Ah Rome, at last, but just literally

11/3/2009

Today I woke up very early so that I could catch a morning train from Cinque Terra to Rome. I wanted to get all settled in Rome and ready for my interview. I made all of my connections, the bus to the train station, the train from Corniglia to La Spezia, and then finally the train from La Spezia to Rome. I had to pay another 10 stinking euros for my seat reservation for my train ride from La Spezia to Rome. When I first got on the train and saw, well more like smelled who I was supposed to sit next to, I had to do a 180 and find somewhere else to park. My seat reservation was next to a total stinkbug. I sat a couple of rows behind him and luckily no one asked me to move or bothered me.

Of course the one day I am actually in Cinque Terra, ready to do the walk through the towns, it rains. This morning when I was leaving it was absolutely beautiful, gorgeous pink clouds in the sky and temperate weather. At least I got to see some of the beauty in my arrival and departure.

Trains are a funny way of transportation. They absolutely do not wait for anybody. While I was waiting on the platform for my train to Rome, I watched another train board and depart. A family of about 7 Mexicans was trying to get on the train with about 18 suitcases. All of them had not made it up to the platform yet and they were running up and down the stairs attempting to lug all of their suitcases onto the train. They successfully got the train to hold on for a couple of minutes, but they were still two slow and four of them and about 8 pieces of luggage were left behind at the train station, while the rest of their party and luggage went on with the train. When this happened they looked dumbfounded and mildly offended. It was quite a spectacle to see. I have also noticed that on the train people tend to stare a lot. Almost to the rude point and they normally do not care if you stare back at them. It surprisingly doesn’t bother me.

It was raining as the train pulled into Rome, but as soon as I walked outside of the train stations, blue skies came out. My hostel was a short walking distance from the train station, which was a very pleasant change from my first trip to Rome. This particular hostel is extremely cheap and seems like a very legitimate place. It has free wifi, but only discounted breakfast at the bar next store, which I was actually ok with because they have eggs on the menu. I feel like I have not had eggs in ages. They put me in a dorm with five other guys. It should be interesting. Thank god for my ipod. The bar next door, which is associated with the hostel gave me some free jelly and honey for some bread that I had been saving. For the past to days I have seriously been scrapping for my breakfast and lunch meals. In general, I got a very good vibe from this hostel. It will be absolutely fine for my last two nights as a true backpacker.

One thing I have noticed as I have come into contact with Australians is that they say “Cheers” as another way of saying “you’re welcome”. I dig that. I was walking around by the train station, scoping out possible Internet cafes that had phones where I could do my interview, and I came across a money exchange place that advertised no commission. I had been carrying around 15 New Zealand dollars that Rexanne gave me to use up at a place just like this while I was over here, I just had never come across one. I traded my monies in for five euro and some change and was extremely pleased with myself. I had some time to kill before my interview, so I sat outside a church and looked over my notes and read.


It finally got close to the time I was supposed to call into a number for a free conference call for my interview so I got all set up in one of the booths at an internet café and waited. As I was waiting two women almost engaged in a full-fledged fistfight. Apparently one of the women was talking too loud on Skype and the other woman got annoyed. It was intense and just my luck that it would happen right as I am about to start an important phone call. Finally 3 o’clock came, the time I was supposed to call in, and I could not get the phone to work. I brought the lady who ran the internet café over and she couldn’t get the phone to work. She said it was my number, but I know that is not right because it was the same number I used when I called in to talk to Ted. So I ran down to the next internet café down the street. The same thing happened. It must be the way the internet café’s phones are set up. So I called the guy I was supposed to be interviewing with on my cell phone and let him a message telling him what was happening and that he cold call me back anytime today on my cell phone to do the interview, and that I was immensely sorry for the technical difficulties and my inconvenience.

As I was walking back to my hostel, my cell phone rings and it is the interviewer. He immediately starts talking to, so I quickly sat down at some tables at a sidewalk café and started the interview. I was pretty frazzled and didn’t have my notes in order, but I think the interview went ok. It could have gone better, but it definitely did not go badly. Well see what happens. It was my first interview and it would not be the worst thing in the world if I just ended up chalking it up to a learning experience. The interview kind of plopped itself down in my lap and if the verdict turns out bad from it, then it just wasn’t in the cards for things to work out considering the outrageous sequence of events that happened before the interview.

I ate dinner at a restaurant that was recommended in the book “Let’s go to Europe”. It was locate only two blocks from my hostel, and seemed like a perfect place for me to spend my evening. The restaurant was just what I was looking for. I ordered tomatoes and mozzarella cheese plate that was drizzled with EVOO and sprinkled with salt, and then an eggplant parmesan (which Uncle Buddy, knocked the socks off Rosalita’s and Franco’s. It was so simple, grilled eggplant, a great tomato sauce and lots of Parmesan cheese. I had some wine to accompany my dinner and read my book. It was very pleasant. The best thing about this dinner was that everything was so cheap, especially considering the large portions I received. I have not run into a place with prices and flavors like that since I have been over here. One thing that I am continually amazed about is how many Italians can speak moderate English. There are so few Americans that can moderately speak any other foreign language.

Tomorrow is my last day of traveling solo. I plan to sleep in, which really means not setting an alarm. In the morning I am going to see a Grace Kelly exhibit, eat lunch at a pizzarria that “Let’s go” also recommended, spend the afternoon walking around Rome just taking in the city, and spend the evening eating at another one of “Let’s Go’s” recommendations (my last day on my own, might as well do it up), and do some laundry. I know, it all sounds very exciting, but at this point in my trip, it is a perfect pace for me to be moving at.