johnpace
Nov 30, 00, 10:03 pm
Eight and counting, that's how many days are left until 24 HOURS IN ROME, my latest in a series of high speed tours of the greatest cities in the world.
Last February, it was London, where I left on a Friday night and returned on Sunday afternoon, saw the entire city (on foot) watched two West End musicals (Mamma Mia was awesome!), had a marvelous dinner, (God, I love to eat!) and then stayed up and watched the "telly" till I collapsed. Up at 7:00 am, breakfast with a 6'8" African woman (that was weird), 3 hours at the National Gallery (what a museum!) then took the tube to Heathrow and back in Newark before my wife even realized I was gone. It was my first trip to London and definitely not my last. I ended up going back three weeks later.
Then in November, it was Munich. The following week it was Paris. Now, here I am, a week later and I'm getting ready to take off again. I must be one warped dude. But then YOU must be one warped dude (or dudette) for reading this. :-)
I've been in front of my computer all day. Doing research on the many sights that the Eternal City has to offer. I was there once before, many years ago. I think I was fifteen or so. I remember seeing the Pope. He drove around in his cool POPE-MOBILE. I wonder if I'll see a Pope again. Not the Pope I saw last time. He's dead.
I need to find a room downtown, somewhere right in the heart of the city, someplace within walking distance of everything. JOHNPACE loves to walk. In London, I stayed right smack dab in the middle of Leicester Square. Talk about being up close to the action! Yes, I must find a hotel near everything. This will help me see the entire city in a day. Laugh if you will, but I CAN and WILL do it. I have no choice. I only have 24 hours. Less if I observe the getting to airport 2 hours before departure rule.
Maybe I don't need a hotel this time. Maybe I'll just walk around all day and party all night. F that! I'm 40-something years old. I'm getting a hotel room. Something with a Jacuzzi. I love those Jacuzzi's. Maybe, I'll meet a young Sofia Loren look-alike on the Spanish Steps and I'll take her back to the room and we'll take a Jacuzzi together. Maybe a little candlelight, perhaps a little of that Italian vino...on second thought...I don't think so. She's probably a hooker and a male one at that and I'll probably wake up at 2 in the afternoon with wicked headache, my passport, cash and wallet gone wondering how the heck I'm going get back to New York. I think I'll just stick to the sight seeing and a bowl or two of pasta. Perhaps I'll go to one of those little tourist traps and buy a miniature Coliseum or Apian Way. Do they make miniature Apian Ways?
I'm flying in front of the plane this time. Just got my confirmed seating in BF. One of those big, leathery, almost folds out into a bed, Business First seats. CONFIRMED! Perhaps I'll be sitting next to a young Sofia Loren look-alike, and we'll share a blanket across the ...HEY!!! What the heck is wrong with me? I can't stop thinking about Sophia Loren. As soon as I finish this post I'm throwing away my VHS copy of Boy on a Dolphin. I think I've seen that film just one too many times.
Warm roasted nuts. They always give you those delicious warm roasted nuts before dinner. I love those warm roasted nuts.
Steak or the chilled entree? Hmmmm. Think I'll go for the steak. If I wanted a chilled entree, I would sit in the back of the plane next to Marge and Fred Perkins of Davenport, Iowa and the rest of those Midwest goobers and eat that cold coach crap served in plastic and aluminum. Me, I'm up in front, with my own concierge eating off of a real plate. With an actual knife and fork. Imagine that. I'm giving back 40,000 hard earned miles to sit in a on a plane for 7 hours and eat a big fat juicy steak with REAL black truffles off of a REAL plate with REAL utensils.
Man...ain't life great!!!
Okay folks, I'm seriously gotten off track here. Forgive me. I tend to wander a bit. Chalk it up to many hours of serious recreational drug use during the 70's. I lived in So Cal back then and if I wasn't on a surfboard or a skateboard, I was in a parked car with 3 other dudes sucking on a huge bowl of Vietnamese Sensimillia. Now THOSE were the days.
All right, back to my story, ROME in 24, or was it 24 in ROME? See, brain cells have disappeared since I started this post. Man, they are just snap, crackle and popping away. Remind me never to do an Amsterdam 24. THAT, would be the end of me.
Speaking of the end of me. Folks, I'm gonna stop here for today. I'll pick up next week with all the lovely details of my adventure in Roma. Until then...
Arrivaderci!
PS Don't forget to vote for whether of not I make it back alive.
[This message has been edited by johnpace (edited 11-30-2000).]
Last February, it was London, where I left on a Friday night and returned on Sunday afternoon, saw the entire city (on foot) watched two West End musicals (Mamma Mia was awesome!), had a marvelous dinner, (God, I love to eat!) and then stayed up and watched the "telly" till I collapsed. Up at 7:00 am, breakfast with a 6'8" African woman (that was weird), 3 hours at the National Gallery (what a museum!) then took the tube to Heathrow and back in Newark before my wife even realized I was gone. It was my first trip to London and definitely not my last. I ended up going back three weeks later.
Then in November, it was Munich. The following week it was Paris. Now, here I am, a week later and I'm getting ready to take off again. I must be one warped dude. But then YOU must be one warped dude (or dudette) for reading this. :-)
I've been in front of my computer all day. Doing research on the many sights that the Eternal City has to offer. I was there once before, many years ago. I think I was fifteen or so. I remember seeing the Pope. He drove around in his cool POPE-MOBILE. I wonder if I'll see a Pope again. Not the Pope I saw last time. He's dead.
I need to find a room downtown, somewhere right in the heart of the city, someplace within walking distance of everything. JOHNPACE loves to walk. In London, I stayed right smack dab in the middle of Leicester Square. Talk about being up close to the action! Yes, I must find a hotel near everything. This will help me see the entire city in a day. Laugh if you will, but I CAN and WILL do it. I have no choice. I only have 24 hours. Less if I observe the getting to airport 2 hours before departure rule.
Maybe I don't need a hotel this time. Maybe I'll just walk around all day and party all night. F that! I'm 40-something years old. I'm getting a hotel room. Something with a Jacuzzi. I love those Jacuzzi's. Maybe, I'll meet a young Sofia Loren look-alike on the Spanish Steps and I'll take her back to the room and we'll take a Jacuzzi together. Maybe a little candlelight, perhaps a little of that Italian vino...on second thought...I don't think so. She's probably a hooker and a male one at that and I'll probably wake up at 2 in the afternoon with wicked headache, my passport, cash and wallet gone wondering how the heck I'm going get back to New York. I think I'll just stick to the sight seeing and a bowl or two of pasta. Perhaps I'll go to one of those little tourist traps and buy a miniature Coliseum or Apian Way. Do they make miniature Apian Ways?
I'm flying in front of the plane this time. Just got my confirmed seating in BF. One of those big, leathery, almost folds out into a bed, Business First seats. CONFIRMED! Perhaps I'll be sitting next to a young Sofia Loren look-alike, and we'll share a blanket across the ...HEY!!! What the heck is wrong with me? I can't stop thinking about Sophia Loren. As soon as I finish this post I'm throwing away my VHS copy of Boy on a Dolphin. I think I've seen that film just one too many times.
Warm roasted nuts. They always give you those delicious warm roasted nuts before dinner. I love those warm roasted nuts.
Steak or the chilled entree? Hmmmm. Think I'll go for the steak. If I wanted a chilled entree, I would sit in the back of the plane next to Marge and Fred Perkins of Davenport, Iowa and the rest of those Midwest goobers and eat that cold coach crap served in plastic and aluminum. Me, I'm up in front, with my own concierge eating off of a real plate. With an actual knife and fork. Imagine that. I'm giving back 40,000 hard earned miles to sit in a on a plane for 7 hours and eat a big fat juicy steak with REAL black truffles off of a REAL plate with REAL utensils.
Man...ain't life great!!!
Okay folks, I'm seriously gotten off track here. Forgive me. I tend to wander a bit. Chalk it up to many hours of serious recreational drug use during the 70's. I lived in So Cal back then and if I wasn't on a surfboard or a skateboard, I was in a parked car with 3 other dudes sucking on a huge bowl of Vietnamese Sensimillia. Now THOSE were the days.
All right, back to my story, ROME in 24, or was it 24 in ROME? See, brain cells have disappeared since I started this post. Man, they are just snap, crackle and popping away. Remind me never to do an Amsterdam 24. THAT, would be the end of me.
Speaking of the end of me. Folks, I'm gonna stop here for today. I'll pick up next week with all the lovely details of my adventure in Roma. Until then...
Arrivaderci!
PS Don't forget to vote for whether of not I make it back alive.
[This message has been edited by johnpace (edited 11-30-2000).]