Stuck. I won’t go into the boring details of why but I was
supposed to be back in Uganda already and instead have spent hours in hell
arguing with Priceline (NEVER USE THESE PEOPLE) in Rome (and don’t joke with
this “when in Rome” with me right now!). Now normally being in Rome might be
interesting as it’s a world famous city but I unfortunately just lost my job
(which I also will not going into here) and the timing is not great. I suppose
it’s better than being stuck in the poorly timed city of Cairo, which is where
I was supposed to be stuck, if I had stayed with the original horrible change
of flight plan.
I never meant for this blog to be a pure travel blog
although it seems it has sort of turned into that (Travel blogs are the worse,
so annoying and assumingly self-important!) and now it’s too late to turn back.
Before Rome I was on vacation with Maya in Portugal which was amazing. It’s a
beautiful country with great Mediterranean beaches, mountains, city night life
in Lisbon and Porto, and a good amount of culture. Canyoning might be the thing
I need to get into after trying it there (amazing). We toured the whole country
almost in one week, although didn’t see anything obviously with too much depth.
Unlike Rome, people are friendlier to foreigners and don’t mind that you don’t
speak their language. Plus it’s cheap compared to the rest of Europe.
Rome, in contrast, is incredibly expensive. Today I bought a
milk shake that was 7 euros ($9.50). But it makes sense, like Paris, it’s a top
global travel destination. Literally people are here from everywhere and it’s
crazy how many languages are being spoken all around you constantly. Additionally,
roses are sold all around you constantly (although it’s only the guys who buy
for their ladies and sadly I’ve been alone when I’ve been in both Rome and
Paris).
“It was some castle, or was it a palace?”
A guy at a hostel told me this when describing an amazing
site he say today. Also like Paris, you can’t walk in Rome without tripping
over a statue or monument almost every block. I’ve lost track of the fountains,
monuments, statues, castles, palaces, forts, walls, churches, and other famous and
ancient things I’m supposed to be in awe of but none of which I know anything
about. Most Americans who visit Europe remark how old everything is but Rome
takes that to a new level. Certain attractions have blown my mind with their
immense scale. So much of the city draws people interested in Ancient Rome (or
the Vatican) and its crazy how integrated that side of things is with modern
Rome. The coliseum, over 2000 years old, is also a subway stop that hundreds of
thousands of the 3.5 million + citizens pass every day, probably with very
little notice.
In Portugal we went to Sintra, just outside of Lisbon, which
is sort of like a Disneyworld of attractions and museums, much like Balboa park
in San Diego. They put it all in one place and it’s overwhelming. Similar to
how I’m feeling with Rome, Sintra or this sort of thing is sensory overload. It’s
too much information, and lot of the information you do get is about things and
people you probably don’t care that much about or maybe have never heard
of. Palaces and churches can be nice, or
we think they can be nice, but actually we think that because that’s what we
are supposed to think and we can check it off some list of things to see. But
it all sounds better in theory than practice actually.
All of this is to say that travel is exhausting and as I
embark on a potential few months of unemployed travel I’ll need to get a
strategy to make sure it stays fun and meaningful. Any tips?
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