Saturday, September 21, 2013

Rome

9/20/2013


I’ve arrived in Rome.  Old buildings are everywhere and ancient buildings common.  Statues and stone carvings, towers and castles winged by buttresses, enormous arches with magnificent ancient carvings and monoliths with latin and hieroglyphics, cathedrals and ruins abound.  I saw an ancient ruin of a buildings arches, 50 feet high at least, with a newer set of apartments built on top of them that are only a couple hundred years old.


In Scandinavia, almost no one smokes and bicycles are common.  Here, many people smoke and the streets are choked with cars.  The city smells a little like exhaust.  The streets are crowded with locals and tourists from all over the world.  Most street corners offers a view of some beautifully cut stone work or a picturesque neighborhood.

Crossing the street at a crosswalk is a tricky thing.  The drivers don’t seem very enthusiastic about stopping for pedestrians.  I’ve found the best way to do it is to just go and try to ignore them.  I call this technique - ostrich crossing.

When I last left Italy, I had grown so used to Italian I was dreaming in it.  But I’ve forgotten most of what I’ve learned and now I’m relearning it.  

I’ve run most of the errands I need to here in Rome: replacing my GPS, getting gas for my stove, shopping for food, and getting an adaptor.  On Sunday I’ll be moving on to Naples where things are cheaper and I’ll stay until October 1, the new promised delivery date for my kayak.

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5 comments:

  1. Note to self: Ship kayak to desired location first, then book flight after kayak has arrived.

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  2. Ha Ha!

    The original plan was to stay in Gothenburg until it arrived. Now though, I think it's good that I came here before the boat. I'll be able to make sure that everything is working out on the reception end. I have begun writing a post on the subject matter and it should be ready soon.

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  3. hi. im the mexican girl in the hostal in rome! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great! I hope you like what I wrote and continue to enjoy your travels.

    ReplyDelete
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