Typing away in Lucen, Switzerland with an update about our day in Venice on Sunday.
I thought Venice would be a quiet, classy, romantic place. Instead, it felt more like Times Square than my image of Italy, as it was bustling with thousands of tourists milling about a maze of shops. I had to at least buy something, so now I'm the proud owner of a $300 black-and-gray typical Eurotrash jacket, one of those short F-1 racing-looking things that I'll probably wear twice. I'll have to post pics of me modeling it.
Once the tour buses starting leaving in the late afternoon and evening, it was easier to breathe, and I got a better sense of the place's attraction. We piled the maximum six people into a gondola ride, but at $150 for 45 minutes, as quoted to one American, it's gotta to be, to some, as unsettling as relaxing. A lot of the guys in the group were unimpressed with the place. Even though some of the buildings were absolutely rotting - not to mention the mild stench from the water - I did kinda like Venice. You gotta be in a shopping mood, with breaks for coffee and lunch. Would I take a new bride there for a honeymoon? No fucking way. Unless that's where Alyssa Milano really wants to go. But wouldn't we instead go to Milano?
Afterward, we headed back to our hotel in Noale, where the next-door nightclub was closed, the hotel bar was closed, the fucking town was closed. It was 9:30 p.m. and I had absolutely nothing to do. I walked as far from the hotel as I could and still feel safe, and I don't even think I could have gotten arrested in that town. This was made easier by the fact that I could barely stand up after a 15-hour day of buses, ferries and walking around. So I finished the baseball/business book Moneyball (review to come) and got some well-needed sleep before today's 6:30 a.m. wake-up call.
I just got off a Swiss mountain that produced amazing pictures. Tonight, a booze cruise and clubbing awaits. And then it's off to Paris tomorrow.
PK Welcome Back to the USA Party.
Monday, May 10, 7 pm.
"Paul's Choice" Drink Specials all night.
At:
Bar 44 @ Overlook Lounge, E. 44th Street between Second and Third Aves.
PK will be in some kind of souvenier t-shirt, I'm sure. Slide Show to follow.
Posted by kevin at May 3, 2004 3:12 PM