I'm still considering doing a separate post about Venice but for now I'll just give an update.
I've levelled up on the bike. It is now at the point where it's easy no matter which route I've gone on, and considering what it was like when I got here, that's a massive improvement. And the first of this crew of au pairs has just gone home. Over the next three months I'm going to get to watch them all leave. It'll be interesting and sad.
Spring has most definitely sprung, and it's getting damn hot. I'm not best pleased as I was hoping for another month or so of temperatures in the teens before we hit the twenties. And I really need to buy some Summer pants. My old ones keep trying to fall off. I'm also starting to get the creeping time feeling. I've got about three and a half months left of work, and then another month, month and a half before I go home and beginning to wonder what I'll be able to fit in to the time I've got left. And my foot is hurting again. I'm not sure if I did something special to aggravate it or if it just got worse. Either way it's annoying.
Ttfn y'all
Friday 28 March 2014
Sunday 9 March 2014
A bit about Rome
I loved Italy. Completely. In fact, I've already started making plans for a return trip sometime in the future (who knows when) because it's so cool. And I now know the perfect time of year for it too! Having been in Rome in July I don't really want to repeat the experience, but Rome in February was lovely. Anywhere between February and May would be fine I'm guessing.
I've been in Europe for about seven months now. All the cities I've been to are old. Rome was the first ancient city. or at least the first that looked it and practically slapped you in the face with it every time you left your room. She also sprawls. She's big. All the other places I've been have fairly compact (except maybe London) and you can get most places in the city centre if you like walking and don't mind exploring. You can do that in Rome as well, but the distances are farther and everything seems to meander through the city because it knows it's got the space and is quite happy to take it. I loved it. The ancient places are interesting, and it's almost like there's a delayed reaction when seeing them. When I was walking through I was like "Yeah this is pretty cool. Oooh, nice angle for a picture" and every now and again you'd stop and go "Wow. That is so old. Awesome!!" and then I got back to my room at the B&B and was looking through the pictures and I'd start thinking "Holy shit. I was there. I actually saw these. These are thousands of years old! Coooooooll!!!!!!!" And most of the guides I had all mentioned the fact that the only reason some of the ancient buildings are at the point of ruin they are is because the materials in them were recycled by later building projects in the slightly more recent centuries. That's not to say they'd be in perfect condition now, just a bit bigger. The feel of the city is, I suppose, very Italian. Smooth, half relaxed, perhaps mildly amused. And I suppose I'd be amused at the antics of all the tourists (myself included) as well. The sheer number was astounding, and it's the "low season". Heh.
I also did a day trip to Naples and Pompeii, which was totally worth it. Naples was (literally) a drive by, but what I saw of it was lovely, a beautiful Italian seaside city. But my reason for the trip was Pompeii. One of the other ladies on the tour said she'd been to Pompeii before, but close to fifteen years ago and she said there's been a significant mount of excavation and preservation done so there was quite a bit more to see. We only had two hours, so were taken through to see the highlights, but oh lord. It was amazing. Wheel ruts in the stone blocks of the road, from all the carts, carriages, and chariots from centuries ago. All the wine shops on the main streets with the holes cut out to hold the jugs. The holes in the blocks of the footpaths to tie the horses reins to. The bath house and the remains of the heating systems you can still see. The red light district and all the stone penises carved in the walls and streets in the surrounding are pointing you in it's direction. The fountains and carved water spouts. And oh, dear heaven, the wall murals and mosaics. The colours and the vibrancy they still have, the pictures you can still see. It was so incredible to me I can't think of words that will properly describe what I was thinking and feeling. It was humbling in some ways, awe inspiring in others. I was dancing inside most of the time I was there, just from sheer joy that I was getting to see these things, and excitement for what had been uncovered and all the possibilities still remaining.
One thing that both my stay in Rome and my visit to Pompeii did was confirm to me that Archaeology and Anthropology are subjects that I would love to find out more about, especially given how excited I was getting seeing the things I did. One week in Italy barely scratches the surface.
Next on the blog agenda, talk about Venice!
I've been in Europe for about seven months now. All the cities I've been to are old. Rome was the first ancient city. or at least the first that looked it and practically slapped you in the face with it every time you left your room. She also sprawls. She's big. All the other places I've been have fairly compact (except maybe London) and you can get most places in the city centre if you like walking and don't mind exploring. You can do that in Rome as well, but the distances are farther and everything seems to meander through the city because it knows it's got the space and is quite happy to take it. I loved it. The ancient places are interesting, and it's almost like there's a delayed reaction when seeing them. When I was walking through I was like "Yeah this is pretty cool. Oooh, nice angle for a picture" and every now and again you'd stop and go "Wow. That is so old. Awesome!!" and then I got back to my room at the B&B and was looking through the pictures and I'd start thinking "Holy shit. I was there. I actually saw these. These are thousands of years old! Coooooooll!!!!!!!" And most of the guides I had all mentioned the fact that the only reason some of the ancient buildings are at the point of ruin they are is because the materials in them were recycled by later building projects in the slightly more recent centuries. That's not to say they'd be in perfect condition now, just a bit bigger. The feel of the city is, I suppose, very Italian. Smooth, half relaxed, perhaps mildly amused. And I suppose I'd be amused at the antics of all the tourists (myself included) as well. The sheer number was astounding, and it's the "low season". Heh.
I also did a day trip to Naples and Pompeii, which was totally worth it. Naples was (literally) a drive by, but what I saw of it was lovely, a beautiful Italian seaside city. But my reason for the trip was Pompeii. One of the other ladies on the tour said she'd been to Pompeii before, but close to fifteen years ago and she said there's been a significant mount of excavation and preservation done so there was quite a bit more to see. We only had two hours, so were taken through to see the highlights, but oh lord. It was amazing. Wheel ruts in the stone blocks of the road, from all the carts, carriages, and chariots from centuries ago. All the wine shops on the main streets with the holes cut out to hold the jugs. The holes in the blocks of the footpaths to tie the horses reins to. The bath house and the remains of the heating systems you can still see. The red light district and all the stone penises carved in the walls and streets in the surrounding are pointing you in it's direction. The fountains and carved water spouts. And oh, dear heaven, the wall murals and mosaics. The colours and the vibrancy they still have, the pictures you can still see. It was so incredible to me I can't think of words that will properly describe what I was thinking and feeling. It was humbling in some ways, awe inspiring in others. I was dancing inside most of the time I was there, just from sheer joy that I was getting to see these things, and excitement for what had been uncovered and all the possibilities still remaining.
One thing that both my stay in Rome and my visit to Pompeii did was confirm to me that Archaeology and Anthropology are subjects that I would love to find out more about, especially given how excited I was getting seeing the things I did. One week in Italy barely scratches the surface.
Next on the blog agenda, talk about Venice!
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