The Great Italian Adventure

Wow, how can i describe today.

I was awakened by the Tuscan sun coming in across the valley. I ran down to the train station for my day trip to Florence, but on the way I stopped at a bar for cappuccino and met Olivia, a beautiful Italian girl working there who happened to be studying english at the time. Needless to say we tried as we could, me in broken Italian and her in better English, to exchange stories of our families, and school, and traveling and ended up talking for about three hours. Realizing that I hadn't yet been to a vineyard, she actually asked me to visit her aunt and uncle outside of town for lunch and grape picking.

So we hopped on her Vespa and drove down the hill and through the valley past little farms, her hair and light blue scarf blowing in the wind across my face. Her uncle Giotto questioned me at first but eventually we talked politics over a glass of wine and her aunt Mariana served up a pesto pasta and thick garlic bread. By the end of the meal, Olivia and I slightly tipsy on the Chianti picked grapes, tossing more at each other than actually putting in the baskets.

After falling asleep underneath the vines, we awoke to a slight chill and a dimming sky. She tried to explain that she had to get back to work but i convinced her to take the last train to Florence with me. Again on the train, we talked about music and art and life and love and before we knew it we were in Florence amidst the city lights and roving street musicians. Strolling across town, we came across the Ponteveccio just as all the gold shops were closing down. She told how her her uncle had proposed to her aunt on the bridge almost 50 years ago and that she'd always made a wish when visiting it, hoping to be so fortunate. Right then, I left her there, found a simple gold ring for all the euro I had in my pocket and returned to her on my knee asking for marriage before she could say anything. She said si and so here I am, in love and making plans to spend the rest of my life here in Tuscany picking grapes and selling artwork out of Olivia's bar.

And actually, none of this happened seeing as I don't even drink coffee and my Italian is molto piccolo. I did however spend most of the day at studio working inside, while the fog outside never actually lifted from this morning. This is my last Sunday in Italy. Alora.

raise your hand if you're gonna sleep in the london airport!

after chatting with smilja milovanovic-bertram, i've come to the conclusion that my project sucks. not completely but enough to make me a frustrated little architecture student, especially with only a few days left to work. i just wish there was more time.

on a lighter note, i'm going to copenhagen for a week of fun in the sun. well it will be cold, but nicole and i can hang out and do weird danish stuff. like eat danishes? after that, it's gonna be a mad rush back to london so i can get out of this crazy continent.

i'm thoroughly entertained in the meanwhile.

(insert thought here)

all my energy is pretty much devoted to studio now and making a huge housing complex work with the above market. seeing as our final review is just a week and a half away, i'm gonna be turning out models and drawings like a mad man. no time for traveling. no time for partying. no time for wondering.

man, i love water colors. who would have known that my fourth grade landscape painting entitled "Indian Village" was just the beginning?

maybe there is time.

and one more thing

"if you're ever in paris give me a call." what the hell is that supposed to mean?

have you got nothing to say?

how wonderful is it when certain people come along and remind you of how stupid you have been?

maybe if i was a different person things would happen slightly differently and i'd be writing something completely different but things are what they are and i'll take all i can from that. and of course, maybe this just goes to show again how stupid i can be. but in this case being stupid doesn't seem so bad.

so here we are. sunday morning in a small tuscan town, full of saltless bread, working on studio projects. i should write my project proposal for art history. maybe get some laundry done. i'll see you around.

well fine

we made a little day trip to rome yesterday that really isn't that blog worthy. saw old stuff, got lost on the outer edges of the city, hung out at the train station. no i haven't become jaded with seeing all of this. i can just honestly say it isn't blog worthy.

oh and we went up to volterra wednesday which as far as i remember had fog and rain and a museum. i really believe that the rain was coming straight out of the fog at some points and 10 feet above me and there were beautiful blue skies.

we went out to regiro's, the local pub, again last night. have you ever noticed that whenever i do go out people try and get me to do things and then other people get disappointed in me for even thinking of doing such things. i didn't realize i had such rag doll qualities.

and by the way, i ran in right at the last second for christine's birthday, served the cake, which ended up containing alcohol, which is great to serve to a mormon. we managed to get her to eat some anyway and in the end i think it made everybody sick.

well damn

well damn, you show up one minute late for dinner and somehow every seat is taken. especially the one right next to your friend who's birthday you're celebrating and who you got a cake for which you plan on surprising her with at the end of dinner. so here i am, back down in the basement as i hear everyone having dinner fun. i think there was some seat open in the back but i'm not up for forcing conversation with people from calpoly that i don't know. it's like the peet junior high lunch tables all over again.

so here i am back down in the basement where i spend a lot of my time lately. i don't actually get that much work done and when i do spend 3 days writing a renaissance art paper i get a C on it. on the other hand, i feel i'm doing great in studio and photography. i may need to pick up the pace this week so as to not get swamped later on, but still i'm doing fine.

the so many little things i want to do hear before i leave and regret not doing them. go to a soccer game, make an italian friend, buy something that'll always remind me of italy, find love, blah, blah.

i hear more noise coming out of the dining hall so maybe food's over and i can run in for dessert.

Southern Italy

well it rained. especially on our day off which could have included hiking, sailing, swimming, and other sun related sicilian activities. but who can complain when that same storm brings on the most beautiful thunder clouds ever to cross the mediterranean and the resulting crashing waves against the coast that spray salt water at you up at street level? in the end the tip of the italian boot showed through the clouds and i found myself in a tropical paradise.

between the sun and rain there were plenty of greek temples, amphitheatres, various relics, and of course tense politcal debate. hell i didn't vote for either one so i see what everybody is feeling from both sides. a lot of america is quite upset but that's democracy folks. there was no scandal and everybody was represented so america chose who america wanted. democrats should just try finding a better candidate and quit contradicting themselves and republicans should keep in mind that even though they control pretty much the entire federal government, nearly half of the people didn't vote for them. and for one more revelation, we all have lives outside of our politics so put on your poncho and go play in the rain.

by the way, watching the election unfurl on italian television complete with 20 commentators and bush and kerry punching bags all on one stage beats dan rather any day.