/ theblog

day 1
Rome
Natura Azzura cans on the plane
Villa Bourghese
Spanish Steps
Pantheon
at lunch outside the Pantheon. Had grilled radiccio on top of mozz & gorganzola pizza! Yum!!
Shopping District
Piazza del Popolar
Piazza de Baberini

day 2
Rome
Market outside Claudio’s apartment in Testaccio
cappuccino with donut
Clay Ruins & Bio/Green/Energy outdoor venue thing in former butcher/meat market
Bocca del Veritas
Jewish Ghetto
Piazza Novona
giant donut
Fontana della Tartarughe
Piramide
Carlsberg (draft), friend artichokes (best thing i ate while in italy), pasta with cheese & black pepper (traditional roman dish), tiramsu

day 3 aka xmas eve
Rome
Met Guido and Claudio’s Mother
Her apartment felt like a Godfather movie in terms of the decor, so badass and traditional italian
sandwich with mozz & spinach, peroni bottle and coffee
headed to Spoleto on the way to Camerino
gnocchi with tomato sauce & veggie antipasti & red wine
Roman theatre
house built in 1 AD, look at the floor, perfect shape!!
saw claudio’s and cynthia’s new bio lab, pretty cool stuff
claudio went to pick up two of his students to join us for xmas eve dinner
salad with field greens and really strong balsamic
green veggie thing (tradition roman food), odd, but awesome. like a dandelion root or something
mushrooms, sweet mini onions, cheeses, lasagna, bavarian banana cream pie, eggplant dish, bread and more
lots of vino an limoncello to boot

day 4 aka xmas
assisi, the home of st francis. tombs of st francis, the frescos. gothic arch is remarkable. the stained glass is breathtaking as well. such thought and precision. relaxed back at cynthia’s at night.

day 5
siena (tuscany)
lovely small streets all hilly and curvy.
gothic churches with roman influences.
started to cough, maybe cat hair, maybe claudio’s cough is now effecting me
gorgonzola ravioli with fresh herbs, then mint & coffee gelato
drank a lot of wine, alone, tonight with dinner. watched the simpsons in italian then realized i could watch in english.
the family guy is called i griffins in italy. that’s cool/funny.
CSI is on FOX Crime Channel. All CSI type shows, all day, all night. all amazing/mindless.

day 6
florence
lots to write, but the problem is, i was only in florence for 2.5 hours.
the bus was sitting in traffic, that sucked. i slept somewhat, but was too excited to sleep more.
got there late, hungry and alone.
i got lost with a purpose and an idea of what to do.
i took pictures, so the fake statues, also known as copies
i didnt see museums, well sort of, the outsides of them.
saw cathedrals, some cool buildings.
bought a trendy/euro shirt from zara.
got some other gifts too.
mushroom pizza and a extra strong export lager
boarded the 3 hour bus back home

day 7
ancona
this day should also be called grotto and grappa
started by going to salt mine near ancona. 1.5 hour tour of the indoor salt mine.
really cool and bright and neat. tour was in italian, but i picked up a few works, thanks to italian gill grissom.
spent a few hours researching rome today, since i was heading back alone tomorrow.
went to dinner/cheese party at claudio’s son’s place nearby.
regleta cheese, brushetta (toasted on fireplace with oil/garlic and salt), pickles, awesome red wine, spicy antipasta (zuchini & eggplant) then had grappa to wash it all down. thats some strong shit, it knocked out my sinus issues and got me buzzzzzzin

day 8
roaming around rome alone
the dude across from me on the train sleeps with his eyes open
the buses and trains are really nice in italy
learning italian before is truly helping, even the minimal i learned.
the eurodress is fascinating…
giant, leather boots on women and diesel & knockoff diesel sneakers on all the men
odd, snaps and button, angular pocketed jeans with embroidering, crazy rips and more pockets are all the rage for men and women alike
very hungry… need food

got lost out of termini, but quickly figured it out and heaed the proper direction
followed via della corsa (the street of exchange) to the north and proceeded to see things i wanted to see and saw already
spanish steps (more people this time), fountain de trevi
gelato at trevi (vanilla, nutella and pistachio)
saw piazza republica, barberino, the forum, took the coleseo tour (did the cheap american one i heard about somewhere), piazza venezia then circo massimo

bought two tennents super (scottish 9% ale) malty and just OK. strong shizzle though
watched some italian television.
apparently a squirrel has bad breathe and takes a breathe mint then he farts. that is how they sell this product. Hmm, squirrel fart mints dont sound that amazing, sorry italy, but they dont.
cowboys must also get buttrash cause they are selling preperation h. the cat in the hat (the one with jim carrey) is just called the cat in italian. thats dumb.

i sorta grew some balls and ordered dinner alone tonight, went to Pecorrino’s in testaccio. ordered pizza with tomatoes and buffalo mozz and the cold antipasta of veggies. the veggies were decent and the pizza was decent. the cheese was good, but it was just OK. the beer i had was good, not great. strong malty italian beer called Birra Morrati.
went to on the rox, a nearby roman bar known for beer. they had several taps including royal, michelob and the italian staples. i had nastro draft and royal draft. royals from belgium i was told. cool place, i’d go back if i didnt feel shitty and tired at that point.
tipping is odd, there is a tip jar, you dont give it to the bartender. remember that when you go. i finally got drunk this night cause i finished my other tennats at home while watching italiano tele.

day 9
roaming around rome alone aka last day before i depart
1+ hour walk to the vatican to see the most popular catholic
the line to get inside was not worth it, but the structure is amazing and people love waiting, so it must be worth it.
not for me, i’m a jewish boy. i’ll look it up online, i’m sure theres pictures somewhwere. headed back down to travesterve, stopping at castel sant angelo and st maria piazza. fun street art there.
the flea market was ghetto and crappy, but worth experiencing it hands on. be safe there, if you go. crazy croweded and only open sundays.

ordered a slice of pizza from a little place. soooooo amazing. zuchhini, yellow peppers, onions,mushrooms, hot, spicy and melty goodness. washed it down with a 32 of peroni.
walked some more, just to explore
took a long nap, watched tele then went to dinner alone.
ordered completely in italiano again. fried veggies, couldnt resist the artichokes on my last night and a 4 cheese pizza and few carlsbergs again. the veggies ruled

police academy is on and its stupid, but michael winslow is italian and thats funny. i aspire to be like him one day. braveheart is next. i watch most and crash half way through it, but steven is still crazy and has the best laugh ever.

day 10
airport/ciao
claudio picked me up early and drove me to the airport.
i drank a few nastros (bottle) in the airport then boarded. had some more on the place and tried to sleep. the seat & the dude in front of me sucked, but ratatooueuie is a funny movie.

i arrived safely and i blogged it all. see the 500+ pictures here.

miss me?

i’m leaving a few short hours to go see the home of the pope and the mafia. i’ll miss america and my friends and family during this important holiday season, but italy’s going to be effing sweet.

i’ll take lots of pictures and all that good stuff. if i see gypsies and they try to steal my wallet, i’ll kick them in the balls and say break yourself fool, mclovin’ style!

McLOVVVVVING!!

peace out-bean sprouts. i’ll check email when possible and all that.

arrrivaderrceezz!

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Thanks to Bryan for snapping this amazing gem!