Hello From Aix-en Provence -
It’s mid-day Tuesday, Marlene remains with her head on the pillow coughing up a storm and anticipating the doctor’s promise that she will feel better on Wednesday.
Marlene says she has had enough touring Europe and I’ll admit my appetite for riding trains and seeing “anything” has been fairly well satisfied.
I can’t explain my addiction to trains nor my interest in seeing anything that’s on a map. The farther away from tourists the better I like it. Marlene asked the other day where else I would like to go and I said I’d like to go anywhere I haven’t been. I told her most places I would go I would not need to stay long, but as an example, told her I would like to go to Nairobi for a day and a half. And, of course, most places I would go I would be depending on some protection or at least some wisdom nearby.
Thus, my Saturday evening adventure on Rome’s Tram Linea #14, which departs from Rome’s main train station and heads east. When we were in Rome earlier, you may recall Marlene and I took Bus #90 in a westerly direction from the train station. I asked the hotel clerk where Linea #14 went and he said “It doesn’t really go anywhere. It doesn’t go near the city center.” City center is where the tourist sites are, so I was very pleased to go what I took to be “no where”. Actually, Linea #14 goes through very high density areas of Rome. High density is typical with seemingly endless 8-to-10 story apartment buildings. I believe I said it earlier, but Rome reminds me very much of New York City (and I’m not talking about Rockefeller Center and Park Avenue). On this journey I was truly among the locals. I’m sure tourists don’t see what I saw. I took some photos through the window of the tram, which certainly isn’t ideal. Just a few blocks from the train station is a circular area dominated by Roman ruins that just kind of sit there with trams, buses and cars circling the area. Then there are a few photos of typical street scenes, which I challenge anybody to tell me don’t look just like many sections of New York City. And, there’s a look at the tram at the final stop and the rear end of the tram (no special meaning intended there). And, walking back to the hotel I got a photo of another tram just about passing under our hotel window.
In summary, we did not think much of Rome. If you took away the Roman ruins and the Vatican and the endless museums, it’s a working class city that needs a cleaning and updating. Now, I grant taking all that away should make a difference, but if you took those things away, which most residents probably don’t frequent, you’re left with a tired, dirty city very dependent upon tourism. I read recently where Rome ranks with London and Paris in the top three European cities to visit. Not for us. It’s a lot like Australia, where we were told we’d really like Melbourne because of its European characteristics. Well, we liked Brisbane and Sydney much more. In Europe, we’d take Barcelona and Amsterdam over Rome any day. As great as we thought Amsterdam was, I still believe Barcelona is the gem. That’s primarily because it is so clean and updated, still respecting the history and great architecture. If I were to again live in Europe, I would be very inclined to live in Barcelona or Nice. Granted, I’m influenced a lot by the weather, but that is part of living. When I say that, Marlene comes back to Paris and the idea of living there. No question, Paris is nice and would be a great place to live for a time. I suppose the same could be said for London. Too many places to see and simply not enough time (to say nothing of money).
Now, it’s back to things somewhat less exciting than travelling. There’s still a trip to London to attempt to fit into the calendar. And, we need health insurance the day we return to Portland, so that should be an interesting challenge to wade through the new options and see if two retired people with two children fit into any program – not likely. It won’t be long and the dog has to be prepared for the trip back, which likely means a stack of paper work. And, of course, there’s a good bit of time to be spent just doing nothing.
The Wilsons
