Come si dice "Man-up"?

It's well-known that the hot water in Italy doesn't last long. The two guys who showered yesterday said the water got room temp at best, and only lasted a minute.

This morning I turned the water on. . . . Ice cold. I waited a minute. . . . still ice cold. absolutely no improvement. So I thought to myself, "man-up. just do it."

Water on.

Got wet. might have been 10 seconds. felt like 15 seconds. ...could have been as quick as 5.

Water off.
Soap up. Shampoo.
Water on.

Rinse. Probably another 15 seconds. Felt like 45.

Water off.
Shiver.
Dry-off.
Shiver more.

The water temp never changed. Boiler turned on? Yup. So we called the repair man. Turns out our boiler was broken (each individual apt. has their own). Showers have been great since.

We found a supermarket a couple blocks away. Grabbed the essentials. Detergent. TP. Paper towels. I grabbed 2 boxes of pasta. €0.39 each. Jar of sauce. €0.70. Paper towels are on me. €1.65. Total spent on the first trip to the supermarket: just over €3. Nice.

Later, using the few italian phrases I've learned so far, I went to the tiny shop below our apartment that sells pastas, meats, and cheeses. I wanted a good cheese for my pasta, but staring at the displays, i couldn't see any parmesean, so it was time to start asking the man behind the counter.

1st Question: Parla inglese?
- - - a little.

a few seconds of hesitation: i think i can do this in Italian.
: vorrei...
- - Vorrei? (he seemed surprised. ..like, you just asked me if i speak english. Now you're speaking italian, not english).
: Vorrei un buona formaggio ....uh.... per pasta.

He turned around to the shelf behind him - probably why i didnt see the parmesean - grabbed a block of it. Broke off a piece and had me taste it.
- - Bene?
: Si, Bene!

He took out his knife and sized it up in several different spots to ask how much I wanted. He took a guess with his knife and asked
- - Bene?
The shape made a good sized wedge - bigger than the small triangles you buy in the dairy section back in the states.
: Si
He sliced off my chuck, weighed it, printed off the price, wrapped it in paper, and gave it to me to take to the register (which basically means I had to turn around. Small store).

Label read Parmesean Reggiano. That's the "high-class" stuff. Even more expensive back home. €4.50 I paid about 1/2 price and got more cheese than what you'd typically buy in the states. Good stuff. gotta love Italy.

Eric and I made pasta for dinner while the other guys went out to eat again. Topped off our pasta with the newly purchased cheese. Tasty.

JD, Gwen, Rob, and I went out exploring the city, making our way over to Circo Massimo, because it was all lit up for La Notte Bianca.

Circo Massimo from one end

Circo Massimo from the side

We came back hungry just after midnight, so I started to boil some water to make the rest of the pasta I'd bought. After the water was boiling, Gwen took care of it the rest of the way.
- - - €0.39 and I don't have to cook it? Thanks for my food? No, Thank you Gwen! You can cook our dinner any time. - - -