Roman Holiday

All photos by me.

Retrospective #5: Instantpix

Corniglia, August 2010: "Look Sarah, this place comes with a tortoise!". Romeo, our apartment's pet tortoise/ Lauren's summer love.

Somewhere between Pisa and La Spezia, August 2010: Italian countryside and The Alps (?)

Pisa, August 2010 : Came, saw, took photo.

Top 10 list w/c September 6th 2010

What's Hot

1. Dry September - 3 weeks of sobriety. You read correctly the first time. Not a drop to drink from 6th September until 24th September.

2. Commitment - Mattress Shopping on Saturday. Big bucks spent means more long term comfort for moi. Previous hesitation to spend up on household items went out the window since I slept for the first time in comfort on a FUTON in Hamburg in a little while. It's just not right.

3. Vegetables - I had delicious homemade carrot and sesame seed soup tonight, with a rice, carrot, beetroot and apple salad, a la Laura. Bellissimo!

4. Reading - It's the quiet life for me, for a little while. And that's A-OK with me.

5. Hamburg - This city has got it going on. What's not to love? Cosmopolitan, with a bit of a gritty edge, it's where media and shipping moguls wheel and deal, and it's flat. Also the city where I found an original Russian produced 1994 Lomo LC-A camera (discontinued, limited edition!!) at a Flea Market for 5 EU in prima working condition. A restored one made in PRC costs 200 EU online!! OMFG!! Lomographer's HOLY GRAIL! Check out more here.

6. Reunions with old friends and making new ones - Italy and Germany was good for seeing them and meeting new folks.

7. Nice guys - Love it when friends find a good one.

8. Having nice colleagues - Surprise Tim Tams from one that came back from Australia, cheery and helpful colleagues, and lovely colleagues you don't often work with that notice you were out of the office for a while.

9. Random 16 piece brass bands killing time in German Railway stations.

10. Scandinavian clothing labels

What's Not

1. Trains - No more travel by rail. For a long, long, long time.

2. Restlessness - Need to find a cure from within.

3. Faux-mance over Romance - Not playing anymore.

4. Carbohydrates - Overloaded in Italy and Germany.

5. Rain - It returns tomorrow for a week and may stay for a while. Like 8 months.

6. Aching - It hurts. Everywhere.

7. Overthinking mortality - Good time or a long time?

8. Indecision - It plagues me.

9. Facebook politics - U.G.H.... I just DON'T want to fret for another nanosecond about this.

10. Wanting a holiday after your holiday, and realising your next holiday is going to be just as frantic.

The lowdown on Italy aka A recap on defying death

Apart from almost dying in Cinque Terre, Italy is underwhelming me.

Yes, UNDERwhelming me.

I don't really know what else to ask for; brilliant weather, 3 days of sea views in the cutest little apartment in Corniglia, local tips on where to eat creating some of the most lipsmacking memories I'll ever have, and a double cone of gelati every day, sublime friends to share these experiences with, and now, my own studio apartment in Florence for the night (at a bargain basement price) before I head to Hamburg.

How could this be? What's wrong with me?

Could it have something to do with the fact that the second day I started my holiday, I caught a cold? Or that I almost drowned in Manarola on Sunday?

After hiking from Corniglia to Manarola, then to Riomaggiore, then back to Manarola, Tim, Lauren, Sarah and I peered from over the edge of the cliff face into the little boat harbour/rock pool swimming area.

"It's a bit of a washing machine out there?" Sarah mused as we watched waves crash in and out from every direction.

"I don't think I'm strong enough to swim in that, but I'll sit by the edge with someone." I said.

We headed down the ramp.

10 minutes later, I'm bikini-clad by the edge, and I sit on a wet part of the boat ramp, 30 cms infront of Lauren. Sarah comes to join me. I squeal as some waves crash onto us, and chat with Sarah as some don't even make it near us.

Next thing I know, a wave comes in and I am laughing, and then the next nanosecond, I am being D-R-A-G-G-E-D out to some rocks by the force of the tide going out. Apparently everyone at the dock and on the rocks stood up and gasped and pointed at me.
I got pulled under. I tried to swim back to Lauren and Sarah, meanwhile they are screaming out to me to swim back out. Waves are crashing. My head gets pulled under. And it bobs back up. And goes under again. I have no idea how, but I somehow manage to make it out to a safe patch and a guy is swimming towards me, motioning for me to follow him, so I do.

I climb out of the water via the ladder, and sit on the rocks for a minute, trying to process what just happened. Little children are staring at me. In fact, everyone is staring at me. I'm shaking, but laughing at the same time. This lasts for about an hour. Then we make our way back home to Corniglia and I fall asleep pretty much straight after dinner.

My wrist hurts. And I have cuts on my feet and my hips. But my head and bones are still in tact.

Something out there is looking out for me.

Or, I've found my purpose in life - to serve as a constant warning to others.

A little bit of history repeating

Some people have a criminal history. Others have a medical history. I have a history of missing planes.

I woke up this morning to torrential drizzle, and grey skies. Half my mattress was wet because my window was open overnight. My tennis bag was still empty as i spent last night lamenting over a couple of personal matters that were troubling me.

I had some chit chat with Lawrence, my flat mate, and he watched me packing with disbelief on his face, as I had about 2 hours to go before my flight. ' I always do this', I reassured him.

I caught the tram in the rain to the nearest rail station and panicked as i realised i had just missed a train and the next one was not going to get me to the airport in time. It was eleven thirty. My flight was going to start boarding in half an hour. I lugged my tennis bag around looking for a taxi stand, and just as I saw it, I saw the only passenger get in the only taxi.

"Are you going to schipol?" - it came out as more of a plead than a question.
She shook her head. 'I have a flight to catch in twenty minutes,' I told the driver as he helped the lady into the car.

"Can you please call me another cab?" he looked at me, then looked at her and started talking in dutch. She agreed on something and he put my bag in the car.
"There are no cabs around today", he said, gesturing for me to get in quickly. I turned to the lady in the back seat gratefully. "i'm going to a funeral" she said. "oh. I'm sorry." I replied. When it was time for her to get out, I told her I would pay for the cab. She was grateful in return.

Against the odds of facing a traffic jam, check in being closed when I arrived, a forty minute line at security, I was, eventually, the last person to board the flight to Pisa, and the flight left on time.

It's now twenty eight degrees, and cloudless in Pisa.

Automatic reply

I am currently out of the office. Kindly give your outrageous, irritating and dispicable requests to some other sucker for the next two weeks.