Day 1: a Roma
Hello hello. Back in Italy and good lord is it more expensive now than it was 3 years ago. But who wants to spend their first day bitching? So onto more fun topics, like the type of kids that fill the hostels in top destination cities, eg. Rome. It is pretty logical if you think about it, but the type of backpacker you run into in Rome generally differs from that of a backpacker in Todi or Gaeta. I already feel a bit old and it's only my first day at the hostel - most of the people around me look to be 19-21 and have that youthful exuberance I have lost in my long years. And almost universally they are in Rome for a few days, off next to destinations like Florence or Venice or Paris. The Grand Europe Tour. Already I overheard one girl who has been in Europe for 1 months now and has been to something like 12 or so cities over 6 countries.
It's not that I have anything against such travellers, but I find I don't have as much in common with them. You can tell the difference between "old hand" backpackers who have gone around the block a few times and the backpackers who are living their first experience abroad. Maybe it's an elitist "I survived South America" attitude, comparing myself to these whippersnappers who think going to Venice is an adventure. Yes, I'm a backpacker snob. There is no sense of danger or adventure in Europe, but damn there are good eats.
Things haven't really changed in the last three years here. The women are still mighty fine, prosciutto and rucola still taste good together, and the passing train still jolts your sleeping head off the window pane. And so, the adventure begins. Even if I said there is no adventure here. It's a classic travelling line and I'm going to say it anyway. I'm here in Italy till mid-August and who knows, maybe something more adventurous than swimming into la Grotta Azzurra will happen to me. And if not, I'll write every few days about my love for cured meat.
