Thursday

Cant remember if I put my trip to the Pharmacy in my last post, but it was an experience. Got some Bronco Fluid, which is Italian Cough Medicine. Went to bed extremely early, and slept a really long time. I had to prop myself up so I didnt cough all night, but it worked. It was a really cool night, actually the best since I have been in Europe. Got up this Morning and went to class. The food is getting monotanous. We ate at Due Mori today for lunch and dinner and the meals were similar. We eat at that place at least once every day we have class. I dont understand, as there is a bunch of other restaurants in town. They must have some deal or something. Tonight, had to do some group work and write a short essay. Got that done, going to go pack , as we are going to Florence tomorrow for the weekend. Hopefully I will be back to full strength by morning.

Also, we have a receptionist here that I was talking to since the school planned a trip to the North Face Outlet and we have to sign up with her. Well, she is not the best at understanging english, especially southern west virginia sick english. She finally figured out what I wanted, and a few of us are going to go down tomorrow and get her to tell us how to say "Let's Go Mountaineers' in Italian. Talk to you later.

Feet

Wednesday 29th

Today, same ol same ol. Finally rained and cooled things down a bit. However, I am now sick. I have been coughing for the past 2 days. Finally went to the Famacia and got some medicine. This is really sucking. I hope this knocks out my cough. As you can probably tell, I dont plan on going out tonite. Talk to you later.

Tue

Last night went to a new bar in town and tried some local wine. Really good. Actually came home at a decent time and went to bed. Had our fist day of class. We have class from 9:45-1:00 Tue thru Friday, and then from 2:00-5:00 on Wed and Thursday Afternoons. Due to the classes I took, Tuesday is my day with an afternoon free. The first class is problem solving and decision making with the Director of the Cimba Probram. Dr. Al Ringleb?. He is very high energy, very hard instructor. We found out today however that they are teaching us from a very prestegious management course that many of the fortune 500 companies send their managers to. This will be a great resume builder.

The second class is with Dr. Blakely, from WVU. Managing in a Global Environment. A lot of reading, but it should be ok.

After class today, they sponsored a bus to the mall. I went along and it was an interesting experience. The best part was that the mall was air conditioned, the only place so far that I could actually feel the air conditioning. Had a very big anchor, Wal-Mart type store. It was interesting trying to find what you needed when everything was in Italian. Got a few necessities, and made my way to the checkout. The cashier usually says Ciao!, but she said a really long sentence to me, and I was like "Hello"...She laughed, and checked me out. The only reason I was worried was that there was a long line behind me, and I had no idea what she said. Lets just say my Italian is Minimal at best.

As Donnie would hate to hear, Also went and ate some burger king, because apparently Italy does not believe in ever eating meat. So I had to get a whopper just to get some protien.

Came back and did some more washing of the clothes. That really sucks. Along with some reading. Came to check the Job Line and email. Going back to read some more. No wine tonite. I have started a workout program while I am here. They have a nice small gym for us here, with just enough equipment to make you sore. Sava, our resident trainer, has us on a 4 day program. I am also including running steps into that program, for a short but sturdy cardio.

Talk to you later, during the weeks this might get boring...deal with it.

Ropes in Italy

Went to dinner last night. Awsome little place that overlooked one of the major valleys. They kept bringing and bringing food. We had something from every continent it seemed. Cheese Ravioli, Noodles and meatsauce, spinach, salad, beans, ribs, fried chicken, steak, beans, desert plus this place is called (I will find out later) where they grow or raise most of all the ingredients they put into their food. They also make their own wine, which we about ran them out of.
Stopped at a bar on the way home, and about 8 WVU Students, and 8 other students sat on the deck and drank. Wine is the way to go. Beer 3.50 Euros a Pint. A bottle of wine 10-12 Euros. So most of us got wine. Feet drinking wine, I feel like Nick Vance.
Today, had a pretty intense low ropes course. My arms are tired as hell. Guess who was on top of the wall helping to pull people up? They also wouldn't let me tie any knots or loops into the rope to help the last person up. Bastards. I think they were impresed, when they said "you need to figure out someone to be anchor...and then figure out how to tie to them" I pulled out the 'ol One handed bowline around the waist. Anyway, got a quick shower. Going to a new restaurant tonite. This plan they have set up is so much better than a cafeteria. A new restaurant every night, we don't pay. And we are allowed to drink. What a combo.

Ciao!

This is our Dorm, Campus, Computer Lounge, Library, etc. All the rooms are upstairs, and the computer room, class room, administration, is downstairs. As you can see, there are flags hanging under the porch throught the building of all the schools that participate in this program. So, I payed my respects. Talk to you later...

Ahh, Buckingham Palace. The typical London Tourist Photo Stop. The obivious tourists are Kenny Marn, Lenny Turtora, Dylan Sacchetti, Feet, Chris Hunter, Brain Sava, and Chris Burns.

PIcs....

It was really hot, as you can tell. 276 Steps. But you can see, the view was worth it. That is Me, Lenny, Hunter, and Sava just a few hundred feet from where I am staying. This is as high in elevation as you can get is this town.

Last Day in London

Today, as you saw with the last blog, got a late start. Today consisted of mainly walking to Buckingham Palace, and then just kinda hanging out in Hyde and St. James Park. Really Nice. Did the frisbe thing. Good times.

Went back to the Hostel, and due to a scheduling error and London Buses. Decided it was the best idea to take the tube to the bus station we needed to leave from before the tube shut down. Got to the station, and Brain and Kenny had to have some Pop. They left, and the bus came. We all got on, left burns behind to help them along and headed to the airport. Got the airport, it was packed with people sleeping everywhere. Found a comfy place on the floor, and layed down for a few hours. (I know Mom is Cringing now)

The airport came alive around 415, with so many flights leaving from 600-800. Got checked in, and since lenny and brian have so much stuff, they had to pay extra on their luggage.

Got on and made it to Venice/Trevesio. Very Small airport. Smaller than Morgantown, really. Got a taxi to asolo. It is awsome. Nice rooms. Sava, Hunter, and I are rooming together. We have the biggest corner room, with not much of a view. I'll take the trade off. This place has almost everything we need. Common Room, small kitchen, computer room, library, offices for faculty, 2 classrooms, pop machine.

The place we are staying in is a old converted monestary. They have it really fixed up nice. It overlooks the whole town and valley. Right above here is a old midevil castle. You can pay a Euro to walk to the top, and it has panoramic views of entire area. It is no more than 300 yards from here. I will put some pictures on here if I can get this transfering thing to work.

Tonite, we have orientation at 6 and then dinner at 7. Have a good night.


Also, just did some hand washing of laundry. I know now why men of old made women do that. It really sucks. Just my 2 cents.

Travel tip of day; if you fly Ryan Air. Make sure your bag weighs under 15 Kgs. And book together as many people as you can. If it is on the same reservation, you can pool the weights.

Take Me Home, Country Roads

Hello all,

Last night went to the local corner pub, which is always a great experience. Had the equivalent of the town drunk stop and start drinking with us. Let's just say he was very insightful with the ways of sports, women, americans, etc. I also have video of him singing country roads.

Good Beers: John Smith's, Tetley's, Carling, Staropromen

After a little while at the local pub, made our way to Soho, where they is a high density of clubs and venues. The only problem is that the side of soho that is close to our hostel has primarily gay bars. Needless to say, that led to a quick trip through that area into the one we wanted to go to.

There was alot of people of the streets recruiting for their respective bars. However, they all seemed extremely shady. Lenny got a cheat sheet from a British Girl on the flight over, and had a few bars that we should try. Went to the Walkabout, which is like an larger Bent Willeys. The upstairs had a main dance floor, with a wrap around balcony above it (which as mom and kelly know is where I stayed, because I dont like to dance), and downstairs another dance floor. Downstairs, they played music mainly Lenny and the Elements crowd likes, and upstairs they played mainly rock. That being said, no matter how much european people bitch about us they all want to be Americans. About 2/3 of the way through the night, I heard a song come on that sounded vaguely familiar. It was the techno version of Country Roads, and the crowd went wild. It is apparently a huge dance tune here in the European world. The funny thing about it was, there was a group of croatian (SP?) chicks near us that were singing every word, just like everyone in the bar. The funny thing is that during the song, Lenny had on a WVU shirt and started pointing to the 'West Virginia' part of the shirt. One of the girls came over and said what is 'West Virginia' exactly? Is it a club or something? Sava was like 'It is a State, in the US, Where we live' and it was like a light went off. OH WOW! Really. We always wondered.
That is amazing. They know all the words, but no idea what it is.

Later on that night, Dylan got into some awsome (about 1/2 as good as I could do) dance moves. Side to side, and stamping his foot a few times. Great. He was dancing with a really attractive girl, but had a nose Gonzo would say is big.

Lenny made his drunk way to the dance floor, and started dancing with random chicks. Somewhere is the whole thing, he forgot how to dance and somehow 'Dick Butkus Style' tackled her as he was falling to the floor. This led to him landing right on top of her in the middle of the nasty dance floor at 2:30 in the morning. She was extremely pissed, and it was kinda bad cause she had just told Lenny that it was her Birthday and she was wearing a new skirt. Probably want to wash that one, babe.

Lenny and I made our way home, cause we wanted to get a hotdog from the London Hot Dog Man. Everyone else headed back to Hostel. On the way back through the 'Gay' district it was a lot creepier. Random people coming to talk to us, thugs milling about, etc. We picked up the pace and got home safely.

Slept in really late. Dan, our roomate for Friday night enjoyed the evening. He is studying Law abroad in Scotland and on his way home. He was a 33 year old 2nd year law student, from Canada. He is getting married in a month. I think we made him feel a bit younger last night. Congrats on the wedding.

Well, this typing is not as fun as I thought it would be, so dont plan on it getting any better. I am not checking spelling nor grammatical errors. Which I know is killing Kelly, but I am sure Mom will not notice (Lettus Anyone?) Talk to you all soon. I think we are going to Buckingham. Later

EuroFeet

EuroFeet

Friday

Hello Again,

Extremely hot, hot, hot. Last night it was almost unbearable. It just started raining a nice steady rain, so it is beginning to cool down. Which leads to Feet Travel Tip#3: No matter how much you don't want to weigh you pack down, take your raingear. The severity of the rain is exponentally connected to the distance you are from the nearest tube station.

Sava's dad has relatives in london so his cousin, Lex, came down to meet us last night. It was really funny having a British guy hanging out with us. You almost need a translator for someone speaking with such a heavy accent. Anyway, in talking to him 2 of the funnier things that happened last night came about.
First we were talking about the quality of beer in the UK, and then went on to say something about budweiser.

Lex: You guys actually drink that stuff?
Us: Yeah, actually it is known as the King of beers in the US
Lex: Well its no where near king, and when someone from here drinks it they probably think its lemonade.

Much more funny in person.

The other thing, which I hope to upload is a video of Lex teaching Lenny how to pick up chicks in London. Lenny was using the very Jersey 'How ya Doin' and Lex was using the very british 'ALRIGHT LOVE' (when you say that, use heavy british accent and drop some of the letters out.)
This led to Lex teaching lenny how to say 'alright love' in british. A very, very funny video. I will share as soon as I can.




Moving on, had a really late night. The guys wanted to go watch the game, which being at 9:00 your time was 2:00 am here. Me, Sava, and Burns left around 2:30 cause you all know I am so into basketball and they just didn't care. Dylan and Hunter stayed until the end of the game, which they said when they were coming home that the sun was coming up. Got everyone out of bed around 10:00 and got moving soon after. Went to the Tower of London, which as Donnie will tell you, I spent 6 hours there by myself when I came last time, so you know we are going to spend some time there. Went and saw Tower Bridge as well, and then had nice Italian meal on the river before the rain started.

Talk to you later.

2nd Day in London

Hello All,

Today was a good day. Got up around 9:00 after getting a good nights sleep. Got on London time. Headed to the Internet Cafe because I finally found the job I have been looking for for years. Chief of Operations at Denver Health System. That would be awsome. Anyway, had to get here before we did anything cause I needed to write a coverletter and update my resume. Kelly is going to take care of all the other things and get it in the mail in the next day or so.

Took the tube to Wimbledon, just to look around. The line to get in if you did not have a ticket was no joking about a mile long. We walked around the entire complex trying just to get a peek in, but the All England Lawn and Tennis Club has done a great job of blocking every possible vantage point from outside.

Went back to town, and got off the tube at Big Ben. Talked everyone into a walk along The River Thames towards the tower. Got to see the Big Ben, webminster Abbey, Winston Churchill, The Millenium Eye, Some funny street performers, along with Shakesphere's Globe, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, and St. Paul's Cathedral. Everyone was glad that we got to see so much. I wish now last time I was here I was not so dependent on the TUbe. You see so much more by just walking around. Then, when you want to get back find the tube. Much more fun.

Feet Travel Tip #2: Wear good walking shoes. Half of my group decided to wear sandals, and they were all not happy they did.

Getting cleaned up now, plan on getting a bite to eat and of course pubs tonight.


Things to remember from last night:

1) Walked past "Probably the Best Gentlemen's Club in the World" --I just liked the Advertising Slogan
2) The Retainer

Talk to you tomorrow.

Hostel Information

Here is the info about the Hostel in case anyone is interested.
http://www.piccadillybackpackers.com/

Later

First Day in London

Hello Again,

Made it into Gatwick and met up with Chris Hunter who was waiting for our arrival. Made our way to Victoria Station via Gatwick Express. Note to ALL: If you need to take the Express, buy the tickey before you board, as you get a 3 for the price of 2 discount. Decided that Piccadilly Circus was not that far away from Victoria station, so we decided to walk. While this was no real problem for me, most of the other guys had multiple bags to carry. (Ahh....the lessons I learned from Jarod about packing light) After arriving at the hostel, which was not too bad to be in the Times Sqare of London. The six of us in a room, with all the amenities we needed in the room. We all cleaned up and headed out and about. Ended up at a small off the beaten path bar to eat some dinner. I had the typical Fish and Chips, and everyone else had a sandwhich. Needless to say, I was the most satisfied at the end of Dinner. Tried a beer I think I had when Donnie was here, John Smith. EXCELLENT. I would reccomend to anyone. Walked around the downtown center and looked around. Hit a few bars that Lenny learned about from some chick he was hitting on on the plane. They were actually awsome. Made our way to a Chinese place that had really good food, everyone was still hungry since they got shorted at the last place. Ate a huge meal, and started to walk around.
When we finally found a bar we wanted to end the day at, Sava produced 6 Hugh Hefner Cigars he brought from the states. We all smoked (me not so much, I can't do the Cigar thing) and celebrated our first day in London. Since we are all going on little sleep, we decided to go back to the hostel at 12:00 and turn it. Hopefully we have some good sites to see tomorrow. Talk to you all soon. Later.

Flight Over

So things started out as great as possible. Lenny, Dylan, and I left Motown around 2 pm. Since the traffic woes most of you know in Little Washington, we took Route 19 to some back roads to miss the traffic. It worked well. It took a few minutes longer but we never stopped.

After arriving at Pittsburgh, we headed to TGIF's to, of all things, start drinking. (Actually, we only had a couple) We made our way to our gate, and actually boarded on time. The FIRST fun thing that happened was that as we were taxiing to the runway, we pulled off to the side and waited. Our Captain told us that Detroit (our connection) was not allowing any flights into there to take off currently due to weather. This led to a 1.5 hour wait on the Tarmack. We finally left around 8:15 which was great.

This allowed our flight to arrive in Detroit around 9:25. Of course, you have to get everyone off the plane , which takes a few minutes. Our connecting flight was departing at 9:35.
This made for a beautiful run through the Detroit airport, just making it to our gate as they were closing it. We did make the flight, but as we were coming onto the plane we saw that, of course, it was full. There were only the 5 seats we needed left which were spead throughout the plane. Coming to my row, I saw 2 empty seats, on e for me and the other for Lenny. Then the terror struck. The lady sitting next to me was a mid-50s 300+ pound lady. See took up so much room, we had to fight to get the armrest down. Quite hillarious.

Even with all the problems, I did get to get a couple hours sleep. We arrived on London on time, and more importantly, or luggage made it as well.

Talk to you later.

Feet

6 Days

Hello All,

Busy weekend here in Morgantown. For some reason, no one remembers that you should not stand close to gas when lighting it. This resulted in me taking 2 trips to the Pittsburgh Burn Center. Cookout Saturday, good time with good friends. Consumed large amounts of alcohol until early in the morning. I did a practice packing and I seem to have a lot of room left, so I might be able to pick up some random things in Europe to bring back. This is probably a good thing, since everyone I know wants something from overseas. Remember, I will be carrying everything on my back the last 2 weeks. Here is the request list so far:

About everyone wants an Italian Girl or at least a European Girl. If I can find one, I will see if I can fit her in my pack. I hope everyone doesn't want their own, that is going to be difficult. I hate to say some people might have to deal with seconds.

Chad Heldreth - "Official" Guiness Pint Glass
Jarod McCormick- Really Hot Italian Bitch and German Beer
Ron Wenig - Dirt from Salzberg, Germany (Home of Hitler's Eagles Nest) and Sand from Normandy. I am still deciding what to say exactly if I do decide to get this and they stop me in customs. "Um sir, I have this weird friend who is into this type of weird shit. I have no idea why he wants it. Actually, I think you should go arrest him"
Chris Dyer - Italian Wine
Tony Teets - German Stein
Mike Broscious - Pictures of Girls with hairy armpits and an 'official' rugby jersey

2 Days left of Class. I will tell you more after this weekend. The folks are coming to say goodbye, so I am sure some Margaritas and Black and Tan will be consumed. Take Care.

13 Days to Departure

Hello all,

This is going to be my Journal for my trip over the pond. It will probably be a little chopped up and a little random, but the funny stuff I will try to write out. I will also put of list of stuff I just want to remember, so some of it might be in bullet form. I apologize in advance, I am not as funny as that guy on www.myassholefriends.com, but I will try. Keep checking, you never know what might show up here.

Later