So right now I'm sitting on the floor in the Philly airport waiting to board the plane to Rome. We had a five hour layover here, so we made the best of it. We went and wandered the streets of downtown and south Philly. Man, south Philly is a shithole. We went to these two "famous" cheesesteak joints, Geno's and Pat's. We got a steak at both of them for a side by side comparison. Although they tasted very similar, Geno's unanamously won the steak off. Man, did I mention this place is fucking freezing? So after the steak off we found our way downtown to the liberty bell. Man, I expected it to be a lot bigger then it was. But anyways, we got our picture taken in front of it and went on our merry way. We went to the main train terminal in downtown to get back to the airport. While we were waiting for the train, there was this smoking hot chick playing this little hand held trivia game with her friend. I knew the answers to alot of the question they didn't know, which would have been a perfect way for me to spark up a convo. But did I? Of course not. Cause I have absolutely no chick skills. Anyways, I'm gonna get on the plane now. See you in Rome.
Date: Friday, 3-11-05
Location: Rome, Italy
So of course the plane flight sucked ass. 8.5 hours of pure hell. The lady sitting next to me had some stank ass breathe. And being 6'3", I pretty much have no room in those tiny ass seats. So I'm basically stuck sitting in a straight upright position the entire time. Paul was like 15 rows in front of me and Josh and Goph like 2 rows behind me, so I had no one to talk to. Alright, I'm done bitching about the plane. Now I'm gonna bitch about the Romans. Just about everyone we asked for directions or a question today was just flat out rude. Fuck it, I'm not even gonna get into it. I guess you're gonna run into some rude people anywhere you go. But it just seemed like today nobody liked us. They were probaby just intimidated by my dashing good looks. So ok, we saw some cool ass shit today. I mean breathtaking stuff. We started out at the colosseum. Man, just walking around the corner and seeing it from a distance made my jaw drop. So we make our way to the entrance. While sitting out front taking it all in, we must have been asked like 50 times if we wanted to take a guided tour. So I'm like, "hey, back the fuck up bitches". I didn't really say that to them. But I wanted to. So we pay our 10 euro and trot inside. Man, that place is just amazing. You sit in there thinking like how the hell did they build such a massive structure almost 2000 years ago. Talk about a feat of human achievement. Quick sidenote: Paul is snoring so freak'n loud right now. It's irritating the shit out of me. Ok, so instead of going into detail about all the stuff we saw, I'm just gonna list them off. Colosseum, Arch of Constantine, Roman Forum, Tomb of Unknown Soldier, Pantheon and Trevi Fountain. I took mad pics of everything. After all that, we went back to our hotels, showered up, and went out for the evening to see what kind of trouble we could get into. Oh, I forgot to mention this shithole of a hotel Paul and I are staying in. They say they are a two star hotel. My ass. I say one star is pushing it. So anyways, we went out, ate some pizza and drank some Heineken and Chianti. We probably hit on like 15 chicks tonight. These Italian broads just wanted nothing to do with us. Hell, half of them freak'n laughed at us. So we busted out a list of strip clubs in Rome that we had printed out before we left Phoenix. We must have asked a million people and not one of them could tell us where any of them were. So we gave up and called it a night. I just tried cleaning my ass with the toilet that squirts water, but I couldn't figure it out. Stupid thing. Man, if Paul doesn't stop snoring I'm gonna go over there and punch him in the fucking face. I'm done babbling. I'm going to bed.
So it's been about an hour since I went to bed and I'm about to fucking throw myself out the window. Paul is still snoring, I still can't figure out how to turn the bathroom light off, and the shower is dripping non-stop. Shoot me. Please.
Date: Sunday, 3-13-05
Location: Rome, Italy
Ok, I can't freak'n do this right now. I am falling asleeping looking at the paper. It's god damn 7:15am in the morning, I haven't slept yet, and I'm still drunk. I'm on an uncomfortable ass IC train to florence since we forgot to specify Eurostar. I'll try to recap yesterday/last nights festivities when I get there and we check into our hostel. I have the nastiest taste/feeling in my mouth right now. I wanna bathe myself so bad. Ok bye.
Date: Sunday, 3-13-05
Location: Florence, Italy
First lemme start by telling you a little about what we did yesterday since I never got around to making a journal entry. We started out the day at the Vatican. First we went into St. Peters. Ok, St. Peters is just fucking rediculous. The paintings, the sculptures, the size of the place. We walked around for an hour taking it all in and snapping mad pics. We wanted to go up to the top of the dome, but the line was just too damn long. So we decided to go to the Sistine Chapel. We figured out that it was in the Vatican Museum, so we walked over. After probably a 1/2 mile walk we find the exit to the museum. So we ask a guard where the entrance is and he points down the street to our right. So we started walking. And walking. And walking. And walking. And sure enough, we walked around the entire god damn Vatican. Oh shit, I probably shouldn't say "god damn" when referencing the Vatican. Oh well, sorry about that. So we walked back to that exit to find out that the entrance is about 20 ft. to the left of the exit. That prick guard pointed us in the complete wrong direction. Fuck him. Oh well. I guess now we can say we've walked around the smallest country in the world. And of course, after all that, the damn museum was closed. It closes at 12:30 on the third Saturday of the month. What kinda shit is that? No Sistine Chapel for us. So we headed back to the hotel for a little rest and relaxation. Actually, Paul and I didn't have anywhere to stay, so we just went up to Goph and Josh's room. After a power nap (I hate that term), we got up and went out for the night. The day before, some guy at the colosseum had handed us a flyer for a pub crawl, so we decided to check it out. It actually turned out to be pretty cool. There was about 25 people we followed around from bar to bar. Ok, I just realized I'm babbling way too much in these journal entries. So I'm gonna start summarizing more. Basically, we went out and got shitfaced. We danced and had a blast. Did some body shots. Goph left and went back to the hotel with some chick that looked like Andre the Giant. I swear to god she had like 7 or 8 inches and prolly like 125 pounds on him. So anyway, Paul, Josh and I went to another after hours dance club with these three chicks (we are supposed to meet up with them here in Florence tomorrow). So we were dancing with them, then these other chicks like grabbed Paul and I and started dancing with us. I felt bad for the other chicks, but whatever. I thought we had a better chance with these new chicks. But of course nothing came of it. We ended up leaving with our dicks in hand. So anyway, we danced until like 5:00 in the morning then headed back to the hotel. Sure enough, Goph was still there with Andre the Giant. I swear to god, we walked in that room and almost fell over dead from the stench. Paul started gagging. It was the most repulsive, putrid, disgusting thing I have ever smelled. They probably had to fumigate that room after we left. It was so bad that we just grabbed our bags and left. Still drunk. No sleep. No showers. Now about 6:00 in the morning. We went to the train station and shoved off to Florence and checked into our hostel. We all showered and went to bed. We slept the entire day today. Woke up around 8:00pm and went out for a bite to eat. After that, we wandered around a bit then called it a night. We've got a bunch of cool shit to see tomorrow. Plus we are supposed to meet up with those chicks. I'm gonna go to bed now. Peace out bitches.
Date: Monday, 3-14-05
Location: Florence, Italy
So today we were going to walk around and see all the touristy sites here in Florence, but we kind of got assed out. The Uffizi and the museum that the David is in are closed on Mondays. Just our freak'n luck. So we went over to the Duomo. The Duomo was pretty dope. The outside looks a lot different then the other cathedrals we've seen. We went inside and walked around a bit and snapped some pics. Then we went outside and around the back to get in line to go to the top of the dome. The line was freak'n long and took forever. But man, it was totally worth it. Oh wait, while were in line, this Chinese (Japanese?) dude and chick like tried touching my face for some reason. The dude like took the chicks hand and tried to rub it on my cheek. WTF?!?! It was weird and everyone started laughing. The chick probably wanted my sack or something. So anyways, after a climb of 463 stairs (no I didn't count, it was on a sign), we made it to the top. The view from up there was beautiful. You could see out over all of Florence and into the hills of Tuscany. It was awesome. On the way back down, you walk on the inside of the dome. The frescos on the dome were dope. They were like layered. On the bottom there was these evil, demon-like creatures torchering and killing people. Then above that it slowly turned into like, heaven stuff. Or something. I dunno. Goph told us there was a word for it. So we left the Duomo and wandered around for a bit. We went to this market area and bought some shirts and trinkets. We wanted to go across the river and check out the Boboli Gardens, but we thought it would almost be dark by the time we got there. So we killed that idea. And that brings us to now. It's about 6:00pm. Josh, Paul and Goph went to get some cheese cake from this place we went to last night. I came up to the room to shit, shower, and relax before we go out for this evenings festivities. Hopefully, we'll meet some cool chicks to hang out with. Not likely, but I can hope, right? Alright, I'm gonna throw on my iPod and lay down for a bit. Ciao.
Date: Tuesday, 3-15-05
Location: Florence, Italy
So last night we got pretty shitfaced. We went to a couple different bars/clubs. We met a lot of people from all over the place. Germany, Holland, Denmark, London, Sweden (the Swedish chicks were hot), and of course the states. We went to the first bar with a bunch of Danish people. Dude, one of the Danish chicks was way cute, so I sparked up a convo with her. Man, was that a fuck'n mistake. This chick wouldn't shut up. I swear to god she talked for like 40 minutes straight. So then her Danish group was going to another club and she wanted me to go with. So I was like "ummmmm....no". Anyways, at that point we had lost Paul. He had mentioned some club called Loch Ness. So we walked all the way over to it and of course he wasn't there. So we gave up looking for him and went to this club everyone was talking about called YAB. YAB stands for You Are Beautiful (or so someone told me). Dude, I don't get it. Every bar/club we've gone to in Rome and Florence played Hip-Hop. Not just Hip-Hop, shitty Hip-Hop. It's a major disapointment. I was expecting to come over here and dance to crazy Italian house music in big ass warehouse clubs till like 6:00 in the morning. Yeah.... not even close. Anyways, we danced at YAB till like 4:00 in the morning. Once I got past the shitty music, it was actually pretty fun. After YAB we went back to the hostel and called it a night. We woke up this morning and wanted to go see the David before jumping on a train to Naples. Yeah.... that didn't happen. The line was like 7.5 miles long. Freak'n rediculous. Goph tried cutting in line and got busted. So right now we're on the train. Cruise'n the Italian countryside. It's really pretty. Green, rolling hills. Some of the mountains still have snow on them. Man, have I mentioned how sick I am of those god damn pointy shoes and this extreme fashion bullshit? All these people look like they jumped out of a damn magazine. Some of the dudes even rock mullets and these little mohawks. Oh, and those stupid ass fucking windshield sunglasses. Somebody needs to tell these people they look fucking rediculous. So I'm sick of writing now. I'm gonna put my iPod on and gaze out the window for awhile. Ciao.
Date: Tuesday, 3-15-05
Location: Naples, Italy
So we got off the train in Naples and called Josh's uncle. He wasn't going to be able to pick us up till around 8:00pm. He told us to take the bus to the airport so he wouldn't have to drive through traffic (would have taken him like an hour longer). So we just chilled at the airport until 8:00. Josh's uncle (Bob) took us to this awesome restaruant by his house (outside of Naples). We had this anti-pasta salad (calamari, octopus, shrimp, crab, anchovies), clams with spaghetti, margarhita pizza, and some of their house wine. Man, that shit was delicious. Then we went to Josh's uncle's house and drank some of his home-made wine and shot the shit for awhile. Tomorrow we're going to go to the Archaeological Museum of Naples, the Duomo, and the Underground Naples. Or that's the plan anyways. We'll see. I'm going to bed now. Ciao.
Date: Wednesday, 3-16-05
Location: Naples, Italy
Man, today we got up at the ass crack of dawn and went to the military base with Josh's uncle (Bob). Oh, I don't think I mentioned that before. Josh's uncle is stationed in the navy here. So we went over to the ciao hall (mispelled purposely) and got some food. Then we did some laundry. After that, Bob took us to the front gate and showed us how to get to the main part of Naples. So we shoved off. After a little bit of a walk, we got to the Duomo. It wasn't as impressive as the Duomo in Florence, but still very cool. Oh, and this one didn't allow pictures. All the others have. After that we went to the Archaeological Museum of Naples. There was tons of cool shit in there. A lot of sculptures from the Greco-Roman times and a lot of stuff from Pompeii. It was crazy how well preserved all the pieces from Pompeii were. Oh, and there was this room upstairs called The Secret Room. It had all kinds of sexual shit from ancient Pompeii. Stone phalluses, erotic frescos, sculptures of people fuck'n, etc. It was pretty cool. Next we headed over to the Naples Sotteranea (ancient underground naples). I wanted to go in, but Josh, Goph, and Paul didn't want to wait for the next tour. So we went down to these two castles instead. And of course we didn't end up going in either of them. After sitting around at Beverello (port of Naples) for a bit, we took a taxi back to the airport (military base) to meet Bob so we could get a ride back to his house. Dude, I forgot to mention the traffic in this city. It is fucking chaotic. Insane. The people drive like maniacs. Oh, and the pollution... forget about it. When you blow your nose all this black shit comes out. It's from all the exhaust fumes. We call it the black death. So we're back at bob's house now. Oh yeah, we don't have any water here. They broke a pipe or something in the next town over so the water is off till late Friday night. Luckily he has a small reserve tank (this kind of stuff apparently happens more then you'd think). But we still have to take like 2 minute showers. Tomorrow we are going to Pompeii. I'm pretty stoked about that. I'm gonna hit the sack now. Ciao.
Date: Thursday, 3-17-05
Location: Naples, Italy
Today we went down to Pompeii. We walked about 10 or 15 minutes from Bob's house to the train stop and took it into Naples. Then from there we took the train to Sorrento, which stops in Pompeii. So ok, Pompeii... absolutely amazing. Breathtaking. I don't even know how to describe it. It's incredible how well preserved this city is. And I mean the entire city, not just a couple buildings. The mosaics, the frescos, the cobble stone streets, the pottery, the graffiti, the grooves in the the streets from the chariots and carts. Oh, and the plaster casts of people they found in the lava rock. I mean, when they say frozen in time, they literally mean frozen in time. That is the position those people died in almost 2000 years ago. Freak'n amazing man. Oh, and the two amphitheaters. Dude, on our audio guides they had excerpts from plays of the time that you could listen to. So we would sit down in the amphitheater, close our eyes, and imagine we were back in time actually watching the play. Just awesome. I'm not even going to try to describe this shit any more. You people just have to see/experience it first hand. Absolutely amazing. So after that, we jumped the trains back to Bob's house. We drank some more of his home-made wine and ate some pizza. Tomorrow we are going to wander down to the port of Naples and take a ferry to either Capri or Ischia. And on that note, I'm going to bed. Ciao.
Date: Saturday, 3-19-05
Location: Naples/Capri, Italy
So I didn't write anything last night cause we ended up going out to Capri (pimp ass island) and stayed the night there. So let's recap, shall we? We woke up yesterday and took the train into Naples. Then we took a cab to the port and hopped a hydrofoil (ferry) over to Capri. Man, Capri is pretty fuck'n cool. We got off the ferry and ran into this Italian dude who said he'd give us a boat tour around the entire island for 20 euro a piece. So we were like "ummm.... ok". We got on this dude's little boat and shoved off. Man, that was the best 20 euro I've spent the entire trip. He took us around the entire island and showed us everything. All of the little caves and natural arches. Oh, and this Italian dude was born and raised in Capri, so he knew everything about the island. Plus, he spoke just enough English to hold a conversation with, so the whole thing just had a real authentic feel to it. Anyways, the island is beautiful. I probably took like 40 pictures in the 2 hours it took us to sail around it. After the tour, we wandered around the main part of Capri looking for a place to stay. Now, since this was the second to last night of the trip and since we had saved some loot staying at Josh's uncle's house the last couple nights, we decided to splurge. We got two rooms at the Hotel Capri overlooking the ocean. After we checked in, we walked around the center of Capri where all the little shops are and bought some trinkets. Then, sticking with our whole "splurge" theme, we ate dinner at this nice ass restaurant. We had a three course meal and downed like 3 or 4 bottles of wine and some beers. The bill was like 160 euro (over $200), but it was totally worth it. The food was amazing. And I mean, fuck it. You only live once, right? So after that, we wandered the streets and ran into some cops. We asked them where some clubs are. They told us there was a place called The Underground up in Anacapri (up the hill and otherside of the island). At that point, it was still a little early. So we went up to the hotel room and drank some more wine. Before we knew it, we had gone through another 3 or 4 bottles. So feeling pretty toasty, we hopped a cab up to The Underground. Man, the place was empty. But we didn't give a fuck. That didn't stop us from getting shitfaced. We hung out there for a while and danced and drank some beers and did some shots. Man we were wasted. So after that we went back to the hotel and called it a night. We woke up this morning and hopped the ferry back over to Naples then trained it back out to Bob's house. That's where we're at now. Tomorrow we have to go back into Naples and catch a Eurostar back up to Rome. Then we fly home Monday morning. I'll make one more journal entry tomorrow. Ciao.
Date: Sunday, 3-20-05
Location: Rome, Italy
This morning we woke up and Bob took us into Naples to the train station. We caught a Eurostar back up to Rome. Instead of heading straight out to the hotel (by the airport) we hit up a couple churches right by the train station. The first one had what they believe is a piece of the crib Jesus was born in. That was pretty cool. Then, at the second church, they had the chains that St. Peter was locked in (not sure why he was locked up) and Michelangelo's moses. The Moses was pretty damn cool. After that, we headed out to the hotel. That's where I'm at now. I'm gonna go downstairs and use their internet for a bit then hit the sack. Our flight leaves tomorrow at like 11:00am. I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed. So anyways, another journey in the books. It was fun. Hung out with my friends, saw some cool ass shit, met some cool (and not so cool) people, and ate some good food. But with that said... GOD BLESS AMERICA! I'm come'n home. Ciao.