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Friday, 8 pm:
There we go! Unauthorized assembling in front of Piramide Metro Station! More than 50 bearsh, chasers, admirers in small groups, or solitary adventurers. The first look to all of them is yummy but it won't be easy to understand if everybody has come. You can hear people speaking italian, spanish, english, german, napolitan... After about 30 minutes, when we get to 62 people, counted one by one with the list in one hand, we leave for the bearpizza place. Three long tables (30+16+16), where slowly we get to eat among funs and laughs, bear chasing from a table to the other, MMS pictures sent to friends away full of the faces of the next-seat bears drinking'n'eating. Beardinner goes on, among the irresistible unrest from the usual roman bears (Plump and OrsoneRM over all!) and due to the not-so-fast pizza service we get up from the tables really late, after midnight!
The bravest nightgoers among us reached the Sphinx where since 10,30 pm the Welcome Party "AveBears" had started, with the heat going up while Sandrone had already begun to slice the big Roasted Pork, redefining the "snack" concept in a night bar. Pieces of real roman bread and cheese and red wine were there with the roasted pork, food loved by emperor Nero.Among chats, beers, bearquakes in the darkroom, complaints for the too hot pub... we got to late night all togheter. Sabato ore 14:
Meeting point under a blinding sun in a roman hot summerday. The group gets its shape with all 40 or so of us. A nice Marcello, a volunteering touristic guide known at the "Mr Leather Italia" party of a week before, starts moving with the first group. After a small while, when our spanish friends got to the meeting point a little late but strongly awaited by everybody, the second group gets its way, leaded by the mythical Luca OrsoBlu who, togheter with GianOrso, follows the track of the first group. In their eyes the beautiful Foro Traiano, the Campidoglio and the Foro Romano, reaching then the Colosseum by the Via Sacra, to get to the final meeting point. There, the imperial tour survivors visited the incredible San Clemente and its outstanding ancient-Rome undergrounds. Everybody got excited, to the point of one of the bears fainting (or was it an excuse for having two big ones among us helping him?). Saturday, 10 pm:
Time for a shower, to get ready and, at 10 pm at the Sigillo pub, people start coming for the BearTogaParty. Welcomed by the "Avebears" Legioneer designed by Luca OrsoBlu and by imperial sounds, helped by a brave Togator - who restlessy for about 3 hours helped out everyone wanted to wear a toga - they entered the big place.Walking through a series of corridors, enriched by the giant poster designed by NeroBear and last year's toga pictures, passing by the Latrinae (restrooms) and the Lupanare (darkroom), they reached the wide ballroom that showed off with tens of meters of roman pornopics and giant representations of roman statues, latin mottos (Memento Godi, Ecce Urso...) and the photographic GianOrso set near the buffet. On one side the big dancefloor animated by the incredible DjLips, coming right from the Homogenic nights, who had the toga people in his hands for some time, dancing below the lights and the music from the 80s. Among chats, pictures, lots of pins to keep the togas from falling in the middle of the dancefloor... we got to the Toga awards: for the most beautiful toga, the most porn toga and for the... non toga!
On the stage, emperor NeroBear, served by his fellow slaves Masbear and PlumpRM, waited for the candidates wanting to become "emperors for one night".
Like it happened in ancient Rome, roman people had to decide who to let live or die in the Arena, but the emperor keeps the right to veto. And so, Silvio from Milan, Jose and Manolo from Barcelona exposed themselves to the public judgment among thumbs up or down, hisses, applauses...Until the Emperor decided to award Silvio for the Best Toga. A rainfall of pink rose petals, launched by the two hairy and puffy slaves, was the cerimonial frame for the awarding ceremony, along with a golden laurel crown. Silvio won the crown and all our applauses!
Then it was the time for the PornoToga award... Felice from Rome (with a really "hot!" black toga) had to fight with Michael from Colonia, coming directly from the COX (the german bear bar) who had a toga covering not that much of his big yummy body... The Emperor had no doubt.. Felice's transparences were irresistible! Thumbs down for Michael who went back home without the golden laurel crown!
For the nonToga, meaning those who came not in Toga but wearing something in theme with the Toganight, we had three candidates: Daniel from Milan, Gaspare from Trapani and Oscar from London. With his leather gown in Gladiator style, and nothing else on him, Oscar made his way into the icy heart of the cruel Nero emperor :) He did not listen to the the thumb down of the one who's writing, Loppo, who tried to conduct the award cerimonies helped by Warbear.
Soon after, the happy crowd went back to dancing with the secondo Dj, this time coming directly from the roman nights of Coq Madame. Ugo took the stage with his refined rythms, even if after 3 am the bear crowd felt the heat, togas were dismissed and everybody got back in his usual outfit... Among a chat and a kiss, a last round in the Lupanare and a drink.. the roman night ended. Helped by many friends, we got the roman art installations down while a small group of survivors kept playing on stage launching each other the fake rose petals.
Sunday, 2 pm: People began arriving at the BearSauna. Mediterraneo Sauna was open to everybody and the few who didn't know, they easily understood that it was not going to be a usual sauna day just looking at the people in line... It was going to be a special day, so special that soon a huge wave of water - a bear tsunami! - inundated the sauna, even the lockers' room... a wave of real water coming out from the whirlpool who did not stand the crowd of all those big ones going in all togheter!
Among bear videos, chats about the last few days, fur friends got to rest togheter (someone did not rest actually!), bears and admirers chased one another in the three levels of the sauna up to dinner time...
And, after the BearTogaWeekend, here are some pictures who mean more than a thousand word... What else happened? Something that I'm not able to write down, because you needed to be there: it's difficult to transmit the feelings and the emotions who so many shared in Rome this time. Friends from all over Italy, from Palermo to Genova, from Veneto to Puglia, mixed to abroad friends who didn't want to miss a real roman "Toga Party". A three-day that seemed a bet, a bet we all togheter won thanks to the partecipation of all. We were many, we were beautiful and we were to the TOGA PARTY! And like big Eracles stated in the middle of the party buffet: "VENI VIDI WOOF !"
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