WOAH!!!!

What did you expect me to say!? Two flights, a trip to IKEA, and a car ride to get to the Farm, a hot shower, quick tour, introductions (pictures to follow later...), drool nap, and the absolute best pizza I have ever put in my mouth or anywhere else! Seriously...

For those of you who know my propensity to "flowery descriptions" over traditional forms of documentation, like say PHOTOS, will appreciate this one as I am going to let the camera do most of the talking...

FLIGHT - sat in a tiny aisle seat next to an (do you say "an") Hungarian woman and her really cool cat. I ordered and enjoyed several of these...and a ton of scribbling, which I might share after a while...a single "sleep aide" and a tiny nap, as well as one very funny episode of 30 Rock. Didnt even touch the magazines or books or candy I bought but we had the wind to our backs so we made it to Frankfurt in 7 hours, then another hour to Bologna.

ITALY!! - I land and forget my jacket on the plane, language barriers ensue. I watch my bike get tossed out of the plane to the ground...no worse off than under my own supervision I suppose, proceed to baggage claim and wonder what the hell Im suposed to do next. I get my jacket and a guy in a dapper pink sweater askes me if Im Scott. Must have been the large roller-pig of a bag (thanks Nat) and the beat up bike box. I say "Yessiree" a coloquilism that has no significance here, and we load the crap I brought into the VW euro-van and head off to run an errand to IKEA! Yup, cheap furniture is the same everywhere. Tammy, this is the point where you make fun of me for coming to Italy and the first thing I do is go into a major worldwide corporate chain store known and loved for crappy Thai made goods. We pick up James an hour later at the same Aeroporto and head to the Farm.


THE FARM - Its a renovated pig farm that supposedly was so nasty they dug 3 meters (9 feet to you and me) out and added imported soil and sand and poured concrete just to make it buildable. And buildable it was. Several rooms, ample bathrooms, a huge kitchen, and more bike storage than all the other bike shops I have worked at combined! The above pic is the back door to the shop/storage area, the bottom photo is of the view from inside. Yeah FARM! There is evidense that this little bike tour company outfit actually does some impressive touring. There is a hallway full of maps and tour guides and magazines all dedicated to the places they go. Im super excited about the possibilities here!



In case anyone is wondering, my dormitorio is quite comfortable, and appears to be the room of choice for the day-napping cats. I caught the stripy faced one and the white cat in there on seperate occasions today. I opted for the room with no windows as I figured its the last one to be picked anyways. Yes, thats a twin bed...


Did I mention bikes? this IS a tour outfit afterall. here is a picture. this is the rolling rack system they have made for storage. This is one of about 10 such racks loaded with all kinds of bikes from old touring bikes, to tandems, to kids bikes and mountain bikes. To put it lightly, I AM IN HEAVEN!!! Scan back up and look out the open door in case you are skeptical...seriously this experience is going to forever change the landscape of acceptible jobs for a wanderer like me. The bar is being set high folks and Im really happy I didnt take a job at Performance in SD!!


There is a super neat drinking fountain in the bathroom so you dont get dehydrated while making Boom-Boom, and towels in case you get some on your fancy Italian shoes...


All of this and I think the highlight of the last couple days was that James and myself were lucky enough to experience the wonders of GPS navigation today as we attempted to drive to the local town (Forli) and drop off several packages at Mail Boxes Ect, which is just like MBE in the states, except for the language barrier, and attempt to make a good impression for American tourists everywhere at the local grocery, the CO-OP. The MBE guy was super cool cause our boss Igor let him know we were coming, but the grocery was another story entirely! Just weigh your produce and print the sticker, so you dont hold up the mid-day shoppers and get called "stupid americans" by the otherwise nice lady at the register. All of this on top of the fact that James and I have access to the world's most fun death trap of a mini-car knicknammed The Panda - complete with 4 upright bike racks on the roof (which I think would make it equally tall and reliable even if it were driving up-side-down)


This is the look of amusement (James) mixed with terror (Me) as we drive down twisty lanes, opposite big fast BMWs, on roads that are seriously barely wide enough for one car!

We decided to only drive when we have to, and take a language course or two before we return to the grocery that we went to today. I think I might have been more sweaty in there today than my pre-flight trip to Planned Parenthood for my annual birthday present dirty wiener tests. Negatives across the board thank-you-very-much.

In the next few weeks you can expect to see photos of the farm, the action here in the shop, where I have already posted the picture of the two naked hipster kids with rifles on the desktop, much to everyone's dismay, and the antics James and I will get up to this weekend when we are scheduled to deliver a tandem to an American tourist in Venezia - a trip that will sure be heralded Gay and Away for the two of us! AMESOME!!!

S.