Venizia.

Hello all. I am currently in Venice, soon to be boarding a train to Slovenia. Pretty excited about it. I don't know anything about Slovenia, or even what there is to do there. I heard its cheap though and after Italy that seems like a dream. I love Venice though. The place is much more captivating and awesome than Rome to me. Genova and Milan were actually both cooler than Rome I though. When I got there the guy at the hostel was like nearly upset that I was only spending a day and half in Rome. SO he wrote out all the places I needed to go and all this junk. I mean the guy was great, and really seemed to care about everything there and really took the time to try to help me make the most out of my stay. So I appreciated that. I don't know how long he thought I was going stay at each attraction there, because I felt like a day and half was plenty. I didn't bother going into any of the things though. I didn't see any sense in that. And I didn't really care. Call me uncultured or whatever, but I would much rather see some beautiful landscape or something like Venice than some old buildings. I am sure it will upset people that I refer to Rome in such as way, seeing as so many people were soo fond of it. Whatever. The big fountain there was pretty impressive though (can't even remember the name of it, and I don't care enough to google it). But in all truth, it just kinda reminded me of Caesars Palace in Vegas.. minus the fun and gambling. You can drink in the streets though in Rome, but apparently its super frowned upon. I am so annoyed by that. It really rubs me the wrong way when people look at you like a jerk when you are just having a casual road-beer and doing some sightseeing. They really give you dirty looks. I just laugh it off though. I accidently poured a beer in a womans shoe today though.. she was not stoked. It was a totally accident and I said sorry, but she wasn't having it. I was trying to get my sandwich out of a bag and happened to tilt my hand funny while doing so and yea poured a little bit out just as this woman was walking by in her heels and she got a little wet. I don't think it helped that I laughed at first. Oh well. I think the people of Venice will be very relieved when I am gone. I have had fun though. Back to Rome though; I went out the first evening with this guy from Canada who was in my same room and doing the same 2 day deal in Rome. We went out on the town and tried to find a pub semi-early in the evening and I ended up making good with this girl who owned a pizza place there and finagled myself some free pizza. We hung out for a bit and she showed me this cool cheap bar in the town that smelled like old dirty babies and hot fish. It was hard to stay inside the place. But it was pretty funny trying to put my finger on the smell. That was fun though. I now know I should marry a girl that owns a pizza place, or some sort of food place, or maybe a chef. Not a bartender though. Maybe a bartender. We'll see. Anywho, the day after that, the canadian and I headed down to check out the Colosseum. But before we got there I needed a bit of the "hair of the dog." So we get off the metro and wander around the outskirts of the area looking for a drink. Some indian guy pops out of nowhere and he starts yelling prices at me for drinks. We agree on a negotiated price and and Allan (the Canadian) and I grab a seat outside. I am facing the restaurant and I keep looking at this poster and it looked like a bunch of guys in diapers with girls around them. I couldn't see it too well so I asked Allan if he could.. he tells me no its a bunch of men in tighty-whiteys... and those aren't girls, they are guys in drag. We kinda look at eachother and he says, "I think we're at a gay bar." I look at him, look at the poster, look next to the poster at a rainbow sticker then look up to a giant rainbow banner, then look at the name of the bar.. "Coming Out," with a logo to two men's silhouettes overlapping. Instant embarrassment and uncontrollable laugher came over us like a tsunami. We started looking around and just couldn't stop watching people watch us. Just two dudes havin a beer at a gay bar. It was ridiculous and hilarious. Needless to say we did not stay for another round. The Colosseum was pretty cool. Walked around it once and checked the Forum out for a bit. But yea, I was over it pretty fast. To get in was like 15 euros and a 3 hour wait or something. Yea right. I don't even spend 15 euros on the days meals. To get into the Vatican is also like 15-20 euros and if you don't reserve online you can wait for like 4+ hours. I went there, checked out St. Peter's square and then fell asleep in the marble. Had a nice little nap in the sun. That was a highlight of the day. You forget sometimes how amazing naps are. Short naps. The ones where you wake up at like 11 when you crashed at 5 are no good. Their good if you're in a party place actually. Not if you are in Venice or somewhere quiet like this. Rome is alright though. If you're into that whole thing I am sure you can spend a lot more time there. I felt 2 days was plenty. Venice I think 3 days was plenty too. This place is a maze though. You need one whole day to just find where your staying. Not really. But it is confusing at times. It reminded me of the movie the Labyrinth with David Bowie. One of my favorite movies still. So epic. David Bowie + Jim Henson.. dream team. I wonder if Jim Henson has an autobiography? Im reading Bruce Lee's biography right now and it's pretty good. Pretty funny because apparently he was kind of a show off and jerk at times. One lady that's interviewed in the book says something like 'I was told not to say bad things about some one so I am not going to say much about Bruce...' then she briefly talks about how he was a jerk and disrespectful. I laughed. In his movies he portrays himself as the confident "good guy," but I guess he was a bit of a loose cannon and had a bit of a stutter. He still is pretty rad though. Anyway, traveling is good, I will stop talking about Bruce Lee.. I am excited for Slovenia. I was supposed to go to Croatia after but I don't have the time unfortunately. I think that will be a place I will come back too though. Croatia and Greece. For sure. After Slovenia I am going to Austria then Czech Republic. Excited for both those too. I set it up so that I can spend halloween in Progue. I feel like that will be a good time. Not sure what I will do for a costume though. I'm sure I can throw a little outfit together though.

Anyways I am off. I have a bit more time in Venice and I might go grab food or get lost again.. This place is so awesome how there is water everywhere. They don't have a metro.. they have water-busses. The Taxi's are water taxi boats and instead of like horse carriage rides they have the Gondola deal. They are funny to see. I really want to see one tip over or some one fall out. I know thats rude of me but I feel like the laugh from that would be a good. Everyone said Venice smelled bad though? I disagree. It is like a very mild harbor smell. Go to Vietnam or China and then talk to me about weird/bad smells. I haven't had to pull my shirt over my face once here, or get the feeling that your eyes are going to water because of random rancid smells. I do miss asia though. So fun and so different. They way you stand out there is so funny. I stand out here too actually, but everyone thinks I am homeless. I was eating some grocery store food and imbibing some orange juice a few nights ago on a street corner (because I was too hungry/thirsty to walk back to the hostel) and I realized after a few minutes that I looked like a full blown hobo. Long dirty hair, a beard, asian fireman hat, windbreaker with a sweater under it, torn jeans, and old destroyed converse eating random vegetables and such out of a plastic bag... The normal Italian citizens would not even look at me, or walk near me. The only people that acknowledged me where real homeless people and they would say Ciao. One bum told me Bon Apetito, and I was stoked. I think he was giving me props for getting food. This whole thing was also in Milan, where there is a lot of wealth. So I don't think they take kindly to bums. I thought it was funny when some woman would walk like really close to the street just to not walk near me. Like I was going to jump up from my meal and rob them or whatever. I wasn't even drinking booze! Oh well. It was a good laugh for me. Being a bum wouldn't be fun though. Alright. Goodbye.