P
PeteyPirate
Guest
I'm back in my apartment after almost 21 hours' worth of traveling back from Italy. I'm beyond tired, but I'm trying to hold out until a normal East Coast bedtime to get my clock back in order after a week abroad.
It was a tremendous experience. My girlfriend and I flew into Rome last Saturday and immediately hopped a train to Cortona, a small town in Tuscany where my family -- and by my family I mean two members of my family, neither of them me -- rented a villa for the week. There were about 20 of us altogether. In between consuming obscene amounts of pasta, tiramisu, wine and limoncello, we got in some day trips to Florence, Siena and Perugia. The last two days were spent in Rome with my girlfriend.
Some initial thoughts, and I might think of more later:
* The Euro is killing the dollar ($1.70 when I exchanged). I bought more $5 Cokes and coffees than I thought I would in my lifetime. We didn't even bother going to restaurants, instead packing sandwiches for trips and cooking dinners.
* I did get bargains on silk neckties at about $5 apiece for 10 of very high quality.
* Michelangelo's David is the single most impressive piece of art that I have ever laid eyes on. You can get a sense of the detail and proportionality from photos, but until you have stood in front of it you can't imagine how colossal it is.
* St. Peter's basilica is the most impressive building I have ever been inside. The Catholic church were absolute ballers. The famous panels from the Sistine Chapel were smaller than I imagined.
* Smart Cars are everywhere. Italy has no discernible driving rules.
* We need a train system.
* Spent the last two nights in a hotel and for the first time watched Al Jazeera English. It is easily the best television news channel I have ever watched, better than the BBC. Full-time anchor desks in Doha, London, Washington and Kuala Lumpur. The transitions are seamless, the stories are thoroughly reported and even the theme music is great.
That's all I've got for now. I need to catch up on my Obama-McCain news.
It was a tremendous experience. My girlfriend and I flew into Rome last Saturday and immediately hopped a train to Cortona, a small town in Tuscany where my family -- and by my family I mean two members of my family, neither of them me -- rented a villa for the week. There were about 20 of us altogether. In between consuming obscene amounts of pasta, tiramisu, wine and limoncello, we got in some day trips to Florence, Siena and Perugia. The last two days were spent in Rome with my girlfriend.
Some initial thoughts, and I might think of more later:
* The Euro is killing the dollar ($1.70 when I exchanged). I bought more $5 Cokes and coffees than I thought I would in my lifetime. We didn't even bother going to restaurants, instead packing sandwiches for trips and cooking dinners.
* I did get bargains on silk neckties at about $5 apiece for 10 of very high quality.
* Michelangelo's David is the single most impressive piece of art that I have ever laid eyes on. You can get a sense of the detail and proportionality from photos, but until you have stood in front of it you can't imagine how colossal it is.
* St. Peter's basilica is the most impressive building I have ever been inside. The Catholic church were absolute ballers. The famous panels from the Sistine Chapel were smaller than I imagined.
* Smart Cars are everywhere. Italy has no discernible driving rules.
* We need a train system.
* Spent the last two nights in a hotel and for the first time watched Al Jazeera English. It is easily the best television news channel I have ever watched, better than the BBC. Full-time anchor desks in Doha, London, Washington and Kuala Lumpur. The transitions are seamless, the stories are thoroughly reported and even the theme music is great.
That's all I've got for now. I need to catch up on my Obama-McCain news.
