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Published: August 25th 2006
Hello all,
I'm here! ....OW!!! someone just opened the emergency exit in the internet cafe and man is that alarm LOUD!!! Mum if you thought my hearing was damaged before....
Anyway, that's not what I came here to tell you all about. Oh btw sorry in advance, I realised on the bus here that I forgot my camera cable so I can't post any photos yet sorry.
Well my first international flight was fun, in that it wasn't fun at all. It should be illegal to squish that many people into such a confined space for so bloody long. By the time I got to Singapore, I realised that my lower legs were so swollen that I was seriously worried they were going to explode. (should have seen them by the time I got to Frankfurt!) Plus I was paranoid about 'A Touch of the DVT' so that was fun lol. One thing about the flight was that they feed you about every 5 minutes. I figured that if they are feeding you so often then the odds increase that you will pick at a little bit of each one to add up to one full meal as all the food was v. typical airline food! Mmm, this soup is delicious Elaine! At one point we got a Splice (ie. the icecream) and I put my mouth around it to suck it and evidently their freezer is v. efficient because my mouth got stuck to the icecream!!! Many humiliating scenarios flashed through my mind but after some careful extrication I was able to proceed with caution! We ended up landing in Rome 10mins early and I was quite impressed with how smoothly everything had gone overall, but I should have saved that thought for another day. I was sitting with the girl I'd sat with Syd to Sing from Frankfurt to Rome as well, so we walked to to carousel to get our bags and waited. And waited. And waited. Everyone from our flight was long gone by this point so we went to the counter where the girl nonchalantly informed us that our bags were still in Frankfurt, and that 'probably' they would arrive on the next flight, at 1.10pm (we landed 8.20AM!). This was not good news for me as I had a $100 shuttle bus booked and (previously) waiting, and Anne (plane girl) had a connecting flight at Rome's other airport on the other side of town! We both decided to wait at the airport which was pretty lame, I was so HOT (wearing trackies etc) and so stinky after the long flight. Oh yeah, and buggered. Time passed pretty slowly but eventually it was 1.10 and we were back at the carousel - 50 minutes later our luggage showed up. As my shuttle was long gone (and when I'd rung the hotel they told me I had to pay anyway, grr) I ended up getting a train to Rome's central station, by which point I was COMPLETELY over the whole thing. Finally I got a taxi to my hotel and collapsed on the bed. (Hotel is really nice btw). I was in Rome!
http://www.travelblog.org/gmaps/map_1OV.html
My Italian is getting me by which is good, sometimes I sound like una idiota I am sure, but hey, it's all up from here! I wanted to get something to eat for tea before I crashed for the night, but when I went down to reception to ask for somewhere nearby she said there was nothing near as it wasn't a business area. SO, my first adventure began! I had to catch a bus to Piazza San Silvestro which involved finding somewhere to get a ticket, working out where I was going etc. It's daylight savings here atm so it was still light and lots of people were shopping as the shops close later in the day. I found 'un bar' and bought some kind of pizza mutated with a pastie and pita bread, which was nice but my arteries are already crying from all the cheese. It's really bad cos my brain is not coping with the $$ conversion so I'm just handing over money willy-nilly going 'I'm sure it's a fair price!' The other thing my brain isn't coping with is the direction of traffic, so I just kind of stand at the side of the road staring blankly until I go 'Yeah now might be good' and walk briskly and purposely across the road! I'm still alive so the method works well so far!
It's raining this morning in Rome (currently 11.30am on Friday) and it's so freakin' muggy!! My pseudo-straight hair is not coping well and neither am I. The price you pay I guess 😊
Random thoughts, observations & things so far...
- Do you know they have lemon trees lining the roads?! Well not all of them but yeah, pretty cool. Also I have no idea what to take photos of because you could take a photo of any building or anything else and it would be pretty. Haven't taken many as yet.
- I've seen some AWESOME euro fashions so far (Jo K: 'tis molto satisfying!).
- Just heard an Italian cover of that Crowded House song that goes 'Hey now, Hey now, don't something something something. Bizarre. Italian original music is crap btw.
- Watched an Italian game show similar to Deal or No Deal crossed with Hollywood Squares but it involved mathematics.
- Also! This morning guess what was on TV? Police Rescue!!!! Starring Gary Sweet, Ada Nicodemou, Jason from Secret Life etc. Such a cack. Dubbed (everything is) and it was just so retarded in general.
- Breakfast is on the roof of the hotel, cute little area which is covered but the sides are open so you have an awesome view of...stuff. I don't know what in particular, just typical pretty Italian buildings, apartments, parks etc.
- Lots of people are so tanned I'm almost classified as albino! Crazyness. Not that I want to be that tanned, it's kinda...weird.
- They have some kind of lolly or something which is called 'Mental'.
HOLY CRAP!!! Rain has just progressed to thunderstorm! Lightning thunder etc. Sounds close. Waah. I have to find food and get back to the hotel yet!
Well I'd better wrap up anyway. Missing you all, I want to hear from you soon! I am getting an Italian sim soon (maybe next week) so I can msg home but at the moment comments here or emails are about it! So hop to it you lot!
Baci da Roma!
tess
xxxx
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Mum
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Hello again
Have re-surfaced after our goss session last night/this morning ... great to speak to my gorgeous girl and can hardly believe the 'martian has landed' and thrilled to hear how well you are coping. Your blog is terrific ... can almost hear you talking. Dad has had a read and Will will check it out when he wakes. Dad said it was 27 degrees in Roma yesterday ... Josh said it was 28 degrees in Brisbane yesterday and it was 9 - 11 here yesterday - half an inch of rain and b cold. We did a 'day trip' out to Yass to check out Cooma Cottage ... where Hume of Hamilton and Hume fame lived ... we have always thought we should check it out - it has been restored but some parts have been left in original condition which was particularly interesting cos you could see how they built/held things together in the 1800's ... convict labour was used and they also produced the brick pavers .... not quite as old as some of the buildings you will be visiting!! There was no-one there but us which was understandable as the day was a shocker. It's Barb's birthday tomorrow ... we are going to Chad and Tash's for lunch and will take a cake ... still no sign of little Lachy or Holly! Tash is fed up. Also not really concentrating with our late night/early morning calls but when I put the phone down this morning I 'remembered' your Lonely Planet book was packed ... I'm pretty sure it is in the bottom of your case near the wheels ... seem to recall it was the first thing that went into the case!! Fingers crossed. Won't keep on cos as sorted will phone at 3pm (11pm EST) today. Lots of love from everyone at 121. x0x0x0x0x0x0x PS Will put money in your account (Monday) to cover the shuttle and box from post office to send stuff home by SEA (cheaper) PPS Think I told you that Assunta said her rellies don't use bank but use post office to do their banking etc ... bit like Waramanga I guess.