Wednesday, August 29, 2007

More Venice



This beer was as big as my head. I had a bus to catch a block away and so had to drink it in like 10 minutes, nice little buzz...

These are the friends I first met in Florence, then saw in Verona and shared hostel with in Venice. They were very nice and helped to keep me from getting lost in Venice.

Loved this graffiti.

Venice pics






Venice: Round 2- Fight!

Well, I gave Venice another go and found myself a bit more successful this time around. I stayed in a hostel with some friends that I met back in Florence and toured the city for a day. The streets are like a maze and very difficult to navigate (especially if you have a bad sense of direction). We went around on a water-bus thing, looked at shops, ate pizza and drank wine. The city is beautiful but expensive. And for those of you worried about my finances, fear not- I am thrifty in my own ways...

The next day we had a man invite us from off the street into his ristorante where they served us free pizza and Tiramisu in honor of his birthday. I drank a beer the size of my head and signed his book. I would say this is VERY different from my first experience in Venice! Life is truly like a box of chocolates and that whole bit.

I'll post some pictures. That's all for now.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Aida: an Italian Opera performed in a Roman amphitheatre in Verona







Verona pics

Verona is a very beautiful city as you can see.


Guilietta's tomb.


Guilietta's tomb.

Casa di Guilietta- where homeboy spit his lines about light through yonder window breaking and crap. Good stuff.



I loved this painting, and another one just like it. That is cupid in the picture with a bunch of fauns and junk. Very cool.

~Some Florentine Culture~

This is a sculture of Hercules wupping up on a Centaur. Me like.


This is a shot of a Cannolo e uno caffe


Here I am, drinking my expensive bottle of Tuscan wine along the bridges of Florence; it was a Chianti Classico 2002. Yes it took me a long time to get this shot but I think it came out well, and about ten minutes after I finally popped the cork. This wine was like 13% and knocked me off my ass, but it was incredibly easy on the taste buds. Shortly after it began to rain extremely hard but I didn't mind. I was quite happy...



This is part of a really cool portrait in a dome taken from one of the churches in Florence.

Behold the beauty that is Florence!






Sunday, August 26, 2007

Verona

I stayed in a small town called Verona for two days, which is the city where Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' was set. There, you can see Juliet's tomb and the house where the Montague's (I believe it was) lived. Apparently, the story of the two lovers is actually based on a folk tale which was later written into a story titled 'la Guilietta' some 80 odd years before Shakespeare, who based his story off of this. There WAS a feud between the two families and there was a couple caught in the middle... etc. etc. I found that little piece of history very fascinating.

Verona is a very small but nice little city. There are a lot of churches to see and once you've seen three, you've pretty much seen them all. There is a castle there which has a cool museum inside with an art gallery as well. The baroque art was so vibrant and colorful; took some cool shots there as well.

The hostel where I stayed was also in a sort of a castle, which was very cool. The only downside was that they were very strict and closed their gates at midnight, but... it was only 15 euro/night and included breakfast. One morning, I woke up early and climbed a huge hill up to what had been part of a city-wall and there read my book for a few hours (Oliver Twist, which i found in an empty drawer in Rome). A very peaceful morning...

And now for the best part- there is a Roman arena in the middle of Verona where Opera's are the the thing, man. So... I saw my first Italian opera in a roman ampitheatre! The show which I saw was called 'Aida.' It's an Egyptian piece, and although I couldn't understand a word they were saying it was very cool nonetheless (will post pictures).

Verona is great and I was sorry to leave.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

My Return to Florence

Well I am back in Firenze now, and here I have been for a few days. It's very different from Rome in terms of overall cleanliness as well as culture. The people here are much nicer and there tons of beautiful women everywhere! The achitecture here is so cool, not as old as Rome but awe-inspiring nonetheless. I have seen so many sculptures (including David) and my favorite has got to be this one of Hercules beating the crap out of a centaur- i'll post it soon. There are lots of huge ornate churches, or, as someone once referred to them: big fuck-off churches. I have to mention the bridges, which again I will post as soon as I can. When I walked along the river or across any of the bridges I swear I felt as though I were in a painting- some kind of impressionist portrait like Monet or some other. The view here is absolutely stunning..

And now, a word on food: I LOVE the food here!! Oh, so much more than Rome, and, since arriving I have accomplished one of my most-recently decided goals, which was to have a Cannoli- my favorite Italian desert. It is actually pronounced Cannolo in Italian (unless plural), but I must say that it was fabulous! Well worth the trip in itself.. Now, on to the wine... I have always heard about Tuscan wine and really-really wanted to give it a shot just to be able to say that I have had GOOD Tuscan wine. So... I splurged and bought a bottle of 2001 Chianti Classico for X euro and I have to say it was the most amazing wine that I have ever had. It was quite strong and knocked me off my ass, but it tasted so good! I drank it by the fiume (river) Arno along the bridges of Florence, just before it rained like crazy. I actually have some great pictures of the whole event, of which I am very fond and will post as soon as possible; what a great memory!

Now that I've parted ways with Rachel and have REALLY had to do everything on my own, I have to say that I think I am finally getting the hang of this whole travelling thing. So far, nothing incredibly bad has happened to me as of yet, but perhaps that is because I am so wary. Staying in hostels so far, I have heard some horror stories...!

I have a lot more planned for the future, so please... stay posted!

Friday, August 17, 2007

Thursday, August 16, 2007






The Vatican

I went to the Vatican yesterday and walked around St. Peters Square and checked out the Sistine Chapel. I was awestruck by the intricate expanse and incredible beauty of the chapel. I spent hours inside just walking around and finding the smallest corner or niche only to find more detail. If i had more time I would love to wikipedia some of these places, perhaps later...

I met a really cool catholic guy from Pakistan in St. Peters square and he showed me around the place. Afterwards, we grabbed a beer and early dinner- hehe.

What else.... I guess nothing for now.

a piu tardi (until later)

Wednesday, August 15, 2007






More





Back in Roma- The end of the beginning

I am back in Rome now and Rachel has gone back to the UK. I look forward to visiting her or she me. Yeah we spent a only week in absolute paradise and yeah I miss her but I've now got to be on par. I spent today studying Italiano and wandering the streets of Roma and checking out the colloseum. Tomorrow i plan to do much of the same and check out the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel. Come Friday, I'm heading back to Riommagio.

I want to look for work but there are two guys that I met back in paradise that have found a room and are willing to help me work here and there until i find something better. Rachel says not to 'Put all my eggs in one basket' and although I like this big city... at the same time I feel I can grow more and experience more of the culture in a smaller town. I have a good feeling about these guys, plus i met another guy in a neighboring town who wants to get me a job at a bar where he used to work. I've got his number.

I will try and post more pictures now and thank you all for your comments, but please keep in mind that my parents are reading these posts as well... so please spare them the language and harsh words. Also, going back i see that many of my posts have been quite corny, but they are from the heart and this is all very ominous to me.

Love you guys.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

More shots with Rachel




More good stuff

The Grand Vittorio in Roma

Little back Ally in Roma

Castil Gondolfo- where the pope currently resides on vacation under swiss guard.



More of Riommagio