Things older than you can imagine

When I first decided to actually go through with the Blur / London trip it was just going to be a few days, a week tops. Just enough to get there, take an easy day of rest with the Saturday after the shows to recover and flying out that Sunday. Then Oasis put some shows at Wembley on sale for the following week and the trip was fluffed out to nearly two weeks. Having been to London too many times to count and had the whirlwind stop at nearly every tourist stop for photos in 2006 with the Gilbeys I didn't need to really stay in town the whole time. I contemplated heading down to Brighton or hiding out in one of the country estate hotels but both are things that I had done before. I wanted to go somewhere new and several options were being considered. The Giants Causeway in Ireland, Paris, Rome and Madrid were all in the mix. The cost to get to all of these destinations for a few days was relatively the same and in the end I decided on Rome. I've traveled throughout Europe but Italy was someplace I had never made it to so naturally I had to go. Armed with just a spotty knowledge of the city by what can only be described as a marginally poor choice for a guide book I was on my way.

Landing in Rome after 10 PM is probably not the best way to start a journey but it was one of the cheaper flights out of Heathrow and I didn't want to have to catch the dreaded 10 AM flight the morning after the second Blur show. The airport at Rome is rather sparse, sort of surprising for an international airport for a city with so many visitors, you don't run into any airport personnel apart from the shuttle bus driver from the plane to the terminal until you hit the customs agent. My spotty guidebook did tell me about the train into the central station and my hotel was within walking distance. I stopped by an ATM on the train platform and express tickets in hand I was on my way. 

The airport train in Rome is just a train, its not specially outfitted for taking people to and from the airport so there is a bit of wrestling that had to be done with the big brown case to get it up and down the stairs into the car. 20 minutes later we arrived at the central station, pitch black outside, no station staff to guide any of us and blistering hot at near 11 pm we all headed towards the first door we saw. I knew my hotel was not far but I wasn't up for dragging the case through the streets and possibly getting lost. The traditional taxi stand was at the opposite end of the giant station but there were plenty of gypsy cabs lined up. I picked the one with the biggest trunk that would fit my case and told him I was going less than a mile and I was willing to give him 10 euros. You can't just get in the car without negotiating a price ahead of time, you'll end up with an unwanted tour of the city and a crazy driver demanding all your cash. Arriving at the hotel I was more than pleased with my room, a roomy bathroom with a big shower, air conditioning and my own private terrace! The wi-fi service was out of order but with the thermometer up over 100 and high humidity the air conditioning more than made up for this. I was starving and popped around the corner for a slice of pizza and a beer to take back to the room. I sat out on the terrace and enjoyed the night air that was finally cooling off and listened to the sound of the singing waiters from the restaurant on the corner. It was a late night but I was happy to finally be done with traveling for the day and looking forward to the next few days.

Thanks to my ongoing love affair with central air conditioning I had a late start to my first day in Rome.  I walked over to the station and bought a ticket for one of those open top bus tours.  I had never taken one of those buses before and really enjoyed it.  I'm curious about the one in LA now.  My only task that day was to attend Sunday service at the Vatican, the bus had a stop at St Peters and it was just a short walk to where public services are held.  It was pretty amazing, I'm by no means a devout catholic but this was pretty impressive.  No pictures are allowed during the service but it is spectacular enough that I didn't really catch much of the service but I did go along with the crowd for the appropriate standing and kneeling, latin mass so not sure what was going on.  

I'm glad I went and then stopped by a cafe near the square to get some food and enjoy a bit of the afternoon sun before getting back on the bus.  I stayed on the bus for the next loop listening to the tour and thinking about what to do the next day.  I knew Sunday wouldn't be as busy as weekdays but I wasn't expecting the mass amounts of crowds I was about to face the next day.  After the bus tour finished it was off to the market at the station to pick up some water and dinner.  I ate my food out on the terrace again and listened to the sound of scooters just buzzing around.  You can hear them everywhere there are THOUSANDS everywhere you look, parked along every street, corner, crowded around piazzas and tucked in between Smart cars.  The Smart cars were pretty funny, sometimes you'd see them backed up the curb rather than pulled alongside of the curb, pretty smart for a fast getaway - sometimes I wish I could do that with the Echo!

It was so hot on Monday it was hard not to want to just head back to the hotel but I soldiered on, what was the point of coming all this way if I was just going to hide out in the hotel?  Besides the wi-fi and TV had gone out at that point!  I hopped back on the bus and hit some places I thought would be slightly cooler to visit, maybe places with lots of marble and water.  First stop before the extreme heat of the day was the Forum.  How can a coliseum that old still be standing??  The line to get in was huge so I didn't get to go inside but I wandered around the outside trying to look in, checking out the outer exhibits and standing in front of tour groups to catch a bit of what their guides were saying, yep totally stealing tours.  I remember learning about ancient Rome in school but I don't remember things like these sites being abandoned for hundreds of years at a time.  The place is holding up pretty well, true there have been some repairs done but that's just basic home maintenance on a place like this.  There were some interesting people watching moments, like why did that one guy have a falcon with him?  He wasn't offering it up for pictures or anything, maybe the bird just needed a holiday.  Back on the bus and over to the Trevi fountain, far more people around the fountain then there were coins in the water.  Every inch of seating around the fountain was taken and there were police positioned at the corners to watch over the crowd and make sure no one went in the fountain or sat or leaned on a railing wrong.  I bought a slushie drink and found a nice bit of marble off to the side of the fountain to sit down and watch the hundreds of people buzzing around me.  

Next stop was back to Vatican City to check out St Peters Basilica.  Did you know they had a dress code?  I read about it in my guide book so I dressed accordingly that day but lots of people were being turned away.  Inside there were lots of dead popes lying around in glass cases, some looking better than others.  There were also rooms that were hidden behind heavy curtains that were only for prayer.  They had some of these rooms at the mission in Santa Barbara but there I was able to take some photos, no chance of that here.  I went in and had a little pray, by the third room I had run out of stuff to pray about and just started asking for better weather.  After St Peters I took the river cruise which wasn't guided so you were just in a boat speeding down the river wondering what you were passing by.  It was a good way to end the hot day and it stopped close enough to walk over to Piazza Barberini for dinner and a stroll back to the hotel in the slightly cooler air.

My last day in Rome I made sure to get up on time because I had a scooter rented for the day!  I couldn't get a 150 bike because I still don't have my motorcycle license so I was stuck on a 125.  It wasn't as bad as I thought and I didn't miss that extra bit of power.  It wasn't a classic Vespa style but it was a Piaggio with a nice lock box on the back.  From observing the traffic the other two days I knew driving would be a bit dangerous but I really was not prepared for the madness of it all. 

I studied the map the night before to make sure I had a basic layout of the city in my head and with the rental place being near the station I knew I could always follow one of the tour buses back if I managed to get myself really lost.  The scooter allowed me a chance to get out to some spots I hadn't been able to off of the bus and after one trip on the sweltering Metro I decided it wasn't for me.  The first couple of hours on the scooter I just went far out of the city center and drove on some of the bigger boulevards that were left relatively open after the morning commute.  I passed by beautiful parks, I found the zoo and eventually made my way back towards the center to the Aventine.  I found a good place to park the scooter and left a paper sticking out of the lock box because I knew I would never be able to pick it out from the other dozens of scooters parked there without this marker.  

Walking around the Aventine open air market was a lot different than the others in the center of Rome. This was more of a functional market not aimed at the tourist, the vendors did speak some english but it was nothing like the fluency elsewhere in town.  I stopped to get some lunch and asked the waiter if he spoke english and he said of course, yes.  I started asking some questions about the menu and was speaking too fast for him.  We were both just confused and I tried speaking in spanish, this did the trick.  Italian is so similar to spanish I was able to just break down what I wanted to him in spanish, although we did have some difficulties with "lamb" but because I'm at such a low functioning level with spanish I speak slower so that may have helped out.  I am by no means fluent with spanish but I could understand lots of the italian being spoken around me because of the similarities.  It kind of felt like you were downtown without the banda music and the baby turtles for sale, this market did have baby chicks though but I think they were keeping and eventually eating rather than petting.  I spent the rest of the afternoon zipping around town, stopping by the museum of purgatory which was pretty creepy - it has things supposedly touched by the hands of the dead.  Speaking of the dead, the TV was still out at the hotel so I watched bits of the Michael Jackson memorial at the bar next door.  They had a five euro pizza and heineken special that I couldn't pass up, that pizza was huge!  

That night back at the hotel I thought about the last few days and felt very accomplished.  I had come to a completely new place and while I can't say I conquered the city, I did make my mark upon it.  Going to places like London on my own are so easy, everyone speaks the same language and I know people there that will always be able to help out if I run into any kind of trouble.  I'm glad I took this chance and did things I really hadn't thought of doing before like zooming by ancient sites on a scooter, buying gas from a completely unattended station that wouldn't take any of my cards, trying to figure out how to say baby sheep and end up just drawing it out on a piece of paper after several miming and baa attempts.  

In line at the airport I met up with some college students on their way back home to Seattle and we compared our journey through Rome that week while waiting for our plane back to Gatwick.  The line was moving at a snails pace and our flight was leaving in less than an hour, they pulled us out to a special line and I was nearly the last to check in - with no seats left in coach they upgraded me to business class, this was a good start to the last leg of my trip.  I was very anxious to get back to London to spend the last few days in town with my friends and Oasis was just a day away!

Lazing in the Park

I'm back now for nearly a week and the suitcase has been fully unpacked and tucked away in the little alcove by the heater, there really isn't any place for it to go in this place. The Beast still resides under the bed so no room for it there and that space was a little useless. That new case was just the perfect size, it fit everything perfectly and with four wheels I was able to stroll it nearly a mile to Paddington twice and to Roma Termini without any issues. Enough of ode to Samsonite Black Label, it's now on to the real stuff. With losing internet connection halfway through the trip when I went to Italy the blogging fell to bits and now its time to catch up. First up - Hyde Park.

Blur is one of my all time favorite bands and I saw them every time they came through Los Angeles. It was great to watch the progression of the band and watching the venues grow progressively larger. The last great show I saw for Blur was the 13 debut at the Mayan where they played the album from cover to cover, I saw shows after that but that show was really special. I was heartbroken when Graham left the band and thought I'd never get a chance to see this band again, that is until last December. The band reunion and show at Hyde Park was announced, went on sale and immediately sold out. Then a second show was announced and I decided to buy. Things the month before the show went on sale were a bit hectic with the move, fracturing my arm during said move, work was nuts and I wasn't feeling really great about how things were going and this seemed like a good way to give me something to look forward to. I wasn't sure if I was even going to be able to go to the show but I thought at the very least I can say I bought a ticket and maybe have this little paper ticket of something that was sure to be great. Flash forward to seven months later and I'm in London sweating away in a once every 20 years record heat wave in a hotel across the road from Hyde Park.

After a late start at the hotel and spending a bit of time with Jeremy Kyle, the UK answer to Jerry Springer I wandered across the road to the box office to pick up my ticket from Will Call. There was a little group of people waiting to get into the venue at the gates but at this point there were more in the box office line. It was nearly noon and the mercury was rising quickly, I found a nice little spot of grass in the shade of the fence and took my place in line. I was scoping out those that were walking by and recognized some people from the Blur message board and spent a few minutes talking to a few guys that had a Mexican flag draped around them. They were trying to organize all of the fans from Mexico and other latin countries that had traveled to the show to send the band a message that those fans were still there and wanted the band to come play Mexico. After picking up my ticket I walked back to the hotel to safely tuck it away then went off to Oxford St to do a bit more shopping and get some lunch. By four when the gates had been open I was just heading back to the hotel and absolutely soaked in sweat from the day. I could hear the sounds of the first opening band drifting through my open window (still can't believe my hotel was just over the road from the venue) and I knew it was time to get ready. I set off for the park about an hour later and saw hundreds of people scattered across the park. It was like they were tailgating, everyone had blankets out, cans were scattered about and it looked like a good time. Security was pretty easy to get through they didn't even open the small bag I brought with me. I was finally inside the gates at a Hyde Park show, this was one place I never thought I'd be able to be.

The venue was really much larger than I thought and had areas scattered about, it was the size of a small festival - not surprising with the Wireless festival on in the same venue just a few days after this first show. There were no less than six bar tents, food areas and merchandise points around the perimeter. Pick N' Mix candy vans and ice cream carts were also scattered across the field in with the crowd. I really do believe the candy van needs to make an appearance at shows here, everyone could use a bit of a sugar rush at a show. There were still two openers on before Blur were set to come on so I went to buy a burger and eat before heading into the crowd. I sat at the back of the crowd in this area that wasn't too populated and just marveled at the amount of people that were coming in and just imagined how full this show was going to get. Surprisingly it seemed that those fans in their thirties like myself were everywhere, I really was worried I'd be stuck in with lots of teens and it would be a miserable time. With Blur being quiet the past few years though and their height of popularity over a decade ago hordes of new fans were probably not going to show up. After the last support act went off the stage it was time to head in.

I found a good spot to the left of the stage and made my way in. I made it nearly on line with the stage and not too far back from the barricade. As the time ticked away before the band came out more and more people came flooding in. Luckily the area I was in had a pretty good crowd of people and the shoving was kept to a minimum. There was a huge rush to the stage during the first song and we were all picked up off our feet and pushed forward a good five feet, this is a weird feeling. I haven't been picked up by a crowd since the early 90s and didn't think I would ever be in this position again. After the surge stopped and I found myself back on the ground I checked that I wasn't standing on anyone and proceeded my task of re-claiming physical space in the crowd. The band made their way through their more popular back catalog, careful not to stray too far into the cult classic zone with really only one step in that direction with Death Of A Party. The crowd pogo'd like mad during Girls & Boys and it was no surprise when Phil Daniels came out for Parklife, how could he not be there?? The band had a handful of warm up shows and a slot at Glastonbury that had been building up these shows and it clearly paid off. The set was perfect, the band sounded great and it was exactly the show I wanted to see. The first night there were cameras filming the entire show and panning over the crowd, I'm sure there's going to be a DVD out by Christmas. I had a headband with a red bow on the side of my head so I'll have to buy it to see if I made it into the shot at any time. After The Universal the lights came on and we all started to make our way out of the venue, I was still just a bit goose bumpy from what I had just experienced and could not believe I was about to see it again the next night.

The music on day two was just as amazing as the first night but the crowd was a bit rowdier. This was the first show that went on sale and this is the one that sold out in about two minutes. It was a Friday and many people had taken the day off to make the most of the show. Lots and lots of drinks were had and it was near 100 degrees that day with a very high level of humidity. I'm not sure how much beer was at the venue but I'm sure they made millions off of this crowd. You never saw someone with just one beer, everyone had a few stashed about their person. One in each hand, one in each pocket, girls with purses overflowing with bottles - it was just everywhere. I was glad my new friend Michael was there with me that day as it looked like it was going to be a rough time in the crowd. We were off to the side watching Vampire Weekend finish their set when a full on bottle battle broke out! The bottle battle raged on for a few minutes with dozens of bottles in the air at any time, I was a little late in getting my camera out but captured a bit of it in video. Those things that look like bugs or small birds flying around are bottles.

The remnants of the crazy night could be seen after the show, everywhere you walked there were bottles, sometimes three or four deep you were just wading out of the park in bottles, the sound of which was rather rhythmic and could probably be remixed into a Parklife single. It was all plastic so no one was hurt too seriously in this melee but at one point Damon did have to ask the crowd to be a bit nicer to each other especially down front. On the message boards after the show there was a report of a brutal and unprovoked attack near the back of the crowd with some pretty serious injuries. Other than some drunk boys in my immediate area that I had to show them I was not to be messed with there wasn't too much trouble the second night.

I'm glad I went both nights of the show and am really grateful to the Blur fan from France that sold me her ticket for a very good price. I still can't believe I was able to see both shows, I was very happy to have had company the second night when the crowd was rougher. I don't know if the band can ever top these two shows, I mean really how could they? A warm summer night, a crowd singing along to absolutely every song, everyone bidding good night to the sun and welcoming the full moon. Even with the bottle fights and Damon's odd choice of sporting a gold tooth and pot leaf bracelet with his Fred Perry it was near perfect. Even Graham and Dave seemed to be having a good time with smiles all around, it must be quite a sight from the stage and to see the crowd jumping in waves.

Surprises from the days and venue were to find the water fountains that were pumping out free ice cold water and plenty on hand all over the field, the flushing port a potties! So weird to have to flush one but it kept the experience slightly more pleasant. Also the amount of celebrities in the crowd - I saw Daniel Radcliffe, Jarvis Cocker and Ewan McGregor all just running free range through the crowd and not really being bothered by anyone. So that's it, two days at Hyde Park - covered in dirt and everyone else's sweat I'd happily do it all over again. Next up is Rome, Oasis at Wembley and the last few days in London with visits to Trafalgar Square and the Bayswater bowling / arcade / ice skating rink. Not to worry I didn't get on any ice skates, after seeing what happened to Marisol's knee I think I'm staying well away.

Home Sweet Home

I'm home now, it felt really good to get back into the apartment and into my regular life again. Now comes the fun part of going to restock the fridge and back to the office this morning. The Echo did survive its two week stay in the carport with the trunk end out to the alley, Dede was worried that I should have backed it in because leaving the back end towards the alley spelled certain disaster to her.

I will have to post the never ending blog in the next couple of days that recaps the last week in Europe and all of the pics that go along with it. I do want to thank everyone that helped this trip run smoothly - Dede for running me to the aiport both times, I hope you enjoyed the Sizzler payback, Angel for keeping an eye on the Vespa and sharing the garage, Eden for keeping things running at NDS while I was away and picking up my mail. Also big ups to all of the great people I met along the way, I do hope to see you again one day. Ok now off to get ready for the office and the full continuation of the standard edition of life.

Mousetrap hotel

Ok back from Rome now - I'm glad I went but I think I would have enjoyed it more in the spring. The summer is FAR too hot to enjoy a city that lacks air conditioning. I'm back in London now at a very lovely rented apartment. This place is nicely located in Bayswater and far exceeded my expectations apart from the Mousetrap style hallway maze to get to the room. I'm off to the market to stock the fridge in the kitchen, yes kitchen with a few days worth of food. I'll have to come back later to write the neverending blog of the last week.

What's this about a lethal jab??

Day 2 was another flurry of activities, starting with switching hotels. This hotel is right across the road from the concert entrance. I booked this because it had some decent reviews and was near the park, it was just by luck that its right across from the entrance for the show. Hyde Park is huge and how could someone know just wear exactly things would be set up.

After taking the giant suitcase up three flights of stairs to my room I set off to find a t-mobile. It wasn't hard, there was just one down the road on Oxford St. I wandered around the shops, had a bit of lunch, went back towards the hotel and lingered by the fountain near Marble Arch to cool off a bit before the BBC tour. On the little street where my hotel is I saw this group of school children crossing the road, it must be like a summer day camp since all of the schools are out.

The teacher had them well in control, they stopped at every corner, huddled up and crossed in a big group. She shouted at them to keep quiet and stay in their lines, they complied for the most part which I don't think you can get most groups of children to do unless you apply the yard stick or promise them a treat if they behave. Maybe it was the latter and they'll be taken back to the park tomorrow if they were good today.

The BBC tour took up the rest of the afternoon, it was interesting. I didn't know they had to paint the floor each time they set up the studio, even if you see carpet on a show it is just concrete painted to look like carpet. We were taken to an empty soundstage, then over to see Jonathan Ross' set up for his Friday night chat show. Next on to play with the blue screen and have someone play weatherman before visiting the dressing rooms and finally into the simulated quiz show and newscast. The tour group was small and not very lively so I was picked out of the group to read the newscast out. The hardest bit about it was the super bright light in front of you but reading off of the teleprompter wasn't that hard. The quiz show was based on the Weakest Link and they had to answer questions about a Little Britain clip that was played, the winner won a ballpoint BBC pen. Where was my pen?? I bought an Archers keychain in the shop - they're Wellies! I was tempted to buy the wooden spoon "Mixing it Up with The Archers" but I thought I'd just burn it by leaving it on the stove or something.

After leaving the BBC I went to Westfield at White City - the biggest mall in Europe, or so it claims to be. I dunno, maybe I'm spoiled by LA malls but I wasn't that impressed. It was expansive for UK size but it kind of felt like one of the Mills centers because it was broken into sections like the mills but instead of neighborhoods they're called cores. On my way back from White City I stopped by Hyde Park to watch the early campers get kicked off the lawn and put on the sidewalk to wait for the admission to the concert tomorrow. I passed a few of those newspaper sandwich boards today that said something about Michael Jackson asking for a lethal dose of something - they're all over it here. Other developments of note - I miss the Blackberry, texting by pressing/holding numbers to get the right letter BLOWS super chunks, Ian on Eastenders is now rocking a beard and it looks sad/pathetic, the BBC is filled with stairs and my hotel room has two of the best features ever - a hair dryer and a fan! Both hair dryer and fan are super critical to the ongoing Berny cuteness in this humid weather. The forecast for tomorrow is heavy showers off an on throughout the day. I wish the wellies on my Archers keychain were full sized!