IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN! (again)

I am currently working my last two gigs here in Portland then Seattle before the excellent adventure... nice to wake up and drink my coffee outside without sweating my shower off. Sitting on a porch looking at a lake... I'll take it!

Europe plans solidified!  Fly into Amsterdam and taking a train to Weert to meet with my gal pal... Plans to skate Area 51 in Eindhoven with the awesome aggressive skater dude I follow online 😮

 [the man himself in action at this joint]

...see Rotterdam with my lovely host.. and I hope to run into ERMA GERD!!! my past teammate who is living over there meow.
Then I fly to Minsk, Belarus! Eastern Europe!!! I really want to get some skating in here.. but mostly visiting my wonderful college pal.. still happy to hear any advice on this place if ya have been.
On to Switzerland for a trip of a lifetime! Skating with a wonderful group around Bodensee and I get to stay at M.F. St. Moritz!! hope I can behave 😹

Last leg Konstanz to Vienna to get some party time in with my past college crew! KÄISERKRINER HOT DAWGS I'M COMING FOR YOUUUUU!

If you would like to casually follow my adventures on Snapchat, add me: Skibitybebop   I have Snapchat Specs just for the occasion! Let me know if you actually want me sending snaps to ya and I will make a group for quick sharing :)

*wiggles uncontrollably*

I will be "Flyon to Europe" again this year after a saving since the moment I returned from my 2015 trip...

This time the main factor of my decision to go is for a roller skate journey through Switzerland with some Houston street skaters (and more skaters from other cities). For anyone that followed this blog on the last journey.. its basically the folks who inspired my trek on wheels through Bavaria. This portion of the trip is being planned out by another party so it will be nice to enjoy what will feel a little like a surprise as I am not pouring over every bit of info as I did planning solo. I very much appreciate the knowledge of the people coordinating. 😇

I am flying in and out of Amsterdam. Starting off in Eindhoven for Area 51 Skate Park.. I want to go to Rotterdam.... Still looking for more ideas.  From there I will fly to Minsk, Belarus to see Eastern Europe and stay with my past college dorm super pal.. insanely excited for this... graduated seven years ago and still have yet to make it to Minsk...  Then I considered visiting Moscow to see another dorm mate... but ya know.... nah. Love my pal, but I'm just not interested. After Minsk I want to hop over to Berlin... and my awesome bud, Bob, has some skater contacts for me to call upon.

I am so wiggly and giddy today as I seek out the different Chicks in Bowls chapters in Zurich and Berlin.... its too soon now but I cannot wait to contact the groups and hopefully get my shred on with em! There truly can be exhilarating skate life after derby. 😌 I am thankful that aggressive quad skating has caught on around the world just as derby did!

I am making this early blog post as an invitation for ideas, recommendations, half-baked ideas that need further research..... ya know... 💫

Salerno

The small town of Salerno.  Thanks for the tip DG! It was perfect!

I skated along the coast in both directions as far as the road would take me without getting on a highway... then went back to the middle, tore off my skates, bought a €1 big ol' beer and headed to the beach.

I'm a crappy photographer...

The first night I had pasta with muscles and tomatoes, YUM!  

Then they brought out this plate of anchovies... I tried it... but NOPE.

Nice marina/mountain view. Photos don't do justice.

hahahaha, yep!

This artist had a number of pieces around... loved this one.

Sat on the beach where I did nothing. And it was everything I thought it could be.

Tunes, beer, a view.... wish it never ended.

5 AM the next morning I headed to the train station to get back to Roma for my flight home.... cryyyyying inside.  The plane was 2 hours late so I missed my Houston plane while standing in the customs line in DC.  I don't need to bring any negativity to this post so I will omit the part about the Don Johnson douche nozzle. He will get his.

Thanks for reading!!!  Someday I may finish my reflections post I started...

Rome

Day 1...Pisa then Rome. relaxed, had a kebab and reflected...

(Full) day 2. Walked for 7 hours and saw a ton! Tomorrow is my last day and I will tour the underground at the Colosseum

St. John Lateran Archbasilica

It is the oldest and ranks first among the five Papal Basilicas of the world

  I wasn't allowed inside due to my shorts and lack of sleeves....

Across the street was the Sancta Scala or Holy Stairs, and the Sancta Sanctorum, previously part of the Lateran Palace and served as the Pope's private chapel.

The Lateran Obelisk is the largest standing ancient Egyptian obelisk in the world, sweet!

Caracalla Metella Quintili... Baths of Caracalla

the second largest Roman public baths built in Rome between AD 212 and 217

These tiles... so tiny and cover such a vast area... amazing!

Tile mosaics 

Still holdin' on...

Big McLarge Huge!

Guard cat on patrol!

Circus Maximus. A place Christians were more likely to have been persecuted for a show (that was NOT the case in the Colosseum)  and also... chariot races! 

Found another invader!!

This is why walking is the best way to see the sites. You don't always miss the small stuff.

Baby havin' a swim.... downstream from the Vatican

Trying to get to the Vatican I went up a wrong street... uphill.. yeesh! So before the trek back down I had a sit in the shade.

Commotion on the bridge.. there was a helicopter circling as well... hmm

Not sure if someone fell or jumped off.  Later that night I had a dream the ado was about a wire, dome bird cage with someone's prized bird in it... sorry, it ded.

St. Peter's Basilica in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican City

I have an awesome panorama but they don't show up on the blog. I'll try to remember to post it in the FB comment section of this post.

Castel Sant'Angelo

Originally a mausoleum then a Papal fortress, residence and prison, and now it is a museum.

Palace of Justice at Piazza Cavour

Tell it, pal!

Day 3: Colloseum backstage tour

Arch of Constantine

WOW!

Our entrance was the exit of the dead.  The floor is a reconstruction (obviously) but the floor used to span the whole arena. It was made of wood and covered with sand to help soak up the blood.  The entry way directly across was the entrance for the gladiators (cue Julius Fučík's piece).  Exotic animals were slain (more exotic the animal, the "better" the sponsor) and there were pulley systems all around the underground in order to hoist them into the arena from unpredictable locations.

This shows the underground.. originally covered with that wood floor aforementioned.

Very tight corridors and not easy to get around. 

I didn't take a lot of photos on this tour but what really amazed me were the huge stones in place.. all held together by pressure and not cement. There must not be any tectonic plates over here... really mind-blowing.... The Colosseum. wow.

In the middle ages it was inhabited by the poor and was a huge shanty town. How awesome would that have been?!

I really loved all of this and I am bummed I was on a tight schedule and didn't have time to wander more after the tour.  Instead I once again hauled ass to the metro, picked up my stored bag, and made my train to Salerno.

Pisa

I stopped at Pisa on my way to Rome and had two hours before my train. So I did what any reasonable skater would do and laced up my skates n blasted off.

I had a beer and a sandwich before checking out the Torre de Pisa.

Skated in the general direction until I saw droves of tourists... found a lot full of buses then followed the crowd, BAM! made it!

Pro-Designed represent!! And RDJV!

Boom! Tower... now gotta go! 

Okay...am I taking crazy pills.... do you stop in the middle of the road when driving to look at your map or do you pull over... same should go for walking, assholes! Like the damn people that stop at the bottom of an escalator to think about what way to go.. MOVE! you are not the only person on the planet. I went as fast as possible safely to get back to the train station.. I was following a bike when a damn woman stops in the middle of the walkable street, with huge available sidewalks, the bike nearly took her out then I rammed the biker.... JESUS! I know I am a tourist too but damn people are stupid! I almost gave her an ear - full but I don't like being made to feel like an ass so I kept my mouth shut and skated onward.  I miss the Netherlands where people understand moving forward... drives me nuts at home too... no need to wait for a complete stop for a pedestrian to pass, just acknowledge you have been spotted by the driver before hauling ass through an intersection... no need to wait for a complete stop for your royal highness to pass.  And suddenly stopping when a skater or biker is heading your direction... i see you, dummy! Thanks for suddenly changing our cruiding trajectory!  Yeesh! I guess i get it as a mobile person...but it seems like simple logic to me... good thing ive get great stopping skills and jammer brain.

I hauled butt, picked up my bag from storage and missed my train by 10 seconds! Paid for reservation down the toilet... so I took a longer train which did not need a reservation to Rome :/ but I made it! Now in a sweet B&B for two nights... two nights in one city is like a vacation hahaha.

Florence

I'm slowing down a bit, or Italy is just so rich with culture, art and history that I don't have much direction anymore. Still beats being in Texas...  but I miss my cat. Second year in a row I am missing tournament season... but I don't really care either... thoughts about derby have about ceased and I am excited to come home to a fresh start. I have work in my future and a new place to live alone...very happy about all of this.

Another day of getting purposefully lost in a new city

Aimlessly wandering and walked into an amazing square! I honestly had no idea David was outside. 

Love this. I believe that is Achilles..but I will be doing a lot of reading when I get home to say the least.

I had to double take on this place to be sure it wasn't a facade.... mind blowing beauty! 

Meanwhile in the USA.... everything sucks ass hahaha  to put it simply, things made in Europe are built to last while things in the US are made to break. We will be the reason Earth turns into a garbage planet 3 million years from now....

I made a friend! It was nice to wander around the city at night with someone sweet to talk to. We went to a park and watched some great music.. again... at home nothing works out like this... cops shutting down fun, large groups in public places are patrolled and broken up... looking for an oportunity to write tickets for open containers and pissing in public.. I guess that's why all my fun like that happens mobile on roller skates. 

When I get Peapo home she will be depressed to not have nature to romp around in daily... and I will be depressed that I live in the US..