UNESCO...hmmm...where to go next-o?

So, I've been mentioning these UNESCO World Heritage Sites that I've visited. I just learned about UNESCO a couple of years ago, so I never intentionally went to a UNESCO site until recently.

What is UNESCO? It stands for: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. It was founded on November 16, 1945. Its primary purpose is create the conditions for genuine dialogue based upon respect for shared values and the dignity of each civilization and culture.

The World Heritage List includes 890 properties forming part of the cultural and natural heritage which the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value.

These include 689 cultural [Cultural site] , 176 natural [Natural site] and 25 mixed [Mixed site] properties in 148 States Parties. As of April 2009, 186 States Parties have ratified the World Heritage Convention.

Wow! That's a lot of places to visit. Here's what I've seen so far:

Belize
* Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System

Ecuador
* Galápagos Islands
* City of Quito

Egypt* Historic Cairo
* Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur
* Saint Catherine Area

Holy See* Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura * 11
* Vatican City

Italy
* Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights
* Historic Centre of Florence
* Piazza del Duomo, Pisa
* Venice and its Lagoon
* Cinque Terre
* City of Verona
* Genoa: Le Strade Nuove and the system of the Palazzi dei Rolli

Jordan* Petra

Netherlands
* Defence Line of Amsterdam

Syrian Arab Republic
* Ancient City of Damascus
* Ancient City of Bosra
* Site of Palmyra
* Ancient City of Aleppo
* Crac des Chevaliers and Qal’at Salah El-Din

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland* Stonehenge
* Westminster Abbey
* Canterbury Cathedral
* Tower of London
* Maritime Greenwich

United States of America
* Grand Canyon National Park
* Independence Hall
* Mammoth Cave National Park
* Great Smoky Mountains National Park
* Statue of Liberty

Climbing Mt. Sinai: Mish! Mish!

In addition to snorkeling, I decided that I would go ahead and climb Mt. Sinai and visit St. Catherine's Monastery in the morning. I took a nap for a couple of hours and had a late dinner of Bedouin-style fish which is a whole fish grilled in aluminum foil with vegetables such as zucchini, onions, tomatoes and eggplant. Most restaurants are Bedouin-style as well. You sit on the ground in the open-air on pillows and eat from a small table. Cats are a problem. They seem to be lurking everywhere waiting for you to put your guard down so they can steal your food. They give you water bottles so you can squirt the cats away, but this doesn't deter them for long. One cat got a chunk of my fish.

I saw a few guys sitting near me and I went over to chat with them. It turned out they were from Canada and they are teaching at a school in Cairo and are living in Maadi (who doesn't live in Maadi?) One of them came over and said he was interested in joined me on my trip to Mt. Sinai. His name was Jamie. I didn't know yet how happy I would be to have him with me. We had about 10 minutes to head over. The tour left at 11pm and we were scheduled to return by noon the next day. We got in our minibus drove for about 1 1/2 hours to the foot of Sinai.

When we got there at around 1am, we were (sort of) surprised to see hundreds of other people ready to make the climb. I'm not sure if it was so crowded due to the holiday, or if this was usual. I had all of the warm clothes I brought (not much), no tennis shoes (just sandals, I didn't plan on climbing a freakin' mountain!) and no flashlight - as was recommended. We were assigned a Bedouin guide for our group. I think his name was Samir and he told us we were group Mish Mish. Mish Mish? I think that's apricots or something in Arabic. It also means not not. In our group, aside from us, we had 3 Americans, 2 Dutch guys, a Japanese guy and a couple other random people. I think there were 13 in all.

As we stood in line waiting to begin our ascent, we noticed they were selling flashlights (we decided to go without) and scarves and things. I ended up buying this really nice camel-hair wrap. It really came in handy. Unfortunately, my money would have been better spent on a flashlight. We finally approached a desk where we assumed they were checking passports. Nope, they were checking bags (I think). One guy did this while 4 other guys stood around and watched him. Of course.

So we began the climb. 7500 ft. to the top. It was pitch black! I figured they'd have lanterns or something lighting the way. Nothing. The path was dusty, uneven, rocks jutting out...I had to pull out my cell phone (which was almost dead) and use it to guide my way or I never would have made it. In addition to this hazard, you have a crush of people, some fast, some slow, some old people being practically dragged up the hill and people are shoving to get past you, plus you've got camels coming straight for you that you don't even see until they are in your face. It's a good thing I couldn't see because I would have been terrified of falling off the mountain. Speaking of, one woman was on a camel screaming for dear life because it seemed as if it was about to walk right off the face of the mountain. No camel for me, thanks. At this point I wished to God I had a flashlight. I would have given my right arm for one now because it was impossible to see anything. There was so much dust in the air, I was pretty sure I was going to develop Black Lung Disease (ok I know that's from coal) soon after this hike.

Once in awhile we would stop to make sure the group was together. Our guide would yell, "Mish! Mish!" And we'd answer back, "Mish! Mish!" Our guide would count us to make sure we were all present. Jamie and I were usually last to reach the group -that was thanks to me. I was the oldest person in the group and the slowest. Jamie could have blown ahead, but stuck with me and made sure I made it ok. Thanks Jamie! But there were these two Dutch guys in our group that were complaining the whole time. "It is not good to stop and start every 5 minutes. We are going too slow, we could be at the top by now." Our guide explained that we are a group and he needs to keep track of all of us. I wanted to tell those guys off and say, "Not all of us are 6'5" and 21 years old!" But I bit my tongue and didn't say anything. We pressed on. We passed farting camels, people puking over the side of the mountain (I was praying that the wind wouldn't make any splash on me), people getting practically dragged up and some that just plain gave up. But after 2 1/2 or 3 hours of walking and 750 steps at the end, we made it to the top!

Our group got together and the Dutch guys were all upset. "He kept taking shortcuts and going too fast, we couldn't keep up!" I chuckled to myself and thought, "Ha! Serves you right!" It was around 4:30 or 5am and I could see the morning light beginning to glow in the distance. At the summit, we managed to find a spot on the edge to sit and we waited for the big moment. Finally, on the horizon, the sun rose. At that moment, a group of Japanese guys broke out into song and started doing Tai Chi or kickboxing moves or something. There is a Greek chapel that supposedly contains the rock God created the Ten Commandments from, but you can't get inside. On the side of it, there was a priest (Greek maybe) conducting an impromptu service.

The sun was up and we were ready to make our way back down. Mish! Mish! We took a short break. Jamie and I decided at that point to press on. After a little bit, I commented, "I don't remember this. Is this the right way?" We had to go down some steps (we knew there were 750 near the top), but then it was more steps and more steps and more steps....where the hell are we? I wanted to die. My legs were beginning to feel like jelly. There were hardly any people around. "Is this the right way? Where is everyone?" There were a few old people with canes struggling to make their way down. How are they ever gonna make it? I was ready to stop and be airlifted out. Just then, some other older-looking woman blew past me like she was floating down the mountain in little ballet-type shoes carrying what looked like shopping bags in each hand. "How is she going so fast? What the hell does she have in those shopping bags?" She seemed superhuman to me as I struggled not to fall and break my ankle with each conscientious step I took.

At this point, it seemed we were in some kind of ravine, so at least it was fairly cool. Finally, we could see the monastery from the ravine (seemed more like a canyon). Yes! There it is! Almost there! It seemed like an eternity. My legs were to the point that each step was nothing but pain. We could see other people coming down from the other way (the way we should have gone). Mish! Mish! No answer. I told Jamie, "This has to be a short cut! Why else would anybody go this way? This way is steeper and more direct." "Yeah," Jamie pointed out, "but it's also more tedious and slow." We finally made it to the bottom and we found some people from our group. "How long have you guys been down here?" They replied, "Like about 10 minutes." Curses! It wasn't even faster!" Our guide asked us where we were. I pointed back towards the ravine. "No, not the steps!" He exclaimed.

We were so exhausted, but it was time to go inside St. Catherine's which is the world's oldest continuously inhabited monastery. We headed straight for the Burning Bush (Yowch! Sizzling!) and that was about all we could take. We took a rest and sat near our Bedouin guide who told me that beautiful women have large eyes and a small mouth, but I have small eyes...and I guess a large mouth? I laughed and wanted to say, "Well I like guys with white teeth, or at least kind of yellow." But I didn't. I just smiled and nodded because I really had no clue what he was babbling about.

We were done, spent, kaput. So long Mt. Sinai. After we got back, I did some research. It turns out there are two principal routes to the summit. The longer and shallower route, Siket El Bashait, takes about 2.5 hours on foot, though camels can be used (that's the way we went up the mountain). The steeper, more direct route (Siket Sayidna Musa) is up the 3,750 "steps of penitence" in the ravine behind the monastery (that's the way we ended up going back down). The "steps of penitence?" More like the "steps of hell!" Thanks again Jamie, I couldn't have done it without you!"

The next day, I had to fly back to Alex. I can barely move my legs today. There were maybe only 20 people on this 737. No wonder it's hard to find flights from Alex, apparently no one in the city flies anywhere!

Dahab: City of Gold and Blue Hole Snorkeling

Since I didn't bring my dive license and you're not supposed to scuba dive and fly or climb mountains in a 24 hour period of time, I decided to just do some snorkeling at the Blue Hole instead. It was really great. It is a popular dive spot, but the hole itself is actually a sinkhole that drops down to depths of around 135m. No one is really sure. Normal maximum depth for sport divers is only 18m. Sadly, many people take risks or don't pay close attention to their depth and have died diving there. There are plaques cemented in the side of the mountain paying homage to some that have died there.

The Red Sea was teeming with colorful fish, coral, oysters and other types of mollusks and echinoderms. There were even some skin divers that I watched for a bit. I spent about an hour swimming around until I started shivering from losing so much body heat. I got out of the water to take a break and warm up a bit. I was feeling pretty hungry too and decided to get something to eat.

Our driver that took us to The Blue Hole came over to me and started chatting. I keep forgetting that I have to be nasty to guys or else have to deal with a bunch of crap. I wear a fake diamond to signify that I am married, but this doesn't always deter them. He went on about how he knows how to give massages and could give me a massage for free etc. It's so annoying. I tried to be nice and told him I was engaged (why didn't I just say married) but he didn't really take the hint. I know this won't be the last one of these encounters. Little did I know I would only have to wait 10 minutes for the next one.

Since there would be no more room at my hotel for the third night, I decided to find a new place. Preferably one that actually has air conditioning! I found the hotel where I stayed 3 years ago and they had room. I was talking to the guy at the desk and he was looking at me sort of strangely. When I returned to the desk for something else, he said, "Have you stayed at our hotel before?" I hesitantly said, "Yes." He actually remembered me from three years ago. He was very nice but was hitting on me. Again. Just like 3 years ago. Uuuugh. What else is new?

Tomorrow night: climbing Mt. Sinai!

Red Sea Blue Light Special

So, it is the end of Ramadan. The weekend of the "small feast," or Eid el-fitr. It marks the end of a month of fasting. Everything shuts down until Wednesday. That means I will have 5 days of nothing to do and I can't let that go to waste. I was here in Egypt 3 years ago during the same holiday. Ramadan is sort of like Easter in that it takes place based on the Lunar Calendar or something, so it changes every year. Last time I was here it was in late October and fell during my birthday. I took the bus from Cairo, a miserable 9 1/2 hours to Dahab, but it didn't cost much (probably about 25 US dollars) and was worth every penny. I had no problem finding a place to stay likely due to a bomb that had killed 22 people 6 months prior in 2006. so, although it was already Friday evening, I decided I wanted to get out of Dodge and head to the beach.

Little did I know...moosh keela (problem). First of all, getting the bus from Alexandria this time instead of Cairo will tack on probably 3 extra hours on the bus and I think the only available bus leaves at 9pm. Brutal. But hey, I'm a working woman now! I'm an esteemed professor at a university! Why not fly? Again, since I am based in Alexandria, need to fly to Cairo first and catch a connecting flight to Sharm el Sheikh (the nearest airport to Dahab) and then get a bus for 1 1/2 hrs. Still better than taking the bus for about 12 hours. last minute, not many flights available. I did find one at 6:30am but the connecting flights in Cairo were booked until noon, so I would have a 4 1/2 hour layover. Still sounding better than 12 hours on a bus. I booked it. $266.00US roundtrip. I figured I could get a bus from the airport to Dahab for about 10 US dollars no problem (mish moosh keela). Uhhh not quite. The flights from Alex to Cairo were great. No problems.

When I arrived in Sharm, I finally figured out that I would have to take a taxi from the airport to the bus station and a bus was leaving in about 1/2 hour. Ok. According to my Lonely Planet guide book (which hasn't failed me yet) a taxi ride from the airport to town should cost 20 - 25EGP (Egyptian pounds). So, I got in a cab and offered the guy 20EGP. He got mad and GOT OUT OF THE CAB! He said "No, 50 pounds!" I said, "No way!" Got out, got my suitcase and headed back into the airport. Someone stopped me and asked if there was a problem and I went off. Now, to understand why I was so mad, I'll have to give you an anecdote about my first day in Egypt in 2006.

This is the abridged version: I really wanted to go on a camel ride my first day. I was told that this ride would cost me about the equivalent of 20 US dollars. Ok fine. I did the camel ride, yadda, yadda, yadda, it was time to pay. But you can't simply pay and go. Oh no. First, you have to have your welcome drink of karkadeah tea. Fine. Then they put you through this whole perfume shpeal. Ok fine. I bought a tiny bottle of it. I asked how much I owed him. $120 US dollars! No way! I put my negotiating skills to use (of which I have none) and offered him $70.00 He wanted 100. I countered again with 80 (knowing this was still WAY more than fair) and he YELLED at me, "THIS IS FAIR PRICE!" I was so upset and scared that I freakin' paid it. Everyone I told that story to laughed at me and said I could have bought the whole camel for that price. I swore that wouldn't happen to me twice.

So, with that memory fresh in my mind, I marched back into the airport to figure out a new plan. By now I knew I was going to miss the bus and have to wait 2 more hours (possibly) for the next one. There were private taxis for hire for 120 US dollars which was posted. A guy offered to take me for 300EGP (Egyptian Pounds) instead, which is about the equivalwnt of 55 US dollars. "Buddy, you have a deal." Now, I know I paid 6 times more to get to Dahab than if I would have paid the cab driver what he wanted, but so what? In my mind I'd rather do that than get ripped off.

The driver and I were on our way. I kept hearing this ear-piercing long-beep tone. It was killing my ears. What the hell was it? Where was it coming from? The driver didn't seem to notice. I finally realized that it was because we were doing over 100km/hr. At one point we were doing 160km/hr. I must say, it took us only 45 minutes to get there instead of 90...so not bad. Total time from Alexandria to Dahab 10 hours (almost the same as if I would have taken the bus. Total cost: 300 US dollars (as opposed to 20 if I'd have taken the bus). I don't care it was worth it! But, the problems weren't quite done. I realized on the plane I forgot my dive license (oops, you kind of need that to dive), and finding hotels this time around is a big problem! But I got a room for tonight at least! That's the cost of traveling by the seat of your pants! Tomorrow, snorkeling at The Blue Hole and a trip to Mt. Sinai and St. Catherine's Monastery. You guessed it! Another UNESCO World Heritage Site!

Made it just in time for sunset.

Kitty was so thirsty he drank my whole cup of water!

I'm BACK! Back in the Saddle Again. I'm BAAAACK!

I flew from Rome back to Cairo. Unfortunately, I still had to make my way back to Alexandria. There were three options: 1) Get a cab from the airport to the train station and ride the train for about three hours to Alex, then get another cab to the place where I'm staying. Estimated cost: $25.00. 2) Pay a taxi driver to drive me all the way back to Alexandria. Estimated cost: $60.00. 3) Catch the shuttle bus to terminal 1, and get the bus back to Alex, then a cab to my temporary flat. Estimated cost: $8.00. The bus is the slowest, but cheapest way. I didn't care how much money I spent in Italy...but for some reason I nickel and dime myself to death when I'm in Egypt. Decision: Take the bus.

It didn't seem at first that it would be too bad. Yes, I was the only woman on the bus, let alone the only Westerner, BUT that's when I realized we would be enroute to Alex as the sun was going down. Since it is Ramadan, (for those of you unfamiliar with this Muslim holiday) that is the time when everyone is allowed to break the fast. (Muslims fast from sun up to sun down during Ramadan).

I didn't think this was a big deal, our bus driver stopped the bus, some guy got on and offered everyone figs and everyone took about 30 minutes to eat. Fine. Except when we stopped for a SECOND time. I have no clue why, and apparently neither did anyone else on the bus. After about 30 minutes some guy got up and started yelling at the bus driver. The bus driver yelled back and mentioned something about 10 o'clock (is that when we will get back to Alex? My plane landed at 3!) and finally got back in the driver's seat and we were on our way.

This is the Egyptian way of doing things as will be evident throughout the duration of this blog.
We DID finally arrive around 10pm...an American woman (at this point I only knew her as "The Cat Sitter") and her husband picked me up (thanks again!) got me some McDonald's (cut me some slack, everything else is closed) and I got home. Why is everyone so amazed that I ride the bus? Maybe I don't want to know. Ignorance is bliss.

Cairo from the air (and this is the less crowded part of the city).

Pisa and My Last Day in Italy

First, I feel compelled to mention the train ride. Some gypsy women boarded the train (which is not uncommon) and had some cute babies and went around demanding money from people. I must have REALLY looked like a sucker because I had 3 of them on me at once. I just smiled and played dumb, pretending I had no clue what they wanted. It was SO annoying though. I wished Neal was with me that that moment. I wanted to jump up all dramatic and bust out some MJ "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"...

"If you can't feed the baby (Neal would have to do the yeah yeahs) then don't have a baby! (yeah yeah) And don't have a baby (yeah yeah) if you can't feed the baby (yeah yeah). You'll be always tryin, to stop that babe from cryin'. Hustlin' stealin' lyin'...that baby slowly dyin!" I wondered what those women would have done? I chuckled to myself at the pricelessness of that. But I digress.

So, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. I'm becoming obsessed with these things. I'm going to have to go back and count how many I've been to around the world. Hmmmm. That will have to be a new blog entry soon. Anyway, I made a quick stop. There isn't much to see in Pisa except for the Leaning Tower, but you know, it's one of those things you gotta see. The actual tower is on the other side of the city, so it took me about 30 minutes to walk over there.

The UNESCO Site actually includes The Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square), which is a wide, walled area at the heart of the city of Pisa. It is recognized as one of the main centers for medieval art in the world. It is partly paved and partly grassed (keep off the grass please) and is dominated by four great religious edifices: the Duomo, the Leaning Tower, (which is the cathedral's campanile or free standing bell tower), the Baptistry and the Camposanto.

The Leaning Tower began to lean soon after the onset of construction in 1173 due to a poorly laid foundation and loose substrate that has allowed the foundation to shift direction. steps have been taken to ensure the tower doesn't topple over and actually leans a little less than it did before 2001.

A bit of strangeness did ensue with a gaggle of what looked like Secret Service guys wrangling a few guys in suits. I tried to get a picture, but some tourist with binoculars blocked my dude with the stereo-typical ear piece with little microphone that Secret Service guys wear right as he was talking into it. (Curses!) You can kind of see it in the picture if you click on it.

So, with that, I got on the train back to Rome where I was hit by a downpour while attempting to do some last minute shopping. Didn't buy anything except for a scarf. That's ok, because I brought too much crap in the first place.
CIAO ITALIA! I will miss you, but there is still so much to see (hell I figure I've got at least 35 of the UNESCO sites to cross off my list) so I think I will be back very soon! In the meantime - Ciao L'Egitto!

Genoa: Where's the Damn Salami?

Birthplace of Christopher Columbus, although I think it probably looks very different from the late 1400s. Neal and I were surprised to see the sheer number of Africans, Pakistanis with their Kebab restaurants, and Arabs (I told you it wouldn't be the last time I saw Africans in Italy). This town was unlike any that we had encountered in Italy. It seemed raw and a litle seedy. We felt more like we were walking through an Arabic souk than we felt like we were in Italy. We struck up some conversations with the locals. We found that many of the Africans are from Senegal and Algeria. We started a conversation with a real estate agent, and he said that there are people from all walks of life in Genoa “like any other port city.” Not sure if we agree or not. He also went on to tell us that crime was worse in the 80s. For the anniversary of Christopher Columbus (or was it for the G8 summit...not sure), the mayor put a lot of money in to fixing up the city, but he thinks things have gone back down a little bit.

Genoa was recently inscribed as a UNESCO site in 2006. There are two parts to it. The "Strade Nuove" and the "Palazzi dei Rolli." The Palazzi dei Rolli represents the first example in Europe of an urban development project parcelled out by a public authority within a unitary framework and associated to a particular system of "public lodging" in private residences, as decreed by the Senate in 1576. It was a unique system in which there was a list of a public network of private residences that was designated to host state visits. The houses were subdivided into "levels" of categories of quality and the owners of the buildings were obliged to give hospitality. The site also includes an ensemble of Renaissance and Baroque palaces along the so-called "new streets" (Strade Nuove).

Now, I always thought Genoa was the home of Genoa salami or something. Isn't it? I guess not. Apparently it is the home of pesto sauce or something. You know what though? Neal and I got a nice salami sandwich for lunch anyway and a glass of red wine. Not bad. I may have to try that more often. I did do a bit of research and I guess Genoa salami is a variety of salami that is commonly believed to have originated in the region of Geona, but isn't actually manufactured there. Where the hell do they make it then?


Neal and I strolled along the crooked streets and finally headed over to one of the museums, I think it was Palazzo Bianco (I lost my damn ticket before we even made it into the museum so I don't remember which). I must say, I loved a painting by Jan Wildens. It was a winter scene on a frozen river. One woman has fallen on the ice and her dress flipped up and I swear you can see her bare butt! Didn't they were underwear back then? We also went up to the look-out tower for a panoramic view of the city. He believes that in about 15 years or so, Genoa could be the next "it" place to go to and we could say we were there before it became too touristy or trendy. Neal, we'll see if you're right.

Soon it was time to go, we said our good-byes and headed our separate ways. There were no more trains to Rome that night so I decided to just start heading south. I stopped in La Spezia for the night and decided to hit Pisa the next day.

Cinque Terre: Smash it Up!

The next morning, I had every intention of going to Siena. I’m not sure what changed my mind, except for the fact that I was getting burned out on cathedrals and museums, but I was ready to relax by the beach, so I headed over to Cinque Terre instead.

Cinque Terre, like Verona, and most of the other places I visited in Italy,is a UNESCO world heritage site. Actually, Italy has 44 UNESCO World Heritage sites - the most in Europe followed by Germany and the UK, with 33 and 28 respectively. Cinque Terre it is made up of five small towns linked together by a pathway: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. Part of what makes it unique is that it was built in such a way that it can only be reached by rail or by boat.

On the train I met an Aussie woman and her daughter. We started chatting and she asked me about my new job. I told her I would be teaching English Conversation and American Culture classes in Egypt. She said, "American Culture? Isn't that an oxymoron?" Then she laughed and said, "Well, we're ones to talk, our country is younger than yours and we're descended from criminals!" Well, we ended up on the wrong train. I think she felt bad, but it was no problem.

We finally arrived at Riomaggiore and I hoped maybe there was room in her hotel for me. No rooms available, so I started to make my way up the hill asking for a single room. After about the fourth try, a woman stopped me and asked if I needed a room. She lead me up the hill a little further to a pretty cute apartment with a small living room and kitchen. I got changed and headed out to the beach.

Beach? More like a quarry! Covered in rocks. Big ones! How the hell do people lay on this? WHY do people lay on this? Some people were smart and had inflatable rafts to lay on. There were people coming out of the water slipping and falling on the rocks emerging with bloody shins and knees. What fun!

I went back to the apartment to find one of my roommates (another Aussie) with some friends making a big dinner. They invited me to join them and we had a fun time. Next, another roomie walked in. His name was Neal, an American guy from California, who everybody kept calling Kiefer (as in Sutherland), but I think looks more like Greg Kinnear. Agreed? He walked in and I said hi and stuff, and then he asked, "Where are you from?" I said, "Uh, America." He said, "Oh, I thought your accent sounded familiar. I laughed. Turns out he is a musician like me and we spent a couple of hours jamming and drinking wine. Neal played an original song he recorded and it was pretty good stuff!

The next day, I decided to go scuba diving. I was only me and a German girl. We got our gear on and had to walk down to the pier with our tanks on our backs. I still have a huge bruise from that. We went diving in a protected area called Monte Nero. Once we made it down, there wasn't a whole lot to see. We did see some lobster hiding out under the rocks and a Moray eel came half way out of its den and showed us his fangs. I noticed that I was about out of air and we hadn't even started our ascent. I alerted the dive master and he handed me his extra regulator and we had to "buddy breathe" the rest of the dive. After diving, I went over to the "good" beach on Monterossa. It still had rocks, but it was more like lying on someone's gravel driveway rather than some rock quarry. A small improvement, but I opted to rent a lounge chair instead...and then the clouds rolled in.
When I got back to the flat, I was disappointed that my Aussie roommate was rushing off to have dinner with her friends and Neal was nowhere in sight. After I finished showering he came in and asked, "Do you have any dinner plans?" "No," I said. He said, "Good, do you like ravioli? Because I met two girls from Massachusetts today and we ordered for you." Sweet. We met Liz and Monica and had dinner on their terrace. We were having so much fun that we decided to take the party over to the bar down the street. We met another couple and, yes, ok Neal, I did say something to the effect that the guy was good looking and could be an underwear model, but I did NOT say he would look good in his underwear. There IS a difference! lol! Anyway, we had a lot of fun that night. Underwear guy's catchphrase for the evening was, "Smash it up!" along with the thumbs up. And smash it up we did. When Neal and I returned to our flat we were surprised to find a guy there that we were partying with earlier that night. Weird and wild stuff.The next morning, Neal offered for me to tag along with him to Genoa and I happily obliged.

Florence

Florence is a beautiful city. It seems all of its buildings have terra cotta roofs. I decided to stay at a hostel near the train station. Good choice. They have washing machines, free breakfast and free dinner and plenty of free internet. The only problem was that I felt relatively old compared to most of the twenty- somethings that wanted to drink wine and party all night.

In the morning I headed out to Piazza Duomo where Santa Maria del Fiore is. In this square there are what I can only classify as beggars with a gimmick. Instead of the tired: “Oh, I’m so poor and I have a baby to feed,” they dress up in white with their faces painted white, holding a bouquet of fake roses and come up to you and make kissy faces and duck noises and then shake their basket at you. At least it was amusing and I was amused enough to give one of them a Euro and take a picture.

At this point, I was already getting tired of museums and cathedrals. I went to the top of the tower at Piazza Duomo and got a bird’s-eye view of the city and took some great pictures.

After that I headed over towards the Arno River. I spied some girl laying out by the river and decided to make my way down there. I relaxed for a few minutes until I noticed an old guy stripping down to his baggy grey underwear...God, at least I HOPE it was grey. Yikes! And he kept asking me what time it was. Where could a 70 something year-old guy POSSIBLY have to go in the middle of the afternoon?

I kept walking and headed up the steep hill on the south end of town up to Piazzale Michelangelo. It was worth the hike to the magnificent view of the city from the top. I laughed at the woman who was posing by the statue of David, trying to make it look like she was fondling his package, and wished I had someone to take a picture like that for me. Oh well.I decided it was now time to head over to the Ponte Vecchio. Now, I’m not into shopping and jewelry, but wow, a shopper’s paradise. I HAD to buy something. I settled on a simple pair of white-gold hoops with little hearts on them (85 Euros), and a small necklace with my name made out of wire. As a matter of fact, I liked the name made out of wire so much, I went back and had a second one made. The guy wouldn’t take my money for the second necklace (5 Euros) but of course there was a catch. He wanted to meet me for a drink. I told him he could meet me over at Piazza Santa Croce because I wanted to see the parade of the Rificolona.

The Rificolona is a festival celebrated by Florentines every year (even though most people seemed to be unaware of it). It is the parade of the paper lanterns and is celebrated by adults and children alike. The parade begins at Piazza Santa Croce and everyone follows a procession of musicians to Piazza Santissima Annunziata. I decided to have a glass of wine while waiting for the festivities to begin. I met these two American guys that live in Mexico now and they were telling me how beautiful Siena is. I decided to put that on my itinerary. Needless to say, I blew off the jewelry maker.

I then headed over to Piazza Santissima Annunziata where the real party was. They had a children’s choir, there was a marching band, other musical entertainment and the Cardinal also addressed the crowd. Many of the Florentines believe that this festival was held in celebration of the triumph of Florence over Siena on August 2nd, 1555, with lanterns tied to the ends of the soldiers’ pikes. But a more popular belief surrounds this celebration with a huge autumn fair held in the Piazza Santissima Annunziata on September 7th, the day before the nativity of the Virgin or the eve of the Feast of the Madonna. Dressed in what the farm people thought was suitable for the city, they brought their wares and produce as part of the festivities to be sold in an open market. To get a vantage position to sell their goods, the farmers and their families started their journey to the city before dawn. As they had to cross a great distance in the wee hours of the morning, they made lanterns with canvas or paper to light their way. The children are taught to make their own lanterns with colored tissue paper. They would shoot at the lanterns with blowguns so that the candle inside would be knocked down and the paper lantern would be set ablaze.

Finally, I was getting very tired and wanted to head back to my hotel - if I could find it. I wandered streets. Pretty soon I had the attention of another Italian guy. This one was older. He was trying so hard to chat me up, but I wasn’t in the mood and my stomach was killing me and I had to pee. Finally, I practically ran away and found an Irish Pub where I could relieve myself. Ahhhhh...finally found my little hostel and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.