So for our last night in Rome we were determined to find some nightlife...and find it we did. :)
We had seen advertisements for Pub Crawls where they show you around to all the fun places and you get a bunch of free stuff...but when we showed up we were the only ones there, so they cancelled. We ended up going out to dinner with a kid from our hostel (I had some mind-blowing gnochi). Then we took a bus over to an area we had heard had some nightlife (Campo De Fiori). Well, some nightlife was a bit of an understatement. The streets were full of people wandering from bar to bar and because liquor laws are very lax in Europe people could buy a drink and then come outside and hang out in the square while they drank it. So we wandered around and somehow met up with a group of Italians who were nice and showed us the "good" places to go. Long story short...we made it back to the hostel just before sunrise. Oops. :)
The next day was one I like to call "Ridiculous Amounts of Time on a Train Day." But before that could begin we had to get a taste of the bad side of Italy (specifically Roman men). This story occurs as we were waiting in line to validate our eurail pass. After maybe 20 minutes in line we were about 3 groups away from our turn at the window. Suddenly I realized that there was a new, extra guy in front of us in line. Maybe he was with someone who had been there all along, right? Oh no. Next thing we knew 5 of his buddies all loud, egotistical and annoying were in line too. This is a very Italian thing...if you can get around the system and just walk up to the front of the line instead of waiting for 20 minutes...why would you do anything else? The crazy part to us was that no one else seemed bothered by it...We, however, were done with Rome. It had been great but were were tired of being sweaty and tired and handled by the Italians...and this incident was sort of the icing on the cake.
Just over 4 hours from Rome to Milan in an absolutely packed train...there were people standing in the aisles for the whole trip, yuck! (As divine retrtibution the jerks from line were among those without seats...) And then another train about that long from Milan to Zurich, Switzerland. By the end of the trip we were a bit loopy... you know how you get to that point where EVERYTHING is funny...but it really isn't and you're probably bugging everyone else on the whole train with your out of control giggling? Yea...we were FAR beyond that point.
We reached Zurich and were met at the station by Jen. Jen and her boyfriend, Roman, had spent a week at the Yoga Borgo earlier in the summer and she offered to put us up for a few days. My first impression as we took the tram from the train station to her house was that Zurich was much calmer and cleaner than Rome. (An impression that would be reconfirmed throughout our time in Zurich)
Our first morning in Zurich we were up early and doing laundry. Then we headed out to a yoga class. It was a vinyasa class and was really rather expensive...but it was so nice to stretch and work our bodies in that way. We spent most of the rest of the day wandering around the 'old' part of Zurich. It was beautiful, cool weather and we just fell in love with Zurich. It was the perfect respite after Rome, everything was beautiful but in a much simpler way than in Rome and the people seemed very down to earth and soft compared to some of our experiences in Rome. (I must add that, in general, in my interactions with Italians, including Romans, they have been amazingly helpful, warm and kind hearted).
Then it was back to Jen and Romans to a wonderfully home cooked meal of Leek and Lemon Risotto. And early to bed because we had a big day the next day...which you'll hear all about next time. :)
Still to come: day trip to Lucerne, travel day to France, the French countryside, oops! we're in Paris and Brugge/Antwerp Belgium. I keep falling furhter anf further behind... but never fear you'll get the whole story eventually, just stay tuned. :)
Oh yea! We've decided to give each city one describing word (for more on this read Eat,Pray, Love...a fanastic book that you should read anyway.) So far:
Rome: Bold
Zurich: Practical
Hope you are all doing well,
Love and Blessings,
KNL
No comments:
Post a Comment