...Rome!

First of all i'd like to wish happy birthday to a very special person...Millie i am so happy that i am the one that gets to spend these special days with you and share all the special moments of our lives :)

We spent four glorious days in the Italian city of Rome last week. I'm not much of a city person as you have probably gathered by now, but Rome was a place that i would go back to any day. Standing at the place where thousands of people cheered as Gladiators fought to their glorified and bloody death. It sends shivers down your spine and although it is merely ruins compared to what it was back then, it feels so very real. We also visited the Vatican, full of gold and immense masterpieces by the likes of Michelangelo.

One of our favourite dishes is indeed pizza and needless to say we had our fair share of it! Together with litre mugs of beer and endless sun i was well and truly sorted! Perhaps because we didn't expect much from a short break, but we both felt that we felt more relaxed during four days in Rome than our whole two weeks in Cancun back in May.

That's all for now, i'm half way through a much needed two weeks off and just about got rid of yet another cold! hopefully hit the top of the red at evolution tonight and start on my next challenge on the wall :)

Santiago.

1 whole litre of the good stuff!

quick before it melts!

Millie and I <3

10,000km by Patrik Wallner

Having a glorious Wednesday afternoon off work i have just finished watching a skate video recommended by Luke over at crabface.co.uk. A skateboarding video featuring the likes of John Tanner, Dan Cates and a bunch of other skaters traveling along the Trans-Siberian railway which extends from Mosco in Russia to Hong Kong in China. The trip takes them through two months of shredding some of the oldest spots in the world in little known towns and also through the busy cities of China itself.

It really is a good watch so if you get a chance take a look - needless to say i am now incredibly hyped to film and skate on our trip to Barcelona in October!

We will be leaving on October 18th for a few days in what will hopefully be a sunny skate trip and will no doubt be a banging start to the already accumulating video footage.

That's all for now!

Santiago.

Two weeks in the sun

I have just got back from a sunny holiday in sweet Cancun, Mexico. The long flight was a killer but our "all inclusive" hotel was absolutely amazing, much was eaten, much was drank. Temeperatures were in the 30's and the beach was beautiful. Didn't really do a lot of exploring the local area as the hotel had everything you could have wanted. It was lovely to get some peace and quiet, and of course a very nice tan :)

Just Chillin'

I did a lot of reading whilst sipping on beers and cocktails. I normally take a very long time to get through a book but in this ocassion i had some really good literature at hand and got through nearly three books in two weeks. I picked up at a copy of Joe Simpson's "Touching The Void" which tells an incredible tale of mountain survival first hand. Another masterpiece i came across was "K2-No Way Down" by Graham Bowley, a journalist from New York City. He wrote a detailed account of what went down on K2 in early August 2008. It is a recent example of how crazy things can get up there on the mountain and describes how 12 lives were lost in just three days high above on the slopes of K2 in Pakistan. Finally i polished off the rest of a book i've been slowly working through for the last few months. This is "The Longest Climb" by Dominic Faulkner, it follows the EVERESTMAX team as they cycle more than 5,000 miles from the lowest point on earth - the dead sea - to the highest peak on the planet - the summit of Mt. Everest. Not only is it an incredible journey but also a superbly written account of what happened during one of the deadliest seasons on the mountain.

That's all for now. I will be going out for a much needed skate tomorrow afterwhich It will be a busy week this one no doubt as i'm shooting my first wedding video on Thursday. I will let you all know how it went but i'm confident it will go well!

0610h the sun rises over the Caribbean.

Thank you for reading!
Santiago.