What Happened to March?
March has come and gone. Where the hell it went, I can’t say but it didn’t take very long. Having said all that, it was a VERY BUSY month.
We started off with a firewood cutting weekend at Uncle Willie’s. Now this may sound like a lot of physical labor (and it does include that) but it’s more of a party. I want to say there were 10 of us (plus Willie and Norman) with 4 chainsaws (5 if you count Jeff’s.) The wood cutting went fairly quickly and I think we were done by 1.
Dick stopped by as we were wrapping up lunch and setting out on some serious drinking. He reached in the pouch of his 4-wheeler and produced a bottle of single-barrel bourbon. Let’s just say it got drunk out that day. Shannon was introduced to the 4-wheelers and in a way only she can do, took it like a hog to mud. That led to some serious shenanigans, more drinking, more shenanigans and well, you can imagine where this all ends up.
Somewhere in there Lora sweet-talks Dick into letting her borrow his machine. Dick of course, being a sucker for her brown eyes and sweet smile, combined with the fact that we’re half-way through the bottle of Knob Creek (and 3 boxes of .44Mag ammo) smiles and hands her the keys. An hour later, she’s walking back, covered in sh*t mumbling something about a swamp. Understand this is a 550cc 4x4 4-wheel ATV. They don’t just get stuck all that easily. We got her out all while making jokes (at her expense) and having fun. (Something about boys playing in mud I guess…) The fire continued, the drinking continued, and the fun continued well into the wee hours.
Got back Sunday afternoon in time to catch the race in Atlanta and finish packing. Monday morning we left for Rome. Great time all around. We had the entire center row to ourselves on the way over so we could spread out a bit. Flight was uneventful and seemed to go by quickly. Landed around 0730 Tuesday, worked our way through the trains and were at the hotel by 10. Being off season, the room was ready so we freshened up and headed out. (Mostly to stay awake and push through the jet-lag.) Stopped for lunch and a few beers and then hit St. Peters. Neither of us had ever been there before so it was quite an eye opener. From there we walked down to Castle Saint Angelo and by the time we got out of there it was close to dinner time.
Now dinner in Italy is an event. You start around 8 and finish around 1030. Your average Italian restaurateur fully expects you to sit at the table for several hours chatting and drinking and they serve the meal accordingly. We found this AWESOME little mom-and-pop place across from the hotel; they spoke no English and we no Italian but we managed. The guy has a special every night (4-course, standard Roman fare) and we just ordered that. (Every night except 2.) Appetizer, pasta, entrée, side / desert, liter of water and 1.5 liters house red wine and a heavy tip for € 40. After the second night, we’d walk in the owner would smile, wave and bring the first liter of wine. Didn’t even bother to take our order, just brought out the wine and bread and placed our order in the kitchen for (2) four-course specials! As soon as the first liter was empty, he’d bring a half over. How cool was that???
The food was exceptional and different every night. Not to mention 1/3 of what a similar meal cost at the hotel. Our last night he started bringing out stuff for us to try and in very broken English insisted we come back to Rome so he could cook for us again. I’m in!
We got back to the hotel late, tired and drunk. Perfect way to push through a 6-hour time change!
Wednesday I set out to find a ball cap first thing. (It was raining all day Monday and Tuesday looked to be more of the same.) Of course as soon as I found one (Team Ferrari Formula One Racing) the sun came out but that was fine also. The plan was to go see Fontana de Trevi and begin meandering. Our meandering took us through The Wedding Cake (The Memorial of a Nation I believe is the official term, the locals refer to it as The Wedding Cake) which led us to The Coliseum / Palatine Hill and the Ancient Forum. We met this British lady funding her studies by working as a tour guide. She led us through Palatine Hill / The Forum and agreed to take us through the Vatican Museum Thursday.
Not sure if I mentioned this, but if you take any form of public transportation (bus, trolley, or subway) in Rome, get off at any location and walk for precisely 15 minutes in any direction, you wind up at The Pantheon. No shit, we stumbled across it purely by accident, took a few photos and sat down for a cigar and a bottle of wine there at the far end of the Piazza de la Rotunda.
Thursday was the Vatican Museum. Fe (short for Felicity, she prefers Fe) was an outstanding guide. She knows more about Rome and the history behind the artwork in that museum than I’d ever hope to comprehend. She gave us the Readers Digest Condensed Version of the tour and then left us to our own devices. I think if I were to do it all over again, I’d take 2 days there with a day or two in between. Entirely too much to take in a day. (I can only look at so much art at one time before it becomes sensory overload.) The Picture Hall by itself is enough to spend an entire day in. Anyway, we got kicked out at closing time. I sent my XO an e-mail stating the Swiss Guard asked us to leave The Vatican. Then I waited 30 minutes before I sent the next saying “oh by the way, it was closing time and they asked everyone to leave.” I figured that was just enough time for him to shit himself!!!
Friday found us back at The Vatican (again.) We had scheduled a tour of the Necropolis below St. Peters. This place was discovered in 1939 when they were digging a grave for some pope. It took them 30 years to complete the excavation and perform the analysis before the Pope was willing to announce they had indeed found St. Peter’s grave and identified his remains. These days you have to write the Vatican and request the privilege of the tour and wait. They allow a dozen or so groups through every day, sorted by language and limited to 15 people per group. Really amazing tour, led by seminary students (ours was from Pittsburgh) who seem to be quite knowledgeable. We went through the catacombs first (we got there early) and spent about an hour with Mike (our guide) afterward talking about all sorts of stuff. Leaving there we crossed the Tiber by Saint Angelo, found lunch and back to meandering. Naturally our meandering led us back to The Pantheon and conveniently enough it was time for our evening cigar / bottle of wine.
As we were finishing the wine, and I’m talking to Jonathan on the phone when this man and woman come up, stop directly in front of our table and start drawing hash marks in the ground. I had the phone to Terri and yell On-On! Turns out the Italian Nash Hash is going on and the trail for the Pub Crawl is being pre-laid in front of us. We paid the bill and joined the pub crawl. Talk about Kismet or something! Turns out there are about a dozen or so hashers we’ve known for years there so it was like a hash reunion. Of course the pub crawl when right through our dinner hour, we were already on our third bottle of wine when we started, and let’s just say it got drunk out early that day! Still we had a great time. They invited us out for the rest of the weekend but I had promised no hashing and no motor sports. We did catch up with them on Sunday for the Ides of March Toga Run but I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself.
Saturday morning we started off a bit slow. Must have been something in the air from Friday night or something. Anyhow, the plan was to start at Piazza de Popolo and work towards the Spanish Steps. We did that but there was some kind of political rally at the Piazza so we just zipped straight through. (Caught back up with those sights on Monday.) By the weekend the weather had finally turned and it was a very pleasant 63F and sunny. Perfect weather for walking off a hangover. Somehow we landed at the Capitoline Museum (also on my list of things to go see) and that consumed most of the rest of the day. We got through about 2/3 of it when we were just “Arted Out.” The Toga Run Sunday was going to start at the Circus Maximus and I wanted to see it but with the time to take it in (sans hashers.)
The Circus Maximus is across from Palatine Hill and frankly you need some imagination to picture how it was 1800 years ago. The locals use it for a jogging track / park these days but it’s easy enough to envision chariot races along the track. We picked up a couple of beers and paninis from a food cart guy and sat at the top of the hill, looking out over it all and had a late lunch. Terri asked me what we were doing at that particular spot and my response was “NASCAR! This is the site of the first NASCAR races! I just wondered if they turned left (like they do today) or if they weren’t that advanced!” She failed to see the humour in it.
Sunday we caught up with the hash. They were kind enough to sell us Togas and t-shirts so we fit in (sort of) and had a blast. Call it a ‘down day’ from being a tourist. I think she was ready for a day of hashing anyway. Say what you like about spending a week alone in some exotic place, romantic holidays and all, but I think we’re just hashers at heart! Anyhow it was a good time all around, we got back to the hotel early, another fine dinner surprise and to bed early.
Monday our feet were sore and we utilized the Metro more for our meandering. Started back at the Vatican having realized we missed the climb to the top of the dome at St. Peters. That’s a lot of steps and once inside the actual dome, you are going up stairs and leaning as the ceiling is curving inward. She wasn’t happy about the climb, especially when I reminded her in a week she’d be doing the same thing only with a loaded cooler (Bristol Motor Speedway involves a lot of steps up to our seats…) but once at the Cupola, the view was simply breathtaking and all was forgiven.
From there it was back to Piazza de Popolo, now un-crowded where we stopped for a beer and a cigar. The Santa Maria del Popolo is a beautiful church with several priceless pieces by Bernini within. The chocolate marble in the Chigi Chapel is worth the trip to Italy all by itself. Anyway, the church didn’t reopen until 4 and we had some time to kill. I think you could actually do a day in Rome and only tour churches. Probably 2 days even. Metro’d it down a couple of stops to the Santa Maria de la Vittoria where among other things is the Ecstasy of St. Teresa. Talk about a moving sculpture. Wow! Oh, and the rest of the naves / chapels inside were magnificent. And by the way, the fountains along the way were also breathtaking.
At this point Terri cried uncle. Her feet were not going to take another minute and we headed for the barn. In a week, we saw everything we set out to see and a whole lot more. I think you’d have to move to Rome and then spend a summer just walking around to even get close to taking it all in. We found all sorts of stuff just taking random turns down narrow side streets and alleyways.
Tuesday morning the cab driver never went below 150KPH on the way to the airport. It was like being on a 20 minute ride at Busch Gardens. Crazy. I have to say this though: In a week, I did not see a single person driving and talking on their cell phone at the same time. I think I’ll take crazy over stupid every day.
We got through security and to the gate in near record time. I suppose that’s always the case when you show up 2.5 hours early like you’re supposed to. We shared the flight back with a tour group from some old-folks home or something. Had to be a hundred of them, all in their late 60’s and early 70’s and they were all on the same tour. EEEEK!!! None of them were terribly happy with Rome. I think perhaps at night someone broke into their hotel and switched everyone’s teeth or something. The tour company had them boarding buses (for the airport) at 0330 that morning. Problem there is the airport doesn’t open its doors until 0530. (We left our hotel at 6.)
We got back Tuesday evening; I had a follow-on with the pulmonoligist Wednesday. She reviewed by sleep study and said I snore. (Goes to school 12 years to make that determination!) Oh, yeah and I stop breathing a lot. No sh*t Sherlock; that’s why I came in the first place! So I go back next month for ANOTHER study, this time with the CPAP and they’ll titrate the settings until I sleep through the night. At least I have it scheduled and she tells me that she’ll prescribe the machine (with the appropriate settings) at my follow-on after the next sleep study. So by the end of April I’ll have my machine and should start sleeping much better. Whoo Hoo!
The plan was to leave for Bristol Thursday but we were so wiped we took an extra day to pack / recover. Just as well since the weather up there was terrible Thursday. As it was we got there Friday, it was sunny, warm and we were set up in an hour (moving at a relatively leisurely pace.)
The folks camped next to us were a ton of fun and we promised to camp at the same spot next time. Funny how that happens, you camp with the same mob at the same races year after year. We have friends we see twice annually at Martinsville but it’s like a big reunion every year.
Anyhow, the racing was awesome. Lots of lead changes and lots of excitement. Jimmie dominated early only to have the 2 car (Miller Lite Penske Dodge) come around him on lap 100. The 2 was clearly the class of the field for the rest of the race but with 10 to go on a restart, the 17 spun his tires and blocked the entire inside lane. Jimmie was in row 3 on the outside, got out front quickly and there weren’t enough laps remaining for the 2 to catch up. I was more than happy with that. So in 5 races this year, Jimmie has won 3. Not a bad way to start the season!
The weather was going to turn to shit Sunday night so we packed up before we went into the race. Driving home in the rain beats the crap out of breaking down your tent in the rain the following morning in my book. Got home around midnight to find Hoot and her dog in the house with young Hedgy. Grrr… Anyhow that left Monday for a (relatively) leisurely unpacking and preparation to go back to work.
I sailed Tuesday morning and returned in April. Like I said, where the hell did the month go?
We started off with a firewood cutting weekend at Uncle Willie’s. Now this may sound like a lot of physical labor (and it does include that) but it’s more of a party. I want to say there were 10 of us (plus Willie and Norman) with 4 chainsaws (5 if you count Jeff’s.) The wood cutting went fairly quickly and I think we were done by 1.
Dick stopped by as we were wrapping up lunch and setting out on some serious drinking. He reached in the pouch of his 4-wheeler and produced a bottle of single-barrel bourbon. Let’s just say it got drunk out that day. Shannon was introduced to the 4-wheelers and in a way only she can do, took it like a hog to mud. That led to some serious shenanigans, more drinking, more shenanigans and well, you can imagine where this all ends up.
Somewhere in there Lora sweet-talks Dick into letting her borrow his machine. Dick of course, being a sucker for her brown eyes and sweet smile, combined with the fact that we’re half-way through the bottle of Knob Creek (and 3 boxes of .44Mag ammo) smiles and hands her the keys. An hour later, she’s walking back, covered in sh*t mumbling something about a swamp. Understand this is a 550cc 4x4 4-wheel ATV. They don’t just get stuck all that easily. We got her out all while making jokes (at her expense) and having fun. (Something about boys playing in mud I guess…) The fire continued, the drinking continued, and the fun continued well into the wee hours.
Got back Sunday afternoon in time to catch the race in Atlanta and finish packing. Monday morning we left for Rome. Great time all around. We had the entire center row to ourselves on the way over so we could spread out a bit. Flight was uneventful and seemed to go by quickly. Landed around 0730 Tuesday, worked our way through the trains and were at the hotel by 10. Being off season, the room was ready so we freshened up and headed out. (Mostly to stay awake and push through the jet-lag.) Stopped for lunch and a few beers and then hit St. Peters. Neither of us had ever been there before so it was quite an eye opener. From there we walked down to Castle Saint Angelo and by the time we got out of there it was close to dinner time.
Now dinner in Italy is an event. You start around 8 and finish around 1030. Your average Italian restaurateur fully expects you to sit at the table for several hours chatting and drinking and they serve the meal accordingly. We found this AWESOME little mom-and-pop place across from the hotel; they spoke no English and we no Italian but we managed. The guy has a special every night (4-course, standard Roman fare) and we just ordered that. (Every night except 2.) Appetizer, pasta, entrée, side / desert, liter of water and 1.5 liters house red wine and a heavy tip for € 40. After the second night, we’d walk in the owner would smile, wave and bring the first liter of wine. Didn’t even bother to take our order, just brought out the wine and bread and placed our order in the kitchen for (2) four-course specials! As soon as the first liter was empty, he’d bring a half over. How cool was that???
The food was exceptional and different every night. Not to mention 1/3 of what a similar meal cost at the hotel. Our last night he started bringing out stuff for us to try and in very broken English insisted we come back to Rome so he could cook for us again. I’m in!
We got back to the hotel late, tired and drunk. Perfect way to push through a 6-hour time change!
Wednesday I set out to find a ball cap first thing. (It was raining all day Monday and Tuesday looked to be more of the same.) Of course as soon as I found one (Team Ferrari Formula One Racing) the sun came out but that was fine also. The plan was to go see Fontana de Trevi and begin meandering. Our meandering took us through The Wedding Cake (The Memorial of a Nation I believe is the official term, the locals refer to it as The Wedding Cake) which led us to The Coliseum / Palatine Hill and the Ancient Forum. We met this British lady funding her studies by working as a tour guide. She led us through Palatine Hill / The Forum and agreed to take us through the Vatican Museum Thursday.
Not sure if I mentioned this, but if you take any form of public transportation (bus, trolley, or subway) in Rome, get off at any location and walk for precisely 15 minutes in any direction, you wind up at The Pantheon. No shit, we stumbled across it purely by accident, took a few photos and sat down for a cigar and a bottle of wine there at the far end of the Piazza de la Rotunda.
Thursday was the Vatican Museum. Fe (short for Felicity, she prefers Fe) was an outstanding guide. She knows more about Rome and the history behind the artwork in that museum than I’d ever hope to comprehend. She gave us the Readers Digest Condensed Version of the tour and then left us to our own devices. I think if I were to do it all over again, I’d take 2 days there with a day or two in between. Entirely too much to take in a day. (I can only look at so much art at one time before it becomes sensory overload.) The Picture Hall by itself is enough to spend an entire day in. Anyway, we got kicked out at closing time. I sent my XO an e-mail stating the Swiss Guard asked us to leave The Vatican. Then I waited 30 minutes before I sent the next saying “oh by the way, it was closing time and they asked everyone to leave.” I figured that was just enough time for him to shit himself!!!
Friday found us back at The Vatican (again.) We had scheduled a tour of the Necropolis below St. Peters. This place was discovered in 1939 when they were digging a grave for some pope. It took them 30 years to complete the excavation and perform the analysis before the Pope was willing to announce they had indeed found St. Peter’s grave and identified his remains. These days you have to write the Vatican and request the privilege of the tour and wait. They allow a dozen or so groups through every day, sorted by language and limited to 15 people per group. Really amazing tour, led by seminary students (ours was from Pittsburgh) who seem to be quite knowledgeable. We went through the catacombs first (we got there early) and spent about an hour with Mike (our guide) afterward talking about all sorts of stuff. Leaving there we crossed the Tiber by Saint Angelo, found lunch and back to meandering. Naturally our meandering led us back to The Pantheon and conveniently enough it was time for our evening cigar / bottle of wine.
As we were finishing the wine, and I’m talking to Jonathan on the phone when this man and woman come up, stop directly in front of our table and start drawing hash marks in the ground. I had the phone to Terri and yell On-On! Turns out the Italian Nash Hash is going on and the trail for the Pub Crawl is being pre-laid in front of us. We paid the bill and joined the pub crawl. Talk about Kismet or something! Turns out there are about a dozen or so hashers we’ve known for years there so it was like a hash reunion. Of course the pub crawl when right through our dinner hour, we were already on our third bottle of wine when we started, and let’s just say it got drunk out early that day! Still we had a great time. They invited us out for the rest of the weekend but I had promised no hashing and no motor sports. We did catch up with them on Sunday for the Ides of March Toga Run but I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself.
Saturday morning we started off a bit slow. Must have been something in the air from Friday night or something. Anyhow, the plan was to start at Piazza de Popolo and work towards the Spanish Steps. We did that but there was some kind of political rally at the Piazza so we just zipped straight through. (Caught back up with those sights on Monday.) By the weekend the weather had finally turned and it was a very pleasant 63F and sunny. Perfect weather for walking off a hangover. Somehow we landed at the Capitoline Museum (also on my list of things to go see) and that consumed most of the rest of the day. We got through about 2/3 of it when we were just “Arted Out.” The Toga Run Sunday was going to start at the Circus Maximus and I wanted to see it but with the time to take it in (sans hashers.)
The Circus Maximus is across from Palatine Hill and frankly you need some imagination to picture how it was 1800 years ago. The locals use it for a jogging track / park these days but it’s easy enough to envision chariot races along the track. We picked up a couple of beers and paninis from a food cart guy and sat at the top of the hill, looking out over it all and had a late lunch. Terri asked me what we were doing at that particular spot and my response was “NASCAR! This is the site of the first NASCAR races! I just wondered if they turned left (like they do today) or if they weren’t that advanced!” She failed to see the humour in it.
Sunday we caught up with the hash. They were kind enough to sell us Togas and t-shirts so we fit in (sort of) and had a blast. Call it a ‘down day’ from being a tourist. I think she was ready for a day of hashing anyway. Say what you like about spending a week alone in some exotic place, romantic holidays and all, but I think we’re just hashers at heart! Anyhow it was a good time all around, we got back to the hotel early, another fine dinner surprise and to bed early.
Monday our feet were sore and we utilized the Metro more for our meandering. Started back at the Vatican having realized we missed the climb to the top of the dome at St. Peters. That’s a lot of steps and once inside the actual dome, you are going up stairs and leaning as the ceiling is curving inward. She wasn’t happy about the climb, especially when I reminded her in a week she’d be doing the same thing only with a loaded cooler (Bristol Motor Speedway involves a lot of steps up to our seats…) but once at the Cupola, the view was simply breathtaking and all was forgiven.
From there it was back to Piazza de Popolo, now un-crowded where we stopped for a beer and a cigar. The Santa Maria del Popolo is a beautiful church with several priceless pieces by Bernini within. The chocolate marble in the Chigi Chapel is worth the trip to Italy all by itself. Anyway, the church didn’t reopen until 4 and we had some time to kill. I think you could actually do a day in Rome and only tour churches. Probably 2 days even. Metro’d it down a couple of stops to the Santa Maria de la Vittoria where among other things is the Ecstasy of St. Teresa. Talk about a moving sculpture. Wow! Oh, and the rest of the naves / chapels inside were magnificent. And by the way, the fountains along the way were also breathtaking.
At this point Terri cried uncle. Her feet were not going to take another minute and we headed for the barn. In a week, we saw everything we set out to see and a whole lot more. I think you’d have to move to Rome and then spend a summer just walking around to even get close to taking it all in. We found all sorts of stuff just taking random turns down narrow side streets and alleyways.
Tuesday morning the cab driver never went below 150KPH on the way to the airport. It was like being on a 20 minute ride at Busch Gardens. Crazy. I have to say this though: In a week, I did not see a single person driving and talking on their cell phone at the same time. I think I’ll take crazy over stupid every day.
We got through security and to the gate in near record time. I suppose that’s always the case when you show up 2.5 hours early like you’re supposed to. We shared the flight back with a tour group from some old-folks home or something. Had to be a hundred of them, all in their late 60’s and early 70’s and they were all on the same tour. EEEEK!!! None of them were terribly happy with Rome. I think perhaps at night someone broke into their hotel and switched everyone’s teeth or something. The tour company had them boarding buses (for the airport) at 0330 that morning. Problem there is the airport doesn’t open its doors until 0530. (We left our hotel at 6.)
We got back Tuesday evening; I had a follow-on with the pulmonoligist Wednesday. She reviewed by sleep study and said I snore. (Goes to school 12 years to make that determination!) Oh, yeah and I stop breathing a lot. No sh*t Sherlock; that’s why I came in the first place! So I go back next month for ANOTHER study, this time with the CPAP and they’ll titrate the settings until I sleep through the night. At least I have it scheduled and she tells me that she’ll prescribe the machine (with the appropriate settings) at my follow-on after the next sleep study. So by the end of April I’ll have my machine and should start sleeping much better. Whoo Hoo!
The plan was to leave for Bristol Thursday but we were so wiped we took an extra day to pack / recover. Just as well since the weather up there was terrible Thursday. As it was we got there Friday, it was sunny, warm and we were set up in an hour (moving at a relatively leisurely pace.)
The folks camped next to us were a ton of fun and we promised to camp at the same spot next time. Funny how that happens, you camp with the same mob at the same races year after year. We have friends we see twice annually at Martinsville but it’s like a big reunion every year.
Anyhow, the racing was awesome. Lots of lead changes and lots of excitement. Jimmie dominated early only to have the 2 car (Miller Lite Penske Dodge) come around him on lap 100. The 2 was clearly the class of the field for the rest of the race but with 10 to go on a restart, the 17 spun his tires and blocked the entire inside lane. Jimmie was in row 3 on the outside, got out front quickly and there weren’t enough laps remaining for the 2 to catch up. I was more than happy with that. So in 5 races this year, Jimmie has won 3. Not a bad way to start the season!
The weather was going to turn to shit Sunday night so we packed up before we went into the race. Driving home in the rain beats the crap out of breaking down your tent in the rain the following morning in my book. Got home around midnight to find Hoot and her dog in the house with young Hedgy. Grrr… Anyhow that left Monday for a (relatively) leisurely unpacking and preparation to go back to work.
I sailed Tuesday morning and returned in April. Like I said, where the hell did the month go?
posted by Gopher at 8:27 AM
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