Aww Sausagedog Pt. 2
So I wrote that paragraph, and then went out, that was on my first day in Naples, as I write now, I'm on a super fast Euro-train from Rome to Venice, that gives you a pretty good idea of how regularly I write.
Naples was really good, I met some cool folk, a spaniard, a German, and Aussie and 2 French girls, turned out the french girls were travelling my way so I came up to Rome with them. We've now split ways, they're going to Florence but I will see them again on the last day I'm in Venice. I was in Naples for 2 full days, and on the first night I was there, met the cool hostel people and went out for some drinks.By the way, Duff Beer is not only real, its cheap as hell too. EUR 1 for a bottle, made mine and Aussie-Josh's night. The day after I took a boat tour out round Capri which cost EUR 50 but seemed a good buy as it kept me entertained for a whole day, we got food and I got to go swimming, which I've been wanting to do since I started travelling. The boat we went on was more comparable to a large jetski, in that it went very very fast, which was entertaining provided you had a good hold onto the boat, if you didn't you were in serious danger of getting thrown into the sea. every so often, the boat would stop and we'd all hop in the water for a swim, the water was really warm and I went swimming in some caves, chasing some fish, essentially if you imagine the reaction of a dog that's never seen the sea before, your pretty close.
That evening I stayed in with Anais and Marie (don't try and pronounce them, it seems impossible for non-French to pronounce French names) which was uneventful, as they left for Rome the next morning, and I was going to catch them up in the evening after I'd been round Pompeii. Pompeii was obviously the second full day in Naples and was good, I struck lucky in that I went in the wrong entrance and started my tour at the furthest part of Pompeii by the Ampitheatre, this worked out as the busiest part of Naples around the Theatres and Brothels was crowded with herds of Americans in tour groups. No I don't want to be stereotypical, but they can really fill a street from wall to wall, and getting stuck behind a tour group essentially means you stay in the same place for the next 10 minutes. Either way I still got to see all the cool parts, and the bodies too. I didn't take any photos of the bodies, as it seemed a little distasteful, the figures were very detailed and you could easily see the faces, fingers and toes, even in some cases the folds of clothing. However they were all in the sort of position you'd expect of someone being suffocated and buried alive in burning hot stones, and as such, were rather sinister. Also a lot of these bodies are clearly of a very young age, children and babies were obvious.
I caught up with the French in the evening, and got a nice little caravan for my dorm, which I had to myself for the first night. The day after was exploring Rome. I was expecting to be pretty amazed by seeing the Colosseum, palatine hill, all the things I've seen in movies but it didn't seem to strike me as I was expecting.
History
There's something about heavy tourism that really saps the character out of a place, the signs saying you can't do this and the people having their photos taken with every vacant piece of masonry, I got the sense that the Colosseum is as much a source of profit and entertainment for people today as it ever was in the past. its less a case then of it being saved as a relic of the past, and more that it has been changed into something very modern. Its not the first time I've had this thought that these places should be free and open to the public all the time. Using the colosseum as an example, it was created for a purpose, however it has fallen into disrepair, and no longer suits that purpose, however as a building it is an icon of an age gone by, of a different world. To me it would be more fair that it is acknowledged that it has no practical value, but is left as a reminder of the achievements of previous civilisations. This I think would give people more freedom to use the collisseum, or Palatine hill or Wingfield Manor as a part of their every day lives, they could have a picnic there, or meet friends there or go and visit and take photos without feeling like it is just another business out to make money. This is less of a practical Idea and more of a rant I suppose but I can't help but resent the fact that a relic of a civilisation that is extinct, is now the possession of certain groups, and these groups somehow manage to sell it back to everyone else, in short, they're making money selling something that isn't theirs to sell. Obviously there are drawbacks, how would it be maintained for one, where would the money come from to allow people to continue to enjoy these buildings? taxing the vendors who sell trinkets outside would likely just scare them off, besides, I doubt the looky-looky men and men dressed as romans for photos pay any tax on their earnings, should they? even if someone tried to tax them I think they would find it very hard. As I said, this is more of an idealistic concept than a proposition.
And back in the real world...
The day after I went and had a look round the Vatican, seeing the Cistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basillica. Just in passing, the Basilica is free entry and in my mind atleast was a much more pleasant visit, whilst agreed, we were all still taking photos like the place was melting away infront of us, there were also people praying, singing and doing God-related things, there was even a fellow in a dress at the front shouting in Latin. I took some time to chill out in there, listen to the music in the cool of the cathedral which was pleasant, whilst I may not be much of a believer in what they were singing about it still created a pleasant atmosphere that this magnificent piece of history was still in use, it was still doing what it was meant to do. If your a fan of Metaphors, the Basilica was like a wise old man that had seen it all before, and had moved with the times, in comparison the Colosseum was a corpse, it had aged, but stopped functioning and now had little more worth than so people could take photos of it to prove they had been there. Maybe the Colosseum could be restored, and used as a theatre or stage for gigs?
That evening me and the French's went back into Rome to see the Trevi fountain, which Marie had been wanting to see since we got there. She also really wanted to swim in it, but that understandably wasn't allowed, so she hopped in for a quick paddle instead.
This morning I stopped off by Percy Shelley's grave, my English teacher in Sixth form had told my class to do so if ever we were there, so I did.
That pretty much brings me to where I am now, except now I'm in Florence station, Trains only ever seem to run on time when I'm late, when I'm on time, or on the train as I am now, they take a more relaxed approach. The train I took from Naples to Rome was 2 hours late, despite leaving Naples on time. How do you manage to be late by 100% of the actual journey time?! Italians can't railway.
There seems to be a lot of things I haven't covered, like how I managed to get severely mosquito-ed on the Capri tour. I've always taken mosquito bites badly, but this is just silly. Two became infected one on my ear and one on my leg, whilst I managed to bandage up my leg and smother it with antiseptic, meaning it only became an odd shade of purple, the one on my ear was way to awkward to bandage, and seems to resist sun cream and now gets sunburnt whenever I go out. I think its going to scar when it eventually heals.
I also managed to get sunburnt on the same trip, either that or I just went more pink than usual, which is pretty pink by standards. However it has yet to go back to white, I wonder if I'm about to achieve the unheard of and develop a suntan?!
Also also, I'm reading about my hostel now, and it appears it has a jacuzzi?! my luck in hostels is consistently improving, from the wierd Barcelona and Palermo Hostels I've had great hostels in both Rome and Naples. I think the qualities that make a good hostel for me are;
- communal drinking area (with bar)-It needs to have a place where you can chill out with other backpackers and make friends, the more things you have to draw people to one place (like WiFI, a TV, a kitchen or cheapish food vendor) the easier it is for them to find other people they like, then they go do things with these people, and that is probably the single most effective way to ensure they enjoy themselves.
- Excursions/trip planning place- Its weirdly hard to find a place to organise day trips aimed at young people.Most travel agents aim for people with bigger budgets, and travelling down to the port/bus station/train station to try and pick up a tour always seems a little risky. A selection of leaflets for good tours/excursions are always good, and it never seems to much to ask for the receptionist to phone up and book tours on your behalf, they speak the local language, and its likely a lot cheaper to use the reception landline phone as a pose to the backpackers own mobile. On a side note, this could stretch to nights out, organised fancy dress nights/pub crawls will definitely help get people talking to one another, or open mic/karaoke nights at the hostel.
- Gardens are always cool, or at least, a place to chill out without feeling you need to buy something in order to sit there as you would in a cafe.
Essentially that just describes Wake Up Sydney Central, which I guess makes sense as that was by far my favourite ever hostel in the world ever. Flashpackers are good too, as are Plus Camping, which is where I stayed in Rome and where I will be staying in Venice too.
And that brings my second blogging to an end I suppose, I guess I'll reread before I post, but hopefully, its been a little more tolerable to read.
Now to find a toilet on this train.
Plus Camping... amazing. :)
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