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Okay. So I know its been about 5 weeks since I left the States and I that haven’t really posted anything on Florence so I’m going to accelerate this little journal of mine to quickly recap the rest of the weeks leading up to my arrival in Firenze.

We left Rome on July 18th, robbed once, bellies full of pizza, dehydrated from various liquors, and optimistic about the rest of our family vacation. We actually almost got robbed a second time on the train out of the city (When gypsies begin speaking Italian to you without their hand in your face, consider it a sign). We arrived at the seaside after a couple hours of scenic Italian countryside decorated with medieval hill towns, majestic mountain ranges and “I would seriously….for one of those” oceanview villas. The town was called Monterosso, one of the small fishing villages that make up le cinque terre. We spent a day there relaxing in the sun and drinking cold glasses of beer that sweat like a fat kid in a Savannah summer.

Neil Metzgar in 30 years

After rejuvinating in a zenith of relaxation, we headed out for leg two of our Italy tour. We spent the next day touring the gauntlet of Renaissance grandeur which is Firenze (more to come on that place in the near future) and then train-hopped over to Venice to explore the canals of a sinking city. On a strictly aesthetic note, Venice was the most amazing urban city we saw during our holiday. There are few sights in the world that compare with Piazza San Marco. The first glimpse of the companile is powerful and exhilirating like the first time you ever used a water bottle ; ) During those moments of first impression I thought of Scott “Ice” Isley who once said that he felt like crying when he saw the Great Wall of China, it was that stunning. Jo Jo and I capped off our three day tour of Venice with a quick dip in the famous canals. There was a mixed public reception to this decision. ..

why not?

The Gondolier paddlers got a kick out of it and thought it was fine, but the pinky extending hotel clerks thought we would get immediate tape worms. “Its good because there is a hospital nearby.” I thought it was such a good idea. I said to Joe, “I really like swimming annnnnnnndd I really like this city, sooooooo…”–It just made sense.

From Venezia we took a train to southern Italy to catch an overnight ferry to Croatia. The ferry ride was pretty nice discounting the amount of times that Joey and I said, “I’m on a boat.” One notable memory from the ride was watching the sunrise on the deck with a bunch of Asian tourists doing their morning martial arts stretches. That was all fine and well, but there was this one really obnoxious woman whos whole routine was just burping: It was a filthy morning exercise and I couldn’t think of a reason why she didn’t just take a handful of Tums.

Croatia was an absolute blast. We visited the ancient coastal towns of Hvar, Split and Dubrovnik, spending some days relaxing in the sea and some others touring Roman ruins and breathtaking national parks. Hvar and Split each had their own Riviera walkways, which are like Jersey Shore boradwalks bought out by Real Madrid, that were flooded with the energy of young party-people and laced with the smell of sweet lavendar. The Adriatic sea was perfect for days spent swimming in the sun. The water was crisp, cool and salty enough to keep you thirsty all day long. What I liked most about Croatia and the Adriatic coast is that it reminded me so much of The Life Aquatic, my favorite movie. I believe it was shot somewhere in the area. Surrounded by such fantastical beauty and soothing pleasure, I was truly at a pinnacle of peace in Croatia.

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