the time has unfortunately come to bid farewell to italia. it has been an absolutely fantastic two and a half weeks here, soaking up the culture, the language, the food, and the sights. but, greece calls, still. and the further north i get, the further north i am from greece. so tonight, we leave on a train to bari, where we will catch a ferry to igoumenitsa. a lot of hiking is on the agenda as we make our way across towards mount olympus, and then on um through thessaloniki towards bulgaria. of course, these plans are liable to change dramatically. but at least we have a plan.
spent one last day rambling around rome today, drifting in and out of ancient churches and momuments and lingering in the piazzas. getting overly tired of brick ruins though. luckily, the rain did not fall today which made for a pleasant change to the last few days. now, the only thing in rome that i haven't seen that i guess i should, is the cistene chapel. but, at a little over twenty new zealand dollars, i wasn't convinced. rome likes your money. i figure there will likely be a next time. so until that time, it's ciao rome, and onwards...
coming your way this summer... | nov 28, 2003 00:51
this summer, you too could partake in an amzing tour of europes finest scafolding. yes, that's right... every major city you visit in every major country will provide you with hours of entertainment awing over europes different styles of scafolding construction. prague has some fine examples, along with budapest, and of course rome. in fact, every major landmark or beautiful building, including perhaps the most famous of them all, the colloseum, is clad in scafolding. you simply won't believe your eyes.
so yes, i am in rome now, despite plans otherwise. we hitched a ride in yesterday, deciding that we may as well, while the opportunity stood. might leave tomorrow though. too many tourists. too noisy. too big. too much old stuff to comprehend.
i got a lovely new jacket. someone left it in agerola. it's italian, with a great paisley liner. oh, how i've searched for this kind of jacket in second hand clothing stores across eastern europe, so i too could look kind of retro, and local. and now i can, except i'm not ineastern europe anymore. but maybe i'll just look like an eastern european, or something. except for the blond hair. how peculiar.
maybe i didn't spell their name right, but i hate them because they have ruined my trip to turkey. well, that is assuming that it was them fooling around with explosives in istanbul and not someone else, and if it was, then, well, i hate them too. i have been planning turkey now for some weeks, and it all falls down moments before i am due to arrive there. well, a week or so anyways. so, another change of plans. but still looking at the same circuit, but now minus turkey. so leaving for greece on monday now.
we had another change of plans in the last few days when we were kicked out of the combi in siracusa, sicilia. they decided that they wanted some time alone for a few days, and so, we amended our plans and skipped agrigento and palermo in sicilia and headed direct to napoli from catania. it was really unfortunate as i really really enjoyed hanging out with thor, but alas, all good things crash and burn eventually. However, after a short period of panic and confusion about our plans, wee have jumped back on the rails, anx the journey continues. Met some super people, ate some great food, and laughed lots. Looking forward to cheaper prices in greece though, italy is far more expensive than anywhere i have been so far. it's sad though, cos i love it so much here... and the people... omg, the people. vibrant enthusiasm is rampant here...
i remember my brother used to have this dream, and maybe still does, about touring usa in a volkswagon combi. well, now here i am touring sicily in a combi. i met the owners in montenegro (he an icelander, and she norwegian) and then again on the ferry from dubrovnik, croatia, to bari, italy (where i met kate, from canada). So we decided to get a ride with them to somewhere, anywhere, out of bari. and here i am, days later, in siracusa, sicily, still living that dream. Will continue until palermo at which point they are headed for sardinia, or thereabouts, and i to napoli with kate. a rough plan from there is down through the amalfi coast to pompei and back across to brindissi, then to greece, to turkey, to bulgaria, to sebia, back to sarajevo, to budapest, to vienna, to linz, to salzburg, to london. though, this may well change of course. but we will see.
It is 23oC. ahhh, italy is balmy. italians are increidbly freindly and helpful. We stop innumerable times in any given day to consult the locals for directions, always getting enthusiastic replies with hand and arm gestures the size of africa. Love it. We are learning enough italiano to survive. trying especially hard to learn the directions, and different adjectives to describe people, food and objects. love it. but i do love the serbian, bosnian, croatian language more. beautiful language, really enjoyed it.
highlight of the last few days, except for the food and laughter, is an eight hour hike on mt etna, the largest volcano in europe. unfotunately the summit proved too much of a challange, timewise, as the days now are so short. But we reached the summit of pizzi deneri, 2847m above sealevel. From there the views of the huge steaming crater were magnificent indeed. On the descent we chose a different path that led us through the middle of some recent craters, with sulphur fumes and steam bellowing around us. Certainly one of the most awing mountain hikes i have ever been on. but i long for more sleep...
i feel like some kind of interplanetary traveller. heading from the cold, noisy frantic metropolitan world of budapest through to the peaceful yet vibrant scene of sarajevo and then on through to croatia where beautiful rocky beaches of the adriatic are warmed by an extraordinary autumn sun. lush islands lay quietly off the coast begging to be explored. crystal clear waters longing to be sailed upon. it really is a whole new world.
tuesday night i'm headed for bari in italy. in the meantime, the island of mljet may well be explored, and a two day trip to kotor and budva in montenegro is on the agenda.
i'm so glad to have this warm weather. the cold was becoming tiresome indeed.
short on time as per usual, but, just had to say how amazing sarajevo is. seriously one of the most amazing places i've been thus far. A beautiful old town largely restored to it's former glory after such a devastating recent situation. I mean, i feel bad saying so little about this place, it deserves so much more. and it will come... in time.
+ about