Trevi Fountain Sunday

Today feels like it has been quite the day. To start off with, I was supposed to have a Skype date with Andy this morning, but he forgot about it. I'm none too pleased about that. No ones ever forgotten me before. I'm not really too sure whether to make a big deal out of it or just let it go. I nearly always let everything go, but I sure don't like being forgotten when I've taken time out of my day IN FREAKING ROME to talk to you. But anyway, on with Rome!
I moved accommodation today. I'm paying double what was for the other place (so, $60 a night rather than $30), butinow feel like I'm in the lap of luxury! I'm in an actual hotel withdrawn bathroom, and key cards, and maids that clean every day. The neighborhood is filled with restaurants and the central station is about 5 mins walk away. The other place was clean, but old. Everything used old keys, so to go to the shared bathroom during the night was a big deal. The neighbourhood was fine, but abit seedy and graffitied, not to mention far away. Plus, I was seriously in danger of actually falling through the floor in a couple of spots in my room. Haha, so I'm totally feeling that it's and extra $30 night worth it right now :)
Now, I know I was supposed go and have gnocchi for dinner last night, butt started raining and my knee was sore, so I just ate my bananas instead. Today, my knee is still a little sore, but it might be getting better. I put a bandage thingies on it, so hopefully that will help.
What else did I do today? I went to a restaurant and had ravioli for lunch. It was pretty boring, just a ricotta filling with a cream sauce, but the sauce had mushrooms and prosciutto in it, and the cured pork here is sooooooo good! For dinner, in about an hour, I'm going to try and getinto this little restaurant down thread whatnot some good reviews online. Not sure what I'll have yet.
Besides eating, I also want to the Trevi fountain this afternoon. It's one of the most famous fountains in the world, and was built in the early 1600s! It was pretty big - like the whole front of a building, and was really cool to see. It wasn't too crowded either, I got some really good views of it without too much trouble. I spent some time just looking at it and taking some photos. Then I went to find this gelato place that I'd read was really amazing. I had it on my map and everything, but I couldn't find it at all! I tried some gelato from a different shop, but it was a bit dicey and I think it was low quality, so I threw it away. Life's too snort for bad ice cream!
So, now I'm back in my room having a wee rest before going to find some dinner. I've had a lovely day today.

Spagna on Saturday

So, yesterday's post was supposed to have pictures with it, but for some reason they didn't upload. I'll work on this.
Today I managed to sleep until 6.30am, which is about my normal wakeup time, so I'm getting into the swing of things now.
After I woke up, I read my book for a bit, then went to get some breakfast. I ended up with an ok sandwich thing with ham and cheese. Then I managed to catch the train to piazza Spagna, where there's this famous old church joined to this famous old town by these famous old steps. The steps are called the Spanish steps, for reasons I don't remember. There's not a lot of information at these sites around Rome. You mind of have to do the research yourself, or have guidebook or something. Anyway, it was really a lovely place, and I got there in time to hear the church bells right 11am, which was cool. I walked up all the steps, sat down for a while, watched all the people, and took some photos. It was a right and sunny day today, so it was very nice to just sit and watch. The spot wasn't insanely crowded, but it was busy. I'd hate to be here during the high season, it would be horrible!

Anyway, after I'd sat for a while, I went for a walk around the small town bit down the steps. It really all looks just like the Italy you see it pictures. But this area of town housed all the designer stores like Gucci, Prada, Jimmy Choo, and so on. I had a bit of wander and then went to find the Villa Borgese, which is kind of like Rome's central park. Well, it was a different exit from the same subway station, so I wen4 to find it. I swear, I rode over a kilometre of travelator! No kidding, they went on and on! And then I emerged from this subway exit into the middle of nowhere. Seriously, there was grass, trees, some gravel and that was it. No foot path or signs pointing the way. I took photo of it to show its middle of nowhere-ness. Anyhow, I just sort of followed my nose and ended up at the park.

It was such a lovely park! So romantic. I walked around and sat around it for hours. I made my way to a small pond with this really cool island in the middle with pillars and statues on it, and there were couples in row boats, and ducks. It was really cute. I didn't find the gallery that the park is famous for because Myles, and especiall5 me left k eek started to Burt, so I was taking it really easy and didn't want to wander around looking for it too much. It's ok, the park was enough for me.

While we're on the subject of Shepard and how it was romantic, people here are way more affectionate with their boyfriend or girlfriend than what I'm used to. Like even old couples are all over another. And the younger ones? All Oberon another and their tongues in eachothers mouths. Ew. But nice. But ew.

Anyway, by the time I was done with Shepard it was about 2pm and I needed lunch. So I headed back to piazza Spagna to find some food. Immediately I came across a r3ally popular place selling pizza by the slice out of a hole in the wall. Perfect! I got a prosciutto and parmesan pizza slice, which was the perfect size a d tasted so good! I thought that maybe it'd be really crappy because I was in such a tourist area, but it tasted pretty good to me! Success!

On the way home I stopped at the train station and worked out how to buy a ticket to Naples. Seems pretty straight forward. I might go in Wednesday. I'll decide on Monday evening what I want to do. Right now I'm back in my room having a rest. I'm a little worried about my knee. Hopefully a good nights sleep will fix it. I've chosen where I want to go for dinner tonight, and I want to try the gnocchi. I'll report back on that!

Tomorrow I'm leaving this hostel and moving to a different one, maybe 20 minutes walk away, towards the centre of town. It's a little more expensive than here, but I'll have my own bathroom, and I won't have to walk 20 minutes both ways just to get anywhere.

Ok, top five things I like about Rome so far:
1) The men are all really good looking. Like, seriously, they are all handsome!

2) You basically fall over really awesome looking old stuff wherever you go. Its everywhere.

3) (touch wood) the weather is lovely. Cool, crisp and clear so far.

4) Italian is just close enough to English that you can tell what about 70% of the signs say without having to know Italian.

5) Food had been pretty high quality so far, especially considering that crappy places I've bought it from.

Walked in totaly the wrong direction Friday

So, I slept really well, despite waking up very early. I'm feeling good today. Travelling alone is much more difficult than having a friend along, though. Plus, I have to deal with all these feelings of guilt every time I'm not out *making the most of it*. Like right now, I've been walking non stop for over 4 hours and I've come back to my hostel for a rest, but I feel like I should be out there doing more. But, I'm on holiday, right?  If I want to spend a couple of hours in the afternoon blogging and reading, then I can!

Well, this morning I left my hostel, after a shower where I discovered that c stands for hot in Italian. I was going to walk to this amazing sounding park with all these museums and galleries in it, but I walked in totally the wrong direction! I ended up at the colosseum! Haha :) I didn't want to spend too much time, or go into the Colosseum because it's a part of my tour later and I don't want to ruin that. But, there was a bunch of stuff to look at in the area. Plus, it seems that every few streets there's some other *really old thing* to look at.

Anyway, thank goodness I'd taken my tablet with me, because it's GPS works even with no internet, so I could see where I was and how to find my way back :) pretty handy! I also got some lunch while I was out. I stopped at a little cafe place and had a very yummy spinach, mozzarella, and salami sandwich. I was pleased.

So, the park is on the list for tomorrow. I also need to work out how to use the subway here. I can't go walking so far I don't have the energy to actually see the attractions. I'm also not sure I want to go to Naples still. There's so much to see an do here in Rome, I might just stay here and do a good job of experiencing it. I'll change hostels and areas though.this one is fine, but I'll get more variety if I move around a bit.

The formatting is messed up and I don't know what day it is!

So, here I am at Auckland airport. The buggers don't even have free WiFi for passengers. It'll cost me over $9 for 45 minutes of internet! Criminal. Anyway, I remember the last time I was in the international departures area of Auckland airport and I was so, so miserable.this time around I barely wipe the smile off my face! I'm going to Italy, Egypt, and back to Andy in Korea!! Awesome!

 I Just bought Andy a NZ sheep fridge magnet. He requested something with a sheep, and it was the cutest and least lame thing. It's wooden, and actually pretty cool.   

Mum and dad took me for lunch before dropping me off at the airport. We went to a nice cafe in Ponsonby. The guy who works there was just finishing his CELTA, so we had a talk about that...and then it turns out he's been to Rome and said that the pizza there really is as amazing as you'd think! Confirmation of pizza awesomeness!   Leaving mum and dad was a bit sad, but not too bad. It's majority helped by the fact that they have promised to come and visit me in the next few months. I really hope they do. Going one year without seeing them was a bit extreme. When I'm with them though, it never really felt like I'd been gone.   So yes, I am here at the airport. For some reason security wanted to almost unpack my entire backpack, but I was just really nice and helpful. Nothing was wrong, in the end, and I got through security and stuff very quickly. Also, the nice lady at the check-in desk got me an isle seat for the long leg of my journey. Score! I can pee as much as I want! Haha, small things, right?   Oh! And other exciting news! My car got sold yesterday, for a really good price. It's given me a bit of extra money to play around with. Not that I didn't have enough before, but extra doesn't hurt :)   Ok, and because I'm at the airport, here's Sam's five things, airport edition: 1) Browsing the perfume stores and smelling all the pretty ones.   2) Watching all the people and how they travel.   3) Knowing I'm embarking on an adventure and being proud of myself for doing it.   4) Anticipation.   5) Plenty of chill out and reflect time. I'm a very slow airport traveller :)   The flight is going very well. We are nearly in Melbourne. Emirates has been a pretty great airline so far. Their selection of tv and movies is really large, and the food was  nice! I had grilled salmon, with sauteed spinach, a prawn salad, and a very nice piece of orange chocolate cake. Even better, there has been no one sitting next to me for the 4 hour flight to Australia, so I was able to put the arm rests up and lay down to sleep for a couple of hours. My eyes are super bloodshot now,  utilise at least I got a little rest. The next 24 hours are going to be pretty long, I think.   Also, I forgot to mention that we saw an eclipse today. I can't remember which insular and which lunar, but this was the one where the moon goes in front of the sun. We didn't know what it was, the light just went all dim and funny. Then, we saw on the news a little  it later that there had been an eclipse and we'd seen it without even knowing :) Kind of cool.   *        *      *   Ok, so I am now 8 hours through my 13 hour flight, and I'm very keen for it to end! I have managed to get some sleep, maybe 5 hours on and off, which for me on a plane is pretty good. For some reason, this flight is totally falloff little kids and babies. They're being quite well behaved, but they still scream Andy from time to time. Just put an eye mask on, some earplugs, and me neck pillow, and it's all ok.still, really looking forward to getting off this plane :)   *       *       *   Right, so I've made it to Dubai! I've freshener up in the bathroom and I'm not feeling like total crap. Just half a crap. I enjoy going new places, but mad do I hate long air travel! I'm all swollen, bloodshot, dried out, too hot, too cold, and just downright uncomfortable. But, not too far to go now. Only about another 8 hours, three of which are in the airport. I'm likel5 going to be pretty grumpy by the time I get to Rome, though. A short nap might be a good idea, then a walk around to see what's out there. I really hope the free WiFi at my hostel is working. All the airports want you to pay to use it, and it's not even free on the plane! I pay all that money and I don't even get free WiFi. They were charging 1USD to send a single email! So, needless to say, I haven't sent any emails.   What else? Emirates co tines to be a pretty good airline. The food is edible, and it's no more uncomfortable than any other flight. The worships behind me now, though. All the rest of my flights are much shorter than that 13 hour beast. Ergh! Almost enough to put me off travel. Hopefully tenet time I get the chance to go somewhere Andy will be able to come too. It's so much more bearable when you've got someone else to complain to :)   Dubai airport seems huge, but all the signs are written quite small, so I have  to get right uptown them before I can read them. The depature gates and bathrooms are also pretty uninspiring and functional, but I guess they've Justin so many.   Ok, that's all from me for now. I'm just going to hang around the departures lounge for a few hours and then it's off to Rome!   *      *      *   I made it to Rome, and to my hostel. Seems warm and clean, it's 7pm and I'm going to try to read for a couple of hours, and then I'm off to bed:)

Five things on a Friday

I've been really busy doing a whole lot of glorious nothing here at home! Well, I've been buying backpacks, booking accommodation, fixing up my car to sell, playing with my tablet, and visiting my granddad. My brother has taken ALL my money and booked my whole trip, so next Wednesday, off I go to Italy!

I know, I didn't go into much detail on the Andy thing. Last thing you heard from me, we were all broken up forever. But, turns out maybe not so much. He has decided he actually doesn't want what his parents want him to do with his life, and instead would like to be with me. Which is kind of awesome. Sucks for his mum and dad, but I'm on my side :) Right now he is busy finding an apartment in Korea. Which is a huge step! I'm a bit sad that I don't get to help choose where we'll live, but I understand him wanting to find somewhere and get out from under his mum and dad. I'm just kind of thinking of it as if he'd already moved out of home when I met him, and I'll just be moving into his place when I get back to Korea. I'm really excited!!

What else? Life with my Samsung tablet (I got the Galaxy Note 10.1, fyi) is great. The more I use it, the more I like it. Mum and I spent about an hour the other day playing a brick dropping game called 'Save the Cheese' or something. Dumb, but fun!

Also, I made truffles using white chocolate and crème fraiche ganache mixed with this amazing dehydrated fruit powder they've started selling. They worked SO well! The crème fraiche really helped tame the sweetness of the white chocolate and the texture was really good and super easy to work with. I'm very pleased with how they turned out - definitely a recipe to continue to work with. And so easy! Melt 150g of white chocolate (I used Bennetts) and mix in 1/3 cup of crème fraiche. Done! And obviously, mine are coated in dark chocolate.

Yeah, my style is 'rustic'.

Raspberry flavour

Mandarin

White chocolate

And now, five things for a Friday:

1) I had a lovely lunch with my Mum and Granddad yesterday,

2) Mum is cooking the nicest food every day!

3) I'm packed and ready to go.

4) I think my brother got me a great deal on my holiday.

5) It's sunny!

I'm writing this by hand Friday.

Because... I got a tablet today! A Samsung tablet, to be exact. I'm still ironing out the handwriting recognition thingie but, it's pretty cool, so far. That's all.

New Plans Thursday

Hi mum!

Hi Jenni!

So, I've been in NZ for just over two weeks, and have two more weeks to go. It's lovely being with mum and dad, and I'll be sad to leave them. But not too sad because....

I'm going to Italy and Egypt!!

My awesome brother, who works for Flight Centre, has organised me a month-long holiday :) I'm spending two weeks in Italy, one week alone and one week on a Contiki tour, and then two weeks in Egypt, four days alone and 10 days on a Toucan tour. In my own time in Italy (7-8 days) I'm planning to go south of Rome to Naples for some pizza, and then across country to Matera, then back to Rome to start the tour which covers Rome, Florence (including Tuscan countryside and the tower of Pisa), and Venice in eight days. Then I have a couple more days in Italy, and fly to Cairo, Egypt! I have three nights alone, then meet up with the tour group to spend 10 days exploring Cairo, Luxor, cruising the river Nile, and looking around Aswan. Pyramids and Pizza in one month! I'm so excited!

Not sure what I'm most excited for: pizza, gelato, pyramids, the river Nile... too many awesome things to choose from!

And what comes after this month of travel? Well, if you're not Jenni or my mum you might be surprised to learn that Andy has changed his mind about breaking up and finding someone to marry. So, after much thought and many serious conversations, both with him and my parents, I'm flying to Korea after Egypt to find an apartment with Andy! Not the way I was expecting things to go, but I'm really happy :)

And here's a top five things about being home:

1) Awesome conversations with Mum and Dad.

2) Being with my dog.

3) Mum's cooking.

4) The way NZ smells (awesome).

5) Hanging out with Jenni.