Hayley is making me fat... Oh yeah and the girls won in Florence

So I said I'd be blogging up Florence in Bangkok... spoke to soon... am writing this in Paris instead and I'll explain why later.

After a long line and a short sprint I made it onto the last train from Rome to Florence and I met Max, Hayley and Nick at the station shortly after they watched the showcase game. We then headed off imediately to "the best Tiramasu in Florence" for dinner (good pizza), beers (good micro brewery beers) and dessert (the aforementioned tiramasu that was really fucking good).

Deciding to forego the early U23 games we met early early (like 8ish or so) the next day to go and see Dave... and it was AWESOME. We saw Dave really early before he got crowded so we got the full affect and even managed a sneaky photo. He really is very very impressive. We also got to see some other stuff... highlights being seeing/hearing a hurdy gurdy and a trumpet marine... The hurdy gurdy being the bastard lovechild of a violin, guitar, piano and angle grinder and the trumpet marine being a single stringed bass type thing that somehow sounds like a trumpet being played underwater... google them.

Oh and we also went to "the best granita place in Florence"... once again not lying...

A trip to Pisa where there is A TOWER THAT LEANS with Max and Nick followed that before a regroup with Hayley to go to the fields just in time to find out the U23 boys lost their quarter to Germany =(
We then got to see the girls win before we headed off to dinner at "the best restaurant in Florence" this time with Nat and Liz in tow. Again no lies... it was AWESOME... the pizza kicked ass and so did the hot tomato pasta. Amazing gratis lemon granita and credit card roulette (with me winning the pot) made that probably my best italian restaurant experience... Even with the waitress nearly in tears because she felt so bad hayley had to pay for everyone because that's the card she didn't pull out. Oh and the top shelf gelato across the bridge was pretty sweet too...

A bit of a sleep in and then we got our disc on the next day (amongst granita/gelato/tiramasu trips of course) and we especially got to see the girls win their semi. Then another trip to the restaurant followed and this time the waitress refused to play credit card roulette and instead went to get her boss to do it... very funny... she was pissing herself laughing at us as we left ("oh you crazy aussies" style) and then it was off to the mixed final and party... the party was at a pool... kinda cool... but had a slightly odd vibe for me.

Sleep in again and it was finals day... The girls won... it was an awesome game... I took a shirtload of pics on TG's camera so I don't have many but the game was really tight and very cool to watch and cheer them along with the boys. Seb's juice moose song and the blatant cheer stealing (not to mention the japanese hate/love backflip between womens and mens finals) were quite fun. All the girls played well and deserved their win over japan...
Mens final was ok too... but being less emmotionally invested meant I payed less attention... I did get to hear some sweet heckle calls on Canada though.
And obviously following the win there was a fairly big (if informal) party at one of the hostels... Max, Hayley and I first had to have yet another italian dinner though... this time with free wine. We saw the sign and were a tad curious... especially after we still saw reasonable prices on the mains... So we guessed it was just a free glass... but then got told it was UNLIMITED free wine... so we asked what the catch was... The owner made the wine himself...
But it was still pretty good, the red better than the white...
Off to the party (where for a change I was barefoot...) and party party party till it was home time when Max and I discovered we were locked out. This is where I saw the main difference in how Max and I deal with things... He threw grapes and rang doorbells till we got inside... I slept on the doorstep...
Breakfast and packing my bag today and then Max, Hayley, the Birthday boy Nick "I'm going to read my book on the pooper" Dousett and I went to the Florence leather market to get magic wallets (amongst other things) and then Nick and I went to the aeroporto... We met the HoS boys there for all our flights to Amsterdam, which was cancelled... much lining up and waiting and frustration followed with those fellows off to a hotel for flights tomorrow whilst I lucked in and had my Florence-Amsterdam-Bangkok-Sydney flight changed to a Florence-Paris-Singapore-Sydney flight that I THINK gets me home faster than I would've originally...

So I'm in Paris now writing this and next time I get net-side I will be home... Not sure how I feel about that. I'm tired of living out of a bag and would like a relax for a while. But I think I will also get antsy at home within a week or so to be going new places and to museums etc... oh well...
Also not looking to the long haul flights... I hate flying... not from fear just the fact I can't sleep and the aircon screws my sinuses... oh and the cliche of shitty airline food will only be stronger with the gastronomical delights I've had the last week or so...

Oh well

See you all soon

Love, Hugs and Kisses
ANt

"Do you think they know we're arguing about ninja turtle and not artists?"

Ahhh Rome the gentle sound of the ambulence and police siren every two minutes...

Ok so it's been a while since the last post... I hopped onto a boat in Dubrovnik at like 11pm and got off it in Bari around 8... it wasn't as bad as people said it would be. The trick is to sleep on the floor rather than the chairs... I'm claiming credit for starting that trend in the section of the boat I was in. I was first to lie down on the floor and when I woke up nearly everyone was doing it... I was coughing up an absolute flem storm though (yeah I know you think I'm gross... but as I've said before I'm not really gross I'm Rock & Roll).

I then got a train from Bari (down south somewhere) to Rome... the train was actually pretty good... The italians may be chaotic and out of control but they do their trains well. It also wasn't packed in the slightest so I got to sleep easily.
Got into Rome and decided to stay two nights to fit in all the Rome touristy stuff. I decided to do it all in walking tour type things rather than faff about alone and try and do it... mainly because I didn't want to have to plan it out I just wanted someone to show me where it all was (yeah it's lazy but gimme a break). I did a night tour the first night that concentrated mainly on the fountains and stuff that looks good at night... It was pretty cool and I saw a lot of things and got told stuff I wouldn't have seen or found out if I was alone. Things like the bitchy "war by sculpture" that was conducted mainly by Benini (or whoever he was that sculpted most of Rome). The guide knew heaps and ironically there was a bogan aussie on the tour whinging about bogans... I also got told about another Bone church and saw what I thought was a magic shop I wanted to go back too.
The Yellow hostel I stayed at was a "party" hostel... which wasn't really my scene... I don't really appreciate the "lets get wasted" mentality of some travellers... especially when it affects your ability to see the sights etc that you're travelling for in the first place... Stupid seppos...
I also wore shoes for the first time since halfway through WUCCs because I put on my long pants the next day and went off to see the pope... or at least visit his house.

...He wasn't home...

But the Vatican tour I did was pretty interesting, although I do cringe everytime I meet a new "Aussie" travelling. Although listening to selfish people try and justify their selfishness is kinda amusing.
One part of the tour was going to "the best gelato shope in Rome" and yes it was AWESOME. I had a caramel and a lemon on (not together I got two)... The caramel rocked my socks... but it meant the lemon one tasted like the sourest of sour sours...
I saw some old buildings and the 10 angels bridge (hearing all about the passion of the christ along the way) and then in the line to the Vatican museum I bumped into Max and Nick and aranged to meet them for dinner.
So the vatican museum was pretty cool... but even I was gettting over italian rennanisance scultpure and (especially) painting by then. The sistine chapel was kinda cool though... I didn't realise it was lots of little pictures though. I think the irony of a little man shouting for everyone to be silent (not to mention the loudspeaker telling everyone) was a bit lost on most though. And talking noises... sistine chapel, best venue for a penis game EVER... Due to all the people I completely lost my tour group though so I headed off to St Pete's Bassilica by myself... Only to re find them there after I left it. That's the nicest church I've been in... which is would want to be given it's like god's house etc.... I then climbed the dome after a brief fight with the ticket man (why the fuck would I want 4 tickets you retard... I'm alone)...

I then returned to the hostel to find my new room reaking of BO... yuck...
Then I went to dinner with Nick and Max... finding out in Italy you apparently need a passport to access the internet to stop the terrorists or something. We booked our accom for Florence together there and then crossed town to a restaurant that the Lonely Planet recomended...

and they were right...

Dino and Tony's was a serious experience... I hadn't had awesomeness food experience until this restaurant... It felt a bit like eating at your friends parents' house... we felt like we should be carrying the dishes into the kitchen to help wash up against their protests of something... except the food was about the best I've ever had. Now (as you should know) Iàm not a "foodie" like a lot of my friends, but this place rocked my socks... We didn't even order... Dino (or perhaps Tony) just said "I sort you out" after we asked for antipasto...
This antipasto was so big and so good we started to think it was actually a main course too... then we got two pasta dishes each... A simple bologenese and an even simpler garlic, olive oil and basil number cooked better than I'd ever had before... followed by an "ice coffee" which was essentially frozen coffee shaved into flakes and covered with whipped cream... Coupled with the unique serving style (throw cutlery from a distance and slam plates onto the table) and a fight between dino and tony and it was amazing... A trip to a bar (after a post midnight dinner finish) and a watermellon on the walk home and you had a very full and very happy anthony.

The next day I did Justin's gore and violence tour of "badass" ancient rome sites... I saw the pantheon and the colleseum and circus maximus and other stuff like that... very cool, quite interesting and great to see all these legendary places I've been reading about for years... I also went back to the magic shop (which was an oddity, collectibles and antiques shop in reality) to get that statue I noticed of the devil for mum for her bday... only it cost 2000 euro... WOW... I guess her and I do have similar taste...

I then had a slight hiccup leaving town... 45 mins in a line getting pushed in on nearly blew my cool... especially as I nearly missed the last train to Florence because of stupid old people... I made it by 1-2 mins TOPS after sprinting in my pack. I really liked Rome and was happy I went to see ancient rome... but modern Rome and the people (and the rudeness) in it nearly ruined it for me...

Anyway that was Rome, I leave for home tomorrow and will try to blog up Florence on my stopover in Bangkok... but the summary goes Florence food is amazing, Dave is AWESOME and the girls won gold... YAY

Lòve, hùgs and Kisses
ANt