Hits and misses.

I thought the following post had accidentally been deleted, and that it was for the better, as it was a bit emo and not very good. However, owing to the fact that I can't be bothered retyping/editing, and also to the fact that it's ok, I'm going to post anyway. So I'm going back on my decision to go back. Yeah. It starts now!
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Doing stuff in Warsaw, having deepish chats at the hotel bar, going for a walk in the Warsaw thunderstorm, it's all been good fun.

For some reason, right now, I just want to go home. Or at least, Hong Kong.

I think it has something to do with the fact that doing the same thing every day, with the same people, brings out all the nuts from the bolts. Some people I'm starting to get sick of, although they're quite few and far between.

I'm also starting to miss seeing old friends. People that understand me, I understand them, etc. Same goes with family. Meeting new people has been amazing. Some of these people are fantastic individuals, and I'm glad and grateful to have met them, and will definitely keep in touch with after the trip. However, some people have started to grate on my nerves a little on a part-time basis. But whatever. It's just a couple of weeks, and it's almost over anyway. It's also good for practicing patience and diplomacy.

So in a sense, because of this duality, the good people and the getting on my nerves people, I'll be both sad and relieved when this trip ends.

Anyway, it's not all been doom and gloom. In between breakfast yesterday morning and walking in the thunderstorm last night (craziest thing I've done in a while - not that I really do a lot of crazy things), we managed to fit in a Chopin concert in a Warsaw park.

It was the most beautiful moment on this trip so far. Amazing how we visit death camps etc, and the thing that makes me most emotional is some Chopin in the park.

Right at the start, I actually semi-cried. I believe it was this piece:

The piece that almost made me cry.

Just everything together - the park, learning about the Holocaust, the thinking about relationships, missing home, the beauty of the music. It had a wonderful ability to speak about both yearning, hope, and sadness.

It sounds cheesy, but it just made me wish I had a special someone to share the moment with, and really highlighted for me the major thing lacking in my life right now.

It also highlighted how despite man's propensity for killing each other, we are also capable of indescribable beauty. Music speaks, and when it does, it's in a universal language.

After that piece, I just settled into a sort of melancholy, reflective torpor, rather than acute sadness and yearning.

A break from all that faux-deep stuff now. Warsaw city is pretty ugly to be honest. However, the heart of the city, where the Old City is, is quite nice. Reminded me of Venice a little bit.

Anyway, should be ok by tomorrow. Just need to get some alone time for a few minutes at the bar or something.
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So after typing that load of drivel, Sam subsequently picked me up from sitting in the lobby by myself like a loser, and semi-conscripted me into shopping with him, tall Meg, and Scarlett. It was kind of what I really needed at that moment, despite my desire to not talk to anyone for a bit. Cheers Sam.

So right now, I'm in Bialystock, which apparently is in Poland. I pretty much know nothing about it apart from that.

And as predicted yesterday, I'm pretty much ok now. I no longer have a burning desire to get away. I've decided not to let people who are attempting to grate on my nerves to actually do it, which has pretty much solved that particular issue.

So off to Lithuania tomorrow. I almost have no idea what that country involves, which should be interesting.

Word of the Day: Faux

Venetian decadence + Rome-ing

So yeah, Milan, didn’t manage to do a whole lot there. Basically saw the Duomo, got lost on the way back, found my way back to the hotel eventually, then left the next morning for Venice.

Venice was quite nice. The architecture, the wateriness, and music, and all that was lovely.

The prices of things, however, were definitely not nice. Certainly not for the faint-hearted/poor. Patrick  shouted me, to repay my shouting of the Bordeaux dinner, what is, if not the most expensive coffee in the world, the most expensive coffee I've ever had. 5,80 euro (they use commas instead of decimal points over there, dontcha know - culcha) for the live music charge (there was live music played - it worked out to be about a euro a song), plus about 9 euro for the coffee itself. It did, however, come with complimentary chips and water. And they did play 'La Vie En Rose'. You know, that song by Rachael Leachar (lololol I just mocked mX readers). Yippee. Cheers Paddy.

Also, everything there seemed really manufactured. Even the skies the next morning when we were leaving looked manufactured, and they were to a certain extent. They had those planes spraying white lines in the perfectly clear blue skies.

Everything seemed to exist purely to suck money away from tourists. There were very few, if any, organic sort of businesses that exist to serve the needs of everyday citizens. This may be because there are very few ordinary everyday citizens. I don’t think I saw any locals apart from those sucking money from tourists. A very nice place on the surface, but quite cynical underneath I think.

So as I write this up, I’m sitting in the hotel lobby of my hotel in Rome. A very nice hotel, but a relative age away from anything worthwhile.

I don’t want to sound like I’m Rome-bashing, but there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot here, despite its size. It’s much the same as everywhere else, except less good. The tourist attractions (Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps) were nice, but the city itself, by and large, is not very beautiful. It’s a bit run-down and old, crowded and busy (especially the trains. Can you believe they have two train lines to service the entire city? Bizarre).

The highlight for me was probably Vatican City. A very nice place, and it had a great ambience to it.

The weather was also really hot. It’s only 30-odd degrees, but it’s sweltering from about 9am in the morning, right through to God knows when at night. I think it seems hotter because during the Melbourne summer, it usually only starts to really heat up at around midday, rather than pre-breakfast.

So now I am a nice shade of brown, and I travel to Florence in the few hours. Kind of wish I’d made the train earlier.

Word of the Day: Organic