Roman Holiday

We made it to the Spanish Steps quite late on and re-enacted the famous movie scene with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn, albeit with a bit of a limp and less glamourous clothes.
My dream of going to Rome had come true thanks to Squidly who had given me a long weekend in the the 'Eternal City' for my birthday. I'd had to wait some months for the trip as she'd actually given me the gift whilst we were in Tasmania but I'd been trawling through the guidebook she'd also gifted me during that time deciding upon the sights I desperately wanted to see from the vast array available.
We were staying near Piazza Navona which is right in the heart of the city and afforded us a perfect point to begin each day. The piazza itself is rather interesting given it's oblong rather than square shape and beautiful fountains at either end; unfortunately the central Fontana Dei Quattro Fiumi was being renovated and so was not clearly visible.
From there we ventured off to find the Trevi Fountain and marvelled at the sculptor's prowess, tossing a coin in for good luck.
It was at this point, having got ourselves an ice cream cone, that we began our trek for the Spanish Steps. Never leave me in charge of a map. Or rather don't let me pick what I think is the destination. I had actually navigated our way perfectly to where I thought we were supposed to be going but it was in this venture that I was unsuccessful for I managed to find the Palazzo delle Esposizioni, interesting in it's own right I'm sure but not as beautiful as our intended sight. To make matters worse I had badly sprained my ankle on Rome's cobbled pathways in an effort to get to this false location!
As is often the case with Squidly and I we opted to stop at a small ristorante for a drop of red wine. We hadn't intended to dine, let alone stagger out of this charming little eatery some three and half hours later, but the copious amounts of their house red willingly poured by the head waiter whether we wanted it or not made sure of that. With a renewed vigour, the alcohol had given us heart and killed the pain in my now swollen ankle, we set off again for the 'Scalinata Trinita dei Monti' and this time struck gold in our venture. The steps trully are beautiful and the atmosphere is electric, they act as a huge meeting place for young Romans, giving you a feeling for what the locals do on a Friday evening. It's understanding cultures and local people that appeals to me rather than "the must see" spots around the world but so far Rome had oozed culture through it's most famous sights as they are what seems to attract locals and tourists alike.

Race(y) Night

Cricket was doomed before we even set off for the opposition ground. The rain was falling pretty hard where we were the away ground was at best only 30 minutes away but we had to travel and give it the best shot of playing. This after all was a match we fancied ourselves to win.

As we arrived Pritts let us know that there had just been a huge downpour there and the track was looking decidedly dodgy. We all wandered out to the square and knew straight away that the game would be called off without a ball being bowled...

...we hadn't accounted for their eccentric umpire though. "It'll drain in 30 minutes, give it until the hour and we'll make a start."

"Umps, there is water soaking into my boots when I tread on the track!" Skip retorted but to no avail. He was dead set on a start so at 2pm we took to the field and bowled. 2 overs and 2 balls went by before SemiPro slipped through his delivery stride and landed flat on his ar5e. At this point the game was stopped until conditions improved.

As the minutes ticked by and a couple more rain clouds dropped their payload onto the sodden wicket, we waited and still the umpire believed we would resume. To break the monotiny we took to their outfield in what was a rare dry spell and started some catching practice. We played a game called "Kings and Sluts" where the catcher on the hook is the king and the catchter on the cover drive is the slut, these grades are relevant to the difficulty in catching from these positions. A dropped catch sends you to the end of the semi-cirle and you become the slut in turn promoting each of the other players by one. A missfeild on a grounded ball costs you one place to the catcher's left. We each took out turns as king and slut, our catching is atrocious, before we moved onto some big outfield catches.

Finally the game was abandoned at almost 5pm. We had a few beers at their clubhouse (on the toilet floor of which we had found a sample of human faeces) and then made a move home to get ready for our annual Race Night.

If you have never been to one of these nights I can thoroughly recommend them. It a bit of harmless gambling and a great social event rounded off with plenty of alchohol amongst great friends. SemiPro's housmate had brought with her a good looking friend who quickly found her feet amongst the welcoming pack that we must have appeared. The beers flowed freely and when they were running low we moved onto Malibu, or should I say all but Nayling and me. No, we had some very cheap vodka which I'm sure is normally used to strip back paint. A punt on 'Beef-Eater' at the end of the night saw C-Bear, Nayling and me rake in some big winnings so jugs of beer and more shots were called for.

As people started to leave the hardcore turned their thoughts to a round of poker, with money not an option the currency was clothing. Now, I am not the best poker player in the world so starting the round with only 4 pieces of clothing on, and that included my necklace, was not the best idea. 4 hands later and I was stark bo**ock naked!

Fortunately the others started to lose some hands too and I was soon joined in the "free" world by Bandai, SemiPro, Robins, C-Bear and Nayling with Herman and Pritts fighting it out at the end. For those of us that made the naked state early forfeits were ordered for a failed hand.

Before the end of the night SemiPro and I took on the role of naked barmen!

"Two pints of lager and a packet of crisps? Certainly sir! Can I get you anything else?"

Congratulations Robins!

Having had two big sessions in a row I was in no mood to have a beer...

"I've just passed the hardest module of my course and I'm going to get smashed!" shouts Robins as he storms into the Club.

"Ah!" I say, almost to myself.

So it was that we started session number 3 and began celebrating his good news. The place emptied till it was just me and him sat with a stubby, toasting his success. A group of local youths had congregated outside so it seemed a good time to lock up and make a move. We went via Mum and Dad's where Robins popped in to introduce himself and I picked up some clothes to change into. Half way to the pub Herman called to inquire our whereabouts and was staggered to hear that we had opted for pub a) when pub b) was closer and as he put it "not a sh1t hole". It being too late we carried on and arranged to meet him somewhat later.

For a young guy Robins can be surprisingly savvy. We sat and talked in great depth about a number of things. It turns out we have both been having some rough times lately for a number of different reasons but we were able to drown our sorrows together.

When Herman arrived our thoughts had just started to wander toward extending the night and heading for town. He kindly gave us a lift and we entered JB's with a night of promise ahead of us.

Robins pulled a girl who turned out to be the sister of an old school friend of mine. I hadn't seen him in years but sort of remembered his sister. As we piled out of the club it transpired that the other sister and a mate were about too and we all headed off for a few more.

Later on I headed back to Mum's leaving Robins to walk home still receiving texts from one of the three girls, which one now escapes me.

Unplanned Session

I was only supposed to be dropping some boxes off at Teed's place. Still "one would do no harm" I said to myself.

We decided to head to the pub for a curry and a quick pint. At this point deja vu is probably kicking in as I have certainly been here before. That quick pint turned into 7 or 8 as Big Al turned up and tried to play catch up. We all staggered back to their place extremely well fed and very, very drunk. I was ready to climb onto the couch and close my eyes but Big Al had different ideas. They had put a bottle of Vodka in the freezer a few days earlier and now seemed as good a time as any to crack it open and knock back a few Vodka and Cokes.

2 or 3 strong examples were polished off before I fell into a stupour waking early in the morning and preparing myself for a quiet Friday.

Happy Birthday Skip!

For a 30th birthday not a great dal had been planned. It's funny how those are usually the days that you remember though isn't it? :D

Skip had hired a minibus to take us to the ground for today's game, we all chipped in a fiver to cover costs and then set off to play a league game that we had high hopes for. As the rain hammered onto the metal roof of the bus we all knew the likely outcome of todays match. Shared points and a long journey home. Our league have applied a rule which forces sides to travel to away games before a match can be called off. So we had to make the journey and in an amazing turn of ridiculousness the umpire made us wait until 4:30pm before calling the game off.

A beer or two at the oppos ground whet the appetite so we picked up a few crates for the journey home. 2 of the other players weren't able to join us on the bus so they were treated to some interesting views from the window as they followed or passed us on the motorway!

A detour via a well known local watering hole gave us a chance for the calls of nature to be answered and a few more beers to set us on our way. I think we got back to the Club by 7:00pm by which point we were beyond salvation. The 2nd XI were just wrapping up their match so we all got yet another beer and took a turn around the boundary hurling abuse at both the players we know and those that we didn't. Umpires were not excluded either as we all barracked them for their "poor decisions" :-)

It was a terrible mistake to bring his new girlfriend down to the cricket club on a night like this and Teed had tried to avoid it but she was adamant that she wanted to meet his mates. They walked toward the clubrooms with us all seated outside getting further toward a comatose state and my brother's heart must have sank. I stood up and shouted "F**K OFF!!!" at our club Vice Chairman for no good reason and then when Herman advised me that he wouldn't of known that it directed at him particularly I followed up with "GPS F**K OFF!!! Owzat Herm?". It was at this point that a) GPS ignored me (thankfully) and b) Teed said "Casper, this is my new Girlfriend."

Whoops.

The drinking continued unabated and Teed's new lass didn't let the side down. A new big drinker is just what the family needs. So off to the local nightclub herein referred to as JB's for some crazy dancing and more drinks.

"7th best nightspot in the world..."

It's a lofty claim but one that is made of Newcastle by some residents that I know. "...one place behind Rio." Well I'm glad that Rio pips Newcastle even if it is just for the weather however the comparisons between the two cities are some what closer in other areas. Both have huge constructs with splayed arms, the Angel of the North and the Statue of Christ the Redeemer and both have a buzzing night life.

It was the night life that I got to sample tonight. We headed for Shearer's Bar under St James' Park in order to catch the England match. A win got the night off to a good start and after a few beers there we all headed for The Gate which is like a covered shopping mall rammed to the hilt with pubs and night clubs! The first bar we drifted into I was met by busty young barmaids dressed only in skimpy bikinis! My jaw hit the floor and it took Mawson 3 attempts to get my attention to find out what I wanted to drink. I thought I had died and found heaven when two of the girls climbed the steps from the bar to a small dancefloor and started to gyrate to the heady sounds thumping out of the speakers. This was trully an awesome start to the evening!!!

A serious number of JD's later and we were drifting from pub to pub soaking up the atmosphere as we went. We finished up in a nightclub and spent the night dancing and drinking away with a bevvy of beautiful girls surrounding us. My memory from that point on is a little hazy but I think I remember Stu being cornered by this brute of a woman and being scared to say anything to her; the lads providing her with answers.

I got a taxi back to Sunderland and drifted off to the land of nod almost as soon as my head hit the comfy pillows.

Leo Sayer

With no game today and a bank holiday the following day we all converged on the Club with the intention of going on a "Leo Sayer". The Carlton Colds flowed a plenty as we whiled the early afternoon away enjoying what we knew was going to become a huge drinking session.
A mammoth hand of poker ensued, a game which if you remember I am no good at, and for the first time in ages I partook. I got the distinct impression that I was being favoured by my mates as one by one they were dropping out whist me a mere rookie began collecting chips for fun. Victory was mine as a punt on a bad hand went my way which left me feeling on top of the world, albeit if I had been handed the win.
As more drinks came and went in the usual manner our thoughts turned to sustenance and Pizza's became the order of the day. A quick bite and then we were preparing to head out to a local club to round the evening off.
Having queued for over an hour I was desperate for a drink as we entered the club, JD and cokes by this point had taken centre stage, a favourite tipple of mine. The club played on around me as my stupour began to take hold. I had been drinking since before midday and it was taking it's toll on me, until I finally gave in and fell asleep. I woke up still in the club to find a girl talking to me, quite how she hadn't noticed I was sparko I don't know, but with a head on me already I had to just get up and go. Fortunately H was on hand to pick us up and Herman, one of his mates, Robins and me all piled into her car and got taken back.

The Great Escape

With a washed out Sunday in terms of upcoming cricket matches all that was left to do was watch West Ham United scrape themselves out of the relegation quagmire with a smash and grab raid against Manchester United on the final day of the 2006-2007 Premiership season.

I met Teed at the clubhouse after popping in to see Ma and Pa and regaling them with the latest dispatches, whilst quaffing a cheeky red. In a second display of what seems to be my unplanned lifestyle change, favouring all things retro, I veered toward an old style pint glass with handle and drank bitter at the club.

Do not pass go. Do not collet £200.

"Who's brought the get out of jail free card?" we all joked as we sat on the train headed for London Waterloo. "Beer anyone?" said AL clearly starting as he meant to go on. It was his 21st birthday and we were all going to attempt to pub crawl around the Monopoly board. Starting with a couple of beers on the train was probably not the best move but we were all having a laugh spurred on by SemiPro who was in particularly good form.

Our effort to make all 26 pubs (22 spaces that you can build on and the 4 train stations) took a blow right at the start as we struggled to find a pub that was open on the Old Kent Road but we got there in the end. It amazes me that so many pubs were shut in London but I'm not a city boy so maybe I'm not up with what goes on in town. The barmaid in The George must have thought we were a bunch of amateurs as she told us that we were an hour late starting and would have been better off starting with halves instead of pints! Apparently 3 groups had already been through.

We had opted for the quickest route encompassing each of the spaces rather than going for each one in order to avoid criss-crossing London which was probably a good idea but in all honesty we were never likely to make it to the end from the word "Go" (pun intended).

We found some excellent pubs en route, The Castle on Pentonville Road was particularly good given it's roof top beer garden and the blazing hot weather. Having moved on SemiPro displayed his skills on the ivories by giving an excellent rendition of "It's a little bit funny" by Elton John whilst the pub DJ kindly bought AL a birthday drink.

The pints were beginning to take their toll and we soon reverted to the halves so rightly advised by our first barmaid. We made the fatal error of taking a seat in The Rocket in Euston Road and never really got back on the crawl properly after that. I think we took in 2 or 3 pints here which was the start of the end but the day was clearly being enjoyed by all so no-one was too worried.

My brother has an in-built failsafe for when he goes out drinking, he falls asleep. He's never sick and never causes trouble but almost always catches some Z's. This led to an ejection from a bar but we were able to find another with seating outside so he could nap in a chair whilst the rest of us carried on drinking.

It was a combination of SemiPro's attempt to do the chivalrous thing by escorting a lady home and us trying to coax Sleepy toward the taxi rank that saw us miss our chance to get the last train home. I will not take the blame even though I was buying some food. So we embarked on a £160 taxi fare across London and back home to what was undoubtedly going to be an enormous hangover!

Many thanks should go to the guys over at Monopoly Pub Crawl whose maps and guides helped us get as far as we did (14 I think?).

"Right, who is up for the circle line?"