Day 34- Car Troubles

I wish I never bought a bike.  First I bought the bike for 130 Euros, plus helmet was 150 Euros.  This was exactly 9 days ago.  In the last 9 days...

Bought bike- 150 Euros
Bike Impounded by Polizzioti- 80 Euros
Retrieve bike from impound- 60 Euros
Buy new lock- 8 Euros
Bike stolen...

I lock my bike outside my apartment in a line with 10 other bikes.  I go outside this morning, and it's just not there.  Not there.  Everyone else's bike is there, and mine just isn't.  I have no idea what happened, and realistically I will probably never get an answer.

I am out 300 Euros ($450) for a bike that I can not even ride, because I dont have it.  I can not ride it for the rest of the semester.  And at the end of the semester I can't even sell it back for 60 Euros.

I wish I never bought the bike.  I thought that staying calm and moving past the 140 Euro fines in Siena was difficult and a test of mental strength. Now I realize that I was just warming up.  But I am okay with it now and I am moving on, for the second time.. But this time without a bike.  All within 9 stupid days.

Day 33- The San Gimignano Trip

Hello Everyone,

These past few weeks have been really crazy.  This one thing in particular that I have been chasing has consumed much of my time and mental energy.

However, now that my part is complete, I will continue more frequent blogging.  Not everyday, but more often.

The video you are about to see is the video from my incredibly long bike trip to San Gimignano with CJ.  It was much farther and more mountainous than expected.  But like you might assume, we perservered.

This is a link to the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7Bih5898kc

Day 25- Potentially Paris

Day 21- The Paris Report

I finally got back from Paris at approximately 7am this morning. And after having been up for 5 hours in the Bologna train station, then having 5 hours of class today, I am exhausted.

I am going to attempt to post tomorrow a decent montagé of my trip to Paris, France.

And for anyone who was worried about me, I appreciate it, and I am fine.

Day 16- Paris Preparation

Hello Everyone.

I am leaving for Paris tomorrow. I have not yet decided whether or not I will bring my laptop.  So I may be out of touch for the weekend,  Or maybe I'll use an internet cafe.

I'll make sure to have some good videos.

My Destination

Day 13- Tailgate Chili

Day 12-The Hills Of Tuscany

Day 11- La Torre Leaning

Friday a young man spent the afternoon in Pisa. He never returned...

And then he returned....

Here is his story.

Ignore this.

Day 10- Sloppy Thursdays

Today has been a clean day.  And I realize Wednesday was the first official day there was no post.

Tomorrow I'm preparing for a 45 km bike to San Gimigano southwest of Firenze.

Pro's:
Awesome, I love biking, San gimigano would be awesome, I love challenges. etc.

Con's:
I have not found somebody I really want to go with yet, which means I might have to bike myself, No place to stay.

Not sure what I will do yet.

San Gimigano is a medieval town southwest of florence and off the tourist track.  

Day 8- Unrest In Cairo

As political unrest continues growing and the storm continues heating up in Cairo...... Florence remains strongly unaffected.

I however felt personally affected.  While I am glad that Mubarak has agreed to not run again for office in September, I am not satisfied.  With millions of Egyptians on my side, I have decided to do a thing that a man in my situation finds himself needing to do.

Yes.... I'm going to Paris.  I just booked my trip for next weekend.  I have a bit of a crazy itinerary which i'll tell you about tomorrow, but I'm going. Don't know where I'm staying yet, but I'm going.  I'm taking one for the team.

Day 7- The Funny Thing About Italian Cooking

 I'm still not sure if i'm going to gain weight, or lose weight here.
                              
                                        
Gain Weight                                           
The food is so good, so it's easy to eat a lot      
 AKA, I eat a lot


Lose Weight
Food is expensive-So I find my self eating less- to save money

 I walk sooooo much.  I've walked at least 50 Miles  since I've been here.
    
No Elevators, A lot of stairs. I'm a stairmaster

The funny thing about being in Italy is that you can just throw anything into a pan with pasta and call it an authentic Italian Meal.  

"Ohhh we've got some pasta some sausage some tomatoes some garlic and red pepper. " "Your such a good cook Josh"

You may notice my frequent use of the garlic and red pepper. It's currently the only seasoning I own.