Monday 21st September
I woke up a few times throughout the night but finally got up at around 9am and headed down for breakfast. I got chatting with Yuli again for a while and also got chatting with a couple of students, one from West London and one from Ghana. Yuli said that if I wanted to play football with him in Napoli that I could. I think it may be a little far away to be honest but it was really nice of him to make the offer.
I sat talking with Barbara for a while this morning too before heading off for the train. She had come to Italy to meet up with her boyfriend who works on the boats in Sorrento but when she arrived here he finished with her and left her with no money! It may have been a little unwise to travel with little money but he had asked her to come and said that he would have money for her to use! She was pretty much stuck in one place with nothing to do and no money to do it with. She had enough for a night in a hostel in Napoli tomorrow before getting a plane back to Hungary tomorrow but had told me she would not have anywhere to sleep tonight.
I decided to pay for her to have a room for the night - it was only 20 euros anyway. I didn't tell her at the time that I was doing it, I just went and paid for the room and brought the key to her and she got quite upset because she said she felt stupid and was annoyed at herself for getting into the situation she was in. She tried to refuse the room but I just said her mother would be horrified if she thought that her daughter had nowhere to sleep for the night and if I had a younger sister who was in the same situation I would be too. Eventually she accepted the offer but I gave her little choice really.
I got the 11.07am train from Sorrento to Napoli and listened to a bit of Lily Allen on the way. I managed to sleep a little on the train from Napoli to Roma which was good as I was a little tired and it helped to break up the boredom somewhat. The ticket only cost me €10.50 from Napoli to Roma but that was because it was a slower train. It ended up leaving almost half an hour late and the train journey itself took around two and a half hours. It was certainly better than some of the train journeys I have had lately!
As soon as I arrived in Roma I got my bearings. I found an internet café so that I could search out some hostels and found one that was €23 a night so headed there. I booked in for 5 nights here to give me some time to be able to look for somewhere to live, I just hope that I can find somewhere within 5 days as it's not exactly cheap living out of hostels although this one provides free pasta in the evenings and its sister hostel does free pizza about an hour later which is pretty cool - at least that will keep my expenses down a little in terms of food!
I chatted with the guy on reception for a while and he gave me some really good information on sites that I could use to look for both work and accomodation so I had a look as soon as I had dumped all of my stuff in my room. I found a couple of suitable places so sent some emails off. It seems that it will be pretty expensive if I want an apartment but if I am prepared to do a share then it seems quite reasonable really. I did look for some work too but it's a little difficult as the computers here only have internet access so I can't sort a CV out right now and a lot of the places will need an address. I decided that I will concentrate on finding somewhere to live for now and worry about work once I have found somewhere.
I had some free pasta in the hostel and headed over to its sister hostel to get some free pizza and have a few drinks with anybody I could find to talk to. I got talking with an American couple for a while and then met a Brazilian guy after they left - I can't for the life of me remember his name but I am so bad with names that I seem to forget them all the time! I always feel really bad but it's really difficult when you are constantly meeting new people everyday. I arranged to spend a day walking around Roma with the Brazilian guy tomorrow as he only has one day to see the sights and has no idea how to find everything and I know Roma pretty well.
Friday, 25 September 2009
Fawlty Towers!
Sunday 20th September
I got up at about 9.30am this morning - just in time for the breakfast so I went down and had a chocolate croissant and about 5 cappuccinos! Saw Brian at breakfast and we got chatting - turns out he lives in Rome so he gave me his email address and said to let him know when I arrived as he would be happy to put me up for a couple of days while I was searching for somewhere to live! After he left I sat talking with Yuli again for a while and learnt some more Italian - I can speak very little right now but the more you try the more you learn. Yuli is a really nice bloke and he seems to really enjoy helping me learn some Italian.
I had to move rooms this morning in the hostel as there is a big party due in tonight. When I went into the room there was a Hungarian girl there called Barbara so I sat talking with her for a while. She seemed like a nice girl so I suggested going down to the beach together a little later - it would be nice to have some company now all of my American friends have left. After about an hour Barbara decided to come to the beach with me so we spent about 4 hours down there sunbathing. The weather was really deceptive today as it was a little hazy for most of the day but the sun was very strong and I ended up burning quite a bit on my back! Ah well, it will go brown in a few days I think.
It was nice to have somebody to talk to for the day and we spoke about all sorts of different things. I went swimming in the sea a few times - I love swimming in the sea and I hope there is a beach fairly close to Roma so that I can go there from time to time. Barbara thought the sea was too cold so didn't come in the sea which was a shame - it's always more fun if there is someone else in the sea with you!
I have been feeling pretty tired all day today and I am sure that I will sleep well tonight. I am going to try and get an early night tonight as I need to travel to Roma tomorrow in search of my new life. I tried using the internet in the hostel to try and plan out the trip and also to update my blog and Facebook but it was ridiculously slow so I gave up pretty quickly on that idea. It's been really frustrating and I have now fallen quite far behind on my blog so I am going to have to spend a lot of time bringing it back up to date in Roma.
I went out for an evening meal with Barbara and we went to the funniest restaurant ever. It was almost like Fawlty Towers! They were so disorganised, didn't seem to have a clue what they were doing and got pretty much everything wrong for the whole of the time we were there. I thought it was really amusing but then I never stress about things like that. Maybe somebody different might have been annoyed but I thought it was too funny to be honest!
After the meal we went to get a waffle and a gelato and the heavens opened just like the night before but only heavier. It rained so hard that within a couple of minutes there was pretty much a river running along all of the roads and we got absolutely soaked. All of the Italians were looking at me like I was crazy as I was walking quite casually in my t shirt - I'm used to this kind of weather in England so it didn't bother me in the slightest but they were all running for cover!
When we got back to the hostel we sat and had a beer before heading up to bed. I think we turned in at around 11pm which is pretty early by my recent standards! As soon as we had gone to bed a big party of German teenagers started making lots of noise so, after about 15 minutes, I went and told them to shut up or I'd shut them up. It was certainly a lot quieter after that but it was definitely not quiet! Still, I was pretty tired so it didn't take me long to get to sleep.
I got up at about 9.30am this morning - just in time for the breakfast so I went down and had a chocolate croissant and about 5 cappuccinos! Saw Brian at breakfast and we got chatting - turns out he lives in Rome so he gave me his email address and said to let him know when I arrived as he would be happy to put me up for a couple of days while I was searching for somewhere to live! After he left I sat talking with Yuli again for a while and learnt some more Italian - I can speak very little right now but the more you try the more you learn. Yuli is a really nice bloke and he seems to really enjoy helping me learn some Italian.
I had to move rooms this morning in the hostel as there is a big party due in tonight. When I went into the room there was a Hungarian girl there called Barbara so I sat talking with her for a while. She seemed like a nice girl so I suggested going down to the beach together a little later - it would be nice to have some company now all of my American friends have left. After about an hour Barbara decided to come to the beach with me so we spent about 4 hours down there sunbathing. The weather was really deceptive today as it was a little hazy for most of the day but the sun was very strong and I ended up burning quite a bit on my back! Ah well, it will go brown in a few days I think.
It was nice to have somebody to talk to for the day and we spoke about all sorts of different things. I went swimming in the sea a few times - I love swimming in the sea and I hope there is a beach fairly close to Roma so that I can go there from time to time. Barbara thought the sea was too cold so didn't come in the sea which was a shame - it's always more fun if there is someone else in the sea with you!
I have been feeling pretty tired all day today and I am sure that I will sleep well tonight. I am going to try and get an early night tonight as I need to travel to Roma tomorrow in search of my new life. I tried using the internet in the hostel to try and plan out the trip and also to update my blog and Facebook but it was ridiculously slow so I gave up pretty quickly on that idea. It's been really frustrating and I have now fallen quite far behind on my blog so I am going to have to spend a lot of time bringing it back up to date in Roma.
I went out for an evening meal with Barbara and we went to the funniest restaurant ever. It was almost like Fawlty Towers! They were so disorganised, didn't seem to have a clue what they were doing and got pretty much everything wrong for the whole of the time we were there. I thought it was really amusing but then I never stress about things like that. Maybe somebody different might have been annoyed but I thought it was too funny to be honest!
After the meal we went to get a waffle and a gelato and the heavens opened just like the night before but only heavier. It rained so hard that within a couple of minutes there was pretty much a river running along all of the roads and we got absolutely soaked. All of the Italians were looking at me like I was crazy as I was walking quite casually in my t shirt - I'm used to this kind of weather in England so it didn't bother me in the slightest but they were all running for cover!
When we got back to the hostel we sat and had a beer before heading up to bed. I think we turned in at around 11pm which is pretty early by my recent standards! As soon as we had gone to bed a big party of German teenagers started making lots of noise so, after about 15 minutes, I went and told them to shut up or I'd shut them up. It was certainly a lot quieter after that but it was definitely not quiet! Still, I was pretty tired so it didn't take me long to get to sleep.
Thursday, 24 September 2009
My Second Day In Sorrento
Saturday 19th September
Somehow managed to get up at 9.15am today and, even more surprisingly, I actually feel pretty good, despite a hint of tiredness. I spoke with the Dutch guy again this morning and we ended up going down to breakfast together. We had a few cappuccinos and chatted for about an hour before he headed off out for the day and then I got chatting with the guy behind the bar, Yuli. I sat and chatted with Yuli for about an hour and managed to pick a fair bit of Italian up off him, particularly ways to chat Italian women up! He actually said he thought my Italian was pretty good and that I must be pretty intelligent to pick it all up so quickly.
I then realised my dad had text to say that he had transferred the money to me so I headed over to the Western Union place to pick it up. It was actually a really easy process to get hold of the money - I just needed the reference number, the name of the person who had deposited the money and my passport for identification purposes. I then headed to la farmacia to get some tweezers to try and get the spikes out of my foot but they weren't really much help and I just ended up doing more damage than good! I went back to la farmacia and asked about some creams and they gave me some stuff that stinks like tar but they assured me it would help to clear it up within a week.
I also popped into a barbers to enquire as to how much it would cost to get a haircut as it has been almost 3 weeks since my last one and my hair is now far too long for my tastes! I decided to get my hair cut there and went back after I had eaten something. It cost €10 which is a little steep for a shaven head but it was worth it and I feel so much better now. The hair cut experience in Italy is totally different to in England. The guy took such pride in what he was doing and he must have checked everything about 15 times to make sure it was perfect. When it came to the tidying up he used a flick razor to get everywhere perfect and even shaved down my neck!
I got another phone card to call my dad and let him know I got the money ok and also called my mum for a quick chat to let her know I am alright as I had not spoken to her for a few and she sent me a message saying she was a little worried - mothers, eh? I went and bought a pair of flip flops so that my toes would be open to try and encourage the spikes to come out of my feet and headed back down to the beach for a bit of a sunbathe and to relax after another busy day.
I went back to the hostel and got chatting to another American guy called Nick who would be sharing the dormitory for the night. It turned out that Nick knew some of the American people I had been knocking about with last night so he called them to arrange to meet up with them again at some point tonight. That was pretty lucky really as I didn't have any of their phone numbers! I went out with Nick and some of his friends (Beth and Hannah) for a gelato before meeting up with the others.
We headed down to the beach for a few drinks and a few of the other Americans joined us for about half an hour. Just after they left Jordyn and John came down to join us. 6 of us ended up going skinny dipping tonight which was pretty funny but then it started raining pretty heavily and there was a thunderstorm so we got out and got dressed - it's horrible getting back into wet clothes! We headed to the bar next to the hostel and sat there until about 5am drinking before everyone but Jordyn left. We got chatting to another American guy there called Brian but he only stuck around for about half an hour.
The weather was much better than before so Jordyn and I headed back down to the beach for a while to chill out and we sat talking for a while. I walked her back to her hotel at about 7.15am and got her email address to add her on Facebook. I finally got to bed in the hostel at about 7.30am after another very long but enjoyable night! I really enjoyed spending time with the Americans and it was a shame that they would be leaving but that's the curse of the traveller I suppose!
Somehow managed to get up at 9.15am today and, even more surprisingly, I actually feel pretty good, despite a hint of tiredness. I spoke with the Dutch guy again this morning and we ended up going down to breakfast together. We had a few cappuccinos and chatted for about an hour before he headed off out for the day and then I got chatting with the guy behind the bar, Yuli. I sat and chatted with Yuli for about an hour and managed to pick a fair bit of Italian up off him, particularly ways to chat Italian women up! He actually said he thought my Italian was pretty good and that I must be pretty intelligent to pick it all up so quickly.
I then realised my dad had text to say that he had transferred the money to me so I headed over to the Western Union place to pick it up. It was actually a really easy process to get hold of the money - I just needed the reference number, the name of the person who had deposited the money and my passport for identification purposes. I then headed to la farmacia to get some tweezers to try and get the spikes out of my foot but they weren't really much help and I just ended up doing more damage than good! I went back to la farmacia and asked about some creams and they gave me some stuff that stinks like tar but they assured me it would help to clear it up within a week.
I also popped into a barbers to enquire as to how much it would cost to get a haircut as it has been almost 3 weeks since my last one and my hair is now far too long for my tastes! I decided to get my hair cut there and went back after I had eaten something. It cost €10 which is a little steep for a shaven head but it was worth it and I feel so much better now. The hair cut experience in Italy is totally different to in England. The guy took such pride in what he was doing and he must have checked everything about 15 times to make sure it was perfect. When it came to the tidying up he used a flick razor to get everywhere perfect and even shaved down my neck!
I got another phone card to call my dad and let him know I got the money ok and also called my mum for a quick chat to let her know I am alright as I had not spoken to her for a few and she sent me a message saying she was a little worried - mothers, eh? I went and bought a pair of flip flops so that my toes would be open to try and encourage the spikes to come out of my feet and headed back down to the beach for a bit of a sunbathe and to relax after another busy day.
I went back to the hostel and got chatting to another American guy called Nick who would be sharing the dormitory for the night. It turned out that Nick knew some of the American people I had been knocking about with last night so he called them to arrange to meet up with them again at some point tonight. That was pretty lucky really as I didn't have any of their phone numbers! I went out with Nick and some of his friends (Beth and Hannah) for a gelato before meeting up with the others.
We headed down to the beach for a few drinks and a few of the other Americans joined us for about half an hour. Just after they left Jordyn and John came down to join us. 6 of us ended up going skinny dipping tonight which was pretty funny but then it started raining pretty heavily and there was a thunderstorm so we got out and got dressed - it's horrible getting back into wet clothes! We headed to the bar next to the hostel and sat there until about 5am drinking before everyone but Jordyn left. We got chatting to another American guy there called Brian but he only stuck around for about half an hour.
The weather was much better than before so Jordyn and I headed back down to the beach for a while to chill out and we sat talking for a while. I walked her back to her hotel at about 7.15am and got her email address to add her on Facebook. I finally got to bed in the hostel at about 7.30am after another very long but enjoyable night! I really enjoyed spending time with the Americans and it was a shame that they would be leaving but that's the curse of the traveller I suppose!
Sorrento, Sun And Skinny Dipping!
Friday 18th September
I managed to get up at 10.30am today which was really surprising given the time I went to bed last night! Unfortunately I had already missed breakfast but I wasn't really too bothered this morning. I got a shower and packed my stuff up ready to set off for the train station to head to Sorrento. It turned out that Jeannie, the American girl, also wanted to spend a day in Sorrento so we arranged to go together. I have not really had chance to go swimming in the sea up until now as I don't like to leave my stuff on the beach totally unattended so I was glad of some company for the day.
We got the train at about 1pm from Napoli and arrived in Sorrento just after 2pm. The hostel I had booked was pretty easy to find so I dumped all of my stuff there so we could head down to the beach with a much lighter load. The beach at Sorrento is ridiculously small and I think I might well have gone to Capri or the Amalfi coast if I had realised prior to booking the 3 days in the hostel. We had a good day down there though and I spent almost 2 hours swimming in the sea.
I got chatting with some American girls in the sea - Elizabeth, Alyssa and Melissa - and arranged to meet them at the beach again tonight to have a few drinks and a mini party, so to speak. We all agreed to bring our swimming gear too so we might well end up in the sea again. I was glad that I had made some new friends so quickly as I knew I wouldn't be short of people to speak to for the night and beach parties always tend to be fun occasions.
I rang my dad to arrange for him to send me some more money as I am now running really low - I only have €40 left now and that will be gone some time tomorrow. He was in work today but has said that he will go and do it pretty early tomorrow morning so that I have the money before lunchtime. I found a place that is open from 8am until 8pm tomorrow for me to be able to get hold of the money so it doesn't really matter what time he does it.
I headed back to the hostel so that I could have another shower - it's always nice to refresh yourself after swimming in the sea and it was also pretty warm today so I am sure I sweated a bit. Once I had pretty much got ready to go out I met another 5 American students who would be sharing a room with me for the night. There was also a Dutch guy there who was on his way out for the evening. I only spoke briefly with them all before going out but they all seem nice enough.
I went to the supermarket to see what deals they had on and found a bottle of Jack Daniels for just €12.49!! Needless to say, I snapped that up immediately! I managed to find somewhere nice to eat and chilled out for a bit before heading down to the beach to meet with the Americans. We had arranged to meet around 9.30pm but they said they might be a little late as they had some big meal arranged at the hotel. They turned up just after 10pm but I wasn't too bothered.
I had a really fantastic night at the beach with the Americans and it was probably my most enjoyable night so far since setting off from Chester. We had a game of football, or soccer as the Yanks like to say, which was really good fun. I had Alyssa on my team and we played against a couple of American guys, one called Ian and I can't remember the other guy's name - I'm really bad with names! We won 5-1 so I managed to ensure that the English rep was upheld. We played barefoot and the beach was mostly stones so my feet took a bit of a pounding given the already fragile condition they were in.
I was about to start playing football again when one of the American girls asked me "to go nudo in the sea" with her. Well, it would be rude to say no to such a request so we pretty quickly ended up in the sea skinny dipping at about 1am! I think she was a little shy at first but I think she really enjoyed her first skinny dipping experience. It was funny but she said exactly the same thing I had said the first time I did it - how liberating it felt. We disappeared out into the sea for quite a while and all of her friends got worried as they were shouting us but we couldn't hear them so they thought we had drowned! I didn't drown but I did kick a urchin or something and I now have about 15 spikes in my foot!
All the Americans left shortly after we got out of the sea and I got talking to a group of four people - 2 Italian guys, an Italian girl and a Dutch girl. I sat with them for about an hour trying to speak Italian with them but it is not easy when you are a bit drunk! The centre of Sorrento is not far from the beach but there are some really steep hills so they offered me a lift up to the top which was pretty nice of them. Once they dropped me off I headed back to the hostel and sat at the bar next door having a couple of beers and trying to understand some conversations that the Italians were having - I didn't understand much but it can surely only help to listen to the language being spoken? I eventually went to bed at about 4.30am feeling pretty drunk and pretty tired too!
I managed to get up at 10.30am today which was really surprising given the time I went to bed last night! Unfortunately I had already missed breakfast but I wasn't really too bothered this morning. I got a shower and packed my stuff up ready to set off for the train station to head to Sorrento. It turned out that Jeannie, the American girl, also wanted to spend a day in Sorrento so we arranged to go together. I have not really had chance to go swimming in the sea up until now as I don't like to leave my stuff on the beach totally unattended so I was glad of some company for the day.
We got the train at about 1pm from Napoli and arrived in Sorrento just after 2pm. The hostel I had booked was pretty easy to find so I dumped all of my stuff there so we could head down to the beach with a much lighter load. The beach at Sorrento is ridiculously small and I think I might well have gone to Capri or the Amalfi coast if I had realised prior to booking the 3 days in the hostel. We had a good day down there though and I spent almost 2 hours swimming in the sea.
I got chatting with some American girls in the sea - Elizabeth, Alyssa and Melissa - and arranged to meet them at the beach again tonight to have a few drinks and a mini party, so to speak. We all agreed to bring our swimming gear too so we might well end up in the sea again. I was glad that I had made some new friends so quickly as I knew I wouldn't be short of people to speak to for the night and beach parties always tend to be fun occasions.
I rang my dad to arrange for him to send me some more money as I am now running really low - I only have €40 left now and that will be gone some time tomorrow. He was in work today but has said that he will go and do it pretty early tomorrow morning so that I have the money before lunchtime. I found a place that is open from 8am until 8pm tomorrow for me to be able to get hold of the money so it doesn't really matter what time he does it.
I headed back to the hostel so that I could have another shower - it's always nice to refresh yourself after swimming in the sea and it was also pretty warm today so I am sure I sweated a bit. Once I had pretty much got ready to go out I met another 5 American students who would be sharing a room with me for the night. There was also a Dutch guy there who was on his way out for the evening. I only spoke briefly with them all before going out but they all seem nice enough.
I went to the supermarket to see what deals they had on and found a bottle of Jack Daniels for just €12.49!! Needless to say, I snapped that up immediately! I managed to find somewhere nice to eat and chilled out for a bit before heading down to the beach to meet with the Americans. We had arranged to meet around 9.30pm but they said they might be a little late as they had some big meal arranged at the hotel. They turned up just after 10pm but I wasn't too bothered.
I had a really fantastic night at the beach with the Americans and it was probably my most enjoyable night so far since setting off from Chester. We had a game of football, or soccer as the Yanks like to say, which was really good fun. I had Alyssa on my team and we played against a couple of American guys, one called Ian and I can't remember the other guy's name - I'm really bad with names! We won 5-1 so I managed to ensure that the English rep was upheld. We played barefoot and the beach was mostly stones so my feet took a bit of a pounding given the already fragile condition they were in.
I was about to start playing football again when one of the American girls asked me "to go nudo in the sea" with her. Well, it would be rude to say no to such a request so we pretty quickly ended up in the sea skinny dipping at about 1am! I think she was a little shy at first but I think she really enjoyed her first skinny dipping experience. It was funny but she said exactly the same thing I had said the first time I did it - how liberating it felt. We disappeared out into the sea for quite a while and all of her friends got worried as they were shouting us but we couldn't hear them so they thought we had drowned! I didn't drown but I did kick a urchin or something and I now have about 15 spikes in my foot!
All the Americans left shortly after we got out of the sea and I got talking to a group of four people - 2 Italian guys, an Italian girl and a Dutch girl. I sat with them for about an hour trying to speak Italian with them but it is not easy when you are a bit drunk! The centre of Sorrento is not far from the beach but there are some really steep hills so they offered me a lift up to the top which was pretty nice of them. Once they dropped me off I headed back to the hostel and sat at the bar next door having a couple of beers and trying to understand some conversations that the Italians were having - I didn't understand much but it can surely only help to listen to the language being spoken? I eventually went to bed at about 4.30am feeling pretty drunk and pretty tired too!
Pompei
Thursday 17th September
I woke up pretty early this morning at about 8am and went to get some breakfast which ended up being a croissant and cereal - much better than some of the breakfasts I have had to endure recently! I got a nice refreshing shower and decided to get ready to go to Pompei. It turned out that one of the lads I was sharing with, Alex, also wanted to go to Pompei so we arranged to go together once he had sorted a couple of things out that he needed to do. It's always nice when visiting a place like that to have somebody to discuss things with.
We got on the bus at around 11am and arrived in Pompei at around midday. We walked around Pompei until about 4pm but the heat became unbearable at times. The weather forecast had said it would be overcast today so I wore my jeans thinking it would be a little cooler but the sun was out for most of the day so I just felt uncomfortably hot for most of the day. Even though we didn't see everything that Pompei had to offer we were both content with what we had seen so decided to go and get a bite to eat in the shade somewhere.
Pompei itself was really sensational. The site was absolutely huge and I could very easily have spent 8 or 9 hours in a place like that. It was almost a shame that they had not built some form of café or restaurant inside somewhere as this was one of the main things that stopped us staying longer apart from the heat. In places the quality of the buildings in tact isn't particularly great but you really get a feel from Roman life and get an understanding of how a town would have been laid out. It was really interesting to see how many similarities there were between Pompei and any modern city and it was amazing to see how little we have evolved in some ways from those times. Another thing I really liked was the grooves in the roads where the carts would have been driven.
We headed back to Napoli after having a drink and something to eat. I got chatting to 3 Irish girls at the bus stop whilst we were waiting for the bus who had also visited from Napoli. They were really impressed with it too but they had been out drinking the night before so only spent a couple of hours walking around. I know I keep saying this but I really have changed a lot - 6 weeks ago I probably never would have even spoken to these 3 girls but now I feel I can really chat with just about anyone. On the bus on the way back I managed to get some photos of Mount Vesuvius after a nice Italian guy pointed it out to us. We chatted for a little while and, even though I couldn't understand a lot of what he was saying, we managed to speak about a few things.
When we got back to the hostel I met some more people who would be sharing with me for the night - Claire and Brie, a couple of Australian girls. Sam, Ed, Claire, Brie and I all went out for a bit of a walk around Napoli and to find a supermarket to be able to get some food to cook for the evening. Once we got back to the hostel we met some more people - Jeannie (an American girl), Luke (an American guy), Mateusz (a Polish guy) and Bruno (I think a Chilean guy) and we all sat drinking and fooling around until about 4.30am!
It was a really enjoyable evening and we had a really good laugh. The language barrier threw up a few funny conversations when Mateusz misunderstood a few words and he was totally confused a couple of times trying to keep up with all of the different accents. My time at the hostel in Napoli has been really enjoyable and I have made yet more friends. Hostels in general have provided some very good experiences for me and I will definitely think about using them in the future if I decide to go travelling again.
I woke up pretty early this morning at about 8am and went to get some breakfast which ended up being a croissant and cereal - much better than some of the breakfasts I have had to endure recently! I got a nice refreshing shower and decided to get ready to go to Pompei. It turned out that one of the lads I was sharing with, Alex, also wanted to go to Pompei so we arranged to go together once he had sorted a couple of things out that he needed to do. It's always nice when visiting a place like that to have somebody to discuss things with.
We got on the bus at around 11am and arrived in Pompei at around midday. We walked around Pompei until about 4pm but the heat became unbearable at times. The weather forecast had said it would be overcast today so I wore my jeans thinking it would be a little cooler but the sun was out for most of the day so I just felt uncomfortably hot for most of the day. Even though we didn't see everything that Pompei had to offer we were both content with what we had seen so decided to go and get a bite to eat in the shade somewhere.
Pompei itself was really sensational. The site was absolutely huge and I could very easily have spent 8 or 9 hours in a place like that. It was almost a shame that they had not built some form of café or restaurant inside somewhere as this was one of the main things that stopped us staying longer apart from the heat. In places the quality of the buildings in tact isn't particularly great but you really get a feel from Roman life and get an understanding of how a town would have been laid out. It was really interesting to see how many similarities there were between Pompei and any modern city and it was amazing to see how little we have evolved in some ways from those times. Another thing I really liked was the grooves in the roads where the carts would have been driven.
We headed back to Napoli after having a drink and something to eat. I got chatting to 3 Irish girls at the bus stop whilst we were waiting for the bus who had also visited from Napoli. They were really impressed with it too but they had been out drinking the night before so only spent a couple of hours walking around. I know I keep saying this but I really have changed a lot - 6 weeks ago I probably never would have even spoken to these 3 girls but now I feel I can really chat with just about anyone. On the bus on the way back I managed to get some photos of Mount Vesuvius after a nice Italian guy pointed it out to us. We chatted for a little while and, even though I couldn't understand a lot of what he was saying, we managed to speak about a few things.
When we got back to the hostel I met some more people who would be sharing with me for the night - Claire and Brie, a couple of Australian girls. Sam, Ed, Claire, Brie and I all went out for a bit of a walk around Napoli and to find a supermarket to be able to get some food to cook for the evening. Once we got back to the hostel we met some more people - Jeannie (an American girl), Luke (an American guy), Mateusz (a Polish guy) and Bruno (I think a Chilean guy) and we all sat drinking and fooling around until about 4.30am!
It was a really enjoyable evening and we had a really good laugh. The language barrier threw up a few funny conversations when Mateusz misunderstood a few words and he was totally confused a couple of times trying to keep up with all of the different accents. My time at the hostel in Napoli has been really enjoyable and I have made yet more friends. Hostels in general have provided some very good experiences for me and I will definitely think about using them in the future if I decide to go travelling again.
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
First Night In Napoli
Wednesday 16th September
Managed to get up at 8am this morning with no problems which was fairly surprising considering the time that I went to bed last night. Having said that though I seem to need much less sleep these days than I used to even though I am so active both mentally and physically. I sorted all of my stuff out ready to leave and exchanged email addresses with a few people I had met so that we could add each other on Facebook. We also offered each other accomodation if we were ever in each other's cities. I am not sure how serious people are when they make these offers but I know I will keep to my word on it.
I went to catch the metro with a couple of Dutch guys I had been drinking with last night and we parted company at the Duomo where I got the next train to the main station in Milan. I arrived with about 15 minutes to spare which was good as I like to have time to spare when I arrive as there is nothing worse than having to rush around in a busy train station and you always end up hot and sweaty and feeling very uncomfortable. I managed to find the train pretty easily. The train wasn't too busy but I was sat with a couple of Italian people - my Italian is nowhere near good enough to have conversations with people yet so I decided to listen to an Italian course on my iPod.
Breakfast this morning had only been light - cereal, a bread roll, cappuccino and orange juice - so I decided to get some more to eat on the train as we would not be arriving into Napoli until after lunchtime. I bought a panini and a cappuccino and it was pretty expensive but at least I felt a little less hungry and a little more awake! It was a very different experience from a train in England. In England you have a little shop and you take everything back to your seat but here there was pretty much a whole carriage for the shop with an area to eat and drink.
Another big difference with the trains in Italy is that you can get off the train at every stop to have a smoke. There is a law in Italy that says you can't smoke in railway stations but nobody takes any notice of it and the police or rail staff never say anything to anyone. This was quite handy on a train journey that ended up taking 6 hours. I tried talking with an Italian bloke each time the train stopped and we went for a smoke. It was difficult to understand but we managed a little bit of chat. I find the only way to be able to learn a language quickly is to try and enter into conversation with people as much as possible. I feel comfortable enough on a one to one basis but it can be awkward if there are 4 people and the conversation is constantly broken up because you don't understand.
The weather has been overcast for most of today but the sun came out just as I arrived into Rome and I was very tempted to get off there and start my new life there and then. I resisted the temptation though and continued on towards Napoli. I really want to visit Pompei while I am in Napoli and I am also looking forward to going to Sorrento for a few days on the beach. The weather forecast is not great for Napoli today and tomorrow but apparently it will be a pretty sunny weekend!
When I arrived at Napoli the tourist information place had nobody there. I waited for about 15 minutes but nobody returned so I decided to get something to eat as I was bloody starving! The nearest place to eat was a McDonald's so I went there. As I sat down I realised there were a couple of American girls sat next to me so I asked them if they knew of any hostels in Napoli. They had a travel guide book but it wasn't really much help. I chatted with them (Jen and Steph) for about half an hour as there train was delayed before I headed back to the tourist information office.
This time there was someone there and he was pretty helpful. Not only did he tell me where the hostels were but he even called them for me to make sure that there was a room available. I thought that was really nice of him as most places just give you the information and let you find out for yourself. When I arrived at the hostel the guy there was also pretty friendly and called a hostel in Sorrento to reserve me a room for 3 nights after I leave Napoli. So far my experiences of Italian people, save the ones who laughed at my clothes in Milan, have been really good.
Not a lot happened in the evening really except for watching a football match (Inter Milan against Barcelona) and having a couple of drinks with some English guys (Sam and Ed) who I would be sharing a room with for the next couple of nights. They are currently cycling through Italy and will be finishing in Nice before catching a plance home. It's funny how a football match can kill conversation so easily. I decided to watch the match in the hostel rather than go to a bar as I had heard that Napoli has a bad reputation and there a couple of areas in particular you should avoid at night - I didn't want to get caught out in one of them!
Managed to get up at 8am this morning with no problems which was fairly surprising considering the time that I went to bed last night. Having said that though I seem to need much less sleep these days than I used to even though I am so active both mentally and physically. I sorted all of my stuff out ready to leave and exchanged email addresses with a few people I had met so that we could add each other on Facebook. We also offered each other accomodation if we were ever in each other's cities. I am not sure how serious people are when they make these offers but I know I will keep to my word on it.
I went to catch the metro with a couple of Dutch guys I had been drinking with last night and we parted company at the Duomo where I got the next train to the main station in Milan. I arrived with about 15 minutes to spare which was good as I like to have time to spare when I arrive as there is nothing worse than having to rush around in a busy train station and you always end up hot and sweaty and feeling very uncomfortable. I managed to find the train pretty easily. The train wasn't too busy but I was sat with a couple of Italian people - my Italian is nowhere near good enough to have conversations with people yet so I decided to listen to an Italian course on my iPod.
Breakfast this morning had only been light - cereal, a bread roll, cappuccino and orange juice - so I decided to get some more to eat on the train as we would not be arriving into Napoli until after lunchtime. I bought a panini and a cappuccino and it was pretty expensive but at least I felt a little less hungry and a little more awake! It was a very different experience from a train in England. In England you have a little shop and you take everything back to your seat but here there was pretty much a whole carriage for the shop with an area to eat and drink.
Another big difference with the trains in Italy is that you can get off the train at every stop to have a smoke. There is a law in Italy that says you can't smoke in railway stations but nobody takes any notice of it and the police or rail staff never say anything to anyone. This was quite handy on a train journey that ended up taking 6 hours. I tried talking with an Italian bloke each time the train stopped and we went for a smoke. It was difficult to understand but we managed a little bit of chat. I find the only way to be able to learn a language quickly is to try and enter into conversation with people as much as possible. I feel comfortable enough on a one to one basis but it can be awkward if there are 4 people and the conversation is constantly broken up because you don't understand.
The weather has been overcast for most of today but the sun came out just as I arrived into Rome and I was very tempted to get off there and start my new life there and then. I resisted the temptation though and continued on towards Napoli. I really want to visit Pompei while I am in Napoli and I am also looking forward to going to Sorrento for a few days on the beach. The weather forecast is not great for Napoli today and tomorrow but apparently it will be a pretty sunny weekend!
When I arrived at Napoli the tourist information place had nobody there. I waited for about 15 minutes but nobody returned so I decided to get something to eat as I was bloody starving! The nearest place to eat was a McDonald's so I went there. As I sat down I realised there were a couple of American girls sat next to me so I asked them if they knew of any hostels in Napoli. They had a travel guide book but it wasn't really much help. I chatted with them (Jen and Steph) for about half an hour as there train was delayed before I headed back to the tourist information office.
This time there was someone there and he was pretty helpful. Not only did he tell me where the hostels were but he even called them for me to make sure that there was a room available. I thought that was really nice of him as most places just give you the information and let you find out for yourself. When I arrived at the hostel the guy there was also pretty friendly and called a hostel in Sorrento to reserve me a room for 3 nights after I leave Napoli. So far my experiences of Italian people, save the ones who laughed at my clothes in Milan, have been really good.
Not a lot happened in the evening really except for watching a football match (Inter Milan against Barcelona) and having a couple of drinks with some English guys (Sam and Ed) who I would be sharing a room with for the next couple of nights. They are currently cycling through Italy and will be finishing in Nice before catching a plance home. It's funny how a football match can kill conversation so easily. I decided to watch the match in the hostel rather than go to a bar as I had heard that Napoli has a bad reputation and there a couple of areas in particular you should avoid at night - I didn't want to get caught out in one of them!
Milan
Tuesday 15th September
Got up at around 8.30am today and had breakfast and a shower before getting ready to go and get the train. Strangely, I had no hangover this morning and, even though I felt pretty tired, I didn't feel ill in the slightest. Unlike another recent experience, I made it for my train with plenty of time to spare and found my seat in a compartment with a Chinese couple and an English lady, Julia, who now lives in Kenya.
We all talked for pretty much the whole journey which was pretty good as the journey was 5 hours and there is nothing worse than sitting with people in uncomfortable silence for such a long time and also it's boring as hell! 5 hours was a little much to be honest for a train journey. I don't mind 3 hours but 5 hours was too long. Still, at least it's not as bad as a plane where you are crammed in and pretty much just have to sit there!
Tomorrow I have another train journey and that one will take 5 and a half hours so I am glad that I decided to break the journey up. Even though I have already been to Milan I don't mind having an overnight here. It's somewhere relatively familiar to me and is the first place where I have felt confident of where I am going since I left Chester almost a month ago. As soon as I got off the train I remembered where there was a tourist information office so headed straight to the Duomo to find it and look for a hostel for the night.
The tourist information office pointed out a hostel not far from the San Siro, another area I am relatively familiar with from my trip to watch Inter Milan against Fiorentina last April. I got the metro from the Duomo to by the hostel which only cost €1 - I love travelling in Italy as it so cheap. If you are using the metro a lot you can get a day ticket for €4 that gives you unlimited use! The hostel cost me €20 for the night and although this is more expensive than some have been I can't really complain as it is in Milan. The hostel itself seems pretty good. It's fairly big and there are lots of people around to talk with.
When I arrived in Milan it was raining and continued to rain all day long. I felt somewhat strange walking around the fashion capital of the world in England shorts and a sweaty t shirt in the rain and I swear that people actually laughed at me! I decided to go and get a new outfit that would be more suitable for this kind of location and, indeed, weather. I was absolutely starving though so I had a calzone at the Galleria in the Duomo shopping centre. Again, it cost more than I would ideally like to pay but I had been there last year with Emma and remembered it being particularly nice.
Once I had satisfied my stomach I took a walk down the via Manzoni to search for my favourite shop in the world - Emporio Armani! I couldn't really afford to pay the prices there but I decided to buy something anyway and ended up walking out of there with a pair of jeans, a t shirt and a nice new zip up hoody. Even though they are all casual clothes I immediately felt better walking around Milan and, all of a sudden, people stopped looking at me strangely.
The Duomo made a massive impression on me again and I decided to get a few photos of both the cathedral and the shopping centre in the evening. As I had already visited Milan I decided not to walk around taking loads of photos, if you would like to see Milan then I have another photo album on Facebook with all the photos from last year's visit in April. The Duomo was so amazing though that I had to get more photos!
I headed back to the hostel at around 9pm and met a guy called Thomas from Spain who would be sharing the room for the night. He is in Milan for study and is in his final year of law and economics. We got talking to some people outside who showed us where we could find a few beers so we walked there and got a few bottles to sit outside the hostel with. We actually ended up sitting outside the hostel until about 3am talking with loads of people there.
There were lots of different nationalities gathered there including Dutch, Belgian, Australian, Spanish and Ukranian. I was actually the only English person there for a change but, luckily, English was the common language so most of the conversation was conducted in English. It was interesting to hear so many different languages being spoken between people though. I'm not sure why but I like to listen to foreign languages even though I can't understand a word sometimes.
Got up at around 8.30am today and had breakfast and a shower before getting ready to go and get the train. Strangely, I had no hangover this morning and, even though I felt pretty tired, I didn't feel ill in the slightest. Unlike another recent experience, I made it for my train with plenty of time to spare and found my seat in a compartment with a Chinese couple and an English lady, Julia, who now lives in Kenya.
We all talked for pretty much the whole journey which was pretty good as the journey was 5 hours and there is nothing worse than sitting with people in uncomfortable silence for such a long time and also it's boring as hell! 5 hours was a little much to be honest for a train journey. I don't mind 3 hours but 5 hours was too long. Still, at least it's not as bad as a plane where you are crammed in and pretty much just have to sit there!
Tomorrow I have another train journey and that one will take 5 and a half hours so I am glad that I decided to break the journey up. Even though I have already been to Milan I don't mind having an overnight here. It's somewhere relatively familiar to me and is the first place where I have felt confident of where I am going since I left Chester almost a month ago. As soon as I got off the train I remembered where there was a tourist information office so headed straight to the Duomo to find it and look for a hostel for the night.
The tourist information office pointed out a hostel not far from the San Siro, another area I am relatively familiar with from my trip to watch Inter Milan against Fiorentina last April. I got the metro from the Duomo to by the hostel which only cost €1 - I love travelling in Italy as it so cheap. If you are using the metro a lot you can get a day ticket for €4 that gives you unlimited use! The hostel cost me €20 for the night and although this is more expensive than some have been I can't really complain as it is in Milan. The hostel itself seems pretty good. It's fairly big and there are lots of people around to talk with.
When I arrived in Milan it was raining and continued to rain all day long. I felt somewhat strange walking around the fashion capital of the world in England shorts and a sweaty t shirt in the rain and I swear that people actually laughed at me! I decided to go and get a new outfit that would be more suitable for this kind of location and, indeed, weather. I was absolutely starving though so I had a calzone at the Galleria in the Duomo shopping centre. Again, it cost more than I would ideally like to pay but I had been there last year with Emma and remembered it being particularly nice.
Once I had satisfied my stomach I took a walk down the via Manzoni to search for my favourite shop in the world - Emporio Armani! I couldn't really afford to pay the prices there but I decided to buy something anyway and ended up walking out of there with a pair of jeans, a t shirt and a nice new zip up hoody. Even though they are all casual clothes I immediately felt better walking around Milan and, all of a sudden, people stopped looking at me strangely.
The Duomo made a massive impression on me again and I decided to get a few photos of both the cathedral and the shopping centre in the evening. As I had already visited Milan I decided not to walk around taking loads of photos, if you would like to see Milan then I have another photo album on Facebook with all the photos from last year's visit in April. The Duomo was so amazing though that I had to get more photos!
I headed back to the hostel at around 9pm and met a guy called Thomas from Spain who would be sharing the room for the night. He is in Milan for study and is in his final year of law and economics. We got talking to some people outside who showed us where we could find a few beers so we walked there and got a few bottles to sit outside the hostel with. We actually ended up sitting outside the hostel until about 3am talking with loads of people there.
There were lots of different nationalities gathered there including Dutch, Belgian, Australian, Spanish and Ukranian. I was actually the only English person there for a change but, luckily, English was the common language so most of the conversation was conducted in English. It was interesting to hear so many different languages being spoken between people though. I'm not sure why but I like to listen to foreign languages even though I can't understand a word sometimes.
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