Pictures !!! Pisa and Rome

Bologna and some of everything after

Here I am at the most amazing sunset in Cinque Terre after a long hike through all the five towns , it was one of the best days of my trip!

Firstly I would like to say that having read my last post I am embarrassed at my extremely pour spelling and grammar, but I do have an excuse, I was writing on an Italian computer with Italian spell check, which obviously did not help me and I now see that I rely on it quite a lot, plus I was in a weird internet cafe and was paying too much money for the computer time. Alas with that said on with the story...
Leaving Rome I spent one night in Bologna, one of the oldest University towns in Italy with lots of red marble arch ways that cover the sidewalk ways along the streets. I sent way too much money on a closet of a hotel room looking to have a brake from hostel life with a hot shower and room all to myself. I spent most of the night looking for a place to do laundry and finally after walking around town for and hour in the rain with all my dirty clothes in a plastic marks and spencer bag, I found the laundrette that was really crowded and expensive but I was desperate and was proud of myself for navigating this unknown city in the rain and dark with a simple goal. As my clothes were washing I found a little pizzaria with huge slices of Italian and American style pizza. There I met this guy from Bologna who just started chatting with me about the joy pizza and of course wanted to know where I was from. It is the small random encounters like this that make the difference when you are traveling alone, it is nice to get to know the local people when you travel and if I was with other people I don't think I would have been as open to conversation. He accompanied me back to the laundrette and I found that some one had opened my now finished wash, and later i was to find that they stole only one sock, just to mess with me I think, I said goodbye to my new friend and made it back to my room to watch a little Italian tv and have some undisturbed sleep. I woke up and after a nice breakfast from the hotel made my way to the train station and was on my way to Venice. It as rainy and cold when I arrived but Venice is everything that people rave about. It is beautiful and there is no other place like it in the world, no cars or roads, only bridges and boats. As I was riding the Grand canal ferry to my hostel stop I noticed that most of the locals seemed to be wearing rain boots, I soon found out why. Venice has been flooding with all of the rain that Italy has had this season, plus the rising sea levels makes for a constant threat of water washing out st marco's square...
Sorry everyone I have been writing and trying to continue this narrative of my trip but I can't find the focus to do it now, rather than wait for the inspiration to finish it, which may take another week, I would like to update the blog with what I have and add some pictures as well. I will at some point continue the story but not now.

Leaving Rome

Rome has been amazing. I have been traveling with a Canadian girl that I met in Cinque Terre and today she and I will be parting ways. Karen will be off to Florence and I will be headed to Bologna for the night, then off to Venice for the weekend. I have been overwhelmed by the culture of Italy. It has made me think so much about all of my time as a anthropology student. Traveling and feeling like a forgiener is such an essential expereince for understanding this world. Meeting fellow travelers has also been an eye opening expereince. I have found that there are more Austrailinas in the hostels in Italy than other English speakers, and most of them are traveling for at at least a year. I do come across Americans but at this time of year they are more likely to be students studying abroad.
A little about Rome... I visited the Roman ruins, colosum ... baths and temples converted into churches, every street corner there is either a church or a ruin and most times it is both. the Vatican was intense, St. Peters Basilica as over powering, I found myself feeling speechless and angry at the same time. Or maybe it was the belly ache I had from eating way too much gelleto for lunch. There were so much wealth in the Vatican it made me wonder I feel like I have become a bit desensitived to all of the history. But there is now doubt in my mind that Roma is a special place that I will always remember. I would love to come back some day with a lot of money so I could spend all my time in the fancy family restaurants eating my way through Italy. But it means that I will be back... Bella Roma...

Italia

I have spent three days in Florence, three days in Cinque Terre met some great people at the hostel there and have been traveling with one of then to Rome , via Pisa. Italy is beautiful and ugly, modern and ancient. All of lifes great contradictions. I am having a hard time uploading pictures but I can promise that I have some really great ones to add when I can. Today I watched the sun set over Rome on the steps of one of the many epic churches, birds were flying in these crazy patterns together, it looked like the northern lights, as the canadian i'm traveling with said. I can't focus enough to describe all of the amazing sense that I am having right now! Traveling is a gift and I am so grateful to be here. Not sure where my next move is but I know that I will be in York for Christmas. Maybe more of Italy or France...
I'll try and keep this thing more updated, sorry for the delay. I promise pictures next time too