From Florence

Ok so we saw the Pope . . . again! This time not from 75 yards down the walkway at St. Peter's Basilica, but at only about 20 yards from a street corner. The guy showed up at the Santa Maggiore church that was down the street from our hostel. Crazy. Will post pictures when i arrive home.

So i'm pretty convinced that traveling by rail and arriving into a new city is pretty much identical to one's first day as a Freshman in High School. You walk around clueless while carrying more crap than you need, while navigating the use of a map and trying to locate a room. All of this of course is attempted while trying to make yourself look like you know what you're doing so you don't stand out to the natives. Once we got to the room, we looked down from our hostel window and could see so many walking around just like us. We were simply freshman on our first trip into Florence.

Took the Eurail to Florence yesterday and found one of the best kept secrets for hostels in Florence. Hotel Aldobrandini. €75 per night (for two) when paying in cash and the owner Ignazio is super, super helpful. Gelatto is unfreakin' believable out here, far better than in Rome. And if you can find a local non-touristy place to eat, you are in for something remarkable. Ignazio recommended a place that was out of this world. It's amazing what you can find when you turn off the main roads.

Off to the Uffizi and the Accedemia . . . (There sure are a lot of stone sculpted schlongs in all of this artwork)...

Rome Updates

Monday Night:
- Left Boston

Tuesday Morning:
- Arrived in Dublin at 5:45am. Had a Guiness at 6am.
- Departed for Rome at 7 and everything travelwise pretty much went downhill from there. Plane took off late, arrived in Rome late, taxied on the runway for almost half an hour after landing, then spit out baggage at minimal rate with 2, 15 minute conveyor belt stops, before returning us our luggage in full. Train from the airport to Rome Termini Station took 50 minutes instead of half an hour, ensuring we arrived at our hostel 30 into "Siesta." This means we had to wait outside in the pouring rain for 90 minutes before checking into our room.
- 4pm Checked in and everything goes uphill from here. Saw the Colliseum (awesome!)and tried to figure out the Rome Metro before returning to the big (and free) pasta dinner at our Hostel. Awsome food. Endless wine. Met some Canadians, Austrailians and Germans and about wrteched when i heard an Amero/Canadian girl say she wanted a Starbucks. Freakin idiot...

Wednesday:
- Took the Metro Roma with a few of our new hostel friends (one who spoke Italian, French and Spanish) and saw St Peter's Basilica, and saw the Pope (He blessed us). Saw the Sistine Chapel (freakin' amazing) and our multi-lingual friend got a little drunk on Peroni before entering). Saw the vatican Museum and climbed the Basilica, then saw the crypt below the Basilica floor which includes John Paul II's very modest sarcaphogus/tomb.
- Had our first Italian dinner...Buenisimo! Took an evening walk with others from the Hostel and saw the Trvi fountain, the Spanish Steps and the outside of the Pantheon. Returned to the hostel where we joined a birthday party on the roof for a Romanian girl who turned 22. Endless food, wine, smokes, cake and dancing under a thinly veiled Roman moon. Made some new Romanian friends.

Thursday:
- Slept til 9. Saw the forum, toured Palatine Hill, saw the "Wedding Cake" where we almost met the President of Slovakia but he took too long getting there. Saw St. Peter in Chains Church, where the chains of the Apostle Peter before his crucifixion are kept (not sure about the legitimacy of this one?). Also houses Michelangelo's Moses which is stellar. Will join with our Hostel friends again for a free pasta dinner at the hostel, and nail a few more cappucinos and gelato before heading to Florence tomorrow.

Caiò!

Dan Brown, Reveal To Me All...

See you in June!

Some Production Photos from Oedipus

Kind of strange how much i was ready for this show to be done and over with in order to find some R & R for a bit. And now how i rather miss it...

A good and successful show

Pimpin' My Wife

So, as some of you know upon returning from Europe, Brooke will be heading to Key West for an opera training/education program for the duration of June. As a means of raising a little extra money for the trip, she and another student will be performing a benefit concert Thursday night. If any of you were able to attend I know she'd be thrilled.

Thanks for considering it!


Hope to see you there. :)

For Dale, Cade and Billy Zabka

Cade and Beck's wedding simply put was amazing and beautiful. Am very honored to have had a part to play in it. I'm a lame ass though and didn't drag a camera with me to capture any photos. And who am i kidding right? If I had taken any pictures it's not like they would be developed in any reasonable amount of time.

One thing that does stick however is Pat Morita and Ralph Macchio. Somehow whenever I'm around John Dale, the Karate Kid and it's lame-ass counterpart sequels always surface. And low and behold, on AMC (a classic?) the day after the wedding, both parts I and II were showing. Of course, while sitting in the hotel lobby with Cade I was entirely transfixed by the sequel. Danielsan, dis not tornament, dis for real!

*Gah* that film sucked. At any rate...John and Cade, I give you "Sweep the Leg," directed by none other than William Zabka himself:


Gotta say I'm impressed by the numerous the cameos, but . . . Mr Belding?

Varied and Random

The Economy:

I'm no economist, but it seems fairly obvious to me that the war bush & co. lied about is dragging us down immensely. It used to be that wartime efforts would allow an economy to flourish. The government would hire ordinary people to build equipment for our soldiers to use and that money would in turn be reinvested in other needs each worker had (food, gas, housing, etc.) Nowadays with the military industrial complex the government just hires big defense contractors to build their equipment. Thus the money doesn't flow into the hands of the average citizen to continue changing hands and stimulating our economy. In addition, consider what is being made. A defense contractor builds a bomb which the government pays thousands of dollars for. This money is dead once the bomb is made because the money can go no further toward stimulating the economy. It just blows up. Invest thousands of dollars in the auto sector and those thousands of dollars will go a long way. People will drive cars, spend money. The recipients of that money will buy groceries for their families, etc. War drags the economy down. Governments should only fight in them when necessary.

Theater:

Oedipus ran remarkably well. I received much positive feedback. Since then I've been asked to participate in the Boston Theater Marathon taking place on May 11th. Think of it as a giant film festival only instead of movies, 40 ten minute plays will be running for 10 hours for all of the greater Boston theater community to see. Then in June I have a huge audition coming up . . . like one of those kinds that is in front of many of the Boston area directors, and if they like you they will ask you to participate in their productions. Eek!

Europe:

Brooke and I leave for Europe in less than 3 weeks. Espresso in Florence, Chocolate in Switzerland, Croissants in Paris and Anarchy in the UK! Anyone up for a pack of smokes from France or Italy?