Wherever I may Rome/On red ships of Spain/Veni Vici Partay!

We're in Madrid (not in the picture). I know, large gap (in time and space) since the last time we checked in. Obviously, it's because we've been too busy, you know, getting awesome(obviously).

Galiga. I think anyone who has spent time there will speak about in a reverential tone. In the Tuscan hills northwest, but mostly west, outside of Firenze it is a place of spectacularly unending views. The house we stayed at was a farmhouse built in (maybe) 1770 where there are ten folks living there in bohemian style. They also have a room designated for guests and couch surfers. We came across it on CS and the initial messages went something to effect of "Hey, you guys sound like you have some awesome going on and we're in the area, can we couch surf on this day?" 'Yeah sure, but we're throwing this awesome party on this day, can you come earlier?' "Of course we can, we love to party!"
The first night we were treated to a delicious meal and drinks and the next day was spent meeting some fellow cs'ers, Tamara, Alex, Florence and David. And trying to help set up for the party.

The party was rad.

 Early, G getting schooled at chess....

 ...and foos....

 ....and dancing....

 Ok, I'm kidding about the dancing.

Yeah.

Needless to say it was fun night. People, danced, laughed, made pizza (it is Italy), drank, played foos, and danced some more. We capped the night drinking a loudmouthed polish dude named Bart under the table and JD repeatedly yelling vaffanculo (it was actually more like Franco Culo!) at absolutely nobody in particular and trying his hardest to stay upright. After that, the days blended in together in a beautiful haze. One fantastic meal bled into the next (did I mention the garden? Delicious) and one night of partying turned into another, the low light was us being tired as all get out and having our brains turned to mush by hours of drum and bass at a neighbor's party. But that was easily laughed off. Later. After hours of sleep.
 Galiga was perfect. Some of the best views we've seen. My personal favorite actually. Night time, at the bottom of the hillock the house sits on there's a fork in the road and as you start to gaze upward you see a large field that at some point held crops of some kind (I like to think it was a vineyard mainly because I'm a wino) and then further up five of the rugged Tuscan cascade into each to form a "w" sitting atop a "v" with the lights of houses  dancing across all while a light fog rolled over. Something like beautiful. Given all this, we did not want to leave. We even stayed an extra day, which cut our Piza trip (mercifully) short. It also saved us a ton of money on gelato, (which as you'll see, we made for in Roma).  For further reiteration, the food was phenomenal in Galiga.

A view.... from the bathroom

After Galiga was Firenze. Well, Firenze, and some recovery sleep. It was a bit like coming out of a waking dream. We were slightly disoriented and all the civilization didn't help matters. But bless my lil Assassin's heart we had things to see! 

 Leap of faith?

Caw! 

The Duomo was amazing and very well maintained and contained so amazing art inside the actual dome as well as breathtaking views of the city. I spent good portion looking for good spots to perform a  "leap of faith". The city itself was very clean and had some good spots to party, take in some views, and see some of the best history has to offer. Da Vinci? Yes. Quick note, if you stay at the Hostel 7 Santi DO NOT eat the food. The dudes stomach's did not agree with that merda. Also, that place, (the hostel) we guess was a former mental institution. Great vibes. Better A/C. I digress. Florence, is gorgeous and next time through we will be more thorough but this time we had to make it to:

PIZA!

For an hour. Not a lot to do there. We got gelato. And took silly pictures of this gaffe. As well as all the annoying people trying to take their pictures. Like these fools.

 

So, after a quick stop in Piza, we wound up having to run to make the train. Which worked out because there was a young mother running to make the same train except it was all stairs and she was pushing a stroller. We were on the case. She made it. After another scenic train ride (seriously, we are missing out in the U.S.) 

ROME!

The motherland of gelato. 

Eleven scoops. In fifteen minutes. Stuff is like taking ecstasy, makes ya feel soooo happy. Between seeing the myriad sites we tried as many different flavors as we could. And that turned out to be quite a few. We ate some at the same place they filmed a scene of "Roman Holiday" with Audrey Hepburn. We found that out secondhand from a passing tour guide as we ate a "monster" bucket as part of J.D.'s 29th birthday celebration. 

But, being in Rome, we had a few things to see and do:

 If you squint really hard you cannot actually see the pontiff smoking a doob in his apartment. Left

 Victory for Vittorio. This is not Vegas

 Yo Mikey! 

 The Pantheon. Minus, the pantheon (of gods)

 These fresh water springs are all over the city, this dude, was the coolest.

 Ceasar Do

 Castel Sant Angelo. AC moment.

 Hey Socrates, what's shaking? "Well, I'm not" -Socrates

 Why you always lurking G?

St. Pete's Basilica was Pope-a-riffic. And provided the best panoramic views of the city. Trajan's Column: beautiful. Our hostel was really a campsite on the outskirts of town and everything you needed (booze) was on premises, including a club. We danced, they played T.I. In between the six songs that are really really really really popular in Europe right now.

I feel like a real A'hole if I began to tell you about the specific sites that (heavily) dot Rome's map. What I can say is that you should see them for yourself. And, despite rumors and signs and security, you CAN actually take pictures in the Sisteen Chapel. And getting in the "audio guide" line at the Coliseum will save you an hour of waiting in line.

In all seriousness, Rome is awesome. The people there still feel like they are part of the empire and have a bit of the swag to show it. Public transport is easy if a bit busy. Go forth, and see that merda. And of course there's tons of gelato.

(did you see this face?!?!?)

Coming down from a severe party/gelato/history hangover, we boarded the plane to Barcelona. We wound spending four days at our hostel, which sits thirty minutes outside the main centre, in a national park. There were a bunch of wild pigs to prove it

It was awesome. Mainly because we made it so. We made friends with some Swedish girls and a Cool french guy name of Map that we're going to hang out with in Paris. 

 Party

 Party?

We also made it into the city and partook in some of the local fare as well as checked out the marina. Being there, it was easy to see the heavy spanish influence in places in the states, San Diego especially.

Got your fried calamari right here Tokar

 Hey lady, what's so funny?

Hey lady, my friend thinks you're cute.

We are currently in Madrid, holing up at a hostel that doubles as a refugee habitat on the outer edge of the city living off of nutella(yum) and bread. Keeping it cheap. We'll be here for the duration of the month, getting awesome, before we head to the city of lights, Paris. You'll hear from us soon.

Stay Awesome

Italia!

Ten Days (or so) later...such a long time. Milano. Apparently a lot of Italians aren't much for it. Larger, congested, polluted, fashioncentric, busy. Being fans of NYC, we managed to thoroughly enjoy it. A lot of that is thanks to our wonderful hosts Francesca and Michele. Francesca was great at steering us towards the fun and interesting things to do/try/eat. 

Milano Central Station

Milano is pretty easy to navigate through with three types of public transport; buses, metro, and cool early 20th century era trolleys (trams). Just mind the controllers checking for tickets. We also spent a lot of time walking around seeing whatever we wandered by (best way, anywhere). 

The city centre is dominated by the Duomo di Milano, which is the 4th largest cathedral in the world. It's huge, and elaborately decorated. The Madonnina spire is 108m high while it can hold 40000 people. Twain and Wilde had conflicting thoughts on it, I'm somewhere in the middle, leaning towards Twain.

While walking around we spied all manners of interesting things. Lots of suits. Italian men take their suits very seriously. Great parks. They are everywhere. Peacocks of all shapes, sizes, and colors (and none of them are of the avian variety). There was even a good amount of irony; as an example while we were walking down a street there was a man with no feet propped against a store asking for change, the store? Foot Locker (Funny overrules f'd up). There was a church in the centre that had apparently only been given a certain amount of room to build and that didn't include enough room to make the traditional axis form so they instead made a false apse so that as you face from the west front to the east end the dimensions look like its set in the proper church form. When you view the east end from either side of the transept however, you see that the architect pulled a pretty sweet fast on you and the apse is only about a foot deep.

  These shoes cost about a hundred euro's. And they're chocolate. Real chocolate. No they didn't have them in our size.

Carhartt Couture? Hey Montana, you're fashionable in Milano.

"So you're saying if I step here on the bull's balls and spin on my heel, what'll happen? Oh that's right, I look like an asshole"

The surprise Milanese rainshower. Which lead to:

Retreat coffee!

There was also much nightime fun to be had. We went to a friend of Francesca's housewarming party and had a blast. Lot's of fun, friendly people that made us feel all the more welcome by speaking english with us because we definitely have a language deficit. We were informed that the Milanese think Fernet Branca is shit. Drink Braulio instead. It's sweet, but not as sweet as Branca Menta. There apparently was some absinthe being mixed with coke. A little less than tasty. I skipped the coke. Tons of laughs, lot's of dancing, and many smiles. 

The next night we went to a pizzeria that was delicious AND all you can eat, one whole pizza at a time. With one caveat; the pizzas are dealer's choice. Meaning, the pizza maker gets to choose toppings you get. Our favorite was the eggplant, prosciutto, and sour cream. There was some boasting on our Italian friends end to turn it into a competition, saying things like "I'll go to the hospital if I have to!" So, we thought we might be in trouble for a second. Not to worry, italians are apparently all bark, no bite. They were done four rounds in. We went seven. AND a half. Just for emphasis. After, we sipped Fernet for a bit (WHAT? sipping Fernet?) before (unsuccessfully) trying to walk it off going to the Colonna, a square that was a Roman market. Complete with roman columns. It's a place that people go to and buy street beer and booze and just find a good place to sit and hang out and co-mingle. And the drunk guy that usually shows up to these places and does some really dumb, drunk shit that messes up everyone's good time? Well, every fifteen minutes or so, he would start a slow clap. And people would clap. And cheer. Very subtle drunk guy, very subtle indeed. He even managed to start a clap at about midnight, so I got an ovation (indirectly) for my birthday.

Michele arrived the next day from his parent's in the north, his bf Flavio came and the rest of the day was spent cooking and eating pizzas. Or, more correctly, Francesca cooked and we helped a little. And ate

Then: We ate like kings!!!! (And despite stereotypical American behavior, we did not put ketchup on anything)

(earlier) We OF course had gelato's. Because no birthday, NAY, no DAY, is complete without gelato. Period

The pizza was de-freaking-licious. The awesomeness had was better. Thanks again

The next day, we went out for some birthday kareoke fun-havings. Mission accomplished. We (Francesca) found a kareoke bar. It was a cross between our finest hour (international kareoke, Estefanos' first time behind the mic, good drinking, great times) and not so fine. Of course we drank Jameson. The bar also serves a 9% dopplebock in a one liter mug. They call it the "Bulldog." We got MURDERFACED. We did a fine job singing and dancing, laughing and having a good time. Estefanos sang "Johnny B. Goode" but the prompter was a little off so it came out with a lot of "GO GO GO GO GO GO's" J.D. and I, of course sang "I want it that way" and individually I sang "You've lost that loving feeling" and Diz did "Gangsta's Paradise" 

We sang. We danced. We drank. And we blacked out. Bad. And there's pictures. That's bad. Funny bad. Like Andrew Dice Clay. Or was he bad funny? Whatever. I woke up looking at Diz in his shirt from the night before and his chonies curling up under his towel. And he did the same when he woke and saw me. Sans towel. Definite "ugh, what the hell happened?" moment. I'll skip the majority of the details but we, this is secondhand information and therefore highly unreliable, had hard time getting home. Emphasis on hard. The kind of hard where the taxi driver wanted a deposit hard. This, again, is heresay but Diz was a limp, smiling noodle and I...was staring at walls.

 As you can see by those smiles, we're already a few in.

 I apparently am unsure of what's going on, but Estefanos is feeling it.

 Cin cin!

 Go Johnny go, go

 go go go go go go go!

 I got soul...

 ...and I'm superbad

 "What's going on in the kitchen, but I don't know what's cookin'"

 Really good at making bad decisions

 Ooooh Flavio

 Flavio! Flavio! Flavio!

 I want it that way

 "Cause I want it that way"

 That's a handsome beer ya got there feller (Michele)

 That's a handsome feller ya got there beer (beer)

 Who's cuter now?

 Aaaaaaannnddd...

 Hey! What's that on the floor Diz?

 Yo dawg, that shit was funny as hell

 Hey! check out JD getting home>>>>>

Our gracious hosts, and friends, (and sports) Francesca and Michele... But where the f is Flavio?

 Ya heard?

Cheers to a great night.

And a rough next day of travel.

After bidding Milano a fond farewell, we went to spend a couple days in quiet Modena. It was such. Nice area and nice people. It was mostly nice because, we got to relax a bit. Modena, and it's surrounding areas are famous for the cars of Ferrari, Lamburghini, Maserati and Ducati motorbikes as well as their cheese and basil. The cheese and basil was fantastic.

After we made our way to Galiga, which is nestled into the hills of Tuscany northeast of Firenze where we've been staying with some awesome people in a neo-bohemian living situation in a two hundred fifty year old farmhouse. But that's a story for another time (blog)

http://youtu.be/3khTntOxX-k?t=13s

Stay Awesome