A too short long weekend

And so, I'm back to Rome, again. Well, I was back sunday evening really (which happened to be my mom's birthday as well), but between sunday evening and all yesterday I couldn't find the time and the will of updating my blog.

Truth is, it has been a week-end so full of things that I'd barely know where to start from. By the beginning, I suppose, then. Thursday evening I left my office early, rode home, calmly did my luggage finally deciding what I would had put on at Susanne's ball (and that alone took away some time, let me tell you) and then got to the car for the few kms between my house and Ciampino's airport. And I got stuck in a jam. Not a normal jam, a massive JAM, those kind of jams you can die in your car to be found you mummified a week later. It was a good thing that I had planned to arrive early, because I eventually made it to the check in 10 minutes before closure (which was always better than what happened on the way back, as you'll see). Nice uneventful flight and Susanne waiting me at the airport (running to me, would be more exact) and then... a ride to her house, where, for the first time ever, I would have stayed.

Now, I suppose a parenthesis is in order here. It's true I'm particularly old fashioned about some things, but it's a fact that only once, in my whole life, I had stayed with a girlfriend of mine (Bea) under the same roof with her parents, and I can tell you it was embarrassing, so much that the morning after I was worried about tip-toeing downstairs to face her parents again. So, can you imagine me at the idea of spending the whole week-end in the same house with Susanne's parents AND younger sisters? Truth to be told, it was quite alright in the end (and we didn't stayed around the house much, anyway), and I even got to know Susanne's middle sister, but still...

Anyway, friday morning came and that was all dedicated to Susanne's abitur ball. And so it was that even a girl who is usually extremely fast in preparing herself to get out, spent hours preparing. The end result was... well, was quite something. A necklace, silver and onyx, was my little graduation gift and I think it added nicely to the whole. The ceremony itself was... well.. hours of people speaking in german, but considering I survived a speech of one hour in Polish, once, and many awfully boring law conferences in the past, I knew what I had to expect and was ready for it.

After the official program and with Susanne's family having left shortly after the diploma ceremony, 5 uninterrupted hours of dancing followed, starting from waltzer (I can still dance it, amazing, last time was in Vienna more than 5 years ago), passing to disco music from the 70's and 80's and ending in a bit of Hip Hop, but nothing too terrifying and no techno anyway, with me and Susanne rarely being further apart than a meter and, for me, the discovery of her dancing charm. In the meanwhile, I knew I was the centre of several people's curiosity, as finally Susanne disclosed me, "der Italiener", to the general public after 11 months of being a couple. So I o to see, more than know, some of her closest friends and a particularly important, it seems, ex who proceeded, at some point, to sort of kiss me in a pretty drunkenly way. Eventually, we made it home at 5.30 am of saturday, and to say we collapsed shortly after doesn't even come close to the concept.

Some hours later, we arose and it was time to face another event: Italy-USA, second game of the first round of the World Championship. The choices in front of us were either to go to the Brandenburg Gate, where a maxi-screen had been set, or to the Sony Center at Potsdamer Platz where, unknown by me, the main studio of the German TV for World Championship's transmissions has been placed.

We first set towards the open air option, but given the sky threatening rain, we eventually made it to the Sony center where we entered a long, but admittedly trim where an incredible number of germans did wear the italian t-shirt on themselves and the italian flag on their cheeks. To be noted that I did have an italian flag painted on both my cheeks too and at some point Susanne had me painting an heart-shaped italian flag on her left cheek too. Once admitted in, a few minutes before the game, we took place in one of the first rows of the tribune, which caused our appearing a few times, even if always for just a second each time, in TV.

The game itself was strange and sorely disappointing, with Italy managing to tie 1-1 against a very though USA, playing almost all the first half 10 against 11, but then again most of the second half 10 against 9 as two americans were sent out, but it was anyway a nice evening and it was fun to walk around a Berlin filled with people from all around the world.

On sunday, another little adventure. I knew that Easyjet had recently changed the schedule of my flight, but habits are habits and we moved late. With check-in of the flight closing at 5.05 pm (without mercy, as it's made at a computer terminal which just shuts down at the closing time) I made it to the metro station of Schonefeld airport at 5.02. Now, everyone who has been there knows there is about a kilometer and some steep 40 steps between the end of the rail track to the Easyjet check-in area of the airport (which is obviously at the very very very far end of the terminal). And so it was that I left my trolley with Susanne and run, I suppose in a somewhat Forrest Gumpish way, and despite my total lack of training, the not excessive number of hours of sleep of the nights before and everything, I made it to the terminal at 5.04 and 31 seconds. When a few minutes later Susanne managed to reach me, I was still gasping for air.

And the week-end was finally, and sadly, over.