Dear Diary, Italy

(Excerpt from my travel journal; 18 years old; France to Italy; if you see == within parenthesis, they are comments I'm making while typing this up. If you haven't yet, feel free to check out the London post which was the first part of the trip, or the intro.):

2008 June 16

Italy

Today, we arrived in Rome, Italy. We rode the night train last night.

(==> Insert incredibly super awful drawings that make me wonder how I thought art school was ever a good idea...)

Something's itching inside of me. Let's get a one-way ticket to Italy.

Hills remind me of Virginia.

Houses crowded like San Fransisco.

I really don't care anymore.

Let's just go.

Where history isn't just the past.

(==> I suspect a page was ripped out right about here, because it jumps. Granted, typing up my travel journals kind of makes me question my attention span, and ability to stay on topic, anyway.)

...I had a dream. This man went to talk to me after I got off a bus. It was a dark street, almost abandoned. I didn't want to talk to him. I tried my best to avoid it. But there was nothing I could do. The moment he acknowledged me, evil started following me. I woke up and there was a blanket in front of me, hanging from the bunk above me. It's like waking up and not hearing the music from the speakers until a few minutes later, once you've realized you're actually awake, except the exact opposite. Instead of not hearing something that was there, I was seeing something that wasn't there. I saw an EF tours backpack hanging with two feet in them, unattached to legs. At first, I was frightened and thought evil had finally caught me and was haunting me. It looked so real. However, I made myself reach out and touch it. Nothing but blanket. I thought it was just a bag with a picture of feet. I know it was a blanket because after I fell asleep, I woke up in the light with the blanket hanging there... the plaid blanket.

Today, we had 5.5 hours to look around. I only needed up with three stamps and 5 postcards. I walked with Ashley and Jessica who bought clothes at the Italian (or maybe London, they had England flag signs everywhere) version of Hot Topic. I'm no longer into that style, nor am I into spending the money when I have a move to look forward to. I got the stamps in a tobacco "Tabacchi" shop. Perfect.

My psychiatrist says when I dream about evil, it's because I'm worried or contemplating about something bad in my life. (<== More explanation on this stuff in the intro post of this trip. I debated taking this out, but the nightmare was part of the trip...) I guess he got that one right. Evil is constantly haunting my dreams; he just chooses to hide every now and then. I'm almost afraid to go to sleep, afraid of what else my mind may conjure up. The dreams are so real. One night, they just might be too real. I still have scars on my arm from a reality nightmare. What harm could I cause myself if I'm asleep? (<== Again, do I leave this or take it out..? I'll leave it in for now.)

2008 June 17

Waking up in Rome was awesome, granted it cost me about a tank of gas (or probably only a half a tank, by now). Last night, I was freaking out because I had NO minutes left. Ok, four. Then, the company texted me information of how I could get more minutes over the phone. So I did. This morning, I woke up to a cold room. Jessica had left the window wide open. She and Ashley were still asleep. It was about 5:40am and the sun was just rising. I loved it.

(Later)

So, today we've been touring Rome. We have a tall lady with a high-toned, accented voice. I'm not sure what we saw today, besides the Colosseum. Then we went to some other place. I had to change my SIM card and then it started sprinkling. We got some water from the fountain. You can put your finger in the main hole and water will come out a smaller, top hole, easy for drinking. It's hard to write or draw when on the bus. (<== Insert sad attempt at a sketch of the fountain described.)

(A little later)

Because I didn't get any water or drink at the restaurant, I saved 3 to 4 euro. Now, we're at Musei Vaticani. Great. Another boring museum. Well, at least most of this is paid by my dad. (<== Ok, to be fair, as much as I go to museums, I do get bored about halfway through. Even now. It's just hard for me to concentrate on so much information for such a long time.)

(In the Sistine Chapel)

Jim, Alyse's grandfather, suggests reading the Agony and the Ecstasy for readings on Michaelangelo.

www.myspace.com/finleymusic

So, right now, I'm under an arch, waiting to go. Three times, vohume is written on the door. Wonder what it means.

So, I bought an Italian CD at dinner. They performed for us. I had to close my eyes to do it. I didn't want to spend the money. It was ten euro, which is $15 but I could've used that to buy a new CD.

(==> I'm just inserting all of June 17th photos here. Scroll on to June 18.)

2008 June 18

Today, we traveled from Rome to Pompeii, toured the volcanic stuff, and then from Pompei to Sorrento where we dipped our feet in the Mediterranean Sea. At first, we couldn't find a beach because everything was private. Actually, I think these guys were trying to talk to Jessica and me, but I ignored them. Then, as we were about to give up, a group of people our age came along and was like, "iVamas al playa! iVamos! iVamos!" So we followed them to the beach. It was already getting dark, but we could still see through the water. It was pretty cold, but I did manage to get a pebble from it for Miranda. Once we got out, the other group started smoking. I was in the background with Jessica and Ashley, but they offered cigs to the others.

(==> I don't know why I didn't say much about Pompeii. It was such a big deal and still unbelievable to me. Or maybe I didn't come to respect the impact of what happened until much later. A month after this visit, the government declared Pompeii in a state of emergency.)

Today, Aaron and Christian got a crappy room. Before they were moved to another room, I snatched the ashtray from the nightstand. I hope he likes it. Not only is it something he can use and needs more of, but I stole it... and from Italy. Sure, it wasn't from a restaurant, but hey. (<== Holy crap! I don't remember this at all! I stole an ashtray? I'm laughing so hard at past me, right now. Oh, my!)

I think this is Patrick and Jim at Pompeii. Not totally sure.

I'm not sure if this was previously mentioned, but... (<== this story was inserted in the London post, for consistency. It was about Andy being picked on for volunteering to act as someone on trial for being a cross-dresser). People were just picking on him about it.

hotel pool, I think

hotel in Sorrento

Maya locked herself in the bathroom. I can relate. I did it earlier at the restaurant.

Anyways, Andy and I ended up with seats together on the small train ride. He had an iPod he was watching a movie with. I ended up taking over (on accident) and found his playlists. His music is like mine, but a guy's version, minus the blues. I loved it. (<== I'm not even sure what a guy's version is supposed to mean... Anyway, poor guy. I took over his space, it sounds like!)

I appreciated it, probably more than he realized. I'm hoping I'll get to listen to more of it later. I doubt anybody listens to the same stuff, or even if they did, would let me listen.

Greece

I'm starting to be pretty cool with Aaron and Christian. Jessica and Ashley seem pretty cool with me. We've been 'bonding' as Jessica likes to put it.

2008 June 19

Italy to Greece

One thing about Europe is they know NOTHING about how to serve cereal. They serve the milk at ROOM TEMP! It's so disgusting. Breakfast does NOTHING for me here. It's not fulfilling and it's always the basics: cereal and bread... plenty of bread. Anyway, I think it's cool how I can talk to people my age or younger or older. I was talking to Alyse's grandparents. It's great to talk to people like them because they can inform you or give you and insight on something.

Another quote from Mr. & Mrs. Smith. "Happy endings are just stories that haven't ended yet."

Christian points at the camera, I'm smiling from behind him, Alyse has her arms spread wide in the back, Jessica P is trying to turn around to look at the camera, Aaron on is the right, smiling, etc etc

Maya

Oh, how I miss those shorts!! That's the only reason I got this photo. I <3'd those shorts and kept them years after I outgrew them. Sighs.

There's me! On the top!! What? I have no idea who I'm on top of. On the third row, Alyse is on the left, Erin in the middle. On the bottom, left to right, is Ashley, Mrs. Richey, Aaron, and Christian. Jimmy is in the back, helping us stay in balance.

(==> End of excerpt. I am "publishing" this around the date I wrote it, but the real date is 2019 June 18. Other locations of the trip: London, France which was the previous post, Greece which is next.)