The Hot Springs of Viterbo ~

A quartet of us girls decided to take it upon ourselves to troop to these hot springs we've heard of. 2 hours on the train, trudging in the downpour and a bus later ... we saw the vapors rising from lonely green pastures. Viterbo delivered.

4 tranquil blue pools lie in the middle of nowhere in the Italian countryside with fragments of ancient ruins nearby. A muddy area functions as a makeshift parking lot for the locals who drive by and languidly spend their entire days here. I decided to forgo the Terme de Papi nearby (Terme = "thermal baths" in Italian) since it cost 18 euros to get in but they do have a 2,000 square meter pool - so epic! And I'm too lazy to convert those meters to feet. The outdoor pools we found were free, free, free and being fed by a natural source trickling right into the shallows of water.

Most of the bathers were older folk and yes, speedos are apparently still in fashion, not that I wanted to know. The sky was gray and stormy with a few streams of sunlight, the water sulphorous but deliciously soothing and the girls and I practically had an entire pool to ourselves. The day ended once our fingers resembled raisins and we shot out of the pools rounding the corner of a limestone wall to change back into civilian clothing. I don't think I've had a photo of me only in a bathing suit since I was 15 (for good reason). But what the hey! We even had to bust out umbrellas at one point as the skies opened up and let loose a smattering of droplets, it was simply glorious.

Lazio vs. AC Milan

I know next to nothing about sports but futbol a.k.a. soccer? You get the ball into one goal or another and the players aren't too bad to look at if I do say so myself. The entire world over sans the U.S. breathes and sweats futbol, 24/7 from one season to the next.

With a group of 5 other hearty girls, we trudged for 3 hours to multiple stores to try and get our hands on some prized tickets to the Lazio vs. AC Milan game on Feb 1st. After waiting in a giant, swelling crowd (in the rain!), I managed to wiggle through to the front and score 6 of them for row 18 - not bad at all! And being short obviously has its advantages. I don't know how sports fans do it, everything takes so much energy and I applaud you for it.

Sue me for sporting a Beckham jersey but he's pretty much the only player I knew. He's on loan to AC Milan till the end of March and if you ignore his terribly high-pitched voice that completely clashes with his toned physique -- he's a decent player and not just a pretty face. Albeit, I did sit on the Lazio side of the stadium prompting several avid fans to shoot me evil eyes at my red/black stripes. But too bad! We won 3:0 and I got great action shots all the way through! The Manchester United game is the next big 'un and the cheapest seats are 100 euros O_o. I like how I did this instead of going to go see the Superbowl at the Hard Rock Cafe, haha.

You've Got Sunshine

It's been crashing and pouring rain in Rome for the past few days (I think it was the tail-end of a raging cyclone that's hit Europe) but today was crisp, clear and sunnnnnny. What else is there to do but embrace the tourist within and rent bikes in the Villa Borghese Gardens?

Not quite on the grand scale of Central Park but the gardens are a welcome change from all the rough and tumble cobblestones of Rome. It's also probably the only place where you see people exercising outside, people stare at you all funny if you try and do a morning jog weaving between alleyways and vespas. *cough* At least I've heard they do, if you think I've been doing anything to fight this Italian carb fest, you'd be sadly mistaken. The IMA is a distant memory as far as I'm concerned.

Only one steering wheel really works so the extra is just a toy and dang, it was harder to control than the motorized go-karts in Barcelona! I'm whipping out dresses as soon as the sun stops playing hard to get again, haha.

The Florentine Ages

I hopped on an Eurostar train bound for chilly Florence for the weekend with my giant 32 person group. (I swear I will never travel in herds, packs, flocks or gaggles ever again - it's an absolute nightmare). Daylight hours were a blast but nightlife? There could not be more drama and we all know how much Faith loathes drama - I don't roll that way. I got chewed out by my professor for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. You don't want to see an angry South African man in all his fury at 3 a.m. Yikes

The sepia washed photo is from inside the Duomo or Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence (a.k.a. Firenze, the origin of the name of which I still need to wikipedia). I huffed and I puffed all 463 steps up to the top of the dome overlooking the soft fog that nestled all over Florence. Stairs were killer but absolutely worth it for the bomb diggity view.

The only export is leather, I swear. I could smell cow hide in every twist and turn down alleys and every shop window flaunted rows upon rows of leathaaaa purses, jackets and wallets. But where else would you want leather than Italy?? So yes, I now have a rockin' leather jacket but from Rome. I like to think it makes me look tougher than I really am - gotta make up for my being vertically challenged!

Mwah

Amen and Obamarama

"We ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around. When yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen."

From Reverend Joseph Lowery's Inaugural Benediction January 2009

Starbucks No More

I thought I would miss Seattle coffee and I do to some extent but the comparison is difficult to make. It's a completely different culture - Italians do everything slow and leisurely, except when it comes to drinking espresso. They're in and out of the cafe (or bar as they call it) in 90 seconds, giving you whiplash. No studying and savoring your drink for over an hour but its so fun to watch how cafes operate. I usually despise hot drinks (what's the point? they get cold so quickly) but I've adapted here, yum yum.

Espressos are in wee little cups and customers drink it first and then down an entire cup of hot water afterwards. A touch odd and I haven't tried it yet but sign me up! Not to mention a cappuccino is usually under a Euro, making Starbucks sound extravagantly priced. I haven't seen a single store here and good riddance, despite having a McDonald's, I have a feeling the Italians would never go for setting up a Starbucks and threatening the local little cafes.

The photo is of this AMAZING hot chocolate but it'll have to do! And yes, Barcelona was one of the best weekends of my life. Nightclubs on the beach, flaming drinks, nights filled with salsa dancing and the fun all beginning only after midnight. Goodness and I thought NYC was the city that never sleeps.

P.S. Note to self: Start a journal. I completely forgot to bring mine here and I hate having fragmented diaries (I get bored and start new ones ... because they're pretty & hard to resist) but I'll just have one specifically for my stay here. Not everything can go into this blog. =)

This is ... BARCA!

Photos need to accompany this post so that´ll be a separate entry when I get back to Italy. One night in Barcelona has officially blown away 10 days in Roma. Maybe its because its more metropolitan but the people! the buildings! the things to do! There´s so much to keep my head spinning. And the hostel I´m currently staying in is the first I´ve ever been in but I have a feeling every one I will be at thus after has big shoes to fill. Free internet, neat beds, nutella for breakfast and ... the nightlife is fantastic beyond words.

This guy at my hostel took my entire group and met up with another hostel to hustle us into taxis like a herd of sheep and sent us to a nightclub on a BEACH. Entrance was free for us and these stairs on the boardwalk and first drink was on the house too. It was a swanky place with a 10,000 euro bottle Dom Perignon on the menu O_o and the audience was dressed to the nines. One guy barely got in since he was sporting a sweatshirt and a lot of sharper dressed Spaniards couldn´t get in past the bouncer later. The Mediterranean Sea was crashing waves right in the back porch of the club (Carpe Diem, which means ¨seize the day¨ in Latin). What a way to start a weekend in Barcelona out right.

And today? Drove around a mini motorcycle-go cart hybrid all around the city for 3 hours, getting lost, pulling in the sights and getting stares and waves from everyone who gawped at the bright yellow vehicle and the obvious tourists (moi) within. I must have circled the entire city and am still in shock I could even navigate the roads of a major European city. But it´s time for a ¨siesta¨now, a slang term to take a nap while everyone else takes breaks from work all around.

Baci Baci