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!