Levi in Italy, Day 14

Shino: WOAH. This day has eight, EIGHT! pictures.

June 21, 2006-

Cat fur is all over our bed, so we breathed that all night. The cat decided to sleep with me. He has claws unlike my cat so he can get pretty painful. We showered (again...) and this time the shower is semi-big! It has that shower water that is either really hot or really cold. It can get annoying. Also, it has a large step inside of the shower (for some insane, Italian reason). We went to the same corner bar to eat breakfast. Chocolate filled croissant with ham and cheese sandwich! W00T! Also, before I forget to mention, these guys have an incredible thing on their doors: blocks of metal. Not really, but that's what I call them. They have huge locks that are like the ones in a bank! The keys are just as impressive too! They look like the olden day ones that are super long and have simple teeth. After, we went over to this park place we passed the day before and went inside of the King's Palace. Houses are not meant to be this big! Good thing we had a tour guide. My dad had to get a stupid audio guide (which I hate very much). It keeps your attention away from the artwork so it's almost pointless to go in! Please excuse my handwriting, for I am currently writing on top of a cat. Doesn't make a good table. Well, after the King's Palace, we went to see the Royal Garden. It wasn't very royal like or gardeny! It had weeds all over, dead grass, untrimmed plants, etc. We left after 2 seconds of wandering. We then headed over to a really tall building (somewhat taller than the Domo) that was a museum of movies. It had the history of movies, photographs and stuff of the like, and had clips of a lot of old movies. It also had a glass elevator that went to the top of the building. The elevator had no shaft and was very shakey. One of the scariest things in my life. Once at the top, we looked at the nice view that we had. We could see the whole city! There was a lot of smog too. We pinpointed some places that we wanted to visit and then left. We went to the train station and used the internet for an hour then took that bus home. We didn't get as lost as we did before. When we got back we took a nice, long nap and then all of a sudden, Marco pops up and says he's going to make dinner. We went out shopping to get supplies to eat. What was weird was that you had to "pay" 50 cents to get a cart. But when you brought it back, you would get the coins back. Good security feature! When in the grocery store, it was strange to see a large alignment of wines and liquors all along the back wall. Nothing like Utah. We got back to the car (and most importantly got our coins back) and cooked a delicious dinner. Marco could cook a hellova meal. My dad and Marco and a random amount of people (who just popped out of nowhere!) went out to do...stuff. I went to sleep.

Burger King Crown

Shino: My dad and Levi went to eat lunch at Burger King yesterday. They have those paper BK crowns all over the place, so I took one home. I took it home cuz there were some really funny stuff written on the inside of the crown, so I decided to write them down here! This would actually be a pretty fun game to do when you're a stupid hyper teenager, or it's your birthday.

LAWS OF THE CROWN

Game Play
A.) Adjust size and be the first to place on head.
B.) Whoever places the Crown on his or her head first, then in a loud voice proclaims, "I am the King" is from that moment forward, in charge. Rule ends if Crown is removed (see Coup d'etat). Crownings can happen anywhere, at anytime.

Advanced Play
1. There can only be one King.
2. The King always gets his/her way.
3. The King must speak with some kind of cool accent.
4. The King makes all the important decisions governing selection of TV channels, movies, radio stations, as well as popular activities like snowboarding, pool hopping and cow tipping. The King also determines who gets the remote, who rides "shotgun" and, of coarse, who pays.
5. Rule ends when Crown is removed for more than 3 seconds (see Three Second Law).
6. Disagreement with the King results in a "penalty." This is decided by the King. Common penalties include: forfeiture of fries, surrender of video game controller and banishment from office cubicle.

Three Second Law
The King's rule ends when the Crown si removed from their head for any reason, accidental or otherwise. The first person to explain, "One...Two...Three...King" may claim the Crown.

In The Event Of A Tie
If two people Crown themselves King simultaneously, the person whose birth date is closest to Dec. 4, 1954 (date the first BURGER KING restaurant opened) is King.

Coup d'etat
If everyone agrees you completely stink as King, your rule may be renounced. This constitutes a Coup d'etat. A new King may be Crowned if the group can reach a unanimous decision. If not, the Three Second Law applies.

Kingdom
If you are eating in a BURGER KING restaurant, your rule extends all the way to the edge of the parking lot. Off restaurant grounds, your rule extends to a radius of 10 feet around you in any direction.

WARNING: This BURGER KING Crown is made of paper. Your rule may end prematurely if Crown is exposed to water or flame.

Levi in Italy, Day 13

June 20, 2006-

We woke up (big surprise!) and took a shower. Marco's shower is small just like everyone else's shower. What is wrong with these people? Small roads, small cars, small showers, small homes, small stomachs. It's tiny town! After tiny shower, Marco's girlfriend (name still unknown) picked us up at 11:00. We ate breakfast at a small corner bar. We just barely found out that Italians do not eat breakfast. Why else would they be so thin and trim? Wine + No breakfast = Not American. Note to reader (you crazy reader...): red wine has been PROVEN to be healthy for the body if not abused. National Geographic said so. Ahem. Anyways, we walked around as Marco's gf gave us a tour of the block we were at. Nothing too great. We found out that she did not like the French. Prejudice = Fun! We came back to some restaurant and waited for her friend to come. Friend no come though. So, we ate some bland spaghetti and drove back home. That spaghetti was so evil. Grrr. We brought our stuff to her apartment and decided to crash there. Marco's gf agreed to stay at Marco's while we were there. M's gf has a cat. He is very fussy and meow's too much. I still love him though! Love love love. We took a nap and wandered for 3 hrs. and got to the train station. The station is the only place with the internet so we expected to use it but those crazy Italians close on Tuesdays. We'll get you, you dirty rotten no good internet stealing scum! Anyway, we found a bus that lead home. We "kinda" got lost walking the bit home but succeeded in doing so. We went out to dinner to eat a real Italian pizza. It seemed real too. They cooked the pizza in an old stone fire stove. The pizza was pretty good. We headed home and slept. Hoo-ha.

Levi in Italy, Day 12

June 19, 2006-

Today we woke up really early for some reason (8:00). Usually we wake up at 9:00 or 10:00. We went and ate breakfast in the hotel (the hotel serves breakfast we found out) and went to the train station. We saw a turtle in the river. It was a nice river. Nice turtle too. We went on to that train station and went on a 3 hr. ride to Milan. That isn't our true destination though. We are trying to get to Torino (also known as Turin) where they had the Olympics in '06 (also this year). We got to Torino and used the internet for an hour (me=45 mins. game, Papa=15 mins. e-mail). Heck, I didn't even bother checking my e-mail until my dad reminded me. I just love my family! After finishing internet, we waited for my dad's Italian friend, Marco. He is bald and was wearing these purple sunglasses that looked pretty weird. We drove in our tiny car to Marco's apartment where we all showered in less than 45 mins. Marco needed to go to a band practice thing so we headed over to the place he practices at. There was an electric guitar guy and an acoustic guitar guy (acoustic=Marco). There was also a singer who was a girl that sang with a very heavy accent (in my opinion). My dad brought his harmonica so he played with them. They sounded really good. After about 2 hours of music, we proceeded to Marco's girlfriend's house. No idea what her name is. All of us went to eat dinner at a fancy pants restaurant nearby (1 min. walk). There, Marco and his GF (nerd/short term for girlfriend; play Runescape too much and this is what you sound like) showed us what a real Italian meal was like. First we had the appetizer (octopus, fishy, and thinly sliced salmon?). I only liked the octopus. Then we had the pasta. The pasta did not contain any sort of meat because in Italy, you eat the different foods (meat, pasta, etc.) separately. Oh, and I forgot to mention but I tried a wee bit of wine while eating. It was some 2005 white wine (that was more yellow than white) that tasted horrid. It literally tasted like vinegar mixed with cheese! I only gulped down 5 gallons of water to clean away the flavor. While eating the pasta, I accidentally grabbed my wine instead of the water and gulped it very quickly. It was just horrible. I gulped all my water down and gasped for air while I sat there in agony. For some reason, the wine must have made me sick in my stomach, so I couldn't eat anymore. The meat was supposed to be the next course but I couldn't eat anymore so I sat while everyone else ate. I just sipped away on my water. After eating, we drove to Marco's place and Papa and I slept there for the night. Marco slept at his girlfriend's apartment. The end.

2 Days Old Birthday

Shino: Well, it was Levi's birthday 2 days ago, Wednesday July 19th. I TOLD him he should write something here, but he was too busy playing Runescape. He plays that game for HOURS!!! Well I got Levi Megatokyo #4, an English online manga in book form. It's pretty funny and serious at the same time. We just like to L34RN H0\/\/ 70 5P34K L337 from it. I also drew him a card. Yes, I know it's pretty ugly most of the time, but I didn't care since I did it w/ no sketching. Oh yeah! The wrapping paper I used was some left over Christmas one, so that's why I'm yelling "Merry Christmas."

Well, I'll just talk about random crap to fill up this space. I signed up for my university classes yesterday. I'm not too happy about it cuz over half the time, I don't have any break after a class, so I have only 15 mins. to get to my next class with no reviewing. That'll suck.

Levi in Italy, Day 11

Shino: Levi says he was watching the news while drawing the first pic.

June 18, 2006-

I really didn't write a lot yesterday. So, today features scenes from yesterday's series. We got to Padova, looked around, and looked at pretty artwork. That's it. Nothing else. Now, onto today's top stories. We took a train down to Venice and looked around. It was a lot nicer than I thought it would have been. The streets are literally the river that flows through it! There are parts that can be walked on though. We walked around a bit and found a place with a lot of pigeons. They were out getting fed by random passer-bys. They were so used to being fed, that they landed on people's heads and hands to get food. Heck, they were so used to it that they land on you even if you HAVE no food! We wandered the town a bit, got lost for three hours, then went back to Padova. We got a cool Venice flag as a souvenir. It so cool. Back at Padova, NOTHING was open. It was even after four o'clock, yet everything was still closed! It make no sense! Sure, it was Sunday, but EVERY store!? We had trouble finding dinner! Well, after dinner (we found dinner!), we headed back to the hotel and I watched music videos on the only English channel on our T.V. and wrote down some good band names. We packed a bit (my dad packed it all because he "accidentally" dumped my stuff all out) and then we slept like every other human.

Levi in Italy, Day 10

Shino: Oh my. This one is FINALLY pretty short! Only 2 pics!

June 17, 2006-

Same old breakfast as usual, but today we checked out of the hotel and went out to the train station. We passed the city of Bologna while on the train. I can only wonder what they sell there. We came to the city of Padova, which is fairly close to Venice, that one place that is sinking in the water. The usual. My dad says it's a college town so college people live here. Go figure. It looks fairly interesting, and there is an unknown artist who does 3-D graffiti on construction stuff. Unlike other graffiti poopers, his/her work is good looking and he doesn't write junk all over historical figures. He draws on junk (like temporary plywood walls). I personally enjoy his work. That is all that happened today.

Levi: I also saw an Italian episode of "Fullmetal Alchemist."

Levi in Italy, Day 9

June 16, 2006-

I woke up a little bit earlier today, and actually got a hot breakfast. While hot, the eggs were easier to peel. They still weren't that great though. We set off to see some museums (?) in town. We went to a museum that used to be a house/castle for some rich dude. There were a lot of cool weapons and armor from back then and it also had some old tools and holy water containments. After that, we went to a small museum with the Madicy family's tombs, which were constructed by Michaelangelo. It also had a huge dome thing that had family crests and stuff on it. Oh, there were more holy water bottles too. Also, it had bones on display of old popes and stuff. We left for one more museum that was really famous. It took us over an hour just to get in. It contained famous paintings by Michaelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and other people not so famous to the world. It also dedicated a whole floor just to da Vinci's work. It was really cool. I think I might have gotten a fever so we headed back to the hotel. We took a long nap. It still didn't help though. After an hour of attempting to wake up, we left to the park to see another performance. They were a half ska, half electric, half pop band. 3/2? That's not right... Well, I go to sleep now.

Levi in Italy, Day 8

Shino: YES!!! This one will be half the size of the last one! Hooray!

June 15, 2006-

Today we woke up really late. Our breakfast we got in the morning was cold too. It consisted of two hard-boiled eggs, two croissants, four rolls, coffee, and tea. I ate both eggs, two rolls, and too much tea. I really didn't enjoy this breakfast this much. As much sleep and tea I got, I was extremely tired. Also, the eggs were all too difficult to de-shell. After the magical breakfast, we went to the dome to look inside. We waited for at least 30 min. to get in, but the place was incredible. It was a humongous chapel that had amazing paintings on the ceiling. It showed the Seven Levels of Heaven, including Hell as one of them. so really it's Six levels of Heaven. After that, we walked around and looked at a lot of statues. They were cool. Then, we went to this really old bridge that had buildings hanging over the edge. We came back home and went to the park to watch another performance. After an hour of waiting, we found out that some of the equipment broke so there was no show. The Indian restaurant lady pointed us in the direction at something fun, but after two hrs. of wandering, we found no fun. Now I went to sleep.

Levi in Italy, Day 7

Shino: Whaddya know, this one is as long as the last one. (-_-;)

June 14, 2006-

We were supposed to wake up before 10:00 AM so that we could check out of the hotel, but we ended up waking up at 8:00 AM. When I checked the watch (still sleepy), I thought it said 9:00 AM so we rushed to get ready. When we checked out I noticed that it was an hour ahead of my knowing. We ate breakfast at a restaurant next door, and the hot chocolate was an ACTUAL liquid! It tasted pretty good too. It also had an almighty omelette of good taste. It was that good! We went down to the train station to go to Pisa, city of pizzas. We have decided to try and eat a pizza in Pisa to see if it is any good. We are also going to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa too. Why else would you go to Pisa? We saw the tower, and it was pretty interesting. Lots of scammers were there too. We bought a vodka bottle that was shaped like the tower. It so silly! The pizza in Pisa was not so good. I was expecting more out of it! Well, we are now on the train to Florence. Now, I wonder whether or not they sell floors or fences there? Either way, we got there after boredom of trains (?) and we headed over to our hotel, called the Christina House. It's really a B&B, but hotel works too. We sat around a bit to rest, then we went out to look for an internet shop. We couldn't find the one that the hotel lady was talking about, but we found some. We decided to eat and look around a bit before using the net. We wandered around and found the Piaza del Duomo. It was beautiful! We climbed up the Duomo tower (next to the dome) and it was cool. It was 414 steps though. Not including going down. The stairs were really cramped so only one person could fit. The tower was really high up so you could see the whole city once you were at the top. There were fences doming over the top, so no suicide here! We went back down and ate at a delicious restaurant! It was goodly-licious! Great. We then went to the park to watch a band playing. They were incredible. I was thinking of maybe even buying their CD, but Papa had some junk in his belly so we headed back. He gave some lecture on stuff he already lectured me about, then we went to sleep at 1:00 AM.

Levi in Italy, Day 6

Shino: OMG! I lied! THIS is the longest journal so far! WHY IS IT SO LONG!? WHHHHYYYYY!!!!??

June 13, 2006-

Took dat shower right after waking up. Ooooh, dat shower be so nice. 2 feet wide with extreme hot/cold capabilities, it's a one of a kind. We went out to eat breakfast at the same place as yesterday, and I got some bread and chocolate. Got a nice chocolate moustache too. We didn't go back to the apartment and decided to walk to the next city. It was about 1 km away. There were a lot of restaurants, but we weren't hungry yet. We got bored so we walked to the next city that was 2 km away. Even though it was only 2 km, it had really steep (and long) staircases. And, once we were at the top, all that was there were some all to wonderful cars! We never see those, do we? Disappointed, we went back down and tried to catch a train we just barely missed, and waited for the next. Little did we know that trains didn't come that often, and we sat there for at least an hour! We came back to our little city and ate at a little restaurant near by. It took a while to get our food, but the wait was worth it. The food was delicious! We are actually planning to eat there for dinner too. We came back to our apartment and our toilet suddenly turned on us. It clogged and started to stink real bad. Flushing it made it gurgle and sent chills down your foot. It's my foot because my spine went out of business. A couple of flushes fixed it, though. I took a wonderful nap as my dad went out to get a tan. He woke me up about an hour later, insisting we go kayaking down a river. I got sea sickness seconds after leaving shore. My arms could hardly paddle because they got tired quickly. I have no idea what happened. Feeling sick, I wobbled back to shore (however you wobble with a boat) and sicked myself at the shore. My dad came back to shore and we went back to the apartment. We had to shower and change because we got wet in the boats. While changing, my dad wouldn't stop saying, "Naked man!" It was vile, wrong, and sickening. As I said before, I WILL kill this man someday. We went out to call our house once we got out, and I ate an ice cream. Two scoops of chocolate. Mmm. After that my dad decided we should eat dinner while watching the sun set on these rocks. We are doing that right now. It is quite cool. Dinner was even more delicious than lunch. g2g. Nerd!