January 5th Uncondensed

So I was waiting for the computer downstairs last night and all of a sudden I got some form of deathly sharp shrapnel in my left eye. I began trying to remove it and before I knew it I had something identical in my right eye. Within a few seconds I couldn't keep my eyes open for more than a second and everything went all fuzzy. I spent the next two hours trying madly to rinse out whatever it was into the depths of Roman sewers. After some intense salt water in a salt glass rinsing courtesy of the chef, I was able to get both eyes close to normal. Filthy rubbish. By the end of it my eyes were swollen beyond me being able to open them properly, and it wasn't until about two this afternoon that my eyes looked completely normal. Whack, anyways, this is yesterdays and todays post.

I got going around 11:30 yesterday after booking my flight to Athens on Aegean air (which leaves tomorow morning) and fiddle faddling with various travel related chores. My first stop was to Saint Maria Soccorso Metro Station where I had been told was a massive flea market of sorts, which would doubtless provide me with some options for air guns among other things.

The long and short of it is that I spent roughly 4 hours walking around with too much luggage to find what was more or less Safeway. After a few minutes of walking from the station I saw a relatively large, well kept sign leading the way to the Mercato, so I figured I must be on the right track. I walked around for a while, found nothing, so I asked a man I happened across. He gave me vivid yet violent hand directions to the market of which I followed quite precisely until I came upon one of the longest rows of parked cars I have ever seen. It was probably about 2 kilometers of gravel stuffed absolutely full with european automobiles. I figured this must be the jackpot grand mother of all markets. Unfortunately it turns out it was just the parking lot to the metro station for the most drab section of Rome one could ever see. I plugged on regardless figuring if not there then somewhere, and the recurring signs for the market kept me interested. I asked a few more people, followed the signs, and after another hour or so found the "market" which proved to be no larger than the Killarney Market down the street from my house - selling nothing any more glamorous than can be had at IGA. Wonderful.

The least the trip provided was a look at the boring everyday life of modern Romans. The tightly packed, cement cells of death spread out over many many miles didn't provide anything interesting, and I fired my camera all of three times over 4 hours. Pathetic. I did buy some of the best peach juice I've ever had at that supermarket, as well as a coconut Ritter sport, a bag of carrots and some water.

I hopped on a bus back to the station (free busses!) and went back to the hostel. There very well could be a massive market at that stop, but I talked to alot of people both in the neighborhood and staff at the hostel and noboday had heard of it. Ah well, you win some you lose some. When I got back I checked around for a bike rental place, and found a shop 30 seconds from the hostel renting very capable touring bikes for 11 Euro for 24 hours. I picked one up and rode down to the Colosseum to see her all illuminated (it was dark by the time I got home from market searching).

It is quite a sight indeed, and if Rome is anything, it is a great city for biking. Bike lanes are few and far between, but racing around through cobblestone alleys and crowded Via's are fantastic sport firstly because there is nothing like the smooth rolling of a smooth bike wheel over smooth sculpted cobblestones. It's brilliant. Secondly, drivers here are a hundreds of times better than the drivers in Vancouver. While they all drive fast, dangerously and cut eachother off with great frequency, the one thing that they all seem to have which Vancouver drivers lack is awareness. They all seem to know what's going on in all directions and are able to react instantaneously to situations presented them. There's a Michael Schumacher in every car.

Anyways, After the Colosseum I went back to the Hostel and wandered around trying to find an army surplus store I had seen when I had first arrived. I went in and the man provided me with detailed instructions as to where I could find airsoft guns. I hopped on the subway across town, got off, and spent 30 minutes walking down the richest yuppie street I'd seen yet. A no go there. I took the long way back home walking past the Spanish Steps and Trevi fountain and got on a metro farther down the line to get back home. I spent a while reading (Bourne Supremacy = freaking nuts beyond your wildest imagination. Read the first one first) and then did battle with two eye specks of death and went to bed.