Here we go, here we go, Claudio Radio

Yes, I admit it I stole the headline from the now famous black eyed peas song “boom boom pow”. Mainly because it was suck in my head the majority of the weekend.

 

Btw. how good is your pop culture? What’s the correct lyric?

 

Let’s start with Friday, shall we? Friday was the drive to Detroit day. Well not only that, it was also the wrestle in Detroit day, but since the majority of the day was spent driving there, let’s just leave it at that. Also I used the word majority three times so far already. Seems to be my new word of the blog.

 

I started my day with my patented Müsli and then it was off to the rental car place to see what I got this time. Since I rent at the same place all the time, they know me there and always give me sweet deals. This time I got a great upgrade. Check out the car I got:

 

Yeah that’s right, that’s a Chrysler 300. While other people dream of driving this kind of car, I do it. All leather interior, cruise control (yes, very important on trips like this), plenty of space, plenty of trunk space, satellite radio and so on! Did I mention that it has great gas mileage too? I should be a salesman!

 

As the trip got on the road and I was cruising down the PA turnpike, enjoying some great music I saw this thing coming up in front of me

 

So of course I was speeding up… Ok, I have to be honest here, I had to slow down in order to not just zoom by, and took a picture. It’s not every day that you see a car like this on the road…

 

I gave them the thumbs up, got the thumbs up back and away I went! Up the hill, which was absolutely no problem for the Spartan. That’s what I renamed the car since it’s a 300 I figured it’s fitting.

 

A bathroom break was in the near future, which was a great opportunity for me to grab something to drink. Of course not just something, coffee!

 

One of the few good things about the PA turnpike is that all the Starbucks on the travel plazas are open 24 hours. Not that it mattered that day, but it’s nice to know!

 

When I came back out take a guess who was at the gas pumps getting gas? Yeah that’s right the cool car from above! Now I must have taken 12 pictures to finally get a good one while driving parallel to them and now here they were getting gas and I could have just taken the picture now!

 

Oh well, live and learn. After passing 420 Stony Ridge (yes it always makes me chuckle) a.k.a. exit 72 (I think) on the Ohio Turnpike it was off towards Detroit!

 

Do you know about the FedEx arrow? Yes? Good! No? Well you’ll learn about it now. Mainly because it haunts me on every road trips and every time I see a FedEx logo, so I’d like to pass it on to you.

 

See the FedEx logo at the back of the truck? Do you see that there’s an arrow between the E and the x on the Ex? Yeah? Well you’ll see it all the time from now on! Welcome to my FedEx arrow club

 

Before the show we decided to stop at a local subway to get some sandwiches for later. I not only got an amazing black ham sandwich I also grabbed a yogurt. And I figured I do my usual coffee pose with the yogurt since it was absolutely delicious!

 

The show itself went really well and the crowd was up! Ric Flair was there and since the show was at the Fairgrounds, I just renamed them the Flairgrounds! I thought that was pretty smart!

 

From top to bottom the show was great. In my, and other peoples oppinion as well,  the Detroit crowd saw a great ROH show and an ending they shouldn’t forget that soon. I know I won’t. I also won’t forget my match with Nigel and promise to do better next time.

 

The show was over and Chicago was next. Since there’s less traffic during night times we decided to drive through the night and stay in Chicago.
Since I drove the whole way to Detroit I slept the way to Chicago. Which allowed me to get up early Saturday and enjoy a tremendous breakfast at Ihop.

 

Garden Scramble, which is egg whites with vegetables, whole grain nut pancakes and sugar free syrup! Heeey for me!

 

After that I was ready for my cardio session at the hotel gym which was much better than your average hotel gym. Radison rocks.
I watched some Wimbledon and suggest that you all do as well. Roger Federer on his way to Grand Slam number 15!

 

After everybody else got up we went to an Italian restaurant who’s name I forgot and I got a salad.

 

 

The salad was ok, but that’s about it. Maybe that’s why I forgot the name of the restaurant already…

 

Chicago Ridge was packed and hot as usual for they’re ROH action. And I even took a picture backstage!

 

 

Yeah, do you see it? That’s how my bag looks! Well minus one item. But only because it’s not packable… If I’d know a way I would!

 

I’m sure you can see the amazing Claudio “Very European” T-Shirt that you can purchase in my shop!

 

What followed was the 12 hour drive back to Philadelphia. Like the day before I slept during the night and took the morning shift. Which I started with some, yes you know it, coffee!

 

Then I listened to the XM Radio Hit station and checked out today’s top hits! I even recognized more than 50% which means I’m pretty hip and up to date on today’s music!

 

When there was a song on that I didn’t like I just switched to the European pop station or the rock station or the charts from the 80s. That’s the beauty about XM radio, there’s always something good on.

 

And before I knew it, I was almost home! Almost, because I had to stop at the closes Sheetz to here. Unfortunately it’s 40 minutes away, but fortunately it’s on the way home from Chicago!

 

What you see there is a sugar free Mocha! Completely iced and delicious. What a good way to cool off.

 

And since it was Sunday I decided I’d try to cook something new. So I tried to make my mom’s famous meatloaf!

 

 

It actually came out pretty great, I just need to season it better. There’s room for improvement, but I’m willing to practice until I got it perfect. To go with it I had some baked potato slices and as an appetizer I got me some lean pockets. You know the ones I had last Sunday? Yes those but this time I got a different flavor! Chicken, Artichoke and Broccoli!

 

I also found this on Sunday! And since it made me chuckle I figured I share it with you!

 

   

I want to  go back there in the night time and see if a certain somebody patrols that store with a sledgehammer…

 

And speaking of, I’m about to go watch me some RAW. I hope it’s going to be a good one!

 

So I’ll leave you here with this one last picture. I I talk so much about the Giant’s coffee that it was about time that I post a picture of it!

 

With that, I wish you a pleasant Monday night.

 

Ciao until the next time!

Preview for this weekend's blog

coming sunday evening or monday!

New T-Shirts!

Hey Everybody!

 

I hope you’re as exited about my new “Very European” T-Shirts as I am!!

 

And by the way they’re flying off the rack I can tell you are!

 

Own yours today and order it right now!

 

At this point I would like to thank Yolanda for helping me design the shirt. Check our her T-Shirt line here and order Gimick$ wrestling shirts here! 

 

There’s also a poll going on my website (to your right) about what kind of T-Shirt you would like to buy or own! The one with the most votes will get ordered the next time I get some and you’ll be able to purchase it here!

 

Please only vote if you would actually buy one!

 

Ok folks, I’m out I have to drive to Detroit now! ROH live this weekend in Detroit and Chicago! Be there!

 

Week II

- written for NRG-X Labs

 

Good morning dear readers.

 

Since there seemed to be lots of interest in the workout routine week one, I figured I’d post week two as well.

 

How do I know? Well I check the hits! That’s right, I check the stats of my page on a regular basis. I’m a little bit a nerd about it.

 

So here we go!

 

 

Week 2

Day 1

 

Exercise	Sets x Reps
Muscle Snatch	4x5
1 Leg Squat	4x10
Romanian Dead Lift	4x10
Dumbbell bench 1 arm on swiss ball	4x10
Cable face pull	4x10
Dumbbell split jerk	4x10
Chin-up	4x10
Parallel swing	4x10
Dynamic Plank	4x45 seconds

 

Day 2

 

Exercise	Sets x Reps
Hang Power Snatch	4x5
Back Squat	4x10
1 Leg Good Morning	4x10
Bench Press	4x10
Dumbbell Row & twist	4x10
Push Press	4x10
1 Arm Pulldown	4x10
Swiss ball weighted roll	4x10
Side Plank	4x45 seconds

 

Day 3

 

Exercise	Sets x Reps
Dumbbell Hang Power Clean	4x5
Bulgarian Split Squat	4x10
Romanian Deadlift	4x10
Dumbell press Incline on ball	4x10
Cable row to neck	4x10
Dumbbell push jerk	4x10
Chin-up	4x10
Barbell Torque	4x10
Plank	4x45 seconds

 

 

Same like first week, during the first exercise you take 90 seconds rest, during the rest, 60.

 

I already did day one, and I’m all exited about day two. I love how the workout switches up the exercise all the time. It gives you something to look forward to and it’s never boring.

 

Please make sure you use proper form on the Olympic style lifts. Don’t use too much weight at first.

 

That’s one of the reasons I never post the weight. I don’t think it’s that important.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I write down my weights at the gym in order to keep track and see my progress, but that’s for my personal records.

I don’t want people to think they have to do as much as I. Nor do I try to keep up with others.

 

I’m sure you’ve seen those guys at the gym. They use lots of weights, do only a couple of reps and then they have bad form.

 

Mostly those guys are not in particular good shape. Like they’re big, but that’s about it. Big arms, big check and big bellies! And of course they walk around like they own the gym. And take ten minutes between sets yelling across the gym to their friends taking up equipment they barely use.

 

Have you noticed how I started ranting? Well since I’m at it let me tell you this story. At the gym I used to go to (famous chain) I would always go around the same time. And I could bet you that every time I got there, there were two big dudes and one of the dudes girlfriends occupying one of the bench press benches.  

 

Then they would stand around there talk for ever, and then stop and do one set. Which was about one rep. Of course they made as much noise as they could and then started over talking again. Talking to all their friends and then did their other rep.

 

Now I have nothing against people who make a little noise at the gym. Sometimes it helps to get your last rep out. But that’s if you already have DONE some reps, and not your ONLY rep!

 

Ok, I’m done! I’m in a far too good mood looking forward to day two!

 

Have fun and let me know what you think.

 

Claudio

 

 

*once more I’m not a personal trainer etc.

 

 

Sunday Night…

And what a peaceful night it is.

 

Since I had a tremendous day I though I’d share it earlier than usual with you guys.

 

I hope you all tried my gnocchi recipe that I posted on Friday. And if not, give it a shot and let me know what you think.  The thing that’s so great about this blog / website is that you can post feedback. And you don’t have to be registered either (in case that was holding you back), I enabled the comment function for everybody.

 

Friday was day one of the ROH TV tapings. Because that’s only about 40 minutes from where I live I was able to start my day like I start all of my non show days. Get up, eat, and go to the gym.

I love my new workout (can be found here) so I had a great time at the gym. It didn’t start so well when I realized that I didn’t pack my mp3 player, but even without it I had a great workout.

 

Speaking of my mp3 player, I still haven’t found it. After 3 days of searching I’m close to giving up and admitting that I lost it. I just don’t want to believe that I lost it because I absolutely loved this one, it’s a Sony NWZ-A818 and my favorite mp3 player I had so far.

 

But I don’t want to think about sad stuff. Staying positive is the key.

 

So after afore mentioned workout I headed to the tanning salon where I enjoyed getting darker for TV. Nothing like a healthy tan.

 

Another big advantage of the TV tapings being so close to my house is that I can bring food from home. Bringing food from home is probably one of the greatest things ever. Thank you Tupperware and cooling bags!

 

On my way out I also came across this huge ant! It was gigAntic (get it?) of course I took a picture for you guys:

 

Can you see it? Well of course you can. At this time I’d also like to plug my shoes. Aren’t they awesome? Nothing tops Italian shoes.

 

Now came the frustrating part. If you’re part of my twittourage you’ll know that I had bad encounters with Philly traffic twice this week already. If you’re not part of my twittourage, what are you waiting for? Sign up!

 

I figured on a Friday at 2pm there wouldn’t be any traffic and I’d just fly to the theArena.biz. But I was wrong. I hit traffic and enjoyed it for a full 36 minutes. Yes I timed it. The best part about it was that when the traffic finally lightened up, there was no reason for traffic!!

 

Like I understand if there would have been an accident… Construction… Two fat chicks fighting over a bag of donuts… Just give me some reason for it! But no, Connecticut style, there was no reason for people slowing down and creating a traffic jam.

 

Finally I got to the arena and enjoyed the usual TV taping routine which consists of sitting around, shooting promos, sitting around some more, eating, talking to people (while sitting around) and then wrestling. And you’re doing all that while having a great time.

 

And that’s what I did. My family is wrestling and it’s always fun to talk to people you usually don’t get the chance to. Because normally show days can be quite the rush and you don’t really get to talk to people outside the ones you’re traveling with. But on TV days there’s plenty of time.

 

The first night went well, and you shall enjoy a tag match featuring myself and Jimmy Rave against Brent and Colt. The crowd was good too and there were lots of kids which is always good for atmosphere.

 

On my way home then the big surprise… wait for it… No traffic! Hurray!

 

Saturday was essentially the same, minus the going to the gym part. That part was substituted by something else that I love doing, sleeping in! A luxury on a show day.

 

That luxury was of course followed by the mandatory traffic jam to the building. Oh what a fool I am for believing that it would be different. “Fourth time’s the charm” thought the optimist in my, but he should be disappointed. Only this time I was prepared and thanks to music from my home country I sang my way through the traffic.

 

Now if you’re a fan of the Survivor Series you’ll love the match on Episode 23 (I hope I got the number right) of ROH TV on HDNet! The Embassy plus myself vs Colt, Brent, Necro and Grizzly! More kids plus a bigger audience = awesome and I though this was one came off great! I can’t wait to see it on TV and so should you!

 

Now there was some traffic on the way home, but I won’t go on about it because it was almost Sunday and I didn’t care.

 

Did you notice the lack of pictures so far? Well that’s about to change. Because Sunday came and with it great food!

 

So after sleeping in I decided to make myself some breakfast. Home made pancakes with eggs! Now if you’re thinking “He eats home made pancakes every day” you are right my dear reader. But it’s Sunday, so I packed Hershey’s kisses in there! Chocolate chip pancakes = awesomeness! (Lot’s of = in my blog today… I’m bringing it back)

 

It doesn’t just look delicious, it also tasted delicious! Next on the agenda was grocery shopping. Well I didn’t really had an agenda I will admit. I was sitting around, watching TV and eating my Birchermüsli  when I got hungry again. That’s when I realized that I’ll need some stuff from the grocery store, like bananas and strawberries for tomorrow.

 

So I went to Giants our local neighborhood grocery store. As a frequent reader you know that they have great coffee there and this time I actually tried one of the biscotti's there too!

 

 

After looking at the list a.k.a. menu for about 10 minutes I decided to get a caramel macchiato. Since those biscotti’s have been looking at me every time I order a coffee there (and that’s quite a lot) I decided to finally try one.

 

I asked the lady which one’s the best and she told me that she gets rave reviews about the lemon ones. So I decided to get the lemon one. She gave it to me but it' didn’t taste like lemon, it tasted like anis. You know the Christmas anis cookies? Like that. 

 

What happened is that they didn’t put the biscotti’s in the right place when they refilled them. Because of that the very nice lady told me that I could get another one for free since I didn’t get what I ordered. And that’s when I ordered the 3D brownie one that you can see in the picture above.

 

Thank you Giants!

 

While walking through the grocery store I decided that I wasn’t in the mood to cook anymore today and since I cook a lot during the week I though it would be a nice treat to get some food that’s already made.

 

Which led to me looking at frozen entrees for about 20 minutes. I ended up with a lasagna and some tremendous hot pockets.

 

 

 

Whole grain, chicken, broccoli and low fat cheddar cheese hot pockets to be exact! And some great lasagna.

 

I’m like Garfield, I love lasagna. But I haven’t had it in a long time mainly because I don’t make it myself. I bet I could it just takes some time.

 

To round out the complete Sunday experience I also decided to rent a movie. “Taken” with Liam Neeson it was.

 

The Lean Pockets ended up being my appetizers while the lasagna was cooking in the oven.

 

  

And look how great they came out! They come in this great wrapper thingie. So you put the wrapper around (left) and put it in the microwave. Then you take it out and pull the wrapper down and fold the bottom in (middle) and voilà you have a perfect pocket holding thingie! And as a bonus when you took a couple of bites and the holder would be in the way you can tear off a layer! I wish I invented that.

 

“Taken” was very enjoyable and went by quickly. Not only because it’s only an hour and a half but also because it’s very entertaining. Not something you’ll talk about for days or will make you think, just entertaining to watch with lots of action and some cool fight scenes.

 

Now I’m sure you’re wondering where the picture of the finished lasagna is. Well I cooked it a little too long in the oven so it didn’t look that pretty because the top was burned. So I decided to not post it.

But I will tell you that it tasted awesome. If you ever come by above picture lasagna and you’re in the mood for it, pick it up, it tastes great!

 

For desert I had home made frozen yogurt. Plain yogurt, protein powder, I added some chocolate (I love Sundays), some granola (gotta have some crunch in your ice cream) and put it in the freezer. Soooooo delicious!

 

While I’m writing this I realize what a great day it was. Not that I didn’t knew it while it was going on, but this just gives me confirmation…

 

With a happy smile I wish you all good night!

 

Claudio

Claudio’s Gnocchi

Hey everybody, it’s been a while since I posted a new recipe.

 

But there’s a reason. I tried to make Gnocchi for a while now because I remembered how much I like them. In my 4 almost 5 years that I lived in the US I never had them.

 

One day I was walking through the grocery store (one of my favorite past times) and I saw gnocchi. And I was like hmmm, why don’t I try to make them! Eating Spätzle all the time got a little boring anyway. I needed a new challenge. 

 

So I looked up a good recipe and tried it out. And it worked. But when I wanted to make it again I failed horribly. In fact after I had sweet potato pancakes at the end. Not bad but not what I wanted.

 

The same thing happened again. The dough turned out bad. I tried to salvage it and made the pancakes again.

 

Third time’s a charm! Or in this case fourth. I found another recipe, tweaked it to my liking and that time it worked! I was all exited but figured I wanted to make sure it works twice before I post it here.

 

That’s what I did yesterday. And guess what? It worked like a charm! So now I’m confident in posting the recipe, and it’s easy to make!

 

Here’s what you need:

 

 

- 4 cups Whole wheat flour

- Salt

- Garlic

- 2 Eggs

- 16 ounces of Sweet Potato

 

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees (Fahrenheit that is! I’m European and used to Celsius)

 

Put the Sweet Potatoes in the oven and bake them for  40 minutes. (During that time do something else, like read my blog or something)

 

Take the potatoes out of the oven, take the skin off and put them in a food processor. If you don’t have one, you can also mash them with a blender.

 

Mash them up until it looks like baby food. Add some salt and garlic (if you don’t like garlic or are not fond of salt, you don’t have to add any of them).

 

Add the eggs and flour and mix it until it becomes dough.

 

The first time I made them I used a blender, the second time the food processor. It takes longer to mix it to dough with the blender, so be patient.

 

 

Once you got a nice piece of dough, take it out and make little rolls with it and cut them up into gnocchi.

 

Size and shape is all up to you! Mine may not look so pretty, but I don’t really care since they taste delicious. If I would make them for guests I’d make sure they look better.

 

Boil water in a pan and throw the gnocchi in there. When they swim up to the surface they are done.

 

 

Take them out and store them or put them on a plate and enjoy!

 

If you want you can also sear them in some butter or oil in a fry pan. It adds flavor and they’ll look nice golden brown.

 

That’s it for today! Give it a shot and let me know what you think!

 

 

 

 

 

Changing it up!

- written for NRG-X Labs 

 

My workout that is. I’ve done my last workout for 5 weeks and I really enjoyed it (you can read all about it here) but it’s time for a new one!

 

What am I doing now days? Well I ordered this book over at amazon.com called “Power Training” and it’s by Men’s Health. Well it’s by Robert dos Remedios, but it’s in the Men’s Health name.

 

It’s a pretty good book and I read most of it (yeah I admit I like to skim through stuff) and decided to give this a 12 week shot. Thinking about it I think I read it all because I went through it a bunch of times (except reading up on the exercises, I do that when I write down my workouts)

 

The first 3 weeks, you I do a total fitness workout, then a 3 weeks of hypertrophy training (apparently that’s a fancy word for building muscles a.k.a. a workout where you try to increase your muscle size, no necessarily strength), back to 3 weeks of total fitness and I’ll be finishing up with 3 weeks of strength.

 

Now I know that you could do 12 weeks of total fitness, 12 weeks of strength or 12 weeks of hypertrophy workout, but I like to mix it up. So since you’d switch each workout up after 3 weeks, I figured I just switch it all up! And if I read the book correctly that’s one way to do it too.

 

The books give you lots of options, and you can select from ton’s of different exercises and such, so I really enjoy it. On the other hand sometimes I like strict guidelines so I know I’m doing everything right. I guess we’ll find out!

 

So I’m going to post my first 3 weeks here for you in case you want to give it a shot as well. If you don’t know what an exercise is, just google it, or ask (write a comment) and I’ll try to answer your question as good as I can (and with the help of my book here of course).

 

I decided to do the 3 days a week full body program since I can always squeeze in 3 work out days a week and usually even get a day rest in between.

 

Week 1

Day 1

 

Exercise	Sets x Reps
Hang Power Clean	4x5
Front Squat	4x10
1 Leg Romanian Dead lift	4x10
Bench Press	4x10
Dumbbell Row	4x10
Push Press	4x10
1 Arm LAT Pull down	4x10
Seated Russian Twist	4x10
Plank (w/ Elbow to Knee)	4x45 seconds

 

Day 2

 

Exercise	Sets x Reps
Hang Jump Shrug	4x5
Drop Lunge	4x10
Good Morning	4x10
Dumbbell Incline Bench Press	4x10
Horizontal Pull Up	4x10
Supported Dumbbell 1 Arm Press	4x10
Wide Grip Pull Up	4x10
Corkscrew	4x10
Plank	4x45 seconds

 

Day 3

 

Exercise	Sets x Reps
Snatch Pull	4x5
Split Squat	4x10
1 Leg Back Extension	4x10
Reverse Grip Bench Press	4x10
1 Arm Cable Row	4x10
Push Jerk	4x10
Side to Side Pull Up	4x10
Wood Chop	4x10
Plank Walkup	4x45 seconds

 

 

During the first exercise you do 90 seconds of rest between sets, on all the other ones 60 seconds.

 

 

I’m doing Day 3 on Friday and if you guys are interested enough I’ll post my thoughts on it and the second week on Sunday.

 

So far I definitely love the workout and I like how I feel afterwards. I’m spend but not hurting and I can’t wait to do the next workout. I also enjoy the different exercises and the challenges it poses to me.

 

Another reason I like the workout is that all the exercises are for functional strength.

 

Let me know what you think!

 

Claudio

 

www.claudiocastagnoli.com - www.myspace.com/claudiocastagnoli - claudiocastagnoli.blogspot.com -

New York, Maryland and a little Delaware on the way

It’s already late and I know some people are desperately waiting for something good to read.

I wanted to write for me to release my blog, but I figured that sounds too conceded and I don’t want to come of that way.  On the other hand, this is my blog and I can come off however I want. Well how about I start writing about my weekend?

 

Some of you have read my blog from Manassas last Friday. Well on the way home I indeed stopped at Sheetz again and I got me some espresso. Red Alert is the one called I got. It’s basically an espresso shot and then you fill it up with regular coffee. I added some sugar free syrup and was ready to go. Ready to go after 15 minutes of waiting for the employees to make my coffee.

 

The Sheets guarantee is that if the coffee is not fresh it’s free. They should change it that if it’s not done within 10 minutes it’s free too. Actually within 5 minutes is more appropriate. However the wait was almost worth it as it was delicious and kept me awake the whole drive home which was a lot better and without and traffic. Thanks to that I made it home in a little under 3 hours.

 

Saturday was NYC time. I love NYC and I absolutely love the Manhattan Center. I purposely didn’t say Hammerstein because I love the Grand Ballroom as well but the Hammerstein is of course on a whole different level. It’s always just amazing to walk out and look up in the balconies. If you have a chance you should definitely check out ROH there when you get the chance.

 

 

You can’t really see the balconies in this picture but in the one at the end you’ll be able to. So either scroll down and back up or continue reading and enjoy the picture at the end when you get there.

 

As you can see the picture I took was at the beginning of the main event which would eventually lead to a title change at ROH. So this is a must see show for all you fans out there. You’ll also be able to see me and D-Lo Brown back elbowing fools.

Something I never though would happen. But that’s my life! Living the dream!

 

Speaking of dream. I saw this car on the way to the show Saturday and I’m sure it’s somebody’s dream car!

 

My dream car is still a Saab. I actually owned one but that’s another story for another time.

 

After watching the ROH title change hands from the best seat in the building it was time to get back home. I knew all the Starbucks on the NJ turnpike would already be closed so I was not planning on stopping anywhere. But cars don’t run without gas, so I had to stop and get some.

 

The good thing about Jersey is that they have people at gas stations pumping the gas for you. Now you may say that’s nothing special and it’s called “Full Service” you are wrong my friend. In Jersey you’re not allowed to pump gas yourself, so you get “Full Service” for free! Actually better than free because gas in Jersey is cheaper than in PA! And I mean gas on the NJ TP is cheaper than gas near my home! Heey for gas prices in Jersey.

 

Sunday was back towards Virginia again. Not as far south though as I only drove to Baltimore Maryland this time. Time for the first ever Real Championship Wrestling event, and what an event it was! The house was packed and the people were hot for the whole evening.

 

And since it was Sunday I enjoyed some treats on the way down. First I had a Quizno’s chicken carbonara sub which was absolutely delicious. Followed up by a white chocolate mocha from Starbucks and this:

 

A delicious chocolate chip cookie! Chocolate is my only weakness, as I don’t crave any sweets or other junk food. I just have a soft spot for chocolate. But as a Swiss guy I feel I have the right to! I mean the best chocolate comes from Switzerland, hands down.

Switzerland also has the best cheese. Which reminds me that I haven’t had some good cheese in a while… Cheese and chocolate, what a combo.

 

Speaking of combo.

 

Yes, after the RCW show I stopped at a Sheets again, this time to get a vanilla latte. I cut two cars and a truck off to make the exit. Now that’s dedication! Those two represent the two best coffees out there in my humble opinion right now. Best selection goes to Sheets as it has a huge customizable selection of great coffee options.

 

Listening to music and sipping on my coffee also got me home safe and I must say I love oldies. Is that even a word over here? Well it is where I come from. And I found this great podcast from the Swiss radio where they play the top ten of charts of the years past. So I heard a great chart show of the year 1977 and man they had some good music back then! ABBA was rocking and so was Bonny M.

 

But the best song came from a woman named Donnatella and the song’s name is Lailola. Now I was planning on giving you guys some background about the singer or song, but I couldn’t find anything on the net. Well maybe I should have looked longer, but I am under time pressure here since I’m getting tired.

 

So if you’re interested in how the song sounds, click on the video below and just let it play.

 

 

I made the video super small because it’s horrible. Well it’s just her singing. So you don’t have to watch it, just let it play. It’s in Italian in case you’re wondering. I know some Americans don’t like music they don’t understand because usually they do.

 

When I grew up there were many songs that I didn’t understand, so I don’t mind music from other countries or languages that I don’t understand. You can tell a good song by it’s melody and emotion. That’s at least my opinion. I’m sure Simon would agree with a fellow European.

 

And I’m sure you would agree with me that 12.28 is a great time of going to bed. It’s about half an hour too late actually but that’s what I do for my fans.

 

Speaking of fans, I’m pretty sure I coined the word “Twittourage”!! And' I’m pretty proud of it! So if you want to be part of my “Twittourage” just click on the link and sign up! Fun facts and travel news are sent to you directly by me!

 

And I have another special something for you and I hope you enjoy it

 

 

 

That’s right a little audio greeting for my loyal readers!

 

And that’s it for today, tschüss,

Claudio

 

This made my day

And I will tell you why. I started my friday out great with some muesli and a trip to the gym. I love show days when I can do that.

Afterwarda it was off to Enterprise to get my rental car. I got a Ford Focus at a great deal for the weekend.

Back home I fixed my food for the day, another thing I love about shows that I can drive to, and got on the road.

I was not ten minutes into the trip and I stood still. There was an accident on the back road I take to the highway and nobody was moving. I thought about turning around but I figured we would start to move soon. And ten minutes later I figured I waited that long i'm not going to turn around after I waited that look!

finally I made ht to the front and after taking another back road to another back road to the highway I made it. I was thirty minutes behind schedule but what can you do.

Have you noticed that there's never a rest plaza when you need one? I was looking for one for 3 hours because I had to go to the bathroom but I couldn't find one. Mainly because there was none. And none of the exits looked good.

Maybe that's my fault because I have this thing where don't take an exit if I can't see the gas station being close. I can't stand driving miles down the road for one. Plus there was tons of traffic.

95 to 495 going from baltimore to virginia was just brutal. Driving slow hitting every bump on the road and needing to go to the bathroom.

And once we got close I was determined to make it to the sheetz I knew was close to the building.

Of course there was more stop and go torturing my bladder on the last mile before we made it. Sheetz! Oh how I looked forward to seeing you! And it didn't disappoint! Great bathroom, awesome coffee!

Now i'm debating about going there again on the way home... Hmmm, I shall let you guys know!

cc

Shopping at the Farmers market

is awesome! So many fresh things. I can't wait to see how my salsa tastes with yellow and orange peppers!

Recap Time, Part II

Hello and welcome to the second part of my Canada weekend.

 

Looking back on the way I was writing, if I continue like that there probably will be a third part. So, lets see and here we go.

 

I actually forgot something in part one. If you could guess, what do you think? Well while watching Street Fighter, I snatched a coffee from the flight attendant. I didn’t really snatch it, she more offered it to me.

 

Ok, ok, I admit it I’m not that special, she actually offered it to everybody, and of course I took the offer and gave it a shot. And it was nothing short of delicious! Air Canada is the MAN!

 

Oh and I know it says “Second Cup” on it but it was actually my third of the day. Thumbs up to “Second Cup” coffee though.

 

After I finally got off the plane I was picked up by the promoter of CWE and we enjoyed a great lunch at Perkins. I particularly enjoyed my Kellogs Raisin Bran with milk. Cereal are awesome (not just the Miz).

 

What’s better than cereal? A nap! Especially when you have to get up at 3 in the morning, naps rule. So after checking in to the hotel I napped for about 2 hours and it was glorious. Of course I woke up hungry and since I still had some time until I got picked up for the show I decided to take a walk and look for some food. And food I found.

 

 

I found this great place called “The Pita Pit” It’s basically like a subway but with pitas. You can pick what kind of meat, what dressing, vegetables, cheese and so much more. And the best of it is (or was) that everything was healthy and fresh! Whole wheat pita with turkey, cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes and feta = delicious!

 

Do they have “Pita Pits” in the US? I’ve never seen one but I sure hope so because the food was absolutely great and I wouldn’t mind eating it soon again!

 

It then was finally time for the show and I had a blast. The crowd was hot and loud. From what I heard there is not that much wrestling coming to Winnipeg. So if you’re from around there check out CWN (Canadians Wrestling Elite), they put on great shows. And next month the Brisco Brothers are coming to town. You don’t want to miss that.

 

The after show party was at a place called “Alfies” and as hill Billy as this sounds it was a very nice place with many couches where you could sit and talk. I was super tired though and when I finally got back to the hotel I was asleep within 5 minutes.

 

Which was good because Saturday was shaping up to be an exiting day. First I decided to go across the street to “Canadian’s whole sale” where I would buy some water and yogurt to make my day start great! I brought my Swiss müsli and a banana from home so I had delicious breakfast.

 

And what follows a delicious breakfast in Claudio world? Yes you were right, a workout. Since one of the boys owns his own gym he offered me to pick me up so we could work out. This is not just some gym, or some dude who works at a gym, it’s a private gym and he owns it! It’s called Brickhouse Gym and I wish there would be one like that around here.

 

 

So I got ready and on the way there I saw a sign that this would in face be an awesome day… ponies!!

Yeah, that’s right, there’s the butt of one and the face of another one. That made me happy and with a smile we started the workout. We, that’s myself and Paul Taylor, the owner of Brickhouse Gym. What’s nice about all my travels is that I meet cool people from all around the world. And to meet people who share your philosophies on working out, health and food is great! Especially when you can hold a kettle bell / ball and chain! Everything is cooler with a ball and chain.

 

So after burpees, plate runs, kettlebell and sledgehammer swings, crunches, pilates ball tosses and some more fun exercises it was time to eat. I told you guys I would take pictures and I didn’t forget.

 

 

Vietnamese food was about to be had. I never had it before and Paul told me it was great and healthy so I was all up for it. The place was called Vietnam-Khoa and was on the same street as the gym. The cool part about that street (Corydon) is that there are lots of restaurants where you can eat outside and also stores who put stuff that you can buy out in the street. So there are people hanging out and having fun. It reminded me a lot of Europe.

 

Back to the food now though!

 

The first course was salad and grilled chicken wrapped in a rice wrap. As you can see the rice wrap is see through. I thought that was awesome. Not was awesome as the peanut sauce though. It was delicious.

 

Second course was wanton soup (I hope I spelled that right) and again it was great. I found out that I enjoy vegetables when they’re steamed or in a soup. And this soup had lots of them in it.

 

And then of course the main course. Grilled chicken, vegetables and rice noodles. Mmmmh, so good!

 

After all this great food I was full and happy and we made our way back to the gym. Have I mentioned that there was a Starbucks on the way? No? Well you can guess the rest…

 

The drive to the show was a little short of 45 minutes and I got picked up by one of my opponents that night. Yeah I know that would have never happened back in the day, but that’s how it is today… Well at least that’s how it was that Saturday.

 

What made the drive even better is that I finally got my hands on something I wanted for a long time. Actually something that I wanted last time I was in Canada but couldn’t get. Do you remember? If you are a loyal reader you’ll remember… And yes it has something to do with coffee! Tim Hortons!

 

Somebody on my Twitter actually asked me who Tim Horton is… ts ts.

 

 

Was it worth it? Probably not. Well I must admit that the Latte I had was indeed delicious, but the circumstances made me sour on Tim Hortons. I asked if they have sugar free syrup. They didn’t know what I ment. I asked about sugar free flavoring. They said the vanilla or caramel lattes don’t have sugar in them. So I got one of them… but I saw them make it and I’m sure they used syrup with sugar in it…

 

Now I’m not that upset that it had sugar in it, I’m more upset that they lied to me! And that they don’t know their own products. That’s a big pet peeve of mine. If you work somewhere you better know your products!

 

There’s nothing more I hate then going to a store, let’s say an electronic store, and I look at an article. I hold it in my hands and look at the packaging. Some employee walks up to me and asks me if I have any questions. I say yes and ask the question and he proceeds to take the packaging from my hands and reads it!!!

 

WTH? Do you think I can’t read? Or I’m too dumb to know what it says on it? The reason I asked you is because it didn’t say what I was looking for on the package, so I ask an expert a.k.a the dude who works there…

 

Ok I need to stop ranting or I’ll go on and on.

 

Before the show we stopped at a grocery store for some food and I found some Canadian bacon. In Canada! What a great day!

 

As you can tell I’m pretty happy. I was also pretty happy to meet “The Model” Rick Martel at the show that night. He’s such a nice guy and still in great shape. He was in a great mood all night and it was just a blast seeing somebody who was as successful as him still enjoying wrestling, not be bitter and being in good shape (I know his hip is messed up, but you couldn’t tell).

 

The movie “The Wrestler” painted one side of the picture, Rick Martel paints the other. And that’s great to see.

 

That night I was in a 6 way match and even though I’m not that big of a fan of those kind of matches I had a lot of fun and the crowd was really hot again. Not as hot as they were later that night when Rick Martel cleaned house on the heels in the main event and then celebrated with the babyfaces. Good times.

 

Good times were also had when I finally made it back to the hotel, showered and was able to go to sleep.

 

Four hours later I had to wake up and catch my first flight to Toronto. I didn’t care that it was so early because I was exited to see the rest of the Frazier – Ali documentary. And it was definitely worth it.  It was one of the best documentaries I’ve seen in the recent months and If somebody knows where to get it I’d actually like to buy it.

 

I then spent my last hours in Toronto sipping on some coffee and thinking of the cool weekend that was slowly but surely ending.

 

I finally made it home Sunday afternoon and after getting some great cookies (come on, everybody has a cheat day) I watched “Paul Blart Mall Cop”. Don’t they look great? Oatmeal raisin, Chocolate Chip, Peanut butter chip and white chocolate and some nut that I don’t remember…. Delicious!

 

 

What did I think of this movie? Well I was tired, happy to be home and didn’t bother to think “Why” or “How” once during the movie, so without asking any questions I enjoyed the movie for what it was. Kevin James being Kevin James.

 

That concluded my weekend… And with this, my blog for today is concluded… Is concluded even the right word? Well I think so, so you’ll have to live with it :)

 

I hope you enjoyed reading because I enjoyed writing it. But now it’s time for me to catch my sleep!

 

So good night, and as a special bonus one more picture from the weekend… I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

 

Tschüss,

 

Claudio