Cannes Is Pronounced like a Coke Can. Not Kahn.

We woke at 5 am, and by we I mean, my apartment decided and by my apartment I mean my roommate mother Camile decided that we should wake at 5 in order to be down stairs by 7. While yes some people need two our to prepare for an academy award, but not three average Americans, of intern quality needed to be that ready for breakfast. I can already tell, Camile is going to get on my nerves. She is "miss prepared" but "miss unprepared" when it comes to social interactions and appropriate behavior. Luckily I had plenty of time to get ready. We made it down stairs with our paper wear (technically it was supposed to be with glass wear in our kitchenette, because apparently the American Pavilion: the program I am interning with, is going green!) only to find out that our paper-ware (my roommate bought, "so we would not have to worry about breaking or doing the dishes") was not necessary at all because croissants and fruit do not require much ware weather dish or paper, at all. I am not allowing myself to eat any (not one) croissant, so it looks like I am sticking to fruit. After breakfast we met at the pool side to meet with our mentor groups. My mentor, blonde and peppy, Laina Rose from Austin Texas, was quite the interesting mentor. She seems really dumb but if she were really that dumb she wouldn't be here, so I must have some faith. She took us to the English University down the street where we met up with the rest of group in an auditorium for our "Welcome to Cannes" speech. This Wednesday starts the actual festival but until then we are having speakers, lectures and round tables. I sat in front of these extremely pompous student filmmakers ( in my same program), as they handed out their business cards, talking smart film talk. And their tactics for this and that. It made me so nervous, but shabang I could have busted out my business card, all 250 of them to be exact, if I really wanted to. I tried my very best not to fall asleep, while Water Harris, the student coordinator chatted our ears off with his feminine pizzaz. I found out that the Walter Harris, student program manager is a fashion photographer and a well known make-up artist. Who knew, I thought he was going to be a short fat brown haired danny devito but no he is a grey haired gay make up artist from Louisiana, who studied agriculture. After the meeting we met back up with our mentor groups for a tour of Cannes. We are staying a good thirty minute walk outside the actual festival, so by the time we got into town, we were all extremely hungry. This whole french bagget business is not helping my supposed Florentine detox session. In the afternoon we took a full walk around the facilities and become acquainted with the town and indeed we walked a lot. We met the group at the steps of the Debussy stairs to get our golden accreditation badges. Aka the badge to a happy life if lost, death is what one gets. We have to wear this badge where ever we go, basically we were told to sleep in it. First the first time I actually have a half decent picture on a photo identification badge. This afternoon amongst the sun and glisten waters we hopped aboard a ferry to a small monk island off the coast of Cannes, where surprise suprise Monks live in monasteries and make wine and honey. Who knew Monks lived on Islands in the south of France? As all first days of any program, it was a wee bit unorganized and due to girls needing to use the restroom on the main land, the group was spilt up and we ended up waiting for a good tour hours from them arrive. We finally climbed up an old castle to play the name game (naturally) We, all 131 of us had to say our names and something interesting about ourselves. Obviously I had to go 2nd and was totally unprepared with something witty and fancy like "I did this" or "I met that", so instead I told everyone my name pronounced backwards was Nosilla. LAME. I regret every moment of it. We went around the entire castle learning this and that about this person and that person but had to rush to leave or else we would be stranded on an island with monks for the night. Meh, that wouldn't be so bad now would it? We grabbed dinner at a stand. We being my friends from terminal 2. Yes, I get two marks on my panini counter for the day. We sat along a ledge over looking the beach and watched surfers and sipped wine and brew. I met a really interesting 17 year old French boy, that was recruited for the program because of one of his films he made. Truly inspiring. We walked home and then it was bed time for bonzo's, tomorrow lends itself to another very early.

may 11 in france, the southern part, in cannes to be exact.

Do the Can, Can, Cannes.

I hopped aboard the 7:51 train to Genova and fell right asleep. I arrived in Genova around 1:30 but my next train wasn't until 2:55. I sat outside in the sun to think and read. 30 minutes before my next departure, a lady her and her son frantically sat next to me and for some reason I decided to try to be helpful and listen to them. From what I could tell, this lady her and her son were trying to text someone in France. Obviously she spoke French and obviously I don't speak a drop of it. Instead of saying I am sorry I can't help you, I did what my father would be so proud of and offered my assistance (Jews call it a mitzvah) and told her I would send the text on my phone. They were so grateful and what was a few euro to me, at least I could help them. It wasn't an issue until I received 3 phones calls and 1 text message with two words that I could actually understand "call the police". Terrified I deleted the text message and hoped that they made it to France okay. I made it to Nice around 4:30 but needed to find an ATM. An hour later, with money in my wallet, I made it on the bus to the Nice Airport. It literally took me 10 people to communicate with to find 1 ATM. The program had arranged to meet me and the other students at the airport. I finally met the one and only Walter Harris that so graciously let me on the program, along with 15 other students whom I became extremely close with in a matter of minutes that eventually turned into hours. Apparently the group waiting at the airport had just missed the last shuttle into town and we were all going to have to wait until 7 for the next shuttle. We played the name game and bonded over waiting. We united as a team and became the Terminal 2 friends. Finally at 7:30 we made it on to bus only to find out that would have to wait another hour for the kids at terminal 1 to get on the bus. 5 hours later, we were on our way to Cannes. We lugged our luggage across the street to our apartments. I was assigned to Room 661, key code GAL. Exhausted and half terrified for what I had gotten myself into, I made it to my room to meet and greet my roommates. Although Walter had told me numerous times on the phone that the apartments did not have a maid service, he neglected to say that they were similar to cabins in a cruise ship for crew members. Obviously being the last to arrive, I was given the top bunk in the small narrow room. Tiffany, Stephanie and Camile (my new roomates) and I grabbed a bite to eat and headed to the beach for a walk with the moon and sea. The hotel is 35 minute walk outside the actual Cannes film festival but it's gloriously located right on the beach. From our patio, I can see the sea, I can smell the smell. I walked around the city with a group of people, met up with my new Terminal 2 friends but then realized that I had no interest in getting drunk and obnoxious on the first night. Not that I ever really have any interest in doing any of those things ever. It is sure going to be interesting coming here after living up the life in Florence, experiencing the European life style for quite sometime now. It was very apparent that a lot of the kids on the program were a. a lot younger than me b. thought it was amazing how they could just buy alcohol on the streets. I don't blame them, it was weird my first weekend but it was hard to have fun with those type of people. I headed back to the hotel, washed up and unpacked a little before going to bed. My roommate Camile is crazy. This is first time out of the country, out of her state, and she is completely and utterly OCD. She brought more drugs, more band-aids, more toilet paper and hand towels than one can ever imagine. Oh man this is going to be interesting. Good night ocean.

post from the 10th of may

Final Friday Feeling Fabulous in Florence.

My post from yesterday only made it until 10:30 in morning but wowza yesterday was quite a long day. I had a mini panic attack about leaving yesterday. I finally found a dress to wear on the red carpet with shoes in all. Last night we were going to go to our favorite mexican restaurant but were turned away and instead headed to a little Italian restaurant down the street. I took the night to relax while the girls went out. I woke up relatively early this morning to do a final load of laundry. For my program in Cannes, they recommended that we bring business cards with us. So last night I spent a majority of the evening designing my claim to fame. Luckily there was a print shop in town that could make my cards for me, but unfortunately the smallest quantity they could print was 250. So an hour after bringing in my file, I walked out with 250 business cards. Who wants a business card? I met the girls at the San Lorenzo market so I could introduce them to the worlds most delicious panino. You got it, Gusto Panino. GUUUSTTO PANNINNO (gorilla thats for you!) We took our panini's to Bobobli and baked in the bobobli. Its just gorgeous. We sat in a new spot that I had never been before, that over looks the entire city. I peaced out of the park around 4 to do some last minute shopping. I finally found the one and only Firenze shirt, I had been eyeing all semester (they just didn't have my size) I purchased my last few gifts, bought some fresh new undies. Because our reservation wasn't until later, my stomach was starting to rumble, I picked up appetizers at the Centro. Tomato, mozzarella, walnuts and pears was just what we need on this fine final friday in florence. We had reservations at 9:00 for one of my favorite restaurants in Flo Yo. El Gatto. It has the worlds best balsamic vinegar and bread. It was an easy choice for my last night here. We chitted and chatted the night away. I headed home to pack up and organize my life. The girls made their way out and I had spa night with a hot shower and a much needed mani and petti, I spent the remainder of my evening watching Sex and The City. Bed time for me. Goodnight Florence. Good night world.

post from the 9th of may in the last day me, the allison blogenberg will be blogging from florence in this year. i love you florence. will you marry me?

When In Rome.

In a mad panic, I woke up to Sara's alarm singing a sweet tune. I am so glad that I told Sara to also set her alarm because for some reason my phone was set for an hour earlier than it really was so when I went to set my alarm last night I a. forgot to change the time on my phone and b. set my alarm for 5:30. I managed to drag my over-weight, over packed, about to explode bags down two flights of stairs, through a rotating gate, into a cab in Florence, on to a train in Florence heading southbound toward Rome and then into another cab in Rome. This many not seem like that hard of a task considering I was a cab or train 90 percent of the time, but have you ever tried to carry not just one but two body bags (stuffed with multiple bodies) through the Rome train station. Thats what I thought. I was originally supposed to bring my luggage down to Rome tomorrow but I received an URGENT email from the lady who was helping me, that tomorrow there is going to be an "all transportation" strike through out Italy, which means no trains, no buses, no taxi's, no nothing. They even cancel school because the little Italian chillin can't get there. I successfully made it on my 6:40 train, arriving at the train station 30 minutes before departure. Now that the Gorilla is gone, I decided that I can not participate in Gorilla and sidekick adventures, like running to the train station 4 or 5 minutes for take off. Without the Gorilla, it is just not the same. I had to take a taxi from the train station in Rome to the JDC office. I always manage to choose the wrong cab, and by wrong I mean I always choose a cab driver that is extremely creepy. But now that I think about it, it isn't me, all Italian men are creepy. Paolo seemed like a nice guy. He asked me where I was from (all cab drivers love to do that) and then he asked me what my name is, I confessed. And then he asked if the place that I was going to was an apartment or hotel. I told him it was a business. For some reason he interpreted my response as me being a business person. I tried to tell him that I was a student studying in Florence but for reason he seemed to ignore that part of my story and kept asking me what kind of business I was in. I again dropped that I was a student studying art but then he asked how long I have been doing business and how long my meeting was today. I ended up caving into his questions and told him that I had been doing business for three years (hey, being a student is like being a full time business person, you just don't make any money) He then asked again how long my meeting was, I told him that I wasn't sure, probably an hour. I thought it would most likely take an hour for me to drag with sweat and pain my luggage up to the JDC office. He then proceeded to tell me that he was going to give me his cell phone number that I could call him after. I being the naive American girl, thought "oh, he wants to take me back to the train station, how nice" but no no no, but no, he told me that he wanted to take me to coffee and show the real side of Rome. All along he had this scheming plan. I threw up in my mouth and swallowed and didn't say anything until we arrived at the office. 22 euros later, I realized that I truly a. hate Italian men b. taxi's are ridiculous, we were only driving for 10 minutes. Not to mention, I think he ripped me off because he didn't have one of those typical meters, and I am pretty sure he just made up a number. I met with the two wonderful women that would be storing my bag and then headed back to the train station, however this time, the 1 euro underground ticket to the train station was a much better idea. No creeps. No damage to the bank account. I am not sitting on the train taking in the glorious country side. I just realized this is my last train ride in Italy. How how I love thee. I am sitting across from a man, 35,40 if had to guess from the grey hair, discolored, angled coffee teeth and dirty brown jacket. I thought he was American because his cell kept ringing and he was speaking English but the call would never connect. I again being the nice, naive American girl thought I might lend him my phone. I can only think of the number of times when I have desperately needed to borrow some ones cell phone because mine was dead or wasn't working. He declined but then with the decline came the questions. He is from Quiat, living in Rome. I haven't been able to figure him out yet but here are the following clues he has given me and I quote: "I was suspended from my job for 10 days so I have been taking it easy", and "I am so tired, I have been going out every night the past three nights. I am not used to the clubs" and "Have you met any Italian men?" and "You Americans are so different from Italians. We use text messaging like you use e-mail or instant messaging (whatever that means). A text message is a like a confession of love, it can get pretty intimate if you know what I mean." And just a second ago he just asked me if I didn't mind he put his head phones on. Maybe he thinks we are on a date. I still have an hour and a half to go. What to do, what to do. Yes, please put your head phones on and I will do the same. I am just going to continue typing, pretending that I am very into what ever I am doing on my computer. Blogging is pretty intense. The Gorilla calls me Allison Blogenberg. As for the rest of my day. I should be back in Florence around 11:30 and then I have a lot to do before heading to Cannes on Saturday. I finally found a "red carpet" dress. We were informed that we would possibly have the chance to attend one red carpet event, and I wouldn't want to be unprepared. I found a pretty cute dress at Zara for only 39.00 euro and I say only because for Florence, that ain't too shabby. I still need to do a couple of things around town, send out a million more emails, finish packing. Tomorrow I hope to enjoy my day, not stuck inside being an internet freak. Well I am off to take a nap. 5:30 wake equals 10:30 narco narco on the train. Ciao Ciao!

may 8, 2008. 8 8 8 8 8

Planning To Become a Greek Goddess.

I slept in until 11:00 today not knowing that I had slept in until 11. Last night was a quite an adventure and when you get stuck in a club until 4:30 am, it is only appropriate to sleep in. I headed straight to the art school to get all of my nitty gritty things done before my departure on Saturday. I had a "planned" my trip to Greece, I just hadn't booked it. I am not even sure if what I had planned is the right thing to plan but I guess you never know until you get there. So as of now (unless Quintin Tarintino decides that he needs to me stay on to be an intern for him for the summer and then maybe these plans will change) After Cannes, I will be heading to Paris for two nights before making my way to Greece to meet the Packster of all Packs (not the besty best but the next down the line in the Pack sibling lineage) Andrea and I will spend two days in Athens and then we will set sail to Mykonos for two days, and then we will hop on over to Santorini for three days. Now I just need to get a hold of Andrea to let her know of our plans. Surprises are always good. After I become a Greek Godness, I will come back to my motherland (well at least kinda close) to Rome for a day and alas, I will be in Israel with the family. I can't wait to be with everyone. I pretty much spent 90% of the day up at the art school figuring this stuff out. I will say it and I will say it. I WILL NEVER BE A TRAVEL AGENT. Check me off the list! I headed over to Paul and Jordan's to pack up my stuff that I am going to take to Rome because I found out that I am going to have to take my stuff to Rome tomorrow and not Friday. For dinner we were going to go to Tijawana for a night of Mexican delight but were turned town. No reservation means, no Mexican food. Italian was our only other option. Starving and cranky we went a restaurant that people have recommended but on a scale of one to delushusness. I would give it a so-so, meh-meh. I attempted to watch some of Love Actually with the girls tonight but had to call it quits because I could hardly keep my head and eyes up. Goodnight Moon.

May 7, 2008. on a wednesday. thats right.

Stuck. Literally.

I spent a majority of the day still in mourning for my lost Gorilla. I headed to the art school to do more Greek planning. I met up with Shelby and Erica for some after noon shopping. If was making my way to Cannes, to the one and only Cannes film festival, it was important to be dressed properly for the red carpet. Yes the red carpet baby. I walked out of Zara empty handed and headed back to the art school for more internet fun. It is hard to be in this city without my apartment, without my Gorilla, but man do I love it here. This is my city. Put your hands up for my city. I love this city. Tonight, for my semi final dinner, we all gathered at Il Latini for another night of stuffed stomachs and delicious laughs. Jordan and Paul joined, me, sara, jess and shelby for dinner of delight. I have become a master of eating at Il Latini, three times a charm, and I was successfully able to not eat to much that my stomach muffin toppled over my jeans. We headed back to the girls apartment to change and prepare for the game of the Grand Opening of Central Park's new summer patio. I never thought that I would allow myself to go back there after last times Nile River disaster, but Erica convinced me that the new patio would lead to no water, and no sketchy men. I believed her and followed her to the Central park fortress of wonder and doom. At 3:30, after way too much dancing, Erica and I were ready to go home. For some reason, Erica and Sara know every club promoter, so they called them prior to our arrival to ensure that we would be able to get in free. Well, their little friends must have forgotten in the 4 hours that we were there they had made this little deal because when we tried to leave they wouldn't let us exit until we had turned in our card. I am sure I have explained this whole "card" process before but just to remind you, the clubs in Florence give you cards when you enter and instead of paying for drinks on the spot, they punch your card and when you exit you pay the entrance fee, and your drink free. Well, when the club promoter escorted us in, he did not give us a card. I am weirdly very good at remembering to keep on to my card. I am normally not responsible for those kinds of things but I have special spot in my wallet that I place it so I won't lose it. My point is, that if I were given a card, I would have kept it but I was never given a card and the bouncers at the door did not seem to understand that. They pushed Erica and I away and would not let us leave. Almost an hour later, with 99 percent of the people gone, and the lights on, we ended up having to pay 50 euro total (25 each). Extremely pissed, and really far from home, Erica and I couldn't find a cab. At one point a man in a car pulled up and offered us a ride and we were going to take it but then saw that a cab was pulling up. Erica said at one point she was sitting in a car-seat. I am sure my mother is having a heart attack, but I only speak the truth. At a quarter to 5 we made it home safe and sound. Luckily there will be no more opportunities for central park madness. Good night world.

May 6th two thousand eats.

A Tribute To The Gorilla.

I call her a Gorilla because she is a Gorilla
She eats really fast cause she got a czecki bill ya.
Her arms make a clap clap, her feet smell like vinegar
She has explosive ass and she loves it when I pester her

She is aggressive and I am passive
She doesn't fit in her bed, the gorilla she is massive
She loves gummies, diet coke and crack balls
The kick back and face plant are her most infamous falls

She tells me I snore and refuses to admit that she love cheese
He favorite words: Anna's, peach tea, fragola and kiwi please.
I gave her her favorite scare and put the first mark on her shoes
She says she ain't religious but she loves all the jews.

She is my Gorilla and I am her sidekick.

The Most Depressing Day Ever.

Well maybe thats not true. I was pretty depressed when Heath Ledger died, but nothing could equal the pain and sorrow of the Gorilla departing from her beloved sidekick. Alas, the Gorilla and Sidekick stories ended to today. This blog will not be the same without her, Florence will not be the same without her. We woke up very earlier from a grimy beds in order to get our last minute important/must do Florentine favorites before the Gorilla departed. Number one on our list, Anna's. But because Anna's isn't open at 8:00 in the morning, we decided to move down to our number 2 item on the list- dried fruit. I tried dried peaches today and they were delightful. Then we headed to Anna's. For the record. This was the last time the Gorilla and I would be eating Anna's so we had to do what was necessary to for our taste buds and souls. I told the Gorilla that I couldn't go to Anna's with out her. It is our place and I wouldn't be caught dead with any other person there, so we ordered 3 sandwiches. One for each of us and then one to split. There have been way too many times where we have left Anna's wishing for another but we never actually did it and today we wanted to be so stuffed from Anna's that we would never want another (clearly we would always want another but the final memory of Anna's had to be one so gratifying and powerful) Indeed it was. We were too embarased to tell Anna that we were going to be eating them at 10:00 in the morning so we asked for them to saying that they "were for later". We rushed home so fast and down our Anna's. Our whole theory about getting 3 sandwiches was brilliant. The Gorilla called a cab for 10:15 and then we dragged her stuff down the stairs and with in a matter of minutes (or what seemed like seconds, even mili seconds) she was gone. Just like that. I was a mess and cried for a good 20 minutes by myself in Jordan and Pauls sick nasty apartment. Italy also cried for the loss of the Gorilla. It rained a good part of the day, so I decided to stay in and catch up on life aka become a blogging master. I am almost a month behind in posting (although I have all the entries, I have had to write them in my journal while I have been traveling, so it takes a lot longer) 5 hours went by, and before I knew it was 5:30. Erica and Sara returned from Croatia today, so I headed over to their clean and delightful apartment with all my stuff (well thats a lie, I only brought over the stuff I was going to be needing for the week because it would be too much of a hassle to bring everything) We went to Aqua Al Due for dinner and then I crashed on their couch watching mean girls.

post from may the 5th, the day the gorilla departed her sidekick. the day the world will never forget. in the year 2008.

The Gorilla's Last Day: Final Tales of Gorilla and Sidekick.

We didn't realize this but we some how managed to sleep in. Sleeping in until 10, is considered extremely late for the me and the Gorilla. I am still not sure how we even managed to sleep last night and that we are still alive this morning with out diseases.
Jordan and Paul's beds are disgusting. First off, Paul doesn't even sleep with a bottom or top sheet. From the Gorilla's morbid reactions, I don't think he has washed his pillow since he arrived in Florence 4 months ago. I lucked out that Jordan's bed actually had a bottom sheet but the feeling of the comforter reminded me of those awful days of sleeping in Disney sleeping bags, not being able to sleep because my toenails would get stuck in it. Imagine that feeling but with pimples on top. In the middle of the night, I ended up putting a towel on top of me and below me because I couldn't handle it anymore. I was so desperate, the towel was wet. Bottom line: Gross. Because it was Sunday, Anna's was not opened, so we decided to head to Gusto Panino and then to the Boboli for some final story time reading. Gusto was gusta-licious, as always! They were doing construction our favorite patch of grass in the Boboli, so we moved into a hidden fortress of flowers and weeds. For a while we were the only people in our secret nook. We laid out on the Gorilla's newly purchased Italian flag, with pride indeed. I read to the Gorilla while she made me a crown made of flowers and grass. Together, like princesses, we sat and laughed and watched two little Italian girls play a made up game while their grandmother chuckled on a bench. It was beautiful! Around five, the sun started to come down, and we were rather tired. We slowly made our way back to our neck of the woods. A final romantic dinner was in store for us tonight. We sat outside at Za's Za's and dipped our bread in oil and vinegar, sipped wine and reminisced about the best days of our lives. We headed back to the apartment after our dinner delight so the Gorilla could pack up her belongings and I attempted to clean the boys apartment. I just couldn't handle it anymore. It made me sick. I found the most interesting and disgusting things in their living room. We figured out how to work the internet, so the Gorilla and I sat, like we usually do when the sun goes down and she figured out her plans for tomorrow and I figured out mine for the future. For life. Before we knew it, it was bed time for bonzo's. The sidekick set her head on her pillow. The Gorilla followed. The sidekick giggled and the Gorilla followed. Together the children giggled in their grimy beds. But the children were happy. The children were happy together. The sidekick said goodnight to her Gorilla for the last time and the Gorilla gave her goodnight praises. The two children closed their eyes with a sad and happy smile up on their faces. Their dreams consisted of their finest memories they had shared together. They could have slept for years with all of the memories they had to remember. Goodnight Gorilla. Goodnight sidekick.

post from the fourth of may in saddest day of year, the departure of the gorilla eve, in the year 2008 in the best cittay ever.

The WEINY Ride.

I woke up to a screaming and shaking Gorilla. "Allison it is 6:00, Allison its 6:00" Our trains leaves in 30 minutes, We're not going to make it" I jumped out of my bed, didn't change my clothes, didn't brush my teeth, and if Alexander-Supertramp had woken up to see the madness, he would have seen the Gorilla completely naked. She literally Gorilla jumped out of her pj's into her clothes. I just stayed in pj's. We raced down stairs. The check out man could see we were in a hurry and jumped off his stool and said "oh well be better check you out as fast as we can" (in the cutest little austrian accent) We hailed a cab in the middle of street and made our way to the train station. What would a Gorilla and sidekick trip be with a good ol' run for our last adventure of the semester. This one was pretty good. We made the train and waited only 5 minutes to hear the captain inform us that the food cart was open. Dying of thirst with red eyes at 6:40 in the morning, we proudly ordered water, coca cola light, apple juice and a croissant. We thought we deserved the liquid treatment after our rush. On our last train ride we discovered how to make the chairs into beds, so ditched the Indiana dork with knitting lisps whom we were originally assigned to sit next to and found ourselves an empty cart. Pull and pull, sleep and sleep. Of course I had no problem going to sleep. With the room filed with feet and farts, I crashed and burned. My eyes literally burned. I went in and out of sleep for almost 4 hours. Around 11:30, I decided I couldn't sleep anymore and the Gorilla and I played gin. Whatever she may tell you, I am the master of gin. She may try to make you keep track in this half stupid (mostly stupid and illogical way). Make sure to tell her she is stupid and to bug off. Thank you come again. We finally made it to Venice around 1:30. We had to transfer in Venice and we were going to take the earlier train but realized that we didn't want to have to deal with the chance of getting kicked off again. Instead, we did what we, Gorilla and sidekick do best, and EAT. We had over an hour to kill, so we walked across the street to dine and literally whine for lunch. What restaurant remains open after they have run out of over 75% of the items on their menu. Well, the one across from the trains station in Meastre Venice seems to. If I was a food critic I would shut that place down. By the time we got our table we were starving so we immediately devoured the bread, not realizing that they didn't have anything on the menu that seemed remotely interesting or delicious. On the Gorilla's (second to last) day, pasta with red sauce was the last thing I wanted her and I to eat but it was too late to walk after the bread was gone. Disgusted with lunch we made our way back to the train station and the Gorilla read to me while we waited for our train to Firenze. Take me home tonight. It is going to be extremely weird going back to Florence and not being able to walk up three flights of stairs to the Animal House on Via Dei Ginori. Tonight we are staying at Paul and Jordan's. We left our luggage there last week and from the looks of the apartment last week, it hadn't been cleaned in 3 weeks. I sure hope they tried to clean it a little bit. We are going to head to Gusto Panino for dinner and then friends bar to use the internet. I am exhausted but so excited to be back in the motherland. Tomorrow lends itself to a big day of final Gorilla and sidekick adventures. After tomorrow, the tales of Gorilla and sidekick end. What will the sidekick be without her Gorilla?

post from the 3 of may in the year two thousand, somewhere between austria and italy.