Day 126: The Sicily Circuit

06.05.09: Our ferry got us into Pozzallo, which is not the same place we left from (Catania), so we raced to the train station and hopped on the OLDEST TRAIN IN THE WORLD up to Catania. One of those trains where you can OPEN THE BLOODY WINDOW and STICK YOUR HEAD OUT!! Health and Safety be DAMNED I say, be DAMNED. The conductor was bo-diddly crazy, and everyone on board didn't seem to be heading anywhere - they were just there for ‘the craic'. I can't express to you, the joy of windows that OPEN - in buildings, in trains, on buses - give me AIR! Not phoney, dry through-the-(might-not-be-working)-AC air, real immediate O2 - air that you do not have to ask someone else for, air that can't break down on the hottest day of the year - fresh, flowing, cool democratic air. Happiness is…

Continue Reading Day 126: The Sicily Circuit

Day 125: Dear Rome, Please Help Me

05.05.09: And so on to Rome... I arrived at some ungodly hour, which I thought was actually quite appropriate. I slung my bag into the Pop Inn Hostel (with crazy guy Cesar running the joint, I warmly recommend it - it's right by the train station too), and hit the streets - I had to step foot in Vatican City tonight. And so, I found myself walking through Rome with my heart on a string, dear god, please help me. I'm so very tired of doing the right thing... It was past midnight when I got to Popesville and there I found that the entire Piazza di San Pietro was cordoned off. No public access tonight, young Hughes, you atheist dog. Oh well, might as well see if there's a back entrance (I would expect that of the papacy, wouldn't you?). So I set off for…

Continue Reading Day 125: Dear Rome, Please Help Me