Fergy's Rambles.

What might be in store for you here?

A rather uninformative fingerpost, Scotland.

I was going to write a little bit here about what the reader can expect from this site but the simple fact of the matter is that I have no idea as I still have not the faintest clue how the site even works. I no longer have the safety net of friendly support staff on commercial travel sites and am literally making it up as I go along which is proving to be a fairly tortuous process. Getting this far has taken me the best part of two weeks already. I had never even heard of a DNS until then and my joy at successfully changing a nameserver was undoubtedly out of all proportion to the complexity of the task. As I say in my profile, this is a learning curve like Everest. Continue reading “What might be in store for you here?”

My travel style, if it can be called that.

Again, I should include a short preface to this entry by telling the reader that the images on these introductory pieces are all of physical “roads” but with certain metaphorical connotations for which a full explanation is given in another entry.

This section relates to my style of travelling if, as the header suggests, I do in fact have any style at all which is something I tend to shy away from in any form of endeavour. Those who have seen my wardrobe of ancient albeit serviceable, comfortable and functional clothing will bear witness. I was slightly taken aback lately when a young lady I was talking to at a party informed me that my T-shirt was older than she was which was an interesting moment to say the least. Again, readers that know me will understand and those who do not will hopefully begin to after reading a few of my exploits. Continue reading “My travel style, if it can be called that.”

Last throw of the dice.

The very fact that you are reading this, if indeed anyone is, should be regarded as nothing short of a miracle.

The very fact that you are reading this, if indeed anyone is, should be regarded as nothing short of a miracle. Allow me to explain briefly as I am well aware that verbosity is one of my many failings, most of which I have only recognised relatively recently. Isn’t it funny how the passage of time gives you a much clearer picture of yourself? Continue reading “Last throw of the dice.”

Time to check the mail, it’s finally over.

My final day in Rome arrived and so I packed up my meagre possessions, left the appalling hostel I had been staying in and headed straight for Mauro’s bar to say my goodbyes. Continue reading “Time to check the mail, it’s finally over.”

A new discovery and an ambition fulfilled.

After my somewhat epic trek of the 16th of July (see previous entry for full details) the 17th and 18th were spent in my usual pursuit of hanging out in Mauro’s wonderful little cafe and there are only a couple of things of note to record here. Having booked my flight home for the 19th I was effectively kicking my heels and trying to make the most of my last few days in the wonderful atmosphere of Rome amongst new found friends without the hassle of trudging round endless tourist attractions in the increasingly oppressive heat. Continue reading “A new discovery and an ambition fulfilled.”

I get gloriously and happily lost (again).

16th July.

My last entry dealt with my first foray into proper sightseeing in the Eternal City and I was pretty fired up to do a bit more. Not only that but I had resolved myself to walk as I am a firm believer that this is the best way to see any city. The previous day I had singularly failed to take an image of the Vatican due to equipment failure. OK, to be perfectly honest I had forgotten to charge the battery of my camera which had given up the ghost at the crucial moment and so I thought I would have an early start on the hop on – hop off bus as my 24 hour ticket ran to 1100 and then walk the rest of the way. Well, that was the plan anyway! Continue reading “I get gloriously and happily lost (again).”

I finally see the sights.

15th July.

I knew I was going to have to make a move towards home sooner rather than later due to the Canada trip and whilst people here will know that I am not an inveterate sightseer by any means I thought it would be a shame not to at least make a small effort to see something and to that end I thought my best option would be to get one of the literally hundreds of open topped “hop-on, hop-off” tourist buses that seem to almost drive in convoy as there are so many of them.

I must admit that I was one of those who used to slightly sneer at people using them on the principle that if you just buy a day rover ticket on local public transport and plan properly you can do exactly the same thing for yourself at a fraction of the cost. I know this is true where I live in London (when I am ever there!) and I am sure it is the same everywhere in the world. Continue reading “I finally see the sights.”

Another month and I still hadn’t moved.

In my last entry I said that I was breaking off as this entry took me into July 2017 and the previous submission was getting rather unwieldy as it spanned quite a time period and so I thought it made sense. Continue reading “Another month and I still hadn’t moved.”

A whole lot of days in one entry.

This entry is not a mistake as much as it may appear to be one. It is deliberately dated about a month after the last entry and the simple fact is that I did precious little of note during that time and yet achieved so much.

I spent most of my days hanging about in Mauro’s lovely little gastronomia, drinking beer, chatting to the sports journalists of the Gazetta della Sport which was just round the corner and whose employees used to frequent there a lot. I did get some very tasty information about breaking sporting news that way. Amazing what you can find out if you are in the right place and know the right people. Continue reading “A whole lot of days in one entry.”

So there I was in the Eternal City.

11th June.

The 11th of June technically arrived at midnight as it does and with me sitting at the bar of an Irish pub on the Via Nazionale which is the large and very grand “main street” of Rome and runs down the Quirinale hill. The pub is called the Flann O’Brien and I shall deal with it later when I find the images. The reason I was there was that it seemed to be the only gig in town as the Byron across the road had already shut and it wasn’t even half past midnight yet. Continue reading “So there I was in the Eternal City.”