The flight: Landing in Rome was the first time I've experienced a plane actually backspinning while it landed. Admittedly the tarmac was wet, but hot damn, spinning out like that was surreal. After I kissed the unmoving ground I set myself up to meet Jon who was flying in from Germany. It took me about 20 minutes to realize that since he was flying within the EU and I from the US we would arrive in different terminals. So I trundled off, caught his eye, embraced and preceded to buy 4 tickets to Perugia. I really, really wanted to get to the girl as quickly as I could. What? An extra ticket doesn't make the train go faster? Well sod a wet hairy dog.
The arrival: Relief, I had the girl in my arms. Precious. We talked, holy hell did we talk. In point of fact, the only disturbance to our talking was the fact that the girl still had school to deal with. Big kink, as it were.
Cinque Terre: Connecting in Florence, we arrived in Manarola (the second of the 5 coastal towns) with no passports and money/sweet, beautiful American faces that no Italian could refuse.
We somehow (randomly, opportunistically) found an apartment that overlooked the sea (truly, though the view was...narrowed, as it were). We wandered around Manarola, Jon scoped out where he would propose to his girl, and I spotted the most disturbing dog in the world.That first night we had a fantastic meal at the restraunt just opposite our wee apartment, Jon proposed, and afterwards we tried the Grappa he bought earlier.
From Wikipedia: Grappa, also known as Grappa Wine, is an Italian grape-based spirit of between 40% and 50% alcohol by volume (80 to 100 proof). It is made from the distillation of the residue of grapes (including the stems and seeds) that were pressed for the winemaking process. It was originally made to prevent wastage by using the leftovers at the end of the wine season.
Jet fuel. Fucking jet fuel.
Our second day in Cinque Terre saw us walking to Corniglia (the third town) along a cliffish type path that provided beautiful views of Manarola behind and Corniglia before.
The girls managed to disappear for half an hour up the cliff (alone only because Jon and I could literally not fit through the paths they chose). The girl claims she found the lost city of Atlantis. The other girl protests that it was simply a collection of squatter houses. I believe the girl, who wouldn't? Atlantis is a hell of a lot more exciting than squatting (which Italy makes everyone do a lot of).We then took a train to Vernazza where I took a fabulous video on the hour of the chiming church bells. I truly wish I would share the sound. From there, we trained to Monterosso where we skipped rocks, the ocean attacked me, and we had a rather expensive "decent" meal. Good wine though. We took the train back to Manarola, or so we thought! We wound up first in Riomaggiore (the first town), back to Monterosso, and then finally caught the right train to Manarola. The adventure took us about 2 hours and included meeting a very friendly Italian man who assured us that the Italian train system shows mercy to none - managing to even screw with John Travolta's time table. (and Italians loooooooooooooove John Travolta.)
Back in Perugia: The next 4 and a half days was a collection of midterms for the girls, Harry Potter, meeting the girl's old roommates, walking all over Perugia, and, ironically, spending little time with the girl. Perugia is a lovely city, beautiful even for its intimacy. There was a great pottery market on Tuesday where I got my mother a cool oil vase. Strangely enough I didn't get her the accompanying vinegar vase - my mind truly does amble along strangly.
Wednesday night we attacked a fabulous wine shoppe and proceeded to attempt to drink Italy of all its wine. We suceeded not but I found a fabulous red wine and a great white wine (great if you never eat octupus with it, that is). After wresting my mouth from the teat of Italy's Bacchus, I tried to help Jon to finish off the bottle of Grappa. We tried mixing it with coke (which he liked) and milk (which I "liked"), but could only take off about an inch and a half of it. I do believe, after the girl and i walked one of her roommates home, that I succumbed to an artificial fever created by a lack of water and a fascinating combination of spirits. Nothing worrisome, but it was a mighty mighty strange experience. Needless to say, I slept in the following day. The girl and I had a nice talk when she got home and I then helped her "study" for her last final. I'm such a great study buddy (likely a much better one when I'm not still blitzed, eh?).The girl left and I commenced to packing as it was my last day. Jon and his packed as well for they (and the girl) were off to Venice to meet some friends and rejoice in the engagement. The girl eventually came home and we eventually left.
The night that followed is priceless for how incredibly tragic it was.
I won't go into the details because it's just too damn good of a story not to tell in person. However, a few things resulted because of the events of my last night in Perugia which I simply must share:
1. My bags and I are now intimately acquainted with the streets of Perugia.
2. My ideas, though often never listened are ultimately always followed.
3. Champagne on a train is a fantastic experience that you should not pass up.
4. However, losing your glasses down the shitter on a train is one experience that you must endeavor never to embrace.
Whose?
Hers.
No comments:
Post a Comment