Giovedi

Ogni contrada ha un suo simbolo: la Torre, l'Onda, la Pantera, eccetera - Every contrada has its own symbol: the Tower, the Wave, the Panther, etc.

Thursday is my morning to go riding. I decided to do laps around Parco di Monza this morning. I have thought about it many times and always end up riding towards Como. I need to try some different routes to mix things up so I don't get bored and get too comfortable. I figured out a 7km loop around the park and ended up doing 7 laps for a total of 52km. It was nice to just ride and not think about traffic and stoplights. The loop even offers some short climbing hills and some nice long curving lanes.

I returned a little early today so I could shower and get ready to drive Katrina to work. We are meeting Mike and his parents for dinner in Brughatte this evening, which is a little closer to Agrate, where Katrina works. We will pick her up and go to dinner this evening.

Brandon and I stopped at BiciMania on the way home. I had to drool over all the beautiful Italian road bikes. Really, I've been needing some sunglasses and they have a nice selection. I really don't like wearing sunglasses, but I am tired of getting bugs in my eyes when I ride. I found some nice Kayak glasses for e30. They have three lenses: dark, yellow and clear.

Katrina uploaded her pictures from our first day in Amsterdam. Check them out. She's a photogapher. I just take pictures to put in this blog.

Brandon and I had Italian lessons this afternoon. Rosella brought her dog, Joy, with her. We both had pretty good lessons. I attained a new level of clarity concerning past and present tense.

While I had my lesson, Brandon finished book two in the Harry Potter series. He read it in 3 days and has now started on book three.

This evening we picked up Katrina at work and met Mike and his parents at La Volta Rossa in Brugherio. They were very kind and brought me a gift box of Crystal Lite packets. Thank you! We had a nice dinner with a couple bottles of red wine. For dessert we all had chocolate. They served us each a plate with several pieces of chocolate, from white and milk to very dark chocolate and some dessert wine.