Monday, Aug. 25, 2003
Italy Pictures, posted at 2:28 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com Finally I am ready to share my Italy pictures. Bill and I had a great time, as you will be able to see:Verona
Bill and I at the entrance of Camelot, my favorite bar in Verona. We stayed here on the 4th of July and had a great time. The place is so hip it doesn't even have a sign. Glad I had my Hanging Out in Italy book, which pointed me right to it.
We had a great time with this beautiful waitress that night, pontificating for it seemed hours exactly what features and qualities made her so beautiful. She didn't speak a word of english (which made it easier to flirt... hmmmm... something to ruminate over), but she understood gestures well enough to pose in this picture, and to know that we were two drunk Americans hitting on her. We both bid her adieu with a ringing "Ciao, Bella."
Earlier that evening, we watched the opera Carmen at La Arena in Verona. It was incrdible. Look at that set.
This is Bill and I on a midievil bridge that led to a castle we toured.
I think this picture is hilarious. Yup, that's me, as big as an ant. I'm right in front of the bridge that the last picture was taken off of.
Rome
This is Bill and I inside the Colliseum. Amazing.
It's one thing to see photos of the Colliseum. But to see how it's situated, at the end of a road with traffic, but amongst ruins, is an incredible experience. (By the way, this is the sort of photo that reminds me of a conversation I had with Tiffany not long ago. She says she doesn't like scenery pictures with people in front of them. Myself, I do. I figure that if I want scenery, that's what a postcard is for. I like to get pictures of myself or my friends in front of different monuments, just to show I was there and to give a unique perspective on it. You know? So that's why there's a lot of pictures of me or bill in front of things here.)
This was one of my favorite pictures in Rome. Just after exiting the Colliseum, a gay pride parade drove by. We were inundated with thumping beats and rainbow flags, and Bill and I sat and watched the spectacle for a bit. Not only did we realize why it was so easy to pose as a gay couple for a better hostel rate at the last hostel we had visited (grin), but it also sort of showcased the harmonious relationship between the modern and the ancient in Rome.
If you put money in the Trevi Fountain, it guarantees your return to Rome someday. Hopefully it's true. I'm in the red.
This was the most dangerous night of the trip. The Drunken Ship in Rome is basically America central, and we hooked up pretty rapidly with the guy (Jon, a professional football player in Europe and former NFL player) and Lisa (American studying abroad). As you can probably tell, we were pretty banged up at the time of this photo. Jon took us under his wing and poured more alcohol down our throats than I remember having since I turned 21. Later that night, Bill and I ended up passing out / falling asleep outside the train station as we awaited its opening after nearly getting run over by a streetsweeper. There are much worse pictures than this, with tongues out and body parts grabbed. Lisa sure was hot. She ended up writing all over my tourbook, giving me the address to her own weblog and a bunch of other stuff. Lisa was 19. Don't worry, I was not a bad guy at the end.
Venice
We loved the pigeons in Piazza del Marco. Here's Bill.
Here I am.
Back at Lago di Garda
Much of the time in Italy, we stayed in a quiet lakeside village on the largest lage in Italy. Lake Garda is about an hour west of Verona in the northern part of the country.
Bill and I at the local watering hole.
The lake is snuggled inside the Italian Alps. On this day, we later mountain biked down this mountain. It was so serene and beautiful on top. We had to ride a skilift up, then we biked down.
Bill's family's house is that big white one there on the lake. It's right next to a gelateria (dangerous) and some hotels. Only 200 people live in the village.
One of the most memorable nights of the trip was a trip up the mountain to a tiny mountain village having a town festival. It was held on a soccer field and we were the only english speakers there. We shared 2 $4 bottles of wine and watched everything in awe.
The trip was an amazing experience, totally worth the hell that the rest of my summer has been.