Sup From Italy
by CStingray78
You read it right. Somehow even from half way around the globe I manage to get on the internet and check the site. Just kinda chillin this weekend before we go out to the many attractions in the country and from then on I may not be able to get on to a PC and see whats up.
The 9 hour flight from Phili to Paris was OK, except for the fact that this douche in front of me had his seat reclined the whole time so it was really tough to get comfortable with 2 inches of leg room. It was a big ass plane, Air bus something with 2 rows of seats on the outside and 4 rows of seats down the middle. Each person has a TV in the headrest of the seat in fron of them where you could watch movies or play games. I think I watched "Miracle"atleast twice during the flight. The other movie choices sucked.
We took off from Phili around 8 PM Friday and got to Paris at 8:30 AM Saturday. That airport was a CF and a half. All we had to do was get on a transfer flight from the one we landed on but we had to go through security twice. Once getting off the plane, and once getting back on to our plane to Venice. As usual, things were running late and we made it to our connecting flight just in time for boarding.
On the flight from Paris to Venice, it was a smaller plane, and this time I actually had a window seat. I stared out the window for the about hour and a half flight at all the stuff below. We flew over the French Alps which were still snow covered and really neat to see from above.
We landed in Venice around 11:30AM and luckily our baggage got there when we did. From the airport, Chrissy's brother, JJ, came to pick us up and take us to his house about an hour away from the airport.
I'm not really sure where we are or what we are near. I really didn't recognize any of the town names we were driving through. We were all big pimpin in a Fiat Van which is really goofy looking (I will take pics) and almost all the cars over here are models I have never heard of and nothing really bigger than a GTI. I saw a whole car lot of Vitz's (Which I only thought existed in Gran Turismo!) but gas over here is 1,40 Euros per liter which almost works out to be $4 a gallon. WHAT A BITCH!!
But BMWs are like Honda Accords over here. I'm still waiting to see a Ferrari or Labo or 2 fly by since the speed limit is around 85 -90MPH.
This coming week, we are going to Rome, Pisa, Florence, and everywhere in between by train. So, that should be interesting. And next week we are going to Austria to visit some castles and such. Looks like its going to be a pretty cool few weeks. I will do my best to check in and see whats up and I will def take some pics of whats going on over here. (FYI I think we are 6 hours ahead of time back home).
See you all when I get back!
Tom
The 9 hour flight from Phili to Paris was OK, except for the fact that this douche in front of me had his seat reclined the whole time so it was really tough to get comfortable with 2 inches of leg room. It was a big ass plane, Air bus something with 2 rows of seats on the outside and 4 rows of seats down the middle. Each person has a TV in the headrest of the seat in fron of them where you could watch movies or play games. I think I watched "Miracle"atleast twice during the flight. The other movie choices sucked.
We took off from Phili around 8 PM Friday and got to Paris at 8:30 AM Saturday. That airport was a CF and a half. All we had to do was get on a transfer flight from the one we landed on but we had to go through security twice. Once getting off the plane, and once getting back on to our plane to Venice. As usual, things were running late and we made it to our connecting flight just in time for boarding.
On the flight from Paris to Venice, it was a smaller plane, and this time I actually had a window seat. I stared out the window for the about hour and a half flight at all the stuff below. We flew over the French Alps which were still snow covered and really neat to see from above.
We landed in Venice around 11:30AM and luckily our baggage got there when we did. From the airport, Chrissy's brother, JJ, came to pick us up and take us to his house about an hour away from the airport.
I'm not really sure where we are or what we are near. I really didn't recognize any of the town names we were driving through. We were all big pimpin in a Fiat Van which is really goofy looking (I will take pics) and almost all the cars over here are models I have never heard of and nothing really bigger than a GTI. I saw a whole car lot of Vitz's (Which I only thought existed in Gran Turismo!) but gas over here is 1,40 Euros per liter which almost works out to be $4 a gallon. WHAT A BITCH!!
But BMWs are like Honda Accords over here. I'm still waiting to see a Ferrari or Labo or 2 fly by since the speed limit is around 85 -90MPH.This coming week, we are going to Rome, Pisa, Florence, and everywhere in between by train. So, that should be interesting. And next week we are going to Austria to visit some castles and such. Looks like its going to be a pretty cool few weeks. I will do my best to check in and see whats up and I will def take some pics of whats going on over here. (FYI I think we are 6 hours ahead of time back home).
See you all when I get back!
Tom
1972 Corvette Stingray and 1968 Mustang Coupe
Flying over the alps sounds damn cool. I would have bitched slapped the FF in front of me and tell him "I pay my bills bitch" now put that seat up and give me some leg room!
Glad to hear that the flight wasn't too bad. On the way back home I did get to see a Car-B-Q on 95. 3000 GT flamin up good. I didn't have a camera in the car though.
Sounds like you were in a big pimpin plane if you have screens in the back of every seat. Did you happen to notice if the plane had spinners on the landing gear???
Have a great time over there, send back a mail order bride for me
Glad to hear that the flight wasn't too bad. On the way back home I did get to see a Car-B-Q on 95. 3000 GT flamin up good. I didn't have a camera in the car though.
Sounds like you were in a big pimpin plane if you have screens in the back of every seat. Did you happen to notice if the plane had spinners on the landing gear???
Have a great time over there, send back a mail order bride for me
99 Roush Stage III Mustang
91 GT 306
Hope you and Chrissy are having fun. Hope the flight home is better. I couldn't sit for 9 hours let alone with no leg room. I don't know much about italy and what towns are where, but if you are near the ferrari plant you can take a tour of the assembly line. My sister-in-law did it and she said it was pretty amazing how much time and detail they put in to building them. I guess when you spend $100,000 plus you damn sure better get quality. You two be safe and enjoy your vacation, see ya when you get back.
:1993 Mustang LX, 5SP Manual, 347 Stroker w/ 9PSI of Boost Kennie Bell Supercharger,Too Many Mods To List:<br><img src=/uploads/Stroked347/Mike_Mustang.jpg border=2>
Glad you are having a good time. A trip like this is a once in a lifetime experiance. Sorry to hear the airplane ride sucked, but you did get to watch miracle, one of the better disney movies out right now. Oh well see you when you get back. And dont worry im taking good care of the site. 
Jeremy
Jeremy
What? Paris airport was a CF? Doesn't suprise me 
How many italians know what a vette is, though heh..
How many italians know what a vette is, though
heh..
-THE SURGEON GENERAL WARNING NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT SMOKING A FORD
I would say not many Italians know what vettes are.....but i know if i was brought up around Lamborghini, Maserati, and Ferrari's i would prob. be like......corvettes???what are they?.....yea there decent cars but Italians know how to make real machines.
God created turbo lag to give V8's a chance.
Thanks for all the feedback guys. Its pretty nice being away for a whole week and getting back to have a few things to read. This week was pretty awesome and I did so many things I can't even remember it all, but here goes:
Monday 7/19
Hopped on the train at the station in our town of Pordenone, Italy and headed for Florence. Caught the train @ 7:30AM and it was about a 3 hour trip. The real adventure came to be when we found out that the travel agency had booked us for the right train, right seats, but the wrong day. We found out the tickets were for Tuesday, not Monday. But anyways, we made it there and luckily had a hotel booked for the right night.
Tuesday 7/20
Went on a guided bus / walking tour of Florence. We got to see the main Cathedral in the city as well as going to the hills outside the city walls to see the view of the city from the hills. We also went into an art museum to see Michaelangelo's "David" and some other artwork and sculpture. The statue of David was about 30 feet tall or so and much larger than I had expected it to be from pictures. Just like with anything we saw on any of these days, you really don't get an appreciation for how large and how beautiful things are until you are there to see them in person.
Wednesday 7/21
Hopped on the early train from Florence to Pisa to check out the Leaning Tower of Pisa and some of the cathedrals in the city. There wasn't much to walk around and see as it was pretty much contained to an area about the size of 3 city blocks. The tower was amazing to see how far over it was actually leaning. I think it leans about 18 feet from center and its amazing to see that it even stands.
Hopped back on the train in the early afternoon and headed for Rome. Arrived in Rome by late afternoon.
Thursday 7/22
Went on a guided bus / walking tour of Rome to see the Sistine Chapel and Vatican City. Both were amazing and there wasn't any surface that didn't have some sort of hanging artwork or fresco painting on it. So much to see in just those two areas. But it was CROWDED!!! So many people everywhere it was a real nuthouse. The Sistine Chapel was awesome, but it was not the size I had originally anticipated. I was under the impressions it was a huge area, like the other Cathedrals we had visited in other cities. Now, don't get me wrong, it was still big, just not as big as the other places we had visited. Unfortunately, many of the places in the Vatican were off limits to photography so I was not able to snap any pics of the Sistine Chapel. After the tour we headed back to the Hotel to relax cause it was a hot one, like 100+ in the sun. And what didn't help is that we had to wear pants instead of shorts to go into the Vatican. Many of the cathedrals we went to in Italy did not allow men or women to wear clothing that showed their shoulders or much of the legs.
Later in the evening, we headed for the Colisseum and the Roman Forum. It was much more pleasant to walk around when it was cooler. Only problem was that as it got later it was more difficult to take pictures of everything, but I did my best figuring out exposure compensations and shutter speeds on the digital camera to get pictures at night. The Colisseum was awesome also and I got lots of pictures of it from the otside, but we did not have a chance to go inside as it was later in the day.
Friday 7/23
Finally got a chance to "sleep in" till like 8 and caught the train back home to Pordenone and relaxed for the rest of the day. The train ride home was almost 5 hours.
Saturday 7/24
Got up at 4AM to catch a bus for a day trip to Austria. Took about a 3 hour bus ride to get to Klagenfurt, Austria and other points of interest nearby the city.. The scenery in Austria was awesome with the mountains everywhere and the small towns tucked in. We had a medieval lunch in the ruins of a fort overlooking one of the cities we stopped in. After lunch, it was another bus ride to a castle (the name esacpes me at the moment). That castle was awesome, almost a mile walk up a switchback path through guard towers and fortifications to the top of the mountain. The view of the castle was spectacular as was the view of the areas below from the castle. Left the castle in mid afternoon for the trip back home. We ran into a few areas of rain throughout the day, but not enough to runi the trip. The overcast conditions kept the hot sun away and made it much more enjoyable.
Thats it so far. We have a few minor things planned like go-kart racing and taking a day trip to Venice. I'm sure I will have more updates as the week progresses.
Also, Siesta is "naptime" all across the country everyday from about 12PM till 2PM, and good luck finding anything that is open between those times. Wouldn't that be a nice addition to the work day at home!
Funny thing about the cars down here is that in the cities, almost everyone drives scooters and the cars outside the cities are still very small, almost like Ford Fiestas or GTIs everywhere. I have yet to see any Ferrari's or Lamborghini's on the streets. Guess the $5 a gallon is keeping those beasts in the garages. Austria was a little different cause people drove normal size cars like larger BMWs and Fiats. I was amazed to see a car advertisement in Austria that had a picture of a mid 70s Vette. Not sure what it said cause it was in German.
Back to relaxing and eating lots of Pasta!
Tom
Monday 7/19
Hopped on the train at the station in our town of Pordenone, Italy and headed for Florence. Caught the train @ 7:30AM and it was about a 3 hour trip. The real adventure came to be when we found out that the travel agency had booked us for the right train, right seats, but the wrong day. We found out the tickets were for Tuesday, not Monday. But anyways, we made it there and luckily had a hotel booked for the right night.
Tuesday 7/20
Went on a guided bus / walking tour of Florence. We got to see the main Cathedral in the city as well as going to the hills outside the city walls to see the view of the city from the hills. We also went into an art museum to see Michaelangelo's "David" and some other artwork and sculpture. The statue of David was about 30 feet tall or so and much larger than I had expected it to be from pictures. Just like with anything we saw on any of these days, you really don't get an appreciation for how large and how beautiful things are until you are there to see them in person.
Wednesday 7/21
Hopped on the early train from Florence to Pisa to check out the Leaning Tower of Pisa and some of the cathedrals in the city. There wasn't much to walk around and see as it was pretty much contained to an area about the size of 3 city blocks. The tower was amazing to see how far over it was actually leaning. I think it leans about 18 feet from center and its amazing to see that it even stands.
Hopped back on the train in the early afternoon and headed for Rome. Arrived in Rome by late afternoon.
Thursday 7/22
Went on a guided bus / walking tour of Rome to see the Sistine Chapel and Vatican City. Both were amazing and there wasn't any surface that didn't have some sort of hanging artwork or fresco painting on it. So much to see in just those two areas. But it was CROWDED!!! So many people everywhere it was a real nuthouse. The Sistine Chapel was awesome, but it was not the size I had originally anticipated. I was under the impressions it was a huge area, like the other Cathedrals we had visited in other cities. Now, don't get me wrong, it was still big, just not as big as the other places we had visited. Unfortunately, many of the places in the Vatican were off limits to photography so I was not able to snap any pics of the Sistine Chapel. After the tour we headed back to the Hotel to relax cause it was a hot one, like 100+ in the sun. And what didn't help is that we had to wear pants instead of shorts to go into the Vatican. Many of the cathedrals we went to in Italy did not allow men or women to wear clothing that showed their shoulders or much of the legs.
Later in the evening, we headed for the Colisseum and the Roman Forum. It was much more pleasant to walk around when it was cooler. Only problem was that as it got later it was more difficult to take pictures of everything, but I did my best figuring out exposure compensations and shutter speeds on the digital camera to get pictures at night. The Colisseum was awesome also and I got lots of pictures of it from the otside, but we did not have a chance to go inside as it was later in the day.
Friday 7/23
Finally got a chance to "sleep in" till like 8 and caught the train back home to Pordenone and relaxed for the rest of the day. The train ride home was almost 5 hours.
Saturday 7/24
Got up at 4AM to catch a bus for a day trip to Austria. Took about a 3 hour bus ride to get to Klagenfurt, Austria and other points of interest nearby the city.. The scenery in Austria was awesome with the mountains everywhere and the small towns tucked in. We had a medieval lunch in the ruins of a fort overlooking one of the cities we stopped in. After lunch, it was another bus ride to a castle (the name esacpes me at the moment). That castle was awesome, almost a mile walk up a switchback path through guard towers and fortifications to the top of the mountain. The view of the castle was spectacular as was the view of the areas below from the castle. Left the castle in mid afternoon for the trip back home. We ran into a few areas of rain throughout the day, but not enough to runi the trip. The overcast conditions kept the hot sun away and made it much more enjoyable.
Thats it so far. We have a few minor things planned like go-kart racing and taking a day trip to Venice. I'm sure I will have more updates as the week progresses.
Also, Siesta is "naptime" all across the country everyday from about 12PM till 2PM, and good luck finding anything that is open between those times. Wouldn't that be a nice addition to the work day at home!
Funny thing about the cars down here is that in the cities, almost everyone drives scooters and the cars outside the cities are still very small, almost like Ford Fiestas or GTIs everywhere. I have yet to see any Ferrari's or Lamborghini's on the streets. Guess the $5 a gallon is keeping those beasts in the garages. Austria was a little different cause people drove normal size cars like larger BMWs and Fiats. I was amazed to see a car advertisement in Austria that had a picture of a mid 70s Vette. Not sure what it said cause it was in German.
Back to relaxing and eating lots of Pasta!
Tom
Man! Sounds like an awesome trip. Can't wait to see the pictures. You aren't missing too much around here besides the unusally cool weather, mid 70's, but I am not complaining.
Have a blast the rest of the week!
Have a blast the rest of the week!
99 Roush Stage III Mustang
91 GT 306
Funny you should mention the pictures... I have setup a gallery for the trip:
http://gallery.sweetrides2001.com
I will update them as I get more and more pictures this week!
Tom
http://gallery.sweetrides2001.com
I will update them as I get more and more pictures this week!
Tom
Some nice pictures you got there Tom. Cant wait to see the rest. Hope you are having a great time.
Jeremy
Jeremy
yea tom sounds like your havin a good time.....wish i could see europe
God created turbo lag to give V8's a chance.
man... you dont know how jelous i am of your trip..italy is the one place i really want to visit. one day i will but until then i'll just have to look through those pics you took. hope your having fun.
matt
matt