Well, its come to an end. I can’t believe my year in Italy is already over. The year has been more than anything I could have imagined. Here are a few numbers from the year:
-4 continents
-11 countries
-32 cities
-100,000km traveled
-1 blown out knee and surgery
I spent my last two weeks in Pietracupa. If you’ve been following along this year, than you’ve already read all about this place. This was my first time back (during the month of August) in six years. The place is as amazing as ever. I’m seriously looking for a house out there so I can have a place of my own when I go back. If I was to list my top ten favorite spots in the world, where I feel the most at home and relaxed, it would be something like this, in no particular order...
-My porch at my beach house in Belmar
-The gymnastics gym at Stanford
...and then the other 8 would be in Pietracupa.
It’s pretty incredible considering the town so tiny. It just has a tranquility that is difficult to find in other places. I miss it already.
My year abroad was a trip of a lifetime. I am grateful that I had such an opportunity and it was much more difficult to leave than I was anticipating. The first three months were an adjustment period where I didn’t think I could live my life in Italy. From that point on, I became accustomed to the lifestyle and I enjoyed it...very much. Everything was made easier by my incredible family. They were there whenever I needed them. I can’t thank them enough and I can’t wait until I see them again. Hopefully very soon.
Now it’s time begin the next chapter of my life. I don’t know what that will entail yet, but I’m excited and a little anxious to get it started. My plans are to be in either NY or California, so that is where I’ll be looking for a job. If anyone has any openings I might be good for, let me know...haha!
Thank you all for following along this year and who knows, if I get bored I might just pick up and go on another adventure...stay tuned.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
Naples, Amalfi, and some beach time
Naples is an interesting place. Leading up to my trip I had heard mixed reviews, so I didn’t know what to believe. My parents just flew in, so we headed down together and stayed with some relatives who live just outside the city limits in a small town at the base of Mount Vesuvius...that in itself was a little freaky. Going to bed knowing that the volcano that consumed Pompeii is in the backyard is slightly unsettling.
The first thing I would say about Naples is that if you visit you have to see the city with a Neapolitan. The people who live there respond much better to one of their own. Plus, it can be a dangerous city, so going around with someone who speaks the dialect makes you less of a target. I didn’t see this side of the city, but we were told numerous times to leave all jewelry at home and to always keep and eye out when walking the streets. Naples is also home of the Camorra, which is an infamous branch of the mafia.
So, another thing that Naples is known for is one of the most beloved foods in all the world...pizza! After putting our bags down at the house, our first stop was to one of the oldest and best pizzerias in Naples, “Pizzeria da Michele.” It’s a pretty unassuming place, but the lunchtime line outside is a clue to the quality of the pizza. After getting our number we waited for over two hours before we were seated...yes, two hours. There are few tables and only two items on the menu to choose from. Marinara (just sauce) or Margarita (sauce and fresh mozzarella). This might seem like a lack of options, but how can you argue with a pizzeria that’s been in business for over 140 years.
Each person gets an individual pie. They are a pretty good size, but I didn’t have too much trouble finishing off mine...and about a third of my mom’s as well. Eating pizza in Naples is a must. If you want to make it as authentic as possible, go to “da Michele.”
I didn’t really know that Naples is so close to the water, but it is situated on an absolutely beautiful piece of coastline. The sites from the high parts of the city are all postcard quality. The water is a combination of various shades of deep blues, Mount Vesuvius can be admired from a safe distance, and there are impressive villas all along the rocky cliffs. Unfortunately, this beauty from a distance doesn’t quite translate when you get to the center of town. You have to be prepared for what the streets of Naples are all about. For one thing it’s noticeably dirty. Some of the streets look like people just dumped a weeks worth of garbage along the road. Not too pleasant.
Along with that, driving in Naples is a sight in itself. I thought driving in Rome was bad, but Naples is kind of like a demolition derby. I wouldn’t recommend driving a car that you actually care about in downtown Naples. A bump here and a scrape there are inevitable. Oh, and also get used to guys leaning halfway out there windows as they are driving screaming at anything that gets in their way. It’s actually pretty funny...as long as they are not yelling at you.
If you have tough skin and can handle yourself in a tight situation than you should check out Naples. The city has an incredible history and some amazing sites, just be prepared for a more in your face type of city.
After a couple days of Naples, we took a day to see the sites of the Amalfi Coast. It really blows me away how many naturally stunning spots Italy has to offer. Amalfi is no different. We drove along the coast stopping in Sorrento for the day. One of the things Sorrento is know for is limoncello. The lemons sold at the markets are the size of melons. That is no exaggeration...it’s a little ridiculous. They have little shops lining the streets with different limoncello stores, all more than happy to give you a taste of their product. Earlier this year I learned how to make my own limoncello, and for my first batch it actually didn’t come out too bad. But this is the real stuff. Of course it’s perfect as a digestif, but a few small glasses in the middle of the day isn't too bad either.
The last few days were spent even further South at our host's beach house. The days were spent laying at the beach, afternoons were set aside for over the top seafood meals followed by a two or three hour nap, while the nights were all about eating gelato and soaking in the nightlife down by the water. Some of spots we hit were Scari, Maratea, and Sapri. The coastline down in those parts of Italy, close to the border of Campania and Basilicata (two of Italy's 20 regions, which are kind of like states) remind me a little of the PCH in the Santa Barbara area mixed in with Maui. Being a peninsula in the Mediterranean has worked out pretty well for Italy. It's hard to find a place that isn't picture worthy.
This was last major trip before I head back to the States. I'll be leaving tomorrow for Pietracupa, where I'll spend my last few weeks of my year long adventure. Pietracupa will be all about relaxing and catching up with old friends I haven't seen in years. I can't wait to get there.
The first thing I would say about Naples is that if you visit you have to see the city with a Neapolitan. The people who live there respond much better to one of their own. Plus, it can be a dangerous city, so going around with someone who speaks the dialect makes you less of a target. I didn’t see this side of the city, but we were told numerous times to leave all jewelry at home and to always keep and eye out when walking the streets. Naples is also home of the Camorra, which is an infamous branch of the mafia.
So, another thing that Naples is known for is one of the most beloved foods in all the world...pizza! After putting our bags down at the house, our first stop was to one of the oldest and best pizzerias in Naples, “Pizzeria da Michele.” It’s a pretty unassuming place, but the lunchtime line outside is a clue to the quality of the pizza. After getting our number we waited for over two hours before we were seated...yes, two hours. There are few tables and only two items on the menu to choose from. Marinara (just sauce) or Margarita (sauce and fresh mozzarella). This might seem like a lack of options, but how can you argue with a pizzeria that’s been in business for over 140 years.
Each person gets an individual pie. They are a pretty good size, but I didn’t have too much trouble finishing off mine...and about a third of my mom’s as well. Eating pizza in Naples is a must. If you want to make it as authentic as possible, go to “da Michele.”
I didn’t really know that Naples is so close to the water, but it is situated on an absolutely beautiful piece of coastline. The sites from the high parts of the city are all postcard quality. The water is a combination of various shades of deep blues, Mount Vesuvius can be admired from a safe distance, and there are impressive villas all along the rocky cliffs. Unfortunately, this beauty from a distance doesn’t quite translate when you get to the center of town. You have to be prepared for what the streets of Naples are all about. For one thing it’s noticeably dirty. Some of the streets look like people just dumped a weeks worth of garbage along the road. Not too pleasant.
Along with that, driving in Naples is a sight in itself. I thought driving in Rome was bad, but Naples is kind of like a demolition derby. I wouldn’t recommend driving a car that you actually care about in downtown Naples. A bump here and a scrape there are inevitable. Oh, and also get used to guys leaning halfway out there windows as they are driving screaming at anything that gets in their way. It’s actually pretty funny...as long as they are not yelling at you.
If you have tough skin and can handle yourself in a tight situation than you should check out Naples. The city has an incredible history and some amazing sites, just be prepared for a more in your face type of city.
After a couple days of Naples, we took a day to see the sites of the Amalfi Coast. It really blows me away how many naturally stunning spots Italy has to offer. Amalfi is no different. We drove along the coast stopping in Sorrento for the day. One of the things Sorrento is know for is limoncello. The lemons sold at the markets are the size of melons. That is no exaggeration...it’s a little ridiculous. They have little shops lining the streets with different limoncello stores, all more than happy to give you a taste of their product. Earlier this year I learned how to make my own limoncello, and for my first batch it actually didn’t come out too bad. But this is the real stuff. Of course it’s perfect as a digestif, but a few small glasses in the middle of the day isn't too bad either.
The last few days were spent even further South at our host's beach house. The days were spent laying at the beach, afternoons were set aside for over the top seafood meals followed by a two or three hour nap, while the nights were all about eating gelato and soaking in the nightlife down by the water. Some of spots we hit were Scari, Maratea, and Sapri. The coastline down in those parts of Italy, close to the border of Campania and Basilicata (two of Italy's 20 regions, which are kind of like states) remind me a little of the PCH in the Santa Barbara area mixed in with Maui. Being a peninsula in the Mediterranean has worked out pretty well for Italy. It's hard to find a place that isn't picture worthy.
This was last major trip before I head back to the States. I'll be leaving tomorrow for Pietracupa, where I'll spend my last few weeks of my year long adventure. Pietracupa will be all about relaxing and catching up with old friends I haven't seen in years. I can't wait to get there.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Amsterdam
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Amsterdam? Probably, pot and the red light district. At least that's what I thought of before I went last weekend. Sure there are a fair amount of “coffeeshops” and half naked girls in street-side windows, but what surprised me were the things I didn't expect. It's an amazing city that has top rate museums, parks, and an interesting history as well.
Amsterdam is known as "Venice of the North" because of the vast network of canals that run through the city. I don't think I would go as far as to compare it to Venice...the two have completely different feels. Venice is romantic. Amsterdam, I would say, is more charming. The canals are not filled with gondolas, but rather family filled small boats and upscale houseboats.
The city has kind of a Scandinavian Greenwich Village feel. The cobblestone streets are lined with brownstones and unique non-commercial stores with names I didn’t even try to pronounce. The city is small and everyone gets around on bicycles...everyone. All the streets have lanes for bikes. Sidewalks are kind of an afterthought. There were plenty of times I was walking along on what I thought to be a sidewalk only to be almost run over by a bike. Renting a bike is by far the best way to tour the city though. Plus, if you ever get lost it’s easy to find your way because English seems to be spoken more than Dutch.
I’m a pretty liberal guy. I might not be someone who enjoys all that Amsterdam coffeeshops have to offer, but I think people should do what makes them happy. That seems to be the view of most of the people in Amsterdam. You don't always see that live and let live culture, so that type of attitude was refreshing. Of all the cities I’ve been to so far, I think Amsterdam is the most livable. Of course, I went in the middle of the summer when the weather was perfect and the streets were filled with locals and tourists all having a good time. Things might be different when winter comes along and people are trying to ride their bikes around in freezing temperatures, but my first impression of Amsterdam was a a great one. It will be one of the first cities I make a return trip to for my next European tour.
Amsterdam is known as "Venice of the North" because of the vast network of canals that run through the city. I don't think I would go as far as to compare it to Venice...the two have completely different feels. Venice is romantic. Amsterdam, I would say, is more charming. The canals are not filled with gondolas, but rather family filled small boats and upscale houseboats.
The city has kind of a Scandinavian Greenwich Village feel. The cobblestone streets are lined with brownstones and unique non-commercial stores with names I didn’t even try to pronounce. The city is small and everyone gets around on bicycles...everyone. All the streets have lanes for bikes. Sidewalks are kind of an afterthought. There were plenty of times I was walking along on what I thought to be a sidewalk only to be almost run over by a bike. Renting a bike is by far the best way to tour the city though. Plus, if you ever get lost it’s easy to find your way because English seems to be spoken more than Dutch.
I’m a pretty liberal guy. I might not be someone who enjoys all that Amsterdam coffeeshops have to offer, but I think people should do what makes them happy. That seems to be the view of most of the people in Amsterdam. You don't always see that live and let live culture, so that type of attitude was refreshing. Of all the cities I’ve been to so far, I think Amsterdam is the most livable. Of course, I went in the middle of the summer when the weather was perfect and the streets were filled with locals and tourists all having a good time. Things might be different when winter comes along and people are trying to ride their bikes around in freezing temperatures, but my first impression of Amsterdam was a a great one. It will be one of the first cities I make a return trip to for my next European tour.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Il Palio
I’m skipping a couple trips to write about Siena and the Palio because it was an event like nothing else I’ve ever experienced. For my 30th birthday last weekend a couple of my closest friends from Stanford came out to visit. We partied in Rome and got some sun in Cinqueterre. The last part of the trip was set aside for the biannual Palio. Every year on July 2nd and August 16th, Siena is transported back to Medieval times when the running of the Palio overtakes every aspect of everyday life.
We took the train to Siena morning of July 1st. With all the tourists in town for the Palio it was difficult finding a room downtown, so I found a villa for us to stay at just outside of town in San Rocco a Pilli. The villa was beautiful and it gave us a glimpse into life in the Tuscan hills. Even though we didn’t spend too much time there, waking up every morning to the incredible views was well worth it.
To help understand what the Palio is all about, a little background is necessary. Siena is split into 17 different sections of town, called contrade. Of those 17, 10 are selected to race in the event. The race is just three laps around the track and takes about 90 seconds to complete. Here is a map of what the split looks like (the open space in the middle of the map is the Piazza del Campo, where the race is held).
http://www.uniaffitti.it/immagini/contrade-palio-siena.jpg
As you can see by the map, each section of town has it’s own colors, crests, and animals/symbol. To say that the people from each contrada are proud and passionate about where they grew up wouldn’t do it justice. They are fanatical. They have rivalries that are on par with anything we have in the sports world back in the States. Imagine Yankee fans and Red Sox Nation growing up across the street from one another...it can get heated.
Before we got to Siena, my friends and I decided we needed to become fans of one of the contrade. So like any normal people who had never been to Siena and knew nothing of the contrade, we picked our contrada based on our favorite color and crest. Well, to be fair we went with my favorite color, light blue. My soccer team, Lazio, is light blue so I’ve always had a soft spot for that color. The name of our contrada was Onda (meaning “wave”). I’ve also always been a beach person so I thought Onda was a no-brainer. (My friends fiance was partial to Istrice, the crested porcupine contrada, but in the end we decided that we had become Onda for life).
Here is Onda’s crest...
http://allegati.comune.siena.it:8080/palio/Allegati/3541%5Conda_big.jpg
After confirming our allegiance to Onda by buying and wearing the required team bandana, we roamed around the city to see the what Siena had to offer. Siena is an incredibly beautiful city and in many ways it felt like a smaller version of Florence. There are plenty of historical sites to see, but this entry is about the Palio so I won’t go into too much detail about the city itself. I’ll just say that it’s a must see if you ever find yourself in Tuscany...especially during the first week of July or second week of August.
Ok, back to the Palio. After roaming around the different contrade for a bit we bought our tickets for the legendary dinner the night before the Palio. Each contrade hosts a dinner for about 1,300 people where they toast their rider and pray for a victory the next day...all while drinking endless amounts of wine and eating way too much food. During the Onda dinner we were seated at one of the last tables with other foreigners who, like us, had recently pledged their love to the wave. I happened to be sitting next to a group of Italians from another city a few hours away, who had traveled every year to Siena to witness the incredible event. One of the men sitting next to me told me something that made me appreciate the uniqueness of the Palio even more. He said that the people of Siena don’t hold the Palio for to recognition or for for the tourists. They do it for the tradition. They do it to hold on to a part of their history that has been going on for hundreds of years. It is part of who they are. I mean how many of you have ever even heard of the Palio? Or if you have heard of it, do you know anything more than that it’s a horse race?? What I’m trying to say is that if you ever do witness the Palio first hand, you will forever wonder why the rest of the world doesn’t tune in each year for the 90 seconds of sheer mayhem. With the right publicity and some well placed ads, the Palio could be a worldwide phenomenon...but that’s not something that would interest the people of Siena very much.
Game Day. July 2nd, 2010. The three of us agreed that we had traveled all the way to Siena for this event and we wanted to make the most of it. The previous day we found a part of the square that we thought was ideal for the event. The Campo has kind of a bowl shape, so being in the middle you are kind of looking up to see the track. We had heard from various people that it would be smart to show up early to claim our spot...and so like any diehard fan we showed up 5 hours before the race to make sure we had the best seats. We picked some proscuitto and mortadella sandwiches, jugs of water, a bottle of grappa, a deck of cards, and some suntan lotion and we laid claim to what would become an epic spot.
We decided on our corner of the track for a few reasons:
Proximity to Onda- This corner was right next to “our” section of town, so there were bound to be a bunch of wave supporters in that section.
High Point-It was positioned at the highest point of the piazza, so you were looking down at the rest of the track. It made for an excellent viewing point for the entire race.
Shade: It was easily 90-95 degrees, so we decided that it would be smart to pick an area that would be under the shade first.
Closeness to Track- we wanted to be as close to the action as possible, so we set up shop along the railing at 2:00pm and didn’t move for the next 6 hours.
(We took time lapse pics from our spot every half hour to show what the piazza looked like as it began to fill up. I put them up on my facebook page along with other shots of Palio. Check them out if you’re interested)
Piazza del Campo in Siena is absolutely stunning. I would actually go as far as to say it’s the most picturesque piazza I’ve seen in all my travels. The surrounding buildings create a very intimate atmosphere where you actually feel like you are in an arena. The inside section holds about 20,000 to 25,000 people. Along with that are a few rows of bleachers around the whole square and people hanging out of every window and balcony. (Originally we had thought about buying tickets for one of the window seats. The seats were absurdly expensive and too far away from the action, so in the end we decided against it).
After hours of anticipation, the festivities began. Each contrada came out one at time a with a drummer and two flag bearers presenting their coat of arms. They were followed by the contrada warrior in full battle gear, the rider, and the horse they had groomed for the event. I couldn't believe how serious they all were. Not one smile. This was serious business. This was their Super Bowl, World Series, and NBA Finals all rolled into one. This part was really cool for about 7 or 8 of the contrada...but they did it not only for the 10 that were racing, but for all 17. After 6 hours in the sun, we were all ready for the race to start...
Finally, the riders came out one by one to the roar of the crowd. The faces of the jockeys were filled with intensity and nerves. It was definitely understandable. The track itself is very narrow and has corners that are basically at 90. This isn’t quite like racing at the manicured track at the Kentucky Derby. The risk and potential for serious injury in Palio is sky high.
As the horses edged toward the start line, a hush overtook the entire crowd. An announcer called out the line up as he pulled out the random draw. With each announced contrada the fans would either cheer or boo depending on their horses starting position. Nine of the ten horses were brought to the line and the announcer then goes about trying to line them up correctly, which might be one of the most difficult things I’ve ever seen. The last horse and rider stayed a few meters behind the line and waited. The horses are all bucking and on edge. Not one of them can stay still and so the announcer calls for all the horses to exit the starting line and the lineup has to start over. This happened four times. Each time the crowd becomes louder and louder, frustrated and at the edge of their seats.
On the fifth try, while the horses are still fighting to stay in their assigned positions, the 10th horse takes off from its spot a few meters back and the race is on. Onda, which started in the second position, gets an incredible start and takes the early lead. As they come around for the completion of the first lap, one of the riders gets tossed from his horse along our side of the track and is laying on the track. He’s hurt. Someone jumps from the stands and lifts his limp body over the barrier into the stands. I turn back around to just in time to see that Onda has widened his lead as he passes the halfway point. We are all freaking out...screaming for Onda to hang on for a little bit more. As the riders come around our corner for last section of lap 2, one of the horses slips and hits the barrier. As he goes down the massive body takes out another horse and rider in a huge collision. The two riders were down of the track and more people from the stands are jumping over the railing to pull the wounded riders off the track. One of the horses is on his feet and continues along the track without a rider. The other horse, I was certain was dead...or at least on its way to dying. It was crumpled up against the barrier. Its neck was in such a position that to my untrained eye looked broken. Just to make it clear, this crash happened RIGHT IN FRONT OF US...I’m talking about within 10-15 feet!! For a moment we had forgotten about the race and were fixated on the horse in front of us. Right then, another brave soul leaped over the barrier and pulled on the horses tail with all of his might in an attempt to straighten out the horses body. The horse had been pressed up against the barrier in such a way that he couldn’t get free. When he was away from the wall, he popped right up and galloped away. WOW...I was relieved that the horse was ok and also amazed that this guy just jumped in there to free the struggling animal!
In the mayhem that had just occurred, Onda was surpassed by Selva (the Forest contrada). Our jockey did his best to make up the ground he lost, but Selva began to pull away. He couldn’t be stopped at that point. Selva wins the Palio. No one cares who finishes in any other position...only the winner matters here. Within five seconds of Selva crossing the finish line their supporters were running at full sprint down the track to catch up to the victorious rider. Old and young supporters all in tears as they celebrated their win.
Emotions were running high all around us as the supporters of the other contrade were also in tears after the race ended differently than they had played it out in their heads. The diehard Onda fans were the most distraught, after tasting victory for two laps. My friends and I were more in shock than anything else. We were upset that Onda hadn’t won, but we were more in awe of the complete spectacle that had taken place in front of us. My heart was racing and I couldn’t focus my mind. There was too much going on around me.
After a while, we began to calm down and realized that the three of us had just seen one of the coolest, most dramatic events in our lives. I have been to some amazing sporting events in my lifetime (Olympics, World Cup, Rose Bowl, watched Michael Jordan play in Madison Square Garden...), but this was in a class of it’s own. Nothing else like it in the world. It really is something you need to see for yourself to understand. If you ever do get a chance to see the Palio, suck it up and wait for place along the rail. It will be the craziest 90 seconds of your life.
We took the train to Siena morning of July 1st. With all the tourists in town for the Palio it was difficult finding a room downtown, so I found a villa for us to stay at just outside of town in San Rocco a Pilli. The villa was beautiful and it gave us a glimpse into life in the Tuscan hills. Even though we didn’t spend too much time there, waking up every morning to the incredible views was well worth it.
To help understand what the Palio is all about, a little background is necessary. Siena is split into 17 different sections of town, called contrade. Of those 17, 10 are selected to race in the event. The race is just three laps around the track and takes about 90 seconds to complete. Here is a map of what the split looks like (the open space in the middle of the map is the Piazza del Campo, where the race is held).
http://www.uniaffitti.it/immagini/contrade-palio-siena.jpg
As you can see by the map, each section of town has it’s own colors, crests, and animals/symbol. To say that the people from each contrada are proud and passionate about where they grew up wouldn’t do it justice. They are fanatical. They have rivalries that are on par with anything we have in the sports world back in the States. Imagine Yankee fans and Red Sox Nation growing up across the street from one another...it can get heated.
Before we got to Siena, my friends and I decided we needed to become fans of one of the contrade. So like any normal people who had never been to Siena and knew nothing of the contrade, we picked our contrada based on our favorite color and crest. Well, to be fair we went with my favorite color, light blue. My soccer team, Lazio, is light blue so I’ve always had a soft spot for that color. The name of our contrada was Onda (meaning “wave”). I’ve also always been a beach person so I thought Onda was a no-brainer. (My friends fiance was partial to Istrice, the crested porcupine contrada, but in the end we decided that we had become Onda for life).
Here is Onda’s crest...
http://allegati.comune.siena.it:8080/palio/Allegati/3541%5Conda_big.jpg
After confirming our allegiance to Onda by buying and wearing the required team bandana, we roamed around the city to see the what Siena had to offer. Siena is an incredibly beautiful city and in many ways it felt like a smaller version of Florence. There are plenty of historical sites to see, but this entry is about the Palio so I won’t go into too much detail about the city itself. I’ll just say that it’s a must see if you ever find yourself in Tuscany...especially during the first week of July or second week of August.
Ok, back to the Palio. After roaming around the different contrade for a bit we bought our tickets for the legendary dinner the night before the Palio. Each contrade hosts a dinner for about 1,300 people where they toast their rider and pray for a victory the next day...all while drinking endless amounts of wine and eating way too much food. During the Onda dinner we were seated at one of the last tables with other foreigners who, like us, had recently pledged their love to the wave. I happened to be sitting next to a group of Italians from another city a few hours away, who had traveled every year to Siena to witness the incredible event. One of the men sitting next to me told me something that made me appreciate the uniqueness of the Palio even more. He said that the people of Siena don’t hold the Palio for to recognition or for for the tourists. They do it for the tradition. They do it to hold on to a part of their history that has been going on for hundreds of years. It is part of who they are. I mean how many of you have ever even heard of the Palio? Or if you have heard of it, do you know anything more than that it’s a horse race?? What I’m trying to say is that if you ever do witness the Palio first hand, you will forever wonder why the rest of the world doesn’t tune in each year for the 90 seconds of sheer mayhem. With the right publicity and some well placed ads, the Palio could be a worldwide phenomenon...but that’s not something that would interest the people of Siena very much.
Game Day. July 2nd, 2010. The three of us agreed that we had traveled all the way to Siena for this event and we wanted to make the most of it. The previous day we found a part of the square that we thought was ideal for the event. The Campo has kind of a bowl shape, so being in the middle you are kind of looking up to see the track. We had heard from various people that it would be smart to show up early to claim our spot...and so like any diehard fan we showed up 5 hours before the race to make sure we had the best seats. We picked some proscuitto and mortadella sandwiches, jugs of water, a bottle of grappa, a deck of cards, and some suntan lotion and we laid claim to what would become an epic spot.
We decided on our corner of the track for a few reasons:
Proximity to Onda- This corner was right next to “our” section of town, so there were bound to be a bunch of wave supporters in that section.
High Point-It was positioned at the highest point of the piazza, so you were looking down at the rest of the track. It made for an excellent viewing point for the entire race.
Shade: It was easily 90-95 degrees, so we decided that it would be smart to pick an area that would be under the shade first.
Closeness to Track- we wanted to be as close to the action as possible, so we set up shop along the railing at 2:00pm and didn’t move for the next 6 hours.
(We took time lapse pics from our spot every half hour to show what the piazza looked like as it began to fill up. I put them up on my facebook page along with other shots of Palio. Check them out if you’re interested)
Piazza del Campo in Siena is absolutely stunning. I would actually go as far as to say it’s the most picturesque piazza I’ve seen in all my travels. The surrounding buildings create a very intimate atmosphere where you actually feel like you are in an arena. The inside section holds about 20,000 to 25,000 people. Along with that are a few rows of bleachers around the whole square and people hanging out of every window and balcony. (Originally we had thought about buying tickets for one of the window seats. The seats were absurdly expensive and too far away from the action, so in the end we decided against it).
After hours of anticipation, the festivities began. Each contrada came out one at time a with a drummer and two flag bearers presenting their coat of arms. They were followed by the contrada warrior in full battle gear, the rider, and the horse they had groomed for the event. I couldn't believe how serious they all were. Not one smile. This was serious business. This was their Super Bowl, World Series, and NBA Finals all rolled into one. This part was really cool for about 7 or 8 of the contrada...but they did it not only for the 10 that were racing, but for all 17. After 6 hours in the sun, we were all ready for the race to start...
Finally, the riders came out one by one to the roar of the crowd. The faces of the jockeys were filled with intensity and nerves. It was definitely understandable. The track itself is very narrow and has corners that are basically at 90. This isn’t quite like racing at the manicured track at the Kentucky Derby. The risk and potential for serious injury in Palio is sky high.
As the horses edged toward the start line, a hush overtook the entire crowd. An announcer called out the line up as he pulled out the random draw. With each announced contrada the fans would either cheer or boo depending on their horses starting position. Nine of the ten horses were brought to the line and the announcer then goes about trying to line them up correctly, which might be one of the most difficult things I’ve ever seen. The last horse and rider stayed a few meters behind the line and waited. The horses are all bucking and on edge. Not one of them can stay still and so the announcer calls for all the horses to exit the starting line and the lineup has to start over. This happened four times. Each time the crowd becomes louder and louder, frustrated and at the edge of their seats.
On the fifth try, while the horses are still fighting to stay in their assigned positions, the 10th horse takes off from its spot a few meters back and the race is on. Onda, which started in the second position, gets an incredible start and takes the early lead. As they come around for the completion of the first lap, one of the riders gets tossed from his horse along our side of the track and is laying on the track. He’s hurt. Someone jumps from the stands and lifts his limp body over the barrier into the stands. I turn back around to just in time to see that Onda has widened his lead as he passes the halfway point. We are all freaking out...screaming for Onda to hang on for a little bit more. As the riders come around our corner for last section of lap 2, one of the horses slips and hits the barrier. As he goes down the massive body takes out another horse and rider in a huge collision. The two riders were down of the track and more people from the stands are jumping over the railing to pull the wounded riders off the track. One of the horses is on his feet and continues along the track without a rider. The other horse, I was certain was dead...or at least on its way to dying. It was crumpled up against the barrier. Its neck was in such a position that to my untrained eye looked broken. Just to make it clear, this crash happened RIGHT IN FRONT OF US...I’m talking about within 10-15 feet!! For a moment we had forgotten about the race and were fixated on the horse in front of us. Right then, another brave soul leaped over the barrier and pulled on the horses tail with all of his might in an attempt to straighten out the horses body. The horse had been pressed up against the barrier in such a way that he couldn’t get free. When he was away from the wall, he popped right up and galloped away. WOW...I was relieved that the horse was ok and also amazed that this guy just jumped in there to free the struggling animal!
In the mayhem that had just occurred, Onda was surpassed by Selva (the Forest contrada). Our jockey did his best to make up the ground he lost, but Selva began to pull away. He couldn’t be stopped at that point. Selva wins the Palio. No one cares who finishes in any other position...only the winner matters here. Within five seconds of Selva crossing the finish line their supporters were running at full sprint down the track to catch up to the victorious rider. Old and young supporters all in tears as they celebrated their win.
Emotions were running high all around us as the supporters of the other contrade were also in tears after the race ended differently than they had played it out in their heads. The diehard Onda fans were the most distraught, after tasting victory for two laps. My friends and I were more in shock than anything else. We were upset that Onda hadn’t won, but we were more in awe of the complete spectacle that had taken place in front of us. My heart was racing and I couldn’t focus my mind. There was too much going on around me.
After a while, we began to calm down and realized that the three of us had just seen one of the coolest, most dramatic events in our lives. I have been to some amazing sporting events in my lifetime (Olympics, World Cup, Rose Bowl, watched Michael Jordan play in Madison Square Garden...), but this was in a class of it’s own. Nothing else like it in the world. It really is something you need to see for yourself to understand. If you ever do get a chance to see the Palio, suck it up and wait for place along the rail. It will be the craziest 90 seconds of your life.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Istanbul
It was only a two hour flight from Rome, but it when I landed I felt like I was much further away from my comfort zone. First of all, this city is immense. About 13 million people. There is the Asian side and the European side. Most of the action is on the European side and once your there the city splits again into the "Old City" and "New City." I found a hostel in a great location of the Old City section of town. The highlights was the rooftop bar that looked out onto the water and 5 Turkish Lira kebabs that were awesome. (The exchange rate works out pretty well too. Basically 1€ for every 2TL. Finally a place where the exchange rate works out in my favor)!
Istanbul has an incredible history. How many places can say they were the capital of three different empires? Ottoman, Byzantine, and Roman. There are a number of great things to see in the city (Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Galata Tower, Topkapi Palace, ride down the Bosphorous, the underground cisterns) but the most visible landmarks around the city are without a doubt the mosques. They are everywhere. I stayed in an area right by the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia, so I was able to get a close up tour of some of the most famous ones. I’ve never been too familiar with Muslim culture or customs so it was pretty interesting to see it firsthand. The inside of the Blue Mosque is wide open and fully carpeted for praying. It is called the blue mosque because of the detailed blue tiles that cover the interior. The pillars on the inside are gigantic. They reminded me of the great sequoias at Sequoia National Park...just massive. Just across the way is the Hagia Sophia. The two face each other in kind of a standoff looking like they are trying to intimidate each other. Hagia Sophia is now a museum, but it is pretty incredible that it’s still in such good shape considering that it is 1500 years old. The dome was built 1000 years before the dome on St. Peters Basilica!
Of course, whenever I travel I try to experience as much of the nightlife as I can. The Istanbul nightlife centers around the area of town called Taxim. The energy in the streets was awesome. They really like to party out there. Unfortunately, the music played in some of the clubs was less than stellar. Some of the popular beats in the clubs in Istanbul included the Ghostbusters theme song and Vanilla Ice. (Still, the most memorable club music was played one night while I was in Austria. They put on the theme to Baywatch...and the crowd went crazy. They all knew the words. I guess David Hasselhoff’s incredible fame is still growing!).
After my late night on Sat, I decided to check out one of the Turkish bath houses the next morning for some relaxation. This particular bath house was built in the 1540’s and the traditions haven’t changed very much in 500 years. I didn't really know what I was doing when I got in there, and I'm sure it showed. Some random guy (who I later found out worked there because he demanded a tip for his help) led me to the wash room for the first part of the experience. After changing into just a towel, I was led to the main room. The room itself is beautiful. It's made of nothing but marble with intricate fountains carved into the walls. After laying down on the huge warm marble slab in the center, they begin to wash you. First they scrub you down with a exfoliating mitt. They lather you up and dump buckets of water all over you to wash it off. Once the cleaning is over, you head to another room for a full body oil massage. I was spoiled for years at the OTC where I would receive multiple massages a week while I was training. Getting a massage every once and a while is always relaxing, but it makes me long for the days when I got them whenever I wanted.
When the massage is over you don’t have to leave. You can head back to the first room which also acts kind of like a sauna. Relax and stay as long as you like. This is an absolute must if you are ever in Istanbul. Cultural experience, relaxation, and the prices are not bad either.
On my last day I had a few hours to kill, so I went to the Grand Bazaar. It’s more of a maze than it is an actual shopping center. Seemingly endless hallways selling slight variations of the same things. I’m glad I had a chance to check it out, but I wasn’t in the market for a Turkish rug or pointy-toed silk slippers, so I came away without buying anything. To be honest, I was just glad I was able to find my way out.
Istanbul was like no other city I have visited so far. It was just the kind of cultural experience I was hoping to get when I decided to make this trip. I wouldn’t say it was my favorite city, but it was definitely a place I would recommend seeing...especially if you like history.
Istanbul has an incredible history. How many places can say they were the capital of three different empires? Ottoman, Byzantine, and Roman. There are a number of great things to see in the city (Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Galata Tower, Topkapi Palace, ride down the Bosphorous, the underground cisterns) but the most visible landmarks around the city are without a doubt the mosques. They are everywhere. I stayed in an area right by the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia, so I was able to get a close up tour of some of the most famous ones. I’ve never been too familiar with Muslim culture or customs so it was pretty interesting to see it firsthand. The inside of the Blue Mosque is wide open and fully carpeted for praying. It is called the blue mosque because of the detailed blue tiles that cover the interior. The pillars on the inside are gigantic. They reminded me of the great sequoias at Sequoia National Park...just massive. Just across the way is the Hagia Sophia. The two face each other in kind of a standoff looking like they are trying to intimidate each other. Hagia Sophia is now a museum, but it is pretty incredible that it’s still in such good shape considering that it is 1500 years old. The dome was built 1000 years before the dome on St. Peters Basilica!
Of course, whenever I travel I try to experience as much of the nightlife as I can. The Istanbul nightlife centers around the area of town called Taxim. The energy in the streets was awesome. They really like to party out there. Unfortunately, the music played in some of the clubs was less than stellar. Some of the popular beats in the clubs in Istanbul included the Ghostbusters theme song and Vanilla Ice. (Still, the most memorable club music was played one night while I was in Austria. They put on the theme to Baywatch...and the crowd went crazy. They all knew the words. I guess David Hasselhoff’s incredible fame is still growing!).
After my late night on Sat, I decided to check out one of the Turkish bath houses the next morning for some relaxation. This particular bath house was built in the 1540’s and the traditions haven’t changed very much in 500 years. I didn't really know what I was doing when I got in there, and I'm sure it showed. Some random guy (who I later found out worked there because he demanded a tip for his help) led me to the wash room for the first part of the experience. After changing into just a towel, I was led to the main room. The room itself is beautiful. It's made of nothing but marble with intricate fountains carved into the walls. After laying down on the huge warm marble slab in the center, they begin to wash you. First they scrub you down with a exfoliating mitt. They lather you up and dump buckets of water all over you to wash it off. Once the cleaning is over, you head to another room for a full body oil massage. I was spoiled for years at the OTC where I would receive multiple massages a week while I was training. Getting a massage every once and a while is always relaxing, but it makes me long for the days when I got them whenever I wanted.
When the massage is over you don’t have to leave. You can head back to the first room which also acts kind of like a sauna. Relax and stay as long as you like. This is an absolute must if you are ever in Istanbul. Cultural experience, relaxation, and the prices are not bad either.
On my last day I had a few hours to kill, so I went to the Grand Bazaar. It’s more of a maze than it is an actual shopping center. Seemingly endless hallways selling slight variations of the same things. I’m glad I had a chance to check it out, but I wasn’t in the market for a Turkish rug or pointy-toed silk slippers, so I came away without buying anything. To be honest, I was just glad I was able to find my way out.
Istanbul was like no other city I have visited so far. It was just the kind of cultural experience I was hoping to get when I decided to make this trip. I wouldn’t say it was my favorite city, but it was definitely a place I would recommend seeing...especially if you like history.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Some Return Trips in Italy
For my last few trips, before Istanbul, I ended up staying in Italy. A close friend from New Jersey came out to visit last week with his wife, and so I played tour guide for a few days. Two days in Rome, two in Florence, and two in Venice. It was a pretty hectic schedule and I’m pretty sure we walked at least 50km (yes, believe it or not after nine months out here I’ve started think in terms of the metric system).
It’s impossible to see Rome in two days, but we did our best to hit up all the main spots. Since my down time between trips is spent in Rome, I have found time to see many of the museums and other exhibitions that most tourists pass by on their travels. So, needless to say I’ve seen quite a bit of Rome. The one thing that I hadn’t done this trip was the Vatican Museum and St. Peters. I’ve seen them both many times over the years...in fact, after talking to some of my cousins I’m pretty sure I’ve seen these sites more than they have, and they’ve lived here their whole lives. We took the tour and actually got a chance to see the pope (from about 50 yards away...but it was still pretty cool).
The temperature has been warming up quite a bit lately which made the trips to Florence and Venice even better than my first time out there. But, of course with better weather comes more tourists. The lines for all the major sites were ridiculous. We saw as much as we could while trying to avoid the monster crowds. We saw quite a bit, but a lot of what’s great about those cities is just walking around the streets, eating gelato, and taking in everyday Italian life...we definitely did enough of that. Especially the gelato part.
The night before my friends left, we had one more night together at my apartment in Rome. I have been learning how to cook a bunch of different Italian dishes from my aunts (who are all incredible cooks) and so I was able to test my new gnocchi making skills on my friends. For my third time making them I think them came out ok. My friends enjoyed the dinner and that's all I was worried about. It doesn’t get much better than a home cooked meal with friends.
I also took a two day trip back to Pietracupa. The ultimate place for relaxation. Rome is so hectic and crazy, that it’s nice to spend a couple days every once and a while in a place where you hear nothing but the birds. I took a long walk through the hills with my cousin who showed me the different plots of land our family used to own, where the great fig trees are, and some other hidden stuff about the surrounding lands and villages that I had never known before.
This time of year Pietracupa is basically deserted, but a new mayor had just been elected so the town threw a big party for him. The main street was filled with people many of whom I hadn’t seen in years. The last time I was in Pietracupa during the summer months was six years ago...the longest stretch I’ve ever gone in my life without going back. There were prosciutto and porchetta (a kind of pork roast) sandwiches to go along with the beer and wine. A whole store was filled with different cakes and pastries made by some of the ladies in town and you could go in and take as much as you could handle! The music played late into the night. The people dancing ranged in age from 5 to 90. You don’t see that kind of stuff all the time...people just loving life. It reminded me a lot of my time there as a kid. Great to be back.
Here are some other things I’ve noticed about the Italians. Some good, some bad, but all worth mentioning.
-Italians are blunt. Especially with weight. If you’ve lost a few pounds, they will let you know. You look a little heavier?They have no issue with telling you straight up. It’s not such a big deal for guys I guess, but in the US where everyone is so worried about their weight, I can’t imagine that telling a women that she looks fat would go over so well. The thing is though, that Italians don’t say it because they want to upset you. To them, it’s just an observation. So if an Italian comments on your weight, don’t think too much of it.
-They are consistently late. I’ve come to use a rule of 3 whenever I’m supposed to be somewhere. If someone says they’ll be there in 5 minutes, it means 15. 15 minutes means 45...and so on. I’ve refined the system over time and it’s pretty accurate now. As opposed to Americans, Italians are never really in a rush. They get there when they get there and that’s it. It is definitely less stressful, but it’s taken me a long time to get used to. In fact, I’m still not fully used to it yet.
-With food, everything is somehow good for you in Italy. I don’t quite know how this works out, but it’s been repeated to me multiple times by many different people. That gigantic bowl of pasta...good for energy. Those glasses of wine...good for the heart. That block of cheese...lots of vitamins. Ahhhh...I just love it out here. I just can’t wait for the day when someone convinces me that gelato is good for me too. I might never come back home! (On a weird side note, there are a bunch of different fruits doctors tell people not to eat if they are on a diet. Grapes, peaches, and apparently bananas are the worst. Who knew...).
-Another thing I’ve found to be funny is the broadcasting of sporting events. In the US, if something happens in a game that is unexpected or maybe a little too much for TV (say a coach cursing out his players or a fan running across the field) the cameramen do their best to move away without drawing too much attention to the spectacle. In Italy they do the opposite. When a coach is cursing out the ref or another player, they zoom in and slow-mo it until they see exactly what he said. They want to know in what accent he cursed out that other guy.
-Ok, I know I’ve mentioned the public transportation a few times, but it’s definitely mentioning these gems that have happened to me recently. These all happened to me in the past few weeks too. I was on a train where the conductor was playing a game on his Iphone while he was at the controls. That same day, I took a bus where the driver was reading a book on the steering wheel as he was driving the streets of Rome. Another day, I was up front by the driver and he called me over to ask for directions. Yes, that’s right. I had to tell the bus driver his route. He had no idea where he was going. My favorite though, was someone I saw yesterday. I was on a bus but this guy was driving his car next to us. He had a cell phone in each hand and was texting on both...he was using his knee to steer the car. Just awesome!!
So there are some more of the fun things I’ve learned out here over the past few months. I’ll be here for a couple more months, so I’m sure I’ll have so more stuff to report.
It’s impossible to see Rome in two days, but we did our best to hit up all the main spots. Since my down time between trips is spent in Rome, I have found time to see many of the museums and other exhibitions that most tourists pass by on their travels. So, needless to say I’ve seen quite a bit of Rome. The one thing that I hadn’t done this trip was the Vatican Museum and St. Peters. I’ve seen them both many times over the years...in fact, after talking to some of my cousins I’m pretty sure I’ve seen these sites more than they have, and they’ve lived here their whole lives. We took the tour and actually got a chance to see the pope (from about 50 yards away...but it was still pretty cool).
The temperature has been warming up quite a bit lately which made the trips to Florence and Venice even better than my first time out there. But, of course with better weather comes more tourists. The lines for all the major sites were ridiculous. We saw as much as we could while trying to avoid the monster crowds. We saw quite a bit, but a lot of what’s great about those cities is just walking around the streets, eating gelato, and taking in everyday Italian life...we definitely did enough of that. Especially the gelato part.
The night before my friends left, we had one more night together at my apartment in Rome. I have been learning how to cook a bunch of different Italian dishes from my aunts (who are all incredible cooks) and so I was able to test my new gnocchi making skills on my friends. For my third time making them I think them came out ok. My friends enjoyed the dinner and that's all I was worried about. It doesn’t get much better than a home cooked meal with friends.
I also took a two day trip back to Pietracupa. The ultimate place for relaxation. Rome is so hectic and crazy, that it’s nice to spend a couple days every once and a while in a place where you hear nothing but the birds. I took a long walk through the hills with my cousin who showed me the different plots of land our family used to own, where the great fig trees are, and some other hidden stuff about the surrounding lands and villages that I had never known before.
This time of year Pietracupa is basically deserted, but a new mayor had just been elected so the town threw a big party for him. The main street was filled with people many of whom I hadn’t seen in years. The last time I was in Pietracupa during the summer months was six years ago...the longest stretch I’ve ever gone in my life without going back. There were prosciutto and porchetta (a kind of pork roast) sandwiches to go along with the beer and wine. A whole store was filled with different cakes and pastries made by some of the ladies in town and you could go in and take as much as you could handle! The music played late into the night. The people dancing ranged in age from 5 to 90. You don’t see that kind of stuff all the time...people just loving life. It reminded me a lot of my time there as a kid. Great to be back.
Here are some other things I’ve noticed about the Italians. Some good, some bad, but all worth mentioning.
-Italians are blunt. Especially with weight. If you’ve lost a few pounds, they will let you know. You look a little heavier?They have no issue with telling you straight up. It’s not such a big deal for guys I guess, but in the US where everyone is so worried about their weight, I can’t imagine that telling a women that she looks fat would go over so well. The thing is though, that Italians don’t say it because they want to upset you. To them, it’s just an observation. So if an Italian comments on your weight, don’t think too much of it.
-They are consistently late. I’ve come to use a rule of 3 whenever I’m supposed to be somewhere. If someone says they’ll be there in 5 minutes, it means 15. 15 minutes means 45...and so on. I’ve refined the system over time and it’s pretty accurate now. As opposed to Americans, Italians are never really in a rush. They get there when they get there and that’s it. It is definitely less stressful, but it’s taken me a long time to get used to. In fact, I’m still not fully used to it yet.
-With food, everything is somehow good for you in Italy. I don’t quite know how this works out, but it’s been repeated to me multiple times by many different people. That gigantic bowl of pasta...good for energy. Those glasses of wine...good for the heart. That block of cheese...lots of vitamins. Ahhhh...I just love it out here. I just can’t wait for the day when someone convinces me that gelato is good for me too. I might never come back home! (On a weird side note, there are a bunch of different fruits doctors tell people not to eat if they are on a diet. Grapes, peaches, and apparently bananas are the worst. Who knew...).
-Another thing I’ve found to be funny is the broadcasting of sporting events. In the US, if something happens in a game that is unexpected or maybe a little too much for TV (say a coach cursing out his players or a fan running across the field) the cameramen do their best to move away without drawing too much attention to the spectacle. In Italy they do the opposite. When a coach is cursing out the ref or another player, they zoom in and slow-mo it until they see exactly what he said. They want to know in what accent he cursed out that other guy.
-Ok, I know I’ve mentioned the public transportation a few times, but it’s definitely mentioning these gems that have happened to me recently. These all happened to me in the past few weeks too. I was on a train where the conductor was playing a game on his Iphone while he was at the controls. That same day, I took a bus where the driver was reading a book on the steering wheel as he was driving the streets of Rome. Another day, I was up front by the driver and he called me over to ask for directions. Yes, that’s right. I had to tell the bus driver his route. He had no idea where he was going. My favorite though, was someone I saw yesterday. I was on a bus but this guy was driving his car next to us. He had a cell phone in each hand and was texting on both...he was using his knee to steer the car. Just awesome!!
So there are some more of the fun things I’ve learned out here over the past few months. I’ll be here for a couple more months, so I’m sure I’ll have so more stuff to report.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Australia...Part 2
After my week in Perth, I headed across the country to Melbourne. The Pacific Rim gymnastics competition was being held out there, and so I was excited about watching Team USA at another big meet. Looking back, I’ve actually been to quite a few competitions since I’ve been living in Italy. Worlds in London, Champions Trophy in Stuttgart, USA Women’s competition outside of Venice, NCAA Championships in NY, and now Pacific Rim. At this point I’m pretty sure the USAG officials are sick of seeing be show up at meets around the world!
Coming from the NJ/NY area, I can appreciate a good sports city. I am a passionate supporter of my sports teams, and after being in Melbourne for a few days I could see that they too have a similar love for their teams. The dominant sport is the Aussie Football League, or just footy. To give you an idea of how crazy Melbourne is about it’s footy, just think about this. There are 16 teams in Australia’s top division. Of those 16 teams, 10 of them are based in Melbourne!!! THAT IS INSANE!!! NY/NJ has three football teams (including Buffalo). Rio de Janeiro and London each have five soccer teams. That always seemed like a lot to me. But 10 first division teams in one city...that’s another level. They also host the footy equivalent to the Super Bowl every year. Melbourne is a true sports city...
To accommodate all those teams, along with the cricket teams, the Australian Open tennis tournament, and various other sporting events such as the Pacific Rim, Melbourne has a vast network of sports stadiums. It doesn’t seem like a city big enough to pull off so many sports, but they do. For me, it was one of the most impressive parts of the city.
I got a first hand experience of a footy match too. North Melbourne vs. Melbourne. I love checking out new sporting events, so this was something I thoroughly enjoyed...and unlike the rugby match, I was able to stay awake the entire match. Footy is played on a huge oval field. My crude understanding of the game gave me the impression that it was basically a combination of soccer, rugby, football, and hot potato. The fans are passionate in a similar way to the Italians with soccer. That’s to say, it’s a borderline unhealthy relationship. The love I have for my Giants, Mets, Lazio, and the Azzurri can be looked at in a similar way, so I felt a unique sport connection to Melbourne.
Another form of sport, gambling, is something else I enjoy quite a bit. Melbourne has a state of the art casino that I found myself at a few times during my few days out there. For the past 17 years I have taken at least one yearly trip to Las Vegas. This was the first year that I missed out on my Vegas experience, so being able to gamble a little bit helped fix my Vegas itch. The atmosphere wasn’t quite like Vegas, but it was still a lot of fun. Plus, I ended up winning a couple bucks which wasn’t so bad.
The rest of my time in Melbourne was spent walking the city, eating sushi, and watching the USA clean up at Pacific Rim. Actually, it was pretty ridiculous how many medals the USA won. Between the guys and girls, I think they ended up with something like 35 medals. Wow. I guess you could say it was a successful weekend for Team USA. The girls were dominant as usual, and the guys have a bunch of up and coming talents that are going to do some big things over the next few years...it’s going to be fun to watch.
There is a reason why Melbourne is consistanly rated as one of the “The Most Livable City in the World.” It’s got a lot of energy with a younger population that keep the city alive late into the night even on weekdays. The downtown river area lined with restaurants and shops is a great spot to hang out and people watch. To me the city seemed very modern, but after living in Rome I think any city would seem modern. Overall, I’d say that Melbourne was one of my favorite cities that I’ve seen so far.
The only downside of my trip to Australia was how expensive everything was out there. The Australian dollar is essentially equivalent to the American dollar, and despite it’s resemblance to Monopoly money, it’s very real and it goes quickly in a city that regularly charges $15 to $20 just for lunch. One upside is that you don’t have to tip for anything. It’s a nice little bonus, but in the end the sky high prices still end up emptying the wallet pretty quickly.
The 30 hour trip back to Rome actually wasn’t too bad, but I was relieved to finally be back in my own bed. I’m in Rome right now, but I’m already planning my next few trips. This summer should be a memorable one...
Coming from the NJ/NY area, I can appreciate a good sports city. I am a passionate supporter of my sports teams, and after being in Melbourne for a few days I could see that they too have a similar love for their teams. The dominant sport is the Aussie Football League, or just footy. To give you an idea of how crazy Melbourne is about it’s footy, just think about this. There are 16 teams in Australia’s top division. Of those 16 teams, 10 of them are based in Melbourne!!! THAT IS INSANE!!! NY/NJ has three football teams (including Buffalo). Rio de Janeiro and London each have five soccer teams. That always seemed like a lot to me. But 10 first division teams in one city...that’s another level. They also host the footy equivalent to the Super Bowl every year. Melbourne is a true sports city...
To accommodate all those teams, along with the cricket teams, the Australian Open tennis tournament, and various other sporting events such as the Pacific Rim, Melbourne has a vast network of sports stadiums. It doesn’t seem like a city big enough to pull off so many sports, but they do. For me, it was one of the most impressive parts of the city.
I got a first hand experience of a footy match too. North Melbourne vs. Melbourne. I love checking out new sporting events, so this was something I thoroughly enjoyed...and unlike the rugby match, I was able to stay awake the entire match. Footy is played on a huge oval field. My crude understanding of the game gave me the impression that it was basically a combination of soccer, rugby, football, and hot potato. The fans are passionate in a similar way to the Italians with soccer. That’s to say, it’s a borderline unhealthy relationship. The love I have for my Giants, Mets, Lazio, and the Azzurri can be looked at in a similar way, so I felt a unique sport connection to Melbourne.
Another form of sport, gambling, is something else I enjoy quite a bit. Melbourne has a state of the art casino that I found myself at a few times during my few days out there. For the past 17 years I have taken at least one yearly trip to Las Vegas. This was the first year that I missed out on my Vegas experience, so being able to gamble a little bit helped fix my Vegas itch. The atmosphere wasn’t quite like Vegas, but it was still a lot of fun. Plus, I ended up winning a couple bucks which wasn’t so bad.
The rest of my time in Melbourne was spent walking the city, eating sushi, and watching the USA clean up at Pacific Rim. Actually, it was pretty ridiculous how many medals the USA won. Between the guys and girls, I think they ended up with something like 35 medals. Wow. I guess you could say it was a successful weekend for Team USA. The girls were dominant as usual, and the guys have a bunch of up and coming talents that are going to do some big things over the next few years...it’s going to be fun to watch.
There is a reason why Melbourne is consistanly rated as one of the “The Most Livable City in the World.” It’s got a lot of energy with a younger population that keep the city alive late into the night even on weekdays. The downtown river area lined with restaurants and shops is a great spot to hang out and people watch. To me the city seemed very modern, but after living in Rome I think any city would seem modern. Overall, I’d say that Melbourne was one of my favorite cities that I’ve seen so far.
The only downside of my trip to Australia was how expensive everything was out there. The Australian dollar is essentially equivalent to the American dollar, and despite it’s resemblance to Monopoly money, it’s very real and it goes quickly in a city that regularly charges $15 to $20 just for lunch. One upside is that you don’t have to tip for anything. It’s a nice little bonus, but in the end the sky high prices still end up emptying the wallet pretty quickly.
The 30 hour trip back to Rome actually wasn’t too bad, but I was relieved to finally be back in my own bed. I’m in Rome right now, but I’m already planning my next few trips. This summer should be a memorable one...
Friday, May 14, 2010
Australia...Part 1
30 hours of traveling, 2 layovers, and a volcanic ash cloud. The flight to Australia was definitely the most arduous so far. In fact, the day before my trip my flight was cancelled because of the Iceland situation. I spent hours trying to figure out a way to get out of Rome, and at the last minute the airline gave me some good news...my flight was back on! I rushed to the airport and made it just in time.
I tried to keep myself occupied for as much of the trip as possible, but after a while I started to run out of ideas. I guess one good thing about such a long flight is that I was able to catch up on just about every new movie that came out in the US over the past year...
When I finally did get into Perth, the sunny skies were exactly what I needed to get out of my daze. I was staying with a friend who had planned a ton of things for us to do while I was there...the first thing being a rugby game right when I landed. We had great seats and the atmosphere was awesome. Unfortunately, jet leg set in quickly. I fought it as much as I could, but by midway through the first half I was asleep. I couldn’t keep my eyes open for the life of me. I did wake up just in time to watch the home team’s winning score happen right in front of me as time was running out. I used every bit of energy I had to cheer, but all I could think about was getting to bed. Quite a start to the trip
The weekend was spent in Western Australia wine country. We headed down to a small beach town called Dunsborough, and toured a bunch of the wineries (and a chocolate factory) around the Margaret River area. Having toured California wine country a few times, it made me think of my time back in NorCal. The wineries were beautiful and the wine itself wasn’t too shabby either. Give me a beach, good weather, and some wine and I’m a happy man...it was tough to beat those first few days.
When we did get back up to Perth we took a day trip to a small island just off the coast called Rottsnest Island. I’ve never been to a place like Rotto before. It’s got great hidden beaches all around the island, lots of outdoor activities, tons of little cottages for overnight stays, and an amazing bar right not the beach. For the people who live in Perth, it’s kind of like a vacation spot they can visit while still being at home. Not a bad spot to have just a ferry ride away.
While my friend was working, I had to entertain myself. After traveling to so many cold weather spots over the past few months, all I wanted to do was hang out at the beach...and that’s exactly what I did. I’d take the bus to Cottlesloe and enjoy the perfect fall weather (Yes, it’s fall in Australia right now. It took me a while to get used to seeing leaves falling from trees this time of year).
Of course, what’s a trip to Australia without kangaroos and koalas. On my last day in Perth I went to a little farm to see the furry little guys. The kangaroos just laid out in the sun, but the koalas are the ones that seem to have the good life. Sleep for half the day and eat the rest of the time...not bad. Plus, they look and feel like stuffed animals so it’s easy to why people think they are so cute. If they didn’t have two inch long razor sharp claws, they would make pretty good pets...haha.
My first week in Oz was tiring, but excting. It was great to get my first feel for Australian life. Australians have a similar attitude, temperament, and style to the people of SoCal. The laid back surfer lifestyle was everywhere. Board shorts, hoodies, and flip flops were the norm. I actually felt a little out of place because I was wearing shoes. Australians just enjoy the simple things in life and don’t seem get too bent out of shape out when something doesn’t go their way. I don’t think too many of them have stress related issues. If you want a vacation spot where you can really relax, and you don’t mind traveling half way around the world to get there, Australia is where it’s at.
I tried to keep myself occupied for as much of the trip as possible, but after a while I started to run out of ideas. I guess one good thing about such a long flight is that I was able to catch up on just about every new movie that came out in the US over the past year...
When I finally did get into Perth, the sunny skies were exactly what I needed to get out of my daze. I was staying with a friend who had planned a ton of things for us to do while I was there...the first thing being a rugby game right when I landed. We had great seats and the atmosphere was awesome. Unfortunately, jet leg set in quickly. I fought it as much as I could, but by midway through the first half I was asleep. I couldn’t keep my eyes open for the life of me. I did wake up just in time to watch the home team’s winning score happen right in front of me as time was running out. I used every bit of energy I had to cheer, but all I could think about was getting to bed. Quite a start to the trip
The weekend was spent in Western Australia wine country. We headed down to a small beach town called Dunsborough, and toured a bunch of the wineries (and a chocolate factory) around the Margaret River area. Having toured California wine country a few times, it made me think of my time back in NorCal. The wineries were beautiful and the wine itself wasn’t too shabby either. Give me a beach, good weather, and some wine and I’m a happy man...it was tough to beat those first few days.
When we did get back up to Perth we took a day trip to a small island just off the coast called Rottsnest Island. I’ve never been to a place like Rotto before. It’s got great hidden beaches all around the island, lots of outdoor activities, tons of little cottages for overnight stays, and an amazing bar right not the beach. For the people who live in Perth, it’s kind of like a vacation spot they can visit while still being at home. Not a bad spot to have just a ferry ride away.
While my friend was working, I had to entertain myself. After traveling to so many cold weather spots over the past few months, all I wanted to do was hang out at the beach...and that’s exactly what I did. I’d take the bus to Cottlesloe and enjoy the perfect fall weather (Yes, it’s fall in Australia right now. It took me a while to get used to seeing leaves falling from trees this time of year).
Of course, what’s a trip to Australia without kangaroos and koalas. On my last day in Perth I went to a little farm to see the furry little guys. The kangaroos just laid out in the sun, but the koalas are the ones that seem to have the good life. Sleep for half the day and eat the rest of the time...not bad. Plus, they look and feel like stuffed animals so it’s easy to why people think they are so cute. If they didn’t have two inch long razor sharp claws, they would make pretty good pets...haha.
My first week in Oz was tiring, but excting. It was great to get my first feel for Australian life. Australians have a similar attitude, temperament, and style to the people of SoCal. The laid back surfer lifestyle was everywhere. Board shorts, hoodies, and flip flops were the norm. I actually felt a little out of place because I was wearing shoes. Australians just enjoy the simple things in life and don’t seem get too bent out of shape out when something doesn’t go their way. I don’t think too many of them have stress related issues. If you want a vacation spot where you can really relax, and you don’t mind traveling half way around the world to get there, Australia is where it’s at.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Barcelona and an Unexpected Trip
With all my travels over the years I had never been to Spain. I was finally able to make it out there a couple weeks ago when I headed to Barcelona with some of my Italian cousins. I didn’t really know what to expect from Barca, but I was looking forward to going to the beach, drinking sangria, and eating as much seafood paella as humanly possible.
Being that my cousin and I are huge soccer fans, our first stop after putting our bags down at the hostel was to the FC Barcelona soccer stadium, Nou Camp. For those of you who are unaware, Barcelona is considered the best soccer team in the world at the moment after winning the Champions League Trophy last year (They also have arguably the best player in the world, Lionel Messi). The stadium tour wasn’t cheap, but it was worth it. I’m such a sports fanatic that seeing places like Nou Camp while I’m traveling is pretty special. Unfortunately, the Barca team was playing in London while I was there so I wasn’t able to watch game.
In many ways the Spanish people are very similar to Italians. Both love food, family, soccer. Both take off from work for three hours in the middle of each day. The easiest way to tell that I wasn’t in Italy, aside from the language being spoken, was by the organized way of life. Public transportation runs smoothly. Restaurants with absurdly long lines find a way to get customers fed in a reasonable amount of time. Plus, Barcelona was one of the cheapest cities I’ve been to so far...especially the food! At lunch each day we went to this spot on the beach and I would eat close to my body weight in paella for about $18. That paella alone is reason enough to go back to Spain...It was that good.
The most unexpected part of the trip was how much I enjoyed the works of Gaudi. I’d heard of him before, but going from spot to spot around the city and seeing his incredible vision and learning about his inspiration was incredibly impressive. His use of nature as a template for his works had a uniqueness that I had never seen before. I got a chance to see La Pedrera, Casa Batllo, Park Guell, and of course the Sagrada Famiglia, which is probably the most recognizable piece of architecture in Barcelona.
The church was started by Gaudi in the late 19th century and it’s still being worked on today. It’s expected to be completed in 2026! Normally, when I travel to cities and see the cathedrals, they’ve all been built for hundreds of years. They are all very impressive in their own way, but this was such a different experience. Being in Gaudi’s church and watching up close as stoneworkers, sculptors, and architects work in their own little world to perfect Gaudi’s design was an experience I’ve never had. I know it’s a long ways away, but I'd love to go back and see the completed Sagrada Famiglia one day down the road
I only spent three days in Barcelona, and it was definitely not enough time to see it all. Barca has an incredible mix of old world history and modern lifestyle. The people move at a faster pace than in Italy (I’m pretty sure that’s true about just about every place else in the world), but they have a similar charm.
New York for a couple days:
I took an unexpected trip back to the States last week. My first gymnastics coach, Jim Surgent, was receiving with a lifetime achievement award and he asked me to be his presenter. It was such an honor for him to ask me that I knew there was no way I could miss it. The ceremony was held during the NCAA Championships at West Point, NY which gave me a chance to catch up with a ton of gymnastics friends that I haven’t seen in a long time as well as see my Stanford team compete.
The award banquet was great. I tried as best I could to sum up what Jim has done for me and my career over the years. He taught me to love gymnastics. He taught me how to be part of a team and how competing for a common team goal is more important than anything you can achieve as an individual...even in an individual sport like gymnastics. I’m surprised it took this long for Jim to be recognized for his role in the success of so many gymnasts over the years, but it’s well deserved and I’m ecstatic that I was able to be a part of the presentation.
The five days I was home was incredibly hectic. I spent as much time with family and friends as possible, which was the best part of the trip. I hit up some of my favorite restaurants back home, since it’s difficult to find food that’s not Italian in Rome. Also had a chance to spend time in NYC. The more I travel, the more I realize that there really isn’t another city in the world like NYC. I’m biased because I grew up just across the river from the city, but it’s in a class of it’s own. It was great to be back...even if it was just for a couple days.
Being that my cousin and I are huge soccer fans, our first stop after putting our bags down at the hostel was to the FC Barcelona soccer stadium, Nou Camp. For those of you who are unaware, Barcelona is considered the best soccer team in the world at the moment after winning the Champions League Trophy last year (They also have arguably the best player in the world, Lionel Messi). The stadium tour wasn’t cheap, but it was worth it. I’m such a sports fanatic that seeing places like Nou Camp while I’m traveling is pretty special. Unfortunately, the Barca team was playing in London while I was there so I wasn’t able to watch game.
In many ways the Spanish people are very similar to Italians. Both love food, family, soccer. Both take off from work for three hours in the middle of each day. The easiest way to tell that I wasn’t in Italy, aside from the language being spoken, was by the organized way of life. Public transportation runs smoothly. Restaurants with absurdly long lines find a way to get customers fed in a reasonable amount of time. Plus, Barcelona was one of the cheapest cities I’ve been to so far...especially the food! At lunch each day we went to this spot on the beach and I would eat close to my body weight in paella for about $18. That paella alone is reason enough to go back to Spain...It was that good.
The most unexpected part of the trip was how much I enjoyed the works of Gaudi. I’d heard of him before, but going from spot to spot around the city and seeing his incredible vision and learning about his inspiration was incredibly impressive. His use of nature as a template for his works had a uniqueness that I had never seen before. I got a chance to see La Pedrera, Casa Batllo, Park Guell, and of course the Sagrada Famiglia, which is probably the most recognizable piece of architecture in Barcelona.
The church was started by Gaudi in the late 19th century and it’s still being worked on today. It’s expected to be completed in 2026! Normally, when I travel to cities and see the cathedrals, they’ve all been built for hundreds of years. They are all very impressive in their own way, but this was such a different experience. Being in Gaudi’s church and watching up close as stoneworkers, sculptors, and architects work in their own little world to perfect Gaudi’s design was an experience I’ve never had. I know it’s a long ways away, but I'd love to go back and see the completed Sagrada Famiglia one day down the road
I only spent three days in Barcelona, and it was definitely not enough time to see it all. Barca has an incredible mix of old world history and modern lifestyle. The people move at a faster pace than in Italy (I’m pretty sure that’s true about just about every place else in the world), but they have a similar charm.
New York for a couple days:
I took an unexpected trip back to the States last week. My first gymnastics coach, Jim Surgent, was receiving with a lifetime achievement award and he asked me to be his presenter. It was such an honor for him to ask me that I knew there was no way I could miss it. The ceremony was held during the NCAA Championships at West Point, NY which gave me a chance to catch up with a ton of gymnastics friends that I haven’t seen in a long time as well as see my Stanford team compete.
The award banquet was great. I tried as best I could to sum up what Jim has done for me and my career over the years. He taught me to love gymnastics. He taught me how to be part of a team and how competing for a common team goal is more important than anything you can achieve as an individual...even in an individual sport like gymnastics. I’m surprised it took this long for Jim to be recognized for his role in the success of so many gymnasts over the years, but it’s well deserved and I’m ecstatic that I was able to be a part of the presentation.
The five days I was home was incredibly hectic. I spent as much time with family and friends as possible, which was the best part of the trip. I hit up some of my favorite restaurants back home, since it’s difficult to find food that’s not Italian in Rome. Also had a chance to spend time in NYC. The more I travel, the more I realize that there really isn’t another city in the world like NYC. I’m biased because I grew up just across the river from the city, but it’s in a class of it’s own. It was great to be back...even if it was just for a couple days.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Therapy and Venice
I've been doing therapy on my newly repaired knee for the past month and haven't had a chance to travel for a while. Therapy has been going well and my knee is feeling better everyday. I'm not quite surrounded by elite athletes like I had been in the past. This time around, I go to therapy and listen to older Italian women talk about what they plan on cooking everyday for the next week. In fact, food is basically the only thing talked about during the few hours I'm in therapy each day. It's also normal for various cakes and limoncello to be passed out during the course of therapy. Needless to say, it's not the intense atmosphere of the Olympic Training Center training room. My therapist understands the athlete mentality though, having been a professional soccer player. He pushes me more than he would his other clients, which is exactly what I want. After about 4 hours of therapy a day for the past month, I've been able to get back to traveling...
NOTE: I did have a little bit of a set back with my surgery. While I was at therapy last week my therapist noticed that the scab around my scar didn't look that great...in fact it was infected. I headed to the clinic to have it looked at. When the nurse started to clean out the scar, I heard him say the Italian equivalent of "WOW!" Being curious about what he was looking at, I asked if I could see too. When I sat up and looked at my knee, I saw that the scar was completely opened and I could see all the way to my bone. WOW was right...I wasn't quite ready to see that and I almost passed out! I laid back while he finished up, trying to take deep breathes so that I wouldn't pass out. He stitched me back up again and they released me after making sure that I was able to stand up without falling over. Not a huge deal, but it's just another thing to have to deal with.
My first trip post surgery was to Venice. Of course, I'd heard quite a bit about Venice over the years, but I'd never been there before. I had been getting knee advice over the past few weeks from my old physical therapist from the OTC and she mentioned that the USA Women's Gymnastics Team had a competition close to Venice. I thought it would be a good chance to see the canals, watch Team USA, and have her take a look at my knee, so I took the train up to Venice for the weekend.
When I took that first step out of the Venice Santa Lucia train station and saw the Scalzi Bridge over the Grand Canal I couldn't believe that it was all real. I doubt there is any other city in the world as unique as Venice. For the next few hours I got lost down the streets and canals. I think that's the best way to see Venice. Forget the map. I eventually found all the main sites, but I saw so many other things that I would have missed if I had just followed a guide book.
I woke up early the next morning and took the water taxi to the island of Murano. This island is where some of the most beautiful glass pieces in the world are made. The canals are lined with shop after shop each selling endless amounts of small glass pieces. After a while the number of shops gets a little ridiculous, but it still worth seeing. The best part of the side trip was watching some glass blowers work. It's a pretty interesting watching the glass being made. If you ever take a trip to Venice make 20min the trip to Murano.
When I travel alone, it always makes the trips a little better when I can find some other travelers to hang out with. In Venice, I found a great group of Americans who were also traveling. We saw the sites during the day and went out to the bars at night. Three of the girls convinced me to take a gondola ride and it turned out to be awesome. It always seemed like taking a gondola ride was something I would do with a girlfriend or wife, but I guess three girls isn't so bad...haha. It's not the cheapest 30min ride in the world, but it's worth it. We all ended up having an amazing lunch in Piazza San Marco. We bought prosciutto, cheese, bread, wine, and fruit and sat in front of the Doge's Palace while we ate. Doesn't get much better than that.
Oh, one other thing about Venice. All around the city are these signs trying to rally support for Venice to host the 2020 Olympics. WHAT?!! Italians are a funny bunch. They do a lot things very well, but organization isn't one of their strengths. I don't remember seeing one stadium, let alone the MANY stadiums needed for the Games. Olympics in Venice...nice thought, but not gonna happen.
Overall, the Venice trip was great...and Team USA won the competition. The weather is getting better out here and I'm am really looking forward to my spring/summer trips. Traveling during the winter was fantastic, but I'm definitely more of a warm weather guy. I've got some great trips I'm planning for the summer...the next few months should be pretty fun.
NOTE: I did have a little bit of a set back with my surgery. While I was at therapy last week my therapist noticed that the scab around my scar didn't look that great...in fact it was infected. I headed to the clinic to have it looked at. When the nurse started to clean out the scar, I heard him say the Italian equivalent of "WOW!" Being curious about what he was looking at, I asked if I could see too. When I sat up and looked at my knee, I saw that the scar was completely opened and I could see all the way to my bone. WOW was right...I wasn't quite ready to see that and I almost passed out! I laid back while he finished up, trying to take deep breathes so that I wouldn't pass out. He stitched me back up again and they released me after making sure that I was able to stand up without falling over. Not a huge deal, but it's just another thing to have to deal with.
My first trip post surgery was to Venice. Of course, I'd heard quite a bit about Venice over the years, but I'd never been there before. I had been getting knee advice over the past few weeks from my old physical therapist from the OTC and she mentioned that the USA Women's Gymnastics Team had a competition close to Venice. I thought it would be a good chance to see the canals, watch Team USA, and have her take a look at my knee, so I took the train up to Venice for the weekend.
When I took that first step out of the Venice Santa Lucia train station and saw the Scalzi Bridge over the Grand Canal I couldn't believe that it was all real. I doubt there is any other city in the world as unique as Venice. For the next few hours I got lost down the streets and canals. I think that's the best way to see Venice. Forget the map. I eventually found all the main sites, but I saw so many other things that I would have missed if I had just followed a guide book.
I woke up early the next morning and took the water taxi to the island of Murano. This island is where some of the most beautiful glass pieces in the world are made. The canals are lined with shop after shop each selling endless amounts of small glass pieces. After a while the number of shops gets a little ridiculous, but it still worth seeing. The best part of the side trip was watching some glass blowers work. It's a pretty interesting watching the glass being made. If you ever take a trip to Venice make 20min the trip to Murano.
When I travel alone, it always makes the trips a little better when I can find some other travelers to hang out with. In Venice, I found a great group of Americans who were also traveling. We saw the sites during the day and went out to the bars at night. Three of the girls convinced me to take a gondola ride and it turned out to be awesome. It always seemed like taking a gondola ride was something I would do with a girlfriend or wife, but I guess three girls isn't so bad...haha. It's not the cheapest 30min ride in the world, but it's worth it. We all ended up having an amazing lunch in Piazza San Marco. We bought prosciutto, cheese, bread, wine, and fruit and sat in front of the Doge's Palace while we ate. Doesn't get much better than that.
Oh, one other thing about Venice. All around the city are these signs trying to rally support for Venice to host the 2020 Olympics. WHAT?!! Italians are a funny bunch. They do a lot things very well, but organization isn't one of their strengths. I don't remember seeing one stadium, let alone the MANY stadiums needed for the Games. Olympics in Venice...nice thought, but not gonna happen.
Overall, the Venice trip was great...and Team USA won the competition. The weather is getting better out here and I'm am really looking forward to my spring/summer trips. Traveling during the winter was fantastic, but I'm definitely more of a warm weather guy. I've got some great trips I'm planning for the summer...the next few months should be pretty fun.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Another Shot ACL...
When I decided to take this trip abroad for a year, I told myself that I wanted to experience all aspects of life in another country. The good, the bad, and everything in between. What’s the fun in running home every time something goes wrong? Of course, it’s comforting to know I have that US option, but going home was not what I wanted to do when I found out I had to have knee surgery on my ACL and meniscus after my spill on the Austrian slopes.
Being an Italian citizen has many benefits. One of those being access to universal health care. I set up the operation with a surgeon who is a family friend. It was important for me to have someone who had worked with athletes before and since he had worked with the Rome basketball team in the past he knew an athletes mentality. He also seemed very sure of his skills, so I felt pretty comfortable with him.
Now, I’ve already had two ACL repairs in the past (both on my left knee) and they took less than four hours of hospital time to complete. That included paperwork, prep time, anesthesia, actual surgery time, and post surgery recovery. Here in Italy things are a bit different. I headed to the hospital four days before the actual surgery. I was told it was important for me to show up early so that I didn’t loss my spot in the lineup. I was given my own comfortable room with a balcony. The food was good and the nurses were very nice, which made the transition to hospital life a little less stressful.
The tests started immediately. Chest x-rays, blood and urine samples, EKG...let’s just say they were very thorough. Every day started the same. 5:00am temperature check. Yes, that’s right...5:00am!!! I’m definitely more used to seeing my clock read 5:00am as I’m coming in after a long night. Not waking up at that hour. After that came the 6:00am needle in my stomach. Next, the 7:00am making of my bed (I would get out, they would make it, I would get right back in and rip the sheets off...it didn’t seem like it was necessary, but they did anyway). 8:00am breakfast. After breakfast I would go back to sleep until around noon. Quite a start to the day...
Waking up 5:00am is bad enough, even when you go to bed at a decent hour. Unfortunately, I had some other outside factors that prevented an early nights rest. Here’s the list of things that kept me up at night...
-The Light: My room had a window that looked into the next room, which was the nurses office. They were in there 24 hours and left the light on all night. There were blinds on the window, but they did nothing. (NOTE: After a few days they did put something in front of the window to block the light.)
-The Horn: Each person on my hall had a button by their bed that was linked right to that nurses office. Whenever they were in need of assistance, all you had to do was ring the bell and the nurses would come help. Aside from this horn ringing every half hour or so, all day and night, the noise that it made was reminiscent of Jim Carrey’s “Most Annoying Noise in the World” from Dumb and Dumber. It’s the kind of noise that is impossible to get used to and is especially pleasant when you finally get to sleep only to get woken up...again and again.
-The Screaming Woman: At the end of my hall was an older woman who seemed to be having a tough time. Like any normal person, her screams of “AIUTO!(HELP)...AIUTO!(HELP)...” worried me the first few times. I hoped that the nurses would do something, but apparently they weren’t as concerned as me. I’m sure the nurses deal with these types of people all the time, but it was a first for me.
It only got better from there. The night before the surgery I was assured to get absolutely no sleep at all. If you’ve ever had surgery before you’re aware of the no eating day prior to surgery rule. I hate this rule with a passion. Needless to say I enjoy eating...quite a bit. So these types of restrictions don’t go over well with my stomach. Yes, I was hungry but along with that some genius also came to my room to fix one of the lights...and they fixed it all right. They did such a good job that the lights in my room wouldn’t go OFF anymore. Awesome! Any hopes of getting rest were shot.
GAME DAY: 5:00am IV needle put in arm. Five hours before surgery. Why so early...Who knows. I was offered a local anesthetic, but I prefer getting knocked out completely when I have surgery, so when I wake up everything is done. (I’m not a huge fan of watching the surgery happen. I always think I’m going to twitch and do something to ruin the surgery). The last thing I remember was the inside of my mouth feeling cold and then saying a drawn out, “Ciaoooooo, Ciaooooooo” to the nurses and surgeon as I closed my eyes. When I finally did wake up, I thought they hadn’t started yet...
When I got back to my room I was hooked up to a bunch of tubes. A couple running from my arm and one drainage tube in my knee. Over the course of the next few days I stayed attached to those tubes as they gave me my necessary antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication. The drainage tube was new for me. It was hooked to this plastic bottle and collected the blood and other fluid that was pumped into my knee during the surgery. It was pretty nasty. By the end I had collected about a Gatorade size bottle of “stuff” from my knee.
The first night after surgery, I was told that I had to take a pee or else they would insert a catheter to help out. Needless to say, I was having none of that. I stayed up all night with a little bottle by my bed trying as hard as I could to get it done. Just to let you know, for whatever reason it’s not easy to pee after surgery. Finally, at 4:00am, after hours and hours of just sitting there with that bottle, I did it...hallelujah! I was able to avoid the catheter!
The removing of the drainage tube was something I wasn’t quite ready. When they removed the bandages, I saw that the tube had been stitched into my leg. After removing the stitch, the nurse had me take a deep breath in and breathe out hard. On that release he pulled out the tube. It happened so quickly, I didn’t have time to react. I couldn’t believe how deep it was! I’m probably exaggerating, but it felt like the tube was a good few inches into my knee. Once that last tube was out, I was finally able to get out of bed and move around on my own. It was such a relief to not be attached to anything.
Before I left the hospital the surgeon told me that it looked like I had torn most of my ACL a while back and just finished it off while skiing. I was a little surprised to hear this considering I competed without much problems. I did have a pretty serious injury on that knee in 2007, but I didn’t think I had torn anything. With my other ACL tearing at the start of 2008, I guess I was basically training for the summer of 2008 with both ACL’s torn...fantastic.
I’ve been released from the hospital now, and I’ve already started my therapy. Right now I’m doing about 3-4 hours of therapy a day. In some way it feels like I’m training again. Hopefully, I can get back on my feet as soon as possible and continue my travels.
Overall, it was much different experience than the previous surgeries I’ve had in the US and it’s something I won’t soon forget. There is more pain this time around, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. I have to thank the doctors, therapists, nurses for their help over the past week. Of course, I also have to thank my family out here. I can’t tell you how much help they have been through the whole process. I would have never been able to have this surgery out here without them.
NOTE: Believe it or not, this wasn’t my first surgery in Italy. When I was five years old, I had a strange cyst the size of a grapefruit removed from my stomach. I spent about two weeks in the hospital and I ended up missing my first couple weeks of kindergarten. Hopefully, this is the last surgery in either the US or Italy...
Being an Italian citizen has many benefits. One of those being access to universal health care. I set up the operation with a surgeon who is a family friend. It was important for me to have someone who had worked with athletes before and since he had worked with the Rome basketball team in the past he knew an athletes mentality. He also seemed very sure of his skills, so I felt pretty comfortable with him.
Now, I’ve already had two ACL repairs in the past (both on my left knee) and they took less than four hours of hospital time to complete. That included paperwork, prep time, anesthesia, actual surgery time, and post surgery recovery. Here in Italy things are a bit different. I headed to the hospital four days before the actual surgery. I was told it was important for me to show up early so that I didn’t loss my spot in the lineup. I was given my own comfortable room with a balcony. The food was good and the nurses were very nice, which made the transition to hospital life a little less stressful.
The tests started immediately. Chest x-rays, blood and urine samples, EKG...let’s just say they were very thorough. Every day started the same. 5:00am temperature check. Yes, that’s right...5:00am!!! I’m definitely more used to seeing my clock read 5:00am as I’m coming in after a long night. Not waking up at that hour. After that came the 6:00am needle in my stomach. Next, the 7:00am making of my bed (I would get out, they would make it, I would get right back in and rip the sheets off...it didn’t seem like it was necessary, but they did anyway). 8:00am breakfast. After breakfast I would go back to sleep until around noon. Quite a start to the day...
Waking up 5:00am is bad enough, even when you go to bed at a decent hour. Unfortunately, I had some other outside factors that prevented an early nights rest. Here’s the list of things that kept me up at night...
-The Light: My room had a window that looked into the next room, which was the nurses office. They were in there 24 hours and left the light on all night. There were blinds on the window, but they did nothing. (NOTE: After a few days they did put something in front of the window to block the light.)
-The Horn: Each person on my hall had a button by their bed that was linked right to that nurses office. Whenever they were in need of assistance, all you had to do was ring the bell and the nurses would come help. Aside from this horn ringing every half hour or so, all day and night, the noise that it made was reminiscent of Jim Carrey’s “Most Annoying Noise in the World” from Dumb and Dumber. It’s the kind of noise that is impossible to get used to and is especially pleasant when you finally get to sleep only to get woken up...again and again.
-The Screaming Woman: At the end of my hall was an older woman who seemed to be having a tough time. Like any normal person, her screams of “AIUTO!(HELP)...AIUTO!(HELP)...” worried me the first few times. I hoped that the nurses would do something, but apparently they weren’t as concerned as me. I’m sure the nurses deal with these types of people all the time, but it was a first for me.
It only got better from there. The night before the surgery I was assured to get absolutely no sleep at all. If you’ve ever had surgery before you’re aware of the no eating day prior to surgery rule. I hate this rule with a passion. Needless to say I enjoy eating...quite a bit. So these types of restrictions don’t go over well with my stomach. Yes, I was hungry but along with that some genius also came to my room to fix one of the lights...and they fixed it all right. They did such a good job that the lights in my room wouldn’t go OFF anymore. Awesome! Any hopes of getting rest were shot.
GAME DAY: 5:00am IV needle put in arm. Five hours before surgery. Why so early...Who knows. I was offered a local anesthetic, but I prefer getting knocked out completely when I have surgery, so when I wake up everything is done. (I’m not a huge fan of watching the surgery happen. I always think I’m going to twitch and do something to ruin the surgery). The last thing I remember was the inside of my mouth feeling cold and then saying a drawn out, “Ciaoooooo, Ciaooooooo” to the nurses and surgeon as I closed my eyes. When I finally did wake up, I thought they hadn’t started yet...
When I got back to my room I was hooked up to a bunch of tubes. A couple running from my arm and one drainage tube in my knee. Over the course of the next few days I stayed attached to those tubes as they gave me my necessary antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication. The drainage tube was new for me. It was hooked to this plastic bottle and collected the blood and other fluid that was pumped into my knee during the surgery. It was pretty nasty. By the end I had collected about a Gatorade size bottle of “stuff” from my knee.
The first night after surgery, I was told that I had to take a pee or else they would insert a catheter to help out. Needless to say, I was having none of that. I stayed up all night with a little bottle by my bed trying as hard as I could to get it done. Just to let you know, for whatever reason it’s not easy to pee after surgery. Finally, at 4:00am, after hours and hours of just sitting there with that bottle, I did it...hallelujah! I was able to avoid the catheter!
The removing of the drainage tube was something I wasn’t quite ready. When they removed the bandages, I saw that the tube had been stitched into my leg. After removing the stitch, the nurse had me take a deep breath in and breathe out hard. On that release he pulled out the tube. It happened so quickly, I didn’t have time to react. I couldn’t believe how deep it was! I’m probably exaggerating, but it felt like the tube was a good few inches into my knee. Once that last tube was out, I was finally able to get out of bed and move around on my own. It was such a relief to not be attached to anything.
Before I left the hospital the surgeon told me that it looked like I had torn most of my ACL a while back and just finished it off while skiing. I was a little surprised to hear this considering I competed without much problems. I did have a pretty serious injury on that knee in 2007, but I didn’t think I had torn anything. With my other ACL tearing at the start of 2008, I guess I was basically training for the summer of 2008 with both ACL’s torn...fantastic.
I’ve been released from the hospital now, and I’ve already started my therapy. Right now I’m doing about 3-4 hours of therapy a day. In some way it feels like I’m training again. Hopefully, I can get back on my feet as soon as possible and continue my travels.
Overall, it was much different experience than the previous surgeries I’ve had in the US and it’s something I won’t soon forget. There is more pain this time around, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. I have to thank the doctors, therapists, nurses for their help over the past week. Of course, I also have to thank my family out here. I can’t tell you how much help they have been through the whole process. I would have never been able to have this surgery out here without them.
NOTE: Believe it or not, this wasn’t my first surgery in Italy. When I was five years old, I had a strange cyst the size of a grapefruit removed from my stomach. I spent about two weeks in the hospital and I ended up missing my first couple weeks of kindergarten. Hopefully, this is the last surgery in either the US or Italy...
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Shopping in London, Freezing in Prague
My first trip to London was back in October. I went to watch World Championships and to see some old friends.
My second trip to London was last weekend and it was a bit of a different experience. Instead of traveling alone, I went with some new friends I met during my short time at Louis Vuitton. Traveling with three fashionable Italians, I guess I should have known right away what would be on the agenda for our few days in a city with so many stores...shopping. We barely had time to drop our bags in the rooms before we headed to Oxford St. to start our shopping spree. For the next three days we basically lived on Oxford St., Regent St., and Bond St. We went from Primark to Dolce & Gabbana...and everywhere in between. In most cases I am a fan of shopping. In fact, I probably spend more than I should on clothes so the first 100 times we went to a store I didn’t mind so much. It definitely got a little ridiculous after a while though. When the Italians found out that they could return clothes they didn't like and get their money back, their eyes lit up. Apparently, in Italy if you buy something you can only exchange it for something else in the store...no money back. They were pretty excited at the idea of wearing something one night, leaving the tag on, and then bringing it back the next day.
While I was there, I also had dinner with the same photographer friends I mentioned in my last London entry. They had just gotten back from a trip to China and Japan where they were working on a project with some Asian athletes. We talked a bit more about working together and they are now planning on coming to Rome in June to do the photo shoot. They have worked with some of the biggest athletes in the world, so I’m pretty excited to have a chance to be part of one of their projects. Here is their website to get a better idea of what kind of pics I”m talking about...
http://www.andersonandlow.com/
Prague
A couple days after getting back from London I headed to Prague. I had a friend who went there for business and so I met up with her for a few days.
When my plane landed in Prague, I felt like Rocky Balboa going over to Russia to fight Ivan Drago in Rocky IV (one of the greatest movies of all time...haha!). Everything was white, it was bitterly cold, and it had that gray look of a sad place. I had heard so many great things about Prague, but the area surrounding the airport is far from paradise. My first impression of Prague can probably compare to when people fly into Newark airport for the first time and think that Jersey is a nasty place. But being from Jersey, I know very well that you need to see more than just the airport before you can judge a place.
I can normally deal with unpleasant weather conditions. Prague was my seventh trip this winter and every place has been cold, but the weather in the Czech capital was on another level. I had to prepare myself mentally whenever I went outside. I sucked it up though and I spent three days seeing a good amount of the city. Prague is similar to Florence in that it is small enough to walk and there are interesting spots worth stopping for down every street. It is one of the most picturesque cities I have ever seen. From the Charles Bridge, to the Prague Castle, to Old Town...there is no shortage of things to see.
During one of my strolls through town I also ran into one of my old friends from Stanford and the Olympic Training Center. She was on the 2008 USA Olympic Volleyball Team and she now plays professionally in the Czech Republic. I hadn’t seen her since Beijing, so it was cool to see a familiar face in a new city.
Along with all the beautiful scenery, another thing that made Prague such a great city for me was the friendliness of the people. On multiple occasions complete strangers went out of their way to help me. Those are the kind of things I really appreciate and remember.
The only thing I would suggest if you are interested in visiting Prague is to go in the summer. You’ll spend most of your time outside so why not go when you can enjoy the weather too. Plus, since everything was covered in a foot of snow and ice, I think we missed out on some stuff.
These were my last two trips until the end of March when I head to Barcelona. I am having knee surgery in a couple days to repair my torn ACL. This will be my third ACL repair, but my first on my right knee. I’ll be doing rehab over the next month so that I will in good enough shape to travel. Wish me luck on my surgery...
My second trip to London was last weekend and it was a bit of a different experience. Instead of traveling alone, I went with some new friends I met during my short time at Louis Vuitton. Traveling with three fashionable Italians, I guess I should have known right away what would be on the agenda for our few days in a city with so many stores...shopping. We barely had time to drop our bags in the rooms before we headed to Oxford St. to start our shopping spree. For the next three days we basically lived on Oxford St., Regent St., and Bond St. We went from Primark to Dolce & Gabbana...and everywhere in between. In most cases I am a fan of shopping. In fact, I probably spend more than I should on clothes so the first 100 times we went to a store I didn’t mind so much. It definitely got a little ridiculous after a while though. When the Italians found out that they could return clothes they didn't like and get their money back, their eyes lit up. Apparently, in Italy if you buy something you can only exchange it for something else in the store...no money back. They were pretty excited at the idea of wearing something one night, leaving the tag on, and then bringing it back the next day.
While I was there, I also had dinner with the same photographer friends I mentioned in my last London entry. They had just gotten back from a trip to China and Japan where they were working on a project with some Asian athletes. We talked a bit more about working together and they are now planning on coming to Rome in June to do the photo shoot. They have worked with some of the biggest athletes in the world, so I’m pretty excited to have a chance to be part of one of their projects. Here is their website to get a better idea of what kind of pics I”m talking about...
http://www.andersonandlow.com/
Prague
A couple days after getting back from London I headed to Prague. I had a friend who went there for business and so I met up with her for a few days.
When my plane landed in Prague, I felt like Rocky Balboa going over to Russia to fight Ivan Drago in Rocky IV (one of the greatest movies of all time...haha!). Everything was white, it was bitterly cold, and it had that gray look of a sad place. I had heard so many great things about Prague, but the area surrounding the airport is far from paradise. My first impression of Prague can probably compare to when people fly into Newark airport for the first time and think that Jersey is a nasty place. But being from Jersey, I know very well that you need to see more than just the airport before you can judge a place.
I can normally deal with unpleasant weather conditions. Prague was my seventh trip this winter and every place has been cold, but the weather in the Czech capital was on another level. I had to prepare myself mentally whenever I went outside. I sucked it up though and I spent three days seeing a good amount of the city. Prague is similar to Florence in that it is small enough to walk and there are interesting spots worth stopping for down every street. It is one of the most picturesque cities I have ever seen. From the Charles Bridge, to the Prague Castle, to Old Town...there is no shortage of things to see.
During one of my strolls through town I also ran into one of my old friends from Stanford and the Olympic Training Center. She was on the 2008 USA Olympic Volleyball Team and she now plays professionally in the Czech Republic. I hadn’t seen her since Beijing, so it was cool to see a familiar face in a new city.
Along with all the beautiful scenery, another thing that made Prague such a great city for me was the friendliness of the people. On multiple occasions complete strangers went out of their way to help me. Those are the kind of things I really appreciate and remember.
The only thing I would suggest if you are interested in visiting Prague is to go in the summer. You’ll spend most of your time outside so why not go when you can enjoy the weather too. Plus, since everything was covered in a foot of snow and ice, I think we missed out on some stuff.
These were my last two trips until the end of March when I head to Barcelona. I am having knee surgery in a couple days to repair my torn ACL. This will be my third ACL repair, but my first on my right knee. I’ll be doing rehab over the next month so that I will in good enough shape to travel. Wish me luck on my surgery...
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Skiing in Austria
I postponed ever trying skiing because of gymnastics. I never wanted to risk getting injured outside of the gym and have it jeopardize my Olympic goals...especially with my history of knee problems. So, now that I'm retired I was looking forward to my first ski trip in the Austrian Alps.
I headed to Innsbruck over the weekend to visit a friend from the Austrian gymnastics team. He has been skiing and snowboarding his whole life, so I felt pretty safe going out with a vet. Unfortunately, what wasn't taken into account enough was my pathetically weak legs.
Riding the lift to the top of the slope I remember saying, "I am not a gymnast anymore." Aside from not training anymore and moving to another country, doing something like skiing helped remind me that I am in a new phase of my life. When I got to the top of the lift, looking out at endless mountains completely surrounding me and I felt fantastic...that lasted for about five minutes.
To make myself fell a little better, I'll mention that I wasn't quite starting out on the bunny slope at Hunter Mountain, which is where a lot of people from NJ/NY area start out. This was a real mountain with real slopes. My friend took me to where they hosted the 1976 Winter Olympics. It wasn't the exact slope of the downhill competition, but it was right next to it.
I headed down, listening to his instructions as closely as possible. I kept my skis in the arrow formation to slow myself down as much as possible. As I tried to turn to the left my right ski got caught. I twisted as a I fell and I felt my right knee in a very awkward position. There was nothing I could do to stop it. Finally, I heard/felt that lovely "pop" of my knee giving out. I just closed my eyes and thought "WOW...did that really just happen again." As I laid on my side, I tried to lift up my leg, but it just kind of hung there unnaturally. Not a good sign. My friend came over hoping that I was ok, but I quickly let him know that my skiing experience was over.
Fortunately, I was able to walk to the closest ski lift. We decided it would be a waste of a great day to just go home so we had some lunch at the top of the mountain, took some pictures, and just hung out for a while. I tried as hard as possible to stay in a good mood considering what had happened, but my mind kept thinking how bad I was hurt...
The next day was predictable...swollen knee, very limited range of motion. I guess one positive was that I was able to get around on my own the rest of the weekend without crutches. I could feel my knee give out if I moved laterally, so I tried to take small slow steps wherever I went.
Aside from skiing, I got a chance to experience downtown Innsbruck a little bit. One night we got invited to a drink tasting for a new bar that was opening. There were about 10 of us and what we had to do was drink whatever they put in front of us and then fill out a survey on whether or not we liked the drink. We did this for over 25 drinks!! Of course most of the drinks small, but by the end of the night we were feeling pretty good...
I also had a chance to visit one of the Austrian gymnasts who was in the hospital recovering from a recent leg surgery. The whole team went to spend time with him, and it reminded me a lot of being with my team both at Stanford and with the USA. Being around a team again brought back a lot of great memories from my past. That's one of the things I miss most about not competing anymore...just hanging out with the team.
I'm back in Rome now and my knee has been getting better each day. I'm planning seeing a doctor early next week, so I'll have more details on the severity of my injury then.
One more thing...this wasn't exactly my first ski trip. When I was about 12 I went skiing with a bunch of gymnast friends from NJ who were all veteran skiers. When we got to the mountain they all left me right away and I spent the day trying to figure out what I was doing. Needless to say it was awful. Here are some of the highlights of that trip...
-I took a "Ski Class" from someone that barely spoke English. I had no idea what was going on, so half way through the class I left and went on my own. By the way, I had to pay for the class...
-"A Christmas Story" is one of my favorite movies to watch during the holidays. I'm sure many of you have seen it over the years considering they play it for 24 hours straight on Christmas Eve. One of the classic parts of that movie is when Flick, puts his tongue on the frozen pole and it sticks. Well a similar thing happened to me on this wonderful ski trip. I was on the ski lift and I put my tongue on the metal zipper of my jacket...and it stuck. Yes, this actually happened. I was spared the ridicule of my friends since I was on my own, but it did take me a while to free my tongue.
-At the end of the day I finally found my friends and decided to go with them and take one ride down the more difficult slope. The ride started off well, but about halfway down, I fell forward to the point where I could tell my ski bindings were about to break away. When they did finally snap, the ski popped up and smacked me right in the face cutting my chin. At that point, I had had enough of skiing and I went down the rest of the slope on my butt...
So as you can see my first ski trip was not a great experience either. I'm pretty sure some higher power is telling me to stay away from the mountains. I've always been a beach guy anyway, so I don't mind too much. My ski days are officially over.
I headed to Innsbruck over the weekend to visit a friend from the Austrian gymnastics team. He has been skiing and snowboarding his whole life, so I felt pretty safe going out with a vet. Unfortunately, what wasn't taken into account enough was my pathetically weak legs.
Riding the lift to the top of the slope I remember saying, "I am not a gymnast anymore." Aside from not training anymore and moving to another country, doing something like skiing helped remind me that I am in a new phase of my life. When I got to the top of the lift, looking out at endless mountains completely surrounding me and I felt fantastic...that lasted for about five minutes.
To make myself fell a little better, I'll mention that I wasn't quite starting out on the bunny slope at Hunter Mountain, which is where a lot of people from NJ/NY area start out. This was a real mountain with real slopes. My friend took me to where they hosted the 1976 Winter Olympics. It wasn't the exact slope of the downhill competition, but it was right next to it.
I headed down, listening to his instructions as closely as possible. I kept my skis in the arrow formation to slow myself down as much as possible. As I tried to turn to the left my right ski got caught. I twisted as a I fell and I felt my right knee in a very awkward position. There was nothing I could do to stop it. Finally, I heard/felt that lovely "pop" of my knee giving out. I just closed my eyes and thought "WOW...did that really just happen again." As I laid on my side, I tried to lift up my leg, but it just kind of hung there unnaturally. Not a good sign. My friend came over hoping that I was ok, but I quickly let him know that my skiing experience was over.
Fortunately, I was able to walk to the closest ski lift. We decided it would be a waste of a great day to just go home so we had some lunch at the top of the mountain, took some pictures, and just hung out for a while. I tried as hard as possible to stay in a good mood considering what had happened, but my mind kept thinking how bad I was hurt...
The next day was predictable...swollen knee, very limited range of motion. I guess one positive was that I was able to get around on my own the rest of the weekend without crutches. I could feel my knee give out if I moved laterally, so I tried to take small slow steps wherever I went.
Aside from skiing, I got a chance to experience downtown Innsbruck a little bit. One night we got invited to a drink tasting for a new bar that was opening. There were about 10 of us and what we had to do was drink whatever they put in front of us and then fill out a survey on whether or not we liked the drink. We did this for over 25 drinks!! Of course most of the drinks small, but by the end of the night we were feeling pretty good...
I also had a chance to visit one of the Austrian gymnasts who was in the hospital recovering from a recent leg surgery. The whole team went to spend time with him, and it reminded me a lot of being with my team both at Stanford and with the USA. Being around a team again brought back a lot of great memories from my past. That's one of the things I miss most about not competing anymore...just hanging out with the team.
I'm back in Rome now and my knee has been getting better each day. I'm planning seeing a doctor early next week, so I'll have more details on the severity of my injury then.
One more thing...this wasn't exactly my first ski trip. When I was about 12 I went skiing with a bunch of gymnast friends from NJ who were all veteran skiers. When we got to the mountain they all left me right away and I spent the day trying to figure out what I was doing. Needless to say it was awful. Here are some of the highlights of that trip...
-I took a "Ski Class" from someone that barely spoke English. I had no idea what was going on, so half way through the class I left and went on my own. By the way, I had to pay for the class...
-"A Christmas Story" is one of my favorite movies to watch during the holidays. I'm sure many of you have seen it over the years considering they play it for 24 hours straight on Christmas Eve. One of the classic parts of that movie is when Flick, puts his tongue on the frozen pole and it sticks. Well a similar thing happened to me on this wonderful ski trip. I was on the ski lift and I put my tongue on the metal zipper of my jacket...and it stuck. Yes, this actually happened. I was spared the ridicule of my friends since I was on my own, but it did take me a while to free my tongue.
-At the end of the day I finally found my friends and decided to go with them and take one ride down the more difficult slope. The ride started off well, but about halfway down, I fell forward to the point where I could tell my ski bindings were about to break away. When they did finally snap, the ski popped up and smacked me right in the face cutting my chin. At that point, I had had enough of skiing and I went down the rest of the slope on my butt...
So as you can see my first ski trip was not a great experience either. I'm pretty sure some higher power is telling me to stay away from the mountains. I've always been a beach guy anyway, so I don't mind too much. My ski days are officially over.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Florence for the Weekend
Over the years I've been to Italy many times. My first trip to Rome was when I was 2. Growing up, summer vacations were either down the shore in Jersey or Italy. I remember one year my sister and I actually complained about having to go to Italy again for our vacation...we were really hoping for a trip to Disney World! Haha...I guess at the time we didn't know any better. We always went to Rome for a few days and then to Pietracupa for the rest of the trip.
All those trips to Italy, but I never had a chance to see other parts of the country.
Over the weekend, I finally took my first excursion to a new city...Florence.
For years, I have heard just about every American who has traveled to Italy say that Florence was their favorite Italian city. Even Italians, who are all positive the city they live in is the greatest in the world, say that Florence is beautiful.
I traveled by train, which I’m finding to be my preferred way of travel more and more with each trip. Not having to deal with lines, baggage claims, weather delays, and everything else that is a hassle at airports these days is such a relief.
My initial reaction upon arriving at a train station in a new city is always...”Ok, now what??” I tend to just pick a direction out of the station and hope it’s right. Most of the time I’m wrong, but I like getting lost. I end up seeing things I would have otherwise missed. I wandered around the streets outside the Santa Maria Novella train station (main station in Florence) for a good half hour before I found the right way.
When I finally got to the hostel, I used my limited Italian with the girl at the desk who was relieved to be able to speak Italian for once. She let me know that I wasn’t really speaking Italian, but Romano. I didn’t know if I should take that as a compliment or an insult. In the end I guess I was just happy that she could understand what I was saying at all...MY ITALIAN IS IMPROVING!
Not only was the hostel it in a perfect location in the heart of downtown, but it also provided appetizers and wine every night before dinner...my kind of place. A glass (ok, multiple glasses) of wine with some bruschetta and a mortadella sandwich was my 6:00pm snack every night I was in Florence. Thank you Academy Hostel...best hostel I’ve stayed at so far!
One of the keys to traveling alone is being able to meet new people to enjoy the trip with. My first night I met some college kids from California who were just passing through while studying abroad and two girls from Brazil who were on vacation. We spend the next few days seeing the sites together during the day and partying at night. We all got along really well and it was nice to be able to share the experiences with some other people.
Florence is much smaller than Rome, but it is no less charming. To me, if Rome is equivalent to New York City, than Florence is San Francisco. Two very different places with a different style and energy. Florence might be small, but there are a ton on things to see. The Duomo (Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore) is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Aside from being massive, it’s made of white, green, and pink marble which gives it a very distinct look. I climbed the 463 steps to the top of the Brunelleschi’s dome and even with the hurricane winds and sleet storm while I was up there, it was worth the incredible 360 view of the whole city.
I also made it to the Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi Gallery, Ponte Vecchio, Piazzale Michelangelo, and of course saw Michelangelo’s David at the Accademia. There was too much art and history to describe everything in a few sentences. All I can say is that if you do take a trip to Europe one day, make sure Florence is on the agenda. You will not be disappointed. I know I will be making more trips to Florence while I am out here.
I’m off to Innsbruck, Austria this weekend for some skiing with a friend from the Austrian gymnastics team. It’ll be my first time skiing...should be an interesting weekend.
All those trips to Italy, but I never had a chance to see other parts of the country.
Over the weekend, I finally took my first excursion to a new city...Florence.
For years, I have heard just about every American who has traveled to Italy say that Florence was their favorite Italian city. Even Italians, who are all positive the city they live in is the greatest in the world, say that Florence is beautiful.
I traveled by train, which I’m finding to be my preferred way of travel more and more with each trip. Not having to deal with lines, baggage claims, weather delays, and everything else that is a hassle at airports these days is such a relief.
My initial reaction upon arriving at a train station in a new city is always...”Ok, now what??” I tend to just pick a direction out of the station and hope it’s right. Most of the time I’m wrong, but I like getting lost. I end up seeing things I would have otherwise missed. I wandered around the streets outside the Santa Maria Novella train station (main station in Florence) for a good half hour before I found the right way.
When I finally got to the hostel, I used my limited Italian with the girl at the desk who was relieved to be able to speak Italian for once. She let me know that I wasn’t really speaking Italian, but Romano. I didn’t know if I should take that as a compliment or an insult. In the end I guess I was just happy that she could understand what I was saying at all...MY ITALIAN IS IMPROVING!
Not only was the hostel it in a perfect location in the heart of downtown, but it also provided appetizers and wine every night before dinner...my kind of place. A glass (ok, multiple glasses) of wine with some bruschetta and a mortadella sandwich was my 6:00pm snack every night I was in Florence. Thank you Academy Hostel...best hostel I’ve stayed at so far!
One of the keys to traveling alone is being able to meet new people to enjoy the trip with. My first night I met some college kids from California who were just passing through while studying abroad and two girls from Brazil who were on vacation. We spend the next few days seeing the sites together during the day and partying at night. We all got along really well and it was nice to be able to share the experiences with some other people.
Florence is much smaller than Rome, but it is no less charming. To me, if Rome is equivalent to New York City, than Florence is San Francisco. Two very different places with a different style and energy. Florence might be small, but there are a ton on things to see. The Duomo (Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore) is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Aside from being massive, it’s made of white, green, and pink marble which gives it a very distinct look. I climbed the 463 steps to the top of the Brunelleschi’s dome and even with the hurricane winds and sleet storm while I was up there, it was worth the incredible 360 view of the whole city.
I also made it to the Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi Gallery, Ponte Vecchio, Piazzale Michelangelo, and of course saw Michelangelo’s David at the Accademia. There was too much art and history to describe everything in a few sentences. All I can say is that if you do take a trip to Europe one day, make sure Florence is on the agenda. You will not be disappointed. I know I will be making more trips to Florence while I am out here.
I’m off to Innsbruck, Austria this weekend for some skiing with a friend from the Austrian gymnastics team. It’ll be my first time skiing...should be an interesting weekend.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Louis Vuitton Edition
So, for the past month I put a hold on my travels and took a job at Louis Vuitton on Via Condotti. The director of the store is a friend, and he asked if I was interested in helping out during the holidays. Meet some new people and make a couple bucks...why not.
This was the first real (non gymnastics related) job of my life. It was definitely a little strange going from just shorts at work each day while I was training, to wearing a black suit and tie everyday. In fact it was such a new experience, that I couldn’t figure out how to tie my tie properly on the first day. It was a definitely a little embarrassing having to ask for some help with my tie!
After getting a tour of the entire operation, I was brought to my work area where I would spend at least eight hours a day over the next month wrapping gifts and controlling the payments of ridiculously expensive bags, shoes, belts, keychains, luggage, watches, books, scarves, etc. Each day was basically me moving nonstop from one item to the next. Removing tags, wrapping, looking over receipts...never ending assembly line like repetition. I would normally work with a partner, and together we would try to get the bags to the customers as quickly as possible. I’m pretty sure everyone that works there hates this job. All of the other employees are required to do three hours a week of wrapper duty, and it is by far the job everyone despises the most. Those three hours were great for me though, because it gave me a chance to get to know a lot of the other LV workers. I ended up making some good friends, and since meeting new people was one of the reasons why I took the job in the first place, it worked out pretty well.
It's probably pretty boring being a wrapper during the other 11 months of the year, but during the month of December it’s nonstop movement. I actually lost weight over the past month because of my wrapper duties. Who comes to Italy and loses weight??!! The guy who spends eight hours a day doing wrapper duty at LV, that’s who (I’m pretty sure I put that weight back on though after my amazing eating display during Christmas and New Years...haha!).
Probably not surprisingly, the best part of each day was the hour lunch break. Most days I would eat in the employee break room. But every once and a while, when the weather was nice, I would take the short walk to Piazza di Spagna and eat my lunch on the steps. Being able to look out at Piero Bernini’s Barcaccia and down Via Condotti on those days was like a dream. It’s such a beautiful spot. I know whenever I go back I will always be reminded of my time at LV and those lunch breaks.
After the first few days of work I came to the quick realization that the financial crisis that most of the world is struggling with doesn’t really affect people who are able to regularly shop at Louis Vuitton. The amount of money that place rakes in is mind boggling. I won’t mention exact numbers, but I would leave most days just shaking my head when I saw the final total in sales each day. On top of that, there is another Louis Vuitton store about five minutes from where I worked!
The store has velvet rope with security at the entrance which was pretty amusing. It felt like the scene outside of a club in NYC. One day, two guys were waiting in line together to get into the store, and I remember thinking, “Those guys better gets some girls to bring in with them or security is never going to let them in!” Ok, it wasn’t that bad, but it was still a scene outside the store each and every day.
Some of the other highlights of my month were:
-Seeing a bunch of soccer players and other actors come through the store.
-The Pope driving past the store on Dec. 8th for the holiday, Immacolata.
-Louis Vuitton Christmas Party. Great location. Fantastic food. New friends...and a broken chair. Yes, I broke a chair that night while sitting during dinner. I still don’t know how it happened, but everyone saw me fall to the floor...not my finest moment. Haha!!
-Everyone realizing that I was an athlete after seeing some of my videos on Youtube. It was pretty funny seeing peoples reactions after finding out about my gymnastics career.
I will probably be starting up my traveling again soon, but this was a nice change that gave me a chance to see Rome in a new way. Thanks Max (Il Direttore) for the job...and thanks to all the other employees for making my experience at LV a positive one.
This was the first real (non gymnastics related) job of my life. It was definitely a little strange going from just shorts at work each day while I was training, to wearing a black suit and tie everyday. In fact it was such a new experience, that I couldn’t figure out how to tie my tie properly on the first day. It was a definitely a little embarrassing having to ask for some help with my tie!
After getting a tour of the entire operation, I was brought to my work area where I would spend at least eight hours a day over the next month wrapping gifts and controlling the payments of ridiculously expensive bags, shoes, belts, keychains, luggage, watches, books, scarves, etc. Each day was basically me moving nonstop from one item to the next. Removing tags, wrapping, looking over receipts...never ending assembly line like repetition. I would normally work with a partner, and together we would try to get the bags to the customers as quickly as possible. I’m pretty sure everyone that works there hates this job. All of the other employees are required to do three hours a week of wrapper duty, and it is by far the job everyone despises the most. Those three hours were great for me though, because it gave me a chance to get to know a lot of the other LV workers. I ended up making some good friends, and since meeting new people was one of the reasons why I took the job in the first place, it worked out pretty well.
It's probably pretty boring being a wrapper during the other 11 months of the year, but during the month of December it’s nonstop movement. I actually lost weight over the past month because of my wrapper duties. Who comes to Italy and loses weight??!! The guy who spends eight hours a day doing wrapper duty at LV, that’s who (I’m pretty sure I put that weight back on though after my amazing eating display during Christmas and New Years...haha!).
Probably not surprisingly, the best part of each day was the hour lunch break. Most days I would eat in the employee break room. But every once and a while, when the weather was nice, I would take the short walk to Piazza di Spagna and eat my lunch on the steps. Being able to look out at Piero Bernini’s Barcaccia and down Via Condotti on those days was like a dream. It’s such a beautiful spot. I know whenever I go back I will always be reminded of my time at LV and those lunch breaks.
After the first few days of work I came to the quick realization that the financial crisis that most of the world is struggling with doesn’t really affect people who are able to regularly shop at Louis Vuitton. The amount of money that place rakes in is mind boggling. I won’t mention exact numbers, but I would leave most days just shaking my head when I saw the final total in sales each day. On top of that, there is another Louis Vuitton store about five minutes from where I worked!
The store has velvet rope with security at the entrance which was pretty amusing. It felt like the scene outside of a club in NYC. One day, two guys were waiting in line together to get into the store, and I remember thinking, “Those guys better gets some girls to bring in with them or security is never going to let them in!” Ok, it wasn’t that bad, but it was still a scene outside the store each and every day.
Some of the other highlights of my month were:
-Seeing a bunch of soccer players and other actors come through the store.
-The Pope driving past the store on Dec. 8th for the holiday, Immacolata.
-Louis Vuitton Christmas Party. Great location. Fantastic food. New friends...and a broken chair. Yes, I broke a chair that night while sitting during dinner. I still don’t know how it happened, but everyone saw me fall to the floor...not my finest moment. Haha!!
-Everyone realizing that I was an athlete after seeing some of my videos on Youtube. It was pretty funny seeing peoples reactions after finding out about my gymnastics career.
I will probably be starting up my traveling again soon, but this was a nice change that gave me a chance to see Rome in a new way. Thanks Max (Il Direttore) for the job...and thanks to all the other employees for making my experience at LV a positive one.
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