Moments [NAPLES, POMPEII, VESUVEO, and CAPRI with KARA]

Dive in! I find myself constantly telling myself this. Whether its committing to a final Studio model or booking a flight to Hawaii to visit a best friend...its the act of running and diving head first into the freezing cold pool with very little consideration given to the consequences that shall follow. It's this reminder to myself...Dive in...to just go for it...no matter what, you can deal with what comes after the fact. And I have found that even the worst of consequences do not cause more damage than rewards gained. Along with reminding myself, quite easily, to 'Dive in', I find myself constantly fighting with Kara to 'Dive in' more often. She is obviously not as compulsive as me [which many people consider to be a good thing]. So sometimes I feel like I need to give her a little push to just 'Dive in'.

So you can imagine my surprise and extreme excitement when I got a Skype call from her telling me that she had already 'Dove in' with out any pushing and purchased plane tickets to Italy for her Spring Break! There is nothing better. The only major thing wrong with living in Europe right now, for me, is the fact that my friends and family aren't with me experiencing the same things that I am. So when the opportunity arose for me to share some time and experiences with Kara, I went all out.

Together we took a train to Naples [one of the dirtiest and slightly frightening cities in Italy in my opinion]. We had some pizzas in the city Pizza was apparently invented [guess what...it tasted the same as everywhere else in Italy]. The next day we took a tangled and misleading metro route to the ruins of Pompeii. If you ever have the chance to check out Pompeii, either get a guide or an audio guide or at least a good book. Pompeii is huge and the amount of information you can gain from experiencing it with some expertise is astounding. Afterwards, we sat down for some local food which blew our minds and our pallets. The Caprese salad [which has tied for number one with Bruschetta on my list of best Italian appetizers ever] is mostly sliced, fresh, tomatoes and very, very fresh Buffalo Mozzarella. And before that we split the biggest, freshest orange I have ever seen. They are native to southern Italy [along with delicious lemons and limes] and are so juicy they have dark red pulp in the center.















The next day we woke up early to catch a metro to the still active Mount Vesuvius [or Vesuveo in Italian]. If you ever find yourself with the options to take the free public bus to the base of the mountain and then hiking the rest or spending a whole eight euros to take a tour bus most of the way to the top...spend the eight freaking euros! Our over-adventurous and delusional asses got willingly picked up only half way up [after hiking for two and a half hours] by a tour bus and we very willingly spent the eight euro after that. The last 300 meters to the top we you have to hike because there is no road, but is worth every steep step. The view seems to be a collage of the Rocky Mountains, some western Pennsylvanian forests smashing into a dispersed New York city which leads you to a Virginian coast line. There are snow capped mountains in the distance. You can still see the hardened lava path carved through thick forests from the last eruption. And past that, Naples is in site against the Mediterranean coast. It is absolutely beautiful. One of the most beautiful sites Ive even seen in my life [up there with the top of a mountain in Hawaii and the top of the Acropolis in Athens...the pix below don't do it justice at all].

After we descended Vesuveo, we caught a bus to a port in Naples, where we caught a ferry to the island of Capri. The next 2 nights we stayed in the Hotel Casa Caprile [which I very highly suggest...perfectly placed away from the main town of Capri, in the smaller Anacapri, slightly hidden, beautiful rooms with beautiful views, and affordable]. On Capri, Kara and I browsed the local shops and sites [Be sure to visit the Blue Grotto if you make it to Capri], but more importantly we ate and drank like kings...or I guess it would be a king and a queen. Whether it was Gnocchi alla Sorrentina or Spaghetti con scampi or anything in between, the meals were always accompanied by a huge basket of the best bread I have ever had, usually a Caprese Salad [with the best Buffalo Mozzarella I have ever had] and/or some Bruschetta [with the freshest tomatoes I have ever], and of course a bottle of wine...or two.

=Birra of the Blog=
During one of our meals fit for Kings...and Queens. I tried a new type of beer called Elephant Beer. It is a Danish beer with an interesting story behind it if you are interested you can Wikipedia it [because I'm too lazy to tell you the whole thing...sorry]. Another thing that is interesting, or slightly ridiculous, is when a vintage version of the Danish Elephant Beer came out in 2008, a bottle went for $400. I just had a simple 4 Euro bottle, but it was still pretty good. Give it a try.

And it was here, on the island of Capri, nestled upon the steep white cliffs covered in lushes green vegetation and surrounded by miraculously blue water that I had one of my first "moments". Now I thought about that statement for a while. Because I had been thinking differently from the moment I walked off the plane in Florence. I'm not sure if there is something in the air here or if I am growing up a little [God forbid], but I would occasionally find myself thinking of people who would never get to see these sites, eat these foods, experience any of this. I would question how I am so lucky...so blessed. But at the time, most likely because of the lack of concentration and excitement I am usually experiencing at the same time, these thoughts w ere more like un-lucid dreams that you can't even help if you wanted to, and would often be forgotten the next day, just as easily. That is why I say on Capri, I remember very distinctly, having, what I call, my first "moment". I was on a public bus [of all places], jammed between an older woman with a bag of groceries and a gentlemen in a business suit. Kara and I were the first to get on the tiny little orange bus at the port, but over the distance from there to the town of Anacapri the bus had gotten more and more crowded with every stop. Kara was sitting in a seat, which she graciously gave up to the older woman with the groceries and stood up next to me. The switch-back roads and near 180 degree turns ascending the highest cliffs of Capri caused my knuckles to turn white as I clung to the safety bar above my head. I kept my other arm around Kara, even though I knew she was safe and holding on to her own bar. And it was with the next sharp turn that the setting sun ripped through the tiny public bus, so much that every person on the bus, including the bus driver winced at first. But as our eyes began to adjust to the sudden influx of light , I realized that the bus was driving in the direction of a tremendous view. The soft orange sun was just beginning to touch the dark blue line that divided the pink sky and the seemingly endless Mediterranean Sea. Its reflection was almost as orange as the actual sun and it sparkled the whole was across the water until it hit the white pebble shores where the small waves gently crashed, where Kara and I had carelessly walked up and down earlier that day. And it was here, on a crowed public bus, with the sun kissing the sea and my arm around Kara, that I had a "moment". All of the previously said thoughts rushed back to me, but for the first time I was able to process them all. I was able to consider almost everything at once. I was able to be grateful. Extremely grateful. Grateful to my parents. Grateful to my grandparents. To my bother. To my friends [both here in Italia and back home in the States]. Everyone involved in me being exactly where I was at that exact moment. I was grateful to Kara. I was, and still am, grateful to God.

That was my first, what I've started calling, "moments", because it was not my last. And I hope I have many more. The rest of the week with Kara was spent in Florence, showing her how I have been living and all of the usual sites. And with all of our adventures in Italy combined, it turned out to be one of the best weeks for me, living here in Italy. Like I said, when Gretchen and Steve came to visit, there is such a gre at feeling when you know some one loves and cares about you enough to spend alot of money and time and effort to come across the ocean to visit and try to experience what you are experiencing.

Kara, thank you for the money spent, the time used [hopefully well], and the effort exhausted. Thank you for being a part of my first "moment" [I'm not sure it would have happened with out you ]. Thank you for coming. Thanks for holding up your end of the bargian. Thank you for 'Diving in'. I love you.

My Body is a Temple...and I am Decorating It. [my new TAT]

So there was never a doubt in my mind [despite what I may have said to my mother] that I was going to leave Italy with a new tattoo. So here it is! My newest addition!
















Just a quick explanation of my design...
Its a combination of a compass and a clock. The compass to symbolize my traveling here and hopefully the traveling that I get to continue to do through out my life. The clock to symbolize the time that is always ticking away. And at the top of the clock is '1987', the year I was born. The single hand of the compass/clock is a short moment away from ticking back to the top of the clock, 1987, the moment life began and eventually will end. George coined the term "The Doomsday Compass", which I kind of like. I know its a bit morbid, but its my constant and permanent reminder of my own mortality and to keep living every moment like its the final moment and there won't be another moment like it again.

A Day in the Park [Florence]

It has become a habit of mine to venture out to the park near my apartment and read my novel and take in the beautiful weather. For the past two weeks it has been sunny with temperatures in the high fifties and sixties. The best part is the weather is only going to get nicer the longer I am here.
Their are always interesting thoughts going through my head as I try to find an open seat on a park bench, which are always somewhat occupied at all times during the day. Are there any completely empty benches? No? Do I want to sit next that guy? Does he want me to sit next to him? What if he starts to speak to me in Italian and I answer back with my dumb ass "Mi dispiace, Non Palro Italiano"? What if he does speak some English and I can have a real good conversation with him? But no matter what, I always end up sitting next to someone and they may nod or greet with a "Buongiorno" or "Ciao", but over all it seems that they barely even realize that anyone else is near them if they're not in conversation with someone else.
And I may read for a while, then try to enjoy the sun, usually with some music playing through my ipod. I look up from my book, maybe glance across the gravel walk to the bench and the man simply sitting there. All he has with him is a bottle of water which he may occasionaly take a sip of. He watches people with out realizing that I am watching him. The term "peole watching" seems like such a stalker-ish phrase...almost prying or intruding on someone else's private thoughts and actions. But it actually isn't that at all, despite what how the term makes me feel. It is more like "people glancing". Just a small peak at someone as they pass by, coupled with your own little analysis which is probably eighty percent incorrect but still interesting.
So I sit there and "people glance" at the man across from me who is "people glancing" at other people as they stroll by, and I realize that all he has with him was this bottle of water. It was just him, the park bench, the bottle of water, the sun, and his own thoughts. I began to think about what he could be thinking about. How could he sit there so long with out moving, with out music or a book? Then I slightly turn my head to the right to the man sitting next to me, who I had asked so many questions to myself about as I walked up to the open seat next to him. He had a book...but he wasn't reading it. At one point he was as I approached him. But now it just sat in his hand on his lap. He wasn't looking at it or reading it. He wasn't even "people glancing". He was just looking, not sure if he was even looking at anything in particular. His eyes weren't glazed or lazy the way they get when you fall in to a deep thought or day dream, but they weren't strained or fixed, the way you would stare at something when your thinking about that one thing. He was obviously thinking about somthing, but it couldn't be anything of any great importance. Both of these men, co-inhabiting the park with me on this beautiful day. Both living, breathing, thinking, but not much more than that. And here I am. Attempting to read my novel, trying to ignore the bombardment of my random thoughts and daydreams. I have music playing in my ears from my ipod. I have my phone on lap so that the vibrations from a friends call with the next thing to do today will stir me from my reading. Why do I have so much going on? Is that wrong? To be non-stop the way I am? I remember thinking, even before I walked out the door of my apartment, 'OK, I'll go read and enjoy the weather for an hour or so and hopefully Frank will call before I get too bored with that and I can move on to the next part of my day." I know that I can't sit still. And I like that about myself. I always need the next event, next hair cut, next tattoo, I can sleep when I am dead. But here I am next and across from two men who are showing a true display of this cliche "European mentality" that you always hear about. Just sitting in the middle of a work day, in a park with just them, the bench, the sun, and their thoughts. They were both there before me. And I'm sure they sat there long past the time I left. I sit there and think to myself 'Am I missing out on somthing?'.
So I take one more "people glancing" look at the man across from me and then one more to the man directly to my right, who has shifted positions and set his book down between us on the bench. I set my novel next to his. I open my ipod case, unlock it and press pause once, then twice to shut the screen off. I take the ear buds out of my ear and wind them around my ipod. I shift positions and cross my legs. And there I sat with my two friends in the park. Not reading or staring or focusing on anything in particular. Just thinking casually about what ever came to mind.

There's a McDonalds right across from the Pantheon! [ROME]

Think about the oldest building in the United States...
Maybe...MAYBE four hundred years old...at best...
I walked through buildings and climbed monuments pushing THREE THOUSAND years old in Rome! Building that were built one thousand years before Christ was born! It is absolutely astounding to be alive, in the year 2009, walking on the same stone roads, sipping from the same public fountain, leaning on the same Portland cement wall...that a Roman could have been walking, sipping, or leaning on some two thousand years before me.

So this post is going to be short and sweet...for a number of reasons.
1.)That's how my trip to Rome was...three short, sweet days of seeing everything there is to see in Rome [I'll go through that later]
2.)I'm really behind on my blog and I'm gonna shoot them at you rapid fire here to get caught up before I leave for Spring Break
3.) Its absolutely beautiful outside [mid 60s!] and I wanna go back outside instead of sit here on my computer

So here it is...Rome [short and sweet]

+MUST SEE: The Roman Forum/Imperial Forums [this is where these ancient building are]. Get a tour guide if you can...or at least a book. There is so much to be learned there.

+Our Roman Forum tour guide was one of the highlights of the whole trip. His name was Yan and he was absolutely insane. He started off by introducing himself as a ridiculously fast walker and that if any of us didn't think we could keep up to just quit now. No sooner did he say that, he was gone. Already half way up a set of Roman stairs, basically sprinting. As we sprinted with him he would ask our names, just casually. By the end of our 3 hour tour [nothing like Gilligan's] he and his photographic memory had all 25 of our names memorized. He pointed at each of us in a line and said our names. You could tell he had a photographic memory because when he would lecture, he would do it with his eyes closed, just like he was reading off of his note cards behind his eye lids. He could rattle of dates and names with out pausing to think, he admitted to smoking alot of pot, told us that as Americans we had to watch out for Belgium [where he was from] because they already stole our beer, and bet us a Belgium beer when asking us hard questions. Basically, the best tour guide...ever. And to sum it all up, when leaving, Yan said, "Thats all. I see you...in hell I guess. See you."









+MUST SEE: St. Peter's Basillica. Check out Bernini's Piazza out front. Go inside, see his Baldiquin. See Michelangelo's Pieta. Then climb to the top of the dome. Its even higher than the one here in Florence.









+MUST SEE: The Sistine Chapel. Its a short walk from St. Peters to the Vatican Museum where it is located. They say no pictures and to please be quiet, but every single person was taking pictures and talking as loudly as they please...kinda ruined the moment for me but it is still beautiful.











+MUST SEE: The Pantheon...and grab some lunch at the Mickey-D's right across from it.

+MUST SEE: The Trevi Fountain. Its an amazing sculptural fountain that takes up the entire facade of a building. It depicts the both beautiful and destructive, force of water.











+MUST SEE: The Colosseum. Another space that astounds you with its beauty, its massiveness, and its age. Try to watch Gladiator right before also...it'll get you all jacked up.

+Get dinner at a place called Magnolia near Piazza Navona. Great food and...

=BIRRA OF THE BLOG=
That's right...it can just pop up just like that. Wham! While at Magnolia try one of their specialty beers called Devils Kiss. Its apparently very tough to find but its a Strong Ale brewed somewhere in Scotland. Lord only knows what it was doing in Rome, but it was delicious.

So we did all of that, plus a shit ton more, plus we found enough energy to go out and party a bit at night [go figure]. But what's funny is the smaller simpler things are becoming the most fun and memorable. Quick example: one of the funnest things looking back at Rome [other than Yan the crazy tour guide], was running through the metro not exactly sure if we going the right way, a little buzzed on cheap wine, just laughing at our indecisiveness. We were trying to make it to the colloseum before it closed at 5pm. And the colloseum was amazing, don't get me wrong, I just think it's interesting how a moment like that in the Metro, buried underneath three thousand years of brick foundations and history, a moment like that, just with friends and excitement, no monuments or tourist traps, will stick out in my mind forever.














Footnotes:
+The list above is just the highlights of Rome. There is always more to see/do/experience

+Miss everyone back in the States! Hope all is well!

Carnival!!! [VENICE]

The Friday before Valentine's day came with the feeling of adventure and spontaneity [I guess like everyday for me...but this Friday even more]. Within a few hours we had purchased train tickets and booked a Hostel in Venice for the coming weekend, being that the entire week the Venetians would be celebrating Carnival.












Here's a little background on Carnival for those of you who don't know. It is basically the splurging of food, wine, and general celebration and jubilation the two weeks before Lent begins. The last day of Carnival is usually called Fat Tuesday or Marti Grais [not unlike the partying that occurs in New Orleans]. Every part of Italy celebrates it a little different, but Venice was not only one of the first places to celebrate Carnival [first recorded in 1268], they definitely party the hardest. The tradition of wearing masks started up just as long ago and is similar to Halloween in the States, in the sense that you get to conceal your true identity and be someone [or something] different for a while.

So I think I'm going to Quentin Tarantino this shit. Mix it up a little. I'm going to tell you some things that I've learned from my experience of Venice...then I'll tell you the story behind what I've learned. Enjoy...

+ALWAYS have a place to stay before traveling to an unknown place

+Hungover Sprinting is not fun for anyone

+The dining car of a train is your best friend if you don't have a seat booked

+Fragolino = Sparkling Strawberry Wine = SO GOOD! = Inebriation

+When in Venice [...not Rome] ...buy a 24 hour water taxi pass. [only 18 Euros]

+Italians don't party as late or as hard as Americans [not even for Carnival]

+Abandon buildings and drained pools are sometimes just as entertaining as site seeing/tourist things

+Venice is sinking

Ok...now that you're thoroughly confused, lets talk. Like I said Friday we woke up and randomly decided to check out this huge party in Venice that everyone was talking about. We went to the train station to buy some tickets and find out that ALL the seats on ALL of the trains to and from Venice are booked for the next week [obviously this Carnival thing is a big deal...right?]. The man behind the Biglietta [ticket] counter tells us that he can still sell us tickets though. All this means that we were guaranteed a ride to Venice on a train...not a seat at all. On most trains this wouldn't be a big deal because it's rare that a train is completely packed and you can just pick any open seat. But this doesn't work with train packed full of Carnival-hungry partyers extremely excited for a weekend in Venice. In our heads at the time, we were so excited that we actually believed that we wouldn't mind STANDING on a train for two and a half hours if it meant a fun weekend of Carnival!

So after our spontaneous purchase of a ride with out sitting, we found a cheap hostel outside of the city [because, of course, everything close is full for Carnival]. Try to imagine our giddiness. Moments before this we were just waking up with nothing to do and now we had definite plans to experience one of the biggest parties on the planet! So in celebration of our spontaneity and success in finding a way to/place to stay in Venice, we went out and bought some birra and drank them in the park outside of our place till it got dark...

I wake up to my roommate saying the words, "...ten minutes till the train leaves!" [See "Hungover Sprinting" above].

Good news...we made the train.

Bad news...the moment we get on the train we remembered that we purchased tickets to ride, NOT SIT, on the train. So here we are wondering why we thought drinking the night before was a good idea and just wishing we had a place to sit, put our heads down, and pass out for the two and half hour ride to Venice. "SHIT!" That's about all I could say at that point. Eventually, through squeezing our way through the packed train cars we discovered the dining car! Thank you God for the dining car! We found an open booth, put our heads down on the table, and slept the whole way to Venice.









Wake up in Venice...or what some would see as another world. Streets of water, boats instead of cars, everyone in masks, horns and whistles blaring, confetti falling like rain, and people already drinking alcohol at 11am!!! I was taken back to my previous comment about Amsterdam...the island in Pinocchio...a non-stop party.

We waste no time in joining in on the celebrations. With in a few hours I was fed, had a drink in hand, and a mask on my face. We went to San Marco's Square, which could have been compared to Time Square on New Year's Eve, just with ancient Gothic and Renaissance churches and colonnades surrounding it instead of skyscrapers and giant LCD screens. People were packed shoulder to shoulder, barely able to move, and everyone dressed up. There were couples that had gone all out, dressed totally in traditional 1400's Venetian outfits. Men in tights and three cornered hats and women in corsets and huge gowns. There were little kids dressed like mice and dinosaurs and pirates. They sprayed silly string and covered everything and everyone in confetti. This was Carnival!
















We discovered a Venetian favorite, Fragolino, which is sparkling strawberry wine that is usually made in Venice. We bought three bottles and hopped on a water taxi [a small ferry boat that circulates all around Venice]. For those of you who plan to visit Venice some time in your life, I suggest purchasing a 24 hour water taxi pass when you get there. I know alot of people want to do the whole touristy, romantic gondola thing for a ridiculous price. But after you get that out of your system...the water taxi is a great way to get places, but also just sit and see the city. We sat there in the front of the boat drinking Fragolino for a long time.











Watch this video to try to understand how much fun we were having at the time...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7yfISlGLNU

Yea...that much fun...plus some. And it was probably a bad decision resulting from a combination of Fragolino, general excitement, and adrenalin, but we decided to cancel or reservation of our hostel for the night. We didn't want to have to stop having this much fun to catch the last water taxi to the main land. Instead we would just party all night [or at least that's what we told ourselves]. We can sleep when we're dead, we said.

So the sight seeing, boat riding, mask wearing, confetti throwing, dancing and drinking continued on, well into the night, till we found us sitting on the edge of a canal passing a bottle of Fragolino back and forth between us discussing everything from women to US verse Italian politics to how blessed we are to even be where we were/are for a long while. It was at this point that we looked around us an realized that we were alone and we were not entirely sure where, with in, Venice we were. The lights of windows were out. There were no more masked people in the streets. There was no more music playing and the confetti was not falling from the sky, insteady it just laid like multi colored snow on the sidewalks and floated in the canal water. We were so alone that we were able to pee in the already filthy canals in the middle of what would normally be a busy and bustling street. Venice had gone to sleep with out us. We were still ready to celebrate and the Italians had all called it a night. Eventually we did find some other people still awake and drunk...all Americans...Im not sure what that says about us...but I know we can party.

But despite our nationality and our ability to party, exhaustion crept up on us like it does everyone and come 4am all we wanted was a safe, warm bed. So we wound our ways through the narrow streets, eyes half shut and drunk, knocking on hotel doors asking for "Vacanza?" [vacancy]. Each night manager gave us the same shake of the head and we moved on. It wasn't until the Best Western near San Marco Square that we found A open room. But the night manager, Adriano, looked at the three of us and said in broken English, "How about you look at this room first before you decide to pay?" [Obvisouly not a good sign]. We found the room to be about the size of a small walk-in closet. There was a small bed and about the same amount of room the bed took up of empty floor space. Three grown boys had to fit in here...but what other choice did we have. And as bad as Adriano felt about this he knew we had no other choice. He told us he was breaking the rules and also giving us a good price. He said only 120 Euros...I tried to drunkly haggle with him...100 Euro?...Adriano considered, and said 'OK'...so drunkly I went again...80 Euro...Adriano smirked and said 'NO'...and we just laughed and said 'Fine...we'll talk it'. And there we slept, me on the bed [because I gave up my credit card] and Frank and George shoulder to shoulder on the floor.

The next day we decided to lay off the strawberry wine and adventure around the city sober. We took the the water taxi over to a large white church on its own island and walked around there for a while. We discovered a complex of buildings, which seem to be build in the 50's or 60's [alot younger than most buildings in Venice/all of Italy] but were totally abandoned. We couldn't figure it out. Apartments, boat storage, soccer fields, basketball courts, kitchens...all copletely empty. Doors left wide open, windows broken and garbage on the floors. We came upon a large Natatorium with a pool that was completely drained. It was surreal. I climbed up on the high dive that had probably not been used in atleast 30 years. It was a little creepy, but also fun and interesting at the same time. It was wierd to think about how we were having fun in a building that could have existed in the US...but we were in Venice...a city atleast five times older than the country of the United States...and we were totally alone.

The reason I feel my Venice and Carnival experience was better than most is because we did it comletely differently than anyone else and with out expecting anything. It was a random and not extremely thought out decision [which, in my opinion, are some of the best]. We did not restrict ourselves with reservations [eat your heart out Anthony Bourdain]. And because we knew we would spend time and money on the touristy things the next time we came to Venice with the school, we focussed on the cultural experiences and seeing things that people wouldn't even think about. We ate local food, drank local drink, partied with the locals [and about 200,000 other visitors], and we really explored. And that was that.
























Footnotes
+Sorry it took me so long for this post. I'm really behind. Rome and Pompei/Capri are coming very soon!

+Yes...that is a cross shaved in the back of my head. And yes, Mom, I already grew it out. So don't freak.

+Birra of the Blog will return next post. I only drank wine in Venice. Ciao!

Vino, Antipasto, and Formaggio

Let me just start by saying that at first I thought I was going to call this post "Gretchen and Steve's Guide to DOING Florence in Three Days" because, despite the fact that it just about impossible to do everything there is to do and see everything there is to see in Florence, my aunt Gretchen and uncle Steve came damn close to doing just that. Why not call it that? Why this silly title about wine and appetizers and cheese? Just wait...















Thursday started off a normal day for me with a test at 8:30am [yuck] but it was given by my beautiful 'Basic Conversational Italian' teacher, so I didn't mind that bad. Then some 'Sketching and Drawing' at 10:30am. Then an incredibly boring 'Urban Design 101' lecture followed by Studio. But it was some time during the incredibly boring Urban Design lecture that somthing not so usual for this semester abroad happened. It was at this time that Steve and Gretchen arrived in Florence and gave me a call letting me know that they were in and were going to rest at the hotel for a while until I got out of class.

That's the funny thing about "taking a rest" after a flight half way across the world [traveling through six different time zones against Time]. The jet lag is killer and there is no such thing as "just a rest". This is the same for everyone and it was no different for Gretchen and Steve, and will be no different for you if you decide to make the trip. So "just a rest" turned into a full fledged nap, which worked out well because I had Studio till 6pm anyway. So at that time, I met up with them, showed them my previously-mentioned-pimp-as-fuck apartment, and made our way to a small Italian restaurant that my friends and I frequent.

This is where the title "Vino, Antipasto, and Formaggio" comes into play. As some of you know, many of you will learn, and some will just have to take my word, Gretchen and Steve love wine and appetizers! Now, I know what many of you are thinking, "whoopty shit, I love Conti, potato skins, and cheese sticks as much as the next person." So allow me to rephrase...Gretch and Steve LOVE WINE AND APPETIZERS! Not just love, they truly enjoy and experience them more than the average person. When going out to eat with them, no matter it be in J-town, Chicago, or Florence [especially Florence], you can count on wine and at least two appetizers [or antipasto in Italia]. And I'm going to admit it, they've convinced me that this is the way to go. Even the Italians have perfected this. When you look at a menu here, there are Antipasto's, Prima Pastas, Seconda Entres, Pizza, Deserts, Cocktails, and of course VINO! Maybe the rest of us could take a little advice from the Italians and Gretchen and Steve and consider some antipasto and a few glasses a vino over some nice conversation before a meal, rather than wolfing down three double cheeseburgers or playing slap the bag with a box of Franzea [which I shamefully admitted to doing to my aunt and uncle while truly enjoying my first glass of expensive white wine].
















I also decided to make another exception from the =Birra of the Blog= again, this time for Gretch and Steve. Don't get used to this though...I am still a "Beer Guy" at heart.

=Vino alla Blog=

Like I said, I really still enjoy beer as my favorite alcohol, but I had the opportunity [through Steve and Gretch, of course] to try a totally new type of wine that I felt some of you Franzea chuggers should be introduced to. Its called Prosecco and it is said to have been created back in Roman times. Its a sparkling dry white wine commonly mistaken for Champagne, despite the European laws [that right...Europe is so anal about their wines that they have laws for them] saying only sparkling white wines from the area of France known as Champagne can be called champagne. Any way it is extremely good and if you can divvy up the dough I suggest you try it. I thank Gretchen for having me experience this one [amongst numerous others...thanx Gretch].

So we would all watch and laugh as Steve would order an antipasto and when the waitress would move her attention on to the next person at the table, Steve would still be ordering a second. Or even more when he, like any other non-Italian speaking visitor, would simply point to the mezzo-litre [half liter] of wine he didn't even want to try to pronounce, then quickly reconsider, and point to the full liter instead. Eventually he earned the nickname Bacchus [the Roman god of Wine] from us, after seeing a sculpture of him in the Bargello Museum.
















Which brings me to the most astonishing thing about their weekend here [no, it was not the amount of wine we drank or appetizers we ate]. It was the amount of stuff Steve and Gretch were able to see and cram into only three short days in Florence. They started out there visit with a morning walking tour around the city, which in my opinion, is one of the best ways to get a basic history of the city and see all the major sites at a glance. We then climbed to the top of Brunelleschi's Duomo, which should be numero uno on anyone's list of things to do if visiting Florence. And over the next few days hit up all three of the major Florence art museums [The Uffitzi, The Academia, and The Bargello], shopped on the Ponte Vecchio, visited Santa Croce [my favorite church in Florence], purchased souvenirs for their girls [my cousins Avery and Myla] and for themselves, and climbed the hillside to Piazza Michelangelo to the monastery I mentioned in my second post with the astounding view. All that and so many smaller things that I'm sure Gretch and/or Steve could tell you about if you ever have the chance to talk to them about their visit.








Overall, I would say there was an nice trading of experiences going on between all of us. Because of my education and experiences I've gained over the past month here, I was able to provide my visiting family with my sense of direction, my broken Italian that is slowly but surely getting better, and my list of don't do's, do do's, must do's and absolutely must do's in Florence. And in return they provided me with some of the best meals [including wines and appetizers] that I will eat while over-seas, the opportunity to experience some of the huge things that you slowly start to take for granted when living here [for example the top of the Duomo], and [best of all] the good feelings that you get when you get to spend time with those you love after not seeing familiar friends and family for a long time [although I can't even pretend I'm home sick yet...sorry Mom].

So I just want to say thank you Gretchen and Steve. Thanks for visiting, thanks for all the great meals, thanks for the extra spending cash, but most of all thank you for allowing me to share probably one of the greatest experiences of my life with you guys! Ciao till next time.

Drugs! Sex! and ..... Architecture? [AMSTERDAM]

Every new post I am faced with the dilemma of how to go about narrating my European adventures to all of you, while keeping in mind that a lot of excited "youngsters" [like myself] want to hear about the parties, women, drunken experiences, et cetera, et cetera. While at the same time people like my grandparents, my mother, and potential employers do not.

I simply cannot begin to describe my weekend in Amsterdam, censoring out the parts that some people may not want to hear or the parts that are completely illegal in the United States [as for almost every other country on this planet for that matter]. So...I've decided not to censor. Im about to go Edward R. Murrow on this shit! [Sorry Bubba...]

So sit back and freak'n brace yourselves [I'm serious, this ones a long one].....

The trip started off with the great idea of not sleeping, but instead drinking at home, before our 3am bus ride to Pisa. This replacement of sleep with fun is just a precursor to the entire weekend. From Pisa we flew, using RyanAir [I highly suggest this for very cheap travel through out Europe], and landed in Eindhoven, Netherlands around 9am. Extremely excited, we crammed onto a double-decker bus and opted for the top front seat [just like a roller coaster!].









We roll into the city of Amsterdam, find our hostel, and go to a coffee shop with in 20 minutes.

Ok, lets go over some Amsterdam basics...

+Marijuana, hash, and a few of miscillanous hallucinagents are LEGAL in Amsterdam

+Prostitution is also LEGAL in Amsterdam

+You can only smoke weed indoors and cannot carry more than five grams on you at any time

+You would normaly find a prostitute in the Red Ligh District [which I will cover a little later]

+You would normaly find/smoke marijuana in Coffee Shops

So when I say we rolled in to the city of Amsterdam, found our hostel, and went to a coffee shop with in 20 minutes. I really mean I was high in the first 20 minutes of being in Amsterdam.
Now, I am not a smoker or a "pothead" [though I'm sure some of you will find this hard to believe after reading this]. But...when in Amsterdam...do as the Amsterdam-ese [?] -ians [?] -whaterver- do!

Don't get me wrong, there are alot of things to do and see in Amsterdam [especially for architecture students], but there is a certiant allura about it that doesn't make sense for a young and adventuring tourist not to atleast try legal weed. It is part of the culture [which of course has become really touristy].

I was blown away by the city at first. It was not what I expected at all [not that I was even sure what to expect other than the Red Light District and Coffee Shops]. Amsterdam is a port town built on a bay off of the Nordic Sea so it is full of canals. It is also full of some awesome architecture, a lot of it modern.

And I'm not gonna lie, exploring the city a little stoned was awesome. It was about this time [36 hours after our last night of sleep] that we decided to take a small nap so we could go out at night. I woke up after the "nap" in the hostel bunk bed, looked over at Nik, and asked if he was ready to go out. He responded with a smirk and said "Dude, it's 3am." Needless to say we didn't make it out that night. Also needless to say, we didn't really sleep again for our next two days in Amsterdam.

















Now I've contemplated doing this for a long time [one of the reasons this post took so long to be posted] but you know me...And like I said before I not going to censor this trip [Sorry again Bubba]. For all of those reasons, plus the fact that I had not one good beer in Amsterdam, here is...

=The BUD of the Blog=
(for this post only...I promise)

Amnesia Haze was suggested to us by a coffee shop owner and sounded interesting so George splurged alittle so we could try it. Lets just say the name Amnesia Haze says alot. We were all in a coffee shop called Double Reggae laughing, yelling, and having a good time and then all at once the Amnesia Haze hit us and we sat there silently looking at each other for about ten minutes. I am still laughing looking back at how silly we must have looked. If you ever have the wonderful opportunity of traveling to Amsterdam, try Amnesia Haze!

The rest of our trip was full of more exploring, more architecture, delicious food, a trip to a park [where Frank and I walked across a frozen lake...scary! but fun!], the Vincent Van Gogh museum [also fun a little stoned], and of course a few more coffee shops. We also perused the Red Light District at night. The Red Light District is easily distinguished by...[duh]...red lights [that, and the massive amount of semi-nude women dancing and making obscene, sexual gestures at you through store front windows trying to entice you to stop by and blow a large sum of money for some "time" with them.] The Red Light District is also full of Live Sex Shows, porno, sex toys, lingerie shops, drunk/high American and British tourist, Nik's future wife [apparently], and nude clubs with promoters outside who intimidate you with the classic line, "What are you boy scouts?!" when you say your not interested. The best way I can think to describe it is the island in the animated Disney classic Pinocchio. You know the one...where all the real boys get shipped to an amazing island where they get to drink and smoke and do what ever they want! That's Amsterdam! ...except you don't turn into a donkey at the end...








Though we did not turn into donkeys at the end, we may have acted like jack-asses, but we had fun. Sadly, our trip had to come to an end. The bus back to Eindhoven didn't leave till the early morning, we figured we would just party till the bus came instead of booking the hostel for another night, and it was Super Bowl Sunday [and the STEELERS were playing!!!]. So we found a sports bar that would play the entire game [which didn't end till 5am our time] and Frank, Logan, and I sat down for our first ever Space Cake [basically a hash brownie].

Here's some things I learned that night/next morning...

+Always give a Space Cake time to work its magic! It takes up to an hour and a half to kick in, but its well worth the wait!

+It is true the US is a STEELER NATION! But planet Earth has become a STEELER WORLD!
I was not the only Steeler fan in Amsterdam, nor were the drunken Brits behind me at the bar who's "Here we go Steelers!" chant slowly turned into "Here we go Stoners!"

+It doesnt matter how uncortable the bus seats are, or how turbulant your flight may be, after 3 days of non stop adventure and party in Amsterdam, you will sleep like your in a coma on the way home.

+Never touch/smoke marajuana with your winter gloves on. Or atleast don't expect to not get half-muled by a drug sniffing German Shepard at the Pisa airport and then patted down and searched from head to tow by an agressive Italian drug enforcement officer who knows that your just a dumb American who just got back from a first-ever weekend in Amsterdam, but he needs to make sure that your not an International Drug Trafficer. Yea...thanks for that Frank.


So we did it all. We smoked legal weed, tried a hash brownie, saw the Red Light District, purchased an awesome hat and shades as souvenirs [haha...your heart stopped for a second there when I said the word 'purchased' after the phrase 'Red Light District'...hahaha], stayed up for days at a time, and we were even able to throw some cultural/educational stuff in there too! [there ya go Bubba! = ) ]. Thankfully I did not have any class on the following Monday, which was necessary for recovery after an absolutely amazing weekend in Amsterdam!

+Footnotes:

-GO STEELERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-I hope you understand why I didn't post any "good" pix...

-There are alot more pix on Facebook. Thanks Nik and Logan!

-Check out my band, Racecar Backwards', new music video[below] and tell me what you think! Thanks!