Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Antwerpen to Rome

My cousin has just come from Qatar where the average temperature was around 40 degrees celsius ...

I came from Antwerpen where the average temperature was getting respectable and up around 20, maybe a little more.

We met in Rome where the temperature has continued to climb everyday since we arrived.

At first she was wrapping her Pashmina scarf round her shoulders and talked of the cool air ... while I was discarding as many clothing layers as was possible.

I spent 16euro and bought a lovely light pair of trousers and a light knit top to survive what I judged to be considerable heat.

But today was a day of reckoning.

It could be that we were lost while following Julie and the map, the map that has failed us each time we tried using it but that's not the news. The news was that she actually complained of the heat while I concentrated on breathing in a temperature I haven't experienced in a long time.

On the bright side ... we did have the chance to take some photographs of a movie being filmed. And we did wander the beautiful streets of Travestere, and we did eat at a cafe that stated something along the lines of 'We are against the war and tourist menus!'

Our habit has been to explore the city until the heat or my knee gets us, then we either seperate or take the siesta option until some of the heat goes out of the day.

Today we were the weary travelers, fresh from our Death Valley experience, with only the strength to take a cold shower before falling into bed to recover.

Needless to say, the revival process involved a little chianti for me and a little white wine for Julie out under the huge canvas umbrella in the garden on the side of the hill just above Vatican city. Some postcards were written while many photographs were downloaded and here we are - Julie with her new blog toy to fill out and me, happy to hang out in an internet cafe with a fan spinning nearby.

Night tour repeat tonight, perhaps some gnocchi in a pizza somewhere then back to cooler climes later tomorrow.

Tot ziens from the kiwi in Rome.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are you planning to come home anyway?
So glad you're enjoying it!
And so glad you bring the feeling of joy to us on you blog.
See you in Montepulciano one day ...
Love,
Lut

Veronica said...

Rome in November is perfect. : ) That's when I went there.

Last summer in America, we visited Charleston, South Carolina in July. I was completely trounced and ruined by the heat. Really. Miserable. No. Joy. Left. The second day there, I refused to leave the hotel room, preferring to curl up next to the AC with a view of the water and my laptop. Belgium ruins one's ability to tolerate hot weather.