Brads 30th

We went out for Brads 30th birthday, I know I will remember the day as the start of summer. The sun was shinning and the bikinis had already come out. A few of us enjoyed a quiet coffee while sitting along the river.

We headed to a bar in north London called the Elbow Room, we had a pool table and an area reserved which was fantastic. We had two hours of happy hour left by the time we got there and we made damn good use of it, cocktails are beer were consumed all evening.

The grandmaster didn't look too good by the end of the evening...

There was some impresive pool playing on the night and a good time was had by all.

Under the Tuscan Sun

We arrived at Gatwick airport in the early hours of the day, all I can say is thank god for the Cafe Nero which gave me a feeling inside that would be comparable to a Muslim seeing his prayer mat. Checked in with no problems and greeted the Watt family as their many taxis arrived.

There were 17 of us in total making the journey, of which 11 where Watts. We arrived in Rome without any dramas, the sun was shining and we all felt the heat on our faces for the first time in months. 20 degrees was feeling barmy to all apart from PJ and Lisa who were wrapped up in scarves having just arrived from Perth.

We hired our cars and I handed out the walkie talkies which would prove to be invaluable. We decided to drive in convoy to our villa in Tuscany. Nick lead the way and before you knew it we were traveling at 140kph in the fast lane on the ring road around Rome. All of a sudden the fast lane stopped. Completely. Crash brace positions were taken up in my car and all the cars around me. ABS did its job and we came to a stop about a table length away from the stopped car in
front of me. Heart beat eventually slowed down as we merged with the middle lane and carried on our way. Speeds were then reduced to 120kph. At least for a while anyway.

Walkie talkies made sure that everyone took the right exit and we headed towards the Tuscan countyside. The scenery was stunning, the rolling hills, the vineyards, the hill top centuries old towns, the villas and the houses with the rustic colours all made quite an impression on me.

We were staying just out of a town called Monte San Savino. Our Villa was beautiful, a yellow three story stone building with huge high ceilings. Depending on the time of year it can be surrounded by huge fields of gigantic sunflowers. Our timing was a little bit off as we were only treated to churned up fields, which still provided stunning views.


Upon arriving at the villa we eagerly hunted out all aspects of the new pad. To my delight we found a well set up table tennis table, but what topped it off was the professional foozball table hidden tucked away in the pizza oven outhouse area. Brilliant. That should really have been included on the brochure !

We allocated the rooms and started our drinking marathon which would not finish until we left one week later. Combining little sleep, Flight, Drive and drink proved to be an evil cocktail for the boys, we played foozball into the early hours and I have not been that drunk in a long time.

Waking up early the next morning nursing a few hangovers we headed for the stunning hill top town of Sienna. This place was beautiful and it seemed that nothing much had changed here for centuries. The main Piazza was stunning and sloped down in a half circle, This place was a hive of activity with street performers and groups of people just hanging round, talking, eating or just people watching.

We heard that a Seria A football match was being held that afternoon between local side AC Sienna and Lazio. Fantastic. Heading to the stadium which in itself was amazing as its set within a depression upon the hilltop, where the sides of the stadium are cliffs. We eventually got our tickets to the game and were only five minutes late by the time we found ourselves in the home team supporters area.

The game was goalless at this point and we witnessed some incredible shots and saves. All of a sudden Lazio scored and instantly the away fans opposite us launched into a party, screaming nutters waving flags and bodies, flares were let off and chants could be heard reverberating around the ground. Explosions were let off that sounded like cannon fire. I stood there stunned just watching the private party in the corner. All around me was quiet. Play commenced. Sienna had a few chances but then where caught on the break, Lazio scored again. There could be no containing the away fans, their party just carried on, more flares, more chants. The fans shoulders around me visibly slumped, the Italian I heard spoken I could somehow understand even though I spoke no Italian.

I was thinking this is not the way it should be ! I wanted my adopted team of the day to win. Somehow the Sienna team sensed my desire and pushed forward with all they had. GOAL ! Sienna had pulled one back, the fans around me went nuts - in fact the whole stadium did. At last the away fans were silenced. With half time approaching we were optimistic being only one goal down. In extra time however, GOAL ! Sienna had done the impossible they had brought the game level by half time. What a game !

We enjoyed a nice beer over half time and tried to communicate with the locals which amounted to nothing more than smiles and pointing. Lazio started the second half stronger and quickly scored a soft goal. Sienna never really recovered and the score stayed 3-2. We were all buzzing as it was a fantastic game to watch even though we lost. We made our way back to the piazza where we met the girls and started to make our way home.

We passed a deli which we could not resist, some spicy salami was purchased along with mushrooms and other delights which would be put to good use that very night.

We headed to Florence the next day and decided to take the train instead of driving all the cars. As a driver I was quite happy to do this as I could then have a couple of drinks. We started early and were at the train station in Florence by 10:30am. After a quick check as to when the last trains were we proceeded to the center piazza.

Titch and company were keen to visit the statue of David. Others wanted to shop. GGummy, PJ and myself were keen to drink. As Titch waited in line for 4 fours to see a statue (There was a copy of it nearby with no wait) the boys went on a pub crawl. I took full advantage of not driving and by the time we all met back up for lunch at 3:00 we were plastered. On the way to Lunch we passed this fantastic bridge but all the boys could think about at this stage was were is the closest toilet.

With Gerard and myself almost crying with pain we found a cafe with a toilet ! Yes ! I went to bust through the door - but it was locked. After negotiation with the cafe owner he agreed to let us use the facilities under the condition that we buy a drink. We decided on a shot of yagermeister each which we consumed after our bladders had been taken care of.

We forgot that a siestar is the norm in this part of the country so as we hunted for somewhere to have our overdue lunch we came to the horrible conclusion that everything was closed. Banging on the door of one restaurant we managed to rouse an employee who then roused the chef who then proceeded to provide us with an amazing meal, goats cheese stuffed in parcels of pasta - followed by medium rare steak. Even in my drunken state I appreciated it.

We headed off to the train station to make our last train which would make it in time to get our connecting train to our final destination. We arrived at the first stop with plenty of time, we got our tickets for the final journey and proceeded to wait on platform 6. Time passed. We had a laugh. Time passed. Looking at our watches we were surprised to see that the train should have been departing in one minute and it had still not arrived. Unusual for European trains as they normally run like clockwork. A minute later and a whistle could be heard - we looked across and a train was departing a platform. It was then that we realised we were standing on platform 5, the wrong platform. The last train had departed for the night.

We hailed some cabs and made the long journey home on the meter.

The next day we headed out to a lake for a picnic, we had an impromptu game of football on the beach and consumed a fine selection of Italian cold cuts. Making our way up to the nearby town the weather turned and a storm came blowing in. Thunder and lightning put on a show for us as we took refuge in a pub. What a shame. The weather didn't last long and before you could finish your pint the blue sky had returned.

We headed home and after dinner PJ came up with the idea to do the 100 club. The 100 club is a game where you consume a shot glass of beer every minute for 100 minutes. The catch is you can not get out of your seat. You cannot go to the toilet and you cannot chuck up. If you do you loose. Our preparation I must admit was very poor. We were already on our way before we started the 100 club. Needless to say - a few of us did not make it. Bev was chucking up at about 60 minutes, Titch bowed out at 89 minutes - bless her cotton socks. Gerard abruptly sprang out of his chair at 91 minutes and ran towards the toilet, the problem he faced was the dark stairway between him and the toilet. Needless to say he mistimed his drunken run and fell down the stairs at which point he lost control of his bodily functions and pissed himself.

The laughing did not help the condition of the remaining punters. Crossing our legs and concentrating hard was all that kept us going through that final hurtful 9 minutes. After making the 100 club we all sprinted for the toilets. Foozball was then played for the remainder of the night. In an unusual twist PJ and myself were beaten on the night by Gerard and Gummy - I can only put it down to being drunk.


We visited a town called San Gimignano which was fantastic. A few of the boys did not join us as they could not get out of bed the morning after the 100 club. What a Disgrace. Sam Gimignano was a very old town and was definitely a must see place.


Titch and I brought a fine selection of wines here from the famous Brunello range. I have not yet tasted it, although I will do soon.

Stateside

LA was and always will be a slimy hell hole of a place. Although it does have funparks and I do like funparks. Six Flags Magic Mountain did not disappoint - this funpark only has rollercoasters - that's it - period. Brilliant. There were not many people there and sometimes you could stay on the ride and do it twice. As Titch and myself were queuing up for tickets some weird american gave Titch two free tickets as she had them spare. Bummer free admittance. Brilliant day was had by all. We were staying in a cheap hotel in an area that can be best described as a truck stop. There was a 7/11 so we managed to stock up on essentials like beer. Lets not forget we had about 4 30ths to celebrate on this trip...

Our next day started with a nice drive up the coast along highway 1 - we managed to get stuck behind about 50 harley davidson riders just as we hit the winding hilly part of the route. The problem here was that these riders were not hip and young, eager to throttle back and feel the wind in there faces .... oh no - these guys were ancient and did not appear to have enough strength in there feeble little fingers to pull back hard enough on the throttle - Result being a very slow 20mph - 25mph costing us at least one hour in extra traveling time - but it was a very nice scenic route so not too much of a problem really.

We arrived in Santa Barbara, checked out the pier and the main drag - we found a nice warm starbucks - where I found a new brew not offered in the UK ! I got the meal deal which consisted of the Pumpkin Spiced Late with a Pumpkin and cream cheese muffin. Fantastic. Bit sweet though and would not have it again for the entire holiday. I found a radio shack and brought a pair of motorola walkie talkies with a 6 mile range for only £35! (They are over £100 in the UK and they only have a 2mile range(EU LAW only permits up to 2miles) So all in all we brought six and distributed them between our 4 jeeps and my luxury car. Bingo intercar communication - constant trash talking en route for two weeks. Brilliant. We carried on to San Louis Obispo where we had a hostel booked for the night. Very basic accommodation and nice and cheap - quite a nice town and served as a good stopover on the way to San Francisco. We went to a few bars that night and got quite drunk - the last place we went to was a karaoke bar (Brad was refused entry because he did not have photo ID - quite funny really since he is pushing 30!) we kicked on anyway and Daryl got up and sang a song! Brilliant.

Next day nursing quite a few hangovers we proceeded to travel up the coast - we stopped at some famous Golf Club called Pebble Beach -we managed to get down to the the 18th hole and watch some rich people tap the ball in. Very good looking course - would have been fun to hack my way around it but alas I think you need to be able to play and have a big fat wallet to make it to the green. We arrived in San Francisco that night so could not see to much of the city on the drive in.

Our accommodation was comfortable and when the sun rose we were able to explore our surroundings - we found ourselves located about a 5minute walk from the city center. We had a boat to catch this morning and that boat left at 9:05am sharp. we were on our way at 8:00am and a little part of me was wondering "do we have enough time". We arrived at the start of a cable car lane and decided that would be the best way to get there. after about a 25min wait we were finally on a cable car and traveling up the hill. Brilliant. People were hanging of the sides and the cable car was packed. There was a guy in the middle dancing with the controls and bells were going off every over second. It was a hive of activity as the drivers took us on our journey to the bay. The lead driver decided to play us a tune using the bell and his boot. Brilliant! Very impressed with that one - most unexpected. We arrived at our stop and checked our watches - we had 10 mins before departure of our boat and we could not even see the bay yet. Stink. Myself and two others started a mad sprint to pier 41 where we hoped to collect our tickets and have them waiting for our friends when they caught up. As we rounded the bay and approached the pier we heard a loud honk from our boat as it slowly departed the pier......without us. To cut a long story short we managed to get on standby for the next crossing and finally made it to Alcatraz. I did the audio tour and was surprised to find that it was quite good. After a game of hacky sack in the "recreation Yard" we left the island and returned to the mainland.

We went out for dinner at a delancy street foundation restaurant - really nice food and great service in a restaurant overlooking some big bridge. To work in the restaurant you must have been in prison on at least two different occasions - kind of a reform place - so that was unique. I had the meatloaf and it was delicious.

We explored San Fran over the next few days and found it a really nice city - could not live there though - there were far too many crazy and homeless people - really got to love the american way of help yourself or your screwed.

Our next stop was a tiny little town called Jackson - its located within the wine district. There was a wine and food festival on so we visited a few wineries and sampled the local brew which was quite good really. Brought ourselves a few cases and then headed back to to the town. We visited a few local pubs in the area and we could have been in a set from the dukes of hazard. Rickety old pub looking down the main street with the locals leaning on the rails. One of which made it quite clear to me that he did not like bush. I mumbled hallelujah before sinking my head into my ice cold pint. On too our next pub in the area - this one had wood where the windows should have been and the 5 harley Davidson's parked outside really should have made us turn and walk away. But we had already had a few pints and our dutch courage stood up to the challenge as we proceeded in. After a while our eyes adjusted to the darkness and we could see that the pub was not as scary as first thought. A friendly female waitress behind the bar politely asked what we wanted. We got our beers and took up residence near the back of the bar between the two pool tables. We had a large group so for the rest of the night we owned the tables. Actually it was Brad and I who owned the tables as we were undefeated the entire night.

The next day we drove to Yosemite national park and lets just say - it would rank in the top 5 most stunning places I have ever seen! It was quite breathtaking and I was totally blown away. Photos probably won't do it justice but you should get an idea. We had two days here but I think we should have had at least four. We did some nice walks up to waterfalls and wondered around some really large trees. Our accommodation was fantastic - we had an entire lodge to ourselves and while outside on our deck with Daryl we witnessed a deer walk past us. Brilliant.

Our next destination was Vegas but enroute we had to decided to travel through death valley - we made sure we had the air conditioning on to keep the engine nice and cool. I think the temperature got to about 35degrees but it was 4:00pm by the time we got there so mid afternoon could have been a lot hotter. Really enjoyed this part of the drive and on the desert straight we managed to get my Chrysler 300 Touring car to 115mph. Brilliant. Nice car. We arrived in Vegas at dusk - the sky was treating us to a fantastic sunset with a colour explosion everywhere we looked for about 10 minutes before it finally went dark. When this happened we could see our final destination illuminating the sky. Vegas. We had arrived. We found our hotel without too much drama and settled into our beautiful rooms with the marble bathrooms and outstanding view down the strip. Loved the gambling and enjoyed the tables although your money seemed to go down at an alarming pace ! All up at the end I was down $US100 so that's not bad - I had planned on loosing $US400 so on that line of thought I am actually $US300 up!

The wedding was probably the weirdest night for the whole trip - we had drunk about 6 beers each before we even left the hotel - needless to say we were already drunk. We left the hotel and met our two Hummer Limo drivers outside the hotel lobby - one for the girls and one for the boys. Our one hour stag/hens night had started and we would meet again at the Elvis Quickiwed on the strip. Daryl brought along a nice big bottle of chivis regal (whiskey) that was consumed on the rocks at a frantic pace as we made our drive down the strip. We stopped in a few pubs along the way - running in to consume tequila slammers - then running back out to our limo (stop time:4mins - drinks consumed:14). I believe the girls polished off a massive bottle of vodka in the same amount of time as the boys managed our whiskey. Needless to say at this point we were very very drunk. Let the wedding begin..... It was possibly the most funny wedding ever with people dancing in the isles, on the seats with caterpillar flops up the aisle.

Brilliant trip that will be remembered for a long time.