alpha and omega
Paganico companions
Brodie and Andrew
Aussies and California Girls
Camping Plus Roma pool
Nick and Nate at the Colosseum
Tina and I
Happy Nate
Dancing in St. Peter’s Square
Alpha and Omega. The first and last. The beginning and end.
After a slight hiccup in plans, my earlier than expected return to Rome brought my journey full circle. For the first time (perhaps in my entire life) I dove deep into that timeless Italian expression il dolce far niente, truly just relaxing and doing next to nothing.
But let me backtrack a bit and talk about that hiccup for a minute.
I packed up my things in Signa, said goodbye to Andrea, and then made my way to Arcidosso for a third, originally unplanned, WWOOF experience. I met two youngsters at the bus stop in Paganico where we shared food, water, stories, and photos. I had purchased these earrings in Capoliveri back on Elba, from a man who made the most interesting jewelry out of all kinds of seeds, with nobody in mind to give them to but when I met these two kids with their alt style and earrings I felt like I found the right recipients so I gave one to each of them.
ESCAPE FROM ARCIDOSSO
I don’t believe in bad-talking about specific places or people on the World Wide Web since I represent only one opinion, so I usually leave bad reviews out all together, but without naming names I will quickly say that my last WWOOF experience was short and not sweet. I left after two days feeling very uncomfortable after a strange series of exchanges with my host that had me rethinking how I really wanted to spend my last ten days in Italy. I escaped for Rome to Camping Plus Roma and met back up with Tina for a second time; I think our 10 days together in what we called our “Roman Island” was exactly what we both needed. Tina, my literal birthday twin, and I both played soccer together in college and our days on our little island usually consisted of waking up to eat Nutella and toast for breakfast and then heading to the pool to swim, suntan, and make new friends, all while having some pretty great adventures. It was great getting to know Tina on a deeper level and to have so many wonderful memories with her, I think we both really honed in on what we were seeking from our journey abroad and it was great to share that experience with someone else.
On the one night we ventured in to Rome’s center to meet with a friend her parents had made on the Camino de Santiago we ended up having one of our most fun adventures together. Normally I’m quick to rush to help people when I can but I was pretty tired and lazy feeling so I ignored the two kids struggling with the metro ticket machine until Tina guilted me into it, saying “aren’t you going to help them??!” Nick and Nate, two more Aussies, were in Rome for one night trying to see as much as possible before having to board their Bus About bus in the morning and were in need of much help. After finding out they were staying at the same Freedom Traveller Hostel I had stayed in with Laura, I offered to take them there directly rather than giving them directions since Tina and I were still two hours early for dinner. We saw the Colosseum together on the way to dinner where I took a “levitating” photo of Nate that is easily the happiest photo of my trip and then met back up with them afterwards and successfully saw almost every major site in Rome. I was amazed at how much I remembered three months later! They thanked me with a San Crispino gelato after visiting the under-construction Trevi Fountain and then taught us how to play Ninja Strike atop the Spanish Steps. We taught them how to “hand hug” and Nate pointed out “You can’t do it with yourself! It has to be with somebody else…it’s special!” He even went as far to say that he would rather do that than kiss to tie the knot at his wedding.
After leaving our island for a final two days in Rome’s center, I made my way back to Mosaic Hostel where I had spent my first nights in Rome. Tina and I spent our first day shopping and exploring into the evening, our feet just carried us all over the city and even unexpectedly brought us to St. Peter’s Square and the outskirts of the Vatican. I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed seeing it any other way, it’s absolutely beautiful and devoid of people at night—I highly suggest a night visit. On our last day together we did a bit more shopping, exploring, and said bittersweet goodbyes making plans to see each other soon. I was immensely sad to be leaving Italy but hoped I would return to finish seeing what I hadn’t seen. It's a place I could come back to every year for the rest of my life and still not be satiated.
I’m still in awe of how quickly these three months flew by, I had an incredible journey in Italy. Cheers to getting stranded 6 times, meeting a million Aussies, finding myself trapped in a bathroom, a ridiculously huge number of perfect meals, averaging 3 gelato a day, all of the beautiful things I saw, following through with childhood dreams, and, most importantly, all of the lessons I learned, adventures I had, and friendships I created and/or strengthened.
