Saturday, August 13, 2011

Nearly Every Major City in the Country

When Sarah arrived, it was as if no time had passed. We had a sleepover at my host family's where we stayed up all night and caught up on the past few weeks. I was even first exposed to Sarah's creepily accurate Golem impression during the middle of the night. Frightening!

The next day was spent planning our week. We booked our hostels, wrote down train times, and called Alyssa, just to make sure we were still going to meet her in Firenze. The following day, we packed our bags and were on our way to Venezia!

We arrived at the train station, walked out of doors, and were greeted by the beautiful view of the sweet Venetian river. We dropped off our luggage in what was probably the smallest room in the city (I actually think our room was a cleaning closet before they shoved 2 beds in there. There was barely even any room for our suitcases!) We took a map and wondered on our way. Most of the day was spent taking photos and getting lost in the city, but we also found a beautiful Venetian mask shop, ran into some sailors by the cruise ships, and bargained our way to a 20 euro gondola ride (at least 30 euro cheaper than it should have been). While waiting for food, we played a game that Sarah called "MASH BUGS," which supposedly tells your future. According to the game, I'm a sexy pilot with 12 kids that lives in a love shack with Hugh Jackman and drives a red Ferrari. Not such a bad life :)

Around dinner time, we realized that we had only about 20 euro left between the 2 of us, and in this expensive city, that's barely enough for a first course. We made our way down the main strip, checking each menu as we went. We made it to the last one, and to our disappointment, all we could afford on the menu was spaghetti without any kind of meat. We were about to walk back when the owner of the restaurant came outside and motioned for us to sit down. He signed him back that we didn't have enough money, and he told us to sit down anyway. He let us order what we wanted for our 23.something euro, and I was even given a free 1/2 bottle of wine.


After dinner we headed back to Piazza S. Marco and sat down to listen to the music while Sarah sketched a bit. We encountered a magician who tried to steal a few pecks from Sarah, and then ended up getting a few drinks with 2 of the musicians after they finished their shift. The next day we wiggled our way out of our closet of a room and picked up the train to Firenze.

We met up with Alyssa at the train station, chatted there until we could check into our hotel, went to the hotel, and stayed inside the rest of the day catching up in our super king-sized bed. The next day we walked around my favorite city, and bought a few souvenirs (including items from this beautiful authentic leather shop). We spotted a little water rat along the river which we named Steve, and references to him ensued for the duration of our time together.


One day we took the train to Lucca, where my Conformation saint, Gemma, lived. Actually, we had to run to the train. The last of us jumped on it right before it started moving. The other 2 like to blame it on me and the time it took me to get ready, but I knew we'd make it and led us there in just enough time. We all just happened to be wearing the same outfit that day, black shirt and kacki shorts, so we referred to ourselves as Charlie's Angels. One man even asked to get his picture taken with us. Of course we obliged, being such camera hogs.





It was like a treasure the entire day, trying to track down St. Gemma, and at every stop finding out so much more about her. We first saw the chapel that she attended everyday (which was closed and I was forced to climb up the wall to peek in the window), saw the outside of the house where she received stigmata, and then wandered into a church where her teacher was preserved under the alter. There we spoke to a nun and she told us some great stories about Gemma and her teacher, some extremely unique tales about the Church itself, and where we could find where Gemma's body was preserved. We tried to enter the Shrine where St. Gemma was buried, but unfortunately had already closed by the time we got there. It was a bit disappointing, but that gives me a reason to return at some point.



The next few days we stayed in Siena at an adorable Bed&Breakfast. At this point in time, we were getting really low on money that we were willing to spend. I was in the mood to eat Chinese, so we wandered around forever trying to find the only Chinese restaurant in the city. The food was so cheap and delicious, that we ordered a ton and pretty much bought out their stock of beer. We found a nice step on the side of a Church and feasted. The food was so good that we ended up doing the same thing the next night.



At this point, Alyssa was leaving for Alba, Sarah was going to Rome to catch her flight home, and I was SUPPOSED to be going down south to visit the family. They both left the B&B early in the morning and I was going to rent the room for one more night. However, the woman said that they were all booked, and I had nowhere to stay. I realized that Sarah's train wouldn't leave for another 20 minutes so I literally packed my bags in 5 and booked it down the hill. I had to hold on to my hat as I ran towards the station, and a few cars honked as I bolted by. I must have looked so silly, but thank goodness I had a 4-wheeler suitcase, or I might not have been able to make it. I bought my ticket, surprised Sarah, and had 4 minutes to spare before the train departed for Rome.

While in Rome, we found this really nice restaurant with live music. As we had almost finished our meals, we started talking to the 2 men sitting next to us. Apparently the one next to me was an Italian politician named Josef, and we bonded over our mutual friend Joe Biden. Josef gave me a photo of him and Biden and he even signed it for me. The following day I spent at least 7 hrs in lines and metros trying to get my bus ticket down to Villapiana. Utterly ridiculous - I have never been in a city where transportation was so unreliable.



Spent one more night with Sarah in our hotel, and then I began the 8 hr journey to Villapiana. Southern sun, here I come!
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