final firenze post

things r hectic and crazy over here...we had a phenomenal last real night on the town..funny cuz everyone is starting to get emotional and everyone that was dying to go home, does not want to leave. honestly, went by so quick..and to think that it feels like i just started typin my first blog post. but no, but no it will continue, atleast for me. I have some of the best weeks of my trip ahead of me. Amsterdam tmw then Prague, then all relatives its gonna be great. Either way, i have not packed, probly wont fit everything.

i am starting to have regrets and im annoyed at that...i have lived in florence for 3 months and i feel like i know nothing about the history..didnt make it to all the museum i planned to go this week and its unfortunate, my fault and this damn scooter problem. but whatever i still like to think i made the most.

sorry for the lack of pictures lately just things r hectic. ciao and i will talk to u guys in a week. i will be missin all these people, no lies. ciao

yo

so i was gonna update you on the final 2 days, but its 30 mins before my italian final and i should study...tons on my mind and way to much to do for 48 hours. late

mood

so heres the deal...less than 3 days in florence. mafia final went good today. final last 2 nights out in florence, should be fun and wild....way to much on my mind. loose sleep about it. i am dealin with this bullship about the vespa i rented awhile...basically the scooter rental place charged me twice and will not give me my money back..these guys r idiots and i seriously want to kill them mafia style. tomorrow i am dealing with the italian police and hopefully getting it all taken care of..its partially my fault cuz i was dumb to wait so long to take legal action but really thought they were gonna pay me back, but down to heart these guys r douchebags and r just taking advantage of my proud american white ass. but as i stormed out of their store today while the guy was probably swearin at me in italian after threatening him with police and prosecution, that i realized how bad i want this guy and his shady ran company to go down. i will give it my all to make sure this guy suffers, well i supposedly could have a 3 yr court ordeal with this but im not feelin that into it. however im pisst off and annoyed at this moment i have tons of stuff to do, and yes i still have finals. that is it that is it

Night in Sesto with Greg

Last night i headed to greg's villa in Sesto Fiorentino, where he is currently studyin with the DUKE program, its bout a 20 minute bus ride outside of florence...good feelin gettin out of the dirty and tourist packed city of Florence

When i arrived i got a tour of his sick pad, aka the villa and then went to a really good trattoria. I had some really good tagliatelli al ragu and salsiccia, as well as some vino, aqua naturale e limoncello.
Afterwards we walked around Sesto and took some picts.

This is just an epic picture in my opinion

Picture at some park in Sesto

pathway leadin to greg's villa

So yea, last time ill see greg till xmas...was a good time and im glad i good finally make it out to his place after all the times he has visited me in Firenze....bus times were limited so I left on the 11 oclock bus

After i arrived in florence, decided to continue my night photo sessions, last night and yesterday it was extremely foggy, so i thought id capture the moment. leave u with these


finals r goin well, and 3 days left with the program, crazy stuff and tons of crap to deal with. any how late

update

Hello all, crazy stuff...everyone leaves in less than a week. sad. finals r coming up..should be ok with those tho


So i have been tryin to keep busy enjoyin my last weekend in Firenze. Yesterday I finally got to the Uffizi Gallery and the Accademia. Uffizi was pretty sick, strapped on the ipod and brought along Rick Steves Uffizi tourbook and i was all set. learned alot and saw alot. but lets be honest i have seen so many historic paintings and artwork on this trip, nothing was tooo eyecatching to me. Then headed to the Accademia which pretty much just offers Michaelangelos DAVID, and yes it was sweet...lot different seeing it indoors and the real thing. thing is gigantic.

I dont understand why these museums dont allow photos, even without flash. either way this thing is so famous and sick i had to sneak a picture.


Last 2 nights have been really fun, mostly including moderate drinking, music and cruising the streets of florence. Last night we went to Bebop, local live music club where a rolling stones cover band was playing...they were actually very good...stayed for a good amount of the set and it was lotta fun. currently tryin to find the songs i liked last night, as my rollin stones catalogue is strugglin


Ive been goin on some crazy photo sessions lately and really likin some of my work. tryin to get as much as this city has to offer on digital film. also lookin to finish up with a crazy florence video, but wont finish that till after xmas at home. anyhow enjoy the photos..as always click to enlarge.




adios, amsterdam in a week

Thanksgiving and stuff...ing (gay title i know)

So things have been great here lately, not like they haven't always but people r realizing time is dwindling down and everyone is tryin to make the most of it. Thanksgiving dinner last night with AIFS was amazing, nothin compared to home, but a great substitute. had dinner at some really nice palace hotel/restaurant. No mashed potatoes but some bomb stuffing, turkey and cranberry.

After that I met up with Greg and the night really took off. One of the best and most fun nights in Florence. priceless memories to say the least that r forever engraved in my head. hard to top night. period. Last night was actually the first night I had a solid conversation with italian women. Dont know how it all begain, but ther were these 3 italian ragazze and we started talkin...they didnt speak english and were just typical italian women, long dark curly hair and italian fashionly dressed. as they were not too attractive they were still really fun to talk too.. i remember how happy i was how i was spittin italian out so well.. then shit really took off when greg dropped the "His name is Giuseppe Guido Garibaldi". they didnt believe us, then showed him the id and everyone went crazy..either way it was funny and entertaining. anyhow heres a pict with me and the gregorio. (time unknown)
either way happy thanksgiving to everyone out ther, hope the turkey was good

So greg spent the night last night as we had more plans for today. Peroused the streets of Florence, greg got some souvenirs as San Lorenzo market. Then after I finally made it into the Duomo. pretty plain compared to all those huge and glorious churches in Rome.
Then after seein the inside...we climbed to the top. 463 stairs in total(one way). pretty sweet sight at the top overlookin all of florence, hope my panoramas come out ok.
got another haircut by the way...another great experience at the italian barber shop.
So yea we stayed up ther till dusk and it was a great time...then yea called it a day and greg headed back towards his villa at Sesto.

tomorrow i plan to once again make an attempt to make it to the Uffizi and Accademia.


on a side note, thers been some big doings with AIFS people. very unfortunate by the way as these guys were some close friends and were at the wrong place at the right time. basically these two guys(1 deported) and 1 still in jail, unfortuantely got into a fight with the wrong people...details r still unknown but it is very unfortunate and lotta ppl r pretty upset in out program being as ther is 1 week to go. details in the link

http://www.florencenewspaper.it/vediarticolo.asp?news=a7.11.23.15.50

Countdown

so unfortunately i have added a countdown clock of my arrival. This is not for me, but for the people that read this blog. Don't get me wrong, i will enjoy seein everyone but i will not be following this little clock. It is for all of u peeps that r desperately waiting my return. enjoy

mid week update

aight peeps, being that thers no big trips for awhile, and maybe no more trip updates due to little internet after school, thought ide give u some mid week updates for the last 2 weeks(less than) of school. sucks that its pretty much over as i will miss all these great peeps ive met.

School has been goin fantastic..below is a picture of my papers on The Cosa Nostra Sicilian Mafia drug trade and Italy's Economic Miracle..solid grades
just nailed my 7 minute oral presentation in Italian today on the American influence in Italian culture...however still pretty disappointed in my lacking Italian, as far as speaking the language consistently and fluently...im hopin the last month with all my italian relatives pays off

Last 2 nights i was able to hang out and meet the Noceti family..aka my long distant cousins(Paul's family). They took me out to some bomb dinners and glad i got to meet them. plus they wanted a shout out on the blog so i had to throw this in here.

This week im finally gonna take in what Florence really has to offer...museums and churches...goin to the Uffizi and Accademia tomorrow. Then some other places on thursday. Thanksgiving will be fun..its Stu's bday and AIFS is throwin a big dinner, so its def gonna be a great night.

Have come down with a little cold, but i average bout 3.5 liters of water a day, so tryin to get over it, also poppin some airborne so everything helps

Happy turkey day in the states, and have a good alumni game..pisst kind of but not so much now as the girls game is after the boys jv. watever i still miss basketball

As far as my blog, enjoyin doin it. hope ur likin my videos. somethin fun for me to do when im not out partyin or doin hw.

Black Friday is friday..take advantage. peace out

Barcelona Vid

Venice Pigeon vid

really simple and quite lame video...didnt spend very much time on it. also disappointed i didn't have a better background song to match the vid, but rhcp will do. enjoy

BARCELONA

Well this weekend was alotta fun...and it started out great. left on wednesday cuz the flight was bout 40 euros cheaper and i would only miss 2 classes. so on wednesday i had to go the the florence bus station to catch a bus to pisa airport, right has i walked outside of the ticket office i saw a young man smack some guy directly on the face with a glass bottle, bottle shattered on impact. it was awesome to say the least, dont really know what happen but im pretty sure i saw the climax..the men bounced and the victim was left a bloody mess. with this, i knew for sure it was gonna be a good trip. it was startin off fantastic. click pict to see better view
Flight went great and landed in barcelona around 5 oclock to catch sunset, the first of many. sun went down early ther around 530 ish.
That night Ross and I (ross is my roomate from UC davis and was one of the main reasons y i went to barcelona, along with the sights, i stayed at his apartment) we just relaxed and walked around barcelona, las ramblas (busy tourist street), and had tapas. also went in "el Corteingles" a store chain that is like a huge department store, bout 9 stories tall, they had everything

Next morning got up around 11 and headed to the La Sagrada Familia(The Holy Family) while Ross went to school. Sagrada familia is the worlds most visited contruction site. and it was definitely eye gazing. for those who dont know it is a church where construction began in 1882 and has been severely delayed due to funds and the spanish civil war. designed by antonio gaudi(big fan) either way construction is still goin on today and it is quite a site, supposed to be done by 2020 and i hope it does finish, cuz it will the sweetest church in the world

longest spiral staircase ive ever seen

So after 2hrs or so in the Sagrada Familia i went to meet ross back at his apartment. we then did a little hike to Park Guell. this park was also designed by Antoni Gaudi. this park is home to the worlds longest park bench. the picture below shows me and ross sippin some brews on a segment of the bench overlookin barcelona.

After that we continued up the park to a local hotspot(supposedly an area less known) to a cross area on top of the mountain. here we sat and enjoyed are beer to catch the sunset. fun times


That night we hung out with some of ross's friends, drank a bit and went to a local billiard club. weeknights in barcelona compare nothing to friday, sat and sun nights

Friday morning we headed out toward St Josep La Boqueria market. this place had every type of meat, fish, and fruit you could think of..great prices too. i got a orange banana fruit drink.

After that we walked towards the ocean to the Christopher Columbus statue. I told ross and his friend Marc that the monument had an elevator to the top..thanks to Lets Go Europe. so it definitely did and we went to the top, provided some good views of the port and the rest of bcn.

After that we continued closer to the water to check out Miramar, a little mall next to the water..wasnt really in the shoppin mode so we continued on.

havin fun with the camera

After this we went for lunch at some local tapas bar. we got chorizos, calamari, patatas bravas, muscles, and croquettes. very good

So then we started a trek up Montjuic, a mountain in barcelona.

sick barcelonian grafitti

At the top of Montjuic ther is a military fortress/castle. up there was bunch of canons and an amazing view of the entire view of the port of barcelona.

Once again we had another good timing with the Barcelona sunset.

So we chilled till the sun went down and headed back down. That night we went out for some girl's birthday dinner then went back a pre partied at some house for the night was filled with pub crawling. Me and Marc were feelin fooseball so we went out to the"Oveja Negra" the black sheep and tore it up in fooseball, unfortunately only to some brits, until some spaniard and his girl came and beat us by like 2 goals..either way fun fun times.. after that we met up with the group at some bars..dont remember the names but it was a good night in barcelona

Next morning i wanted to go and get a tour of the Barcelona soccer stadium(home of FCB. futbol club barcelona and some legendary players) unfortunately time was cramped and i didnt want to miss my flight so i didnt go inside and just got a look of the stadium from the outside...it is the largest stadium in europe.
And that pretty much concluded my trip. it was a good weekend. couple things i learned.
-i really like antoni gaudi and his work
- in barcelona, they dont speak spanish but catalan
- tapas are good
- barcelona reminds me of san francisco
- ross is a good host


So heres the gp(gameplan) for the next 2 weeks. This week is sadly my last real week of school. i have not done anything meaningful in florence, so i will be goin to a craploads of musuems, chuches, and sights this week. thanksgiving is on thursday (to u bargain shoppers black friday is friday, sleep outside of best buy and get some good deals)

next weekend i will relax and enjoy and party my last weekend in florence

then finals

then amsterdam dec 1-4 and prague 4-7 and family from dec 7-23 of december

peace out

ps. i missed the Used and Rise Against concert on Friday in Bologna..yes it would have been epic to say the least, but ide take a once in a lifetime experience in barcelona playin fooseball with true spaniards and barcelona pub crawling over a some some concert i can see in a couple months any day

VENEZIA

Arrived in Venice on Friday round 1. Crappy weather but still managed to capture this cool pic of one of the canals of the "City of Water". Friday was just a laid back day as all we did was go to the Accademia art museum. once again some sweet stuff but after all the museums in rome last week and my lack of art passion, it was just ok. its tough to be completely bedazzled after seein some of the most famous things in areas like firenze and rome. needless to say it had some interesting art and history.

That night we did the usual pre party in the hotel room then hit up Campo Margherita, a little plaza that consisted of several bars. Note: Venice night life was strugglin as bars closes as early as 130..however still a great time

Saturday was a day of walking, churches, bridges, canals ect. Started off at small churches and museums, but the highlight of the day were the Rialto Bridge and St Marks Basilica

Rialto bridge doest have Sh*% on the Ponte Vecchio but is still a cool bridge and i knew bout it thanks to the Venetian hotel in las vegas. Basilica di San Marco might have been on of the most spectacular sights i have seen on this trip so far. the entire roof and ceiling is made solely out of mosaics..i was able to snap this illegal picture as it was one of the sickest sights i have seen. picture does not show how colorful and amazing the roof actually was.
After that i had a grand old time in San Mark's square with all the dirty infested pigeons. it was a crazy experience and got some good laughs...videos to follow..perfect picture by the way
i also did not give into all the sleezeball gondoliers. although everyone views gondolas as a must do experience, i was not interested and decided to pass on the expensive dream with a price of almost 100 euros for 50 minutes. however im still appreciate how Venice is worldly known for gondola rides with singing Italian gondoliers
Saturday we did it all over again with campo margherita and another great night on the town.

Sunset picture from the Rialto Bridge

San Marco Square and Basilica at Night

opted out on the Guggheinheim museum on Sunday but made a good choice as it didnt get great reviews and modern art really doesn't really toot my horn. So me and some buds cruised the streets, played with some pigeons and just relaxed b4 embarking back to Firenze at 2pm

good, short weekend and another famous city crossed off the check list

Barcelona on Wednesday til Saturday, wll be reuniting with Ross my ex davis roomate and will be meetin up with some other peeps..gonna be a great time

ROME VIDEO

heres my rome vid. think it turned out nicely considering i finished it after comin back from the bars last night. enjoy

Interlaken Video

Chiavari Vespa Vid

Here's a little vid of Paul and I ridin on Sergio's 1963 vespa..video is shitty cuz i was tryin out a new video program..either way. enjoy

ROMA

Alrighty, yet another one of my fun filled post. So thursday morning at approx 8 am we embarked for Rome with our school. One of the roughest bus rides ever as Halloween was the night before and lets just say it was another great Florentine night. Well anyhow, got in rome around noon to our hotel called Hotel Porta Maggiore..pretty nice.

Bout an hour after we got in, we headed to the ever so famous Colosseum. My favorite stop of the trip for various reasons including its age, size and of course Gladiator. yea it was pretty damn amazing, everything i imagined.Side note: learned tons of history this week as it was intensive learning sched. sorry if i dont remember ever little detail or what church was which....also im gonna try to keep this blog short..just the main details

Already forgot what happend after the Colosseum. think was just walked around Rome for a little then headed back to the hotel

Colosseum at Night

That night we took it easy and just went to a bomb ass restraunt which for some reason the waiters hated us, even tho we ordered of the menu turistici

Friday headed to the Vatican and Saint Peters (Basilica di San Pietro). Amazing and simply enormous. prettty cool do see the tombs of the popes just out there in the church..unfortunately did not get a chance to go see where Pope John Paul lays. either way artwork and everything was amazing and truly beautiful. very sacred

After St. Peters we headed to the Vaticano..never knew that it was so damn big. Sistene Chapel and Raphael's room were breathtakin. everything will make it into my best video to date..which will be up probly next week..one of the hallways..probly has a famous name but it was amazing

Sistine Chapel was amazing, however didnt realize it was so small...disobeyed strict orders and took some pictures which turned out nicely. Michaelangelo is a baller..last judgment is definitely my favorite peace of artwork
After about a 3 hour tour in the Vatican i was thoroughly exhausted and content. So what better way to celebrate with some great food from the world famous Hard Rock Cafe
Some of the best food of the trip. Only place with ranch and free water and free refills. I had nachos(best ever) and a beef brisket. it was extremely good.

After that went back to the hotel to take a little rest for the night. That night we headed to Campo di Fiori...a little plazza just packed with italians and americans and tons of bars. One of my favorites, as well as my brothers from many years ago, was the Drunken Ship. nice bar..also headed over to i believe Giganti bar where we got a pitcher of beer for 8 euros..overall another great night out, this time is one of the most recognize and famous cities in the world

Saturday was a day full of churches..18 to be exact. all of them were impressive in ther own ways. 1 that stood out to me was chiesa st. ignazio.. really amazin..artwork compared to the Sistine and ther was some crazy 3d and mind altering images..like a dome that was actually only a flat surface..it was pretty trippy and amazing

Churches were sweet and definitely appreciated them

Then we went to the famous Trevi Fountain..got a sweet picture of me tossin a coin in, however its on my friends camera and i dont have it yet...so these picts will do..got a day and night shot.

After that we headed to the Pantheon. remarkable. learned that the base walls our 18ft thick.. have no idea how they could build a dome that big so many yrs ago, and still have it intact. dont have a good picture..ull see it in the video

Sunday: headed to see worlds most recognized and sacred figure. il Papa (The POPE) at San pietro. wasnt expectin much as i knew it would just be a short blessing, however it was still awesome.. ithink he pretty much just came out his bedroom window and started talking..didnt understand most of his speech however he spoke 8 different languages throught his speech. heard somethin bout the fires and Iraq. either way..really cool to see Benedetto. felt pretty religious
After that, it was bout 1 and had to get back to the hotel to catch the bus back to Florence. bus ride back was etremely brutal..worst italian traffic i have ever seen.. a ride that should have taken 3 hrs took 6. felt like i was in LA. but whatever..just threw on the ipod and kicked back

heres probly one of the best nature picts i have ever taken..it was from the ride back outside a autogrill. gotta love that tuscan sunset

vespa vid up next...VENICE in 3 days.