I don't know why I always start my blogging ventures with such vigorous discipline and dwindle down to sporadic and vague postings.
Usually it has more to do with my lack of material but this time I'd say it has much more to do with a surplus of information which I have difficulty putting chronologically, and also figuring out how to tell in a sensical way.
Let's start with this; I am hopelessly and devoutly in love with Italy. Even my most "boring" days here surpassed most of my best days in other countries, which is saying a lot because this entire journey has been a whirlwind of novelty and surprises!
To be fair, Italy did stand the best chance of capturing me from the get-go because it's where I had always planned to spend the most extensive period of time.
Rewind to a Quick Re-Cap:
As my family, friends (who humoured me in my incoherent lambasting of Barca) and travel companions (who listened sympathetically to my stories over shared dinners and bottles of wine) now know, I was conned by a skillful pickpocketer in Barcelona.
Luckily for me, I found a pleasant distraction in the two Canadian girls I was bunking with. They were excellent company and made a bleak and disappointing visit a lot more fun than it should have been given the circumstance.
From there I moved onto Madrid. Ah, Madrid. It will probably take me a solid 6 weeks to lose what my new Australian friend Susan lovingly refers to as our Italian Food Babies, but I'm pretty sure that Madid is actually where I started my race towards the Rollie-Pollie. The food there! The drinks there!
Juevos Rotos, really?
I mean, who puts deep fried, sunny side up eggs on top of a bed of deep fried potato chips?
A genius! That's who!
Madrid is where I spent my first non-U.S.A Halloween, and (also on that night) confirmed that I am allergic to ciggerette smoke.
It is impossible to go to a club in Madrid and not reek of nicotine and other people's alcohol sweat the next morning.
Still, though, Halloween was a really fun night. Lots of dancing, drinking, singing, and whatever drama you might expect from a big night out in a Spanish city.
I met this really fun girl, Patty, and we went shopping for costumes the night before. I selected a blue and green striped wig. It definitely was my least elaborate costume ever, but it did the trick!
Next:
Landing in Italy I could not have been more excited! I was full of the kind of butterflies and palm sweats that are usually reserved for people who have a serious Case of the Crushes.
Disembarking my bus from the Pisa airport to Florence I took a slow, deep breath and reminded myself not to set my expectations too high...but it was too late.
And Italia did not disappoint!
Initially I was going to spend only 3 days in Florence. I ended up at the Archi Rossi hostel for 5 nights. Saw the sights, did a ton of walking, saw The David, visited the Duomo (the massive, stand out cathederal in town), made new friends, etc...Realizing how easy it woulòd be to get sucked into the loveable vortex that is Florence and use up all my holiday there I bought a ticket to Rome and headed out.
Rome, Roma, Rome. What can I say?
I spent my days walking through deeply storied streets, gazing around at the distinct achitecture, touing legendary historical sites, getting lost in lesser known areas.
And my nights?
I spent at my hostel bar running one day into another, clashing the hours into a jumble which would make it hard to determine if the day I went to the Trevi Fountain was the same night we walked what had to have been three miles trying to find a grovery store...only to realize we'd been walking in circles, besides which it was 4 in the morning and, of course, nothing was open.
Or was the night Susan and I went to dinner, bar hopping, and meadering through the streets with those American university boys the same day Daniel and I spent 4 hours at the Vatican and were so exhausted that we nearly walked right past the Sistine Chapel?
Even though I was averaging 3-4 hours a night of sleep in Rome it was absolutely a top highlight on my entire trip. I met so many great people and had some really great adventures!
After Rome, Susan and I made our way to (and ate our way through) Naples. That city was a hot mess! The trash piles in the steets are hard to get used to, but eventually if you force yourself to look beyond the grit and grime, a type of charm starts to emerge and surprise you.
We had heard plenty of horror stories. Every time you mention Napoli as a possible desitnation the most common reaction is someone cringes at you, and asks,
"Really? You want to go there?"
That's probably why it came as no surprise when we had to get a weirdo man that had been following us thrown off the bus as we were making our way.
This was the kind of thing we expected of our trip down south...
But we were very pleased to find that the food, the people and general vibe kept us there much longer than we'd ever have believed.
From my last couple days in Florence, through the beginning of Rome, and my birthday, and right up until the morning we left Naples a type of unparalleled exhaustion had set in. A kind that made me nauseas, delirious, and caused me to fall asleep in a shoe store at some point.
That's why the next spot on my itinerary was not only someplace I'd been curious to see, but at that point of my trip it was also quite necessary.
Perugia.
True, I had never heard of Perugia until Amanda Knox made front page news. And, true, most of the reason I went was my journalistic hopes of finding some good story out of the whole thing. But, guess what I did instead?
Slept.
For almost 15 hours the first night I was there. I got up, took a hike, ate an entire pizza, did a puzzle, and went back to bed.
I admit, I didn't even go into town.
My hostel was a huge farmhouse, empty of anyone but the people working there, the occassional goose or dog that would sneak in, and myself. It was exactly what the doctor ordered.
The view of the rolling Tuscan hills and fog was peaceful.
Watching the chickens run about and hearing the horses clopping around revitalized me enough to move on to my next destination...
