Grumpy old man (at 25) syndrome

Yesterday I saw saw two teenagers sitting at a tram stop trying to eat one another. Maybe they were kissing, who knows - it was hard to tell.

Pet peeves

- People whose walking trajectory on a straight footpath takes on a 'S' type form - thereby infuriating people like me trying to get to our destination at some point this year...

- People who insist on pushing the pedestrian lights button when someone has clearly already done so. The worst offenders then repeatedly push the button to make sure it works. (What are you - five?!) The button is pushed. It isn't getting any pushed-er!

I saw this on the back of a truck yesterday which left me perplexed...

Warning: This vehicle in constant forward or reversing motion.

Since when do you need to warn someone that a vehicle moves forwards and backwards. My car does, I don't have a warning label - I thought vehicles were supposed to move forwards and backwards. Isn't that why you have a vehicle in the first place? So it can take you places? Irrespective of whether it does it backwards or forwards?

ol' London town

think i might go see a show tonight. I have a desire to see Les Mis. I've never actually seen it on stage before.
Went to the Tower yesterday. There are so many old lady's walking very slowly up narrow twisty stairs... Ya just wanna push 'em down...

Did i just say that out loud?

Going to Salisbury tomorrow to see family friends i haven't seen in about a decade. Caught up with the son last night. Somehow managed to recognise him... Soon headed for colder climes...Not entirely sure why - but Edinburgh is supposed to be nice. Every person I've spoken to over my travels has said so.

Sorry, really boring entry. I'll shutup now.

Italia!

Rome is a very beautiful city. If it were't so full of Romans it'd be even better.
Only kidding.
It's just that there are so many fuckers out there that appear to earn a living by scamming tourists.
I find that just plain rude.



The Colleso is a pretty amazing sight, but surronded by so many camera clickers with bodies attached (me included) that it's hard to gain an appreciation of the gradeur of the place.
Just a few steps away is the Roman Forum. The place where all the emperors and senators and chariots and all that hung out. You can just stand there and bask in the sheer...well... you just realise the enormity of the Roman Empire when you're there. And keep in mind most of the places are just a few coloumns sticking outta the ground now! The ruins on the top of Palitino are an oasis in the middle of crazy Roma. Sitting on top a hill, they overlook the entire city. I spent hours sitting amongst the ruins, and the grass, and the occasional Roman cat as it waltzed by.. Very nice.
But of course, the scammers put me in a shitty mood and I buggered off to Firenze to escape it.


















Firenze is really one of those places I could live. There's just areally pleasant vibe about the place that is hard to explain until you're there. Every building is really terracotta roofed/ochre colour stuccoed...(Apart from the occasional marble cathedral) I know that last sentence doesn't make sense so fuck off...
Now. When I become mayor of Firenze I'm gonna outlaw any American tourists, (sorry, they are all - well , the majority - rich, arrogant noisy fuckers and I hate them.) Oh, and those fat, ugly, old, grumpy Italian women that feel compelled to wear several dead animals on them. I'm sorry - no, I'm not - but NO! That soooo doesn't work!
Anyway, I think I've finished ranting on, I have been transcribing from a diary, but I think some of the wording may be incomprehensible. I kept getting distracted by the sight of Tuscany at sunset as I travelled back to Roma.
Ha!

Ottawa (last one, i promise)

Heading off to Ottawa today. Woke up to a beautiful sight of big, fat snowflakes floating down to the ground. Beautiful as there really isn't any wind - the flakes jsut kind of 'dance' around in the sky before nestling over the trees and rooftops.

On my way to the train I have this extremely frustrtating loop in my head, which goes somthing like this:
"Na na na na.....
Na na na na.....
Walking in a Winter Wonderland"
(Repeat AdNauseum)

I have no idea of the words, or how the actual tune goes - which makes it even more frustrating!












(I'm not sure where they justify the $3.75 in that fine - you'd reckon a round 50 bucks would serve the point...)


This brings us back to about 4 posts ago - where I talk about glamorous Ottawa...
There. Now that wasn't so bad was it?!

See ya in London.

Quebec City

Allrighty!
What can say aboot Quebec?
Well, it's definately worth a sided trip, perhaps 2 days is a better minimum; then you have time to see outside the city walls.
It really is full of history, lovely narrow, cobble-stone streets everywhere, with spectacular architecture from the 1600's to the early 1900's. The tourist factor isn't quite as evideent during the winter, which is probably a good thing - I could easily see myself hating the place when it's packed with camera clickers!
The fortifications combinedd with high cliffs and the rapidly flowing St Lawrence, (full of ice-bergs) really make a dramatic setting,
Had a coffee inn the wonderful, extrtremely prominent Chateau Frontenac, with it's dramatic steep gable copper roofs and stone walls. Everything within the city's walls are dramatic; La Citadelle, Basilica Notre-Dame (complete with gold altar), hundreds of cannons, the sheer engineering brilliance of building a fortification on what is essentially a cliff!

So yeah, there we have it - like Niagra falls, the tourist factor is there, but there's a reason for that...They're pretty impressive places...