As I write, I am currently 35000 feet above sea level, in seat 44D on Emirates Airline flight 302. Twelve hours ago, I was on the ground in Rome. Soon, I’ll be on the ground in Shanghai. I’ve consumed four cups of coffee and gone to the bathroom five times on this flight. My goal is to power through the jet lag, basically treating this whole situation as an all nighter. The plan is to stay awake until 9 or 10pm Shanghai time, sleep through the night and hopefully wake up at a reasonable morning hour.
Rome was interesting, to say the least. It was a bit too touristy for my taste, I’d prefer to have been somewhere that the menus weren’t in both Italian and English. Granted, many of the places I frequented were Italian speaking only, there was enough English dull any sense of immersion. There were three places I went on a very regular basis, and they were all on the same block: Tuodi, the grocery store; the pizza place right next to Tuodi; and the caffe on the corner across the street from the pizza place.
Once the honeymoon faded after the first week or so, reality began to set in. There are only so many things you can make with pasta, basil, olive oil, tomatoes, mozzerella and proscutto.
I walked through St. Peter’s square (it’s really a circle) that it was old hat after a few weeks. The Colosseum is really just an organized pile of rocks that thousands of people got killed in. I’m glad I got the chance to see it, but it’s not really a structure that has the ability to keep my attention.
The two places I am very glad I went to were the beach resort town of Sperlonga and the Tuscan town of Montepulciano. Sperlonga was beautiful, clear blue water and sandy beaches that went off into the distance. The old town was built on a cliff above the water, and exploring that area was, simply put, really fun. It reminded me of an old adventure game I used to play called Riven; the narrow passageways and steep, winding steps were reminiscent of the style of that particular game.
Montepulciano had a similar feel to Sperlonga, except instead of a view of the Mediterranean, I was treated to a stunning panorama of Tuscany. The city is shaped like an elongated U, going uphill one way and downhill the other. The only street was barely wide enough to fit one car through, and it served as the main pedestrian thoroughfare as well. Little shops and cantinas lined that road, and I visited quite a few of them.
Rome, in comparison, is dirty, smelly, and crowded. Apparently there are no laws against public urination… Suffice to say, I’ve had enough of Rome for the time being. Pizza, panini and kabobs get old after a few weeks. I will miss the cappicino: it’s the best I’ve ever had, and the gelato: it was fresh tasting and refreshing, and the flavors actually tasted like their names. Strawberry gelato tasted like a fresh picked strawberry, likewise with raspberry, mango and coconut.
Leaving Rome was easy. Unlike a good number of people on this trip with me, my luggage was ten kilos under the limit of thirty, making my check-in and boarding process significantly easier. The flight from Rome to Dubai was about five hours long. We departed from Rome around 3:30pm and landed around 11:50pm Dubai time. I’m still having trouble wrapping my head around that math. It doesn’t work out, but that’s what happened. We spent two hours exploring the Dubai International Airport – that place is huge. Really, really huge. I didn’t get a chance to see any of the city or the desert because it was dark the whole time. It’s currently 12:04pm Shanghai time, which means I’ve still got three hours of flight ahead of me.
Air Emirates is be far the nicest airline I’ve ever flown. Both flights have been on Boeing 777-300’s, so each seat has a display built into it. They’ve got a selection of about 300 movies to choose from, in addition to tv shows and games. The food is by a wide margin the best airline food I’ve eaten – granted, I have somewhat limited experience in that area.
I’m looking forward to China, though I’m not exactly sure if I’ll be able to post this right away. I’ve heard rumors that the Great Firewall of China blocks word press, blogger and other blogging websites, but I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.