On Friday the Fearsome Foursome (Dad, Chad, Aunt Sandy and myself) took a road trip to Montepulciano and Cortona - both medieval hill towns in the Tuscan Region of Italy. One of the twenty regions of Italy, Tuscany has an approximate population of 3.6 million people and a seemingly endless supply of beauty. Town after town, each built on top of the areas hills, are full of Etruscan and Roman history and all offer inimitable views.
As much as I hated to break up the Beatles, on Saturday I took a solo excursion to Pisa. I figured it would be wrong to be in Italy and not see one of the worlds most famous landmarks, the Leaning Tower. I was not aware, however, that the Tower (actually the Cathedrals campanile) was only one quarter of Camp dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles). The wide area, enclosed by a great wall, includes the Duomo, the Leaning Tower, the Camposanta and the Baptistery, and includes some of the greatest medieval art in the world (thank you Wikipedia).
As usual, check out the photos here.
Saturday, 21 July 2007
Tuesday, 17 July 2007
Down Time
Not a lot to report from the past few days; just taking it easy and enjoying some much needed R&R. I could get used to the Italian lifestyle. Everything seems to move in half-time, and everyone takes 'siesta' or 'reposo' from 12:30 to 4 in the afternoon. Almost as if on purpose the American financial market hours (3:30pm to 10pm local time) seem to fit in perfect with the Italian schedule we have adapted to.
Today Dad, Sandy, Chad and I went to see the Etruscan Catacombs in (or under, to be more precise) Chiusi. You can check out those pictures as well as some pictures of Chiusi and our new home, Il Castello, here.
Today Dad, Sandy, Chad and I went to see the Etruscan Catacombs in (or under, to be more precise) Chiusi. You can check out those pictures as well as some pictures of Chiusi and our new home, Il Castello, here.
Sunday, 15 July 2007
Country Number 5
We arrived safely at Il Castello in Fighini at around 3:30 AM this morning after 40 hours of grueling travel. Getting out of Pamplona was a task to say the least since all of the trains to Barcelona (and connecting trains) were sold out. Chad took control of planning this escape, and we eventually ended up taking a route that included a 3 hour bus ride from Pamplona to Irun, a 14 hour train ride from Hendaye to Nice, a 7 hour train ride from Nice to Milan, a 3 hour train ride from Milan to Florence, and an hour and half cab ride from Florence to Chiusi. The 8 hour layover in Nice was a good break and allowed me the chance to fall in love with the French Riviera. It was a short affair, but I promised that I would return.
As great a job as Chad did with the arrangements out of Pamplona, there was one detail that we just couldn't work around. Our train arrived in Florence at 10:50 PM - 2 hours after the last train to Chiusi. We contemplated a few different ideas, including renting a car, taking a bus, and/or spending the night in Florence and catching the earliest train. Once we arrived we discovered we missed the late bus, there were no car rental places open, and a hotel was gong to cost 80 Euro. A little Hindu man named Riveen asked us what we needed and we told him he could help us find a hotel room. After he made a call (worked out his commission) and started walking us to the hotel, Chad, somewhat jokingly, asked him if he could drive us to Chiusi (about 123 km) for 80 Euro. He looked like he was going to overheat his brain was working so hard trying to figure out the expense/possible profit ratio. He eventually decided that he needed to consult his GPS to figure out exactly how far it was. He didn't know it, but the fact that he had a GPS unit was a huge selling point to us. He eventually decided that 100 Euro was what it was worth to him (what he thought he could take us for), and Chad and I, although knowing we could talk him down a little, were too tired to hastle with him. 100 it was.
The ride to Chiusi was about an hour and a half and on the way Riveen gave us a quick lesson in Italian. He spoke 6 languages: Italian, French, Spanish, English, Hindi and Creole. For what he knew in international languages, he lacked in sense of direction and ended up dropping us off about 4km from where we were supposed to meet Whitney and dad. My cell died in the middle of trying to give Whitney directions and Chad and I suddenly found ourself in the middle of a small Italian village, at 1 in the morning with no phone and all of our luggage. Riveen's Italian lesson came in handy and I was able to ask for directions to the train station, although not able at all to understand the answer given to the question. Chad minded the luggage while I went in search of la stazione di treno. Everyone I asked would point down the hill so I just kept walking down the hill. I eventually reached the bottom of the hill, realized that our ride was no longer there, and that I would now have to walk the 4km back up the hill. No fun. We were now in survival mode. We stashed the luggage as best we could and went on a search for power so that we could get a charge to my cell phone. We eventually found one in the middle of old town Chiusi, placed a call to Whitney and eventually got picked up. It was the appropriate ending to our 2 day voyage.
This morning was my first true chance to really appreciate the beauty of the Villa. The views are breathtaking, and the serene atmosphere is a great counter to what we have been experiencing over the past two weeks. It will be nice to be able to unpack completely, do some laundry and just unwind for a few days. I have posted our final pictures from Pamplona as well as pictures of the Spanish Countryside and the French Riviera. Remember, you can access all of the pictures here.
As great a job as Chad did with the arrangements out of Pamplona, there was one detail that we just couldn't work around. Our train arrived in Florence at 10:50 PM - 2 hours after the last train to Chiusi. We contemplated a few different ideas, including renting a car, taking a bus, and/or spending the night in Florence and catching the earliest train. Once we arrived we discovered we missed the late bus, there were no car rental places open, and a hotel was gong to cost 80 Euro. A little Hindu man named Riveen asked us what we needed and we told him he could help us find a hotel room. After he made a call (worked out his commission) and started walking us to the hotel, Chad, somewhat jokingly, asked him if he could drive us to Chiusi (about 123 km) for 80 Euro. He looked like he was going to overheat his brain was working so hard trying to figure out the expense/possible profit ratio. He eventually decided that he needed to consult his GPS to figure out exactly how far it was. He didn't know it, but the fact that he had a GPS unit was a huge selling point to us. He eventually decided that 100 Euro was what it was worth to him (what he thought he could take us for), and Chad and I, although knowing we could talk him down a little, were too tired to hastle with him. 100 it was.
The ride to Chiusi was about an hour and a half and on the way Riveen gave us a quick lesson in Italian. He spoke 6 languages: Italian, French, Spanish, English, Hindi and Creole. For what he knew in international languages, he lacked in sense of direction and ended up dropping us off about 4km from where we were supposed to meet Whitney and dad. My cell died in the middle of trying to give Whitney directions and Chad and I suddenly found ourself in the middle of a small Italian village, at 1 in the morning with no phone and all of our luggage. Riveen's Italian lesson came in handy and I was able to ask for directions to the train station, although not able at all to understand the answer given to the question. Chad minded the luggage while I went in search of la stazione di treno. Everyone I asked would point down the hill so I just kept walking down the hill. I eventually reached the bottom of the hill, realized that our ride was no longer there, and that I would now have to walk the 4km back up the hill. No fun. We were now in survival mode. We stashed the luggage as best we could and went on a search for power so that we could get a charge to my cell phone. We eventually found one in the middle of old town Chiusi, placed a call to Whitney and eventually got picked up. It was the appropriate ending to our 2 day voyage.
This morning was my first true chance to really appreciate the beauty of the Villa. The views are breathtaking, and the serene atmosphere is a great counter to what we have been experiencing over the past two weeks. It will be nice to be able to unpack completely, do some laundry and just unwind for a few days. I have posted our final pictures from Pamplona as well as pictures of the Spanish Countryside and the French Riviera. Remember, you can access all of the pictures here.
Thursday, 12 July 2007
12th de Julio
Boy we sure know how to pick 'em.
The day we picked to run, Thursday the 12th, turned out to be the nastiest el encierro of the 2007 San Fermin festival, and maybe for the past few years. A bull got separated from the pack early (right at our chosen starting point, a stretch called Ayuntamiento) and had to run the entire course by itself, confused, taking 6 minutes to make it to the ring (the average running time is around two and half to three minutes). In the ensuing chaos seven people were gored, and another 6 were injured and taken to the hospital - three in critical condition. The separated bull severely messed with our plans to join the run after the bulls had passed, but we still ran - almost running into the bull (named 'Universal') as he started running the wrong way up the course. It was the adrenaline rush that we were looking for when we spotted the runners in front of us turn to run towards us. We safely made it to an exit fence and waited until the trailing steer came by. We made it through the chaotic 5 minutes with only one minor injury; Chad hurt his hand slapping the shit out of one of the steer. I think he will survive, but I'm worried about the steer. Unfortunately we have no pictures or video because believe me - when you run with the bulls you want all of your faculties available to you.
I once read that you can't be male and between the age of 18 to 40, and attend the festival without running el encierro, as your machismo inevitably takes over. Well, I have to disagree. I came to San Fermin with the intent on running and after watching one time it wasn't my machismo that took over but my common sense. The event has changed dramatically over the last few years as the popularity continues to grow. Seeing it first hand I can tell you that the real danger is not just the 1500 pound horned beasts running at you, but the 1500 plus crazy assholes running with you - half of them drunk and hungover. The good thing about the run is that you are able to choose your own level of danger and risk (to a certain extent). We decided to play this round on 'beginner' level, but hey, you only have one life in this game. Here are 13 good reasons not to play at all.
Now Chad's report:
I spotted a high point for which we could watch, we quickly moved passed the crowds to the climbing point. Iron bars covering the window of an old church about 10 feet of the ground is where we were perched. From here we could see the complete full bend of the first turn. The process of this show works like this: A lot of warnings in other languages, that took at least 30 sec in Spanish and two sec in English. All it said was "To run safely, watch safely", "that's it" I thought. I came all this way about to watch the craziest thing ever and the warning was sum up to " watch your ass."
The next step was the bells, If Spain had a "Rocky Balboa" theme it would have sounded like these bells. The crowd roars with nervous excitement, a hand full of people bailed at that moment running quickly to safety. The next step was the 1st of three rockets, the 1st one lets everyone now that it's on, the 2nd lets everyone know it's to late and the last one tells us that it's over.
Imagine a sea of red and white, running in madness. They ran down the street, up the street, they would try to run and jump over the fence only to be left out in the way of bulls running at them with an angry pace. I saw the Bull Kase talked about slam into four people pinning them against the wooden fence. The Bull quickly trusted it's head upwards hoping to catch the face of a drunken spainard with it's horns but only left a permanent carving in the wooden timber post, as to say "Bull was here and I almost killed you". I watched all this and I thought, this is the dumbest thing I've ever seen. I came here thinking that this would make me more of a man, and realized I was a man....with a brain. If were to run and get gored in the testicles Whit would never forgive me, we would have to adopted Chinese babies named Nooni and Nooni. This is not what it takes to be a man, I was not impressed with this tradition.
IN SPAIN THE MULLET IS BACK!!!
The mullet is huge in this place, and there are so many veration of the mullet. You have the, 80's rocker mullet, the Byan Bosworth side spike mullet, the Micheal Bolton balding mullet, the baby mullet, the multi color mullet, the curley mullet, strait mullet, pony tailed mullet, layered mullet, old mullet and the twin mullet. If you can find a place with more mullets don't tell me about it. I swear I wanted to order a Crystal Pepsi and go to a barber shop and say "a little of the top, let the back go".
Our greatest journey yet is ahead of us. We got here but now we can't leave. I feel like were in the movie Trains, Planes and Automobiles, only in Spanish. Our plan it to take a bus to Irun, then a train to Milan and form there....well thats as far as we gotten in our planing.
I can say I'm glad I came to Spain, we came, we saw, we left with our goods. On to Italy to see Whit and the rest of the family. I hope we make it.
The day we picked to run, Thursday the 12th, turned out to be the nastiest el encierro of the 2007 San Fermin festival, and maybe for the past few years. A bull got separated from the pack early (right at our chosen starting point, a stretch called Ayuntamiento) and had to run the entire course by itself, confused, taking 6 minutes to make it to the ring (the average running time is around two and half to three minutes). In the ensuing chaos seven people were gored, and another 6 were injured and taken to the hospital - three in critical condition. The separated bull severely messed with our plans to join the run after the bulls had passed, but we still ran - almost running into the bull (named 'Universal') as he started running the wrong way up the course. It was the adrenaline rush that we were looking for when we spotted the runners in front of us turn to run towards us. We safely made it to an exit fence and waited until the trailing steer came by. We made it through the chaotic 5 minutes with only one minor injury; Chad hurt his hand slapping the shit out of one of the steer. I think he will survive, but I'm worried about the steer. Unfortunately we have no pictures or video because believe me - when you run with the bulls you want all of your faculties available to you.
I once read that you can't be male and between the age of 18 to 40, and attend the festival without running el encierro, as your machismo inevitably takes over. Well, I have to disagree. I came to San Fermin with the intent on running and after watching one time it wasn't my machismo that took over but my common sense. The event has changed dramatically over the last few years as the popularity continues to grow. Seeing it first hand I can tell you that the real danger is not just the 1500 pound horned beasts running at you, but the 1500 plus crazy assholes running with you - half of them drunk and hungover. The good thing about the run is that you are able to choose your own level of danger and risk (to a certain extent). We decided to play this round on 'beginner' level, but hey, you only have one life in this game. Here are 13 good reasons not to play at all.
Now Chad's report:
I spotted a high point for which we could watch, we quickly moved passed the crowds to the climbing point. Iron bars covering the window of an old church about 10 feet of the ground is where we were perched. From here we could see the complete full bend of the first turn. The process of this show works like this: A lot of warnings in other languages, that took at least 30 sec in Spanish and two sec in English. All it said was "To run safely, watch safely", "that's it" I thought. I came all this way about to watch the craziest thing ever and the warning was sum up to " watch your ass."
The next step was the bells, If Spain had a "Rocky Balboa" theme it would have sounded like these bells. The crowd roars with nervous excitement, a hand full of people bailed at that moment running quickly to safety. The next step was the 1st of three rockets, the 1st one lets everyone now that it's on, the 2nd lets everyone know it's to late and the last one tells us that it's over.
Imagine a sea of red and white, running in madness. They ran down the street, up the street, they would try to run and jump over the fence only to be left out in the way of bulls running at them with an angry pace. I saw the Bull Kase talked about slam into four people pinning them against the wooden fence. The Bull quickly trusted it's head upwards hoping to catch the face of a drunken spainard with it's horns but only left a permanent carving in the wooden timber post, as to say "Bull was here and I almost killed you". I watched all this and I thought, this is the dumbest thing I've ever seen. I came here thinking that this would make me more of a man, and realized I was a man....with a brain. If were to run and get gored in the testicles Whit would never forgive me, we would have to adopted Chinese babies named Nooni and Nooni. This is not what it takes to be a man, I was not impressed with this tradition.
IN SPAIN THE MULLET IS BACK!!!
The mullet is huge in this place, and there are so many veration of the mullet. You have the, 80's rocker mullet, the Byan Bosworth side spike mullet, the Micheal Bolton balding mullet, the baby mullet, the multi color mullet, the curley mullet, strait mullet, pony tailed mullet, layered mullet, old mullet and the twin mullet. If you can find a place with more mullets don't tell me about it. I swear I wanted to order a Crystal Pepsi and go to a barber shop and say "a little of the top, let the back go".
Our greatest journey yet is ahead of us. We got here but now we can't leave. I feel like were in the movie Trains, Planes and Automobiles, only in Spanish. Our plan it to take a bus to Irun, then a train to Milan and form there....well thats as far as we gotten in our planing.
I can say I'm glad I came to Spain, we came, we saw, we left with our goods. On to Italy to see Whit and the rest of the family. I hope we make it.
Wednesday, 11 July 2007
The Sun Also Rises (when it doesn't rain)
Hemingway's novel The Sun Also Rises helped to popularize San Fermin and el encierro. This monument sits outside the Plaza de Toros on Paseo Hemingway and is inscribed, "A Friend of These People and Admirer of Our Fiestas."
El Encierro (running of the bulls) dates as far back as the 14th century, when the bulls to be used in that afternoons bullfights were herded through the streets from their pen to the stadium. At some point, the drunken fools decided to run with them and the tradition was born.
Tomorrow we run.
Scouting Our Spot
Today I ran with bulls.... sort of.
Chad and I woke up early to make it to the center of town at around 7am so that we could scout out our starting position and path for tomorrow. On the bus I decided that I was going to try and run today because I just couldn't handle it any longer. I wasn't necessarily planning on running as much as just being on the street as the bulls ran by so that I could get a feel for everything. I gave my jacket to Chad, entered the gate and waited the longest half hour of my life; Adrenaline pumping, heart pounding, muscles burning. I took up a position at one of the widest points of the course and right next to an exit fence. About 10 minutes before 8 (when the bulls are let loose) a prick de policia saw me shooting video with my camera and told me to leave the course. It was a strange mix of anger and relief all at the same time. I can't say I argued with him much. I exited the course and took a position behind the second fence (there are two fences setup along the course and they keep the area between them clear so that the runners can make a quick exit if they need to). The first rocket sounded meaning the bulls had been released and before I knew it the bulls had run by. I didn't see them as much as hear them and the crowd. A guy got slammed pretty hard right by where I had been standing and the crowd gasped. The medics were quick to get to him.
After the big boys had passed I entered the course again and started taking video. I noticed that some people in front of me started running so I turned and saw more horns coming. Thinking that I had just made a horrible mistake and entered the course before all of the bulls had passed I quickly ran to the side only to see three steer run by. As somewhat of a goof (and an excuse to run the course for practice purposes), I ran about a third of the course with them.
I will post more (including pictures) later.
Chad and I woke up early to make it to the center of town at around 7am so that we could scout out our starting position and path for tomorrow. On the bus I decided that I was going to try and run today because I just couldn't handle it any longer. I wasn't necessarily planning on running as much as just being on the street as the bulls ran by so that I could get a feel for everything. I gave my jacket to Chad, entered the gate and waited the longest half hour of my life; Adrenaline pumping, heart pounding, muscles burning. I took up a position at one of the widest points of the course and right next to an exit fence. About 10 minutes before 8 (when the bulls are let loose) a prick de policia saw me shooting video with my camera and told me to leave the course. It was a strange mix of anger and relief all at the same time. I can't say I argued with him much. I exited the course and took a position behind the second fence (there are two fences setup along the course and they keep the area between them clear so that the runners can make a quick exit if they need to). The first rocket sounded meaning the bulls had been released and before I knew it the bulls had run by. I didn't see them as much as hear them and the crowd. A guy got slammed pretty hard right by where I had been standing and the crowd gasped. The medics were quick to get to him.
After the big boys had passed I entered the course again and started taking video. I noticed that some people in front of me started running so I turned and saw more horns coming. Thinking that I had just made a horrible mistake and entered the course before all of the bulls had passed I quickly ran to the side only to see three steer run by. As somewhat of a goof (and an excuse to run the course for practice purposes), I ran about a third of the course with them.
I will post more (including pictures) later.
Sunday, 8 July 2007
Great Art, Good People and Notre Dame at Night
The link to the Paris pictures in the previous post should be working now.
Thanks to those of you who are leaving comments, it's good to know that there is an audience out there (even if 75% of them are Kelts). To answer a few of your questions - yes, my phone works and I can get calls and texts, but it costs an arm and half of a leg so I probably will not reply if you text me something stupid (Scott). I am still following the Dodgers. My mlb.tv subscription has never been worth what I pay for it until now. The home games come on at 4am local time so I watch them as soon as I wake up and can get through a game in about an hour, although with the current losing streak I think I might need to mix something up. The current Dodger-with-Landon-out-of-the-country W-L record is 4-6. The All-Star break can't come soon enough. It's nice not having to worry about accidentally seeing a highlight of the Dodger game before I get to watch it. It's like living in some alternate universe where baseball doesn't exist and people really give a shit about cricket.
So yesterday (Saturday) we spent the majority of the day at the Louvre and then about an hour in the Musee de Orsay. The Louvre is impressive, but Chad and I were left a little underwhelmed. The building alone is worth the price of admission and the collection itself is massive. The Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo and other highlights are great, but the art collection is not necessarily 'diverse.' That is why we went to the Orsay because I wanted to see some Monet and Degas and Chad wanted to see some Van Gough. Unless they were in some hidden basement, we did not see any at the Louvre. That's not true, we did see 2 Monet's in a special exhibit but that was it. The Orsay did not disappoint, and there were even some unexpected surprises like 'Whistler's Mother.'
Our new travel mate Jarad met up with us at the Louvre (he spent an extra day in Amsterdam), and after the Orsay he suggested that instead of going back to the hotel to take a power nap and then journey out again later, that we should just go find a bar and start drinking right then - at 5pm. Sounded good. We looked in our travel guide and decided on a bar in the Marais district named The Lizard Lounge. This turned out to be a great choice as we met some really cool people and were there until midnight. Jarad and I tried (somewhat successfully) to hit on two French girls, but there is only so much you can say using hand signals so we moved on to the American girls who were in great abundance surprisingly. We moved to a second bar, Stolly's and when that one closed, our new drunk friend Val led us all to his favorite Irish pub, Le Galway. On our trek somebody motioned for me to look up and when I did I was staring right at Notre Dame. It was a cool moment. It's not every night you drunkenly stumble upon a historic landmark like Notre freaking Dame. Usually I just stumble. I tried to take some photo's but they didn't turn out. Tired and very inebriated, we made it home safely sometime Sunday morning.
Sunday morning we decided that we still needed to see more art, so we went to Musee de l'Orangerie to check out it's main attraction Monet's water lilly series (Nympheas). We didn't do it on purpose, but we definitely saved the best for last. One of main goals for the Paris section of our trip was to see some great art and I can say that we definitely succeeded there.
Tomorrow we board a 3:50pm train for 9 hour train ride to Pamplona via Irun. This trip has always centered around Pamplona and San Fermin, so it will be nice to arrive in Spain. There was a great article on cnn.com today about the Running of the Bulls, but don't read it if you are one of those that are 'concerned' about us running.
Anyway - here is Chad with his latest:
He fell asleep - he will write later today.
Thanks to those of you who are leaving comments, it's good to know that there is an audience out there (even if 75% of them are Kelts). To answer a few of your questions - yes, my phone works and I can get calls and texts, but it costs an arm and half of a leg so I probably will not reply if you text me something stupid (Scott). I am still following the Dodgers. My mlb.tv subscription has never been worth what I pay for it until now. The home games come on at 4am local time so I watch them as soon as I wake up and can get through a game in about an hour, although with the current losing streak I think I might need to mix something up. The current Dodger-with-Landon-out-of-the-country W-L record is 4-6. The All-Star break can't come soon enough. It's nice not having to worry about accidentally seeing a highlight of the Dodger game before I get to watch it. It's like living in some alternate universe where baseball doesn't exist and people really give a shit about cricket.
So yesterday (Saturday) we spent the majority of the day at the Louvre and then about an hour in the Musee de Orsay. The Louvre is impressive, but Chad and I were left a little underwhelmed. The building alone is worth the price of admission and the collection itself is massive. The Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo and other highlights are great, but the art collection is not necessarily 'diverse.' That is why we went to the Orsay because I wanted to see some Monet and Degas and Chad wanted to see some Van Gough. Unless they were in some hidden basement, we did not see any at the Louvre. That's not true, we did see 2 Monet's in a special exhibit but that was it. The Orsay did not disappoint, and there were even some unexpected surprises like 'Whistler's Mother.'
Our new travel mate Jarad met up with us at the Louvre (he spent an extra day in Amsterdam), and after the Orsay he suggested that instead of going back to the hotel to take a power nap and then journey out again later, that we should just go find a bar and start drinking right then - at 5pm. Sounded good. We looked in our travel guide and decided on a bar in the Marais district named The Lizard Lounge. This turned out to be a great choice as we met some really cool people and were there until midnight. Jarad and I tried (somewhat successfully) to hit on two French girls, but there is only so much you can say using hand signals so we moved on to the American girls who were in great abundance surprisingly. We moved to a second bar, Stolly's and when that one closed, our new drunk friend Val led us all to his favorite Irish pub, Le Galway. On our trek somebody motioned for me to look up and when I did I was staring right at Notre Dame. It was a cool moment. It's not every night you drunkenly stumble upon a historic landmark like Notre freaking Dame. Usually I just stumble. I tried to take some photo's but they didn't turn out. Tired and very inebriated, we made it home safely sometime Sunday morning.
Sunday morning we decided that we still needed to see more art, so we went to Musee de l'Orangerie to check out it's main attraction Monet's water lilly series (Nympheas). We didn't do it on purpose, but we definitely saved the best for last. One of main goals for the Paris section of our trip was to see some great art and I can say that we definitely succeeded there.
Tomorrow we board a 3:50pm train for 9 hour train ride to Pamplona via Irun. This trip has always centered around Pamplona and San Fermin, so it will be nice to arrive in Spain. There was a great article on cnn.com today about the Running of the Bulls, but don't read it if you are one of those that are 'concerned' about us running.
Anyway - here is Chad with his latest:
He fell asleep - he will write later today.
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