Had breakfast with the girls this morning. Very nice people. A lot of bonding. Last night they asked me how we felt about Bush. You have no idea how much you hear that here in Europe. From every person from every country. Someone asks you this everyday. He is the most infamous and notorious president I think we have had in a long time. They said that in Canada he is actually considered evil. Perhaps the dark angel referred to by the religions of the world who will bring about the apocalypse. I kid you not. They actually think he is truly evil up there. Like not just bad, but like someone possessed by evil intentions. We thought we were famous before bush as Americans. Well we are really famous now. Bush has turned America into something rather sinister and unsavory in the eyes of Europe. But enough of that. After Bush there will be someone else. And someone else. In the meantime, we had a nice little breakfast together and then we said goodbye. They are off to Austria for a few days. They will do a sound of music tour. I had no idea such a thing existed. What fun. I will stay in Venice. Lord Byron, Wagner, Igor Stravinsky, Ezra Pound, Robert browning, Henry James, Thomas Mann, Peggy Guggenheim of course. So many people have found themselves enchanted by this glorious little oasis over the centuries, written about it or lived or died here. I can easily see why. if I can find an apartment here I will stay for some time. 

Went to the Palazzo Ducale. Simply mammoth. Went inside the prison and the Bridge of Sighs. Saw the largest painting in the world, the Paradisio by tintoretto. Again, after a while this stuff gets a little overwhelming. Once you see too many churches museums etc. I'm headed to the beach on the island of Lido. 

I'm on the island of Lido now, from Death in Venice by Mann. I'm on a beach. And being from America where we have some of the most beautiful beaches anywhere, especially Miami [last years national geographic traveler rated top twenty beaches in world and number four was less than a mile from my house on key Biscayne---so we are used to the best down there], its not going to be easy for Europe to top us or even match, especially with the Bahamas Bermuda Jamaica the Virgins and Caymans et al being less than an hour away from us in sunny florida. But for what they don't have in sprawling sandy white beaches and crystal clear water here, they make for in hot topless babes and super nice people. I'm at this sort of beach disco right now. the music is pumping out a whole album of Culture Club, I'm serious. The people are beautiful and very nice. the bartender made me this café shekarato. shot of espresso, some liqueur, and some ice and then they shake it up till its foamy and ice cold.

Frankly it feels like Miami beach right now except that there is just a lot less pretense. A lot more openness. More real and social atmosphere. After not being in Miami for a while you start to let go of that pressure feeling that you live with there. the pressure to be the best, to be the richest, to be the sexiest, to be the coolest, to be good looking enough, built enough, etc etc. its pretty intense there. 

G2 left Miami last year and moved to Chile. He said he couldn’t take the snotty pressure of Miami anymore. Now he is as happy as he's ever been. Says South America is awesome. The girls are super nice and he loves life. He tells all his friends to leave Miami—that there's something wrong there. So what I wonder about Miami is this. If South America is great, and Europe is great, and the rest of America is great, what makes Miami such an unfriendly place to live? You could try to say it’s the Latinos cause that's the majority of the population. It is true that when you go to smile at someone in Miami and they don't smile back it’s a Latin person. They just aren't into it. and in Madrid it’s the same way, so maybe it is a Latin thing. Maybe its breaking an unspoken boundary by smiling at someone you don t know. Who knows. Only they know. But they definitely take offense to people smiling at them that they don't know. Its very weird. They won't smile back. Unless they know you and then they’re super cool and groovy. But you just can’t generalize because in South America the people are super friendly. And everyone is smiling all the time. Maybe its just if you’re a gringo in Miami they are shy because they don't know if you speak Spanish and they are shy cause they don't speak English. Who knows? But it isn't nice there if you're used to everyone being really social and easy going and friendly like in most American towns. You're just not going to get it there. Except with your friends. But not as a community in itself. I don't think Miami has reached community status yet. it’s the only city in America where the football team goes to the playoffs and they can’t sellout the damn stadium. Classic Miami.

I have been trying to figure out where to move since I have been here. I have to find a place that is much more community oriented and friendly. When I get back to the states and get back home to Miami if one more person frowns at me with that mean snotty scared look, I am going to go crazy. But its not so easy to figure out where to move. Lots of great places in America. But I gotta have that city action. Miami New York Los Angeles. Where else is there? Chicago maybe? Pretty fucking cold there. And windy. I don't know. of course I could move back to new York. But then no beaches. Man how do people go without the Beach? Its unthinkable. So where the hell in America do you live if you want the city and the ocean? I don't know. What is really funny is that I'm sitting here on the beach just like Miami right now off the coast of Venice instead of going to one of the museums, or palaces. [The palace where Richard Wagner actually died in is here. I will check that out tonight.] But I just couldn’t take the tourists anymore. Its really hard with that many people all crammed into one city. There are like tens of thousands of people. Just trying to walk one block is a huge pain in the ass. So I will chill here for a while. it feels like you're at the end of the earth here. When a topless girl with a beautiful smile offers you a free drink on a white sandy beach you know you're getting close to paradise. Are we far enough away yet? no. In a few days maybe we’ll go get totally lost in southern Italy. Where the streets have no names.