For all soccer fans,Serbia lost the game last night and did not qualify for the best sixteen of the World Cup..

It was such a shame,but well..it is just a game and we will return in four years to be better then ever!:-)

Even that loss did not ruin my good time here.Finally weather is improving and i had to busy weeks where i progressed with my research and also traveled to visit Milano and Venezia.Finally some of the obstacles in my research have been solved so i can breathe more easily and finalize my work hopefully.

Definatelly the highlight of previous two weeks have been the revisit of Milano and trip to Venice!Although the weather was not that kind to us we really had great time,took a lot of pictures and earned couple of blisters from walking.:-)Small price to pay for the oportunity to see peaces of wonderfull history this country has.I think we can say we saw everything worth seeing considering we were on foot.The only shame is that we did not see the Last Supper frescue from Leonardo Da Vinci.Such a shame.We went to the Kathedral of Santa Maria delle Grazie but we did not know that we need reservations to go in and it was sold out for weeks..Well maybe at the end of our journy we try again.:-)I cannot leave this entry withoutmentioning that I visited San Siro/Giuseppe Meazza stadion!:-)Unbelievable experience!:-)And i have pictures to prove it..;-)

I heard about Venice many times but really did not know much about it.I read the book..I saw the movie...But You have to see it to believe it!:-)Absolutely amazing!City litterally on watter!Once You get off the train,only way of transportation are gondolas,vapporetos and taxi boats.City is intertvained with small and big channel,narrow streets and elegant bridges.Unfortunately we were not so lucky with the weather there so our visit was short with fast pace.We took a trip to small island of Murano,famous for their glass blowing craft.Unfortunately we did not see actuall glass blowing demonstration but we saw many amazing peaces of art created from that craft.I can tell You that that day we had a chance to test our see legs,try some salty water and cheer for Italy on the World Cup with friendly people from Venice.I hope You will enjoy some of the pictures bellow.:-)

Milano:   

Venezia:

This week was little quiet. We didn’t go to visit anything outside of Crema but we are planning to make up for it in following weeks. Our work is progressing nicely and our collaboration with our colleagues in Crema is running smooth and is developing fast. I do not see any reason why we should not continue working together after this PIRE experience is over.

I must say that my Italian is progressing, especially when it comes down to food.:-) But You cannot blame me because the food is so delicious!I am only feeling comfortable ordering gelato(ice cream) using my voice, for everything else still pointing is the solution.:-)But very soon..I will risk it!:-)

Crema is preparing for the World Cup! Flags are prepared, hands for clapping and voices for cheering! Italy is country crazy for soccer. Since I am from Europe myself, I am very fond of that beautiful game also. I am just very glad that Italy and Serbia are not in the same group..:-)

Writing little late.. But better than never.:-)

Well, it has begun!:-) Finally we are in Italy and can explore one of the cradles of civilization.

I must say I was looking forward to come here and explore, since I am European myself but I never had an opportunity to visit this amazing country. Let me just inform You right away! They do sing when they talk!:-) It is pleasure to listen to them, language full of melodies, soft and full of emotions. I have started with learning it, it is a shame to miss an opportunity to learn a language, being surrounded with Italians.:-)

Our flight was long and we had problems straitening up right away but that is normal for over Atlantic trips.:-) But what followed is typical European and I missed it! Switching trains, using metro’s, running not to miss transportation.. We must have looked very funny to locals running like maniacs with millions of bags, pointing with our fingers around.. Where to go? Where to go?:-)Of course, we were carrying the map with circled points where we need to go. Have You ever seen typical Japanese tourist? We were missing hats and big Fuji cameras around our neck to be a typical representative..:-)

Of course we survived, it was a good exercise! Finally we arrived at Crema! Our trip was long but interesting and we were finally here!

Crema is a little town settled 40 km from Milano. I immediately noticed what I have heard about many times, beautiful architecture. Narrow streets, old fashioned buildings mixed with newly build. Lots of small churches, throughout the town, built many centuries ago. In the middle of the town there is small square, Piaca Duomo. And in the middle of the square lies big cathedral, tallest building in town. For me the prettiest building in town. It is visible from almost any part of the town, it certainly helps with orientation. :-) My personal favorite thing to do here is to sit on a bike and drive around. You do not need more than 15 minutes to circle it. Perfect distance, perfect time.:-)

We have spent this couple of days adjusting, meeting with colleagues, fighting with jet leg and trying to make up on day of not sleeping which we lost in our arrival. Looking forward to a weekend and detailed exploration of the town! We may even go somewhere outside the town if time permits.:-)Of course we did some working too.. Not much but it’s a start..:-) We have 5 more weeks, plenty of time to work!:-)

Enjoy in couple of pictures from beautiful Crema!

But lets not forget Milano!We made a short visit to Milano this sunday!Short and sweet.We just saw a glimps of a beautiful city but rest ashure that we will thoroughly explore and investigate everything.:-)

What we have seen so far justifies Milano's nickname as fashion capital of the world but if You ask me culturaly and architecturarly they are not far behind also.This is one very prety city..

This week, we had time to focus on our work. Jet leg is behind us, our brains are working again!:-)I had couple of short meetings with some colleagues for University of Milano. They are familiar with my task since they did face recognition, which is based on the same idea as flower recognition, biggest difference is that my work is focused on different platform, iPhone OS. With their insights my work should be easier and learning curve shorter.