Rainy Rome

Part 1; In Which I Briefly Speak of our Time in Switzerland

Geneva was a very lovely time/place for us to do absolutely nothing. We spent 2 days there and spent about 15 minutes sightseeing. The rest of the time, we slept, did some exercise, and enjoyed some excellent food and wine with Alicen's friend Theano, who was very gracious and welcoming and let us stay in her very beautiful apartment. So, this photo album from Geneva has very few pictures, but if you want to take a look, here's the link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=118195&id=548766367&l=ef104be7f9/

We left Geneva yesterday early and had a full day on the trains through the Swiss Alps and into Northern Italy into Milan, where we ate lunch and then transferred to a train to Rome.

The Alps were amazing and we seemed to be riding alongside giant alpine lakes the entire time. Northern Italy wasn't at all what I expected but it was among the most scenic and beautiful portions of the last 4 months on the trip.


Part 2; Regarding the Weather

Well, today is probably the worst weather we've had on the entire trip (on a day we were planning on sightseeing anyway....one day in Ireland was worse, but we pretty much just ate then stayed in our hotel) but that hasn't dampened our spirits (ouch....I'm all about the bad-puns today). Although my injured knee is slowing me down a bit....but more on that later.

Today, like I mentioned, is quite rainy, dreary, and surprisingly cold. But that didn't stop us from heading straight to the Coliseum and wandering through the tunnels listening to the audio guide and just of sort of chillingly enjoying being there. We had a great time at one point for about 20 minutes simply huddling against a wall, staring out into the interior of the arena, just outside of the reach of the rain, listening to our audio guide teach us about the construction techniques, type of gladiatorial matches (funnily, I just a saw a guy in our hostel common room start to illegally download 'Gladiator'), and social systems in place at the Coliseum.

Then we wandered out of the building through the Roman Forum, and this is when we started getting really, really wet. It was still really beautiful and we were feeling good and enjoying it. I think more than anything the poor weather made us realize how fortunate we've been with all the sun we've had so far. We really only encountered rain a little bit in the UK and Ireland apart from maybe 1 day in Australia and a tropical downpour for a few hours in Kuala Lumpor. Other than that, it's been all sun, all the time.

Part 3; Of Minor Injuries and the Hope For No More:

So, after wandering the very cool and impressive Forum, we decided to start looking for a place to eat. The first cafe we saw simply said 'Bar' on the sign, so we didn't know if they would serve food or not. So, we strolled slowly past the open door, craning our necks to see in...we decided that it didn't look like what we were looking for and started to head off again.

It was at this point, as I was turning my head to look, you know, in front of me, that I went straight into a rather large and extremely metallic Light Post which had apparently jumped out into my path while I turned my head....which is a pretty dirty trick for a light post to pull, if you ask me.

Well, let's just make it official to finally erase all doubt; a knee going straight into a rather large and extremely metallic light post is going to come out of the situation far poorer than the light post.

I think it's pretty definitely the most pain I've been in on the trip. It was significantly more painful than when I hit my head in Angkor Wat, miles more ouchful that I when my skull collided with the Great Wall of China, and yes, even more hurtful than when my finger was sliced by the metal edge of a bottle cap in Germany.
Apparently knee cap pain is not, not, not cool. I hope I make it through (a very long) life with no more kneecap issues or, especially, any broken bones. That sounds totally weak, dude.

The good news is that since I couldn't walk for 20 minutes, we had to go inside and order a Macchiato, which was mind-blowingly good....so I guess it was an okay deal.

But then the knee started swelling, blah blah blah, and now we're back at the hostel taking it easy for the rest of the day.

Part 4; On the Subject of Food:

So far in Italy we have ordered a thick pasta (can't remember the name...sorry! I do know it starts with a T) with meat sauce, a margherita pizza (must be tried first in order to properly identify the baseline of pizza goodness), a small panini sandwich, a prosciutto and mushroom pizza, some fresh asparagus with lemon, and gnocchi with roma tomatoes and basil.

Already, Italy wins the title of Best Food Country. With how good the food was in Thailand and Italy, I thought it might be more of a challenge....but after only about 27 hours in Italy, the food has outpaced its reputation....and I know there are better meals to be had around here than we've had so far. Dig it.

Part 5; Where I lay Out in Impressive Detail our Forthcoming Plans

Tomorrow we'll explore Vatican City.

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