and too big to translate)

The process of making some magic…

The chef’s presentation

Our first dish

Our second dish

Dessert

Another great present from the hotel

Well, the cherry on top (at least for me it was the main prize) was distribution, delivery of labels to the hotel visitors, printing them (the labels) in a catalog, an exhibition in the hotel lobby, and also mentioning in the media. At the moment I can share with you this link: https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/4582545 (it’s in Russian but you can see my and other’s works there)

And here is the Instagram post from the hotel: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIQnHNEjzbt/?hl=ru

In general it was such a great contest for me and I would like to sum up by the following: even in difficult times (such as Covid 2019), miracles happen! The main thing is to believe in it and wait! The second point is that the Universe will lead you where you need to be, at the right time and at the right moment, and all meetings are not accidental (thanks again to a friend who introduced me to her student and him for the link to the competition). And there is another very important point I would like to mention. I have heard many times that contests are won because of connections, and someone may even pay. Thus I would like to say that I didn’t know anyone from the jury, I had nothing to do with the hotel, I participated, jumping on the last train, and this is the result! I just believe in miracles. And I wish you to do the same and here I’ll make a stop and will continue telling you how beautiful life is! (But next time)

 Thank you for your time and for being with me.

My best wishes to everyone!

P.S. Here is my work that was selected by the jury, by the way:

Christmas celebrated with an Italian family in Rome!

Hello my dear friends!

As I wrote earlier I am in Italy again (more precisely in Rome) and I would very much like to tell you about my 2-days stay in Verona and 2-days stay in Florence. It’s worth it and besides, I have some photos of different architectures, views of cities, shops decoration and so on. But I should postpone everything and in the meantime I would like to tell you about my first Christmas celebrated in Europe, in an Italian family.

My family (where I am currently living) has started Christmas preparation the day before the event (gifts they bought much earlier, of course), but began to prepare the food one day before. I am talking about lasagna of two types (meat one and a vegetarian option) as well as something like a vegetable pizza-pie. And on the 24^th of December we took all the gifts and left the house. The trip was very long, 3 meters long as we actually went into the next-door apartment where the sister of my hostmother lived. While being here, in this family, I clearly realized how convenient it is when relatives live in the neighborhood. Although, perhaps there are also disadvantages in such a situation.

I really liked the apartment: it was big, spacious, decorated in Christmas European style. The one thing I didn’t really enjoy. I am talking about the floor which was marble or tile (I am not sure as I am not good at this kind of thing), but it was very cold and therefore everyone was wearing street shoes inside the flat. Specially for this evening I changed my tradition and mentality and also wore my boots because health is really important for me.

I was very worried how I would feel in a large Italian family where I knew less than a half of guests and where I was the only person outside the family and, most importantly, the only foreigner there. But the evening was magical! First of all, everyone was really friendly, open and welcoming. All the guests were trying to talk to me, to help me with my Italian, to make me feel a part of the family. It was very nice of them. And very often I heard “Che carina questa ragazza russa”, which meant “How nice this Russian girl is” which was also very kind of them. Of course, majority of people asked me a question about Siberia, about my city (Omsk) and, most importantly about the weather, thinking that Russia is the coldest place on Earth.

(c) the picture was taken from the internet, luxfon site.

The dinner started with some snacks as one of the family members brought different types of canapés with mozzarella, smoked sausage, soft cheese with spices, jam, bread, olives, sausage…As I was told Italians eat only fish on Christmas according to their tradition, there is no meat on the table. Thus these canapés was kind of a deviation from the tradition, for those who wanted meat. And I must say that almost everyone chose to participate this little meat-festival until they (the canapés) ended. That’s what I also did. We were also offered different sandwiches with salmon and something else (but I only ate the salmon one). And we drank a bit of alcohol though I am not sure about the name of it.

Then all exchanged their Christmas gifts which were under the tree. They actively tore beautiful packages with bows and ribbons. And subsequently followed to the table being in this happy mood of received presents.

At first we were offered lasagna (meat and vegetarian), pasta Bolognese and a pie. Surprisingly the main drink was water there. It seemed for me that the food was enough, but it was just a start. Then we were served with meatloaf, salmon, vegetable salad, stewed zucchini, something baked with the cheese and even a plate of Russian salad! Yes, it is actually called insalata russa! I decided that it was prepared specifically for me, but as it turned out, the salad was pretty popular in the country (maybe they eat it every Christmas, I am not sure). In any case, it was very nice, although it’s still a bit different from our traditional one and therefore tasted a bit strange for me.

There were few generations and the table was divided into few parts (some people talked in pairs, some were shouting, sitting in different corners of the table, while others talked sitting in threes), therefore sometimes it was hard to understand whom to listen, whom to answer, what to focus on.

At the end of this special Christmas dinner they brought a dessert. Traditional Christmas dessert is Panettone (a light Italian sweet bread loaf with candied fruit baked for Christmas).

(Didn’t find a chance to take a photo while being there so took it from the internet in order to show you how it looks like).

Pandoro was also there (it was much harder to find information about this cake, as I misspelled it and the internet immediately showed results for the jewelry products of Pandora). In fact I really liked both desserts, but as I was told Pandoro was a typical cake of Verona (and with a large amount of butter used in it), and Panettone was a Milanese cake.

We also tasted marzipan fruits (or as they called “Frutta martorana”). As I was the only foreigner there the big family decided to explain me what it was, where it came from and I was even given the first piece to try it. Later I told them that I spent all my summer in Sicily, I tried those famous Sicilian sweets and besides, I heard the story (legend) about the fruits no less than 10 times from our guide in the hotel. They took their origin at the Monastero della Martorana (which is in Palermo) when nuns decorated empty fruit trees with marzipan fruit to impress an archbishop visiting at Easter.

(this photo was also taken from the internet)

It seemed to me very surprising that the dessert was served without tea or coffee, just water. Although I love water and was glad about it, but remembering our Russian traditions I felt there was missing something and that the host just forgot to offer a cup of tea.

And despite the beautiful table in red colour-theme with the pictures of traditional Christmas flowers (poinsettia), we ate and drank from the plastic plates and glasses that was also quite unexpected, though it was very logical considering the number of guests and the age of the hosts (it was a lovely Italian couple of 70 years old both that hosted us).

Around 11pm everyone stopped eating and after 5-10 minutes of cleaning and tiding up the table they started to prepare for some cart-games. As about cleaning the table: it was my first time when I saw a small vacuum cleaner to clean tablecloths, it collected the crumbs from the table very conveniently. I was impressed! Everyday it happens to me – I am discovering a new technique. It’s funny that I have traveled a lot but sometimes it feels like I just came from a village.

We went home after 11pm. As I already said the way was too long: more than 3 meters if being exact! What’s more we needed to open the door with the key! It was such an incredible effort we all made))). My Italian family told me that playing cards was also a kind of Christmas celebration and they played literally once a year, on this day (or rather a night). So I would really wanted to see it happening but, alas, I was exhausted by the time and thus I left the company of gamblers and chose sleep.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, my dear friends! See you soon 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My funny Sicilian stories

Hello dear friends! This post will be unusual, consisting of little stories. I’d like to tell you about some of the ridiculous, weird and funny situations that happened to me this summer in Sicily.

That’s my name.

While working this summer in Arenella Resort I had to wear a badge with the name “Наташа” written on it. It was in Russian as we mainly worked with Russian-speaking tourists. At the same time, I was looking for an opportunity to practice my Italian (sometimes English/French) languages. One day, while talking with the Vice-Director of the hotel I heard something like: “yes, of course, Hatawa”. In other words, he read Russian alphabet as it was in English and so he read “Наташа” as “Hatawa”. Afterwards I heard that majority of waiters, cooks and other hotel employees called me the same way. Of course I did explain to them that they were mistaken about my name, we all laughed but still they kept calling me Hatawa, just for fun. Thus, I got another nickname, this time an Italian one. (You can see my badge on the photo below)

When there is no need in the phone.

It was another very funny story (at least for me). I was a good friend with our neighbours (that were cooks). In the last month staying in Sicily (in August) we began to organize evening (rather night) games of ultimate (a game with a disc). My favorite cooks lived to the left of us (in a nearby house) and over us (on the second floor). As they were all friendly with each other and, of course spoke Italian, it was easier for them to understand each other rather than me. One night we kind of cancelled the game of ultimate and I decided to go to the second floor and ask the cook-1 pass my words to the cook-2, who lives in the next house. In my opinion the idea of “please tell the cook-2 that there will not be a game today” supposed a phone call and passing the information. What was my surprise when I went outside, I just closed the door and heard some shouting on the balcony: “Cook-2!! Natasha said that today there would not be a game!”. It was possibly heard on the mainland of Italy. Honestly I was shocked, but at the same time I was very amused. And at the time being in Sicily I’m so used to loud Italians that I missed it while was in Russia afterwards.

Where are my good manners?

On duty and on my own I was searching a way to practice Italian and often I talked to Italians in front of our Russian children. Most of them did not understand a single word in this beautiful language, so while they were standing and listening to my conversation, they could only pick a few words up. And therefore they often heard the phrase I was using: “Tu puoi…”, which translated as “you can…”, but pronounced it as “Tu puoi” and in Russian language it would mean “you are stupid”. Thus, the kids wondered how I dared to communicate with a foreigner, to look in his eyes and call him/her stupid. There were many cases when I was interrupted by my little friends and asked why I called someone stupid.

And there was another hilarious moment. It was a lovely evening and we were sitting in our hotel restaurant, having dinner and a nice conversation. By saying “we” I mean myself and my colleagues. And then one of the tourists passed by and said she had lost something (I think it was the shoes of her child, or a backpack). And she asked us where she needed to go and what she needed to do in this case. Myself, being a girl who likes to help and who communicates almost with all staff in the hotel, encouraged her to go to the reception and I added: “You should explain with gestures what you had lost, try to say this and that in English (don’t really remember what she was looking for), and then add the word “Perdutto””). The thing is that in Russian language it’s very similar to “fart” but even a bit vulgar. And she stood a few feet away from us, already heading towards the reception, so I had to say “Perdutto” quite loudly which was heard in the whole restaurant. I must say I had “success” there (especially among my colleagues). And I believe the tourist was in a light shock because of my advice. But I remembered that “perdutto” meant “lost” in one of the Italian past tenses.

The Birth Of Edward

It was an important moment of my life therefore I decided to share the story on my blog too. It was in June when me and Arevik made one of the first dancing parties for the kids. We were all playing while relaxing after a dance. The task was to shout loudly ones name to the screen. Arevik asked me to start and she made it with sarcasm and I played along (I am also a fan of such humor so it was easy to work with this girl). I shouted my name and then the children did the same thing. The queue of those who wanted to shout their names were quite large. And then I thought why to not get in the line again. I changed my hairstyling a little bit, set down (to be smaller). Arevik asked me: “Aww, little boy, who are you?”. I said I was Edward from Omsk. All the children laughed. Subsequently we used “Edward” several times at this evening-show (and actually “Edward” started to work with me on an equal basis and participated in many performances and events this summer, in Sicily). I was very happy that it all went successfully and spontaneously. In addition to that, Artemio and Anna that were sitting behind the screen that evening with their computer and technique asked: “who is Edward? Where did he come from?” And then they added that when they heard about him (but didn’t see) they thought it was probably going to be interesting for me to speak with Edward since he’s from Omsk just like I am. I want to say that it feels really good when you can make fun on your own and to please children at the same time.

My misinterpretation of Italian

One day walking near the hotel I met a young man and he was kind of active and pushy that immediately began to tell me how beautiful I was, how he liked me and that according to him, I took his heart. He began to write on Facebook and when I received his message “Ti voglio bene”, I somehow translated it not as it actually was. This phrase means that “I love you” or something like “I wish you all the best” (I care about you). After seeing the word “voglio” (I want) I decided that the Italian wrote to me: “I want you.” About “bene” I completely forgot and for some time I really thought that he was persistent and shameless. And then found out that I’ve got it all wrong. Learn the languages my friends!)))

Winnie the Pooh would be quite confused.

One day our whole team was a little sick. Artemio decided to go to the doctor. In truth, I was glad about it as I thought of it as another language practice. The doctor, fortunately for me, didn’t speak any English. Of course I could not understand everything literally but could get the general idea of what he was saying to us. The doctor, by the way welcomed us in a t-shirt and his silk underpants. It was quite unusual, maybe it was Sicilian version of the shorts. Anyway, he was really nice and friendly and at the end he suggested to drink milk and honey for me and Artemio. Therefore we went to take our curse after the dinner. The hotel had several bars it was a whole adventure for us. First of all we came to the bar, which was closed, at the second one noone understood me and so they gave us hot water, then we waited for the milk. They didn’t have honey and we went to another bar for our aim, there they sent us to the restaurant. I thought it wasn’t going to be a problem as I knew the restaurant very well and any employe there were my friends. Alas, I did not know how to say “honey” in Italian and had no idea how to pronounce it. When the doctor spoke to me, I just remembered that the French version of the word was very similar to the Italian one and decided that I would be able to explain it in the restaurant. I went to a selected “victim” with Artemio and asked for the needed honey, my Italian friend could not understand me. Then I said to him: “miel”. He replied: “Miguel? Do you know Miguel? Do you need him? The one with brown eyes?” And he began to describe the guy. Thus me and Artemio began our “show of flying bees”, we pretended to be the bees. Finaly my Italian friend  understood us and advised to ask the waitress and one of the waiters brought 4 small  packages of honey. In general, the mission was possible and done, but it was a lot of fun. And honey, by the way is “miele” in Italian.

My dear lovely people, it happens that I am in magical Italy again. I have already gone to Verona and Florence and right now I am staying in Rome. There is a lot I want to share with you and write about but not sure when I can do…anyway, I hope you are all good and happy and I’ll see you soon!

 

Meeting Etna Volcano

Buongiorno a tutti! I am continuing with my Italian sketches, my friends!

Today I want to tell you about such a great event I had, more precisely about the conquest of the stratovolcano Etna! Aww, I remember now the voice of our wonderful guide Anna. When she was talking about Etna (and about anything), I felt like being on some special planet, in another world perhaps. In general I liked her mysterious, intriguing voice and funny stories.

So, Etna…even before reaching Sicily, I have dreamed about meeting the volcano. First of all, it is something unknown to me and (excuse my English) is very cool and most importantly, I believe in the power of the Universe, nature, energy of different levels and so on. In other words, I find it very interesting.

From our hotel Anya and Zhenya (our guides and representatives of the company “Pac Group”) organized tours for any taste and of course there was an excursion to Etna followed by a trip to Taormina. The time was flying and Natasha was waiting for the hour of her departure to Etna. The thing is that this excursion was on Tuesdays and I worked these days. But here came the long-awaited Tuesday when I could go to Etna, with the proviso that I would  take photos of the tourists (okay, that’s not entirely true because Artemio said that it would be great if I could do it while they’ll be climbing the volcano, showing their emotions and actions, and if I fail to do so there is nothing to worry about). But being an extremely responsible person I could not allow the second option happen to me (to come back with nothing), so most of the tour I sang “I always take the camera with me, with me” and provided the song with some action of video-making. In other words, the conquest of Mount Etna was: “Oh! I need to get footage of our beautiful russo turisto getting on the bus! And now I should film them getting off the bus! Oh, there is a good view of the volcano! And here our tourist sees the stones, and here…and there…” In general, it was briefly about my first trip to the volcano.

If talking in a bit more details then, of course, I experienced what I wanted to experience and I was happy about the trip to Etna.

First of all, Anya (our guide) told some very interesting stories about the Italians, their life and education in Italy, etc. When I was on the bus I thought that I just had to share these incredible facts and legends on my blog, but how can I find enough time to tell you everything!? And unfortunately some stories have been already forgotten. Our driver took us to a certain height (I think it was about 1000 m, not sure). And further if desired we went up with the cable car (and then another bus) to a height of 3000m. Everyone said “arrivederci” to Sicilian heat and “Ciao” to cold Etna, because there was long-awaited +5C at the crater. In truth it was very strange to feel such a temperature after a month and a half spending in “the steam room” called Syracuse. I was wearing a lightweight jacket under the large jacket rented there for 3 euros (see the photo above). In general I was “the cabbage” and I was on the top: happy, satisfied, with the camera in my hands. There we were greeted by a local Sicilian guide at Etna. We walked from rock to rock, from edge to edge, from crater to crater. The guide spoke in 3 languages to us: Italian, French and English. What can I say about him? He was such a great man! And the reason of him being so perfect as a guide because of his choice of the languages spoken (I learnt English, French and learning Italian now) so I could practice my listening skills in all the languages I learnt and I must say I was pretty happy that in every case the information is more or less was the same, haha.

While I was listening to the tour guide, I was also looking around, filming our tourists, I still had time to collect Lava stones (with my fifth hand) for my dear grandmother Zhorzhetta. It’s a fact that the soil and the volcanic rocks of Etna are very fertile and I think there is a powerful energy inside them so I don’t regret I was working hard there (at Etna) and took a package of stones from the volcano. The interesting thing is that I then dragged this kilogram of stones to Russia. It was funny and heavy but I followed the slogan of Nike and I’ve just done it! The musical band “Uma2rman” singing “we are Russians – we are simple people”, so if there is heat, if there is snow I will anyway bring “the volcano” home! haha

At that day Etna was foggy and unfortunately we were unable to see the stunning views of the city of Catania (see the photos above). Besides I was filming a lot and majority of my “seeing experience” was through the lens so Artemio and my dear team let me go to Etna and Taormina in a couple of weeks again. However this time there was a downpour at the volcano therefore I decided to discover the surroundings of the wondrous natural object at a height of 1000 m. Our tourists were not particularly happy, and as about me – I enjoyed this trip as I usually do! I am still looking on the bright side of everything coming to my life!

(was trying to smile and take a photo even though there was rain pouring down on me)

Of course Etna has become a bright symbol of Sicily and in connection with its popularity there are gift shops, cafes and even a 7D cinema, which I had a chance to experience on my first visit to the volcano.  I remember visiting a similar cinema in Singapore but I think it was less exciting and impressive than the one in Sicily. In the movie YOU are a passenger travelling with a cable car, and then by another transport (I don’t remember which one), but the main thing is that everything goes out of control there: Etna starts to erupt, you’re in a rush, you are surrounded by lava, you can feel the wind blowing into you through the broken glass of the car, everywhere you go there is some kind of danger and there are rats running on your feet…well, it was a good time)))

(before the cinema with one of our tourists, lovely boy and a friend called Roman).

Etna itself was really impressive too but I guess I would have loved to spend some more time there and probably alone. However, one day I might go there again…I hope so.

This part of the excursion was followed by the town of Taormina. It was a contrast trip: from cold to hot, from nature to the city. On the way Anya was telling us about our destination and its beautiful tourist attractions. Fortunately I still remember something. For instance, there is a film festival hold in Taormina, which brings together actors of different ranks including Hollywood stars. The city is two-leveled where on the second level there are shops, tourist places, and on the first one there are many luxury hotels located along the beach. According to Anna these hotels are very expensive and probably beautiful but they have one big disadvantage such as the railroad passing majority of them which absolutely spoils the impression about the hotel and the city. And when there is a clear sunny day with good weather conditions one can view the mainland of Italy! I enjoyed it very much. It’s like with the volcano (unusual great feelings )  when you realize there is a continent starting in front of you!

On my first trip to Taormina I succeed to go to the gardens that are really famous among tourists (Garden of Villa Comunale). They conquered my heart and soul: it was magical, beautiful and quiet there. And of course I made my 1,000 and one photo there))).

And on my second trip to the town I ate a real Italian pizza! I still remember the taste! And then I visited the Ancient theatre of Taormina. At first I doubted that I wanted to go there (because of the huge line near the theater), but still decided to go there and was happy about it. I would simply call it “I came, I saw, I conquered”. Actually it was cloudy and humid after the rain but nevertheless I fully enjoyed the beautiful views from there.

And some more photos I took when being in the town.

Here you can order an apron with your name written on it (I think it’s good for a present)

Believe it or not but those are made of marzipan.

A bit of Italian kids fashion

Good bye my friends! I hope to be soon here again 🙂 wishing you all the very best!

My hitchhiking in Italy

Ciao and buongiorno to everyone!

I always start my posts complaining about the amount of adventures, events and emotions happened recently and I complain because I am always not sure how to put it on the blog. There is not an exception this time and so much has happened over the summer in Italy that I don’t really know where to start. For instance, I conquered an active stratovolcano Etna, visited  small cozy and very picturesque little towns of Italy, tasted sea-food and sweet delicacies of the Sicilian coast, made friends with local chefs and barmen, discovered incredibly amazing and friendly world of Sicily – the birthplace of the mafia. But I will try to tell you about everything another time. Today I want to talk about such an exciting phenomenon as an autostop.

Once upon a time in a very very cold morning when there was nothing to do…of course, this is completely untrue, as I always have something to do (especially in Italy) and it’s never cold there. Every second was like a piece of gold for me and I think I can say that I lived the moment and was “here and now” in Sicily. However  our hotel was located aside and it seemed that we lived and worked in the village. And it was kind of problematic to go to the city: the hotel bus worked all days except Sunday and  we had a day off on Sunday. It’s such an ironic fate, isn’t it? Taxi was expensive, especially considering that the trip to the town was no more than 15 minutes.

So it happened that my friends (and at the same time my colleagues) Anna and Artyom  were the pioneers in the field of “hitchhiking” for me and when they spoke about travelling with strangers they talked about it  very brightly, lively and interesting therefore I was curious to try it myself.

Thus on the 7th of August (the birthday of my dad who didn’t know) I decided to overcome all my fears (ok, I won’t exaggerate – one fear of many millions) and having collected all will in a fist  and also the necessary things in my bag, went to meet my fate…as the territory of our hotel was huge it took me about 10-15 minutes before I got to the road.

I put an incredible effort and raised my paper with amazingly (ok, badly to be honest) letters on it that composed into “Siracusa” (destination – B where I was going to). I must say I felt awful. Just imagine: in principle I hesitate to ask for something, but here I am asking all passers-by and what’s more I am asking absolutely unfamiliar people and doing it alone, on the road, for the amazement of the crowd. My situation was aggravated by the golden sun of Sicily that so generously granted me with its positive rays (or, to be more precise, mercilessly scorching me).

I think it would be fun to film my “heroic deed” with a hidden camera because there was a struggle for life and death inside me. The internal dialogue was something like that: “Natasha, you can! Do not be afraid! Keep the sign raised!” (the sign rises). Then: “Oh, what a nonsense. How embarrassing! The car ran and didn’t stop!” (the sign omitted). Next: “So! Anna and Artyom were able to do it, why can’t I? You’re a confident person and you always get lucky, it’ll be great! You have already decided, just do it, go for it!” (the sign rises again)… missing just 4-5 cars I was desperate and thought that since a few cars drove past it was time to go back, I did everything I could (haha). And there I was standing already with the lowered sign “Siracusa” so no one could see it), and I noticed a guy on his scooter slowing down and giving me a signal. He asked me where I needed to go and afterwards I said to myself: “don’t go with him, Natasha! Don’t go! No!” and at the same time my legs moved towards the scooter. I looked at the guy’s eyes and understood that there was nothing to fear. He was a good kind young man and what’s more he was going to the destination I needed. I was afraid to sit on his scooter properly so I set sideways on the edge. In this case I was going without a helmet while also holding my bag and as it was embarrassing to hold the guy, I held the rear part of the scooter that made my journey even more risky and dangerous. I should have wear pointe shoes and stand on tiptoe. After a few minutes my lovely driver stopped and asked me to sit properly as I had to and that’s what I eventually did. I won’t tell you all the details but want to mention that the guy’s name was Sebastian. He was a very nice, kind and friendly 28 years old man. He took me around the city, showed interesting places, told me a little bit about his life, didn’t let me to die of thirst, was very attentive and courteous, and we visited Castello Maniace (positive name, right?). And then he drove me back to the hotel…Everything was perfect! Sebastian, if you are reading this I am saying thank you so much once again!

(A window in the Castel)

(The view from the window)

Next time (in about a week or two) I went to another autostop with Artyom (aka Artemio) and Anna (aka Anna that loves a Russian song “Ulibaysya” (“Smiling”). If she was near I would sing this song immediately!). This time we planned to go to Catania via Syracuse, so just in case, we had two pieces of paper with us (Syracuse was about 15 minutes away and Catania was about an hour away therefore we knew that not everyone would have taken three “russo turisto” so far). We waited a relatively long time, 15-20 minutes if being more precise but when you stand in the heat and the cars fly by, time seems infinitely long. We had our signs, smiles, large voting fingers and even dancing! Yeah, we had to dance on the road and it was very cool when people kind of supported us. For instance, some of them did not have a spare place in their car (especially for three of us) but people were going and repeating our movements or making some other signals. Also it was amusing  when a driver on his scooter/motorcycle  shrugged, lamenting that he could not take all three of us)))

Finally fate has smiled upon us when a man aged 50-60 (who was going with his son or grandson 12 years old, I guess) stopped near us. The man was driving to his mother and it was obvious that he wanted to give us a lift to Catania even but how can a person ignore the invitation to visit his beloved mother. He was also very friendly and they both (with his grandson) constantly looked at us, maybe they haven’t communicated with foreigners before and it was a very interesting experience for them. The man dropped us off right on the highway leading to Catania. Thanks a lot to him! It was great to meet with him as well!

Our “autostop business” was a bit stuck on the freeway. Cars were passing, our hands were already down but then we had a second wind and again we worked as a team “smile, finger, dancing”)). Catania was quite a long way to go and perhaps that is why many passed us. But here the destiny smiled again. Two lovely strangers named Francesco and his beloved Elena stopped their car in order to give us a lift. They were both Italians living in Milan. They were just on vacation, traveling to different cities and friends in Sicily. We had a very interesting conversation on various topics and spent about two hours all together. I was also amazed and very pleased when it came to Emilio Pucci subject. It is an Italian clothing brand a great one, which I dream to work for, draw prints, and so on. And it turns out that just yesterday (the day before we met Francesco) he was at a party with the creative Director of the fashion house of Pucci. Is it a coincidence? Is it a miracle? Is it a sign? I don’t know but I was certainly happy. As our Italians spoke English well we had more English talks rather than Italian. In addition to that, we drank some coffee together. We really wanted to treat our “saviors” but Francesco never gave us a chance to pay for coffee, explaining: “You are in my car so you are my guests and I want to buy coffee for my guests. The objections are not accepted otherwise I’ll be offended”. That’s Italian hospitality! This is amazing!

In general, I was over the moon because of such an interesting meeting and I am certainly looking forward to new meetings with our new friends from Milan, really looking forward to!

(c) Photo by Anna Banana https://vk.com/artlandphoto

(c) Photo by Anna Banana https://vk.com/artlandphoto

(c) Photo by Anna Banana https://vk.com/artlandphoto

During our walk around the city we came upon a tour bus and decided that it would be great to ride this if it cost 5 euros. We were offered bus-tickets for 15 euros per person, but when the seller saw our retreating back he offered us the same tickets for 5 euros. What can I say – we are  “russo turisto”))

The bus-tour was gorgeous! I’m not exaggerating, it really was amazing! There were very few passengers, many seats and we were on the second floor where the bus was opened,  you could feel fresh sea breeze, and you  kind of “fly” and observe the architecture, constructions, sculptures, whilst listening to the audio guide in your own language (there were 6 or 8 of them and Russian was on the list). And you feel like a tourist being on holiday even though you actually work in Sicily. It was perfect! It’s been a few months since then and I still feel happiness gained in that trip!

(Views from the bus)

(c) Photo by Anna Banana https://vk.com/artlandphoto

(c) Photo by Anna Banana https://vk.com/artlandphoto

(c) Photo by Anna Banana https://vk.com/artlandphoto

(c) Photo by Anna Banana https://vk.com/artlandphoto

(c) Photo by Anna Banana https://vk.com/artlandphoto

(c) Photo by Anna Banana https://vk.com/artlandphoto

(c) Photo by Anna Banana https://vk.com/artlandphoto

(c) Photo by Anna Banana https://vk.com/artlandphoto

Afterwards we continued with our shopping and walking and then we went to the airport to meet our new tourists and get to the hotel so there was not “hitchhinking” on the way back.

Next Sunday we repeated our adventures but a bit different this time. We were waiting for a new autostop (and the last one for now). Myself, Anna and Artemio were on the way to Syracuse this time. We waited quite a long time (10-15 minutes I think) and as soon as Artyom said: “Well, Natasha, perhaps it’s time to dance”  a very nice, friendly man of the age 45-50 years old stopped his car. I believe he heard Artemio’s words while being a hundred meters from us and thought:  “no, do not dance, please! I’d better stop”))) but he was wrong thinking like that as I dance well, especially if we are talking about the autostop and dancing on the road! On arrival in the city the man was given an apple (unfortunately for him not an “Apple” but a fruit))) as a way of saying “thank you”. By the way I was sitting in front beside the driver while going in that car and that’s another plus of knowledge of Italian. As I learn/practice the language I spoke on the way and at the same time thanked the driver for his kindness. If I didn’t know Italian, I would sit in the back seat of the car, and even perhaps not in Sicily, but somewhere in Siberia))

Our trip to Syracuse was less memorable than to Catania but was also distinguished by some happenings there. We visited a couple of supermarkets, looked what to bring to Russia (this time instead of the usual souvenirs I brought my family pistachio paste (like Nutella but better), olive oil with peppers, chocolate of different flavours, dried tomatoes, pistachio brittle, pistachio liqueur, wine (with almonds, sort of)…Oh, and please don’t ask me how I fit everything in my 25kg suitcase). In one word a trip to the supermarket was needed. I also bought a book by Paolo Coelho in Italian language and was very happy about it (until I tried to read it, haha). And then three of us went to sit on the waterfront. At the pier there were different boats and two large yachts with the Union Jack. We sat, chatted, admired the yachts and each dreamt about diverse things but all three wanted to go on the yacht. We even had a plan how to get there to observe it (with a permission of the hosts of course), but the plan was never carried out, alas, alas. Then Anya and Artemio left me alone for a while and I decided to walk a bit but primarily I stayed on the embankment and plunged into thinking about the boat and how to make our intentions a reality. I sat and thought that if I didn’t do at least one step in the desired direction then how am I going to respect myself. It won’t be me in this case! At that time the yacht was empty as all of its passengers-the owners swam in the pool and went to their cabins. The yacht was quiet and peaceful, and was monitored by a camera or few.  Suddenly I decided to write a letter. It was in English where I wrote a little bit about my life, about my pure love to the UK, about my achievements and knowledge of several foreign languages, provided a link to my art work, as well as my e-mail address. Who knows – maybe someday I’ll get an answer, an invitation, or just a regular email from someone who read my letter-message on the yacht. When Anya and Artyom came back I took the letter and put it on the stairs of the ship while adding two apples giving some weight to hold the paper on the stairs.

(c) Photo by Anna Banana https://vk.com/artlandphoto

Unfortunately the yacht was constantly thronged by tourists that were taking pictures and could have taken my letter or apples, but it was more importantly that I figured out how to leave my sign there and how to do a step to something I desired. And after all it does not really matter. I believe in the fairytale and it is always there, in my life! It happened that in Italy I met some people who thought I was strange, not from this world and marveled at my naivety and a belief in miracles. Thus I did not share this story with anyone in Italy and now suddenly decided to write about it in details. Why? Because I am who I am, those people cannot affect my life and at the same time I hope I can inspire my readers, to reassure and to show how out of the ordinary day you can make a fabulous one and how to create your own adventure and expect some miracles.

That day we also used “auto stop” on the way to the hotel and this time our “savors” were a very friendly lady with a young lovely girl (they were probably mother and daughter). They were also very nice, communicative and we exchanged contacts. The girl was a medicine-student and spoke English very well. It was so nice meeting them too!

(c) Photo by Anna Banana https://vk.com/artlandphoto

In conclusion I want to say that I am probably still afraid of “autostop” to some degree and, of course, traveling with friends is much safer and quieter than doing it alone. But I’m very thankful that everything happened the way it happened and that I had such an incredible experience of an autostopper.

You can read on my blog very soon: “Conquering an active volcano”, “The job which I loved and missing now”, “Children are the flowers of life and how great it is to work with them”, “How I love Italians and, thanks to the chefs, bartenders, waiters…”, “learning Italian” and much more. I hope I can find time to share those 100000000000000 emotions that I have accumulated over the summer.

I wish you all love and happiness, my dear readers! Speak soon!