Monday, September 27, 2004
I didn't inhale.
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Wireless Replays
I'd love this feature on a small handheld at the races we go to. BTW, there will be road courses next year.
More from Italy
We got back from Italy last week and I'm happy to be back. It was my first foray outside of North America and definitely my first extended trip in a country where I don't at least speak a little bit of the language. Without question it was a great time and it was made all the more fun to be able to share it with Laura. She's quite a bit more well traveled than I am so she was able to smooth the way a bit in the more stressful situations like driving around in swarms of Vespas and clearing customs on the way back.
People keep asking me my favorite part of Italy and what things stuck out most as being different than the states. And both have pretty much the same answer: the extensive history. Everywhere you went, it was readily apparent that humans had called this place home for a long time. Certainly people have been in the US for a long time, but native Americans didn't leave as much Western type signs that they were here. Or at the very least, those signs have not been integrated so tightly into the prevailing culture as they have been in Italy.
Laura and I really enjoyed Florence. Although this is an over simplification, the difference between Austin and Houston is about the same difference between Florence and Rome. Rome is huge, has lots of culture and definitely feels like a large metropolitan city. Florence is a quite a bit smaller and feels more like a place where people live. These perceptions are probably more related to where we visited and how the tourist areas are laid out.
We had no problems finding good inexpensive food in Florence. Much like Ed suggested, we would walk down the street, see a busy place and get in line. We had some GREAT fresh pasta and Florentine steak that I will never forget.
Tuscany reminded me a lot of the wine country in California; which I guess isn't a huge surprise. Quite pretty and very laid back.
But finally, we got ready to go home. I was really looking forward to ESPN, the Simpsons in English and most importantly, Tivo. Well I guess Tivo and my friends and family, but you get the point. At the Rome airport it was interesting to note that the check-in counter for our flight back to Chicago was off to the side and you had to go through a security checkpoint to get there. The security was a few uniformed military looking people with fully-automatic weapons. There was also a couple of guys with guns walking the cat-walk up top. All of the flights had one of two things in common: they were headed for the States or they were headed for Israel.
People keep asking me my favorite part of Italy and what things stuck out most as being different than the states. And both have pretty much the same answer: the extensive history. Everywhere you went, it was readily apparent that humans had called this place home for a long time. Certainly people have been in the US for a long time, but native Americans didn't leave as much Western type signs that they were here. Or at the very least, those signs have not been integrated so tightly into the prevailing culture as they have been in Italy.
Laura and I really enjoyed Florence. Although this is an over simplification, the difference between Austin and Houston is about the same difference between Florence and Rome. Rome is huge, has lots of culture and definitely feels like a large metropolitan city. Florence is a quite a bit smaller and feels more like a place where people live. These perceptions are probably more related to where we visited and how the tourist areas are laid out.
We had no problems finding good inexpensive food in Florence. Much like Ed suggested, we would walk down the street, see a busy place and get in line. We had some GREAT fresh pasta and Florentine steak that I will never forget.
Tuscany reminded me a lot of the wine country in California; which I guess isn't a huge surprise. Quite pretty and very laid back.
But finally, we got ready to go home. I was really looking forward to ESPN, the Simpsons in English and most importantly, Tivo. Well I guess Tivo and my friends and family, but you get the point. At the Rome airport it was interesting to note that the check-in counter for our flight back to Chicago was off to the side and you had to go through a security checkpoint to get there. The security was a few uniformed military looking people with fully-automatic weapons. There was also a couple of guys with guns walking the cat-walk up top. All of the flights had one of two things in common: they were headed for the States or they were headed for Israel.
Democracy Inaction
I just got this book from Amazon today. I've only read 2 pages of it and it's already made me laugh out loud at least 6 times.
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Mid Afternoon
For JP:
Early afternoon - 12-2pm.
Mid afternoon - 2-3pm.
Late afternoon 3-5pm.
Early afternoon - 12-2pm.
Mid afternoon - 2-3pm.
Late afternoon 3-5pm.
Thursday, September 02, 2004
Italy, days 2 and 3, update from Laura.
Laura just read my last post and wanted to add the following:
- St. Peter's is just about the most impressive building around.
- St. Peter is burried in the basement there.
- The climb up Michelango's dome was long 320+ steps but well worth the view.
- The climb down from the dome makes you dizzy.
- You can't find Pepsi anywhere.
Oh and Robert, current picture count is 212.
Italy, days 2 and 3
Days 2 and 3 were devoted to sight seeing. We went to the Galleria Borghese and the Vatican. We enjoyed both immensely. The Sistine Chapel is as impressive as you have been lead to believe. You can literally spend hours just staring at the ceiling if your neck would hold out.
We encountered Charle's guy. Well not Charle's exact guy, but a very similar speech. Somehow, the two American looking people were supposed to help this guy find the Train Station. After I pointed out on the map where it is and where we were, he went on to ask where we were from. Austin, Texas. USA. "Oh, I have cousin in LA. Do you know Versacè?" Well sure, we had heard of it. "Would you like free samples?" No. After the first no, he raced off immediately in his car. Obviously on to better customers.
Lunch and dinner were again not that impressive. I did, however, make it a point to stop by the US embassy. I was quite unimpressed. Sure it was big, with large gates and everything but there was not one Marine on guard; at least not prominently. If I had needed to make a mad dash to the door, passport on display and yelling "I'm an American!" I doubt anybody would have noticed.
Things learned today:
We encountered Charle's guy. Well not Charle's exact guy, but a very similar speech. Somehow, the two American looking people were supposed to help this guy find the Train Station. After I pointed out on the map where it is and where we were, he went on to ask where we were from. Austin, Texas. USA. "Oh, I have cousin in LA. Do you know Versacè?" Well sure, we had heard of it. "Would you like free samples?" No. After the first no, he raced off immediately in his car. Obviously on to better customers.
Lunch and dinner were again not that impressive. I did, however, make it a point to stop by the US embassy. I was quite unimpressed. Sure it was big, with large gates and everything but there was not one Marine on guard; at least not prominently. If I had needed to make a mad dash to the door, passport on display and yelling "I'm an American!" I doubt anybody would have noticed.
Things learned today:
- The two buttons on my toilet are for different flush sizes. The big one gives you a big flush, the smaller button a smaller flush.
- Some subways have buttons next to their doors as well. Push them to get on or off.
- Stuff in Rome is expensive.
- Acqua, no gas.
- Security people at the Vatican do NOT want their pictures taken.
- The Roman Catholic church has kick ass facilities in Rome.
- Most of the tourist spots do NOT take credit cards. And, they want exact change.
- It's a pain to get change anywhere except for the little convenience stores and snack shops.
- When buying sun screen, make sure it is not tinted brown. Especially if you have fish belly white skin like me.
- No matter how bad the road signs are in the US, they are nowhere near as obfuscated or incomprehensible as the road signs in Italy.
- Vespas suck.
That's about all from days 2 and 3. I really liked our hotel room at the Hotel Splendide Royal. Very quiet and comfortable.
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
Italy day 1
For those of you who didn't know, Laura and I are in Italy for a quick visit. Currently I'm sitting in my room in Florence which has a computer and an internet connection built in. Free! So, since the opportunity is right, I'm finally making a post.
Day 1: We arrived in Rome at 7:30 in the morning after about 14 hours of travel. Immigration consisted of brief pause at a station where some guy quickly stamped our passports and waived us through. I never said a word to him and vice versa. Bags came quickly and the airport as the airport was next to empty. We hopped on the Leonardo Express. Steps to get on train (matt style):
Day 1: We arrived in Rome at 7:30 in the morning after about 14 hours of travel. Immigration consisted of brief pause at a station where some guy quickly stamped our passports and waived us through. I never said a word to him and vice versa. Bags came quickly and the airport as the airport was next to empty. We hopped on the Leonardo Express. Steps to get on train (matt style):
- Buy ticket.
- Get on train.
- Read ticket, note that it needs to be "validated."
- Leave Laura alone on the train with 3 bags
- Run back to yellow validating machines, validate ticket.
- Run back to train.
- Jump on train 45 seconds before it leaves.
- Get severe look from Laura.
We made it to the train station at Termini and grabbed a cab to our hotel. Since we were very early, they weren't quite ready for us. We dumped our bags and headed to the closest metro station to catch a metro to the coliseum. There are only two lines in Rome, A and B. You can get a tourist pass for 11 Euro which is good for unlimited rides for a week, busses too.
I won't bore you too much with the details of the coliseum but to sum up: lots of trinkets and tours for sale surrounding one big ass piece of rock. By the end of our moseying around, we were both a bit exhausted from the travel and walking so we went back to the hotel for a long nap. Later we had dinner at some roof top restaurant that was pretty good, but not outstanding. It was nice for the view of the Pantheon, but not much else. Then back to the hotel for more sleep.
Things learned on day 1:
- You must validate your train ticket.
- Rome is full of doors with buttons next to them. Those buttons open the door. Pushing very hard on the doors over and over again does not seem to open them.
- The door close button in the elevators are actually hooked up to the door.
- Pack light.
- Everybody knows I'm an American, just by looking at me. The UT hat probably didn't help.
