The One That Looks Like A Boot...

New Things On The Internet...

2008-11-29T19:02:00.004+01:00

I just posted some of my favorite images to my website. A lot of them you have seen here, but there are some new ones on there as well. The rest will be on display tomorrow during the cannoli making festivities.

The link is... www.justintrupiano.com/italy08

In Roma Again, Naturally...

2008-11-19T20:05:00.005+01:00

It's been a few days since I've had internet and a lot has happened so I don't even know where to start. I'm back in Rome now for the night, my flight lands at 7.05pm tomorrow in the states. I'll be at my folks shortly after, where I'm sure I'll see most of you, so I'll save my stories for then. But I can leave you with a few photos.

Palermo Or Bust...

2008-11-15T21:02:00.003+01:00

Sorry it's been a few days since I posted. I've been on and off trains and buses for the past few days. I'm about to get on one more headed for Palermo. It leaves at 22.45 my time, is a little over 9 hours long and will put me in Palermo at 8.10 tomorrow morning.

Yesterday I spent a good part of the day in Pompeii. Wandering around the ruins. Today I had no plans, I had to check out of my hostel early and knew I had to take this train tonight. I thought I might just to explore Salerno. But on a whim I bought a bus ticket for a trip along the Amalfi coast. I stopped in the city of Amalfi for lunch and then continued on to Positano.

I'm not sure what the internet situation is going to be like in Sicily so forgive me if I don't post for a few days. Mom, Uncle Tom... I know you two have been upset when I hadn't posted in the past so to you I'm epically sorry. I'll do my best.

On The Road Again...

2008-11-14T00:35:00.002+01:00

I’ve been hoping on and off trains all day, making my way to Salerno.

Today’s lessons learned:
1) Run to your train, even when the guy at the information desk says it wont leave for another 10 minutes… it’s Italy they leave when they want.
2) Even with a Eurail pass sometimes you have to pay a 5 euro extra to get on certain trains, which have reserved seating.

Salerno, was not what I expected. I just spent two weeks in a medieval town on top of a hill in the middle of Umbria, not really a hopping place. Salerno is a big change. Salerno was mostly turned to rubble during WWII so not much of it’s medieval past shows through. They’ve since cleaned up the rubble, and now a very modern city is in its place. Don’t get me wrong though, it’s beautiful. I ate my dinner sitting in a park over looking the Mediterranean Sea, watching waves crash along the Amalfi Coast. I’m excited for tomorrow to see it in daylight. My hostel is only blocks from said park. It was a former convent, and my room (I have windows this time) is on the 4th floor, over looking a giant courtyard.

There has been a storm slowly moving towards all night. I took this picture from my bedroom window just before it started to pour. I’m very excited to have windows now.

Let Us Revert Back To Todi...

2008-11-12T15:28:00.002+01:00

I took the bus to Todi yesterday. It was about a two hour drive, and upon arriving I asked when the next bus to Orvieto was, the driver replied... 7 o'clock... tomorrow morning. Apparently because there was a festival going on in Todi all the buses stopped early. It was still early so I figured worse case I would take a taxi back to Orvieto. I hung out in Todi, the streets were pack because of the festival, which was less like a festival and more like an Art Fair for all the "As Seen On TV" products. Lucky for me everyone was on the streets which left all the museums and churches empty for me to explore.

About 7 I decided to find a way back to Orvieto. I found the tourist information office who said they could call a cab but they wouldn't be able to make it for about an hour. So I waited around for a bit until the cab pulled up. The driver hopped out and said "Orvieto?" I said yes. Then he proceeds to tell me that before we leave he needs to get a sandwich from one of the vendors. Needing food myself we both head off into the fair. He ordered something that looked like an elongated hamburger on a hoggie bun so I did the same. We hung out by the cab for a bit as he smoked a cigarette and then we were off to Orvieto. What took 2 hours by bus in the daylight only took half an hour in a cab at night in dense fog, you do the math.

He didn't speak any English and my Italian is mostly limited to ordering food, so the ride was pretty quiet. He asked me where I was from, I said that I was American which he in turn replied, "Obama!" We also talked a little about music, and he was excited when I mentioned that I listened to Jovanotti, an Italian singer that's pretty big over here right now.

I leave Orvieto tomorrow for Salerno. It's going to be different traveling again. Here when I walk into my regular cafe they know me and they know what I order. From now on I'm just going to be a regular tourist.

Good Food, Clean Clothes...

2008-11-10T21:20:00.002+01:00

My room smells of fabric softener. The important thing is, my clothes are clean… still wet and hanging from every free space in my room… but clean. While there are still no Laundromats in Orvieto, I made a friend who lives here in the city and let me use her washing machine.

Today I was going to take a trip to Todi, but Trenitalia employees like to go on strike every once in awhile and they chose today to do so. But if all goes well I’ll hop on a bus tomorrow and spend the day in Todi.

My dinner the other day was wonderful. It’s a place on the outskirts of town call the Champagneria. They mostly do Champaign imported from France but they also do food. No menus you just eat what they’re making that night. The night I went there was an eggplant dish for the first course and a pasta dish with ricotta cheese for the second. It was Asian style instead of traditional Italian style so both the dishes were rolled instead of piles of food. Both courses, wine, water and dessert came to a budget friendly 18.50e.

Supper Surprise...

2008-11-08T17:42:00.005+01:00

Saturday night in Orvieto. It's cool, sprinkling and smells like roasted chestnuts. Last night I spent at one of the local bars with a few friends I met my first night here. There was a band playing which consisted of two guys both with guitars and a set list full of American songs.

Tonight, I'm going to take the advice of an American who has been living in Orvieto for the past few years, and go to a restaurant where the chef is apparently the best in Orvieto. You only have the choice of two dishes, which change daily depending on what she feels like cooking. Everything she does cook is fresh from the market daily. I have no idea what will be served but I'm not too worried about it. It's Italian and apparently it's all vegetarian so I don't have to worry about getting cavallo (sorry Todd).

Dove lavanderia?

2008-11-07T12:45:00.006+01:00

It's starting to get colder here. Next week I'll start moving south towards the warmer climates of Sicily, which I can't wait for. On the 13th, I'm going to Salerno for two nights. I want to check out Pompeii and the surrounding towns. Then the 15th I'll take a night train into Palermo. Where I'll spend another two nights.

I've had no luck finding a laundromat in Orvieto. Apparently there were two but they've both closed. I should be able to stretch what I have for another few days until I get to Salerno. Or there's going to be some soapy socks in the sink.

Not sure what the plans are for dinner yet. I need to find some kind of meat. I've been eating too much pizza, pasta and panini. But it's Friday night so it should be pretty hopping around here.

Morning Train To Florence...

2008-11-05T19:22:00.005+01:00

I hopped on the morning train to Florence today. 2 1/2 hours later I arrived. I like Florence so much better than Rome. It's still a big city but it's easier to get around and much more to do. Breakfast today was a first, Belgium waffles with strawberry gelato. It must be a Florence thing because every gelato shop here has waffles but I've never seen it anywhere else. My train back to Orvieto leaves in a few hours but first I'm going to meet up with some guys that I met a few days ago in Orvieto. They happened to be in Florence today as well and we ran into each other by the Ponte Vecchio.

PS. My Mother was upset that I didn't post any pictures yesterday. I'm sorry about that, it was raining pretty bad, I'll try not to let it happen again.

Ciao!

Rainy Days...

2008-11-04T21:05:00.000+01:00

Not much today… it’s been rainy all day so I haven’t been out much. I’m becoming a regular at the café’s, they know me when I walk in and they’ve stopped asking me “Americano?” when I order a “caffe”.

Tomorrow, no matter the weather, I’m getting out of Orvieto for a day. I’m going to see Florence. I’ll stop at a few towns on the way and promise to have more pictures posted.

I hope all is well back in the states. And hope the best man (Obama) wins the election.

Salute Familia...

2008-11-02T22:06:00.001+01:00

Tonight I treated myself, per request of my folks, to a Typical Etruscan Dinner at the famous, Tipica Trattoria Etrusca. I met the manager, Soliman, who is actually from Egypt. He is a favorite of my folks and my Grandparents. He says “Salute familia!” and gave me a postcard of the restaurant for “mio nonni”.

My first course was a vegetarian egg-less pasta, recommended by the chef, with some sort of red sauce. Amazing. And just so you don’t think I went all soft with the vegetarian thing, for my second course I had rabbit with a green salsa that’s making my mouth water even though I can barely move I’m so full. The side dish was beans with olio and bruchetta. Followed it all up with a shot of espresso and a shot of lemoncello. Then it was a stroll around town to mingle with the common folk.

Camera Blues...

2008-11-01T16:59:00.003+01:00

The Italian word for ‘room’ is ‘camera’. Here at La Locanda del Lupo all the rooms are named after genres of music… per esempio: Camera Jazz, Camera Opera… etc. I happed to get the Blues Room, ‘Camera Blues’.

Camera Blues is a wonderful room with a few pitfalls. Number one: There are no windows to the outside world. This is really only a problem in the morning, because no matter what time I wake up it feels like it’s still the middle of the night. Number two: The only window (It’s only a window in the most liberal sense of the word, it’s more like a rectangular hole above the door covered by thin linen) leads out to the hallway so everything I do or say inside my room can be heard throughout the rest of the building, and vice versa. There are a few other issues like how one side of the bed has no cell phone service but the other does or when I charge my computer I have to climb on a chair to plug it in. But I can’t complain because it’s clean, comfy and cheap, I can’t ask for anything more.

Walking back to the hotel last night I heard 4 people in front of me speaking English. I said, “Hey! Americans!” They laughed and we walked around for a while. They are art students living and studying here in the city. They gave me some good advice about the city, including a bar with free WIFI access. Unfortunately today is Tutto Santi, All Saints Day. So most of the bars including that one are closed today. But I do have some time left on my card at the other bar so that’s where I’ll log on today.

It rained slightly this morning, it was less like rain and more like being misted by the fans while in line at Cedar Point. That cleared up by noon though and it was sunny and warm. Today was spent exploring the many paths leading down the side of the hill and around the city walls. It’s really amazing to see how the bricks placed there by man that make up the wall and the actual living rock that make up the hill come together so seamlessly. In America they would have just flattened the hill and terra formed the land to make it work for them. I love that here they’ve learned to live amongst nature instead of suppressing it.

Slowing Down...

2008-10-31T20:36:00.004+01:00

It was a slow day. Still adjusting to this new environment. Rome was non-stop Orvieto is a lot slower. Not as many people to talk to either, this time I’m in a room by myself. I did however manage to get out to the Coop. I bought some rations then wandered these ancient streets. It was a lonely day, not much going on and not many people around. Then I stopped at an overlook, ate my pizza, drank a bit of wine and remembered why I chose to come here.

Happy Halloween, everyone.

There is a band playing at my hotel tonight, they sounded great warming up so I'm going to check them out in a little bit.

Ciao

Posted In Haste...

2008-10-30T21:55:00.005+01:00

Arriving at the termini this morning around 9:30, I checked the times of trains. The train to Orvieto was to leave at 10:55. I sat around the station for a bit. Flipping thru my Eurorail booklet and the train to Pisa at 9:55 caught my attention. I've never been to Pisa. Knowing I had all day on my Europass and wanting to get my moneys worth I thought I would take the long way to Orvieto. So I hopped the next train to Pisa.

The sea to my left, the rolling Tuscan hills to my right, I thought of different ways I could alter the cliche, me leaning on the tower picture. After an hour and a half I was getting hungry, so I started looking at the map and trying estimate how much longer until Pisa. My handy-dandy Eurorail book tells me it's a 4 1/2 hour trip... wait... what?

Doing some quick math... I concluded that I would make it back to Orvieto some time next week. So I quickly made a decision to hop off at the next town that looked semi interesting, grab some lunch and take the next train back to Rome and then on to Orvieto. The next town happened to be Cecina. A good size town, but empty. Partly because it was in the middle of siesta when I arrived and partly cause it's in the middle of nowhere.

I ate my panino on the steps of a dried up fountain while being pelted with strange looks from people who obviously have not had too many visitors donning 50 pound backpacks.

After a long day of "Eurorailing" I'm here, in Orvieto. In one of my favorite places to check my email... although prices have gone up since last time... I had to pay 6.50 for 1 hour of internet. That will surely blow my budget. So tomorrow is dedicated to finding a free wifi spot, wish me luck.

Oh real quick... I have some amendments: In response to yesterdays post, there are trains that go all the way to the Vatican... so I didn't have to walk.

And another note: Would everyone please pay mind to Grandma and Grandpas profile picture of Willy on the chair... it's hilarious!

Ciao

Just Another Lost Tourist...

2008-10-29T20:00:00.001+01:00

While yesterday was about resting and casually roaming the sights near my hostel, today was about exploring the city. That is, 11 hours of exploring.

It started with a want to see the Vatican and the Sistine chapel. I grabbed a map and started walking. I soon found out it happens to be further away than any other tourist attraction in Rome... there is nothing else around. I found it and enjoyed the basilica for some time then tried to enter the museum, after finding out it was 14euro but would be free if I had a student ID, I decided not to go in. I thought... I'll head back to the Hostel now. 10 hours later... after being lost countless times and getting distracted countless more by other random attractions... I finally made it back to my hostel.

I'm here now, back in the lobby of the hostel... waiting for the pizza that a few of us ordered.

I leave for Orvieto in the morning, where I'll stay for two weeks. After that I plan on heading south towards Sicily making a stop in Pompeii for a day.

Ciao

When In Rome...

2008-10-28T17:59:00.000+01:00

I'm pushing 30+ hours of no sleep. This should be interesting.

Rome is more wet than I remember. It's been raining off and on all day... it did however clear up just long enough for me to stumble upon some ruins, watch a parade of students protest outside of my window, and get lost a few times on the labyrinth that is Rome.

I also learned how to fill up the cell phone with minutes, because mom and I had one too many calls today.

Alright I think it's late enough to try taking a nap.

The 5 Hour Mark...

2008-10-27T08:11:00.000+01:00

5 hours until take-off, my backpack stuffed to it's breaking point, if there's anything I've forgot it's going to stay that way.

For those of you interested in following along on my little venture I will try to update this daily. So be sure to check back.

Ciao