(then again my friends' blogs are more stagnant than mine). It's
mostly because it doesn't feel like anything noteworthy or interesting
is happening. Anyway, I shall cover what has happened in the last two
weeks since I left Earthworm/England.
I attempted to travel directly to Geneva in one day but due to
multiple train delays I was stuck in Paris for the night. I figured
I'd go to the same hostel as last time but being as I got there
slightly late (9pm), they were full. I rented a locker for the night
and dumped my bag, planning on strolling the city until I had to
return to the train station at 6am. I only made it to about 2am until
I was too tired/bored and headed back to the hostel hoping to hang out
in the dining room for a few hours. They did me one better and let me
crash out on the bench in the lobby, so I got a few hours sleep.
I arrived in Geneva later that day with no more hassles and headed
over to Clos Voltaire which is a student house that accepts coach
surfers. I was lucky enough to hook up with them through a friend of
Cath's. Unfortunately, I missed a killer party that night as the lack
of sleep caught up with me. I knew it was through a combination of
hearing the Russians talking outside my door at 4am and seeing people
still milling about at 9am when I got up.
I decided to check out the UN while I was in town but two buildings
devoted to international burocracy is hardly intestring. In
retrospect I don't really know what I was expecting.
From Geneva I headed to Rabten Choeling which is Buddhist monastery/
Tibetan learning centre situated on Mont Pelerin overlooking Lake
Geneva. It was absolutely beautiful there. Basically all I did for
that week was read books on Buddhism and hike around. A very chill
and enjoyable week. The leaves started turning while I was there and
it snowed in the mountains across the lake which just added to the
beauty.
I've just finished two days in Bern which is almost eerily clean and
pristine (all of the buildings look like they were just painted the
day before I arrived and there's not a speck of dirt on them. I guess
that cleanliness, not to mention technology (museum doors are sensored
to open as you approach) comes at a price; namely admission to all
galleries and museums was always over ten francs (too steep for me).
I'd say the highlight of Bern was going to see The Dark Knight
(despite the"reduced" admission of 12 francs); soooo good. I was
ready to run around and beat up Bern's criminals when I got out of the
theater but I couldn't find any, so I just went back to the hostel.
I crossed over into Italy mid-week and now after spending two days
each in Torino and Roma, I'm heading back north up to Genova. Torino
is a suprisingly large city (especially after being in Bern), so
there was a lot of walking. But I got to go to their museum of
cinema which was pretty wicked (regular museums get tedious pretty
quickly, so it was nice to be at one which was different). If you
ever end up in Torino/Italy, I highly recommend going there, at the
least just to see the exquisite building.
Halfway along the train ride down the coast from Torino to Rome I
peered past the sand and watched the sea for a bit. As I was doing so,
I noticed two objects bobbing in the water. I quickly realized these
objects were human heads and a couple hundred meters later I saw other
people in bathing suits, in and out of water, and I realized the
significance of this: it's hot enough to swim! Ah, southern Europe,
I'm happy to make your acquaintance.
I have had two beautiful days in Roma, enjoyed good company and went
out each night. In that lies the problem; I got unnecessarily trashed
on the Friday night and while dancing like an idiot at the bar, my
glasses flew off my face not once but twice. The second time we were
unable to find them, so I have to buy a new pair of glasses now. I
have pair of contacts (dailies) which I'll wear until I'm able to a
glasses store in Genova (most stores are closed on Sundays in Europe,
especially Roma).
It seems like the tourists outnumber the natives which gets a bit
taxing but the sights are quite beautiful, so I grinned and beared it
(now, if I lived there, I'd probably shoot somebody: me or them).
I'm wrote this on a train and emailing it from front of a cafe. I
don't think I'll have a chance to upload photos for a week or two, so
they'll have to wait.
Peace,
Kasza
Sent from my iPod
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