Returning stateside

Well, my trip is completely wrapped up. I can’t believe this day is already here but I am excited to get back and see everyone, work and have my own bed. I will leave from Heathrow at 10:15 a.m. tomorrow and arrive in Chicago at 12:50 p.m. Thanks to modern innovations, this flight will, indeed, be only two hours and thirty-five minutes. Please disregard time zones. This is my plan. We’ll see if I can convince myself the eight and a half hours are only two and a half. Then, I get on a Megabus to Minneapolis at 3:0o p.m., arriving back in Minneapolis at 11:00 p.m. [probably an hour or so earlier, actually, knowing how they drive]. I will see you all very soon!

Back in London

The conference went well in Barcelona and I’m now back in London after having had to throw away many things in the airport in Spain so that I wouldn’t be charged for being over the weight limit. I had to say goodbye to two pair of shorts, a pair of shoes and various toiletries. Long story short, I’m in London and will be back stateside on Monday. I’m not sure there will be any more posts until then…

Leaving Prague

This moment has come way too soon. I must go to bed soon, but must point out that I had a Czech dinner of beef goulash with potato cakes, potato dumplings and bread, as well as a pilsner, and I was quite satisfied.

My computer has decided to act up again, imagine that, so I will make this short as there is a waiting line. I will get up tomorrow at 5 a.m. to get on a train out of Prague around 6:30. If all goes as planned, tight connections being made, I will be in Barcelona around 9 a.m. on Sunday. If something goes awry, I will wait in the train station in Paris for 12 hours and get to Barcelona as night sets in on Sunday.

The Fall of Rome

Well, I suppose my leaving Rome isn’t cause for that title, but it seemed fitting nonetheless. I’m packing as we speak [or rather as I type] to go to Prague today. My train leaves in two hours. I will be leaving at 10:50, getting to Venice at 15:06 and walking out to see a canal, then back into the train station to go to Wien [Austria, I believe] at 16:00, arrive at 23:35. I have to then find a place to buy my tickets from Wien to Bratislava for the 00:24 train, arriving in Bratislava at 1:37. I have to then spend four hours in the Slovak train station until my train to Prague at 5:39, arriving at 9:35.

In retrospect, Rome was great, don’t get me wrong. But I was disappointed in Rome. It paled in comparison to Greece. I think it’s that it had the majority of its marble stolen for Christian/Catholic purposes [St. Peter's, to start with], whereas for the most part Greece was just damaged. I loved Greece and I did like Rome, don’t get me wrong. I guess I just had too high of expectations.

Prague, here I come!

St. Peter’s Square

… is a point of contention between Italy and the Vatican… No one is quite sure whose jurisdiction it is. That was pretty clear today as we stood in line waiting to get into St. Peter’s, which was amazingly worth the wait. It was beautiful inside and I cannot wait until tomorrow when we see the Sistine Chapel, which wasn’t open today… Tomorrow, we will also be going to the Colosseum!

Flea markets

… are not for fleas. This market was HUGE.

Back up. Last night, I befriended a couple of girls from Las Vegas and a guy from Perth, Australia. I’m telling you. Aussie magnets. Point being, today we went to the Porta Portese flea market, the biggest in Rome. It was insane. I went with intentions of purchasing a double-breasted leather jacket and saw one immediately upon entering and paid what we decided was a legitimate price, only to then not see any other places to get another double-breasted leather jacket anywhere else in the market. I was so glad I decided to get it right away. It’s my first leather jacket and I think the price was reasonable.

We then went to a pizzeria right by the market and it was delicious. We had a cheese pizza, a salami pizza and then a Nutella pizza, which was definitely very interesting but delicious!

Then we weaseled our way through Rome to Piazza Cavalieri di Malta, where a keyhole lets you see St. Peter’s Basilica [I think] across Rome. It was cool. We then moved along the river to Largo di Torre Argentina, some ruins which have been turned into a cat sanctuary with 250 cats living in the ruins and inside the hospital/hospice. We worked our way up to the Pantheon, getting my first Italian gelato on the way up. It was delicious and the Pantheon was awesome.

We then went to the Fontana di Trevi, which is gorgeous. We’re returning tonight to see it after the sun goes down and they light it up. We had another delicious free pasta dinner tonight and I’m now going to relax before going back out!

Please alight at Roma Termini

OK, so that wasn’t an announcement over the intercom, but I heard it in my head as I got off the train a couple of hours ago. I made it into my hostel, just a couple blocks from the train station, and was welcomed with a free pasta dinner, which I guess is available every night! Also, free breakfast. Perhaps Rome will be rather cheap without having to pay for food.

As for me tonight, I’m going to use my map and list of stuff to see to figure out what I’ll do each day. Tomorrow, I’m hoping to go to the huge flea market and find a double-breasted leather jacket for which I will haggle a reasonable price. I can dream, huh? But before any of that, I need to shower and sleep!

It was definitely interesting on the ferry. It was much smaller this time and we got airplane-style seating instead of just general deck access. We were given port health documents when we got on the ferry and I was told to ‘give it to a doctor when you get to the port.’ No such option was available. Interestingly, as I was getting off the ferry, I was called to the reception desk and was almost not let off the ferry for being from the US. Luckily, I’ve been gone for a month and they decided that was OK. Tell me, is there a big swine flu scare right now stateside?