I am sitting in my hostel, The Yellow, in Roma, Italia
writing this. This is the short version
and cannot possibly describe fully what I’ve seen or done or how it’s changed
me.
This is the first post I’m doing that isn’t only about
food. I’ve been asked to give updates on
my 6 week European walkabout. I’m
sitting here waiting for laundry t be done in Roma, Italia. After leaving my job, I booked a very
expensive non-refundable plane ticket to Naples, Italy or Napoli as they call
it with 3 days notice. I have never been
abroad mind you and that took some alcoholic persuasion to do. I’ll be honest with you, I was scared
shitless about traveling alone. I’ve
never been out of the country and I don’t know exactly what I was waiting for…but
it never came. I have never been in a
better position in life to do this seeing as I’m unmarried, have no kids, have
no mortgage, have no job but lots of open offers and grad school is out for the
summer. As my friend from Napoli has
said, we can die of cancer tomorrow, so why am I sitting on a savings
account? You cannot change the
inevitable future, and leaving a big house to no one is a pretty shitty
future. So instead, I’ve chosen to make
memories that will last a lifetime. I
booked 6 weeks in Europe with a return flight out of Napoli on July 17th. This was not a good idea, seeing as I’m not
going to be anywhere near Napoli at the end.
I’ll figure that out later though.
My trip started with getting together with 2 friends from
Napoli, a German, and a Cincinnati friend and going over the lonely planet
guide I was told to get. This travel
guide is like the bible to me here. It
has everything from maps, train guides and prices, metro info, hostels, food,
language tips, and random tidbits like Roma was founded on a scene including
the raping of the women from a nearby city…weird I know! We went over places to see in Italy as well
as Austria, Switzerland, Germany, France, and Spain. I have nothing set in stone, no reservations
to stay anywhere, and I am just wandering from city to city getting a feel for
them. I am learning from other people
who have traveled my road about how long to stay in these cities, new cities,
hostels, prices, great areas I’ve never heard of, etc. I don’t like putting myself in a box and
giving a definite timeline on shit to see and places to stay. I think that ruins the experience because you
start to worry too much about getting things done. I am making a rough checklist from my guide
book, but I’m not going to be angry if I randomly meet cute girls and take a
boat ride in a park instead of going to a priceless museum (note: this actually
happened).
My friend was nice enough to let me use his Italian cell
phone which has come in handy. He and
his girlfriend even contacted their friends in Napoli so that I could meet
them, which has made this trip less of a touristy thing and I got more of a
feel for what the natives are like, what they think about other cities,
unemployment, etc. My friend set me up
with a bed and breakfast for 2 days, and then he said I can make my own decision
if I wanted to stay there more or find a hostel. My B&B was 50 euro, which is pricey for 6
weeks. Hostels on the other had are 20
to 35 euro. The word hostel made me
think of bad things for some reason.
That fear of being robbed by shady Europeans has been completely blown
away by a fear of being robbed by rich American kids.
My 3 plane tickets included an outgoing trip from Cincinnati
at noon Monday to JFK in New York with a 7 hour layover, then an overnight to
London with a move from one London airport to another, then the London flight
to Napoli. My 7 hour layover let me hang
out with a guy in New York I haven’t seen in like 2 years, but it’s always fun
to catch up! I learned London is cloudy
and cold and I would never want to stay there long term . The bad thing is my
transfer from airports combined with my luggage being an hour late made me
almost late for my Napoli flight, and had to put my big bag through
security. This meant I had to throw away
every liquid, including soap, shampoo, cologne, etc. Landing in Napoli without these things
sucked hard! Within minutes of landing,
my view on the world was completely shattered.
The place was a culture shock to say the least. I immediately love the high 80’s F
weather. Taking a taxi to my B&B, the
driver didn’t speak English…turns out most people in Napoli don’t. This has been part of the shock. My friend wrote down the address of my
B&B so I handed it to the driver. I
learned that service is not an Italian thing.
This guy literally dropped me off on a loud and crazy corner but didn’t
know where I was going. He just said
this is the cross street, but I don’t know where you are going and I don’t
care, GET OUT! Fucking awesome! The Italian mindset is more of a they just can’t
be bothered to give a fuck. The best
food is in the places with the least English and worst service in dirty
alleyways. I was in the Centro Storico
district of Napoli, Italia. I was told
that this is one of the most densely populate areas in the world, and shit it
was crowded. It was alive with an insane
energy. I saw hot Italians everywhere
and it was Tuesday at 5pm. The streets
are smaller then alleys back home with cobblestone like streets that were
surrounded by 5 story buildings that go for miles. This blocked out most of the sun unless you
got into one of the hundreds of piazza’s or squares. You will find so MANY people at the piazza’s. I hear there are 3 million in the city of
Napoli and it’s packed. There is no
parking really, and all of the cars are “smart” cars. These are like normal but they have the trunk
cut off to be shorter. People drove like
crazy people and almost never follow stop signs, lights, or traffic laws. Scooters are EVERYWHERE. If there is a 2 lane street, that’s like a
personal challenge for the Italians to make it a 5 lane with 3 scooters between
the cars. Because of the heat I’ve found
that everything happens very late and dinner is usually t 8:30.
I have never dealt with foreign money and didn’t have time
to take much money with me, so I kind of fucked myself in many ways. I found out that just because your credit
card company says you can use your card abroad does NOT mean that that country
will let you. L Most places do NOT accept credit cards like
home. My B&B did not accept cash and
that was an entirely weird story. I
randomly have been talking to anyone and everyone as I wander and if we hang
out, I’m adding them on facebook. I
was lucky enough to meet 2 girls from Canada that spoke French and English at
Castel Nuovo that said they were doing my trip, but in the opposite
direction. Turns out they were staying
in the best hostel in Napoli, Hostel of the sun, and they took me there. How weird is that? I know that everyone wants me to post
hundreds of pictures of the places I go, but wi-fi is hard to get a good signal
here. I have wandered Napoli for 3 days
going to museums, saw 2000 year old Pompeii’s ruins, took a boat to Procida and
Iskea (think Capri island), traveled the Amalfi coast (this is where you take
your honeymoon), and met people from across the world….and it’s only a week
into my 6 weeks.
I will post more later, but just know that I am not the same
person I was. I have had to go up and
talk to a hundred random people in 7 days just to not be alone and have
conversation and learn about the world that didn’t exist to me until last
Monday! I have seen so many things while
walking 10 to 12 hours a day. There is
so much more in my world now, and I know that I could go anywhere in the world
and meet people and connect them. I had
dinner with 11 awesome Italian women and 2 Americans last night after I walked
Roma’s Spanish Steps and rented a boat with 2 cool European girls that were
just in town visiting each other. It’s
funny that I had to describe what my tattoo meant last night and many other
nights. It’s a phoenix, a symbol of not
only making a change in your life, but the continued spiritual death and a
rebirth not just once but over and over again.
