Gladiators, the Pope, Jennie and Vanessa

An eventful week...

At 2.30am on Saturday morning I left the family home and headed to the nearest bus stop, sharing the roads with several timid deer. Two buses and a dirt cheap Ryanair flight later I was in Rome - and what an awesome city! Despite being incredibly tired I spent my first day in the Eternal City walking everywhere to see what every tourist comes to see: the Colloseum, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Roman Forum, the various piazzas, etc. Following years of reading textbooks on the history of these world famous structures, to actually see and touch them with my own hands was amazing. Knowing that emperors, gladiators and slaves had moved about them thousands of years before me provoked the realisation that my petty little life is nothing but a drop in the whole scheme of things. Life went on thousands of years before me and will go on for many more after me; civilisations will flourish and decline and nearly all of us will be forgotten. Why the hell then do we worry so much about our futures, when in reality it doesn't even matter?

The following day I walked to Vatican, where so many others had congregated to catch a glimpse of the new Pope who makes an appearance every Sunday at noon. I waited for a good hour and a half before the old man in the white robe appeared at the balcony with both arms in the air to greet the cheers and chanting of the multicultural crowd before him. One can not appreciate the size and significance of the Roman Catholic church until they see so many believers gathered together in one place, celebrating their leader with more vigour than British football fans. I was absolutely amazed. I must admit though that it made me feel a little empty inside, as though I was missing out on something so special. I experienced the same feeling whilst participating in the vientiane in Thailand, that feeling of wanting to believe in something so strongly. It seems to make people more content and secure in themselves.

Back in Sweden I received a visit from Jennie who stayed at the house with me for a couple of nights. We met up with our Canadian mate, Vanessa, who has scored herself a sales job here in Stockholm, and the three of us paid a visit to my Irish pub where we all drank a little too much. After downing some whisky and wine we headed to a more Swedish-style bar and had some more drinks in the company of three really nice South American guys who are in Stockholm for a computer conference. We had a lot of fun catching up, although I was appalled to realise that I spent nearly as much money on alcohol that night than what my return flight to Rome cost. That's Sweden for you - a country where a single glass of whisky costs me $12, a 4km bus trip costs me $9 and a five minute visit to the doctors costs me, would you believe, over $200!!! Man am I looking forward to returning to Asia where I can survive on that kind of money for weeks. Anyway, we said our goodbyes today, not knowing when we will see each other next. There is no worse feeling, I must say, and it is the worst thing about long distance relationships of any kind. And it is a feeling I will be forced to relive in four days time, when I bid farewell to what has become my second family and move on to the next leg of my journey, bonny bonny Scotland.