So, I headed to Rimini, Italy for Paganello over Easter weekend. Awwweeesome. I spent a week at the tournament with my team Arrrrrr! (pirate themed, you know?) They were a great team, very spirited, talented, and silly. We played pretty well and enjoyed playing pirate themed games with the other teams. We made it a team goal to put our pirate tattoos on the whole tournament. We started out with 1500 and ended the tournament with only 200, so we must have done a pretty good job. :D The parties were fun, but not as crazy as I was hoping for. Even though I had a great time, I wouldn't call it the best value. You pay almost 200 dollars and they don't give you liquor or food (well, a little of each the first night, but not much). One thing that was cool, though, was going on a boat cruise the second night that had a playboy theme. I went in a sexy dress and a bathrobe in honor of Heph. Lots of dancing and debauchery, of course. Anyway, a great tournament, but I still think Kaimana in Hawaii is a way better value. Everyone should go! After the tourny, I had hoped to find some people to travel with but wasn't able to find anyone. So, I set off on my 6 day trip across Italy alone. I took the trains everywhere. First, to Florence, then Cinque Terre, Siena, and Rome. I was in a hurry to see as much as possible and I didn't have more than two days anywhere. It was rushed, but I'm glad I got to see as much as I did. Florence was such a beautiful city, overflowing with statues and domes. Plus, it had some of the best city views and sunset. Next was Cinque Terre, which a grouping of five towns built along the NW Italian coast. The small towns are all built up upon cliffs and tucked in among enormous olive groves. Numerous trails traverse between the cliffs and connect the towns. I was able to do a few of the hikes, and they were incredible. There was so much color! Not just in the green hills, but the towns especially. The typical colors on the buildings were: pink, moss green, mustard and rust. Amazing, simply amazing. I rode on the local trains there, had some local food (gelato, baked chickpea something, pizza). There was wine, too! Man, 1/2 a liter is so much more than I thought. So drunk. So quickly.
Next was Siena, another Tuscan town. It was pretty cool, and pretty old. At this point I was getting kind of lonely, and I don't think I was enjoying it as much as I would have liked. But, that's when I ran into two guys from Colorado who happened to play frisbee, too! Perfect. We traveled around the town that night and went to Rome together. They were a lot of fun, very silly. We tried to hit up a European soccer game, but proceeded to have an ultimately fruitless adventure no finding any tickets. The rest of the time in Rome was spent seeing the seemingly limitless supply of statues, fountains, and art. The Colosseum is prettty big, but not as big as you would think. So, a whirlwind trip then back to Hawaii for one month before I left again.
I finished up my work at the University, including The Sustainability Fest. That was a crazy day. We were up for 19 hours straight setting things up, managing the day-long event, and then the concert, then the clean up. It was a long day, but a good experience. The best thing that came of my time with the Sustainability center was that my supervisor said she would write me a glowing recommendation for any sustainability job I applied for. Bonus! On Memorial day I left Hawaii and headed to Austin, TX to stay with Tank and Cara. I had a great three days there seeing the city and all of its cool little quirks. Of course, my hosts were wonderful and were a lot of fun to be with. I also got to meet up with a friend of mine, Jeff, who happened to be in town. After that, a quick pop into Atlanta to drop my stuff off. There, I got to rest for a little bit before off to the next adventure.
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