Josh Evnin

Sarthak and I just got in to our hostel in Florence and we ran out to an internet cafe. Italy has been great and I am sad to have to leave in only a few days. When I get home I will put my entries from my travel journal online, so look forward to that. Here is a taste from our day in Milan:

Sarthak and I were looking for a phone card and were asking around in order to find one. Neither of us speak Italian, so it was a little more difficult than one might speak. Still, Sarthak used his brilliant Spanish skills to save our butts:

Sarthak to Tabbachi shop man: Escuzi, necessita una card for telephono?
Tabbachi shop man: No, no.
Sarthak: (In mix of Spanish and English) Where can I get one?
Man: (We perceived him saying) Would you prefer I speak Spanish or English?
Sarthak: English, please.
Man: (Repeating) Ahh! Engleeesh, pleeeze! (Then in Italian) I only speak Italian…

Conversation continued in Italian…we later found a card.

See you back in the US!

Location 1: arrived.

Hello from me & the Ice Man.

Sorry these are so brief. Peace out nonetheless.

So I’m back from the trip to Tennessee, which I’m sure you’ve read all about at this point (if not, just scroll down a little bit). “What’s next, Josh?” I hear you ask.

Well, I’ve got some excitement coming up, that’s what. I’ll break it down for you:

• This Sunday (6/25) I’m headed to NYC with my Mom and family friends. I’ll do some touring and relaxing and chilling. I’ll also get to see a bunch of people while I’m there, which is exciting.
• The following Saturday (7/1) I’ll be on a plane to London en route to Switzerland. Sarthak and I will be hitting up Europe for some foreign good times. We’ll go to Geneva, Switzerland, and then on to Italy. My trip will be a little more than 9 days, and should be an awesome time. I can’t wait.
• On 7/10 I’ll be back at home in California, to remember what real summer weather is like (not this rainy/humid crap ;-). While there I’ll chill in Chino Hills, and take some side trips to Phoenix, Vegas, and San Diego.
• At some point i’ll head back to Chicago to celebrate Karen’s bday (7/24) and relax for the rest of my summer.

Now you’re all caught up on what’s next. Doesn’t that feel nice?

IMG_0330.JPGOriginally uploaded by josh.ev9.

In case anyone was wondering, I made it home safely from Bonnaroo. It was part of a somewhat longer vacation that involved driving from Chicago to Tennessee, all around Tennessee itself, and then back. It was awesome…and here’s a recap:

Oh, for a recap via photos, check out my flickr photosets:
Bonnaroo 2006
Roadtrip 2006
Graceland!

Karen and I began the trip doing the long haul drive from Chicago to Memphis, TN with a few stops in between. We had an impromptu lunch stop at the University of Illinois to eat Papa Del’s, my parents’ favorite college pizza place. My family has quite a lineage at the UofI…both my parents went there, as well as my paternal grandparents. I’m the first in this generation of my family to not go to the UofI, sadly. Still, the pizza was good. We didn’t have time to wait for the “real” (aka Deep Dish) pizza, so we just grabbed slices, which was kind of like cheating.

We got back on the road and made it through the south of Illinois, the southeast corner of Missouri (pronounced Muzzourah), the northeast corner of Arkansas, and then into the great state of Tennessee. Memphis is all the way on the western edge of Tennessee, right on the Arkansas border, for all you geography fans. The drive was about 7-8 hours from Chicago.

MEMPHIS IS AN AWESOME CITY. I highly recommend it to everyone…young, old, party, chill, whatever. Make your way to Memphis and you’ll have a good time.

K and I checked out Beale Street, home of the Blues and birthplace of Rock ‘n Roll. They have all kinds of food, including Memphis BBQ and Cajun/Creole. Plus the music coming from all the bars (even on a Tuesday night) was deafening.

The next morning we hit up Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley. This is something you just have to do when you go to Memphis. We paid our homage to The King. Unfortunately, we didn’t see him hanging around…despite the rumors, the people who live at his house seem to think that he’s long dead. Strange.

Seriously, Graceland is fun…you just kind of have to see it to believe it. There’s nothing about it that is really totally crazy as far as celebrity homes. Compared to what you see on Cribs today, Elvis’s home was quite modest.

The afternoon was dedicated to the National Civil Rights Museum, which was absolutely amazing. The museum has been built into the hotel where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. At the end of the tour, you get to look out from a window onto the spot where he was shot. After reading about all of the civil rights abuses throughout history as you walk through the museum, seeing this spot is quite emotional. Going outside to look at the walkway where he last walked is also somewhat heart-wrenching. You’ve gotta be there to feel it…I recommend a trip.

The next day we headed into Nashville, a quick 3.5 hour drive straight east from Memphis on the “Music Highway.” We didn’t see much in Nashville. It’s hard to find a good restaurant without searching really hard. We went to Opry Mills, a big mall that is exactly the same as every other “Mills” mall we had ever been to. We attempted to go into the Grand Ole Opry, but were barred because they were having HomeSchool Graduation that day…I had never heard of such a thing. We toured the GOO Museum though, which wasn’t bad, if you’re a fan of country music.

Alright, I’ve gotta be honest…I’m boring myself by recounting this whole vacation, so I’m just gonna bullet point it from here on:

• In the evening we picked up my sister, Tami, at the Nashville airport.
• We then headed to Manchester, TN to go to Bonnaroo.
• Upon entry to Bonnaroo we were stopped at the gate for a random car search. We had to quickly transfer all of our beer from their glass bottles to plastic water bottles at the request of the friendly police officer. Tami also got called out for having a glass pipe, but no pot. Good girl. 😉
• We went in to Bonnaroo only to find tables with literally hundreds of glass pipes for sale…the same kind that Tami was questioned for upon entry.
• At Bonnaroo we met up with Erik and Kynthia and saw them here and there, though I wish our schedules could have been better synced. (K, T, and I seem to be much earlier sleepers… 🙁
• The following bands serenaded us personally (not quite): Devotchka, Robinella, Ben Folds, Nickel Creek, Death Cab for Cutie, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Stevie Nicks, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Elvis Costello, Blues Traveler, Beck, Radiohead, The Streets, and Matisyahu. Great concerts all.
• Sunday morning we packed up the tent and managed to get our car out of the “parking lot” (aka big huge field filled with cars and tents) in time to get Tami to the airport.
• Karen and I headed back a little earlier than planned, and stayed the night in Louisville (pronounced LooUHvool), KY. In the morning we grabbed breakfast in a nice area in town, then headed back to Chi-town.
• Good times

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for your patience! Don’t forget to check out the pictures.

IMG_0443.JPGOriginally uploaded by josh.ev9.

Karen and I visited the Grand Ole Opry on our vacation to Tennessee. Here’s me rocking out to my crowd.