I'm back... or should I say... OFF!

Like Mike.

I'm back.

With a single fax back in the '90s, Michael Jordan announced to the world that he was returning to the game of basketball from his brief hiatus in baseball. Well, Mike, times have changed and I'm now using this blog/facebook/twitter post to announce that "Jason Johnson's Blog Haitus" has official ended after 89 days. Yes, Really Playing for Pizza is back online.

The reason you ask? No, it is not because I have suddenly found my new domestic life in the Puget Sound area to suddenly be noteworthy (sidebar: blogs about living in America where things run according to plan are just not that interesting). And no, it is not simply to appease other prolific writers in the blogosphere (also see: Contreras, George). Rather, because of one simple fact:

WE'RE HEADED BACK TO EUROPE!

The world travelers in Berlin, 2009.

No, I'm not suddenly announcing a return from my own football retirement - although suddenly I just realized that this post could be taken as that. Rather, our good Sicilian friends Giuseppe Strano and Valeria Guglielmino are getting married on June 11th & 12th in Catania, Italy in what promises to be the wedding of the year! We are so excited for them and knew we couldn't miss it - along with a chance to reconnect with my two long lost best friends, gelato & cannoli. (Sorry Claudio, you'll have to do a little more to rank above gelato!)

'Peppe and Valeria

We met Giuseppe and Valeria in 2008 when I played for the Catania Elephants in Sicily - he a bruising tight end who caught many TD passes from me, and her a spark-plug female hockey player fresh off the Olympic games! We instantly had a bond, and consider them to be such a fun part of our lives. In September of 2008 Giuseppe and Valeria came to visit us in Seattle and we had an amazing time going out on our boat and taking in a Husky football game. I was looking through the pictures today, and I came across the photos below... when I realized that our new condo is in the picture! We live in the building just above Valeria's head to the right! What a crazy coincidence... or just foreshadowing?!

Valeria on our boat a couple years ago on the Thea Foss Waterway in Tacoma - and our NEW HOUSE IN THE TOP RIGHT CORNER! So funny!

Sicilian and Washingtonian sea captains

I do sincerely apologize for my "mini-break" and am excited to be heading back over the pond for a few weeks. But that in itself is a story - as for a while we didn't even think it would be practical to go -- for the volcano in Iceland and the general economic conditions had pushed the cost of plane tickets to Europe to well over $1000 per person, not to mention trying to get down to Sicily, rent cars, hotels, 10 daily gelatos, etc. We were a little bummed out, until suddenly out of the blue, or red I guess, came an angel:

REDTAG.CA! Killer DEAL!

Being the internet savvy travel planner I am, I made one last ditch attempt to find a deal, and located a ROUNDTRIP FLIGHT from Vancouver, BC to Manchester, England for only $149! There are taxes of course, but still... are you kidding me?! That's cheaper than dinner and a movie if you also order popcorn! We booked it instantly, and depart this upcoming Friday, June 5th. Our itinerary calls for five days in France exploring the wine country of Bordeaux and making our way up to Paris via Mont St. Michel before shooting down to Sicily on the 10th.

And in the REALLY PLAYING FOR PIZZA department, our trip coincides with a HOME-PLAYOFF GAME on Sunday, June 13th for the 7-1, league-leading Catania Elephants! Yes, my former squad is sweeping its way through the Italian Football League this season, led by the passing of good friend and former Arizona quarterback Richard Kovalchek.

Current Elephants QB Richard Kovalcheck #16 pictured with "The Italian Wes Welker" Claudio Mangano #28.

Last week, the Elephants knocked off the previously unbeaten Parma "Playing for Pizza" Panthers 52-31 in a classic IFL defensive struggle.

So you can all prepare yourselves for a whirlwind of wittiness, a sea-full of sweet pics, and of course, a healthy dose of self-absorption. In fact, there is only one promise I will make -- no fisheye. (The camera lens that made my 2008 journey so infamous...)

No fisheye in 2k10, I promise.