Italy and people

Firstly, why does the Adversities quote speak to me so much? What adversities? I keep forgetting that they don't actually exist. Because I'm in freaking Europe and it's my dream come true. No uni assessments or work or people to stress about!

Italy and my (limited) experience with people

N.B. not necessary to read unless your name is Rochelle. Floater post. I kind of want to remember these little details from my travels and had to put them somewhere. Plus writing has become my best friend at night and is so much fun.

The hotel keeper in Rome was cool because he had a tiny Italian kid called Gigi whom he named the place after. They reminded me so much of Guido and his son from Life is Beautiful. Every time he opened his mouth I half-expected him to be like "Buon giorno principessa!"

The man at the pizzeria, Andreas was the best. We went to his restaurant three nights in a row in Venice and he was awesome because he was so energetic: singing whilst cooking, asking about our day as we ate, even though we couldn't understand him half the time. On the last day he gave me his address from the brochure so I could send him a carta from Sydney when I'm back haha. Will definitely do so because he bribed me with complimentary cupcakes….

An old lady paid for my bus fare in Bologna because I didn't have shrapnel and the machine only accepted that. Bless her soul. Also, driving is pretty terrible in Italy but it's nice when you're the one in the bus and you claim your right of way over panicky pedestrians for a change hah. Nah it's fun being the pedestrian too. It's such a thrill. I don't know why the drivers always beep at me, because really my jaywalking is actually a compliment to them - a testament to my faith in their driving abilities…

I have caught the wrong intercity trains 4/5 times. Half of those times were accidental and were spent lazily watching long yards of pretty sunflowers. The other half were spent nervously awaiting the guard to get angry at me in Italian or fine me, or someone to kick me off my seat. All of which happened.

Some people yell. One lady actually shouted at me for trying on a leather strap as a bracelet but not buying it. Others are downright greedy. Like the guy who told me the cool hippie thread bracelets he was putting on my wrist were his gifts to me from Africa, and then expected money out of it. That's cool, I thought. Always wanted some of them and I'm cool with donating a bit of charity money because God loves you. 1 euro should do. Wait, I only have a 2 euro coin, so could you please kindly give me 1 euro change? Sure, he says. Here's 1 euro, he says. Instead gives me 50c so I said something a bit nasty, the liar. Another time, I'm alone waiting at the train station so a guy comes up and helps me. Me, scared as crap: umm no gracias (yes, I'm aware that's in Spanish). Doesn't work of course, so I let him. Later… Aw that was nice of you (even though I know you just want my money). Here have 2 euros. Run along and buy yourself a nice gelato. But no, he wants 5 euros? Hah. I ran away like a true villain, but really slowly because my backpacks were on me. 

Bologna was really cool because it was random and really typically old Italian I think, and not as touristy. And orange everywhere. There were these two adjacent obelisks next to each other and one of them was sort of leaning, super cool. Venice is one of the most amazing places I've ever been to, and not over-rated at all. The cathedrals and streetscapes were equally stunning. Funky shops. The windows and awnings were charming and admirable from below, even whilst ditching the dust and pilling that the old lady a couple of floors above was aiming at you. Map not required because it's inevitable that you'll get lost anyway. But who cares, you'll forget all your annoyances when you see the next canal bridge yonder. Just follow and be cool with it. I even met a friend I didn't know would be there. Appreciate the coincidences and soak it all in. The other tourists, the signs, the pretty alleyway. My kind of thing.

Bologna and Venezia