There's No Place Like Rome...

I'm back! I'm back! Did you miss me? I missed you guys! I've finally shaken off enough jet lag to hammer out my first post-honeymoon post.

Aside: As for the La Mia Italia "contest" -- did you read everyone's submissions? Do you have a favorite? If you feel more motivated than I do, send me an email (ahirswap AT gmail DOT com) by May 15 with your vote, which counts as an entry into the contest for the person you've voted for. After I get all the votes, I'll do a random draw for the winner, chosen from the votes received. If I don't get any votes, I'll just randomly draw from all entries. Can't go back on my promise of prizes ...

So, how shall we kick off the month of May? While I ride out the rest of my jet lag, I'll hand it over to my more energetic cousin Fabio for today and put my bragging rights to good use.

If you were with us way back in November, you might recall when I introduced you to my bionically enhanced super cousin. Since then he's made quite a name for himself in the world of parkour here in Rome. His most recent appearance was on Le Iene, a popular sort of undercover investigative reporting/comedy/variety show here in Italy where this season between segments with the reporters they've had different dance/acrobatic groups perform. Click here to watch the segment. Fabio is the one with the shaved head. Click here to watch a taping of the rehearsal. Fabio is the one in the red t-shirt who steals the script off the desk.

Speaking of Le Iene, might I digress for one moment? Am I the only one who thinks that Jeff in Puglia is the long-lost twin of Paolo Kessisoglu, half of the show's dynamic duo? (That is, if you're not counting Hilary's dynamic duo.)

Judge for yourself:



Who is who, right? That's what you're thinking? I know!
PS Jeff?! When's that Rome trip happening?

Anyhoo, back to today's hero: this latest video was born as a sort of pitch for a FootLocker commercial and at the same time as a kind of anti-drug PSA. Fabio is really active in getting young people in Rome's outlying neighborhoods involved with parkour, in the process keeping them away from drugs and crime, giving them something positive to take part in that also has an adrenalin factor.

Strangely enough, Fabio says that it's a misconception that parkour or freerunning is risky: he tells me they do so much training and practice that the actual risk involved once you are properly trained is minimal. Um, I'll take his word for it.

If you'd like to know more about parkour and see two more videos, just click back to my previous article.

Here's the latest, which is a bit different than the previous videos in that here they are actually out and about in the city, which makes for some amusingly puzzled bystanders. Running on walls, you know... all in a day's work. Watch as Fabio mysteriously emerges (hatches?) from a closet after a pair of shoes gets stolen... and the plot thickens...