Day 12 Parte Due - Tuesday In Tuscany (Florence, Italy)

​Bounjourno!!!

That's about all the italian that I have for you - which I can't lie, has been really super trying. Not only is it anxiety producing for me to go into a new country, completely broke, with crazy, full-of-shit gps signal (seriously, try to be more full of lies, google maps), but I also feel like a complete asshole looking someone in the eyes - about 200 times today - and telling them that I don't speak italian. And why is that I feel better saying that in spanish than I do in english..? I guess at the very least, it shows that I'm trying?. Still, it's kinda bullshit to think any italians will understand my shit spanish, just like I didn't understand much if any of the Italian spoken to me today.

Thank Gawd for Trina Merry. Seriously. 

hard to see, but there's me, looking like a giant, bald freckle, and the absolutely delightful Trina Merry without whom many of my life's adventures would not have been possible, and sprawling behind us is the beautiful city of Florence. It was good to us. Click da pic for a look at some of my other adventures with this incredible artist!

​​How else could a day start with an egregiously overpriced cab ride and a smelly, crowded, baby-fueled, (did I mention smelly??), early-ass, international flight, followed by three hours of misdirections, miscommunications, and dragging the world's heaviest suitcase through the cobble-stoned streets of central Florence, resulting in many tears in an Italian post-office, and ultimately spending roughly the same on cab fare as I would have if I had avoided all of that to begin with, still end with seeing the sights and sounds of Italy, being painted completely nude in the gardens surrounding a gorgeous, historic Italian villa, to the admiration, curiosity and genuine support of a dozen incredible, talented, female artists from across the world, only to be rewarded with one of the most decadent, mostly-vegan meals of my life,* all capped with a good, cheap, unforgettable bottle of local, white wine?

Trina Merry. That's how.

salute!

And all of you. Thank you.

I mean, Grazzi! 

Seriously, I need to learn Italian.

When Trina asked me what I might want to accomplish with my ONE NIGHT here in Italy, I told her: Get nekkid, Get painted (by Trina Merry), and get drunk.

Mission: accomplished, accomplished, and ma'fuckin Accomplished.

And then some. (Shhhhh, please don't tell youtube about the nips! only you guys have the link to this vid!)

Thank you so much, Trina!! And endless thanks to you, and the beautiful Frederica of Palmerina Estates, who has not only opened up her family's property to artists from all around the world, but who also thoroughly embraced Trina's unique art form. Frederica stands tall as a proud, confident, and talented woman herself with an incredible life of adventure behind and ahead of her, and she gave me many incredible gifts today - the privilege to be here on her estates being one of them; good wine and compassionate conversation another; and a personalized copy of "Chaplin and Costa," being possibly the most dear to me.

Thank you for supporting artists such as Trina and myself, and thank you for being just So. Damn. Italian. Ti amo, Frederica!

My short visit to this beautiful country has only left me wanting more. .. More bread, more wine, (more sleep!), and more Art.
I'll be returning to Italy Springtime 2018 at the latest for more indescribable magic.

Buenasera,
Jin

** Check out L'ortone on facebook - for anyone in or traveling to Florence, I cannot say enough good things about this place. The evening ended with tequila shots with the owner. Salute!