Italy.
A fairly manic couple of days, and I ate a prepacked pasta and crab salad thing that didn't go down too well. I'm a bit exhausted. I'm in a small village like plaza in San Remo. Arrived here via Montecarlo and a couple of other towns enroute. I'm enjoying a peaceful Sunday afternoon in the shade of a very old church. You get an open ticket along the coast which allows you to hop from town to town. Only €8.
I went to the train station in Nice (this story will possibly explain better than most why I think the place is so mental and strictly adults only). Tired, dehydrated, I just wanted to find a seat and relax for an hour watching the sea go by. Suddenly I hear very loud firecrackers. Thinking nothing about it I continue through the platform underpass towards the steps when a terrified stampede of tourist comes charging towards me.
Genuinely in fear of their lives - One mother is in tears screaming at her children to run faster. Two platforms of people all charging towards me in panic. WTF? Then I start thinking perhaps they're not firecrackers (they were very loud), so I turn around and join the manic flow back down the underpass. Now the station is filling up with thick clouds of phospherous smoke. Too much to inhale in a confined space. Terrified crowds, people screaming, children in tears - a very cold 30 seconds on a muggy 40ºC day.
This is Nice! What happend was some TGV driver thought it would be a good idea to drive his family wedding into Nice station in his 1000 Tonne train with hundreds of loud, smokey firecrackers blazing whilst he crazily sounded his horns at a time when the station was full of tourists in a foreign culture, hyped up on security airport control etc. Very understandable why the paranoia and rational panic spread so quickly. Luckily no-one was hurt, but I'll bet a few will be having nightmares. People really thought it was a terrorist attack, and it bloddy well looked and sounded like one. That's mental Nice. Not for the feint hearted.
Onwards to San Remo. It's like a little Montecarlo, but much nicer. Nicer, but not rally that nice.
Sketching Plaza San Siro I here a shout of "Hey Dutch, come and see my mosque". OK, but, I'm not Dutch, why on earth did you think... never mind.
Artist Randi has been given the community hall at the convent for 2 weeks. He has turned it into 'his mosque'. It is fantastic, so is he. I love these people - they make me feel almost sane. Almost! Pics come later. Think low-tech crazy rather than ostentatious religion
Very nice, crazy carácter. Very clever also, but don’t go looking for any meaningful stuff in his art - you’ ll just turn you crazy.
I am now about to head in a backwards direction???
A fairly manic couple of days, and I ate a prepacked pasta and crab salad thing that didn't go down too well. I'm a bit exhausted. I'm in a small village like plaza in San Remo. Arrived here via Montecarlo and a couple of other towns enroute. I'm enjoying a peaceful Sunday afternoon in the shade of a very old church. You get an open ticket along the coast which allows you to hop from town to town. Only €8.
I went to the train station in Nice (this story will possibly explain better than most why I think the place is so mental and strictly adults only). Tired, dehydrated, I just wanted to find a seat and relax for an hour watching the sea go by. Suddenly I hear very loud firecrackers. Thinking nothing about it I continue through the platform underpass towards the steps when a terrified stampede of tourist comes charging towards me.
Genuinely in fear of their lives - One mother is in tears screaming at her children to run faster. Two platforms of people all charging towards me in panic. WTF? Then I start thinking perhaps they're not firecrackers (they were very loud), so I turn around and join the manic flow back down the underpass. Now the station is filling up with thick clouds of phospherous smoke. Too much to inhale in a confined space. Terrified crowds, people screaming, children in tears - a very cold 30 seconds on a muggy 40ºC day.
This is Nice! What happend was some TGV driver thought it would be a good idea to drive his family wedding into Nice station in his 1000 Tonne train with hundreds of loud, smokey firecrackers blazing whilst he crazily sounded his horns at a time when the station was full of tourists in a foreign culture, hyped up on security airport control etc. Very understandable why the paranoia and rational panic spread so quickly. Luckily no-one was hurt, but I'll bet a few will be having nightmares. People really thought it was a terrorist attack, and it bloddy well looked and sounded like one. That's mental Nice. Not for the feint hearted.
Onwards to San Remo. It's like a little Montecarlo, but much nicer. Nicer, but not rally that nice.
Sketching Plaza San Siro I here a shout of "Hey Dutch, come and see my mosque". OK, but, I'm not Dutch, why on earth did you think... never mind.
Artist Randi has been given the community hall at the convent for 2 weeks. He has turned it into 'his mosque'. It is fantastic, so is he. I love these people - they make me feel almost sane. Almost! Pics come later. Think low-tech crazy rather than ostentatious religion
Very nice, crazy carácter. Very clever also, but don’t go looking for any meaningful stuff in his art - you’ ll just turn you crazy.I am now about to head in a backwards direction???
I can't just not hike, I can barely walk. I don't want to do this by train and bus from city to city. The fun for me is walking through the countryside and meeting people away from the tourist zones. My feet are a fucked up mess of toen ligaments, sunburn and blisters. My new plan is to stay put here in Nice until I have enough cash to take a break and a train to Berlin.
).
