It is 3.30am on Friday 28 October and I have just woken up hungry. How on earth I can be hungry is beyond me, but I would love a cup of tea! Not many places in Italy have tea or coffee making facilities available, this is one of those places.
I have been going over the past couple of months in my head, I have been lucky enough to have some absolutely amazing experiences, I have seen some things I never imagined I ever would, I have met some fantastic people, I have stayed in some great places - all clean and no horror stories about my accommodation thank god! - have eaten some absolutely delicious food, and travelled on all modes of transport.
There have been some places I will never return to, but, then there is Siena, Roma, Venice, Amalfi Coast, Verona, Cinque Terra, all places I will return to.
All of the experiences I have had I would never have had if I had not bitten the bullet, taken some very deep breaths and sat on that plane two months ago!
My most memorable -
- walking around Roma the first time, turning corners and seeing
amazing unexpected sights
- Siena, the medieval city, walking around the corner and finding the main
piazza, the orchestra playing in the piazza and the people dancing
- dinner with Allessandro who told me to shutup, that I ask too many questions
and he will tell me when I can talk!!!! LOL
- the colours of Cinque Terra
- the ferry rides from one town to the next on Cinque Terra
- the sea views at Santa Magherita
- Verona streets, laughing when I saw the names on the walls at Juliet's house
thinking I might have found Renee and Rob's names!
- Venice - beautiful Venice!!!!!!!!!!
- seeing the simplicity of a mask being made by a mask maker in venice and the
mask maker who thought he was Romeo!
- feeling lonely in Venice because I had no-one to marvel at Venice with
- the ferry to Burano, the colours of the houses, having lunch and watching a
wedding processession walk past and down the main street with shop keepers
coming out of their shops to kiss the bride
- Breaking my toe on the toilet seat in Venice
- the graffiti in Bologna
- being followed for the first time in Pescara and then every place I went to in
the south after that
- eating lunch with the view of the tower in Pisa
- slipping a ripper in Pescara (didn't tell anyone about that one!)
- the view out the bedroom window in Monterchi
- My 'local' at Sansepolcro
- Driving in Italy!!!
- the trains, the buses, the ferries and the boats
- Anna the Sicilian grandmother on the ferry from Palermo to Salerno
- going from Salerno to Positano on the Amalfi coast on the ferry, the aqua of
the water, lunch in Positano and paddling on the beach while waiting for the
ferry
- the castles
- the gelati
- the men who melt when they are smiled at
- the women who hardly ever smile, but will always help you if they can
- my poor throbbing feet, the blisters and the band aids, putting band aids on
my blisters at a cafe on Ponte Vechia
- the wines
- the heat when I first arrived, the sweat, the hot hot sun and the ice cold water
- the caribinieri, finance polizia and the polizia - everywhere except when you
need them!
- the taxi drivers - one in Foggia who was going to take me to the police
because I wanted him to drive fast, one in Salerno whose meter showed 17
euro after going 500 metres, one in Rome who covered his meter then tried to
take my case when I wouldn't pay!
- the beggers - the gutter peeing beggar in Rome, the men dressed as old
women
- the markets
- being hopelessly and ridiculously lost and discovering I have absolutely no
sense of direction and laughing out loud on the streets when I find where I am
on a map and discover that I am miles away from where I think I am (I am still
walking in the opposite direction to maps!)
- dinner with Gaetano and the knife flasher
- speaking Italian to Italians and being understood!
- the yelling ticket seller at the train station in Foggia who I yelled back at
- the two guys at the cafe where I bought my bus tickets in Salerno who called
me "Sydney"
I still have two days left in Italy before I head off to Korea for two nights then home to my girls and Max. I am sure there will be things added to my list before then!
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