Friends, Romans, Countrymen! Lend me your eyes.Friends, Romans, Countrymen! Lend me your eyes.

Published on November 2, 2016 ⋅ 8min read

The fleeting weeks of summer have come and gone in Germany, and the dark chill of winter has begun to settle in. During this time, I was privileged with 3 (yes, 3!) visits from Isaac as he travelled around Europe doing a whole lot of driving, a little bit of work fixing machines, and the occasional run in with the Polish police. It was a slightly strange feeling to hang out in Berlin with him, playing board games and jamming together in the band room, because for so long our frame of context for friendship has been entirely in New Zealand, specifically Hamilton. Two years ago, I really didn’t ever imagine that we’d be playing boardgames like Quantum, Zombicide or Love Letter in a flat 18,000km around the world, so far from good ol’ Nottingham Drive!

Next, my sister came to visit, fresh off the plane from North America and her 4-month spell as a Camp America supervisor. We’d previously decided to go travelling so I’d booked a couple of weeks off work and flights to Italy, as neither of us had been there yet and I managed to score some super cheap flights with Ryanair — €34 each return!

Our first destination was Remscheid-Güldenwerth, to visit Dita for the weekend (and to show Kirsty a little bit more of Germany than just Berlin). After an early morning rush to the Hauptbahnhof, which included an unforeseen, and quite expensive, taxi ride due to the only 3 stations of S-Bahn we needed to take being closed for maintenance, we got there just in time to catch the train. 4 hours later, we had arrived! It was great to catch up with Dita again. Kirsty tried her first savoury pancake at an authentic Pfannkuchenhaus, complete with pork medallions and creamy mushroom sauce. After recently eating some absolutely awful mushrooms in England, she said had her faith restored with a few quality mushroom meals in Germany. If there’s one thing they know how to make here, it’s a good mushroom sauce!

Of course, you can’t go to Köln and not see the Dom (cathedral), so after visiting Dita we headed into the city to check out the magnificent building before heading to the airport the next morning to fly to Milan.

We spent about 3 days in Milan, checking out the various sights and tourist attractions. We stayed in, perhaps, the best hostel I’ve ever stayed in. They gave you a ton of free services, including a free dinner every night, and the facilities were great. The atmosphere and vibe was excellent and we met some really cool people. One of them was Rosie, a fellow New Zealander from Wellington. Our plan was to head to Venice next, stopping by Verona and Peschiera del Garda on the way. Rosie was also planning on visiting Venice, so she joined us for a few days, which was a lot of fun. She had a lot of cool stories from her travels in India and there were a lot of laughs to be had — especially when we ordered the worst (and I mean, worst) lasagne we’d ever had. Honestly, completely serious, I’m still not sure that we weren’t served dog food with some herbs sprinkled around it…

Verona was a quaint, albeit touristy, place. Naturally, we had to visit Juliet’s balcony, and despite Juliet being a fictional character, she somehow still managed to have a balcony. Property seems to be easier to come by in Italy than New Zealand! Peschiera del Garda was a tiny town on the side of a lake. The weather was not so good, but for the one night we stayed there it didn’t matter. Although there were not many people staying there, the large common room had an abundance of atmosphere when a man started playing the piano and signing beautiful renditions of songs like Hotel California, alternating with another man who was very good on guitar. It was a really peaceful and relaxing evening — that was, until a large group of children, on what I presume to be a school field trip, came bustling into the common room, running around and yelling, completely spoiling the mood. I’ve never disliked children more than in that moment.

Another benefit to travelling with Rosie, other than good company and respite from having to talk to my sister the whole time, was that we went splits on a triple-bed room, which made accommodation in Venice quite a bit more affordable. We also struck gold with the weather. The afternoon we arrived was miserable, but as we were staying on the mainland, we decided to wait until the next day to actually visit Venice proper. And boy was the next day good! Overnight the rain cleared and by mid morning all the clouds were gone and we were rewarded with clear blue skies and scorching sun. Rosie had to go clothes shopping simply to change out of all the layers she had put on earlier that morning! The day had started rather brisk, but warmed up to a pleasant 20 degrees.

Venice is a fascinating place. I mean, there’s not a whole lot to it. Canals, old buildings, tourists and shops sum it up fairly succinctly. Yet, to walk around the narrow streets and winding canals, to imagine the history of the city, was to be impressed. It is a rather impressive city; if only for how different it is. I mean, I’d hate to live there. I bet they have terrible internet too. I can’t imagine the infrastructure would be easy to establish, but walking around you really feel like you’re in a city from old. With the style of travelling we were doing, one day there was sufficient. Perhaps a second day would have been too much. Yet I feel a slight compulsion, an attraction, to go back there again… but only after I’ve budgeted for it appropriately! It’s expensive.

We left Rosie in Venice, our 3 days of spontaneous travel together coming to an end. She was planning to head down further south in Italy, while we had plans to go on to Florence and then Cinque Terre, a national park with picturesque villages, which we’d been told about by some people in Milan. It sounded cool, so we added it to the itinerary. The great thing about unplanned travel is that you have the flexibility to change your plans, so I wanted to make the most of it. And boy, Cinque Terre was worth it.

Once again, we got lucky with the weather. The forecast since leaving Venice was for 3 days of rain. We stayed in La Spezia, as you could easily take the train up the coast to each of the villages. We chose to head to Monterosso al Mare first, the furthest village from La Spezia, then hike the track south to the next one, Vernazza. We were not prepared.

It wasn’t hard per se, more so just harder than we expected. There were a lot of stairs, and under the scorching sun we were soon soaked with sweat and subject to an almighty thirst. In hindsight, we should have probably brought some water bottles with us. Needless to say, by the time we were nearing Vernazza an hour and a half later, we were craving a cool refreshing beverage, Kirsty more so gelato. We decided afterwards to take the train between the rest of the villages. Hah.

While all similar, each of the villages possessed a certain character and charm that separated it from each of the others. It was a lovely little coastal stretch of land and I would visit again. Perhaps next time I'll be more prepared and walk between each of the villages.

After our detour to Cinque Terre, it was back to Florence for an actual stay there — we'd previously only been there for an afternoon and one night, leaving early in the morning for La Spezia. Florence is a bustling city full of tourists. It's fascinating to walk around the inner city and drink up the old city style. I couldn't help but think of Assassin's Creed II and comparing it to my memories of playing that game… except this time my view was solely from the streets, and not at all from the rooftops!

Rome was our next, and final, destination! A, relatively short, 3 hour bus ride and we were there, strolling the streets of a city that Julius Caesar conquered countries for, two thousand years ago. It was humbling to walk the ruins of the Roman forum and stand within the Pantheon, such a collossal building that one can't help but be amazed. The Coliseum, despite half gone and much repaired over the years, was still awe-inspiring. I don't know how long I stood on a balcony staring out over the arena, imagining gladiatorial fights, the roar of the crowd and the sheer amount of effort it would have taken to flood the arena for sea battles. I couldn't help but think of the Gladiator movie and Spartacus. I'd just reread the Emperor series by Conn Iggulden prior to coming to Italy, so my mind was full of vivid imagery, thinking over everything I'd just read about Rome.

And to think, they built all of these buildings so long ago with "primitive" tools, compared to modern machinery, and yet they still stand today. It really is impressive.

We, of course, visited all the sights over the several days we were in Rome. The first day I was there my knee started swelling, so it was an uncomfortable three days of limping. The streets were so crowded, jam-packed with tourists and tour guides, constantly asking: "skip the line? English?" I actually found the city rather exhausting. The constant press of people and horrendous driving really wore down on me and I found I couldn't really relax at all while in Rome. I know one thing for sure: I wouldn't want to live there.

Overall, I found the Vatican rather disappointing. St Peter's Basilica was an ostentatious and sickening display of wealth. I personally didn't find the Sistine Chapel to be that impressive. Perhaps I'd grown weary of looking at large rooms with painted, vaulted ceilings? I dare say we saw a lot. The most interesting exhibit, I thought, was actually a stone tablet of cuneiform; chiselled, wedge-shaped writing from ~700BC, the era of the Assyrian empire. I found it absolutely fascinating; great inspiration for my own worldbuilding project. Oh, that and the Mummy. Gross, yet utterly engrossing. I stared at it for a long time. Such a small, slight figure, blackened with age and decay. It really made me want to visit more place of the ancient world.

Kirsty got so sick of me talking about my adventures in Assassin's Creed, which lead to a hilarious moment when we were in Castel Sant'Angelo. I was saying how accurately they'd reconstructed the castle in the game, how I remember running around the circular keep and climbing up the nooks and crannies on the wall and Kirsty scoffed, saying out loud: "Oh my god, can you just stop with how many of these places you've been to in Assassin's Creed!? I've been here, there, climbed this and that. Assassinated someone here… Can you just stop?" A group of people happened to be passing by, and they laughed, looking at her with amused, but knowing expressions. I exchanged a look with them; they'd definitely played some of Assassin's Creed too. Kirsty suddenly realised that we weren't alone and shut up promptly, embarrassed that her outburst was witnessed. I chuckled at her reaction. It was too funny.

We flew back on a Tuesday morning, leaving a lovely warm 27 degree Rome to be greeted with a 9 degree Berlin. Hello Darkness, my old friend. The days had become so short in the two weeks we were gone. Unfortunately, my knee hadn't gotten any better — if anything, it was worse. I went to a doctor upon arriving back in Germany and the verdict was that I seemed to have a blood clot. Fortunately, I had Kirsty to look after me for a while! So as I lay, struck with a sudden fever and incapacitated with a swollen leg, she was kind enough to cook me soup and dinner. She's welcome back any time!