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Postings from my recent travels in southeast Asia, Italy and England. As usual I found that travel reveals more about oneself than about ones destination.
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Saturday, June 29, 2002
Back to Barking and Goodbye Italia!
Hello everyone - the last two weeks in Italy have been tiring, hot, wonderful and packed with memorable sights, tastes and experiences.
I've walked a lot, eaten a lot, craned my neck to look at church ceilings and developed cauliflower ear from having an audio guide pressed against the side of my head. I've drunk from free fountains all over Rome including the Trevi fountain taps which should ensure I return to Rome. I read that throwing coins into the fountain is ruining it so I didn't really want to do that.
Some disappointing things about Italy - the coffee is good but not the way they drink it - I don't know why they don't just inject it right into an artery. Speed drinking is an established habit here and the usual way to have your coffee is standing and finished in a few swift gulps. It's nothing like a leisurely coffee at Torrefazione on a Sunday morning with the paper and a brioche. And should you want to sit down and savour your coffee here it will cost you twice as much as if you drink it standing at the bar - so what WAS a reasonably priced cup of joe (from $1.20-$1.80 Canadian) becomes much more expensive.
The food - some has been very good but a constant characteristic has been the saltiness. Judy's theory (and it is a good one) is that everyone smokes here, probably including the chef, and their taste buds are shot. What a shame.
Those are about the only two disappointments - the rest has been great with a new (to us)/old (in terms of age) discovery around every corner. And boy did those ancient Romans know how to live! One of my favourite visits was to the Baths of Caracalla - an immense complex that used to serve 5,000 to 8,000 bathers a day. It had hot, tepid and cold pools as well as gymnasiums, saunas, libraries and a selection of restaurants for your dining pleasure. And it was cheap - well within the reach of almost every Roman. Fantastic - you can just imagine what it must have been like with the sun streaming in the vast windows and picking out the colors of the mosaics and reflecting off the water.
Tomorrow morning (Sunday) I get on a train to Florence (the slow, cheap train) and get there an hour and a half (hopefully no wildcat strikes will occur) before my bus leaves for Milan at 2:30 p.m. Five hours to Milan, an hours wait and then I board the bus for the marathon 18 hour trip to London. I am in London (well actually in scenic downtown Barking) for a week and then spend a few days with my aunt in South Molton, Devon and then on the 14th of July I return to Canada.
I'll be looking for a housesitting gig for a couple of weeks when I return as my friend Judy is still in my apartment. So if you are looking for someone to look after your house, pets and plants while you holiday keep me in mind. I'm back on the 14th (the same day I leave England - the magic of jet travel) of July.
See you all soon - this will probably be my second to last e-mail as I will send one on my departure from England.
Ciao.
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