TeesaRo

Apologies for the lack of updates, but the drive toward the end of the season is always a crazy one. Epic beach trip to Castiglione della Pescaia happened, and even though it was gorgeous, the only picture I took was of my excellent seafood pizza. Shows where my priorities have turned as of late. There was a return trip to Massa Marittima and a successful entrance into the OPEN archaeological museum. The museum was a total waste of time, however. The whole thing smelled like a bathroom, and there was actually a display on spelunking (spelling?) complete with dummies hanging from the ceiling as if rapelling off the wall. Photos would have been taken, but closed circuit cameras and a grumpy museum front desk person prevented me from doing so. Key: Purchased Italian orange road worker ... read more

Apologies for the lack of blogging, but work has been plenty and sleeping is consuming the majority of my free time. Anyway, this past weekend involved a journey north to see my first real opera, a performance of the Barber of Seville in Verona's Roman Theater. Best possible way to be introduced to opera. The adventure started off right with a stop at the Autogrill near Bologna for lunch. There are many Autogrills in Italy, but the one near Bologna is actually a huge bridge over the entire A1 that runs Rome-Milan. Inside said bridge are three floors of glory: a marketplace, a quick cafe, and a self-serve cafe. I went all-out to the self-serve cafe and ordered what I thought would be a half roasted chicken. What I got was an entire roasted chicken cut ... read more

Greetings from Vescovado. Today is Palio day (the crazy awesome horserace in Siena), and I opted to stay in Vescovado, watch the race on TV from the commy bar, then go to dinner in the next town over after the race. We've had a few torrential rainstorms the past week or so, along with an epic one last night, so much of excavation has consisted of bailing the trenches out from all the rain water. Digging through mud = not fun. Short entry this time, but it's to share a very important link. Our photographer, Tom Lingner, is putting photos of us in action on his website at thomaslingner dot com /pogg2009 A dopo!... read more

Greetings from Florence! Mom and I are having a blast during our whirlwind tour of Italy. So far we had three days in Rome, one in Assisi, and now we're in Florence. Day 1 in Rome included the Colosseum, the Forum, the Palatine Hill, the other Imperial Fora, and the Circus Maximus. I was super confused and probably scared my mom by being utterly incapable of finding an entrance to the Forum. Yeah...last time I was there you totally did not have to pay to get in. Now you do. And that's lame. Day 2 in Rome was a Vatican extravaganza. Of course, in true form, the Vatican extravaganza did not include the Museo Gregoriano Etrusco. This was my sixth trip to the Vatican Museums, and I have yet to see the Etruscan collection. One victory ... read more

In less than 12 hours I will be heading stateside after this month-long adventure in China. Today in Beijing began with a trip to the Yonghegong Tibetan Buddhist Lama temple, the biggest one of its kind in China. I've never seen anything like it in my life, and a Guiness Book of World Records plaque confirms that the major statue of Buddha, measuring 26 meters tall, was carved from a single tree. Because it was inside a temple building, I could not take a photo, but let me say it absolutely floored me. I began my day with a coffee from Starbucks, had the best dim sum of my life for lunch, then walked by the Beijing Hooters, an Outback Steakhouse, a Subway restaurant, and a Cold Stone Creamery. The pockets of Westernization here are surprising, ... read more