Relaxing Day then the Arrival of Joe

The next morning I was debating whether to stick the "do not disturb" sign on the door & continue sleeping. I didn't. This decision had quickly turned to regret when I found that breakfast was exactly the same as yesterday. I just got a cup of tea.

After a quick search for a newspaper and something substantial to eat I soon realised I was dreaming... Breakfast is never substantial & I'd have to go to Termini to get a paper. Coke-a-Cola will suffice... Anything else was too much effort. You know, I wish other towns were as organised as Canberra.. Then I'd just go to the equivalent of Kingston or Manuka and pick the restaurant. Easy. Oh well, apparently I'm not in Kansas anymore.

So I spent the the morning writing blogs as I relaxed in the park across the road. It's amazing how many people just sit around and how often the rubbish collection is done and how thoroughly they clean up. It's pretty impressive.

I had a mean man want me to move over so he could fit on the seat but, rather than attempt to communicate, just got louder saying the same phrase over & over that I couldn't understand. A young guy tried to make chit chat and we established I couldn't speak much Italian and we agreed that it was hot.. I knew the word Caldo! Anyway, I moved to follow the shade a couple times and another time 'cos I was down wind from a smelly person. There was a strange man who came past twice preaching something or other and I had an old guy sitting on the bench next to me drinking what I think was white wine from a coke bottle. At one point he turned to me and asked for two Euro with some sob story about losing his passport and being stuck... I knew it'd go to booze but he seemed nice so gave him 1,50... He disappeared but I saw him later two benches up with a renewed coke bottle full of white wine... I couldn't help but wonder how he got his hands on it and why it came in such a container. Odd. When I left for the afternoon I passed him as he got up and with his crotch in the nearby bush, pretended to be in a urinal... This would explain why his wine smell had a hint or urine too! Charming. It wasn't all drunks and smelly people, don't get me wrong. There are a lot of respectable, well dressed, pleasant, people too in the park. It's just the others have a lasting impression... or was that their aroma. :-)

My phone battery was dying so I went back to the B&B to recharge myself and my phone. After a nice nana nap, I was ready to go and find Joe at the airport.

On my way, I found two young girls looking much like I had two days earlier as I looked for my accommodation. I stopped to help, hoping I could. Within a few minutes I had the address they were looking for in my phone and directing them two blocks down and to the right. Look at this! I'm a regular do-gooder... First I give change to the drunk man, now directions for lost girls! :-)

After convincing the ticket machine that I really did have a 10 Euro note, I got a baby-sized ticket for the train... I haven't seen them this size previously so it put doubt in my mind as to whether this was a valid ticket or a way to get a ticket... The writing on it was in Italian and German... Helpful. I decided it was and stuck it in the Validating machine... Both ends to be sure. :-)

While on the train I worked out it must have been a ticket 'cos it had validation info on the back (I may have validated on the wrong side too) and from what I could gather it was valid to transfer once within an hour. My Italian is crap but I'm pretty certain that was the gist.

Anyway, 10 more minutes before Joe lands... I wonder how keen he'll be to walk to the Forum tonight and see it in lights? I'm sure it'll look cool, not as good as the Colosseum but still. Hmmm.