Chris Anthony

The Highlight of My Day...

2008-08-20T21:13:00.000-07:00

Wow, I haven't written since I got back from Europe! Bad!

Well, today I finally had just the momentous occasion to bring me back! A feast! Courtesy of McDonald's. I asked for two double cheeseburgers with Mac sauce (a nice trick to get a $1 BigMac BTW). At first, they handed me a bag with a few cheeseburgers and some fries... I just went along with it, thinking that McDonald's owed me since the same kid at the window always tries to overcharge me... every damn time! But then... They just kept handing stuff to me! At that point I couldn't stop taking, since I would appear to be a cheat... and we wouldn't want that. Finally, the guy gave me a tray full of four drinks, to which I promptly said "ah, is that all of them?" He said "nope, one more!"

Well, when all was said and done, Michelle and I ended up with a small feast.

Needless to say... we're full. Anyone want a Clone Wars action figure?

The Colosseum and the Forum

2008-06-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

Doing a bit of catching up, since I haven't had much time to write over the past couple of days. But our second day in Rome was my favorite by far; the main reason being the Colosseum (or the Flavius amphitheater if you're from ancient Roman Times). I was amazed at the sheer size of the structure, even though much of it was lost to an earthquake in the 1300's. I think I would have been perfectly content if that was the only thing I saw this entire trip.

The view from the inside was equally spectacular. I found myself putting together an image of how it used to be in my mind. Ok so most of the images were stolen from the movie Gladiator, but I at least took some creative license with it (and yes I promptly downloaded the movie that night just in case I had time to watch it on the plane).

The Forum, where the Senate used to hold session, and the various fountains around Rome are all awe-inspiring sights as well.

Finally, here's an image from where the Palace used to be. I couldn't get images of Mel Brooks' History of the World Part I out of my mind! ("More women! More wine! More.... *falls to the floor*")

For our last stop in Italy we decided at the last minute to take a day trip to Florence. The sights were fantastic, but it was blistering hot. That made walking around quite difficult. I haven't uploaded those pictures yet so I may make another entry later. For now, Michelle is hungry so it's off to a Stockholm McDonalds! No we're not missing American food... It's just that everything is closed today because it's a national Swedish holiday, Mid-Summer's Day Festival. We were originally going to go but we're so beat, it looks like we're carving out a nice cozy evening at home... er... our friends' home (Thanks Em and Jonas, and congratulations on your marriage!)

The Vatican and the Sistine Chapel

2008-06-17T12:59:00.000-07:00

Since we crashed for like 5 hours in our hotel room yesterday, Michelle and I were unable to get out of bed at our planned 6 a.m. But even though our day was cut shorter than we thought, we were well and tired by the end of the day. Our adventure started by figuring out the bus system. Of course, on the way to our destination, we got off the bus early and had to walk and navigate unfamiliar streets. Good thing we spent the last week in Stockholm walking everywhere!

To be brief, we hit various churches and plazas on the way, viewing the magnificent artwork and architecture of each. We reached the Vatican around 11:30 am and found an extremely long line waiting for us. It moved relatively quickly and we soon found ourselves viewing ancient murals and tapestries, as well as all the incredible statues. Unfortunately, most of the items for show in the Vatican were accompanied by "no photography" signs, but I've posted here some of what I managed to snap with my camera.

During the day we had the privilege of eating at probably the worst pizzeria in Rome:

This place was awful; it was quality less than what I'd expect from Chef Boyardee. But, what do you expect from something right across from one of the largest tourist spots in the world; expensive crap. Nevermind the fact that our food was accompanied by the smell of our waiters un-perfumed body.

Anyway, the food for the day was not all bad. We ate at La Noumachie, a restaurant right down the street from our hotel, for dinner. The pasta was delicious, the service was great, and the ice cream/strawberry desert we had was a perfect end to the evening. We also managed to put back a half bottle of red wine along with some dessert wine that went with the ice cream.

All in all, a good day; although I found that I could only take so many murals, tapestries and dead popes before I became a bit numb to it. Not that I didn't appreciate it! But after four hours in the Vatican, I was ready to call it a day.

Tomorrow we hit some sites that I am really looking forward to: the Colosseum and the Forum, where the Roman Senate would meet. I suddenly feel a great desire to watch Gladiator. I'll let you know how it goes!

Italy, Finally

2008-06-16T14:26:00.000-07:00

Michelle and I have finally made it to Rome, Italy. After saying goodbye to our good friends in Stockholm last night, we woke at 3 a.m. to catch a 3:40 a.m. bus to the airport. That was followed by an 80 minute bus ride (across some very beautiful Swedish country side), and after a 3 hour flight from Sweden, we have finally arrived in Rome! And without further adieu, our first Roman meal:

We sipped on some fantastically lush red wine while waiting for our room to be ready in Hotel Lancelot. We sat in a lovely little patio garden and just enjoyed not being on a plane for a while:

After a while, we finally made it to our room where we promptly crashed:

Our room is small but very luxurious. They even provided us with slippers! We're still trying to figure out the whole bidet thing but, that story is for another forum.

After a long and overdue nap, we headed downstairs for a beautiful dinner with pasta and a pork dish, followed by coffee and ice cream with strawberries on top. Even I liked it, which says a lot since I've never been a big strawberry fan. The whole meal was accompanied by all the wine you could drink.

We had some nice conversation with the folks we sat with at our dinner table. One couple was recently engaged and was touring some European sightseeing spots while studying abroad for art school. We also sat with a lady and her granddaughter touring France and Italy as a high school graduation gift.

Tomorrow is a whole new day. We'll put our walking shoes back on and hit the streets of Rome in an effort to see everything we can in the next three days.We'll keep you posted!

There are more photos in our photostream here if you're interested. We'll post more soon so check back!

WTF Sweden?

2008-06-16T14:24:00.001-07:00

Swedish Sights
Originally uploaded by Christopher Anthony

Just had to post this for the obvious joke. Statue just down the street from our hotel in Stockholm.

Online in Sweden!

2008-06-13T00:48:00.000-07:00

Finally, some internets in Sweden. Got the problem with the hotel internet resolved, so hopefully I'll post a few more pics more often. I've posted some of the scenery from our first day. I'm still amazed at how light it is at 9:30/10 at night. I think I like it, but I'm not quite sure yet. One thing's for sure, I like it less when it's 4:30 a.m. and I can't go back to sleep because it looks like it's noon.

Anyway, here's a link to some pics I quickly posted on Flickr this morning. Hopefully I'll take some more pictures today, as yesterday was mostly doing errands and helping prepare for Emily and Jonas' wedding. I don't mind helping them out at all though; they're good people and the day is full of good conversation. What more could you ask for?

24 hours of day light

2008-06-12T07:50:00.001-07:00

24 hours of day light
Originally uploaded by Chris and Michelle Anthony

We're on our second day in Sweden and so far so good. No thefts, no lost luggage... Just some good times with good people. We landed yesterday around 12:45 p.m. Stockholm time, got checked into the hotel and started our adventure (with virtually no sleep). We roamed around Stockholm for a couple hours by ourselves, impressing ourselves with our memory of the city from our last visit. Afterwards we had dinner with our friends Jonas and Emily (whose wedding we are here for) and their families. We ate at this great buffet called Herman's which has a vegan spread every Wednesday. We ate there last year and we were excited to do so again this year.

This picture was taken from Herman's at around 9:30 p.m. In the summertime there is only about two hours of dark here, and those two hours (between midnight and 2 a.m.) are really more of a twilight than darkness. Michelle and I walked/subwayed home from our friends' house at 11 p.m. in broad daylight. (You can word anything, just verb it.) Hopefully this will give us much more time to see sights, assuming I can kick this jet lag anytime soon. (Up at 4:30 a.m. FTW.)

I'd love to post more pictures more often but unfortunately I have been limited to pictures on my iPhone because I'm having trouble with internets at the hotel. I'm working on it though! Check back soon!

Atlanta Airport

2008-06-10T17:05:00.001-07:00

Atlanta Airport
Originally uploaded by Chris and Michelle Anthony

Aparently Atlanta likes to treat its smokers like caged animals. Okay by me!

Ruby's

2008-06-10T11:52:00.001-07:00

Ruby's
Originally uploaded by Chris and Michelle Anthony

Man airports are expensive!

One more puppy/Heading to Sweden

2008-06-09T23:44:00.000-07:00

So Michelle and I are heading to Sweden tomorrow for the wedding of our friends Emily and Jonas. My plan is to update this blog at least every couple of days to broadcast what we do and see in order to keep our friends and family updated. This entry is somewhat of a tester so I can get the feel for it and post more quickly later.

So this is our new family member on the left. He's a toy poodle. (That's Sparrow's right leg on the right to give you an idea of scale here.) He's a very sweet 9 year old boy. We're rescuing him as soon as we return. His name is Teddy. I'm not sure if we'll be keeping the name, but he's cute either way.

Ok time for bed. We have a lot of traveling to do tomorrow. Check back soon!

What's up with this blog thing?

2008-05-23T07:18:00.000-07:00

So why am I writing this? Why even blog at all? I've thought about this and I'm not entirely sure. Is it to share information with others; things that interest and affect me? Probably not. I've historically been pretty closed up. Besides, out of the billions of people on the internet, there are probably two people in the entire world that will even have a chance at reading this... when they're bored. No, I don't think it would be to express things to other people. And if some small part of me would write to share with other people, it probably would be for some selfish reason, such as "I hope they talk about what I wrote in the next chat session" type of thing. Maybe a small part of me (and a very small part at that) wants people to know how I feel, or how I think. Not that I haven't asked for people's opinions or advice in the past, but I generally feel like asking for help gives people an impression of uncertainty, inexperience, and general lack of knowledge on my part. (Yes, I know; welcome to my skewed psyche.) And besides all of that, who am I to think that people would actually be interested in what I have to say? No, my reason (at least the major reason) for writing in a blog would definitely not be for other people.

That leaves only myself as the reason why I would be writing here. I mean, it makes some sense. I've hit what is probably one of the hardest spots in my life and I'm probably just looking for a new "medium" to vent or express myself. (Maybe I should dance to express myself? 0.o - yeah no, that's an inside joke; you do not want to see me dance... unless I've had beers... then it's awesome.) Venting and expressing myself... sounds like I'm psychoanalyzing myself. Maybe I am. Maybe that's what this is for: personal therapy. My friend puts his panic attacks online for the world to see. Does he really think that the world will see it? No, he probably does it for his own benefit. A kind of diary to keep track of progress. Actually, on second thought, he's a pretty selfless person. Maybe he does write for others... so that when he comes across someone else with his condition he can point to his blog and suggest that they look to his experiences. At least they wouldn't feel alone. If that's the case, why would I even suggest that he blogs for himself in the first place? Sounds like I've subconsciously imposed my outlook on the world onto him. Which, again, gives the reader even more insight to my psyche. (Oh look, more psycho-babble.)

I've always thought that I would enjoy writing in a diary. I'm not talking about typing into a word processor and pressing "Save," or even jotting notes down in a commercial journal bought from a Hallmark store. I'm talking about some kind of unique book, torn around the edges, old paper with frayed edges... something resembling an ancient tome... with the words written by candlelight. Sounds like something out of a fantasy novel or video game. I guess that's kinda my style too. But I digress; that still doesn't explain what has drawn me to write here.

Now, I know what the reader might be thinking. "Great, this guy is about to get all metaphysical about why we need to express ourselves or why we even exist in the first place." I promise that's not the case. Maybe 15 years ago... but ever since I met my wife, I've tended to take a more practical approach to things. In truth, and in part because of that found sense of practicality, the reason is probably much more simple than all the psycho-babble I've put the reader through above. But I honestly don't know what it is. Maybe I'll find out if I keep writing like this.

Anyway, this entry was meant to be somewhat of a guide. It's a guide to me to remind myself that something was strong enough to compel me to come here and write my thoughts down; something I have never done in my life (unless you count song writing in my early days). It's a guide to the reader, so that she may chose to not waste her time with stuff that will surely be uninteresting to her. It's a guide to.... I dunno... don't have anything else, but things usually sound good in 3's.

After all of this, it will probably just turn into a "gise look at this cool thing I found on the interwebs" page. But we'll see.

That's all for now.

GISE MAI FURST BLAWG ENTEREE LAWLLLL!!!11!!!!shift1!!!(sin 1/1)!!!

Welcome

2008-05-22T08:57:00.000-07:00

Welcome! Will I continue to use this regularly?