Time to catch up!

So many pictures, so little time! It's definitely time to bring the blog up to speed.

Today was phenomenal. I went out with a friend, Rob, to see the Florence soccer team (Fiorentina) play Bayern Munich here in Florence. My ticket was only 22euro (about $28) and it was a great seat! We sat in a section behind the goal and were able to make out the Fiorentina chants because we had singers on either side of us. Forze Viola! Forze Viola! (Purple Force! Purple Force!) was the main chant, repeated to a melody. Fiorentina colors are purple and white. I bought a Fiorentina shirt today representing player Mutu (10) and wore a scarf that was also Fiorentina. Decked out!



The crowd was immense and the stadium was packed.



the crowd behind us and the scoreboard



The game was exciting with Bayern Munich dominating the second half. They played beautifully, despite them being the "enemy". They used the width of the field to make long crosses to line players. Fiorentina seemed to piddle in the middle most often. We were a bit late to the game so we missed the first goal (Fiorentina) but the next goal, by Bayern Munich, was definitely well deserved. Bayern had shot after shot on goal, and Fiorentina wasn't able to regain definite possession of the ball and work it back up the field. The Bayern crowd was insanely devout to their team. Even though they only took up two sections, they didn't stop cheering and chanting the entire game. A short video of their section:

click for video -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQYsu-QYrac

And if you notice, there are tall metal fences around that section. Those are to protect the away team from fighting with the Fiorentina fans and vice versa. Oie vay!

After the game, which was tied 1-1, Rob and I met up with a few of his friends and we all went to a live music bar called Be Bop. The band was called the Taxi Drivers and they were playing songs by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and other popular American bands. The great thing is Italians were really enjoying it in the club! Yay no anti-American music sentiment! Shots from Be Bop:





I talked with the band members after the show and they invited me to come to their next show tomorrow night at another nearby pub. I'm so there!

And also, my final photos from the last blog entry. Mom and I had taken a bus up to Fiesole on November, 1, and spent a good while at JJ Hill Pub, named so because it's on hill (creative I know) and James Joyce use to spend time there. We made great friends with the bartenders Francesco and Georgia. Francesco still had bits of his Halloween costume on:

Mom, Francesco and me

But honestly, contrary to the frightening first appearance via the photo, Francesco was a sweetheart. He even invited me to carve my own pumpkin, and I did!

it's a slightly evil anime pumpkin! woot!

That's all for now, and I believe I'm up to date. I look forward to your comments!! :D

End of a great break

an Italian venus fly trap?

So many things done and seen over the past few days. I didn't have any specific plans for Halloween costume-wise, but I had heard of a comic and games convention in Lucca, Italy. I was surprised to hear it was the biggest of its kind in Italy, attracting around 100,000 visitors to the small, Medieval-walled city. For only a 5euro train ticket each, mom and I headed out there to see what all the fuss was about. We left on October 31, at about 2pm, and the train was packed with others going to same direction. Geeks, gamers, vampires, and people dressed up in fantasy costumes (referred to as 'cosplay'). What a crowd - my kind of people! I went to a similar convention type before I left Georgia called Dragon*Con and Lucca was the same except on a smaller scale. I wanted to strike up conversations with people just like I did at Dragon*Con, but the language barrier still remained. Regardless, the sights made up for it! I bought a 12euro pass that allowed me into all of the exhibition tents. There were tables and tables of Magic the Gathering card players. I was surprised how popular it is here. I was excited to see a set-up of computers to test Warcraft's Wrath of the Lich King expansion that isn't out in stores yet. I happily played with both an 80 priest and an 80 death knight for 30 minutes. The death knight, a new class for Lich King (WotLK), was hilarious. Nothing is more satisfying than carrying around a huge, glowing sword, being able to summon a gargoyle pet to assist you, calling up an army of corpses to battle with you, and then turning into a zombie yourself once you die. Once I was done, I turned around and there was a crowd of 10 Italians watching my screen and chattering away and I could make out "death knight" every so often. I love the gamer community, I truly do. Mom went off to geocache while I explored and took photos of practically everything I came across. Fantastic people watching!

(note: Blogger has changed the way photos display...so hopefully they won't be cropped awkwardly anymore)

a full-fledged LARP/steampunk warrior (LARP stands for Live Action RolePlay - people get together for battles in parks and open spaces and beat at eachother with foam weapons). This guy's armor is basically plastic-glazed foam, so it's actually squishy. Steampunk itself is hard to explain. I only recently learned about it. According to Wikipedia:

""Steampunk fashion" has no set guidelines, but tends to synthesize modern styles as filtered through the Victorian era. This may include gowns, corsets, petticoats and bustles; gentlemen's suits with vests, coats and spats; or even military-inspired garments. Often, steampunk outfits will be accented with a mixture technological and period accessories: timepieces, parasols, goggles and ray guns. Even modern accessories like cell phones or iPods can be found in steampunk outfits, after being modified to give them the appearance of Victorian-made objects. Aspects of steampunk fashion have been anticipated by mainstream high fashion, the Lolita fashion and aristocrat styles, neo-Victorianism, and the romantic goth subculture."

It's a very cool costume theme. I tried on a vendor's steampunk mask:

slightly scary, eh?

There were many costumes from animes (Japanese animation) that I couldn't recognize, but I wanted to post them anyways. Italians in anime costumes are adorable. Talk about a cultural mix.





Italian Pinocchios? I was really confused but also amused

costumes from Final Fantasy

Johnny Depp's Willy Wonka and X-Men's Storm



more to come later tonight! I'm not finished yet :)