A new car, an alarm and painting the balcony

I am happy to announce that I am the proud owner of a new car! Today I went to take it from the dealership. It's a black Toyota Yaris. Maybe it's good it's a small car - the parking place for it is so tiny I could barely get it in without rubbing the sides of the car (for those who visited me in Hungary and were impressed by the smallness of the parking space? this one is smaller...). But, it's a parking place, in Milan not something to be sneezed at. If you remember one of the reasons I moved a bit farther out was so that I'd have this precious parking place. and I managed to fill the car up with some diesel - only 10 euros because I couldn't figure out how to pay with my credit card in this self service gasoline station, another woman who was there filling up her car seemed to think it isn't possible to pay with a credit card in that station. So I'm counting on these few liters to last a bit (maybe like the in the Hanuka miracle for 8 days...) until I figure out how to fill up the car - or find a serviced gasoline station. I know this is not fascinating stuff to read but I'm writing it anyhow so you get a feeling a bit of how my life is here. Small things like filling up cars become major issues (or at least, time consuming and a bit nerve racking). I also got to work with the car, parked it (we've got special places for diplomatic cars over there) and got home in one piece. I wasn't sure where my parking place is so I stopped at every corner in the underground garage and tried my remote until I found the right place.

Speaking of remote controls - I've now got three remote controls - one for the car, one for the garage and one for the alarm system in my house (yes, as of yesterday I'm well protected in my home). Also, I've got a million keys - 3 for the office, 5 which I use regularly to get in and out of my apartment and building, and an additional 5 or six keys that open various other doors in the building - the storage room, the electricity room, the bikes' room, etc. I feel like those guys in the old churches and their graveyards going around with a lot of keys rattling on their belt....

What else? I've just come back from a conference in Amsterdam. I haven't been there for about 11 years. It's a great city a lot of fun. How does one describe fun? I'm not sure. To begin with everyone there speaks English, which is a relief, the city is very pretty (although it was very cold - the wind adds a chill factor to the already low temp. of around zero...), there are a lot of nice stores to buy things in, and in general a pleasant atmosphere. We stayed at the Victoria Park Hotel across from the central train station which was very nice. We ate A LOT, but the food was good, especially the Dutch version of french fries, which you can eat with various dips - most Dutch people eat them with Mayonnaise. Also the stroopel cookies are nice - they've got this caramel filling inside which is divine. and the cheeses - like any serious European country the Dutch have some excellent cheeses - the Old Amsterdam was very nice. We played a "City Game" on Sun. - it's like a treasure hunt, you go around Amsterdam and answer some questions on various subjects and also send back proof you've been to the various points you were sent to. In the summer I suppose this game is a lot of fun because the city IS very nice but when it's so cold it's hard to be out for 3 hours like this - all you're thinking of is a nice hot cup of coffee... (I remember my first winter in Budapest I was walking around the city in the dead of winter with a friend, it takes a while to realize that when the temp. is this cold you stay inside and only venture out when it's absolutely necessary, another thought that struck me was that it's probably better I ended up in Italy and not in Canada from this point of view, I expect I would have been very miserable there because of the darkness and cold).

Two things bothered me in Amsterdam - the first is the fact that smoking is still allowed there in public places, when you get used to smoke-free environments it's not a nice experience to get back to the hotel stinking of cigarette smoke. and the second thing is seeing the ladies in the red light district. It's like a butcher's shop - meat on sale. At least, the Dutch say, they're not standing on the streets and are supposed to be "clean", they get examined regularly and are enjoying relatively good working conditions. But it's depressing to see young girls on display like this. One of the people in our group pointed out that it's weird to see the working girls and a few meters away from them - a church.


Tomorrow we're having a small Xmas celebration at work. I've just baked a cake in honor of the occasion. After attending the Jewish ceremonies (I went to a candle lighting ceremony at a synagogue here (Beth Shlomo) followed by a dinner with nice Kosher food (it appears they have an Israeli chef who makes very nice food) the night before I left to Holland) I will now attend a Christian event. It's a bit strange, today I got a small gift from the wife of the Gabay of the synagogue in honor of the festivities, and it seems the Jewish people also send and receive Xmas cards or at least exchange New Year greetings.

Anyway, things are grinding to a halt in anticipation of the holiday next week. A good time to catch up on my mail at work and to take care of things that otherwise get put aside. My eyes are closing so I'll end here. Happy Xmas to those celebrating Xmas and many greetings and good wishes for the New Year.

P.S. 1 for those wondering about the state of the ceiling in my balcony - I am happy to announce that the work is finished and my balcony is now beautiful! a few flowers in the pots when spring comes will make it a lovely place to sit in (barring mosquitoes...).

P.S. 2 two pictures of me in Amsterdam, taken by Yoni:



This is me just before eating a nice juicy steak....













This is me getting ready to leave the restaurant and face the cold...