Roma

Rome was, as always, beautiful.

We did it right this time and opted to do a walking tour of the city and of the Vatican Museums. Even with a background in History, so much eludes me and I didn't think that it was fair for me to never have answers whenever Mum asked "What is this?". What can I say? My memory's crap.

We did the tours with the same company we used for the bike tour in Florence. It was a good decision, seeing as they have a 10 person maximum to their groups and you get little earphones to better hear your guide. Our guide for the city tour was knowledgeable, but was feeling the effects of the party the night before and was therefore less than enthusiastic. I get it, you're hung over, you see this stuff everyday, it's not a holiday for you, it's work but SERIOUSLY?!?! We're standing in the freakin' Coliseum and you're talking about FOOTBALL? At least PRETEND to be a little awed or interested or...something...

Our guide for the Vatican Museums and Saint Peter's Basilica was the COMPLETE opposite of lackluster Massimo from the Coliseum. Guido (ya, that was his real name. You can't make this shit up) is an archaeologist who is currently excavating underneath the present city of Rome. He was knowledgeable, enthusiastic and, in my opinion, a complete rockstar. I'm telling you, if he weren't a married, 50-something Italian national, I'd be off the market by now.

I learnt a lot from Guido, had a grade 11 brush-up from Massimo (although R.C. was SO much more thorough... she would have been disappointed, no doubt) and enjoyed my over priced gelatto as I looked upon the Trevi Fountain for the first time.

So that was day one. A combined-total of eight hours of walking, plus a trek from the Vatican City back to our hotel by Termini Station in the pouring rain. We were pretty much exhausted, but it was well worth it.

Day two saw us wandering around the city and hanging out at the Spanish Steps. I know they're a big deal and all, but I just DON'T GET IT. They're STEPS. Well designed, picturesque, beautifully adorned with flowers...but a staircase nonetheless. Mum says I just don't appreciate art. Who knew?

On my birthday (which I might add, is today...) I got to choose what to do (and rightfully so!) so we hoped on a train and got off in the middle of nowhere in Tarquinia.

As you all know, this was basically the home-base of the Etruscans. I mean, everyone who's ANYONE knows that.

You should all therefore also know that this is where the National Etruscan Museum is, as well as where some of the most beautiful and well-preserved tombs can be found.

It took us a solid day, but in the end we managed to visit each and every one of the tombs that was open to the public in the booming necropolis, including the "Tomb of the Flogging". Kinky kinky. (see below)



We also hung out for a time in the museum where I got to see some of the most creative and educational flatware I have ever seen! The Indian's may have created the kama sutra to bring couples closer together, but the Etruscan's sure do know how to educate the public on the finer details of a hot and steamy quickie! I tried to get some pictures, but the guards there are very good at their job...

And so my travels have just about ended. Our flight leaves tomorrow at 6 am and 24 hours from now I will be back at home, eating delicious food, chatting face to face with my closest friends and breathing in the ever comforting smell of my horses. There is always a sense of sadness at the end of a trip, but this time I'm also ready to go home, to find a base and begin a "life".

I'm almost certain that within a month I'll be eating those words.

Santa Maria Del Fiore

I just realized that I forgot to blog about one of my favourite places in one of my favourite cities!

Santa Maria Del Fiore aka "The Duomo".

She's this absolutely stunning thirteenth century cathedral boasting a nineteenth century pink, white and green neogothic marble facade that miraculously managed to survive the Second World War (relatively) unscathed.

She's also one of the most secular cathedrals I've ever been in, thanks to the majority of her funding coming not from the church, but rather from the lay people of Florence. But that's about all of the history I'm going to write about here (I promise)... if you want to know more ask my cousin Emma, who, as it turns out, is a huge geek too and actually wrote a history paper about Santa Maria Del Fiore. At least I'm not alone in this vast wilderness...

It was love at first sight in 2006 but unfortunately we didn't get to climb the 463 steps up to the dome back then because one of my traveling buddies managed to break her foot in Ireland and we didn't think it was fair to make her trudge all the way up and back.

As it turns out, that was probably a great idea seeing as the steps are, in and of themselves, an adventure.

I could handle the confined, narrow, winding steps. I enjoyed the spectacular view of Florence from the top of the dome. What I was not prepared for was the walk around the INSIDE of the dome.

When you get halfway up the stairs, the path leads you to a narrow ledge that encircles the dome. It's about the same width as a person and has a railing and a plexiglass wall/ guard-type-thingy. The purpose of this walkway is lovely: you can see the beautiful depiction of the Last Judgement on the dome up close and personal, take pictures, admire the art. It's an amazing thing to partake of.

Unless you happen to suffer from vertigo and make the startling discovery that you are, indeed, claustrophobic when tightly confined on a narrow walkway some bazillion feet above the ground, being pushed along in a seemingly endless current of tourists while nothing but a thin sheet of plastic prevents you from plunging headfirst to a gruesome death.

It could happen.

Inevitably, as I made this discovery I was stuck behind a couple who, obviously unaware of the danger (and therefore blind to my clammy hands and crazy eyes), had to stop every two steps to admire the painting and take pictures while I clung to the wall and looked longingly at the exit.

On this day, I almost committed murder. But, you'll be happy to know, I (narrowly) managed to refrain. (GO TEAM!)

Eventually I did manage to look up. My effort was rewarded with a glimpse at a demon's rather large (and, of course, beautifully painted and anatomically correct) penis.

Magnifico.



**Seriously though, it's probably one of the most beautiful churches I've ever been in (narrowly beaten out for top spot by Saint Peter's) and well worth the trek to the top of the dome (even if you are a claustrophobic, vertigo-prone individual with a vivid imagination and a touch of the crazy).**

Chianti Wine, Tuscan Oil and Naked (Marble) Men

Wow. That last post was pretty brutal.

I pledge to do better.

Well, to try to do better anyway.

My love affair with Florence has continued and, thanks to a whole lot of wine, may actually have intensified some.

On Friday Mum and I went on a bike tour/ wine tasting/ olive oil tasting. Despite my almost non-existant cardiovascular fitness, I had an amazing time. Chianti is a gorgeous area and the wine (and olive oil) we sampled were pretty much to die for (even the white, and I'm not usually into white!).

The only downside was that Florence is in a valley, so no matter what, if you want to get out you need to go up. And up. And up. All the way up to the Piazzale Michelangelo, to be precise. And then further up. This was all fine and good (I figured that I was doing my heart some good while at the same time crawling out of the carb coma I've been in for the past week and a half) until about seven pm when the lactic acid started to attack my poor quads. A word to the wise here: don't forget to drink loads of water and walk it off! I'm fairly anal about following this rule with my ponies but for some reason I figured that I myself would be immune. As it turns out, this is not true. Eventually (thanks to watchtvsitcoms.com) I fell asleep and (thank God) when I woke up, no pain remained but that which was caused from sitting on a man's mountain bike seat for seven hours.(which is, I may point out, not a great idea either...)

We met some pretty great people in our small group (almost all Canadians!) and it was great to watch how the sunshine, the "Tuscan Sun" and, primarily, the wine, took an already cheerful and chatty group to the next level of comaraderie!

Today was our last day here so we decided to take a quick trip out to Siena after an even quicker visit to the Galleria dell'Academia. Siena was very impressive, but I with I could say the same for the gallery.

Housing a respectful collection of thirteenth century paintings (think, "Madonna and Child" or "The Crucifiction", multiplied by ten on every wall of almost every room), a room chock full of nineteenth century plaster moulds of original marble statues and a hallway of *possible* Michelangelos, the main attraction is, not surprisingly, the original David.

Traditionally, thirteenth century art is often shockingly grotesque, however it creates an impressive contrast when coupled with David. He is at once bright, self-assured and pensive in a room surrounded by paintings which are dark and condemning. Although I found the overall collection a bit disappointing, I enjoyed analyzing the museological aspects of the gallery. Because I'm a huge geek. Check.

Anyway, as I'd mentioned, Siena was lovely. There's nothing that's a "must see" so to say, it's just that the entire city is beautiful. It's one of those laid back, relaxed, picturesque sort of places (despite the bus loads of tourists) that makes you wonder about the Italy of times long past.

I'm a geek, we've already covered this.

So we're off to Rome tomorrow; our last stop and another of my favourite places. Although I doubt we'll have free internet access in our room, I will blog at least once about The Eternal City. Pinky swear.

ps: it's Sunday by the time I actually got around to posting this and, because everything's closed, we headed to good old Mickey D's for coffee (which is sacrilege seeing as we're in Italy, but who am I to demand decent coffee on the day of rest?) and, much to my surprise, what do I see but MacDonald's CAFE?!?! That's right, a cafe. With real coffee and pastries and an espresso machine... I think my brain just exploded...

Quick Notes on Italy

I've rekindled a great love with one near and dear to my heart today-- Florence.

We arrived this afternoon and it was definitely like coming home. I say that a lot, so I guess there are quite a few places that I've grown to love in the past few years...

Florence is just one of those cities that you can't help but love. It's bright and busy, but infinitely in touch with its historical side (which, obviously, is important to me).

The train ride from Venice didn't hurt either. There's something comforting about the Italian countryside-- I think it may be that only rich, earthy tones are to be found, no matter where you look. It's beautiful and soft and, well, comforting...

Apparently I'm not at my most articulate today, so perhaps I should keep this short...

Venice was a quaint city and definitely nicer than I had anticipated (I had heard a lot of negative comments prior to my visit). It rained the whole time we were there, so it was cold and wet, but that didn't really detract from the whole experience.

It was beautiful but, like I said, it's great to be back in Florence.

We're here for six more days, so I'm sure I'll have more to write about (and hopefully I'll actually be able to express those thoughts and feelings by then...)

ps: the food has most definitely improved too!

La Bella Italia

I managed to find my way to Italy, despite my brief lapse into Abu Dhabi (a city in the middle of the desert, how cool is that?!?!), and I even found my mother at the airport. I'm pretty much a rockstar, I know.

Milano was, by all accounts, disappointing. It was dull and drab and left me feeling uninspired. Perhaps if I ever find the millionaire within I will venture back in the throes of Fashion Week and experience her in all her glory. Perhaps then it won't rain quite as much either... I've heard that Milano is the London of Italy and that the weather is often reminiscent of London's. I should have known what this meant and therefore been prepared for it (having just spent a solid chunk of time in sunnier climes I was unprepared for ten degrees and pouring rain) however London has always been good to me, showing her bright side on all of my visits... Oh well, despite my brief time in Milano, we all know she lives in the lime light!

Verona, by contrast, has been lovely. Despite the Romeo and Juliet kitsch that pervades the city, it's beautiful and relaxed (and blessedly sunny!).

And the Shakespearian throw-backs aren't all bad... legend has it that if you stand under Juliet's balcony and rub the breast of her statue you will find true love. Fear not! I polished her lady lumps thoroughly! I'll keep everyone posted regarding how that works for me...

Tomorrow we're off to Venice. I'm going to try my best to keep mum from falling into the canals (and, on second thought, myself as well) but I can't make any promises. I'm pretty excited to explore the city and am very anxious to get back to Roma too!

ps: no earthquakes to date...

India in a Virtual Nutshell, Part 2

After my last post, India continued to be a combination of columns A and B ("A" being uber cool and "B" representing experiences that had us yearning for the peace and anonymity of Canada).

On our last day in Jaipur, Caitlin and I both had henna done by a very sweet and incredibly talented woman called Sheshi. She invited us back to breakfast with her family the following day, which turned out to be a highlight of the trip.

Following a delicious meal of stuffed parantha and chai masala (my new favourite tea!), we were taken to the various temples where she and her children go to pray each day.

Unsure of my own faith, I've always been interested in the religion and faith of others and I tend to get overly emotional at important or potentially important places (I cried like a baby during my first visit to Canterbury Cathedral, Temple Church and Stonehenge, to name a few...). Surprisingly, I hadn't experienced this intense emotional connection at any of the Hindu temples we had visited throughout our trip. However, attending these places with Sheshi and her family was a more moving experience for me. These small, intimate temples proved to be much more appealing to me than the large, elaborate ones we had frequented. This, combined with the hospitality of Sheshi and her family, made it a wonderful morning, despite the presence of Creepy Driver Guy.

In the afternoon we headed to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. Our visit was more than worth the 750 rupee admission fee; so much so that we could almost forget the hassle of getting past the guards! (Apparently mine and Caitlin's combined possession of a plug, a Nintendo DS and a deck of cards put us on par with Osama Bin Laden... While I realize that security measures are going to be high when visiting one of the World Wonders, I have yet to hear of an incident -- although I am not, admittedly, an explosives expert -- where anything at all was blown-up by a playing card... but like I said, what do I know?)

The Taj is, undeniably, a beautiful structure and a work of art. The outside is covered in verses from the Quaran and seeing it re-enforced my desire to learn more about Islam. Hopefully at a later date I will be able to do so!

After enjoying a lovely sunset in the shadow of the Taj, we headed to one of the sketchiest train stations I have ever been in (and I've spent a fair bit of time in some really dodgey ones...). It was alright though, because our sleeper trained proved to be a fitting match to the train station. Overnight trains in India are NOTHING like their European counterparts. I'm not sure why this surprised me, but sleeping in an open car, surrounded by all of our luggage and about thirty unknown men was not conducive to a good night's sleep...

Exhausted, and more than a little irritable, we finally arrived at Varanasi (and only three hours late! Here I would usually make some off-hand comment about Mussolini, but I'm not going to do that in case someone takes me literally and I get myself into a whole host of trouble... anyway, use your imagination. That way, whatever you come up with can't be pinned on yours truly, but rather only on your own questionable conscience and morality. :P)

The city of Shiva was an... interesting... experience. We went to the burning ghats to learn about Hindu funerary rites. As the most sacred city in India, it is believed that dying in Varanasi sends the soul directly to nirvana, thereby releasing it from the cycle of birth and death. My spiritual side found this incredibly intriguing, but my logical side couldn't help but think of the environmental effects of the way in which the bodies of the dead are disposed of.

When an Indian Hindu dies, the body is often brought to Varanasi to be burned on a funeral pyre of sandalwood (real or artificial). Upon arrival to the burning ghat, the body is washed in the Ganges and left to dry. Once cremated on the banks of the river, the ashes are scattered on the water. Everyone is desposed of as such, with the exception of children under twelve, holy men and lepers. These people are taken by boat to the middle of the river where their corpses are thrown over-board with a stone tied to their ankles.

Although the rite itself is spiritually appealing, it's also an environmental disaster.

The Ganges is so polluted that it's technically considered unsafe to bathe in, let alone to drink or cook with (the stats are actually unbelievable)... In addition to the sewage that runs freely into the river, and the garbage that is so carelessly tossed into the water, I doubt that the presence of human decay contributes to the sanitation of a water system that millions of people and animals depend on for survival.

The pollution through India (well, in the three states that we visited anyway) has put a bit of a damper on our trip. Everywhere you look there are massive amounts of rubbish: in the desert, in the cities, in the sacred Ganges... At one point we were driving past a man-made forest of saplings and EVERY SINGLE ONE of the trees had garbage tangled in its branches. In such a beautiful country where people are so patriotic, it's easy to imagine what a successful clean-up campaign could achieve.

We're back in Delhi now (and it's not so helish now that we're fully prepared and know exactly what to expect!) trying to fill the time before our 5 am flight to Abu Dhabi. We're both anxious to continue our travels so that we can (...wait for it...) reflect on our experience here in India. It has been a good one, albeit utterly exhausting, overwhelming and, at times, disheartening. Despite all of this (and the fact that I have yet to have an epiphany of any sort!) I'm very glad to have come, seen some of the country and to have had the opportunity to experience a bit of the culture, thanks to some of the amazing (and amazingly creepy) people we met throughout our travels.

So I'm not going to promise to write more in the weeks to come, seeing as I can't seem to keep a promise to save my life as of late, but here's hoping!

India in a Virtual Nutshell, Part 1

Alright, so just because the connection in Delhi was faster than Malaysia it does not mean that the connection outside of Delhi will be the same...

We've been in India for just over a week now and I can honestly say that it's nothing like I thought it would be... Everyone always says that their first visit to the Indian Subcontinent is a life-altering experience. I'm not sure exactly what that means, but I was expecting something monumental to overtake me. That has yet to happen and, in all honesty, I'm a little disappointed. I feel as though I've really come into myself during my time in Korea and Malaysia; I took a step back from my day to day life and made some very important realizations and, subsequently, equally influencial decisions. Perhaps it's because of these earlier revelations, or the fact that I need to leave the country before I feel the full extent of my travels. Maybe it's just because I've been feeling a little homesick lately. Whatever it is, it's definitely not what I expected. So what is it?

Delhi is pretty much my definition of hell. It's a bustling city that's been overcome with tauts. One day, while stopped at a red light with my window down, a little girl came begging for coins. Seeing as I didn't have any (and I refuse to encourage small children to beg) I said "no rupees" and proceeded to ignore her. That was all fine and good until she stuck her finger IN MY MOUTH. It was pretty horrible.

It's also very sad because people of every age are involved, from the oldest women I've ever seen outside a nursing home to the youngest infant. It seemed as though everyone was demanding money. Although this is pretty prevalent throughout India, Delhi was by far the worst. It hurt my heart but it's impossible to know the difference between the people who are truly in need and the ones who see it as easy money. Thank goodness there are legitimate cherities out there to donate to!

As I mentioned earlier, we were only in Delhi a short while before we decided to hire a car and a driver and get the hell outta dodge. That driver (not-so-affectionately deemed "Creepy Driver Guy"), although very attentive and omnipresent, has ended up being uber sketchy. Realizing this early on I gave him my best ice queen (which, as some of you know very well, can be downright freezing), and he seems to have gotten the point as his affections rapidly focussed on Caitlin. Although keeping him at bay has been a bit of a struggle, we've managed and it hasn't hindered our trip at all. It also helped that we had Creepy Driver Guy's not-so-creepy friend with us for a couple of days. He (more-affectionately-deemed "Creepy Driver Guy's Friend" turned out to be a sweetheart (albeit one in search of a mail order European bride...) who introduced us to his family in the village of Dudu (just outside of Jaipur).

This experience was a refreshing change of pace from the beggers and the tauts as we finally got a glimpse of the "real" India. It was a little difficult because tourists don't ever go to the village, so we were the main attraction for a few hours, but overall it was really cool. Everyone was so welcoming and warm and their hospitality will not be forgotten. It was so sweet to see how excited everyone was to meet new people and to hear about a different culture, even though communcation was difficult (which is, by the way, the understatement of the century). At one point Creepy Driver Guy's Friend pulled out a bunch of bananas to give to the kids and it was amazing how outrageously excited they were for bananas! I guess when you live in the middle of the desert, they are a rare delicacy!

Speaking of deserts, the camel safari was very cool. I didn't think I would ever consider the desert to be a beautiful or magical place, but it really is (and I don't care how "Hallmark" that sounds!). Again, it's one of those things that you can't fully understand without experiencing it, but I whole-heartedly believe that everyone needs to watch the sun set in the desert from the back of a camel, and count the stars whilst sitting beside that amazing animal, at least once before they quit this world.

So all in all, my first trip to India has been a mixed bag. I've fallen madly in love with tea and fully intend on planning a visit to Darjeeling at some point in the future, but other than that, I'm not sure I will return. I suppose, when all is said and done, only time will tell.

We head off to Agra tomorrow and then are on to Varanasi before Caitlin and I part ways. I'll write again when I get the chance, but I thought I should post this asap as I've been getting special requests for more blogging! ;)

Until next time
xxoo