The Flossy Flossy
Keeping it “on the real” the best I can.Archive for italy
Benvenuto a InterRail Italia!
It’s been a week since my train débâcle, and after some time and distance from it…I can still stand by my original opinion of TrenItalia. Det suger, liksom!
So what happened was this: after an amazing day walking through and getting lost in Venice (which, if I may digress for a bit, is the most beautiful city I have ever visited. I don’t care if people say it’s overtouristy–perhaps it is, but I like it that way; it’s romantic, picturesque, and it’s exceeded my expectations in every way.), I decided to take an earlier train home so I could get back to Lugano by 7PM in order to finish my schoolwork. And here begin my grievances:
They charge me €8 for riding on a different train than I had purchased tickets for. Well, I thought, “Va bene, at least now you know.” However, I didn’t have any Euros on me and asked if I could pay in Swiss Francs. He charged me 30CHF. Only after paying him 20CHF did I realize that he was bullshitting me. (For those who don’t know, €8 is roughly the equivilant of 13CHF.) Trying to stay positive, I had managed to convince myself that paying a little extra was necessary to ensure that I got home early. Little did I know…
My journey courtesy of TrenItalia!
The train that I was on, from Venezia Santa Lucia to Milano Centrale, unexpectedly stopped in Verona. After half an hour of waiting in silence, the conductor announced over the intercom that a man had killed himself sulla ferrovia. (Whether he jumped overboard or hopped in front of the tracks is unbeknownst to me.) So instead of continuing to Milano Centrale, we took a detour–to Bologna.
From Bologna, we slowly chugged our way up towards Milan, with stops in Modena and Piacenza. After six productive hours, we finally reached Milano Centrale. Ironically, I reached Milan even later than I would have if I had taken the train I originally purchased the ticket for. Needless to say, I missed my connection from Milan to Lugano, but was lucky enough not to have missed the last train from Milan to Bellinzona. With almost two hours to kill, I took the time to eat my apple and explore the outside of Milano Centrale and the metro.
In the end, I made it home at around 2AM in the morning. But considering how I did most of my homework on the train, I guess it wasn’t so bad after all.
These next couple of days are very exciting and eventful. Right now I’m still debating whether or not to go to Zürich today. (It’s currently 3:40AM and I would have to get to the train station by 8AM.) Will have a handful of midterms next week, closely followed by the arrival of my Norwegian family on Thursday. Unfortunately, I won’t have the opportunity to be with them for so long because on Monday, I leave for the Czech Republic and Slovakia on Academic Travel.
I’ve also finalized my plans for Thanksgiving! I will be spending the long weekend down in Vailate with Jessica! There are tentative plans to make turkey, which I’m very excited for.
And as for Christmas, hopefully I will be able spend a week over at Marie’s place in either Normandy or Paris before flying home to California.
Wow, I hope all this talk of traveling doesn’t make me sound spoiled rotten. The truth is, I am grateful for every moment of it and am loving life right now. La vita è bella. Ma adesso–devo dormire.
A Day in the Life: Italy
Ciao a tutti!
I am writing from Oderzo, Italy. (Look up its location on Wikipedia. It’s mindblowing realizing where in the world I am right now. In fact, all of today has been so surreal.) With a little help from Sandro, I successfully took the train from Lugano to Venice. Although the connection in Milan was hellish. (Note to self: Italian trains are not like Norwegian trains. And by that I mean they don’t always arrive on time. In fact, I have a theory that they rarely arrive on time.)
I had planned on exploring Oderzo in the morning, but alas, the luxury of having my own bed (as opposed to a bunk bed) in my own private room prevented me from getting out of bed until well past 11. Comunque, after breakfast with the rest of Francesco’s family (who are all very accommodating), I took the bus from Oderzo to Treviso.
Spent the day in Treviso with Francesco, Faustina, and some of his friends. Call me cheesy, or weird, or retardedly sentimental, but I feel lucky and amazed to have experienced today. I mean, how many people can say they have really witnessed the life of an Italian teenager? It was so interesting just to be with them, walking around town, chilling on the playground, making fun of passerbys.
We took the bus home late afternoon and saw the majority of Mannen som Elsket Yngve, which is a surprisingly (or not…if you’re me) good film, before being treated to a delicious dinner of roast beef, potatoes, salad with oil and vinegar, and breadcrumbs-stuffed paprika.
Tomorrow I hope to see a good deal of Venice before taking the train back to Lugano. A suivre…
