It's almost time for the world's greatest sporting event. No, not the boring Olympics, which I can barely stand to watch at all anymore. I'm talking about the World Cup. That's right, folks, it's soccer time! The 2006 Cup will be held in Germany from June 9 to July 9. This past Sunday we went to see the U.S. team play their final tune-up at Rentschler Field in Hartford, where they came away with a 1-0 win versus Latvia, not to be confused with Dr. Doom’s home of Latveria. Good thing, because I’d feel bad for those “insolent dolts” when they got home from losing (okay, I promise no more comic book references for a while). But if you’re not a soccer fan, now’s a great time to jump on the bandwagon. The U.S. is still an underdog (despite their #5 world ranking) to go too far into the tournament due to their tough group, but the team is talented and a breakthrough is possible into the elite group of teams vying for the title. And this is the first World Cup shown in HD (the tourney takes place every four years) thanks to ABC and ESPN. So I’m going to lace ‘em up and get ready by kicking a ball around. If you want to join me, we play a pick-up game every Wednesday night – see you there!

I’m hungry. Yes, it’s still kind of early in the morning to be thinking about lunch, but I am. And yes, I did eat breakfast – a frosted apple pop tart (actually, it was the Shaw’s generic) with some grapefruit juice. But that’s gone and I’m ready for brunch or lunch or something, Actually, I’m craving a sub. A week or so ago, I set up a trip of some friends from work to visit a former co-worker who had set up a Quiznos. If you’ve never been to one, you should try it. It’s definitely a step above Subway. I had the Mesquite Chicken with Bacon sub and it was delicious. I can’t wait to have one again. Oh, and of course it was great to see our friend again – she’s got the place looking great and I have no doubt she’ll succeed. Hopefully our little rowdy group didn’t drive away any of her business. Then again, if the rat mascot and annoying talking baby commercials can’t keep people away from the great food, I doubt we can.

This weather is killing me. Not literally of course, but can the sun come out and play sometime soon please? It’s been over a week of rain here and there’s no end in sight. I’m used to sun deprivation in the winter months (though I don’t like it), but in the middle of May? And if it keeps raining this hard, we’re all going to feel like we’re in Venice. Speaking of Venice, we are invariably asked if we went on a gondola ride while we were there. We didn’t. While it would have been cool, the gondola drivers (I’m sure there’s a better word for that) charge about $80 for a 50 minute ride. While I don’t mind it being a bit expensive (and expected that, to be honest), the length of the ride was a bit much considering we were only there for a day trip. They don’t negotiate, either, and seem content to stand around all day rather than take short rides. But Venice was still very cool. We moved around the city by bus (okay, there were boats but they function like buses) and it was very charming. Oh, and it’s going to be 70s and sunny there tomorrow.

One of the my favorite things about going anywhere is noticing the small differences in culture. In Italy, if you order hot chocolate you will get something a bit unexpected. What they call hot chocolate is more like uncooled pudding or melted chocolate than the relatively watery stuff we drink here. It reminded me of the delicious looking (and somewhat more powerful) concoctions in Chocolat. In Italy, of course, coffee is the drink of choice (okay, maybe tied with their excellent wines). So finding a cappuccino or espresso takes about 10 seconds in the cities. Simply go into a café or gelato shop or even a convenience store and you’ll be treated to excellent coffee at a reasonable price (no Starbucks-style gouging). Other little but noticeable differences are doorknobs that have buttons on top to open the door instead of twisting the knob, really small cars and waiters that don’t want to bring the check (well, I guess that one’s not that different).

Okay, I lied. I said I'd post daily but I haven't. So to make up for it here's a pic from the wedding (actually, right after the wedding). I'll try to post more often, but I still have a lot to do between organizing photos and editing the two-camera shoot of the wedding. I hope to have it all done in the next couple of weeks if I can find the time. As many of you know, the wedding took place at the town hall of Florence, which is knows as Firenze to the locals ( Firenze also happens to be the name of a centaur in the Harry Potter books). The ceremony was conducted in Italian and translated for us so that we would know what we were "I doing" to. After the ceremony, the officials kindly gave us a beautiful scroll to mark the occasion and a small piece of silver with the skyline of Florence engraved on the front. It was all very special. After posing for some photos in the building's courtyard, we went outside into the square where locals and tourists alike were happily giving their congratulations. The sun was bright and fortune continued smiling on us, as two horse-drawn carriages just happened to be waiting in the square. We rode in them back to the hotel, where the chef had designed a unique (and very delicious) menu just for us. It's a day I will never forget.