Busy, Cont'd

In two days' time Sean and I will be on our way to Italy! Of course I'm ready to go right now.

There was a flurry of trip-related activity today, partially thanks to yesterday's lunch with Dr. Cooper. Since she's on sabbatical this was the only time I've seen her since the beginning of the semester, and she gave me so much advice that I wished I had seen her a week or two earlier. She strongly urged me to buy an Italian cell phone while I'm there, for use on this and future trips. I see the logic of that, but I don't want to feel rushed into buying a phone in Bergamo just so I can have one immediately and give people the number. I mentioned this idea to Dr. Hall this morning and she offered to lend me her Italian phone if she could dig it up. I haven't heard back from her yet, but that would be great (she also gave me an older guidebook to Bergamo plus a map, which I was sorely lacking!). Jasmine and I also discussed jointly owning a phone, and she'll be there for two weeks in April, so more time to seek out a good price (Dr. Hall admitted to paying a small fortune for hers).

Dr. Cooper asked if I had business cards to give people, and of course I didn't, so one of my stops today was Staples to pick up my internet-ordered business cards that introduce me as a doctoral student at Temple. (It also turns out that I had accidentally been describing myself in emails as a bachelor's student, "una studentessa di laurea," when in fact I should have been saying "una studentessa di un corso di dottorato," or "dottoranda" for short. That makes it even more surprising that people were willing to help me!!)

Dr. Cooper also decided I should have a letter of introduction in Italian to smooth my way should I try to get into any libraries or archives that give me a hard time, which I really don't think is going to happen on this trip, since the library in Bergamo has already been very helpful. It can also be used to get into museums and such for free--Jasmine did that during her semester in Venice--but since it's just a week, and since Sean is with me as well, I'm really OK with just buying tickets. However, Dr. Cooper was set on this. So today I picked up some letterhead while I was at school and she emailed me the letter, and told me to have Sean forge her name.
Oh, she also suggested that I bring an "offering" of pastries or chocolates to anyone who proves particularly helpful.

She then reminded me to make sure my health insurance covers me overseas (it does, I called), and sent me a huge email today reminding me to take as many photographs as I can and to buy museum catalogues and ephemera where possible. True to form, she also suggested I contact her friend Richard Schofield again and set up a meeting while I'm in Venice. An awkward coffee date, yay! Actually, it could be interesting, because he contributed a paper to the volume that we're editing for Dr. Hall's class this semester, so we'll see.

Finally, she gave me some tips on how formal to be with the Countess, if I meet her (still no word back from Dr. Forcella on that): I should address her as egregia signora contessa (basically, Exellent Mrs. Countess) and tell her that sono molto onorata to meet her. Meep. I have a Skype date with Carla tomorrow morning so she can quiz me on some conversational Italian.

Both Dr. Cooper and Jasmine have been very helpful in terms of suggesting places to eat as well, which of course is an integral part of any trip Sean and I take. Jasmine even made me a Google map with all her favorite places on it, which I spent an hour today transferring to my paper map along with Dr. Cooper's suggestions. Venice is so wacky that places don't generally have a street address; they have a sestiere and a number, like "Cannareggio 3121." I was happy to discover that Jasmine's number one recommendation, also highly recommended by guidebooks, the Trattoria Ca' d'Oro, is literally almost on top of our hotel. She also told me to go find her friend Heather's glass shop on Piazza San Marco, though she warned me it's all definitely marked up. It's much easier to go say hello to a friend of a friend in a foreign city, rather than to meet up with a scholar who you feel the conspicuous need to impress!