welcome home...sort of

it's incredibly strange and normal, all at the same, to be home. for the most part, things haven't changed, but it's still strange to be back where i can understand everything going on around me, can order or request things without having to mentally translate first, etc. and although leaving venice was really sad and involved a long list of lasts, i guess i never realized that coming home would involve the converse "firsts" like my first time driving, tipping, using a drive through, using my american cell phone, doing laundry with detergent and softener, not paying for water in restaurants, using my debit card for any/everything, drinking american coffee, sleeping on sheets and using towels that don't feel like sandpaper...the list goes on. i'm doing my best to enjoy those things instead of thinking about how much i miss venice and the people there.

luckily a few girls from the group will be in w-s this summer and 2 people from the group live in charlotte near me, so i'll hopefully see them all pretty often. brad came with mom, dad, and i to the wachovia golf championship a few days ago so it was sort of like being back in venice. nevertheless, not seeing all 18 other kids every day has certainly been strange and things have been a little boring since i got back.

getting back was an adventure that started at 3am the morning of the day i was supposed to leave. one of the guys in the house had a bag stolen and every one got riled up trying to find it. then the 4 other people on my water taxi overslept and only had about 20 minutes to get ready. then we had to pay a porter to take our luggage from the water taxi station to the terminal at the airport and when we couldn't find the man OR our luggage, we thought it was stolen (we found him eventually).

then i felt so sick i barely made it on the plane to paris. but i survived, and managed to not get sick on poor keron, who was on the flight with me. my only major complaint was that they wouldn't let me use the bathroom on the plane til nearly touchdown time--just plain cruel, really. by the time we landed (on time or maybe a bit late) and got on the bus to the terminal, i was getting concerned about connecting on time. sure enough the bus took forever, then i had to go to an entirely new terminal and check in again and go through security again. once i made it through that ordeal, i had to walk about a mile to the gates (the paris airport is undergoing some serious renovations), and ended up at mine with approximately 5 minutes to spare. whew.

appropriately, the weather in venice was as chilly and rainy the day we left as the day we arrived and the flight attendant on my long haul flight home was as evil about the size of my carry on as the man who yelled at me on the way to venice--it certainly all came full circle in a bad customer service sort of way. the same woman then got snarky when i explained that all i wanted for lunch was an appetizer and dessert. no cheese, certainly no heavy food along the lines of the entrees they were offering--i don't do normal jenny-level eating when traveling. i'm sure she got great satisfaction out of the fact that i managed to drip shrimp sauce and chocolate cake on myself. as if i hadn't made enough business class fauv pas, i then watched the movie Bobby and cried. but hey, when you're the only under 40, single person in the entire cabin, i suppose abnormal behavior is to be expected! despite the newly acquired klutzy behavior, the flight passed really quickly and i was back in the states.

that flight landed on time, but sat on the runway for what seemed like forever, so i didn't even deplane until 3:30 and my next flight was at 4:30. i pretty much ran to customs, where i got the passport stamped, but then had to go hang out in the "agriculture" area since i brought food (cookies, mind you). luckily a porter was helping me with my ridiculously heavy bags and i even ran into my friend alex, whose plane from zurich had gotten in early and since mine had gotten in late, we were claiming our luggage to clear customs in the same area. she and her family saved me by paying the porter (i had NO cash since i'd been gone so long) and telling me to go on. i had to walk out of terminal one, where i'd arrived and cleared customs, to terminal three. this involved walking on a busy highway type road...props to jfk for being such a well planned airport. once i got there, the line to check back in was really long, so a delta rep helped me over to a machine. the amchine told me it was too late to check in. so the rep bumped me up to the front of a line where a human could check me in, then took me to the front of a security line. security was a hassle and didn't exactly go smoothly since i was in such a hurry and the lady in front of me was just plain evil. i then realized after clearing security that signs only indicated gates 4 -15, so a info desk lady told me gate 25 (mine) was in terminal 2 (connected to 3 by a looooooong hall). i pretty much ran to gate 25 where at least 5 different puddle jumper type flights were boarding (no announcements, etc...just a large mass of people, standing). so i pushed my way to the front, got rushed down towards the plane, and onto the plane, successfully making myself one of the last people on board. the three men in front of me were venetian, which only made me sadder about leaving. despite all the stress, i made it to raleigh safely. my bags, on the other hand, never made the flight, and arrived sometime the next day, so waiting that out was stressful!

the day care syndrome

(most of the group celebrating mere and mike's birthdays)

today is the last day we're all together in Venice before people all go their separate ways as the semester closes. we had a slide show and a slew of "most likely to___" awards. we had dinner. i said my first goodbye. and like a little kid who cried when her parents left her at day care against her will in the morning, i'm now throwing a proverbial tantrum a la that same little girl who decides day care isn't that bad when it's time to finally go home at the end of the day.

it's not that i don't want to go home, it's just that i really like being here. there are so many things i'm going to miss--the perpetual piano playing, fresh food markets, the fact that i cook, coffee, bar da gino visits, being a regular at san travaso and ai cugnai, speaking italian, traveling by train, the nearly constant whistling coming from the kitchen, trips to the billa, the crazy old people and their equally eccentric dogs, the fact that i know the habitual location of any given street vendor, the amazing people with whom i live, the vaporetto noises, the gondolieri singing & yelling, sitting in the window and reading, having house parties on the patio, having the entirety of europe at my disposal for weekend trips...the list could go on for pages.

it's also not that i dislike america. i mean i nearly left less than a week into this trip, i had such a hard time adjusting. but after four months here, i think i've realized i can survive and even succeed here more so than at home. like i told tristan, who says where you start is where you're supposed to stay?

regardless...after four months of constant cohabitation with 24 other people, i have no idea what i'm going to do when i can't walk down the hall and see any one of the 24 whenever we feel like hanging out, stressing, going out, etc. what we've all realized in the past day or two, though, is that we're all going back to wake in the fall. we'll be able to see each other as often as we make the effort. it's venice that we won't be able to see again (for a year? for a few years? forever?). and so we've all been trying to figure out how you take with you not just the gifts for friends and all the clothes you've bought over the semester, but more importantly, the intangible things. we know the pictures and the stories will never do it justice.

although leaving will inevitably be harder than coming, i know i don't have a choice (unless mom and dad are suddenly ok with me giving up my summer internship, not finishing my degree, and living a ocean away...). and so the next 24 hours will be full of last goodbyes, last coffee runs, last grocery store trips, last traghetto rides, last pictures, last memories. and after that, i will get on that first airplane to paris. and then the one to jfk. and finally the one to raleigh. and then drive 3 hours to charlotte. and after all that, i'll appreciate this place, these people, this experience all from a distance and hopefully that will be enough.

2 trains, a bus, a taxi, a mall...firenze

So Tristan and I decided to go to Florence for the day today to visit "the Mall," which is a designer outlet 45 min to an hour outside the city proper. We went to the train station on Friday to buy our tickets only to find out the 6:30am train was booked and the next best option was a 9am train that wasn't Eurostar (so it would take 4 hours instead of 2 1/2). The bus schedule to the shopping center seemed to work with the train arrival time, and having no other choice, we hopped the 9am train.

The train seemed to take forever, but we finally got in at 10 til 1 and went to the bus station. The ever so slightly surly ticket office man let us know the 1:30 bus pretty much didn't exist so we could take the 3pm bus. That worked fine, since we figured we could get to the outlets by 4, stay til 6:30, and be back in time for our 7:50 train. Once we got on the bus, an even surlier man let us know there was only a bus at 5 and another at 7. The 5 was too early, the 7 too late, but we had to pick the 5 in order to make the train. And after a beautiful bus ride 45 minutes into Tuscany, we arrived at "the Mall," which was full of beautiful stores and beautiful people. Since we thought we only had an hour, we pretty much flew through the 20 different stores. Everything was gorgeous and although I could've bought pretty much 1 of everything, I stuck with just one dress purchase before we reconvened to catch the bus. 10 minutes before the bus was supposed to come, Tristan jogged to the Diesel store and came out a few minutes after 5. To find me hanging out. Waiting for the bus. Which ended up not coming. Because it was Saturday.

So, pretty much before you could say "Jenny, stop having a panic attack," two Italian girls who were on our train and also needed to get back roped us into taking a taxi with them back to Florence. There was also a Japanese girl who claimed to speak English but no Italian, so Tristan and I had to try and catch the Italian spoken by the 2 girls/the driver and translate for her, which was an adventure. About 5 minutes into the ride, I realized the road we were taking looked nothing like the one we took to get to the outlets. Again before I could stress too much, the Italian girls explained that they'd asked the driver to take the scenic route. And scenic it was...so many hills dotted with picturesque villas and then when we rounded a bend, you could see the entire city of Florence from the hills. You could spot the Duomo and see pretty much everything, which made it worth the 10 euro price tag.

The driver let us off by the Duomo, which made the second time I'd seen it that day, since Tristan and I pretty much jogged into the city proper from 1 to 2:15 between when we arrived and when our bus was set to leave (so he could return a shirt he'd bought there during the second 10 day break and so I could buy earrings on the Ponte Vecchio). Tristan went to the Diesel store in the city and I went into a department store, where I forced myself to avoid the super serious designer sections but still ended up finding 2 cute skirts and a jacket. I met up with Tristan at Zara and we got gelato and then headed back towards the train station since I'm kind of obsessive about being on time for trains (plus, after literally running around the city, we were tired!). We got McDonalds, because there was really nothing close to the train station and it was easy (culture police, keep your mouths shut...we come home in a week anyways, it's not like we haven't tried pretty much everything Italy has to offer, food-wise!).

The train back was pretty uneventful and empty, but it stopped for good in Venice-Mestre (mainland) instead of Venice-Santa Lucia (island) so we had to hang out on the platforms waiting for 20 minutes for a train to Santa Lucia. Somewhere between buying myself some candy and Tristan a soda, I lost my house key, which is terrible since it means I will lose my 50 euro deposit, they might have to re-key the whole house, and I won't be able to come and go as I please for the next 5 days. I cannot believe I went 4 months and didn't lose it only to misplace it 5 days before I leave...but oh well. It was an expensive but ridiculously fun/adventurous day, so I can't complain!

ps-I should mention I've been to Florence before in high school and did the museum/church thing, so I didn't feel guilty for shopping this time around!

Masters Series...Monte Carlo and Nice

(picture 1: the tennis complex in Monte Carlo
picture 2: Federer obliterating his opponent
picture 3: coastline in Monte Carlo)

I decided on a whim to go with Brad, Brendan, Meredith, Sarah, Jess Frank, and Caroline to Nice for this past weekend to see the Masters Series tennis tournament held in Monte Carlo. It's the second most prestigious clay court tournament in the world, so even though I don't know a ton about tennis, I figured it'd be a great opportunity.

Brad, Brendan, and I decided to take the train, which took about 9 hours and involved a change in Milan instead of flying with the girls (the flight was a bit pricey). Everything was going famously until we got to Milan. Approx. 13 minutes late. Our "layover" was 15 minutes. The train to Nice left 10 platforms away from where the train from Venice got in. We were at the very end of the train. We were wearing flip flops and carrying huge backpacks. I haven't run in, oh, years. Basically, the odds were not in our favor (even more so they were stacked against me, given my obscene inability to run). I told the boys to go on without me (the tournament definitely meant more to them) and that I'd catch the next train or just go home. Luckily, I still booked it and saw Brendan skillfully delaying the train conductor, so I ran the last few yards and heaved myself on the train. We then navigated 9 train cars (while the train was moving) to reach our car. Low and behold, the entire huge group of young school girls (members of a dance troupe) from the last train were also on this train and, once again, in our car. Delightful, let me tell you. Nevertheless, I was so relieved to even be ON the train, the noise just kind of got ignored. This train was called the "Riviera Train" and once we hit Genova, we realized it was because it basically borders the ocean all the way to Nice, which was absolutely beautiful. The only downside was the obscene number of tunnels we had to go through. The train kind of lost power as we'd go through tunnels, making it impossible to read or anything. Some tunnels had lights in them and created a strobe light type effect, so Brendan and Brad decided to create some rave-appropriate music by doing a capella renditions of techno songs. Between the small children shouting, nearly missing the train, the tunnels, and the strobe lights, the 9 hour ride pretty much comprised the definition of sensory overload, but, I was still relieved to have caught the train and we arrived in Nice about 1/2 an hour later than planned, but otherwise without incident.

Once we got to Nice, we hunted down the hotel to meet up with the girls, who had arrived around 6. We then went in search of dinner since it was nearly 9 and none of us had eaten. Instead of trying French food, we all succumbed to our Chinese food cravings (Venice is a little lacking on the whole food variety thing). We ordered a bunch of random dishes and pretty much went to town and the bill was still incredibly reasonable.

It's probably a good thing we saved money at dinner Thursday night, because the tennis tournament kind of sucked the money right out of us. We took the regional train from Nice to Monte Carlo, but accidentally got off too early, so we had to take a taxi to the tennis complex. Then we all bought souvenir type shirts/hats/etc and got coffee and snacks and of course they don't exactly price the food low when they know you have no other options! Nevertheless, settling into our excellent seats made it all worthwhile. We had a great view of the court, the sun was out (no rain like previously expected), and everyone was really excited to be there. We were there for the quarter finals, so we got to see some the top tennis player in the world (Federer), the top clay court player in the world (Nadal), and the top French player (sorry, can't spell his name). The sets were very compelling and we pretty much only got up for bathroom and food breaks. I think I consumed pounds upon pounds of sugar (crepes, donuts, etc) and gallons of water. We also took hundreds of pictures and Brad was even smart enough to take a video of Federer as he won a match, which is cool to have. We had a bit of an unfortunate run in with the old, self righteous Swiss couple in front of us (they didn't think one should speak, period, at a tennis tournament, and told us as much as they made inappropriate gestures at us, insulted our accents, etc--you'd think they were the college students), but otherwise it was probably one of the best days ever, hands down. Monte Carlo is an absolutely beautiful place...the pictures do not do it justice at all. We were there until around 8, so then we went back to the hotel via train, cleaned up, and found dinner at a French restaurant nearby before passing out from sheer exhaustion.

The girls left after we all ate brunch Saturday morning, so the boys and I hit the beach near our hotel. It was the first time I've ever hung out on a rocky beach, but it was surprisingly comfortable. We pretty much laid in the sun all day--the boys went off to grab lunch to bring back and from noon to about 7, I didn't leave the beach. There was hardly any English spoken, which is cool, and it was just a really relaxing day. I decided that I was going to join Brendan on the night train home instead of staying an extra night like Brad and I had originally planned since I had a TON of work to do back in Venice. Brendan and I used Brad's hotel room to clean up and we headed for the train station around 8:45, but our train was delayed almost an hour, which is not surprising but still unfortunate. The train was really cool on account of it being a night train, my first, and I think Brendan and I ended up in first class, so our compartment was clean, spacious, air conditioned, and had a door that locked (robbery is popular on night trains so this was a huge relief). We chatted for a good while, then passed out and woke up in Venice at around 9am Sunday morning--not a bad deal at all in my opinion.

I really, really loved Nice and Monte Carlo...I would love to go back and spend more time there in the future. The atmosphere is just so laid back and relaxing--definitely a good impulse decision!

Bologna

Last Saturday, Brad, Allie, and I decided to take an impromptu trip to Bologna, which is about 3 hours by train and is home to one of Europe's oldest universities in addition to Medieval ruins. Since we were tired, we didn't leave Venice until about 10am, so we got into Bologna around lunchtime, which was perfect, since the city is also known for its food. We walked from the train station to the main road and then wandered off that road far enough to find a restaurant that wasn't just for tourists. We ended up finding a place that was frequented nearly entirely by locals and where very little English was spoken, which was nice. Allie, Brad, and I all got pasta and Brad also got pizza and the food definitely lived up to the expectations--tortellini alla bolognese will probably always be my favorite dish.

After lunch we kept walking in the direction of the center of town in order to find a few main churches and 2 towers. When we reached the main square we found a tournament of sorts set up in which people could play Foosball, chess, or race toy cars. Brad and I immediately headed for the Foosball tables, each declaring ourselves superior. Let's just say I'm a little out of practice and the days where I could beat someone hands down have passed. Brad beat me both games, but, we never got to have our rematch later that day on account of a real tournament having started. We then poked through the church in the main square and headed for the two towers, one of which is leaning, the other of which is 500 steps tall. We climbed those 500 steps, with me saying "Brad, I hate you" more times than I can count (he was photo documenting my combined fear of unenclosed stairs and heights) and Allie photo documenting the views (worth the fear, I'll admit). With some close calls with people going up and down the narrow stairs, we finally made it to the top and could see the entire city all around, which was only emphasized by the perfect weather. We eventually made it safely back down (although I believe there's actually video of the decent) and found a cafe where we could have snacks and caffeine (this time we didn't do such a bang up job of avoiding a tourist trap and got charged a good deal more than we probably should've, but it was worth it).

We then found a church that was both massive and well known (for relics, architecture, etc). It was beautiful and seemed to be never ending, but when we finally found our way to the gift shop, Brad realized it was the church he'd heard of for the excellent honey made and sold by the monks. I don't do honey, so I bought some of their dark chocolate instead and it was so good that I polished it off before we even left the confines of the gift shop (apparently climbing 500 stairs makes you hungry). We walked back towards the main square to settle Brad's and my Foosball bet, but that's when we realized the tournament was going on, so we headed for the train station to catch a train back to Venice so we'd be back for dinner. It was a quick, whirlwind day, but we got to see a good bit and experience the laid back, mostly tourist-free atmosphere, which made it pretty much perfect!

10 day break, round II, conclusions

(picture 1: the disco ball in the bathroom at our hotel in Rome
picture 2: the coliseum)

It's been nearly a month since the second ten day break ended and due to a combination of obscene amounts of school work and general laziness, I haven't really updated much. So, this is my recollection of the end of the 10 day trip with mom and dad:

Rome
We made it to Rome on time (a miracle for Italian trains, I think) and I introduced mom and dad to the Metro system of Rome at rush hour (an excellent idea, mind you, when 3 very large suitcases, 1 lacking a handle, are involved). We jumped on the subway and rode it out towards the Vatican where we then walked for about 10 or 15 minutes to find our hotel. The hotel itself was very cool--it had a music theme which was very well executed (the check in desk was a drum, the nightstands were snare drums, each room had a top of the line tv/sound system, there was a disco ball in the bathroom, etc). There were a few restaurants right across the street from the hotel so we arbitrarily picked on called Casanova since it looked like it had an expansive menu. It also happened to have a huge tour group and a piano player/opera singer thing going on up on the "stage" so that was a little strange. The waitress quickly informed us that if we could all three order the same thing, it'd make her life a lot easier since the chef was all in a bad mood over having to prepare so much food for the tour group. Mom and dad ended up getting roasted chicken and potatoes while I got scampi risotto--not a very Italian meal for them, but we were all so hungry that it didn't matter. While we were there, some very suspicious looking Italian men wandered in and proceeded to have a long meal with the owner of the restaurant and dad is convinced it was some type of Mafia deal, but I guess we'll never know!

Thursday we woke up, had breakfast at the hotel, and walked to the Vatican Museum. The line was terrible, but seemed to be moving, sort of, so we got in and settled in for the long wait. In line, we met a few teachers and their students from a New Mexico high school German club (apparently they were doing a tour of Europe for 3 weeks), so that was interesting. Once we got inside, we showed dad some of the main collections in the museum, then headed for the Sistine Chapel. After exploring those areas, we went outside to get in line for St. Peter's Basilica. After seeing the basilica, we looked for a restaurant that the guidebook recommended only to find ourselves awkwardly committed to eating at a tiny hole in the wall type place (it had good food all said and done, it was just very off the beaten path). Then we walked towards the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps. About this time, it started to pour down rain, so we ducked into the metro station and headed back to the hotel. Mom did some work for a bit and then we decided to try the restaurant right next to the hotel, which was known for fish dishes. The owner and waiter were great and kept giving us free things and the food was excellent, so it worked out a bit more smoothly than Casanova the night before.

Friday we took it a little easier, taking the metro up to the Coliseum, which was cool (I only saw it from the outside when I was there with Robert in February). Then we walked through the Forum for a bit. As we came out of the Forum, we happened across a huge rally/protest of some sort, which was really strange and slightly scary based on the huge police presence (wearing full riot gear, nonetheless). We then walked for a while to find lunch someplace that was convenient but ended up being a tourist trap of sorts (over priced in a very real way). We then tried to find the movie theater that had movies in English, but soon realized the movies it was showing in English weren't worth the price of the ticket, so we did some shopping. We then tried to find a road I specifically remembered being full of cool shops and restaurants, but after taking my poor parents on a bit of a hike, we couldn't find it. We decided to go back to the hotel to pack up and try to find dinner since we had an early train the next day. For dinner, we found a place right around the corner that was full of locals (no English spoken, basically, nor was there an English menu) and it also had very, very good food.

Venice
We got into Venice around 11:30 Saturday morning and we took the vaporetto to the Zattere to go check in at mom and dad's hotel. I left my luggage with theirs and we started wandering around. I took them to the notoriously touristy St. Mark's Square and we walked through the Basilica. I then took them to Bar da Gino to show them where I go on a daily (or bi daily) basis and so that we could have lunch. We then stopped by Casa Artom so I could drop off my luggage and so they could see the house. Tristan and Brad were around so we all decided to eat together that evening at Ai Cugnai, a favorite restaurant near the house. We all rested/got cleaned up for dinner and then met up at the restaurant where my parents go to experience the crazy that is the old ladies who work there (crazy in a good way, I promise).

Sunday we went to Salute for Palm Sunday mass, then I took mom and dad on a "day in the life of Jenny" type tour which involved eating lunch at Pizza al Volo in Campo Santa Margherita, going to the Rialto area to recharge my cell phone, stopping by the grocery store, etc. We then did the whole rest/clean up routine again to go out to dinner with Allie's family and Brad (Mallory was supposed to join but didn't get back from break in time). I then said goodbye to the parents, since they had a very early boat to catch to the airport (for which they assured me they'd be awake). The next evening, hours after I expected them to call, they called around 11 my time to let me know they had made it home, but not before they overslept until less than 2 hours before their flight, had to take an emergency water taxi to the airport, and had to be re-routed on a later flight due to a security personnel strike (Manzullo travel luck again). But, they made it, which is the important part! All in all, bad travel luck aside, it was a great trip...we saw so much in such a short time!

Napoli, Sorrento, Pompeii

(picture 1: view from where we hiked down to in order to see the shore
picture 2: the view outside the gates at Pompeii)

Tuesday after waking up and making our way via taxi to Victoria station and then to Gatwick via the Gatwick express, the Manzullo travel luck struck again. We got their the recommended 2 hours in advance, only to realize our gate wouldn't be broadcast until oh, 30 minutes prior to take off. Once the gate was finally announced, we found it and were bused out to the plane pretty quickly…only to find out that they had failed to detect the ice on the wings the night before. So de-icing set us back about 30 minutes. Aside from a scary “we’re going to be struck by lightning and/or land ON that mountain any second” sort of landing, the flight was smooth, baggage collection was easy, and customs was non existent. We waited for about 10 minutes to catch a bus to take us into Naples, and the bus ride was uneventful. From the bus station at Piazza Garibaldi, we walked to the train station, and after some confusion, found the Circumvesuviana train station, which is somewhat separate from the main station. We bought tickets, hauled our bags down to the platform, and jumped on what we took to be the 1:05 train to Sorrento (sign said: “Sorrento via Pompeii”). Well, as I’m scarfing down goldfish on the train (breakfast was oh, 7 hours ago), I realize our train is no longer going towards Sorrento, it’s going towards Salno. After panicking, I realized we’ll have to get out, change trains, go back ot Barra (a station a few stops prior) and get on the train to Sorrento. So we get off, get back on, and procede to wait nearly an hour at Barra for a train to Sorrento. The first few are going someplace else, the next one doesn’t even stop, and finally, a train pulls in and we’re assured it’s Sorrento by some locals. Finally, around 4 we end up in Sorrento, and luckily we found the hotel really easily. Thanks to Meredith (no really, we owe you big time), we were in a great hotel called Hotel Michelangelo—an adorable, medium sized hotel with beautiful decoration, big rooms, big bathrooms, terraces, and breakfast. The man at the check in desk gave us a map and we set out exploring. We walked for quite a while, doing some shopping for ourselves and people back home. We also walked down the shore, which involved a nice easy ramp on the way down and a crazy set of stairs on the way up—nevertheless, the views were worth it. We took our purchases back to the hotel, then ventured back towards the main square for dinner. We found a nice, relatively empty restaurant (we eat early, Italians do not) and proceeded to get a lot of attention from the wait staff, who were very friendly (maybe on account of our attempt to speak legit Italian). Following the London pattern, we gave into exhaustion and went to bed by 10, especially since we’d been up since 4am.

Today we slept in a little, then took advantage of the breakfast at the hotel before preparing to lug our bags all over Sorrento and Pompeii. We made it to the train station in time to catch the 10am train, so we got to Pompeii by 11. We got tickets and checked our luggage and began a 4 or 5 hour exploration. Mom and I had been before when I was about 16, but really liked it and wanted dad to see it. With a map and guidebook in hand, we decided to opt out of the expensive guided tours and made our own way around, mostly tripping on the ancient stone streets. Around 2 we finally gave up—there’s just no way to see everything—and went to a nearby restaurant for lunch. After lunch we reclaimed our bags and hopped back on the circumvesuviana train to Naples. I convinced the train ticket man to put us on an earlier train to Rome in the hopes of getting in before it gets too dark tonight, so I’m writing this from the seat of the Eurostar train whole hour earlier than planned. The view from the train is worth the 25 euro price—we’ve been speeding through the mountains, roughly following the coastline of western Italy. Aside from having a hard time stowing our massive bags on a train meant for what seems like baggage-free travel, things have gone smoothly and hopefully finding our hotel in Rome won’t be too difficult in the semi darkness!

ps-pictures coming soon
pps-if any of you are reading this, mr. manzullo's 5th grade class, he's definitely missing you guys and i know he's worried so you better be being good for your sub!

mind the gap

Friday was the official first day of break for me and it started off with the usual Manzullo family travel luck. I planned on taking the 9:45 vaporetto from near the house to the bus station, where I would take a 10:20 train to catch my 11:45 flight. At 9:50, the 82 vaporetto blew by without stopping and I commenced a very hurried dash to the bus station with a packed suitcase to lug over the infinite bridges in Venice. The bus luckily left on time and I got to the airport in time to see a very long check in line. The check in line moved decently quick and I then landed in an even longer security line, but mercifully found my gate with about 30 minutes to spare before boarding was set to start. And after all that rushing, my flight was delayed. Mind you they didn’t exactly announce this delay, they just subtly changed it on the display at the gate, so I called mom and dad’s hotel in London since they had arrived at 7am and had planned on waiting in the lobby for me when I was due to arrive. Despite leaving late, the flight pretty much landed on time and I made it through passport control in time to catch the next Gatwick express, hopped off at Victoria station, hopped on the underground up to Kings Cross station, and popped out and started walking in what I thought to be the proper direction. Turns out I was heading in the complete wrong direction, but happened to run into mom and dad, who had been out walking around before I was due to arrive. Everyone was tired, but we decided to do a little exploring before completely giving up for the night. We back to Kings Cross, bought 3 day travelcards, and went to Harrods. We poked around for a while, but ultimately gave in to the hunger and exhaustion and went back to the hotel. The concierge suggested walking up a few blocks to Watney’s Dollar Grill. It was a really cute place with a downstairs martini bar and a nice upstairs, where we had hamburgers and tuna burgers. After that, we pretty much passed out.

Saturday we went to the little cafe across the street from the hotel, called EuroCafe, to have a proper English breakfast (eggs, bacon, toast, tea) and coffee. Then we took the tube to Westminster Abbey, which I had never gotten to go to when I lived in London two summers ago as it has really unusual opening and closing times. We walked around and got to see everything from the coronation chair to monuments to tombs—I felt especially English-major-esque strolling around poet’s corner. Near Westminster are Big Ben and Parliament, which are some of my favorite London sights. We then walked across the Thames and found a riverside walkway, which took us past the London Eye (a giant, capsule-like Farris wheel that, for a chunk of change, provides views of the entire city). We walked a good ways down the river to the Tate Modern, which is Britain’s major modern art museum, where we saw some interesting exhibits and slides that took you from the fifth and fourth floors down to the basement (sadly they were fully booked or dad and I were going to give it a go). We had hoped to eat on the 7^th floor restaurant since it has excellent views of the river, but the menu wasn’t great and they apparently book up months in advance. We ended up going back to Young’s Founders Arms, a quasi pub on the river where we could get pub style food (better tasting, however). We then took the footbridge across the river to St. Paul’s Cathedral, which I had visited before with Alicia but wanted to visit again (this time without walking the hundreds of steps up to the top). Next we hopped on the tube down a few stops to the Tower of London, which we opted to skip going inside of on account of the exorbitant cost and drizzly weather. We did end up walking down around the Tower along the Thames to the Tower Bridge (often mistaken for the London Bridge). A hotel mom stayed in on her first visit to London is in the shadow of the bridge, so we poked around the area by the hotel called St. Katherine’s Wharf. There are some apartments, a little marina, and a few pubs and restaurants in the area, and the weather was finally improving so it was nice to wander around. Again we sort of gave into hunger and exhaustion and headed back towards the hotel for dinner, this time at Strada, an Italian restaurant near where we ate Friday evening. It was also excellent and not too expensive (if you don’t double the value stated and just kind of ignore the exchange rate, that is).

Sunday we got on the tube and went all the way up to Hampstead, which is a little north of the Worrell House, which is where I lived a few summers ago. We walked down the street for probably about a mile, but it was all downhill and shops and restaurants lined each side, so it wasn’t obnoxious and it gave mom and dad a good idea of what my summer was like. Sadly we were too early for me to get a crepe at Alicia’s and my favorite crepe stand, but I knew I’d be back the next day, so we walked on. It was definitely strange to see my old “stomping grounds” but even stranger to walk past the flower stand where I had bought flowers for our professor the morning of the tube bombings and then past the tube station where I first learned of what had happened. While we were in London, there was a lot on the news regarding current court proceedings for the terrorists, so it was a bit like reliving that whole experience. After making our way down the street, we found the Worrell House and luckily a Wake student currently living there was nice enough to let us in so I could show mom and dad around. Then we walked down towards Primrose Hill, which is just up another nice shop/restaurant lined street. At the peak of the park, you can see the entire skyline of London (for free, unlike the London Eye) and then back down towards the Chalk Farm tube station that I used almost daily that summer. Because it was Sunday, the local Camden Market was in full swing, so we braved the crowds and saw all kinds of crazy street vendors selling anything and everything you can imagine. We then hopped on the tube up to Covent Garden, where we had lunch and shopped around a bit before walking to Leicester Square. We happened upon a movie premiere for the new Mr. Bean movie and as we were trying to find our way to Trafalgar Square, none other than Mr. Bean came peeling into the square driving a painted little MG. We walked through Trafalgar Square and along to Picadilly Circus (London’s Times Square). We then found our way to Oxford Street, where we did some shopping, then got back on the tube to Green Park, where we walked through the park to Buckingham Palace. We were too late for changing of the guards, so we just walked around a bit, then made our way to Hyde Park. We walked through the park along the Serpentine, then up towards Lancaster Gate, where we caught the tube to the St. Paul’s area and had dinner at Cafe Rouge.

Monday mom went into the office, but dad and I kept being tourists. We went down to Victoria station to buy our tickets for the next morning (super early flight to Naples) for the Gatwick express. Then we went back to Harrods and did some more exploring, but eventually ended up in the gift area, where I bought myself an apron (apparently I can cook, but I’ve been wearing Brad’s apron—Michelangelo’s “David”—backwards for a few weeks now). Then we took the tube up to the British Museum, where I hoped to see the Reading Room again (a huge, multiple story, circular room full of really old books…yes, I am a nerd). Sadly it was closed, but we got a peek when a worker opened one of the doors. Then we looked through some of the ancient Egypt and ancient Greece exhibits. Next we hopped back on the tube and went up to get the crepe I didn’t get on Sunday. I talked dad into one, too, so we sat on a bench on the street and ate dark Belgian chocolate and peanut crepes for lunch. I still can’t put my finger on what makes them so much better than any other crepe (even the ones I had in France), but there is a reason the stand has been there since the 1980s. We got back on the tube and took it to Chalk Farm, where we walked from to get to Primrose Hill again in order to walk through Regeant’s Park—another place I never made it to a few summers ago. It was a beautiful day—finally—and we spent about an hour walking through the park and gardens before taking the tube back to the hotel to drop off my apron. We then headed off in the direction of Charing Cross Road, known for it’s profundity of bookstores, because I’ve had a hard time finding English books and London is the first English speaking place I’ve visited this semester. We took a wrong turn and ended up at Trafalgar Square, so we took the chance to pop into the National Portrait Gallery, another thing I never had time for on my first visit. It was cool to see everything from 1400s paintings to modern portraits. After that we finally found Charing Cross Road and walked down it quite a ways to find a few big bookstores. I spent about 45 minutes picking out enough books to get me through the semester, and by then it was time to meet mom at her office. So we hopped the tube again, got off a few stops early, and walked along the river to her office. We then took a cab to the St. Katherine’s Wharf area again and mom and dad had a drink at the pub while we waited for the Indian restaurant to open. Mala, the restaurant, was a place mom had eaten on her previous trip and liked it so much that we wanted to try it too. The waiters were really helpful at suggesting dishes to try and combine, so we all ended up with something different that we could share. After that we pretty much rolled home, we were so full and tired. Plus we had to be up at 4 am for our early flight to Naples…

belluno e bolzano

[[Pictures: 1. Robert and I in the field where we stopped to eat, 2. an example of the uphill trail we climbed (this particular one was directly after lunch), 3. the very narrow, very rocky, very scary path that eventually just plain ended, 4. one of many water troughs (we decided they were originally meant for horses back in the day), & 5. a view of Montagna Serva from a field along the trail]]

Yesterday Robert and I decided to go to the Dolomites and arbitrarily picked Belluno out of the travel book since it was the closest town by train. We caught an early train and quickly got yelled at by the train ticket collector for some reason that I'm still unsure of (she only spoke Italian...), but we didn't get kicked off, which is fortunate. We got into Belluno around 10 am and quickly got lost trying to find the tourist office (we ended up back at the train station). Since we ate our lunches on the train at 9am, we stopped at a little bakery to buy food for lunch. When we finally got to the tourist office, the lady told us we should just walk down around the river since it'd take at least an hour by bus to get anyplace pretty. Well, we couldn't find the river side path that the woman described, so we marched back into the office and demanded a bus. She told us Bolzano was only 10 minutes away (why she neglected to tell us this earlier is beyond me) and sent us towards the bus stop.

The bus literally dropped us off on the side of the street in Bolzano and we found one of the two walking trails the tourist office woman described. And we walked. For about 3 hours uphill (Robert estimated it was about 2 or 3 miles). I know...not exactly Jenny-style...I can imagine the shock/disbelief this is causing! We stopped for lunch in a field and kind of got that "we're the only people on the face of the earth" impression since it was so quiet. Until the walk back down, we didn't see a single person, which was really strange compared to the tourist clogged calle of Venice. After hiking as far as possible (at least as far as I could possibly go), we walked back down and caught the bus back into Belluno.

In Belluno we walked around a few shops (I nearly accidentally bought a $400 pair of boots) and found a pasta shop where you could buy cool pasta (made with things like lemon, cocoa, or pepperoncino) that they made on site. Then we got gelato (Robert owed me...we made a bet...he lost), hung out in the park in the center of town, and headed back to catch our train home.

Today I pretty much can't move on account of the intense hiking, but it was totally worth it for the chance to see some green after spending so much time in Venice!

Parigi

(Pictures: Sarah and I dominating the rain at the gardens, at the Eiffel tower, and in our matching scarves eating crepes--can you tell I miss her??)


I'm hanging out in the CDG airport, having said goodbye to Sarah, then Cat, and it feels a bit like Thursday evening, when I got in to Paris at 5, but Will, Cat, and Sarah didn't arrive until around 10 or 10:30. Today I ate breakfast at the airport with the girls, then did a little shopping, but Thursday was a little more of an adventure. ...

I got to the airport early since Professor Chiari cancelled our second art visit, so I logged about 3 hours in the Venice airport (I like airports, but I like not worrying about being late even more). I got some serious work done, found my gate, and had a relatively smooth flight to Paris. In atypical Italian fashion, we got in early (I think it's because Air France and not Alitalia actually operated the flight). So I navigated the incredibly massive terminal 2 of CDG to collect my bags and then find the Sheraton hotel Will advised me to wait at for him. Unfortunately it would've been painfully obvious that I wasn't staying there, especially if I just sat in the lobby til 10pm. So, I continued downstairs to a waiting area, and whipped out my computer to keep doing work, but my battery was near death, so I spent some time lugging my bags around until I happened upon a room with a bunch of business men hunched over their computers, which were miraculously plugged in. I plopped down and took advantage of free wireless and free electricity to work on a powerpoint, do some debate research, and do some art history paper research while downloading some tv episodes off Itunes to keep me occupied later in the evening. Quite a few people came in and out of the room, however as time wore on, it ended up being just myself and a relatively toothless man who kept trying to look at my screen. Then a security guard with a bomb sniffing dog accosted me, demanding to know why I left my bags over on the other side of the room. I explained (in English, I discovered this weekend that I absolutely cannot speak French) that my bags were sitting right next to me, which pretty much convinced him I wasn't trying to do any harm to CDG, but then I realized that abandoned bags meant someone might be. After canine dog man descended upon and disposed of the bag, it's owner re-emerged and wondered what happened to his bag. My toothless friend explained in French to him, then decided he wanted to chat with me, and although he seemed to think he knew English, I could not understand a single word he said and spent most of the time nodding and trying to scoot further to my right, since he and I were still the only two people there and it made me nervous. He was having computer issues, and wanted my help, especially when he was trying to find google.com but kept typing coogle.com (and wondered why it wasn't working....) and then wanted to watch a movie on my computer since his wasn't working. Luckily, Kristin and I had set a skype date, so I escaped to the bigger, busier area outside the waiting lounge to have some privacy and get away from the slightly scary man. Outside, I got hit up for coins from at least 3 people and started to feel quite alone, especially since I still had 3 hours to go all by myself. But talking to Kristin, watching Desperate Housewives, and doing work got me through, as the canine dog man kept strolling past me looking at me angrily. Reunionizing with Will first, then the girls was GREAT....completely worth the wait. Will knows just about everything there is to know about Paris and is fluent in French, so he saved me in terms of navigating and seeing Sarah was so so so worth the wait. I've missed her so much and had been looking forward to this trip since I booked it in January. And her friend Cat was delightful...she fit right in with Sarah, Will, and I, which was good since the 3 of us have known each other since freshman year and I worried she might feel left out. Will had to get to his ex-host family's apartment before it got too late, so Cat, Sarah, and I had to get to our hotel alone, but we managed pretty well all things considered. Despite our exhaustion, we stayed up talking til maybe 3am, despite the fact that Will was planning to meet us at the hotel at 10.

Friday Will showed up right on time, but the girls needed more time, so he took me to a little pastry shop right around the corner where you could buy 3 pan au chocolat for 2 euro or 4 for 2 euro 30, which is a huge bargain, plus they were absolutely amazing. Then we took the metro to Notre Dame, which was even more impressive in person than I expected. The stained glass was beautiful, as was pretty much every other part of it. Then we walked to the Louvre, where we were going to visit later, just to see it, and it (as the ex-castle of the kings pre-Versailles) was also amazing. From there, we went through a garden area as we walked on to the Arc du Triumph, which appeared to be really nearby but was actually 1 1/2 km (about 1 mile). It wasn't so much the 1 mile, but the rain that made it rough, but it was worth it...the beautiful buildings on the way and the Arc itself were really impressive. Will then took us someplace for lunch where they slightly overcharged (14 euro omelets, 5 euro small coca colas) and got mad at me for only wanting soda and not lunch despite Will's fluent french, but it was an adventure and everyone except for me was famished, so they were willing to pay. Then we went to a handbag wholesale place, which was overwhelming to the point that I may or may not have almost spent WAY too much on a bag, but Will convinced me to wait, and took us on to a French department store, which was huge and constructed in the 1920s in an new-art style. We wandered and window shopped, as it was a little pricey. Will then left us to go rest and change before dinner, but Sarah, Cat, and I hunted down the local H&M and the likes and bought some more affordable basics (leggins, scarves, a shirt for me, etc) and then met Will back at the Louvre (it's free for students from 6-9 on Fridays) where we saw the typical--Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, Venus di Milo, etc--and some less visited art such as Egyptian sculptures and the Medieval Castle ruins down in the basement area. After that, Will took us to a really trendy, reasonably priced restaurant in one of his favorite neighborhoods. He ordered us the house wine, which was excellent and inexpensive. Since it was Friday, I had to bite the bullet and eat fish, which I don't care for, but I got salmon and vegetable lasagna. It was possibly my favorite meal so far in Europe. The salmon didn't taste overly fish-y, the cheese was not overpowering, and the vegetables were delicious. For probably the first time ever, I didn't have food envy! We then tried to get gelato at a nearby store, but it was closed, so Will took us to a wine bar in the area that he also really likes and we each had a little more wine before we called it a night.

Since we were tired, Will agreed to start our Saturday at 11, and he and I went for pastries again while the girls got ready. Then we took the metro to a famous basilica built on a hill/mountain on the outskirts of the city. Will pointed out a few sketchy metro stops in the famous Moulin Rouge area where a lot of drug deals turned into murder scenes, but promised it had gotten much safer since the 60s, plus it was day time. Anywho, we walked up about a million steps to get to this church, but it was 100% worth it. Not only was the church beautiful, you could see the entire city. We then wandered around that part of town, which is even more picturesque than the city proper, in my opinion, We saw the famous boarding house where well known artists lived when the area was dominated by artists. Then we found another of Will's favorite restaurants where everyone could get an appetizer, entree, and dessert for 11 euro, but again, I just wasn't hungry, so I got soup while everyone else ate a full on meal. I made up for the money I saved when we came across a cute little dress shop on the way to the metro and I tried on and bought two dresses. Ooops. Then we tried to go to the Museum of Modern Art, but by using Will's french, we realized there were no good exhibits, so we went to the Luxembourg Gardens since it was such a beautiful day. Sarah and I got crepes, and proceeded to end up with Nutella ALLLLLL over ourselves. There are pictures. It was so not Parisian, but we thoroughly enjoyed it. Then we went to a really cute, really inexpensive wine bar in the area, and Will took us to the metro line that goes above ground so we could get one of the best views of the Eiffel Tower (in the daylight) in Paris. After that, we all went home, got dressed up, and met back up with Will to go to an authentic Italian restaurant called Paparazzi, which was absolutely delicious and cheap. He introduced us to a rose wine, which was probably some of the best wine I've had yet (it's actually Italian, not French, so I fully plan on looking for it in Venice). Then we went to the Eiffel Tower to see it lit up, then took the obligatory tourist pictures, and hopped the last elevator to the second level (the highest you can go past like 10pm and it was 11). The views were again absolutely amazing, plus we were on the tower when the hourly light show started, which was cool. The elevator rides up and down were a little scary, but being able to see the city at night from the Eiffel tower was worth it. Then Will walked us to a trendy college student area where they had wine and beer and I had Jack Daniels, for which the bar charged me SEVEN euro! I was so put off that it was that expensive (Will and I were both under the impression I ordered the 3 euro version). But, the bar was absolutely adorable and we had a good time people watching on our last night in Paris, so I didn't mind much.

We said goodbye to Will in the Metro station since he doesn't leave until 7 tonight, and came back to our hotel and ended up talking and packing until 3 again! Despite basically bleeding Euro and not getting a ton of sleep, this was one of my favorite trips, hands down. Paris is just inexplicably beautiful and Will was an excellent tour guide and I adored Cat (and of course seeing Sarah). It's probably my favorite trip so far...the combination of people AND the place was just perfect. It's so hard to be sitting in the airport to leave. I still am completely obsessed with Venice and anytime I'm away, I think about how much I miss it, but this trip really couldn't have been any more perfect...it was worth every last Euro.

The Eternal City

These are just two (slightly random) pictures from Rome...the top one is my tiny, tiny hotel room and the bottom one is me, Robert, and Pablo sitting on the roof of Pablo's seminary, which clearly has one of the best, most expansive views of Rome in the entire city. A recap...

Thursday: obviously the aforementioned train trip, found my hotel after navigating the Termini train station, got lost trying to find the hotel, Robert & Pablo picked me up, we tried to go to the Vatican Museum (it was closed), went to St. Peter's Basilica, stopped by the convent where Robert was staying, went to Piazza Navona, Chiesa di Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, searched high and low for pizza, and took the metro back to my hotel (I got us lost).

Friday: American style hotel breakfast, wandered around trying to find Robert in the line for the Vatican Museum, Vatican Museum, met up with Pablo, found lunch, took the bus to St. Paul's Basilica, saw the steps from Jerusalem (that Jesus reportedly walked on), went to the Coliseum, tried to go to the Forum (it was closed), went to the church where Bernini's "The Ecstasy of St. Theresa" is kept, St. Paul's of the Chains (where Michelangelo's Moses (that you can touch) is kept), took the bus to St. John's where the first Baptistry was built, took a bus way outside the city to a non-tourist dominated Peruvian restaurant, and stopped by the Piazza del Popolo on the way back to the hotel.

Saturday: Hotel breakfast, round 2, meet the boys at the Campanile in St. Peter's square, hiked up quite a huge hill to see the Tempieto (a small Renaissance building housed within the Spanish consulate), visited the Campo del Fiore (where the French Embassy and apparently a lot of nightlife was), saw some of Caravaggio's paintings in Chiesa di San Luigi, went to Chiesa di Ignacius (a Jesuit church with a fake dome and the tomb of one of the founders), visited the Forum, took the bus out to the Catacombs of Pricilla, went to S. Maria Maggiore (where Bernini is burried), visited Pablo's seminary, said goodbye to Pablo, searched for a pasta place for dinner but happened upon Rome's best pizza place for dinner (where the owner would dart in and out of the restaurant and hand pick people out of the ridiculously long line), and finished with Rome's best gelato.

Sunday: Mass at St. Peter's Basilica, packed up and checked out of the hotel, saw the Pope speak in St. Peter's square, and hopped the train back home.

On the road again

In the past 24 hours, I’ve taken nearly every form of available transportation…2 buses, 2 planes, a vaporetto, and now train 1 of 2 to get to Rome (where I’ll take the metro and/or a taxi). Needless to say, the last thing I want to do is sit for the next 5 hours, but what can you do?

It’s only 8am, but I should have definitely been partway to Rome right now. Or even in Rome, had I taken the midnight train last night. Instead, following my good fortune of finding the (free to me) bus full of tourists that went straight to the airport, I ended up stuck in Madrid (where I connected) for quite a while since my plane got delayed over an hour. And that caused me to miss both the 10:20 and 11pm buses back to Piazzale Roma, so I had to take the 11:40 bus, which got me back to Venice around midnight. I then had to dash to the Vaporetto stop to catch the 12:09 boat that would take me to the stop closest to the house (to avoid walking alone, at night, in the dark, and with a wheeled suitcase that takes ages to get over bridges). It was about 1 am by the time I got in and I still had to unpack and repack (Canaries clothes and Rome clothes are a little different!). Mal had looked up the schedule of trains to Rome and told me there was one at 6:30am, one at 7am, and that there were actually a lot. So, I figured I’d let myself sleep in a tiny bit (til 6:45) and not kill myself trying to get on the 6:30 train since it’d mean about 3 hours of sleep.

After a long, toasty, uncomfortable (my bags are SO heavy) dash to the train station, the woman at the info booth informed me that the next direct train wasn’t until 10:30, but that I could take a 8am train to Bologna, where I could then pick up a train to Rome. With the connection added in, it’ll take about 6 hours instead of the usual 4 ½ or 5, but I’d prefer to be making progress (and not wasting my effort of getting ready early). I’ll get in around 2, which is good as I can’t check into my hotel until then, but bad because Robert gets in at 10:15 and I had hoped that we could both head from the train station to the hotel and his convent together (I have no map and a bad sense of direction…). If I’d only gotten to the station a little earlier…there was a 7:30 train…but oh well…this way I had time to get a brioche and realize that the ticket vendor only gave me the ticket for the second leg of my trip, which is bad news since they always check for tickets (I went back to the counter and she gave the Veniceà Bologna ticket to me).

The ride from Venice was uneventful and I made it to Bologna successfully but the train station at Bologna was a little confusing and I was glad I had 45 minutes to figure things out. I found my platform and bought a few things from the vending machine in some sort of semblance of lunch (following an oh so healthy breakfast of a chocolate brioche). I also got persuaded into giving my last 2 euro piece to some kid going on in Italian about how badly he needed to buy a train ticket. Even though I knew it probably wasn’t for any train ticket, the kid caught me at a weak moment and I handed it over…I blame sleep deprivation and Dramamine (definitely not my gullibility…). Once they put up the info for my train, they also noted that it was “in ritardo” which means delayed. I’m beginning to think the infamous Manzullo bad travel luck has started to follow me everywhere I go! We left about 15 minutes late, which isn’t a huge deal, but I want to be able to catch up with Robert in Rome since he’s much more well prepared than me in terms of maps and plans. Plus I just want to get all this luggage off my hands by checking in!

In all these travels, I’ve had some revelations (some of which make me thankful I live in the US and some that don’t):

What Europe has figured out:

*public transportation (without a doubt the majority of subway systems are inexpensive and relatively easy to use and definitely don’t have the negative stigma we’ve assigned them in the states)

*a variety of low budget travel companies (the competition ensures low fares to pretty much every major city)

*a continent wide train system (we don’t have anything that comes close in terms of cost, routes offered, or ease of use)

*being multilingual (if there’s anything that’ll make you feel inadequate, it’s the legions of toddlers/kids you hear speaking two+ languages fluently)

What America dominates at:

*assigning seats on planes & trains (i'm a pretty big proponent of this approach)

*lining up to board said modes of transportation in an orderly fashion (you would not believe the lining up procedure at Iberia…mostly because it doesn’t exist and it’s pretty much a free for all…same goes for Ryan Air…adds unnecessary stress)

*being on time (or at least being profusely sorry and offering compensation when not on time)

*customer service (no, really…comparatively speaking, we’re got the edge on this one)

(I'm actually in Rome now, staying at a Best Western in a slightly sketchy part of town, but the room is clean and quiet and nice. And by nice, I mean TINY, but still nice...all the amenities of my room in the Canaries, just 1/4th the size! The walls are a salmon color and the wallpaper is pretty much velvet, which is kind of weird, but it's all very kitschy-cool. Plus, I'm not going to turn down free wireless, free breakfast, my own bathroom, and a TV! Robert is coming to meet up with me now...time to see all the things I didn't get to see in high school when I was sick!)