in

Paolo Does Europe - Sept. 7

Check the big one off the list. I have seen Roma. I stuck to the beaten path for the most part. The first night I got here very late and but scored a one bedroom with a bathroom for only $40E. That's my first and probably last night with my own bathroom on this trip.

I got up early yesterday and saw the Colosseum, ruins and all the big fountains, piazzas and museums. I came back to the hostel in the afternoon to sleep. Then I headed back out to the Spanish Steps to read a little Harry Potter and grab dinner. Upon spending a long time at the English section of the train station bookstore, I decided re-reading "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" was in my best entertainment interest.

This city is overwhelming -- so much to see.

Today I slept in a little and went to the Vatican. St. Peter's Square was super-cool -- all those angels overlooking the square and all. While I went on a photo spree inside the church, an old man approached me and started telling me all about the church history and how pagans have no respect when they only use churches for sleeping. He was interesting to listen to, but, after I sensed senile, I jetted to get in line to climb the dome. Not really worth the time. St. Peter's church is more impressive from the ground in my opinion.

Then I went to the tombs of the popes. Very neat. I had a moment at John Paul II's tomb and was really moved by all the people there praying and crying.

I grabbed some food and then came back to crash. I had a hard time waking up but managed to head down for some pizza and caught the subway back to the Colosseum to take some night photos. That's my thing: taking a subway somewhere and then using my map to find my way back at night. Safe, huh?

Off to Napoli (HOME!!!) tomorrow morning. I'd like to close by saying, "I like how they serve domestic beers in 20 oz bottles - it's so much more efficient."

Editor's note: Because I took so many great pictures in Rome, I created a slideshow to fit them all in this post. Enjoy.

in

Did I not ask you people if anything major happened while I was in Italy? Did I not?

All of you failed to tell me that Jenna Fischer (of 'The Office') is back on the market. After all I do for you people -- providing mostly pointless news and personal tidbits... And no one can tell me that my TV crush is single? What a slap in the face. I'd really be angry if it wasn't for this being such good news and Jenna's radiant beauty.

Like Picasso had his blue phase, I'm in my blonde phase right now, but Jenna, I'll make an exception for you. You know how to contact me on MySpace.

in

This year's Crazy Man of '07 award goes to Danny!

As many of you know, Danny is the drummer in Seattle's best hard rock band, focuspoint, and my former roommate. He also is just plain crazy.

To the left is a self-portrait by Danny, taken during his nearly 3,000-mile roundtrip to Arizona and back on his motorcycle. Even crazier: Danny rode the whole trip alone. Not only is this wild, it's stupid and unsafe, which makes Danny crazy.

Here's his route:

And he made the trip to hang out with crazy goons like these:

Congrats on the award, Danny. You're crazy.

in

Paolo Does Europe - Sept. 6

Right now, I'm sitting at the lawn in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Just another day in the life, you know?

First off, the fucker does lean. Secondly, it's really not as big as I thought. A greater sight than the Tower and its adjoining cathedral is the spectacle of people posing to "hold the Tower" in a picture.

Families and friends are literally yelling at each other in their native tongues for the right placement for the oh-so-original picture. Afterall, no one else has such a picture, unless you cound the hundreds I've seen already today, and every other tourist since.

I have a bit of a wait before my turn to climb the Tower, so I'm wasting time now soaking in sun and eating gelato. I have become a pro at gelato. Tre gusti = 3 flavors. I usually order fragola (strawberry), limone (lemon) and pesca (peach). I would learn Italian a hell of a lot faster if the end goal of the communication was always gelato. Now more Pisa pictures...

Next: Rome...