silly me
i didn’t go to sleep til 2 last night
started playing with the iPod
putting more of the music i wanted on it
but i had to drain the battery first
so i played the videos of me and my italian friend.. and my friend in WV
… i came twice
eventually
got to sleep
woke up around 8 something
my inner thighs so sore..
spring is coming!
i’ve been preparing for it
inadvertently
all this yoga in the saunas
that’s the part of the saunas that’s been really good for me
but damn
when i start doing yoga and haven’t for a while
it makes me So sore…
so my inner thighs hurt
i lay in bed
belly to the mattress
opening my thighs as wide as a can
feeling the stretch
Leo and i talk a bit
shower
head down for breakfast..
compared to the german breakfast we had yesterday in Munich
i’m severely dissapointed
well yes, this hotel is one of those soulless hotels
it’s a gaudy sham
but also
in italy
there is no whole wheat bread..
that’d be poor, right?
ugh
so it’s all this white bread
and sweet stuff
i have yogurt and granola
i have two prunes
a bite of cheese cake, which is way too sweet
some eggs of unnatural orange colour
and some meats and cheeses
— italy and their hard cheeses
s’ok.
i don’t eat much
i go back to the room while Leo’s still eating and drinking coffee
lay on the bed a moment
then start packing
when Leo gets back
i decide to take my computer out to that hot spot i found last night just a block away
send/recieve email
and post my journal entries
it’s a beautiful day
sunny
and in contrast to last night
this corner is bustling
there’s people everywhere
so i’m crouched on the sidewalk trying to get all the data moved
no one hassles me
and people stare at me all the time anyway
i go to head back to the hotel
and notice banks..
strange about these banks..
they’ve all got double doors
you can go through one
then it locks before you’re allowed to go through the other
some sort of crime prevention
but it matters naught:
they won’t change money there
so back to the hotel
we check out
and leave our luggage
head out into the city.
i walked around Bologna a few times back in 2002
— it’s a beautiful city
i fell in love with the statue of Neptune in the main square
.. i remember fantasizing about him and doing masturbation rituals with him
ah, Neptune, my ideal lover
endlessly old
strong as the ocean
infinitely huge
that thick grey beard
and eyes like Nayland’s
eyes to drown in…
we walk through the old gallery streets
everything ancient and gorgeous
everything dilapidated
everything beautiful
beautiful.
we go in some churches, of course
and it’s hard to take pictures of things
everything so close..
find a gellateria
but it’s not amazing like that one Niccola took me to those years ago
where is that one?
this one’s OK
some lemon, some chocolate
OK
not amazing.
we go by the huge palace
we go to the main square
my heart bursts to see Neptune
and i take 15 minutes taking a million pictures of him
too bad
high-noon, full sun
i won’t be able to get his softness in his strength
too much contrast
not the magic hour
Leo waiting on me
jealous of my love for this old deity…
we walk around the old cathedral, which is closed for reservation
we walk through old squares
heading back to the station
both of us tired
approaching the old city tower
huge
looming over everything..
how does anything in Italy survive?
how come it all looks like it’s on the brink of crumbling?
we sit and have a slice of pizza
well, i do
about € … but excellent
black currant juice
yeah
simple
back to the hotel
to the train station
i gotta pee
you gotta pay here
but as i go to pay
a guy leaving holds the gate for me so i can go in for free
the WC manager is angry about that
so i go back out and pay
fine
get to the train
get on the train
my seat is stacked with luggage
i remove it
and build a wall with it
nesting into my corner
no plugs here..
oh, one behind my seat!
but it’s broken.
fine
ride.
battery on the camera is nearly dead
battery on the computer is nearly dead
but hey
the iPod is charged
be arriving in Rome in about a half hour
then another 30 minute lay over
then 45 minutes to Civitavecchia
with about an hour before our Ferry leaves for Barcelona.
today is a hazy day
as we were leaving Bologna
the clear sunny sky closed
and it’s got heavier as we’ve ridden down
haze
so i’m seeing some of the suburbs
the old houses
the farm houses
fields
hills
but it doesn’t compare to the Alps..
if i lived in europe
i would live near the Alps
Switzerland… Southern Germany.. hey, maybe Austria
great place to visit other places from
here we are
heading down
—————————/
the ride out to Civitavecchia was alright
but we were both very tired
Leo would point out things to me
ruins
St. Paul’s… or was it Peter’s?
my eyes sleepy
worn out
washed out
i listened to music and let the scenery roll by
we were late
but of course the train-ticket-controller didn’t know how long, pointed at our ticket time
when would we arrive?
we got up at the right time
stood in the gang for 15 minutes
as the ocean came into view
and rolled by.
at the station
we saw nothing clear about getting to the Ferry
so we asked a Taxi driver
: 3Kms. €.
Ok.
his son was… developmentally different than “normal”?
very excited we spoke english
he asked us a few times
but didn’t speak it.
the short ride to the port
as we drove through the docks
a beautiful neptune face i would have liked to have capture
and the million sailors
oh, i was panting
simple enough
checked in
found our boat
walking through the cargo trucks
not-user-friendly
obviously more of its money is on the shipping end…
but the boat was like a fucking cruise ship
huge
fancy
silly
it was filled with about 800 20-somethings
kinda scary
chubby guy sitting at a casio near the bar
playing video-game approximations of popular tunes
occasionally barking a few words to the lyrics in his microphone
trip
had some beer
watched the men
wondered how i could be a lot lizard with these truckers?
the “driver’s club”, a special room for them to hang out in…
walking back near the door
everything smelled like gasoline
but they just sat in there
some alone
some together
some talking
some just staring off
Leo and i had dinner
battling through the mercury retrograde fog
laughing through it better this time
then
hey
off to bed, i guess
but i wasn’t really ready for slep
though so tired
and after 22:00
i sat and played with the computer
the room we were staying in
oh yeah
it’s a 4 bed cabin
two beds a few feet off the floor
singles
the other two
folded into the walls
when we first got there
we were the only ones
wondered if we’d be the whole ride
but later
we saw someone else’s bag
this last time we walked back in
there was a man in bed
in big red pajamas
his big dark trucker’s hands
he asked us if we were drivers
his cute chubby italian face
marriage band
dark curly hair
big big red pajamas
oh
so i lay underneath him
and came
that was nice
then worked on my web page a while
and figured
around 23:30
that i should have one more spin around the ship
the cheesy loung had turned into a dance party
of course
the driver’s club had turned into an office for some corporate convention geeks
the casino was still busy
well
alright
back to bed
kiss Leo
who was having trouble sleeping, i guess
lay in bed
the whole ship humming
swaying slightly
surfing over the fishes
sleeping
i’ve always wanted to be a sailor…
this will be the longest time i’ve ever spent on a boat:
20 hours.