I'm Such a Slackass... I know, I know. Where have I been? What happened to the journal? Where are all the pictures and stories? patrick and johnny at Jonathan's Angels Ever since the cruise I just have been so busy and lazy at the same time that I have not had a chance to keep you all updated. I think I felt in over my head after the cruise when I had 8 fun filled days to catch up on. I never did get around to that, so forgive me. But at least I got the pictures online! You can infer from them that I had a most fantastic time. me and dena We flew to Athens and spent day one wandering around La Plaka, the main shopping area of Athens. We ate wierd Greek food and drank strange Greek drinks. We also bought odd Greek things, like olive soap for our mothers and all kinds of olympic paraphenalia. That night we went to a traditional tourist Greek restaurant where they serve you old style Greek cuisin and have a bunch of silly people dance and play tradition Greek music. When we came in Joe declared off the bat that no matter what he was not going to get on stage and dance Greek style. Of course two bottles of Greek wine later, we were up there dancing like Greek Rockettes, kicking our legs up and dancing arm in arm with total strangers. It was ridiculous fun! joe and melanie On Saturday we took an ultra boring, slow, dull group tour around the historic sites of Athens. We couldn't tolerate it after three hours though and so bailed at the Acropolis stop. We took some rap-style pose photos in front of the Parthenon and then had lunch at the Marriott Ledra, where we were staying, before heading over to catch our cruise ship. The ship was a 440 foot sailboat. A total dream for me. We got on board, did the obligatory fire drill and then started making friends and getting totally drunk and silly. The rest of the trip was more of the same. We stopped every day at a new port. Three in Greece and two in Italy. At one stop in Greece we took a tour of caves and then in Capri we tried to get into the Blue Grotto, but the swells were too large and instead we settled for a fancy lunch at the Ceasar Augustus hotel up at Anacapri. The highlight of the trip was definitely the night the boat stopped by Stromboli, just outside Messina, Sicily and we watched the world's most active volcano erupt while we drank sangria and had a huge BBQ on the deck of the ship. Then there was a full moon and the world's largest sail boat came up along side us.. and lots more drinking, some dancing and then some troublemaking with the captain. All around a super-fantastic night. Unforgettable! dario, laura & antonio After we got back from the cruise Joe and I took two days to try to learn some Italian. Then our mothers arrived for a long weekend visit. We toured them around all the major sites of Rome, took them to dinner with all my favorite Italian guys and even popped down to Napoli for an overnighter. Of course it all didn't go as smoothly as we hoped, with Joe's mom catching a horrid flu while we were in Napoli and with my mom and I having our usual growing pains. But all around I think we had fun. mom and i at the colosseum My mom and I also visited Pompeii while down in Napoli. Unfortunately it was a horrible crappy day with rain and cold. I told her she had only one hour to see everything because after an hour my fingers were sure to freeze over and then I wouldn't even be able to take pictures. Of course then we got all caught up in trying to see the dead people who got caught by the volcano and that extra journey took a hour in and of itself to accomplish. The biggest thing to be sad about Pompeii is that it really is hard to understand just how large that city was. And how modern it was - for 2000 years ago! Except for electricity, telephones and MTV, I think the people of Pompeii had just about every modern amenity we are used to. Oh yeah, except for meterologists and seismologists, both of which would have come in extremely handly on that fateful final day. But they had shops, stoves, fountains, churches, town squares and even brothels. All key ingredients to any modern city. me in pompeii After both mothers returned to the mother country (yes, I know that was bad!), Joe and I went up to Florence to stay at the Villa San Michele. If you are a loyal journal reader you will remember the Villa San Michele as the hotel where I bashed my head in a few weeks earlier. Well, the hotel was kind enough to invite me back for a free two night stay. Since the rooms go for around $1400 a night, I couldn't pass up that offer. Joe and I decided it was a good way to recover from our mothers. Unfortunately we got there and Joe immediately got violently ill. (The same thing his Mom caught!) So we spent two days in bed watching old movies and doing absolutely nothing. It was delightful. dead pompeii people On our return to Rome I decided it was time for me to start doing something truly productive on a regular basis. Since Joe's arrival I have not written a word in my theoretical book, so I decided instead to continue the Italian language study. I enrolled in intensive classes, for 3 to 4 hours a day every day of the week. That was around two and a half weeks ago and I have been faithfully attending every weekday since. I think my Italian has improved greatly - but you'd have to ask Antonio and Dario to know the truth. They are the ones who keep getting text messages and emails from me in my broken elementary Italian. I think they understand what I am saying - but I can't ever be sure. pompeii brothel A few other things have happened in the past couple weeks. First there was the MTV Music Awards in Rome. All kinds of stars and celebrities were in town and they took over the Colosseum on night for a huge show. I was starting to feel a little sick but I managed to skip outside to see some of the free performances, by Anastacia and Hoobastank and some other random Italian performers. I have also been trying out more Italian Mexican restaurants. Dave and Dena and Joe and I went to Mais Cafe, perviously Fiesta Mexicana, one night and had perhaps the world's worst Mexican food. Then last Tuesday Dave and Joe and I made it to Speedy Gonzales in Ostiense (outside the city) where we taught them how to make proper margaritas. (They mae them in tiny fancy cocktail glasses and with only tequila, triple sec and a lime sour mix. We taught them to leave them on ice, in tumbler glasses, with lots of lime. They said "Oh so this is how they are made in New York?" And we replied, "No, this is how they are made in MEXICO!") We also discovered a big time Italian secret while at Speedy Gonzales. Despite all their style and flair and pomp and circumstance, Italians are absolutely the worst dancers on the planet. Speedy Gonzales features some poor sap who teaches the Italians, via line dancing and two-step moves, how to "dance." I've never seen anything more horrible and humorous in my whole life. (Yes, even Germans can dance better!) Eventually Dave and Joe and I had to join in and show them how it's done. I guess growing up with MTV in your house since the age of 5 actually does have its benefits. MTV Europe Awards in Rome Last Wednesday Ray arrived in town for a Thanksgiving visit. At the same time we celebrated Joe's last night in Rome. (He left for Thailand on Thursday.) We tried to have the great black truffle pizza in Trastevere but the restaurant was shut - and on a Wednesday! So instead we had food elsewhere and drinks at the Artu Cafe/Judas Bar. Then we headed over to Testaccio to meet up with Dario and company at some other bar. That lead to a fantastically crazy night of drinking and dice game playing. I am at liberty to go into the details of the evening, but I can report that of the six of us, only two left without locking lips with the rest of the group. What a scene! dave dances at speedy gonzales On Thursday Joe left and Nicole arrived. We all went to Campo de' Fiori for drinks, where we met Dena and Dave, and then headed over to the Hard Rock Cafe for Thanksgiving dinner. (This was the only place in Rome that was serving traditional Thanksgiving dinner - so we went!) Along with the turkey, potatoes, corn and supposed cranberry sauce, we had nachos and onion rings and I even had margaritas. Finally we ended the night with "pumpkin cake" which was something like pumpkin pie but not exactly right. It seemed like what would happen to pumpkin pie if it was cross-bred with creme brulee. Very odd. Also in attendance was "other Nicole" - who is my best friend Kyle's wife's cousin from Hawaii. Yea - say that fifteen times fast! me and nicole ray's thanksgiving day veggie burger dave and nicole have "pumpkin cake" Friday we had dinner and drinks in Trastevere.. Saturday we went to Testaccio again for dinner and to The Zoo Club. Stayed out very late, til 4am, dancing to bad alternative rock music and hip-hop. This was the last straw for me though and I ended up deadly sic on Sunday. Poor Ray had to spend his last day in Rome touring the sites all on his own. I rallied up energy to go to dinner with him, but then I passed out and slept for twelve hours. He left to catch his plane and I dragged my sad self to Italian class again. Today it's Tuesday and I am still somewhat sick. There is a big strike going on in Italy. It is raining. I am still sick. So I am staying home today updating the journal and catching up on sleep. Hopefully I will be back to my old trouble-making self this weekend. And in three weeks I am, unfortunately, set to return to New York. I don't want to, but since I am here illegally now (I have stayed past my allotted 90 days I fear!) and since the Gateway building management people in New York will not allow my sublet to be extended, I have to return to the real world soon. Just in time for a very cold and lonely Christmas. But, no worries. Boxing Day will include an obligatory and long awaited visit to Mexican Radio. Ah, back to margarita civilization! << back to where it all began... Content & Photos © 2004 Laura Laytham, laura@girlsaresmarter.com.