Nott What You'd Expected...

Pescarrad for Life

Pescara.... where to begin?

I suppose it's important to say that first, I'm not a lonely traveler. I enjoy talking. Usually, I think that people enjoy listening. An audience maybe- a sound board, a way to reflect on the happenings of the trip or my experiences, a way to gauge the trip, get some feedback.

I figure, I spend enough of my day inside my own head, and having someone to talk to is cool- two heads are better than one, no?

Emily and I are similar in this respect- we've talked about it, most recently in Marseille when we lazied it up, but again in Sorrento when she showed me her 'videos', a collection of reflective moments - I attempted some, and even toyed around with the idea of a videoblog for awhile, but quickly realized that my emotionally charged sappy rants were almost unwatchable.... not because they were bad or anything, just because they were hedging on the side of embarassing to me- fun to watch for others, but not a side I'm up for sharing just yet....
I got on my train to Pescara from Naples after chilling in Sorrento, post-girl evacuation that morning... I was geared up to go- books in hand, ipod charged- even an hour early for my train.

Then, a sort of ironic, terrible thing happened. All the while, when I playfully dreaded my time alone in public while secretly hoping it would turn out great, fate dealt a very different hand. Be careful what you wish for. For every time I hoped to come out of my alone time with some tragic sob story of loneliness and depression, I was given just that.

Before this entry turns into a negative shitstorm, I'll breeze through my journey.

The train didn't leave. It stood on the platform, filled with loudmouthed Italians and BO-pumping foreigners until suddenly, like a wave of.... loudmouthed Italians and foreigners, people started getting off, rushing forward into the mess of other platforms, checking tickets, getting in ques, and leaving me in the dust.

At this point, I needed that other head, the one that makes the equation equal two... What was I supposed to do? Hang out in the slums of Naples for an extra day? Stay on the train and hope it would take me to Pescara eventually?

Somewhere in my groggy head, I recalled the idiom- All Roads Lead to Rome, and rushed to the first platform headed to Rome Termini Station. Surely a train would head to Pescara from Rome...right? Yeah, whatever...

The ride lasted 3 hours.... this ride being the same that the girls had all taken at 8am that morning... a trip I should have taken with them...I thought in hindsight (still 20/20)

I arrived in Rome with two choices- Pescara or hang out with Anna, who was in the area traveling... I luckily found a train leaving for Pescara that was itself running 45 minutes behind....
Looking more like a tram from a major metro area, the florescent lights and hard plastic seats should have been a clue as to what the night would provide...

Somewhere in the next 5 hours of travel, I made friends with a hen party from Anoca, the temp dropped 30 degrees, I became the sole traveler on the train, and I arrived in Pescara- very pissed and very lonely.

Cities are unfriendly and uninviting at 1am, especially with a full bladder, an empty wallet, a room reserved 30 minutes away (by a bus that won't run at midnight), and a backpack weighing in at 19 Kg....

After much wandering and bitching, 6 hotels later I found my mark. The three star, 40 euro a night dump owned by a very drunk, squatty man and his equally drunk, hooker-emulating wife- conveniently somewhat profiecient in English (always a plus)...

They grabbed my passport and dragged me by the arm to my room, where I made yet another depressed self-video and drifted to sleep, aided by the sounds of cockroaches scurrying about and the other patrons enjoying their time in Pescara much more than I.

A costly taxi drive to my B&B in the morning capped a great 90 Euro trip from Naples, but the hospitality and accomodations washed all feelings of hate and dissatisfaction away...

At one point, while laying on the beach (just a 5 minute walk from my place, a place I shared with no one but a fully decked out kitchen, huge bathroom and cable tv), I made a video in which my only comment was...."No Woman No Cry just came on my ipod...and all is right with the world...."
I visited the local MegaStore, internetted, beached, made tuna salad, watched Italian MTV, got sunburned, read two books, gorged myself on morning breakfast provided by my Non-english speaking, mumu wearing, mustache-donning, Prego-Commercial starring host, and took more naps than are considered healthy.
Freetranslation .com maybe?... This stuff is always classic....In the end, I had a very relaxing time- reflective, sure, life changing? eh, I've had better...
Pescara remains a bit tarnished in my mind, but the quaint village of Milesorvino (Montesilvano? Mila Sorvino? Montesque? MonteCarlo...) is a nice change of pace...

A few days later, I took the bus I had desperately needed days earlier to the train station, and headed to Rimini...

posted by Kevin @ 8:44 PM