Definitely my favourite country in the tour there was just so much about it to enjoy and to me it finally felt like I was in a foreign country. Driving along the coast from France into Italy a lot of the beaches looked like driving through Camps Bay except the buildings were very different. They were beautiful, historical and there were some magnificent churches. As we got further in land I was struck by the roads and bridges they were really amazing and way beyond what you see here in South Africa. As we went across the border we had our first taste of the difference we were to experience. Nothing major, but the convenience stores at the petrol stations worked a little bit differently than we were used to, this was our first indicator that we were in a new country.
Our first stop in Italy, but not our first stay over, was Pisa. Felt a bit at home as there were Nigerians everywhere selling counterfeit goods and we were warned not to buy anything as it was illegal. Every now and then you would here a commotion and see some of these guys running through the crowd with all their goods in a blanket after being warned that the cops were on the way. Pisa is just filled with tourists taking photos, most of them trying to find clever ways to pose with the tower, so sure that they are the first one to pose in that specific way. Of course no one pays attention not to go on the grass as that is the best place to get a photo from.
This time the four South African girls: Shannon; Gené; Baaqira and myself, had decided to stay in a room together. Once we arrived in Florence we had one of the quickest changes so far on tour before we went to dinner. Add to that the fact that we weren’t allowed to use hairdryers or straighteners in the rooms and the girls weren’t very happy. Dinner was at the spar type shop on the campsite which had tables outside. Luckily this shop also sold alcohol and cheaply at that, so the drinking started early that night.
We left on the bus to hit a karaoke bar in the city that night. It was at this point that I informed the entire bus that when my mom had done this trip 30 years ago they had drunk “Zombies” in Florence and we should all have them here for traditions sake. I was not very popular the next morning as the drink gets its name from how you feel the next morning. The karaoke worked in a very strange way and so a few of us elected to get the bus back to camp when it left at about 10. This was my first experience of the party bus. The music was pumping and everyone was dancing in the isle. There were even a few attempts at planking across the chairs.
As it turned out it was karaoke night back at the campsite which ended up in a long night of sing a longs. Old school songs were played, tables were danced on and in the back of my mind I allowed myself to feel like I was in an episode of Glee. As the night got later we got a bit wilder. It was quite hot and so we attempted to sleep on our mattresses outside which resulted with a small game of hide and seek with the campsite security. Eventually we all got to sleep but our punishment was how we felt the next morning.
I woke up with no voice and the first indication that I was falling prey to the dreaded contiki cough. Italy was hot and I’m not talking a few beads of sweat and the need to sit in a pool all day. I mean trying to adjust your clothes to cover as little of your body as possible while still trying to maintain some form of decency. If we could sit down, and find any amount of shade, we did.
We were taken on a walking tour of the city which as was a wonderful way to find things out and see the city. Unfortunately it didn’t matter how interested we may have normally been the heat made us desperate for it to end so we could just find somewhere shady to eat. After lunch we had free time to roam the city and I’m ashamed to say that instead of walking around the beautiful old streets and stunning churches, I went shopping. If you ever get separated from your tour group just head to the closest H&M and listen for the coughing. After a few hours of air-conditioned shop-hopping it was time to head back to the bus.
Never have I enjoyed a dip in the pool so much despite the ridiculous rules, shower before you get in and were a cap. I get hygiene reasons but really that’s a bit extreme, although it really was the only real downfall about the campsite. Finally we actually had a bit of time to get ready for one of our really big party nights. We were going to the Space Electronic Disco, where the Jersey Shore crew had partied only a few months before, this was a very big deal to some of the tour group. It’s at this point that I must warn you that I acted very unlike my usual self. There was a certain completion happening at the club that night and a group of 8 of us from our group decided to enter. Somehow the extra 2 girls got into the final 3 but luckily our girl one. All she got was a bottle of sparkling wine but we can all say we’ve done it and had the experience. That night ended very late and so a taxi home it was where we made good friends with the driver. Unfortunately our clothes were wet and so it took a while to get past the language barrier to explain that was the reason the seat was wet.
Florence was amazing and we had already eaten so much pizza and pasta but that was only the beginning of our Italian adventure. Next stop Rome and if we were hot in Florence we were in for a big surprise. Unfortunately it also meant we were leaving behind our favourite bus driver Muffin for a few days break while another driver took over. Heading into roman traffic this had us all a bit nervous and amazed at how people could drive like that.
Before we even went to our campsite we went to do our tour of the Vatican City. Probably one of my most amazing experiences ever to walk around such a beautiful and spiritual place. Far better than any other gallery or museum I could imagine. Although the feeling of being herded through the corridors like cattle was a bit distracting.
It was packed, everywhere you turned there was another tourist taking another photo. Even in the Sistene Chapel as there were so many people it became impossible for them to police people from talking or taking photos. Even our guide said she had never seen it so full. I did feel like it was a little rushed and squashed into the schedule but I couldn’t actually bear spending any more time in such a crowded environment. Our tour leader, he was not allowed to be a guide in Rome as it is against the law to do so there without a licence, showed as a few good places to eat and then we walked down to the Pantheon. I do hate to admit it but whenever we went to any of these places I was thinking about how they fit into the Da Vinci code. Our final stop before we went to the campsite was the pharmacy. The late nights of heavy drinking, paired with early wake up times and long hours spent on an air-conditioned bus was taking a toll on us. It could only be remedied by vast amounts of cough mixture.
We got to the campsite quite late and were treated to free wifi. This resulted in a large amount of us sitting around the table outside the shop with our eyes fixed on our cellphones. Due to the heavy nights of partying in Florence the girls I was rooming with: Kit; Fliss and Hiranya, and I decided to have a chilled night and go to bed early. I think this was a great advantage to dealing with our next full day of walking around the city.
We all had our ideas of where we wanted to go but having been to the Vatican the previous day our next most important stop was The Colosseum. We had been given a tip the previous day that in order to skip the queues there we should buy our ticket at The Roman Forum and that ticket would work at The Colosseum too. The Roman Forum is now just ruins but it was once the city centre where all the market activities took place. We walked around for a bit, pulling special poses for photos and getting told off for climbing on the ruins, but there wasn’t too much to do so we decided to move on. Seeing The Colosseum in movies will never quite explain how truly magnificent it is. It’s broken down in places and old but there’s something about it that makes it possible to imagine all the emotions that people must have felt there when it was still in use. However with only a day to try explore the whole of Rome we couldn’t afford to hang around for long.
We were advised the previous day that if you want to avoid paying typical tourist prices for food then you should walk just a few streets back from the main tourist attraction. This proved very useful when finding lunch for that day, where again we tucked into some delicious pizza and pasta. At this stage we split up to try find our various destination. The day before we had walked past a small market place and wanted to try find it again. We walked around for a few hours stopping to sit in the shade, eat some gelati or drink our frozen water, it was the most amazing thing. Eventually we found it and all did a little bit of shopping. There were a few of us who were determined to go to the Trevi Fountain but it was quite far from where we were and so decided to use the underground. What we didn’t realise is that the stops were not as frequent as London or Paris and so we had to walk quite far to get there. I’m glad we did as I really enjoyed going to the fountain and here’s hoping the coins I threw in will bring me back.
It was now time to find the underground again and head back to the campsite for that night’s party. The theme was “I ♥ Roma.” During the day we had all bought those T-shirts in the city and that night we had markers provided and everyone wrote messages to each other on their shirts. As the night went on and more alcohol was consumed the dirtier the messages got. To me this was one of the really fun bonding party nights of the tour.
I don’t know what time we got to bed but I’m sure it was very late. When we woke up the next morning there was definite evidence that cyclone contiki had hit. One of the bins had been turned upside down, with the rubbish poured out and a tree had been pulled out of the ground. Needless to say the Roman campsite was glad to see the last of us.
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