Rome-ing around Italy

Hey Everyone!

Oh some big days since I last wrote!
And i filled my flickr site and had to start a new one!
So theres some new photos in my old one, and a few in the new one. check em out here!

Old one - http://www.flickr.com/photos/8075577@N02/
New one - http://www.flickr.com/photos/12650085@N02/

Ok so since we last spoke, I have caught a horrible train from Barcelona. The first train was ok. same old same old. then the next train was the overnighter from the border of Spain to Nice, France! it sucked! i hated it. James had the window and the guy in front of me was reclined until he touched my knees. The guy across the aisle from me had his knees out into the isle. and the lights were off. scene set. Ok, so i was trying to sleep and the guy in front, whenever he sat up the seat went forward so when he leaned back it crashed into my legs really hard waking me up about 4 times. Also because the guy was blocking the aisle, people walked my side, bumping my shoulder and waking me about 5 times. but also they stepped on my foot about 4 times. and it bloody hurt. i didnt sleep until finally the guy across from me got off the train and i moved to his window seat and put my pash (turban/blanket/towel) over my head and hide-slept for 2 hours. Seriously came as close to punching a girl as i think i ever have as one stepped on my foot then hit me in the face with her bag and didnt look back. Grrrr.

so we finally got to Nice, i had a coffee and a bagette which was.....Nice.... then back on the train to Genova. We immediately jumped on a train to Cinque Terre and after 2 hours or so we stumbled into the last town in the Cinque! Met at the train we were offered accomodation from this cool old Italian guy called Sergio. The Serge was awesome and so was his fantastic apartment. he did our washing cooked our food (we bought it and planned to cook but he just saw the ingredients took them, added some of his own and got stuck in) just generally looked after us so well.

So we are in this Amazingly beautiful set of 5 towns along the italian coast and you can walk between them. they recommend you do it over a few days. James and i did it in one day as we are hardcore and it really was amazing. fairly strenuos but my god the views. Some photos of that walk in my flickr. And the snorkelling was great! ooh the water was beautiful! until I found an underwater pass that was about 10m long. I tried to swim underneath and got a bit of a way in and got scared. when i turned around a wave pushed me into the rocks and i shredded my feet. shown in my flickr aswell. Walking has been interesting and plentiful since (ideal for painful feet)

so after a couple of amazing pizza, beer, walking and swimming filled days it was time to train to Pisa. We walked to the tower and took the tourist photos. then grabbed some terrible pizza and back to the train for Florence. The tower was cool but it was all i could be bothered with in Pisa. What a Pisa piss? ahahaha i am hilarious!

Florence! We arrived and found a fairly average hostel. walking around the city was amazing! So much history and art. i cant even explain it. Then we found a bar and the night gets very very hazy. so hazy in fact that i went wandering and got in right on 1am curfew (all of which i dont remember) but james who got in before 1am went looking for me and ended up spending the night on the street after being locked out! The next day i was so hungover i managed nothing all day but to go back to the pub in the evening before bed.

Now it was time for David! oh my god! he is incredible! absolutely perfect! and the way he is positioned and the room he is in! oh! just wow. hes so imposing but incredibly godlike. i dunno, he is huge! and entirely in proportion. absolutely perfect. the rest of the museum was pretty crap though. And then it was time for Donotellos David. Much smaller and made of brass, but still really good (not a replica but Donotellos version of the same goliath killer). and i really liked it. Both museums were no photos allowed. but google them if you want.

Then james and i chilled a fair bit before walking up to michelangelos plazza. There is a big david replica and its got a great view of the city. then it was time to use the net and pass out early.

Rome was the next destination and finding accomodation was hard. We stayed at a place called David's Flat. Thats just what it was. A flat with beds. gross stinky beds. needless to say we moved the next day. that evening though we saw trevi fountain and the spanish stairs for sunset! both really cool romantic places which just made me miss Linden but still awesome to see. I threw a coin into the fountain which means i will return to rome. James threw in 3 1c coins which means he will return, fall in love with an italian and marry him/her. But i reckon u get what u paid for and he wont get anything he likes for 3c! I hope he/she has a moustache...

Then we hit the spanish steps with some irish travel buddies we found to drink beers and relax. Im glad i had been drinking by the time we got home cos it was awefully smelly and gross. but in the morning with a full day planned i was less grateful. in the morn we went straight to st peters which was huge and awesome! we walked around and mucked about a bit. Confessing our various sins... you can see on the flickr... then it was time for the colluseum.

i cant believe it! i felt it! I FELT IT! there was tourists sucking the life right right out of it everywhere and as i walked in, through that corridor. i FELT what the roar of the crowd would have been like. wow it would have echoed. Life used as entertainment. one ruler had 9000 gladitators fight at once. (I had been readin about it leading up to it) my god though the disgusting waste of life and it was all done there. i kept thinking as i walked around. the blood spilt on this stone right here. if i was in that ring on one of those days i would have just been one of 9000 forgotten souls. i dunno, blew me away. did start to make me realise again why i wanted to see the world. cos the world is disgusting and beautiful and just so real. really awesome!

Sorry for the emotional sidenote there... The place was immense! Then it was time to wander about in the Palantino. So tired from everything. and to be honest, it was just more ruins. and the Roman Forum which was next was MUCH more impressive! We even got on the end of a tour for the last bit and the guy was awesome! He told us all about where Ceasar was killed and stuff. James and i have been reading a fictional story based on historical events concerning julius' life so it was amazing to see stuff like the forum. Then it was time for us to collapse into our hostel. we were about to go hunt down some drinks and food when the hostel supplied us with a bunch or pizzas. then they brought out a vodka punch all for free. best hostel ever, until this one! and they sold beers and we spent the evening relaxing and chatting to an american guy until it was time to pass out again into bed.

Again we dragged ourselves out of bed at an ungodly hour to appreciate rome. Even though I was tired i had a Vati-Can attitude and we headed to the Sistine Chapel. The line was over a kilometer long. it stretched all the way to the big square in front of st peters for those of you who have been. thats huge!!!! biggest line i have ever seen. so our Vati-Can attitude became Vati-Cant and we went home to chill for 2 hours. When we got back we walked straight in! Nice! and the museums were cool but it was all about the Chapel. Its amazing. way too crowded. no photos allowed. (my camera went off by accident i promise.... no point deleting it though....) and it was incredible. but at the same time, entirely not my thing. i appreciated it, but didnt like it. i dont like religious art. anyway, it is very impressive though.

Then it was time to train to Naples, connect to our suburb and come to this hostel. This hostel is sweet and we need a break so badly so we are doing nothing today. and nothing tomorrow before hitting Pompei in two days time. oh im looking forward to it. Naples has the best pizza in the world and i am going to go eat some more soon.

Lots of love,

Send me emails you jerks. You are all out of my will! (actually the only ones in are my bro and sis, but its not hard to change if thats more motivation for you to email.... and come to think of it they dont email me either! Sara is bringing me stuff when i meet her in a month, and hooked something up for me in melb but Nicks share is up for grabs!)

Hutch.