Greetings From The Golden Tulip

Good morning! I am writing to you from The Golden Tulip, a purgatorial airport hotel just a few short miles from Charles De Gaulle Airport outside of Paris, France! I should be sleeping in New York right now, but my flight from Florence was delayed an hour due to some thunderstorms over the Alps, which led me to miss my connecting flight in Paris. C'est la vie, I've been pretty lucky in my long traveling life when it comes to airports and airplanes, so it's hard for me to get too upset when a flight and me don't connect. Still, I was disappointed and annoyed, but it's not causing any major disruptions as I'm not set to start shooting again until Tuesday.

Yes, folks, working one more week and then finally flying back home on Friday and boy can I not wait for that.

I had a nice time in Florence though. Wait, I've made a commitment to myself and maybe it's pretentious but the name of the city is Firenze so let's just call it THAT! My co-star in the movie is Italian and had a friend who ran a VERY nice hotel in town so I stayed there... The Hotel Gemma you can look it up. It was VERY nice, except my room didn't have WIFI - well it did, sometimes, but sometimes is even worse - it would go in and out... trying to do a little work or watch something on youtube was a soul crushing experience.

Sunday morning we landed and checked in, took a little nap and then drove 2 hours to a beach spot for a little filming. It was technically off the schedule and I felt like getting a little pressured into working beyond my comfort levels but it also included a dip in the healing restorative Mediterranean Sea, so I kept my mouth shut and played along. I had hit a similar beach area a few years back with the Spin Me Round crew and it's truly one of the most joy inducing things to do - there are these little inlets where the sea comes in and fills up some swimming holes and it's just perfect wading, floating water. it's a little rocky and slippery, so my main objective was to keep from getting hurt.

Monday I had off as the crew prepped and scouted for the week and I ended up walking about 10 miles around the city. I had some pasta at the central market and it was very good... I had some gelato and it was very good. I strolled past the Duomo and it was very impressive. In the evening I met up with Frida, our costumer who I had flown with - one of the few people from the New York crew to travel for this side shoot, as we'd mostly be working with an Italian crew. Frida is funny and easy to hang out with and we get along nicely so I was happy to have her as a travel buddy. We eventually met up with Charlotte (the director) and Marta, (the actor) for a delicious dinner - It's hard to miss on the food. I think you have to actively try to find bad food. It's usually the places surrounding the plazas with the pictures of the dishes displayed outside. Just avoid those.

Tuesday we started shooting and it was HOT HOT HOT. We were posted up outside and I think the jetlag and general ware and tear of the whole shoot got to me. I just felt like I wasn't gonna make it. I was sweating and out of breath and just baking in the sun - even as the PAs did an admirable job keeping us shaded as best they could. The air was just so heavy and I felt a little panic that I would drop and fuck everything up. I made it through the first half of the day and we moved locations to an interior with a nice little holding area in a restaurant. My mood and health really bounced back after eating some decent meatballs and salad greens.

I bounced back so dramatically that after we wrapped I rallied to a late dinner with the gang, something I couldn't have imagined wanting to do hours earlier.

Wednesday we drove about an hour outside of town into Chianti country where 'd be shooting at a gorgeous home surrounded by acres of vineyards. It was cooler and there was a lot of shade and green and it was quiet and devoid of American Tourists (we are the worst) The day went smoothly for me, and I returned in a van with a few fellow day players who educated me on post war Italy, the mafia and Mussolini. I slept well that night.

Our last day of shooting was at another plaza - another impossibly humid, sweltering day and I had a few similar waves of sickness which once again passed after lunch. We didn't have an interior shoot reprieve but for some reason this plaza was a little more reasonable - It was smaller and had a gelateria and a sandwich shop. I dipped in and got a melon Granita (Italian Ice my Philly friends) which improved my mood and health dramatically.  It was our last day of shooting, so whatever discomfort I was feeling I knew would be ending soon enough... Plus what the fuck am I complaining about? I am just an actor, sitting around or walking somewhere and saying something a few times. I look at the boom operator and wonder, where do I get off complaining!

A kind older couple from Kentucky were sitting at the table next to where we were filming and were naturally curious about what we were doing and who we were. The woman in particular... she asked me "are you famous?" I said "if you have to ask, then I guess I'm not!" Then she said "Do I need to get your autograph?" I was friendly and talked blue grass for a bit and they looked me up online... she said "you're much better looking in person!" What the fuck? is that a compliment? Whatever it is, it's not something anyone should say to anyone.

We wrapped in the evening, too late to eat, but delicious mortadella sandwiches and champagne were brought out. I hugged and kissed all the Italian crew (they kissed me I should say... or we... kissed each other... Italian style.) Kind and fun people, who I greatly appreciated.

Friday: I wasn't flying out until later in the afternoon, so Frida and I met up to check out the sculpture of David and get some lunch. After walking around the Central Market and picking up some of the Pilstattio spread I had on my sandwich the other night as a gift for me and Marilyn, and some t-shirts for the kids, we got lunch at Trattoria Mario, the only recommendation from my friend Jeff Baena (director of Spin Me Round) We were lucky to score a table as it's "one of those places" - we didn't have much time, as our "David" reservation was in under and hour, so I just asked for whatever would be quickest, and a half liter of wine please. And goddamnit, did we have just about the tastiest pasta with meat sauce I I ever did have. We had some more time so I ordered another dish to try: The Vegetable soup, which I had hoped was what can also be called Tuscan Bean Stew - and it was! And it may have been better than the pasta! Mario really delivered.

We headed to David, and found a disgusting mob of people waiting in line in the hot sun... But Frida had scored some tickets through some third party thing online and we breezed right in. The Museum David is in in pretty small and mostly made up of Renaissance Era paintings of Jesus and his Merry Pals. It's a lot of the same thing and I kinda glaze over pretty quickly, luckily Frida was in the same mindset as me and we b-lined it for the big guy.

Lord, it's really something. It may be one of those "you just have to be there" things, but it's really quite stunning. It's so... big and perfect. The veins on his hands and running alongside his muscles. It's one of those big landmark things, like The Grand Canyon or Pet Sounds that just delivers on the hype.

We had some Granita and a drink back at the hotel before my van carted me off to Firenze Airport where I waited and waited and finally discovered I'd be in Europe an extra day. I briefly flirted with the idea of taking a car into the city and having a "night in Paris" but it was 9:30pm by the time I got to my weird hotel and it would be at least a 45 minute drive into the city... No, I'd just chill in my weird hotel with laptop and a strong WIFI signal.

I'm now at the gate waiting to board - The Charles De Gaulle Airport is a massive labyrinth of a 'port - a vast beast. As I was walking through the check in area I'm about 99 percent sure I passed by Michael Stipe in line. I recognized his yellow hat I had seen him wearing on a recent social media post. I really hope he's on my flight. I remember Eric telling me years ago that he said something really nice to Eric about our work and I'll take my shot and introduce myself... Is Michael Stipe off to New York or is he just popping through Paris on his way to the south of France or Morocco... we don't know folks... we just have to wait and see.

I hope you're staying cool and having a great time doing whatever the hell it is YOU'RE doing!

peace and love, T