Roma and La Spezia

Roma (what I can remember of 16 or so days ago)

So much in the past few days... I don't even know where to begin. Guess I could start with being lost, a common theme on this trip. Got into Frascati from Bari. Tiny little town, I had no idea where the bus stop was talked to an old woman who gesticulated and spoke a bunch of Italian. Honestly, if you know Spanish, Italian isn't far off minus the accent ("It'sa me-a Mario!"). Figured out to stand by this tiny bus stand and waited for a long while before it came. Got off after seeing signs saying Montecompatri but we could have easily been in some other village.

Anywyas after wandering an additional hour after getting off the bus, finally found the place.

I stayed with Patrick from Essex at his "house." He is no carpenter, handyman, or etc. but is trying to build his entire home  himself. I actually wasn't put off by it at all despite it literally being a 2-story shed like structure (think Great Depression) plus sawdust and tools everywhere. Probably one of the nicest individuals I have ever met, despite being a bit... Unorganized. He hitchhiked across South Africa and Colombia before. Freaking nuts. Anyways if you were following my FB posts from a while ago, I did moon all of Rome, but unintentionally. The shower is literally a little fixture rigged in a corner of the house and we set up a big wooden board as the "door." I hung my towel on some of the wall supports so I had to move the door and take a few steps out of the shower to get to it. What I didn't realize at the time was that Patrick had unscrewed the massive "windows," hence I mooned all of Rome. Got to do some cool stuff in Montrcompatri like zoom around on a Vespa, see all of Rome and Vatican from the roof of a house on a hillside, go to a harpsichord recital, share food with locals.

There was a Russian couple from Minsk, Vlad and Irene, who was staying there as well, which made things even more interesting. The dinner we had where Vlad explained Russian humor was very hilarious, the jokes didn't always make sense to me and Patrick but were still very funny. The two were great company, having a good time always. The first day we missed the intercity bus into town twice, but it wasn't so bad. They even cooked us all lunch once. Also, it was interesting to learn more about Russia. Just how cheap everything is like cell phone bills, utilities, and food. 50EU feeds 4 people for a week.

Made my way fast and furiously through everything in the next few days, Vatican City, Colosseum, Di Trevi, etc. The free walking tour (I think i did NewEurope) really lent a great hand to finding the best local stops, such as the Real best cappuchinos in Rome at San Eustaccio and not the other place everyone else says is the best. When I went to museums and other places like the Sistine Chapel, I brought along my iPod touch to use the Rick Steves (thanks Jas for introducing me to your friend) iPod app. He has these free walking tour audio guides that provide a great deal of very interesting information as you view certain art pieces, conveniently shown on the app in case you can't find or recognize it. Great for a guy on a budget and isn't an art history major.

Despite Patrick's very much appreciated hospitality and kindness, I decided that one day 4 I would stay in town. On CS I found a couple of girls from the US that were looking for a place the same time I was. I contacted them to split a hotel room in town. Mai and Michelle from Miami were an interesting duo. As I have traveled alone for a while and just the way I am, I set lots of objectives, things to see/do/eat, but these two were super chill about everything. It wasn't conflictive, it was maybe even a bit complementary. I met up with them after they went about on an itinerary I put in place for them. Grabbed some wine and got cappuchino at the aforementioned place, which took a bit of talking to several locals, and also some food and wine which we finished sitting in front of the Pantheon, probably my favorite building. I really wished I had gone to it the first day the first day so that the rain would have been coming down in the middle of the building. Anyways the two were big stoners and gave me all sorts of tips on what to buy in Amsterdam and also described the sex show they went to... which consisted of fat people sex and some lactation. Gross. They had some other great stories as well.

Got my IPod touch stolen at Roma Termini, bah.
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Next stop!

Onto La Spezia to hike and see the spectacular views from La Cinque Terre. Ended only doing Portovenere, a nearby town. What an amazing place if only for a couple of hours. Old Moorish church on the edge of a cliff which meets the ocean. Got there at sunset, and it really was a view to die for. There were gardens there and also a seaside cemetery. I want to be cremated when I die and have my ashes spread into the ocean, but if I were to be in a grave, I would want it to be here so I could stare at the waves breaking against the cliff and get amazing sunsets every day. Got back and Ernesto had prepared an amazing seafood pasta dinner along with some mashed potatoes, but unlike anything in the States, I had seen it at some restaurants before. So good :-) probably the best 1-2 hour activity (not including travel time) on this trip, I definitely took the bus the wrong way for a while and was in nowhere Italy hanging out with two other guys at this random bus stop in the mountains.

Stayed with Ernesto for an evening, a quiet Italian, whose Spanish was better than his English. His place was immaculate, quite opposite of Rome. I realized on this trip I greatly enjoyed alternating cities with smaller villages or some nature. No matter how beautiful these cities are made into in movies and so on, they are still cities filled with dirty streets, hobos who piss everywhere, crowded subways, and so on. Don't get me wrong the sites are amazing, but they are usually in crowded, touristic, polluted cities. Ernesto was quite well travelled in small towns like Lucca, Sienna, as well as some in Portugal, Morocco. His photos were amazing, and hopefully I will get to take some of my own in those places as well.