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Published: August 12th 2007
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Welcome back viewers! Due to technical difficulties our last edition from Switzerland entitled " Calling All Bears...Calling All bears " has mysteriously disappeared into the great beyond. Maybe it was the website's error or maybe it was an act of God we just dont know. The important thing is for everyone to remaim calm and help each other through this traumatic event. Anyway life goes on and without further adu I present to you.........
Rome........'Bring on the Lions'.
Our journey begins in the city of Torino which is in the north of Italy. Home of the Winter Olympics in 2000 and something. After touring the cities train station for an hour we were once again back on the railroad heading towards a little village called Villa Nova where we were to meet my Italian friend Alex. As the train sped off towards Villa Nova the sound of raindrops filled the jam packed carriage. Unfortunetly the raindrops were actually peanuts that had decided to flee from megans pocket and explore the floor. Now, where not talking about a mere handful but a near full bag which left us sinking in our seats, giggling like school kids. After filling most of
The dreaded peanut episode
this is after we had filled the ash trays with peanuts the ashtrays on the train we managed to have most of the peanuts under control. As you could imagine two giggling aussies with massive backpacks crawling around on the ground chasing peanuts did not amuse most and our arrival at Villa Nova could not have come any sooner. As the angry Italian filled train sped off we initially thought we had got off at the wrong stop. The tumbleweed and the distinct lack of buildings left us a bit afraid that the next train travelling through these parts may not be back for 6 months or so. Thankfully this was the village of Villa Nova and Alex and his Girlfriend Fiona were waving franticly from the other side of the train tracks. With fake compliments of his village we headed off to the centre of Villa Nova were our hotel was. As the only people staying in the hotel and were treated like royalty. I think maybe it was the sight of paper money that got them so excited. We were invited as guests to attend the village festival which takes place once a year. Within a few hours we had met 3/4 of the population ( which was mostly
Alex's family ). As a man of many talents this was a perfect opportunity to engage my Italian Language skills and impress the elders. For unknown reasons my brain had recalled spanish instead and left most of the locals pointing and slapping me on the back shouting....this is Italy you jackass. Thats what it felt like to me anyway. All in all it was an enjoyable 3 days of village festivities with lots of Lemonchello ( popular italian beverage ) and local cuisine. After spending a few hours saying goodbye to 3/4 of the town we were back on board the train and heading towards Rome. My gladiator memories from a past life we flashing before me and the smell of flesh eating lions filled my nose. I was going home...( in a past life that is ).
The Collaseum - una believable.....which is Italian for unbelievable ( in spanish ), was the best way to describe it. Unfortunetly you could not access the main arena where I was to display some of my gladiator techniques to Megan, which probobly saved people from getting hurt... Grrr!!! After taking a few minutes to calm down we were off to the great
Vatican City to discuss global warming with the Pope. For some reason he must of got the dates we were arriving mixed up and we couldn't chew the fat, however the Vatican kept us amused for some time. After washing spaghetti stains of my shirt with what turned out to be holy water ( oops) we worked our way through the Vatican. Even I felt the hand of God in the Vatican, cleverly disguised as a security guard asking me to take my hat off. You cant fool me God! Luckily Megan had thought ahead and had taken a pair of jeans with her as we had heard they can be a bit picky with dress codes. As it turned out it would have been easier to carry in a nuke than wearing a pair of shorts, which was actually one of the things I wanted to discuss with the Pope. A womans legs is a thing of beauty, skin is not a sin so lets all relax on the covering your body thing. The whole Vatican experience was alright I guess but dissapointing not to see Jebus. Our hostel was cosy and the soothing sounds of our American roommate
snoring like he had 3 noses ensured us of a sound sleep.....not. A wannabee Mexican and some other self absorbed, loud but generally friendly yanks kept us amused during our stay, with questions like - Do you ride Kangaroos to work? and my favourite....Do your police carry boomerangs? The rest of our days in Rome was used exlporing the compact city and its wealth of historical sites and filling our bellies with authentic Italian food whilst gazing upon ancient ruins. Not a bad way to spend your time. Anyway, lookout Liverpool (UK) we have a fresh bag of nuts and we are coming your way. I have a feeling things may get interesting!!!! This is the Lion King ( formerly Bear Whisperer, aka Jrex, otherwise known as Justin ) signing out! Grrrrr
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