tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713132659943143471.post-29742142309145671402007-07-23T13:16:00.000-07:002007-09-21T13:21:16.076-07:00July 23rd<br />After leaving St. John of the Cross and the sister’s in France, I decided to make my way to Rome. Due to a random French holiday, this turned out to be a more difficult adventure than expected, which meant that I would be spending the night in Nice, France and going down the west coast of Italy the following day. On my way to Nice, I overheard two elderly couples on the train speaking English. This was quite a refreshing sound after spending a week amongst people who spoke at best broken English. These two couples from England were quite happy to converse with me for the remainder of the trip, which was a delightful blessing! On a side note, I have found that after being around people who speak English as a second, third, or even fourth language, for so long, I begin to talk, write, and even think differently. My vocabulary has gotten considerably smaller, and I have found that I have started speaking more slowly as well. That was one change I did not expect when I started this adventure! The following day, I took a train to Genova. Along the way, I passed some of the most beautiful beaches that I have ever seen. I was very excited to arrive, put on my suit, and spend the afternoon soaking up the rays. Unfortunately, when I finally made it to Genova, I spent the afternoon walking up and down the various ports looking for one of those breathtaking beaches I had seen over the past few hours on the train, to no avail. Alas, Genova is a port town! But I happened upon the lighthouse, which was an incredible sight, but I happened upon two writings that spoke profoundly to me: “The Lanterna is the Lighthouse. It grants light to the night of man. In the darkness of the shipwreck we have glimpsed the light of the lighthouse. Arching beam of light opening the night. The light is hope, renewed strength for the seafarer. The lighthouse questions the horizon for the persons remaining at home; it is the absence of the man. It is the relentless feeling of women standing under the sirocco wind. It is suspense and hope. Not said words inducing the return. The Lanterna is the lighthouse, a silent union of land and sea.” Exert from the book La Regina Disadorna “…A good port, like the one of Genova, can attract any thing, any person, any language, any culture of the world to be expanded or expelled. Anybody living close to a port is ready to be launched into the world. It is possible that, at a point, this person is in the opposite side of the planet…a life without a preset destiny the grand finale of life, mine, yours, or that of anybody else has not been written yet.” Through a random connection, I ended up spending the night with a wonderful middle aged couple. They made me an authentic Italian dinner, with incredible pesto sauce and locally produced cheese, and then decided to take me on a late night tour of the town. They took me to a cove where I could at least put my feet in the ocean. I was able to see the town and get the history of Genova, complete with where they both worked as well as where Andrea’s parents had been born. I was informed that Genova is the only city to have public elevators and lifts that function similar to the bus system, but are more efficient due to the very steep mountains upon which the city is build into. Genova is also probably the only city that has spent the last 20 years building it’s metro system and still only has 4 stops. Supposedly this is due to all the history that they discover in the process. It was a wonderful evening! In the morning, I left for Pisa. I met a family from the east coast and spoke with them as we walked to the leaning tower. I saw the tower, took some pics, and hopped back on the train to make my way to Rome. Rome was definitely breathtaking! It is so full of history and the buildings, ruins, churches, etc. were beyond compare. Although it really was incredible, I think I may have seen enough fancy buildings for a while and therefore was not as impressed as I had expected to be with everything. It was also quite unbearably hot and tourists were everywhere. I saw more Americans and heard more English than I did Italian, unfortunately. But, through a series of random events, I found myself at the beach, (finally!), just outside of Rome, with some authentic Italian families. I got to eat dinner with them and even go out for drinks afterwards. It was by far the highlight of my trip to Rome. After seeing the Vatican, I considered my time in Rome complete and hopped on an overnight train to Venice. I met a wonderful girl from Argentina on the train, and we spent the next couple of days touring Venice together. It was wonderful, because we arrived in Venice at 5:30am, after getting little to no sleep on the train, but were able to sit on a dock and watch the sun come up over the water. We spent the early hours of the morning wandering the streets, practically all alone. By mid-morning the dreaded tourists (as if I am not one of them!) were awake and crowding the streets and the heat was nearly impossible. So, we found our accommodations, a campground outside of the main island, and took a nap. I also made good use of the pool. We spent the evening on a boat, watching the sun go down, and ended up on an island where we got to eat dinner and watch the locals. Venice was incredibly expensive, especially the necessary transportation from place to place, so I ended up only spending two days and then leaving for Lake Como, Italy. In Como, I met up with some friends of a friend and spent my time with a group of international university students. It was tons of fun complete with late night walks along the lake, BBQs, hiking, and even a “Miss Summer” fashion show. Although I did not get to interact with many Italians during my time in Como, I met people from Morocco, Turkey, Poland, and Iran. It was quite the cultural experience! I loved Como, because there were not nearly as many tourists and life in general was much more laid back and relaxed. It was a wonderful way to conclude my time in Italy. From there, I packed my bags and headed back to Tubingen to meet up with a friend I had made during my time there several weeks ago, and we left the following day for Prague. In order to do justice to my time in Prague and England, I will have to leave you all in suspense for now.deep_wellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599454165866712911noreply@blogger.com