thoughtspot

We set sail after the sun had set. Thousands of people and hundreds of cars were packed onto the Grimaldi Lines ferry. Every other night it journeys from Barcelona to a port just outside Rome. On the other nights, it travels back to Barcelona (barring teleportation).

What I had thought would be a glorified barge turned out to be a miniature cruise ship. Sporting the latest in 1990′s video games, 1980′s gambling machines, and two-foot swimming pools, Grimaldi Lines offered what only the crappiest of Indian Casinos can.



I did manage to make some good friends on board. Jayeon and her sister Gayeon had traveled from South Korea for a post-grad trip around Europe. Like me, they were nearly left off the ship after waiting for the shuttle at the wrong location for a couple hours. Luckily, somebody decided to help them and with my traveler wisdom growing, I knew to piggyback along. If they hadn’t been as lost as I was, I might still be in Spain.



The next morning I woke in my theater-style chair/bed. All 30 of us in the room refreshed by at least three hours of sleep and almost fresh air. Outside the crew prepared for the day by looking wistfully off the port end. The flotation devices did their best to fulfill aesthetic expectations. And I did my best to obnoxiously take pictures of everything.




Once in Rome I met a load of good people and even ran into Jayeon and Gayeon again at the Coliseum. Whether you want to see old friends or watch emperors decapitate ostriches with arrows, the Coliseum is the place.


If miniaturized nuns, scowling men and smiling men who like statues are your thing, then it doesn’t get any better than the Vatican.





Don’t forget smiling idiots and creepy Jesus babies.