That was a long haul, having spent a night in Canberra, then one in Sydney, due to flight delays, only one in Hong Kong (due to the changes) then a long flight to Roma.
But here we are , feeling almost normal now after our first night here and a good walk round our district .
Hong Kong to Rome is something of a change and while they break the trip up nicely, those Asian stopovers do add to a bit of culture shock. We were lucky to spend some time with Phoebe’s friend Julian, who teaches literature at the university and has lived there for more than a decade now. He took us on bus trip up to The Peak and on the short ferry ride across the harbour. We met at Central train station on Hong Kong Island which was absolutely overflowing with women. Julian explained that Sunday is the day off for domestic staff. They come mainly from the Phillipines. As there are few free public spaces and there were a few showers that day, they gather in places like the train station and spend the day socialising there. The atmosphere was festive. They laid out picnics on rugs in the stairways and next to the walls. The noise and movement was something to behold and the three of us towered over them, which is a pretty unusual sensation for me! I had not known that Hong Kong has a huge overseas work force who have little chance of gaining citizenship, just like in the United Arab Emirates.
While eating out I decided to try something very Chinese looking, rather than western and went for a Schezuan dish with chillies. It was covered in about a dozen whole chillies, full of sliced ones and was as hot a dish as I have ever eaten. I managed quite a bit of it , to the delight of other diners who shook their heads ruefully when they saw what I had ordered.
And now we are happily ensconced in our little apartment, with the Spanish Steps at the top end of the street. We have started to find our way around and managed to find a great coffee shop this morning where we stood at the counter for our coffee, Italian style.
We are ready now to start seeing the sights and are already getting the sense of why this city is the favourite of so many.
Sounds as if you’re off to a great start guys, love that door xx
Hi Susie
Have thought of you and Peter today as we found our way round the city.
So far I can see only two similarities with NYC and that is the frequent sirens and the car alarms – yikes! Made me think fondly of our time in the Big Apple. xx
Oh dear, those delays must have been trying, but I’m glad you are now happily ensconsed in Rome. Just stay away from the Vatican I suggest!!
We were stunned by the mass of domestic workers occupying the streets all around the business district on a Sunday when we were in HK. Like you were were shown around by a local – though I think the tourist guides also write it up. It was both heartwarming – to see how much they enjoyed being together and all the little things they were doing for each other – but also horrifying that this was all the free time they really have and that they need to spend it this way.
Hi Sue, yes it’s exactly that heartwarming and horrible……………Thanks for you comments. Xx