pocketlizard

A few stories:

• We nearly missed our train to Rome this morning. Lesson: look for the train number, not the destination. But then our train got to Rome mysteriously 2 hours before we thought it would. I think this was related to point 1 - it went through to Milan, and the “arrival” time we had was for there, not for Rome. Getting to Rome earlier meant we were just in time for an earlier train than the one we’d ooriginally planned to catch. And because we have a rail pass, we didn’t have to go wait in a line to buy tickets - because it was a regional train we didn’t neead to reserve a seat, and could just hop on. So we got to Ancona about 3 hours earlier than we were going to before, which gave us a nice comfortable 4 hours to find the port, buy ferry tickets, check our bags, visit a pharmacy, get an Internet fix, and find some dinner. Sweet.
• More below the fold, with pictures…

• I forgot to mention before that I bought some really cool lizard earrings on Stromboli. But when I tried to try them on, I couldn’t get them in. It’d been too long since I last wore earrings. I’m wearing sleepers now, but my ears are pretty unhappy about it, as are the lymph nodes under my ears. So I’ve bought some antiseptic cream for them, with the assistance of the pharmasist’s Italian-English dictionary. I suppose it’s pretty important that you and the pharmacist can communicate accurately. I imagine that most pharmacies in the touristy places have one. I also got some Strepsils, because I think my version of this cold is going to be a sore-throat one. Hooray for branding & packaging! It’s called something different, but other than that it looks just the same:

• I keep thinking of stories and then forgetting them when I’m at a computer. Most annoying.
• Here is a picture of the pizzas we had last night. If I remember right, the front one is the marinara, and the back one is the margherita.

• I wrote my history essay this semester on the Knights Hospitaller, contemporaries of the more famous Knights Templar. Now that I know what to look for I’ve been seeing them everywhere. The German group whom I saw at the Vatican & I thought were doing a pilgimage seemed to be a descendant organisation. They were called Maltesers, presumably from when the Hospitallers occupied Malta. I’ll have to remember to google them when I get back and see where they fit in. I’ve also seen bits and pieces in the historical stuff I’ve been seeing - for example, an angel in the Map Room, and some armour in Castel Sant’ Angelo. My DVD with all the photos is down at the port in the left luggage office, so I can’t show them to you. I also found a Roman version of Perth’s Tactics, and among the little figurines were whole armies of various historical groups - ancient Romans, Germanic barbarians, and some little Hospitaller Knights! So cute!
• I know I’ve got more stories than that, but a) I can’t remember what they are, and b) my hour of Internet is almost up. Not sure when I’ll get Internet access again, coz I’ll be on a boat among the islands… Just so you know.