anna

Beautiful Rome!

This city has more past than present.

As I was stepping out onto the street on the first day, an old Italian man grabbed my arm and announced he was to lead me into the centre of the city. He asked my name. I said it was Anna. He said I was Anna Bella.

He walked me through the back streets of Rome and to the Colosseum in a way I would never have found on my own. He told me stories of the Roman soldiers who marched through that arc, singing this song. He told me how he had no friends because he worked all the time. He sang to me in Italian Opera in the middle of the street while I sort of, er.. looked around for a means of escape..

He was strange to say the least, but very friendly and I learned something about Rome and its people. I know I probably shouldn’t walk off with old men, but when in Rome hey?

Later that night I met up with Lucas and Lisa and we drank wine till late on the Spanish steps.

During my stay in Rome I tried to visit all the main attractions.. the Pantheon, the Colosseum and the Forum, the Trevi Fountain - here’s me making a face at some girl who got in my photo…

bitch

We also visited the Vatican City, where I definitely had some sort of um… experience. I had been feeling sick all day, I had a bad headache and was finding the Vatican Musei to be a bit claustrophobic, so I went into the courtyard and lay down on a bench. Apparently no one lies on benches in the Vatican city, because three different guards woke me up by shouting “ARE YOU OK” in my face. I obviously didn’t sound convincing because two of them sat on the bench opposite me, and just watched me. So I couldn’t really sleep anymore, because, er, I guess I don’t like strange men watching me when I’m sleeping, so I sat up and then it was even more awkward cause I was just sitting there, and they were just sitting there, and it was like… yeah, I’m gunna go now………

So I went and found Lisa and Lucas and we went through all the Museums into the Sisteen Chapel, which was absolutely beautiful. To get there you go through the Vatican’s Apartments, some of which were painted by Raphael. There’s also a modern art gallery with religious paintings by artists from the 20th Century. Two of my favourite artists were right next to each other! Dali and Bacon.

Then we went over to the Basilica, but while we were looking around I realised everything was moving that shouldn’t have been, I felt like I was drunk except I wasn’t. I had to sit down I felt so sick. Then Lisa and Lucas went to the tower and I didn’t feel up to climbing a million stairs, so I sat on the steps outside. By this time I really couldn’t see anything, I wanted to be sick, and all these people kept watching me. One guy offered me his apple. yeah sure dude, thanks. but not actually.

Then the guards came over (not the Swiss ones in jester outfits unfortunately), and told me I couldn’t sit/slump on the steps and they obviously noticed something was wrong because they immediately looked worried and started saying “miss miss are you ok miss!” and I sort of just opened my mouth to speak but couldn’t really, all I could manage was a pathetic “I can’t see anything”. But at this stage I actually couldn’t see much at all. So they helped me into the Basilica and called the doctors, and 4 doctors came, and stood around me stroking their chins and ummed and arred, and said “I don’t know” a lot. At one point I think they asked If I was on drugs, yeah, like I’m going to take drugs and then come to the smallest sovereign catholic state in the world, sounds like a party right there.

In the end they just told me my blood pressure was really low and made me eat a whole sugar cube covered in vanilla essence, it was disgusting. And they watched me eating it so I had to consume the whole thing. That didn’t help at all, I still couldn’t see and I really wanted to be sick. I just had to be taken home by Lisa and Lucas and then I went to bed and slept 17 hours. It was really scary but thankfully it went away.

So after that, I didn’t really feel like venturing down to Napoli all by myself. I sort of lost my travel confidence. Plus Lucas told me people get shot dead in cafes. So I just came back to Lyon early.

I loved Rome. I loved Italy! Its such a beautiful country with pretty cities and friendly people. Definitely have to go back soon.

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Sightseeing, Travel, Uncategorized Italy, Travel

Florence is a beautiful city. It is situated in the region of Tuscany, and has a lot of great Gelaterias. We were there on Easter weekend so it was really hectic, you couldn’t walk properly in the streets because there were so many people.

The highlight of our stay was seeing Michelangelo’s ‘David’ at the Galleria dell’Academia. I knew he was going to be amazing, but wow.. he was amazing! He is so breathtakingly beautiful, everyone in the room was completely mesmerized by him. It’s funny seeing all the tourists standing in front of him; heads back, mouths open, eyes ogling. He will literally put you into a trance. Nothing can replicate the magic that is his marble presence, I tried to sketch his face and it was like I had no artistic ability whatsoever. At one point, Jo turned to Lisa and I, and said “wouldn’t it be funny if you just looked over at someones notebook and all they were drawing was his penis”.

So then we all started looking at people’s notebooks.

And there was a young girl right next to us doing exactly that!!

Then, I think it was on the second or third day of our stay in Florence, I was walking down one of the main shopping streets and I heard some cheesy euro dance pop. I looked over to where it was coming from, and there was this seedy looking man leaning against the wall, with an oddly smug look on his face. His body language seemed strange to me, as generally the men on the side of the street are always selling something, but he didn’t seem too worried about losing customers. I looked down at his feet to where the music was coming from, and low and behold, there were two Pikachus jiggling in mid air to the music next to the stereo!!!

Of course I had to stop and watch for a while, It was actually magical! They were the cutest little guys I’ve ever seen. So I called my friends over, we all thought it rather hilarious. We approached the seedy man and his jiggling Pikachus to demand an explanation and obviously purchase some of the magic.

He said in broken English that they they levitate due to static electricity. He took out a new one, reached down and rubbed it against the stereo, saying “You see, static”. He placed it in mid air, inches off the ground, and what do you know, the little thing started to dance!

Off we went, extremely pleased with our fantastic purchases, already planning to send them back to Australia to show friends and family, all the while wondering why he wasn’t a millionaire if he’s discovered how to make cardboard cartoon characters fly.

Let me tell you why that man isn’t a millionaire

Later that night at Jo and Lisa’s hotel, I couldn’t contain myself; I wanted to see Pikachu dance again. So i ripped open the packet, sprung from the bed and proceeded to rub Pikachu all over the television set, just like the street seller had directed.

Well you can probably guess what happened next. After I thought he was static enough, I held him out in mid air and let go, fully expecting him to start dancing a jig to the music video on the television. My keen anticipation soon turned to dismay as I watched him float sadly to the ground. He wasn’t jiggling!

But don’t worry, we didn’t give up straight away. Jo and Lisa jumped off the bed, “No look Anna this is how you do it”, “No you have to rub it on the speakers so the sound waves get to it”, but alas - my little Pokemon refused to fly!

I grabbed the wrapper it came in and found the ‘manual’, reading it out loud I said:

“FASTEN AN END OF THE THREAD AT 20CM…”

…

“oh @#$%^&*, no wonder the little f*cker doesn’t dance”.

Yeah, so not once that whole time had it crossed our minds that; perhaps rubbing cardboard on an electronic communication device didn’t make it levitate, that perhaps not even static electricity can make paper cut outs of Pokemons jiggle spontaneously in mid air to European dance music, and perhaps the reason that man looked so smug; was because he probably fools dozens of silly girls like us every day.

The next night, Jo and I were having drinks in town and we saw a similar guy selling dancing Pikachus, but as we were getting ready to confront him, he got into a fight with a woman who ended up throwing his stereo across the street in a fit of rage. We watched it smash with pleasure, and cheered as she swiftly escaped on her bicycle. Man karma is sweet.

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Sightseeing, Travel, Uncategorized Italy, Travel

7th of May. Running late at the airport, as per usual, I bumped into Julia and her friend Kenny, who was visiting from New York. Thankfully we were on the same plane. Surprisingly, the flight felt like it only went for 20 minutes, the best part of which was being able to see the Alps from my window.

The Alps between France and Italy

Venice was a novelty from the moment we stepped off the plane. To get from the airport to the city we were required to take a boat. Almost 2 hours later, we finally arrived at our villa in the Dorsoduro district. Administrative details lost in translation allowed us to experience our first genuine rip off, though it was easy to put it behind us when the reality of being in one of the most magical cities in the world, finally sunk in.

Later, an unsuccessful late night alcohol hunt led us through dark and winding lane ways, each of which seemed to end in an eerily quiet canal or at the bank of a seemingly endless expanse of ocean. It became obvious that Venice was not going to be easily forgotten.

Grande Canal, Venice

buona sera, venezia!

Our days were spent wandering the endless alleys, swigging Italian wine from water bottles filled at wine shops, getting lost between buildings still standing from the 5th and 6th Centuries and retreating back to the villa for lazy lunchtimes on the terrace. We payed visits to San Marco Square and the Basilica di San Marco, of which the entire interior is covered in tiny golden tiles smaller than a 5 cent piece. We walked along Riva degliSchiavoni to the old Army Barracks, we wandered through Cannaregio to Ponte di Rialto, and spent 2 Euros throwing wishes into the Grand Canal, although I don’t think that is a conventional tourist past time and I’m not expecting them to come true. We weaved through crowds, hung out in Piazzas, declined boat rides from old Venetian men only interested in our youthful femininity, and saw Vivaldi’s four seasons performed in the Chiesa San Vidal.

It is interesting to imagine Venice in all its grandeur when the paint was fresh and Venetians dressed smart in gowns and garments fashioned in the affluence of their times. Now Venice is constantly occupied by tourists sporting fanny packs and cameras, and it is sinking. The townhouses are decrepit, and their lower floors seem to be rotting even as the inhabitants go about their daily business.

The city has an air of inescapable sadness, bridled for now by fickle materialism. Though I am grateful to have experienced this hauntingly beautiful city, Venice makes me sad for the inevitable demise of its existence.

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Sightseeing, Travel Europe, Italy, Travel