The Terrible Towel Tour: Europe 2010
The Great Wall of China. A war zone. A guy's skin. Outer freakin' space. Over the years we've posted numerous photos or articles about Terrible Towels ending up in odd, unexpected or exotic places around and above the globe, where folks have used it to show off their Pittsburgh and Steelers pride.
But for sheer diligence and commitment to task, it's hard not to admire the work of Michael Moses of Bridgeville, a rising junior at Kent State, who studied abroad this past spring in Florence, Italy.
Moses, who hopes to work in sports journalism someday, dutifully packed his Towel and took it with him just about everywhere he went on the continent (6 countries and 20+ cities), and has the photos to prove it.
Check out some of the highlights below:
A natural stop on any European Terrible Towel Tour.
The Browns fan is Cleveland native Ryan Moorman, one of Moses' roommates, and the guy who (grudgingly, according to Moses) took most of these pictures.
Per his own admission, Moses had little interest in visiting Paris, but went anyway. Not because he really wanted to see Le Louvre or Musee D' Orsay, L' Tor de Eiffel, or L' Arc de Triumphe, or any other triumphs of French culture ... but rather to photograph himself with the Towel in front of world-famous Parisian landmarks.
"It's horrible to say, but its true," Moses said. "I went there for the Towel."
There is something quite amusing about the juxtaposition of the respective masterpieces of Leonardo Da Vinci and Myron Cope. Moses reports that a security guard at the Louvre actually knew what the Towel was, though that wasn't usually the case.
"I had to explain to Europeans the significance behind the Terrible Towel, what our team's history was, our fan base, everything. You could tell their soccer fans really appreciated it, since they are so loyal and passionate about soccer," he said.
Isle of Capri.
Athens.
14,000 feet up on the slopes of the Swiss Alps.
The Berlin Wall.
At the real one, not the one on the South Side.
At an Italian Football League game featuring the Milan Rhinos.
Pisa.
A Terrible Towel was uncovered in the ruins of Pompeii. Not really. But would it even surprise you?
Venice.
Waving the Towel in the original Stadium.
Pantheon.
The Vatican.
The Swiss Guards would not be pleased with this. Moses said he begged a friend to take a picture of him with the Towel in the Sistine Chapel, where cameras are strictly forbidden, but his friend chickened out. Worried that he might offend his fellow Catholics with such a picture, he said: "God's a Steelers fan in my book. I think God would appreciate it."
The seat of the Italian Steelers Nation, La Botticella in Rome.
Three towels in a fountain ...
At the Piazza Michaelangelo in Florence. Michael's final picture of the tour, taken on his last night in Europe. Just after taking the photo, Michael said a vacationing family from Mt. Lebanon -- who couldn't believe they were seeing a kid waving a Terrible Towel, let alone one from the South Hills -- ran over to say hello.
"That put the whole thing into perspective for me," Moses said.
Moses got to just about every destination that he wanted with his Towel, except for Stonehenge and Spain, where he wanted to get a matador to use the Towel in a bullfight (really).
He's headed with his family to Cancun, Mexico this summer and will naturally take the same Towel with him for photo ops -- on this trip and any that arise in the future.
"I'd like to continue to use that exact towel, just to say that it has been with me the whole time. Traveling is amazing, but to have a collection of pictures like this to say "I've been there!" And show off the Pittsburgh pride at the same time -- that makes it even better."
Iit's a small world, after all, when you're a Steelers fan.