Riina & Dan

Turns out it was 40 degrees today at 17:00. Probably hotter earlier. Same temperature as the previous day. Just for those of you who may think I’m whinging about the heat.

I think I was nearly pick-pocketed today. I’m generally a front of the pants kind of guy when it comes to wallets and mobiles.  This is generally OK in jeans – but not so much in my shorts which have more of a wide open top. We got on a bus after a 3 hour walking tour ( +40 degrees with no clouds ), dinner and several very welcome beers ( and the rest of the wine Riina couldn’t finish ). As we were squishing in, I felt some pressure on my leg and my 10 ninja training caused my hand to jump  to my hip, where I think, but I’m not sure, a hand was quickly withdrawn from my pocket. On later analysis with Riina, the guy’s female accomplice was pushing into Riina ( with her fat wobbly arse ) who was then obliged to push into me. We reckon it’s all part of a distraction attempt whilst my pocket was supposed to be picked.  They quickly moved down the bus and got off a stop or two later.

Well, we’re off to our non air-conditioned apartment to lie under a fan.

Buona notte!

Here’s a photo of our little apartment, €80 per night, no AC. The fan works well tho, and it’s quite ok, if a little warm.

The last post may have sounded a little negative – and I hadn’t even mentioned the most annoying thing – I had a block of Lindt Dark Mint chocolate in my backpack. I was sensible enough to remove it before traipsing around Rome on a 35+ day, but not careful enough to check that I’d removed all of it. 15 minutes into our 3 hour tour, I jammed my hand into my backpack looking for something when it came out wet. I thought initially that it was sunscreen lotion, but no – chocolate. It was all over my hand, passport, Lonely planet, notepad, pacer, ( inside the packet for the extra pacer leads ), but thankfully not on the camera, SD cards or iPod. Small graces. Someone’s God must love/hate me.

Here’s me at the Roman Forum. After moving all my non-chocolate coated stuff to Riina’s backpack.

Flying to Rome’s Fiumicino airport went smoothly on Finnair. When we got to the terminal however, the pilot explained that we could leave the plane, but couldn’t yet leave the entry concourse. So, we all piled out of the plane and stood in the hot corridor, just outside the plane. Meanwhile, a chap was desperately swiping a card through a card reader, and talking on the phone. After about 10 minutes, a old maintenance guy ( Scruffy from Futurama ) turned up with a screwdriver and proceeded to pull the machine apart. 5 minutes of this and we were sent down another door and two stair cases. Thwarted once more, the doors here failed to open. By the time we reached these doors, the original doors opened. Welcome to Italy

The train ride in went past some derelict buildings which now appear to be used as a rubbish tip. Meanwhile, the guys behind us where amazingly obnoxious – banging the lid of the ash tray in time with some crappy eurotrash music playing out of his mobile phone.

Finally, we arrived at our destination only to discover I’d booked an apartment with no AC, on a day which was 37 degrees. The fact that it was totally my fault didn’t help. At least it was a ground floor flat with a fan and some solid concrete walls which had kept some of the coolness.

Must dash. 30 seconds left at the internet cafe!

We’re in Rome. It’s hot!

Despite the swealtering heat we took the walking tour of Roman monuments this afternoon, which was great.

It’s too frecking hot to write anything else.

Well, we’re just about to leave Finland. We’ve spent the last night & day in Helsinki catching up with friends, hanging out in old favorite haunts and enjoying the familiar sights and sounds. We had dinner and drinks in Belge, a bar / restaurant with the look of an old library or well stocked study, with stocked bookshelves to the ceiling.

We’ll be in Rome soon.

29 hours in a tin can is’t that bad in the scheme of things. 29 hours in a tin can, 10km up, travelling at ~850 km/h for 12 hours. And we’re complaining about the food. The extraordinary becomes mundane. Continue Reading »

Three weeks is a short time, so we’ve tried to plan it so that we can make the most of it. Here’s our plan:

• Thu 16 Aug Flight BA 7317 Melbourne – Hong Kong – London – Helsinki
• Fri 17 Aug Arrive in Helsinki at 9.05pm, then Hämeenlinna for the night (Erno’s and Jenni’s place)
• Sat 18 Aug Drive to the summer cottage and pop in to say hi to the grandmothers
• Sun 19 Aug Enjoying the summer cottage with all the siblings and their partners
• Mon 20 Aug Drive to Mum’s place
• Tue 21 Aug Hang out with Mum and Pertti
• Wed 22 Aug Drive to Dad’s place
• Thu 23 Aug Drive to Helsinki
• Fri 24 Aug Finnair flight 783 to Rome at 4.15pm
• Fri 24 Aug – Thu 6 Sep Holidaying in Italy

Kolme viikkoa on niin lyhyt aika että olemme pyrkineet suunnittelemaan sen siten että saamme siitä mahdollisimman paljon irti. Tässä matkasuunnitelmamme:

• To 16.8. lähtö Melbourne – Hong Kong – Lontoo – Helsinki (BA 7317)
• Pe 17.8. Helsinki klo 21.05 (Finnair 840) == Hämeenlinnaan Ernon ja Jennin luo yöksi.
• La 18.8. Ajomatka kesämökille (matkalla moikataan mummot)
• Su 19.8. Kesämökillä sisarusten + puoliskojen kanssa
• Ma 20.8. Ajomatka äitin luo
• Ti 21.8. Äitin luona
• Ke 22.8. Ajomatka isin luo
• To 23.8. Ajomatka Helsinkiin == yöpyminen hotellissa
• Pe 24.8. Lento Roomaan (Finnair 783, klo 16.15)
• 24.8. – 6.9. Matkailua Italiassa

Well, after leaving our Honda Accord parked in the street with an enormous dint in the back for over 3 months, it’s finally been sold. Procrastination, thy name is Dkam. Before this year, I’d never bought or sold a car – the most expensive thing I’d purchased prior to our Golf was my laptop. So I dilly-dallied about – when I finally got around to surfing to VicRoads, it was all massively simple. You’ve got two choices:

• Sell the car with Rego. You’ll need a Road Worth Certificate
• Sell the car with no Rego. You should give them a receipt.

Pretty straight forward really. We went with option two, so I had to take the number plates off. When / if I return them to Vic Roads I’ll get my Rego fee back pro-rata – 10%. The guy picked the car up on Saturday, the Rego expired Sunday. I’m going with “Perfect Timing”. 

Amnesty Internation defended itself against from the Vatican recently.

“No more financing of Amnesty International after the organisation’s pro-abortion about-turn,” said a statement from the Roman Catholic Church’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.*   

What has AI done to deserve the wrath of the Catholic Church? They have a policy of supporting women who choose abortion, when their lives are in danger and in the case of rape and incest.

“Amnesty International stands alongside the victims and survivors of human rights violations. Our policy reflects our obligation of solidarity as a human rights movement with, for example, the rape survivor in Darfur who, because she is left pregnant as a result of the enemy, is further ostracised by her community,” said Kate Gilmore.**   

The Catholic Church reminds us why we love this progressive, broad minded, rational institution. If you’ve ever considered joining Amnesty, now would be a good time.  

* From the BBC 

** From Amnesty