Not great at putting things down in writing usually but let's see what I remember and what's been memorable so far...
2 days before leaving my mom got into town and we started shopping and packing for me. In preparation for being gone 8 weeks, I had set aside or packed pretty much nothing. When she got into town I threw a weeks worth of socks, underwear, shirts, and shorts into a black garbage bag and we went shopping for the rest of my needs. A couple pairs of "professional" looking pants and shoes for arriving and leaving the hospital I'll be working at in Tanzania, as well as some medical supplies for that part of the trip, and we were done. Packing started I felt departure looming closer.
I started feeling pretty sick about a day before leaving, I think I caught something from my roommate who was saying he had bronchitis. Started with horrible sinus congestion, coughs, and headaches. Coughs and headaches I can manage fine just pretending they aren't there, but the night before leaving I was unable to breathe through my nose at all. After some amount of hours I managed to fall asleep for a time. That night felt like dozens of 10 minute cycles where I would dream of getting 1 or 2 liter mason jars of water and guzzling them. I could feel the water go into my mouth and it would absorb through my parched mouth into my body leaving no effect. I would experience the slightest moment of minor relief, but as soon as it was there it was gone and I would wake... Only to instantly fall back into the same type of dream. I can remember drinking out of a dozen different cups, I can remember explaining during my dreams to a half dozen different people I know how the water wasn't working, how I must be so dehydrated that via some mechanism it was absorbing into me leaving me just as I started... Eventually I did make it through the night and in the morning I did finally get some real water, but that night was just about as bad as it could be.
Departure day!!! Feeling pretty ill, but at least able to sort of breathe, the last few bits and pieces needed before we leave are picked up and I rest on the couch. I manage one last game of DotA on my cousins laptop while laying down. With laptop on my thighs, using the mouse only on my pocket(couldn't even scroll a screens worth), and different controls I manage to make short work of the game and 1v5 by 25 minutes. At least I'm leaving with something going my way.
The flight was set to leave at around 6PM and set to be 8-9 hours. Due to some mechanical issues we were in the plane at the gate for a few hours, we got into the air some time after 8PM. After watching a movie and a half I managed to fall and stay asleep for most of the flight without issue. Melatonin, half a sleeping pill, a cup of wine, and a steaming cup of neocitrin(no named brand, "HOT LEMON RELIEF") probably helped with that. I'm calm and ready for it all to begin.
In London! About 11AM local time(4-5am calgary) we have to make our way to where we are staying. Both our heads are a bit of a blurr but I do remember realizing just how British London is as we made our way on the Piccadilly line to Cockfosters. Arriving at our place we took a few hours and napped as we were in no state to do much of anything. That night we walked around a little and got our first taste of London. We wandered around Leichester square packed with people, tourists and locals, and a few street magicians. We then went to Trafalgar square where a tall column dominated the square topped with a statue of Admiral Nelson; the column is said to be as tall as the mast of his ship. Surrounded by lion statues and fountains it was quite a sight. With no real plans for our first afternoon I wanted to head to a real British pub. We picked one out the less full of 2 choices near the square: should have been a warning. 2 big pints of Kronenburg 1664 draft, a venison pie, and a fish and chip set us back over 70$. The pastry over the pie was as big as a chefs hat, but with no where to put it, and no real desire to eat a foot of pastry before my pie, it was half placed on the table, half mushed into my pie. The venison pie, flavored with black currant and brandy was small(other than the hat) and okay... I guess. Some steamed carrots and peas, a little mashed potato, all in all, a let down and a waste. This would be the story for most of our food experience in London. Lattes ranging from 1.50 pound to 4.50 pound were never bad, but nothing exceptional either.
That first night we saw a few comedians at our host's club, and I had a delicious cocktail. The basement we were in was small and full and we enjoyed the first 3 comedians before making our way home for the night. The first act, a 46 year old stern Asian father looking man was quite funny. Asian, Arab, Welsh, Hamas, a good range of some hilarious racism was much appreciated. About 10% of all the bits we heard that night involved some intra-England racism, I don't know why dragging a man from Sussox or Essex leaves an orange streak, but apparently it's really funny...
The next morning we went through the British National Gallery, an amazing and huge building full of paintings from the last 1000 years. We mostly looked at works from the 16-1700s, the blues that came through from what I saw in the 1700s were amazing, I mean there was a lot to the hundreds of pieces, but I remember mostly the beautiful blues of the 18th century along with their often similar chubby faces on every person. The 17th century portraits and people seemed much more varied in how they looked, the colors more often fading, rarely shining through as my happy blues. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, a lot of rain, busses, and expensive things. Harrod's department store was huge and full of everything. Gourmet meats, cheeses, fruits, fur coats, hello kitty, games, jewelry, just everything. Rarely anything under 10pounds and many things over 10,000.
Our last night we saw an opera of Othello, a 2.5 hour show with some beautiful music. We picked up tickets just 15 minutes before the start for a discount, 30 pounds a ticket instead of 99, for good seats in the second circle. The show was excellent and mom didn't realize there was character lines and lyrics shown above the stage until the 2nd act. As she had never read the Shakespearean play she was a bit lost at first. At intermission a purchase of 8 olives and a handful of nuts cost us 14$ (7pounds).
Having not slept great yet, mom took a sleeping pill and fell asleep on the only bed... onto both pillows, in the middle of the bed, and frequently on, under, and cocooned in the only blanket. After a few hours I managed to slide out a pillow, and get my a small line of bed and blanket to sleep.
Our last London day we had a subway ride to a train station, a train to the airport, and a flight to Naples! We ate lunch at the airport in London and had our first good meal of the trip. I had probably the best salad I've ever had before, large amounts of smoked mackerel, bacon, and soft boiled egg with delicious greens and dressing.
I instantly fell in love with Naples, the skinny cobblestone roads, high old buildings lining every road, the lack of any intent of ANYBODY to drive like a sane person, the dirty streets, old churches and monuments everywhere, it was fantastic. It really makes me want to learn Italian, become catholic, and move. The night we arrived we ate at the closest little restaurant to our bnb and had a delicious meal. Thinking we were getting some olive oil spaghetti we actually got an olive tomato caper sauce, but with no complaint. After our pasta we enjoyed some calamari and prawns that were quite good, though could have used tartar after our lemon juice ran out, but nice nevertheless.
The morning brought a surprise as every closed door on our empty looking alley of a street became a storefront, our whole street lined with shops, tables, cafes, and more. We found an old large church that had every surface on the inside covered in amazing paintings, sculptures, and gold. Every block we walked there seemed an open square with seats, sculptures, and statues. Walking down a road we got duped by a nice waiter who flagged us down and sat us. 2 tiny beers and a cappuccino along with 2 small pizza like squares he gave us for "free". A total that should have been 4.80 Euro was suddenly 10Euro (it was extra money to sit in the chairs the waiter informed us when mom complained).
Our day in Naples was amazing, though our nights unfortunate. Our bnb had guests and hosts shouting until the early hours, and it had small itchy, squeaky beds, complete with unusable pillows thicker than the mattress.
Our last night we had planned to go to the supposed original Pizzeria! With a queue of 20+ people ahead of us when we got a number I suggested going to a nearby cafe for a cappuccino or glass of wine while we waited. Mom decided to go to the pizzeria across the street, eat, and go back so we could compare. Well, by the time we finished the queue was already 20 numbers past us and we decided to make our way home instead. We did have a very good Pizza, some nice but odd olives, and an unfortunately apple juice like wine. We were full so no real harm in the end.
That night was the first I didn't sleep well since we left, paying for it with neck pain and worsening sickness. My cold or whatever I have still hasn't gone away, the occasional head pain, constant cough and nose blow...
On leaving Naples and coming to Sorrento we had our first little mishap day, nothing dangerous or worrisome, but a lot more waiting, walking, and a bit of frustration we didn't really need. You can read about it in my mothers post. In the end we had a great meal, we got to our hotel which has an AMAZING view, and I'm really looking forward to the rest of our stay in Italy.
In writing this I realize how much I hate to write so much at once and for your sakes and mine I will try to keep to updating every day or two. If I can do it more often, they can be shorter posts, and hopefully have some interesting or funny bits to them, I feel like I'm just rambling with much of this post which I've been writing over a couple days.
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