We sleep, eat, sleep some more and poop. good life
Trip Start
Mar 06, 2009
1
6
11
Trip End
May 07, 2010
Bracciano,
Italy
Friday, April 3, 2009
After a gruelling plane, then two train rides we arrived in Bracciano, which was as fairytale like as Milli promised it to be, with it's cobblestone streets and big fuck of castle. It is an amazingly beautiful city, where pretty much no one speaks any English, and unfortunately being Italy, a plate of Pasta, bottle of wine, bread and grilled veggies still costs 40 dollars per person including tip, having said that the pasta was freshly hand made and was possibly the best I've ever eaten. Interesting tidbit; Pasta is considered an appetizer in Italy, and is about half the size of a portion in Australia. The things you know...
We strolled around the first day taking it all in. And the second day for that matter. The third day was spent in Rome/ We walked to the Colosseum where we were harassed by American, Irish and British people offering guided tours
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. This pissed me off immensely. If they were Italian, that's fine, but how could tourists possibly be an authority on the colosseum, by reading the wikipedia chapter? We tried to dodge as many of them as possible, as well as the Italians dressed up as gladiators wanting you to take a photo with them (in exchange for about 5 euros), as well as the Indian guys that pretty much force a rose into your hand, saying it is good luck and then charging you for it. So we walked around eating pasta and drinking espressos. Italians seem to have a fetish with sitting in piazzas, seeing and being seen. They pay a high premium for this (about three times the take away price for an espresso, and about 14 dollars for a glass of wine) but it is a great way to while away some time, which is what we did, while we waited for Matt and Erinn to arrive. Unfortunately for me (but probably more unfortunate for them) they were about an hour and a half late by the time they arrived at the train station, resulting in me tallying up 10 espressos throughout the day. I was a fricken machine. Once they got o the train station we took the 40 minute train out to Bracciano (which always seems longer) ate some of Milli's pasta, drank countless bottles of wine and whiskey and walked out to the castle about midnight, finishing off at a local bar for a beer and some absinthe.
Milli says:
We arrived so tired into Italy and got through the trains and platforms ok (gypsies and last minute train information making it interesting) but when we got to Bracciano we immediately perked up
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. Its such a gorgeous town and Don's place is such a perfect sweet little flat in the old town that you cant help but get excited and fall in love with the place!! We went for a wander for food and found a restaurant that was open - we thought there was a holiday or strike on or something but of course it was only siesta time with almost everything shutting down so people can visit their mammas for pasta - so we were the only ones in the restaurant. I clumsily tried to converse with the guy and did get through to him that we were vegetarian so we got some antipasto and then the fresh pasta of the day which was exquisite. A small jug of vino rosso, some aqua con gas and then a café and we then almost coughed it all up when we paid and realised it came to about 80 Aussie dollars. But for all that and two people it wasn't too bad. But we then went and bought some food from the supermarket. The next day was overcast and grey with lots of showers so we didn't go into Rome but found a market (not unlike Vic market) and bought lots of fresh veggies and some cheese and olives. There were cows in the paddock nearby watching us and things were cheap there. Back home it was very relaxing to listen to the rain outside the window and watch some Twin Peaks which is getting stranger and strange. We hung around Bracciano and then the next day we went into Rome. 
