Paolo Does Europe - Sept. 2

I rolled out of Genova this morning and met this cool dude Christian (pictured far left, ordering the goods).

Christian is 30 and also Italian-American. We met at the bus stop outside the hostel at 7 a.m. and realized that we were both going to Cinque Terra. He speaks excellent Italian and basically got me here to Monterosso, the northern-most city of the Cinque Terra.

We ditched the shitty hostels and are splitting a double room in a hotel called Souvenir right off the main drag and two minutes from the public beach -- and that's right where we headed after dropping our luggage. This place is paradise. The end.

Christian and I had "appertizi" or Italian happy hour and scored a couple bottles of wine from a local named Benjamin. The wine was very tasty and now I'm a little tipsy and my penmanship sucks.

Our first dinner in Monterosso was um... interesting. We went out with some other Americans we met at our hotel. The actual food was great. I had a black pasta made of squid with prawns. Everyone else enjoyed their meals, too. But dude, these other Americans were assholes. They spoke plain English and made no attempts to try translations. They complained about their trip and really only wanted to get drunk. Do that at your frats, dumbshits.

One guy in particular was a real pessimist and probably gets off on telling young children that Santa isn't real. The other downer was that our dinner was quite expensive because we didn't understand that we were ordering two servings of several dishes and were therefore double-charged. I believe this happened in part because our company were such dicks to the waitstaff.

After dinner, we all went to the wine shop and I got a great bottle of a local D.O.C. 2002 Rosso for half off, approximately $15E. We took our drinks down to a "beach party" which consisted of a lot of techno-mixed American music, teens and a constant strobe light. Ek.

Upon talking more to the other Americans, I discovered that a lot of people traveling are in their late 20s to early 30s. It surprised me at first, but makes sense because they actually have the means to travel for an extended period of time.

I met a couple of 18-year-old English girls. God I love those accents. They had an odd obsession with American clothing, especially Abercrombie and Fitch? As I speak to more Europeans I realize they have no idea where Seattle is, don't know Washington is a state and think California is the entire West Coast. My thoughts are becoming sloppy and random now, which must means it's time to retire from this writing business for the evening.

After recovering from 8 hours (7 p.m. to 3 a.m.) of Halo 3 cooperative game play and a quick stop for the premiere of the new Matchstick Productions ski film "Seven Sunny Days," I headed out to Capitol Hill to celebrate Courtney's birthday at Havana.

Having a laugh with Walker.

Deer in headlights.

Yes, that actually is Katrine! Christmas card potential if my eyes weren't drunk?

More photos are at Scott's Photobucket album.

I'm heading out to Vince's Italian Restaurant's Rainier Beach location tonight to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the local restaurant chain founded by my paternal grandfather (pictured above). Read below what Ra Scion of Common Market (also husband of my cousin, Mariangela) had to say about all the anniversary hoopla. This editorial was originally posted at MasslineMedia.com and is republished with permission.

FUCK greg nickels, for real. somebody tell this bucket-head to regain his focus on downtown gridlock and leave the nightclub management to meinert. and if i see construction of one more condo complex, i’mma turn this bitch into bellevue and start topplin’ cranes.

every once in a while, the dude gets it right, though. take, for example, his recent proclamation of september as “Vince’s Italian Restaurant Pizzeria Month;” a bold, gutsy, bi-partisan declaration that will undoubtedly stand as his most noteworthy accomplishment of his entire mayoral tenure. good on ya, greg!!

many of you already be knowin’ that Vince’s is family oriented – and i’m not talkin’ about the bambino pasta option on the connect-the-dots menu. i mean real family. blood; thicker than san pellegrino, but slightly thinner (and a few shades darker) than that delicious marinara.

Vince Mottola Sr. (pronounced “MO-tuh-luh,” not “mu-TOE-luh,” you knuckleheads), founder of your favorite eatin’ spots in rainier beach, burien, and renton highlands, is wifey’s maternal grandfather. i had a chance to meet this man on my first-ever visit to seattle in January of ’97, on the eve of that MONSTER snow storm, at the former queen anne location (currently peso’s). i was ushered first-class to “the back room” and introduced to “nono,” who graciously extended a hand with three full-length fingers and a couple of nubs, which, i was told later were the result of a “cooking accident.” i never questioned the explanation, at least not openly, and i never got a chance to see him again before he passed away the following year.

Vince came to amurka in ’54 directly from napoli (naples is in florida, dummy). with the skill and knowledge he’d gained from working in the catering business back home, he set out to open up a restaurant in the rainier valley – known at the time as “garlic gulch.” the first Vince’s opened up in 1957 at othello and empire way, and even though the original spot made way for some snazzy duplexes (whattup, my dude?) they’re still holding down the folks around the beach to this day.

do the math, genius – it’s FIFTY YEARS of pizza and pasta, and we’re callin’ for a celebration, bitches (edit)! come out to the restaurant sunday night (8824 renton ave south – 6pm) and i’ll personally deliver your pollo marsalla – plus i’ll introduce you to my “nona,” who will sing and dance for you, then kiss you on the mouth. it’s a family affair, family!

I’ll save a spot for you next to nickels…

RA

My sincerest congratulations go out to my longtime friend and focuspoint lead singer/guitarist Chris Watson and his wife Allie. Now let me introduce you to Tristan Gabriel Watson...

You might recall my proclamation about diving into the murky pools of online dating. Jeanna asked in a recent comment, “Totally off the subject, but are you still online dating?” and I figured that answer deserved its own post. I realize now I haven’t given an update recently.

I imagine, Jeanna, you’re referring to the fact that my profile is no longer up on The Stranger personals. Well, I took my profile off when I went to Europe because I knew I'd be unresponsive anyway.

Basically, I've met some nice girls online, but...

• Nice girls = friends
• Hot girls = girlfriends

I have too many of the former (which is why I started this madness) and haven't met or discovered any of the later online. Sure, I've had success in meeting people, getting responses, etc., but I'm not meeting the physical quality of girls I was hoping for. God intended for me to date models, and I must do His willing.

I think I'm going to stick to the old adage of meeting girls in person because it's just a waste going out with girls I'm compatible with on paper but no so much in person.

Clearly, God intended for physical attraction to come first in the act of courting. That's why Eve appeared to Adam naked. Now I must ask God's forgiveness for forsaking His plan and trying to covet thy neighbor online.

During my pilgrimage to Italy, I met an astounding number of beautiful women with relative ease and came to the revelation that:

1. Women overseas are very approachable (and attractive).
2. Women here are generally not as approachable (or attractive) in comparison.

Thus, unless I hop abroad for some extended period of time, I intend to tap the great confidence I gained in my interactions overseas to be more bold in approaching women here. I may or may not repost my profile, but I doubt I'll spend much time skimming through profiles or updating my own. Rather, I'll be out at a local pub or concert, and you can find me talking to the tall, hot blonde in the corner.