Well Rome was great, I will admit that it really didn't wasn't to go at first, as most Italians I have met were...well...slightly undesirable ( ok, bastards of both sexes) . Then I turned it around, and thought of Italians coming to Australia. We can be total bastards as well, I have met some here who make we want to say "Sorry, I meant I'm Austrian".
Observations and musings.
Positives :-
1 euro for a 75 minute Subway/bus/tram ride.
( I can't see this taking off in the UK, and half the time I didn't pay anyway)
Rome is cleaner than London.
People are thinner and better dressed
Clothes are mostly made in Italy and cheaper and better quality, than the Made in China
stuff we get in the UK
It's warmer
Apartments all have balconies
More Police
Lots of Roman Stuff
Pizza places everywhere.
Minus :-
High density living
More beggars -
More street crime ( But I didn't encounter any )
Street hawkers
Traffic Jams
The last few days in Rome where great, we didn't get to go to Pompeii, so we went to Ostia, the old port town.
It's really what I have wanted to see for a long time, it's the complete layout of a Roman town, and it mostly excavated. The mosaics are still in place, and you can still walk on them ( I didn't really want to )
New Years started with the people upstairs having a party, and then throwing up in to the courtyard. Charming. Rockets and fireworks started as soon as it was dark, and kept going until 2am.
Spent the last day walking around and looking at the bridges and some of the temples we missed before, buying a few more clothes, material, and souvenirs.
I still remember my first sight of St Stephens Tower ( Big Ben ) from across the Thames, The first time I saw Stonehenge, and now I have to add the first time I saw The Colosseum
"All bastards are bastards, but some bastards is bastards."-- (Terry Pratchett, The Last Continent)
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
02 January 2007
29 December 2006
The Shockwave Travel Writer Part 5
I don't remember how many days it's been now, I can just see the end of my time in Rome coming to a close in a few days. The Lemonchello in the evenings does sort of make my memory of the number of days disappear.
So I have actually been in the Colesseo now, and walked all around Old Rome, and the Palatine.
Surprisingly in one shop they were selling Italian made XXXX beer from home.
Walked around the Castle, and it was full of frescos.
I installed SL on the PC in the apartment here, the CPU is a 2500 but the video card is 512M. It has less lag than the 300064 and the 128m video card. Of course it might be the network it's on as well.
vincit qui se vincit (S/he conquers who conquers her/himself.) - Roman Proverb
So I have actually been in the Colesseo now, and walked all around Old Rome, and the Palatine.
Surprisingly in one shop they were selling Italian made XXXX beer from home.
Walked around the Castle, and it was full of frescos.
I installed SL on the PC in the apartment here, the CPU is a 2500 but the video card is 512M. It has less lag than the 300064 and the 128m video card. Of course it might be the network it's on as well.
vincit qui se vincit (S/he conquers who conquers her/himself.) - Roman Proverb
26 December 2006
The Shockwave Travel Writer Part 4
Xmas eve
Saw Trevi fountain, (and others ) the Presidents Palace, went to the Portaportese Flea Market and found that the trendy boots were anywhere from 10 Euro to 20 euro, that's about 5 UK Pounds!
Walked though a main shopping area, and compared prices. It's almost worth getting on Easyjet and flying here and back to the UK, when I have a few hundred pound to spend on clothes.
Xmas Day
The the stroke of midnight on Xmas eve all the church bells in town were ringing.
Opened Presents.
That day I went for a long walk to the Tiber River, and crossed at Tiber island and then back again a bit downstream.
I went past a few old temples, and you can see marble rubble just lying in courtyards of buildings, and churches that have Roman columns built in to the walls.
Travel on train/bus is really cheap, 1 Euro for 75 minutes, thats if you put your ticket in the machine. The last two days, the busses have been so full we have not been able to put the tickes inthe machines to validate them.
Boxing day
We took the Archeobus to see the Appian Way, San Callisto Catacombs , There are about 1 km of aqueducts just outside Rome.
Police forces
There are about 6 police forces in italy, andthey are mostly armed
1)Polizia di Stato (Civil Police)
2)Carabinieri (Military Police)
3)Guardia di finanza (Financial or Tax Police)
4)Corpo Forestale dello Stato ( Foresters)
5)Polizia Municipale ( Municipal Police mostly for Traffic)
6)Polizia Penitenziaria ( Jail officers )
There are armed guards on the subway, and at some stations.
Street Traders
There are a LOT of guys, selling Sun Glasses, Tripods, Wooden Trains in the shape of letters, scarves, etc.
I think they are mostly Bangladeshis.
The Natural enemyof the Street Trader is Number 3 above.
As in Rome there is, apart from the Romans, a population of statues, so apart from this real world there is a world of illusion, almost more potent, in which most men live. - Goethe
As in Rome there is, apart from the Romans, a population of statues, so apart from this real world there is a world of illusion, almost more potent, in which most men live. - Goethe
23 December 2006
The Shockwave Travel Writer Part 3
Rome. Day one
Train from Milan was four hours.
We arrived in the afternoon, it took ages to find our apartment, but it was not yet dark, so as the coliseum was so close, we decided to have a quick look. It's one of those things I have always wanted to see, it was just like seeing Stonehenge for the first time.
Day Two
We took a few buses around the city, and arrived at the Vatican. St Peters is much bigger than I had imagined and much more ornate. I had to do the tourist thing and send a postcard from the Vatican Post office. In general Italy is much cheaper than the UK, Food and drink is almost half the price as the UK.
Dealing with crossing the road against the endless traffic is easy, if a little nerve racking, just walk, and the cars will stop.
They like to get as close as they can before they stop, but they will stop. Don't run, or hurry, then they will know that your a tourist. I think I have blended in, but my features show that I'm not a local.
Day Three.
Highlights of today, back to the market, walked around Old Rome,Trajan's Column, went to the Spanish Steps, and shopping, birthday for a friend.
"Methinks I will not die quite happy without having seen something of that Rome of which I have read so much -Sir Walter Scott
Train from Milan was four hours.
We arrived in the afternoon, it took ages to find our apartment, but it was not yet dark, so as the coliseum was so close, we decided to have a quick look. It's one of those things I have always wanted to see, it was just like seeing Stonehenge for the first time.
Day Two
We took a few buses around the city, and arrived at the Vatican. St Peters is much bigger than I had imagined and much more ornate. I had to do the tourist thing and send a postcard from the Vatican Post office. In general Italy is much cheaper than the UK, Food and drink is almost half the price as the UK.
Dealing with crossing the road against the endless traffic is easy, if a little nerve racking, just walk, and the cars will stop.
They like to get as close as they can before they stop, but they will stop. Don't run, or hurry, then they will know that your a tourist. I think I have blended in, but my features show that I'm not a local.
Day Three.
Highlights of today, back to the market, walked around Old Rome,Trajan's Column, went to the Spanish Steps, and shopping, birthday for a friend.
"Methinks I will not die quite happy without having seen something of that Rome of which I have read so much -Sir Walter Scott
22 December 2006
The Shockwave Travel writer Part 2
Milan,
Took the train from Geneva.
Two main sights of Milan is the cathedral, and the castle. The Cathedral is huge, and is a survivor of WW2, most of the rest of the town was flattened. You can also go up and walk around the roof, there aren't any warning signs that would be plastered everywhere in the UK.
The castle is brick built and contains the city museums.
The woman are well dressed in skinny jeans and boots, a fashion I adore. The men have not got the skinhead look that is so popular in the UK.
Lots more men with long hair, and there are more people wearing hats.
The shopping is excellent.
People in Europe seem to be thinner. I didn't see any fat people walking the street.
Aha!! I have just realized the cause of obesity!
It's speaking English!
Looks like another boost for Esperanto.
The main train station would look perfect in Gondor due to all the statues, and fountains. I suspect it's one of Mussolini's gifts to architecture.
Everyone loves justice in the affairs of another. - Italian Proverb
Took the train from Geneva.
Two main sights of Milan is the cathedral, and the castle. The Cathedral is huge, and is a survivor of WW2, most of the rest of the town was flattened. You can also go up and walk around the roof, there aren't any warning signs that would be plastered everywhere in the UK.
The castle is brick built and contains the city museums.
The woman are well dressed in skinny jeans and boots, a fashion I adore. The men have not got the skinhead look that is so popular in the UK.
Lots more men with long hair, and there are more people wearing hats.
The shopping is excellent.
People in Europe seem to be thinner. I didn't see any fat people walking the street.
Aha!! I have just realized the cause of obesity!
It's speaking English!
Looks like another boost for Esperanto.
The main train station would look perfect in Gondor due to all the statues, and fountains. I suspect it's one of Mussolini's gifts to architecture.
Everyone loves justice in the affairs of another. - Italian Proverb
20 December 2006
Where's Shockwave?
The Shockwave Travel Writer
Geneva
Well for those that ever want to go to Geneva, dont go on a Sunday, the whole city closes down. Only the corner shops and the ppl who run the roasted nut stands were open.
But I was able to go underneath the Cathedral to see the extensive work, done by the archeologists. It's a great display, but not really one I would do a 3 hr flight to see.
The Swiss franc notes are very colourful and they start from 10F, from 5F and below are coins, all the way to .5F. Thats equal to half an australian cent. Oddly the city is full of banks, no kidding, banks, banks swiss army knifes, watches ,swiss army knifes and clothes. Not just ordinary clothes, but the stuff Princess Di would wear ( if she still alive ). And Fur! Lots of fur.
Needless to say everything was expensive, even the golden arches was expensive.
The hotel was right in the middle of the red light district, so the working girls would gather at the rear of the hotel. One was wearing a short black leather skirt, with a black leather halter neck top and black thigh boots, I thought that looked really sexy, and strangley so familiar...oh yeah....*cough cough*
So rather than go to Geneva, unless you have a thing for bankers, do something exciting, defrag your harddrive!
I would post some pictures, but the Camera came up with the error message "Insufficent Input", and shutdown.
Switzerland is simply a large, lumpy, solid rock with a thin skin of grass stretched over it.
- Mark Twain
Geneva
Well for those that ever want to go to Geneva, dont go on a Sunday, the whole city closes down. Only the corner shops and the ppl who run the roasted nut stands were open.
But I was able to go underneath the Cathedral to see the extensive work, done by the archeologists. It's a great display, but not really one I would do a 3 hr flight to see.
The Swiss franc notes are very colourful and they start from 10F, from 5F and below are coins, all the way to .5F. Thats equal to half an australian cent. Oddly the city is full of banks, no kidding, banks, banks swiss army knifes, watches ,swiss army knifes and clothes. Not just ordinary clothes, but the stuff Princess Di would wear ( if she still alive ). And Fur! Lots of fur.
Needless to say everything was expensive, even the golden arches was expensive.
The hotel was right in the middle of the red light district, so the working girls would gather at the rear of the hotel. One was wearing a short black leather skirt, with a black leather halter neck top and black thigh boots, I thought that looked really sexy, and strangley so familiar...oh yeah....*cough cough*
So rather than go to Geneva, unless you have a thing for bankers, do something exciting, defrag your harddrive!
I would post some pictures, but the Camera came up with the error message "Insufficent Input", and shutdown.
Switzerland is simply a large, lumpy, solid rock with a thin skin of grass stretched over it.
- Mark Twain
08 October 2006
Green Card Time
Well it's time for the DV-2008 http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/ , where those who want a USA Green Card, can go and try their luck.
I've been entering for the last 6 years, but I have calculated the odds are over 1000 to 1 of winning a Green Card.
They get about 10 Million entries, over half are invalid for some reason or another. But they also put aside a certain number for various regions. I'm in the Pacific region, so I think my chances are just a bit higher than Europeans.
The new USA passport looks really nice, although that RFID chip is just asking for trouble IMHO.
http://travel.state.gov/passport/eppt/epptnew_2807.html
I've not spent much time inworld the last few days, I have an exam next thursday.
“Any American who is prepared to run for president should automatically, by definition, be disqualified from ever doing so.”
Gore Vidal
I've been entering for the last 6 years, but I have calculated the odds are over 1000 to 1 of winning a Green Card.
They get about 10 Million entries, over half are invalid for some reason or another. But they also put aside a certain number for various regions. I'm in the Pacific region, so I think my chances are just a bit higher than Europeans.
The new USA passport looks really nice, although that RFID chip is just asking for trouble IMHO.
http://travel.state.gov/passport/eppt/epptnew_2807.html
I've not spent much time inworld the last few days, I have an exam next thursday.
“Any American who is prepared to run for president should automatically, by definition, be disqualified from ever doing so.”
Gore Vidal
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