On trips like these, I realize how good we have it the Pacific NW. Our water is clean, both is purity and taste, as is our air. However, here in Rome, Norman and I seem to having gotten the "pollution" bug as I call it... it's the same coughing, throat-scratching, chest congestion that occurs when we're in Asia... I think it's all the motor exhaust. I've been on and off with a sore throat (better now, knock on wood), but N isn't feeling great. We're on a train to Bolzano now; I'm hopeful the fresh air in the Dolomites will help with the congestion.
Speaking of train travel, in Italy, traveling by train is way of life. It can be a part of a local commute, or a cheap and quick alternative to get to another location. The other benefit, like riding trains in any country, is the ability to see the beauty that is throughout the region. Once you leave the city limits, concrete and parking lots are replaced with soil and farming plots.
I've been very fortunate to have done this numerous times is a numerous countries. And to be honest, they're very similar. If you were to transport me to any train on any part of the globe, it would be difficult to figure out where I was. But this isn't a bad thing -- there's something I find comforting in it. There is always an appeal to it, and my guess is that there always will be.
As I type this, Down in the Valley came on my iPod... the lyrics seem a bit fitting for what I'm sharing now...
"Down in the valley, whiskey rivers, these are the places that you will find me hiding. These are the places I will always go." - The Head and the Heart
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