Alla Fine

Here marks my final captain’s log.

This past weekend was my final weekend in Italy and in Europe -- I am coming home. Earlier last week, I realized that I had seen much, much more than I expected to see. I had explored Venice on two separate occasions, clubbed in Florence, relaxed by the river in Bassano, ventured through the Vatican, hugged the columns of the Roman Coliseum, soared above the Alps via parachute in Switzerland, and much more. With this in mind, I found that I was ready to come home -- there was nothing else that I was absolutely dying to do here. I missed my family, friends, and one very special woman. So, short story shorter, I changed my flight to Monday, June 14. Now that we have that out of the way, lets go back a couple of days to the beginning of my final weekend in Italia.

My weekend began right after my final exams in Paderno. We won’t talk too much about those. I caught the bus to Bassano at 1:30PM, taking the train from the Bassano station to Padova, and one more train from Padova to Rome. My friend Cary Decker and I traveled together, and arrived in Rome at about 9:30PM. Once we lugged our things outside the station, we stood in the huge taxi line (the public transport services were on strike at the time). While standing in line, we were pestered by individuals trying to sell their private “taxi” services. One man said it would only be 40 Euros to go to our hotel, and that we had to follow him into the back parking lot of the station. We decided that this was probably not a good idea, so we told him no thank you. After he kept pestering us, Cary worked his magic and told him to leave us in peace in Italian. He did, waving as he yelled a polite “f**k you!” We were bravo’d by many of the Italian bystanders. With that little incident over, we stood in line and talked to a couple from New Zealand for a while until it was our turn to get a taxi (the real taxi only charged 20 Euro for the ride).

We arrived at out hotel later that night. Well, my hotel. Cary hadn’t reserved anything, so we decided to just try and sneak him in to my one bedroom to sleep on the floor. He hid outside while I went in with both of our bags and checked in. The clerk seemed suspicious of me, and asked “Just ONE person, correct?” Not wanting to lie, I replied “Yes, I came to Rome with a friend, but he’s not here now.” All I did was leave out the part about him being outside behind a tree. I got my room key, went upstairs, and opened the fire escape door to let Cary in -- mission accomplished. The room had two beds, so he didn’t have to sleep on the floor.

The next morning, we ate breakfast at the hotel (going one at a time with 15 minutes in between each other so we wouldn’t muster any suspicion from the clerk) and then headed out into Rome. I had a reservation for the Vatican at 1PM, but after waiting outside and asking around, we could not find the correct tour group for the life of us. So we just stood in line, which wasn’t bad at all -- only took about 15 minutes for us to get in. After walking around in the Vatican and Sistine Chapel for a while, we left and went back to the hotel for a nap (we were both pretty exhausted). After a five hour nap and a laptop viewing of “The Emperor’s New Groove,” we went back out for some night sight-seeing -- destination: the Coliseum. Feeling all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed from our nap, we thought “Hey, why don’t we just walk there? Screw taxis!” This would have been a normal thought if we were inside the city -- not half an our drive outside. But we were apparently delirious, so we pulled up Google Maps on the iPhone and began to walk down the mountain into Rome. On the way, we went by a fresh fruit stand and got some peaches to munch on for the remainder of our walk.

After three hours of walking/jogging, we finally arrived at the Coliseum. That thing is gorgeous, especially at night.

After sitting for a while, we hugged the massive columns and went to find a taxi back to our hotel (we were not about to make that trek again).

We crashed at the hotel and decided to sleep in the next morning since the only thing that we still wanted to see was the Trevi Fountain.

We woke up late that morning and got a taxi to the fountain. It was incredibly crowded, but worth it. After making some wishes, we went out and shopped for a while (I got some awesome shoes). Then, we went to McDonalds for a little taste of home.

At about 6, we decided to be lame and go back to the hotel to relax. We were both still exhausted, and the long hike from the day before also left us pretty sore. After we relaxed and watched a movie, Cary left to go meet another one of our friends at his hostel by the train station (they were both leaving for Maranello the next morning, so it just made it easier for him to stay there for the night). We snuck his stuff out of the hotel, and said our goodbyes. I went back upstairs and got some rest for my flight the next morning.

Well, that’s about it. It’s hard to believe that I am writing this from the Leonardo Da Vinci airport in Rome as I wait for my flight home. Even though I am ready to go back to America, in hindsight, this trip really did fly by. I had a lot of great experiences, met some incredible people, and created memories that will stay with me forever. I am so glad that I decided to study abroad (and that my parents decided to foot the bill).

I will end with a list of things that I learned:

1. Prosecco is incredible.

2. Italians do not like to form coherent lines. They enjoy massing around counters and breaking in front of Americans.

3. There are more kinds of cheese than you think there are.

4. There is no excuse for the lack of bidets in America.

5. Gelato is better than ice cream. Hands down.

6. To get a street salesman to stop bothering you, simply whack them in the nose with a newspaper.

7. Time means nothing to Italians. Expect many stores and restaurants to be closed at random hours.

8. The pigeons in Venice are ruthless. If you want to get rid of someone, just throw bread at their face.

9. When crossing the street, drivers accelerate in your direction.

10. Traveling in Europe is an amazing experience. Don’t ever pass up a chance to go.

Thank you to all that read my blog and supported me.

Until next time,
Connor

Since I have a ten page paper due on Wednesday, an eight page paper due Thursday, and a final on Friday, I decided to make this post pretty short. I'll just put up some photos and quickly explain what I did this weekend. (I forgot my camera on quite possibly the best weekend to bring my camera...so these phone pictures/pictures taken by friends will have to do).

This weekend, I went to Interlaken, Switzerland with a group of friends. I think this might have been my favorite travel weekend so far. The country is absolutely beautiful, the the weather is great, and the drivers don't accelerate toward you when you are crossing the street (unlike Italy).

After what was supposed to be a 7-hour bus ride, we arrived at Interlaken in 12 and a half hours (wrecks, etc)

We checked into out hostel at about 1AM and went to the only place to eat that was open that late: Hooters.

The next morning, me and my four friends woke up and headed out to do our activities

Getting ready to paraglide the Swiss Alps:

Paragliding the Swiss Alps. With Thomas, my tandem pilot. It was one of the best feelings in the world.

After we finished paragliding, we went back to the hostel for a little while, grabbed lunch, and then Mike, Chris, and I rented some bikes (later found to be the cheapest and worst bikes in the entire city), and took them on some trails up toward the main mountain in Switzerland.

We biked through two cities, through woods, over rivers, and through the very pits of hell itself.

Thank goodness for public fountains scattered throughout Europe.

Chris conquered a stump.

After about three hours of the most difficult bike-riding I had ever done, we finally reached a town called Lauterbrunnen, where we bought train tickets for our bikes and ourselves back to Interlaken. We later found out that people usually take a train up and then bike back down. We will remember that for next time.

After a well-deserved nights sleep, Cary, Chris, and I woke up at 7AM to go zorbing. T'was very fun.

And then I found a snake under a rock.

The next day, we all got back on the bus, and went back to Paderno (it took only 7 hours this time).

This morning (Monday), I went to my classes, and instead of going to my normal four-hour afternoon Entrepreneurial Strategy class, our teacher said "let's go to a winery." So off we went to the Italian countryside.

They had some delicious Prosecco waiting for us outside.

That was my weekend in a nutshell. I apologize for the lack of depth; so much more happened that I want to talk about (including meeting a Chinese man that changed my life and almost broke Chris' hand), but there is simply too much work that I need to do this week. Hopefully this coming weekend's post will be back to normal-ish length.

Ciao!

Venice: Act II

This weekend started on Thursday, one of our two long travel weekends. I finished my classes like always, and headed out for another few days in Venice with Chip Harrison, a friend from Alabama who is studying in Greece (but first spending a weekend before classes in Venice with me). I caught a bus to Bassano, a train to the Veneto Mestre station, then a much shorter second train from the mainland to the Santa Lucia station on the island. From there I hopped on a 30 minute water bus ride to Rialto Bridge, then walked to Hotel Da Bruno (the same place I stayed the first weekend). Chip was coming in on Friday around 4PM, so I had a day by myself to relax and catch up on some sleep. That evening I grabbed some dinner and gelato and tried walking much into the city further than I had previously gone.

The things that I find here never cease to amaze me. I found tons of beautiful little churches and some really cool spots to sit and watch the gondolas (most of the time occupied by elderly Asian groups). I also came across an amazing little leather-working shop owned by the sweetest woman. She spoke English fairly well, so we talked for a while and she showed me all of the things she made (leather-bound books, bags, tobacco pouches, etc). I really liked the bags that she did, so I asked if she could make one for me. She said “of course,” and asked how I wanted it to look. We drew it out on a piece of paper, and she told me that it would be ready on Saturday evening. She gave me a very good price for what she was making since I was a student. After I said goodbye and left the shop, I headed back to the hotel for some sleep.

I woke up at 7:30 on Friday morning, thinking that my hotel’s breakfast ended at 8 (it actually ends at 10). Unfortunately, once I wake up, I’m awake for the day; so after I ate, I went ahead and got ready. I walked around some more, got an espresso, and went to Rialto to get some gelato and wait for Chip to arrive. His boat pulled up at around 4:45, and we went to the hotel so he could drop off his stuff in the room.

We went back out an hour later, and headed toward San Marco square for some sight-seeing. We walked around outside, but decided to wait to get tickets for the museums on Saturday.

We also saw a weddin' at San Marco Square.

Once it got dark, we headed back in the general direction of the hotel, and found a discothèque (I can’t remember the name, but it’s no big deal -- the place itself was not very memorable either). We walked in and were just about the only people there (strange for a Friday night). The only other people that were there was a group of students from South Carolina studying in Italy for the summer as well.  We sat with them and got to know each other for a while before deciding to leave and find a different place to hang out. We found a pretty cool jazz club that no one could afford, so we ended up just walking around in Venice and talking. At about 2AM, we all said goodbye, they headed off to their hotel on the mainland, and Chip and I went back to Da Bruno for the night.

PS: Friday was Chip’s birthday, so he got a birthday kiss from one of the South Carolina girls.

We woke up at around 9 on Saturday, and got ready to go sight-seeing. We started  at San Marco square and bought a cheap student museum ticket that let us into a bunch of different museums (we only ended up going to two before our feet started hurting too badly). The museums were very cool, but my favorite part of San Marco was the prison. I’ll just put up some pictures so I don’t have to type a bunch about it.

The hands-down highlight of our day was actually in the middle of the square. If you are familiar with the area, you may say “but there’s nothing there except crappy knick-knack stands and pigeons.” You are absolutely right, and the latter of the two brought us hours of fun. We picked up some bread and bought some seed and fed the pigeons. It's hard to explain in words, so I’ll just put up some pictures.

And here's a baby...

After we had our fill of bird wrangling, we went back to that leather shop to pick up my custom-made man purse (it’s awesome, by the way).

Then, we headed toward our hotel to attend an opera called La Traviata. It was pretty good voice-wise, but the plot was horribly boring and cliché. After the show, we went back out into Venice and tried taking a boat to the mainland. A British couple told us that the best place to get off would be the San Roma stop, so we believed them. This stop wasn’t on the mainland. Oh well. We got off at the Roma stop anyways, and ended up walking all the way back to Rialto, where we met another group of students from Georgia that was a part of the same study abroad program as the South Carolina students from the night before. We hung out with them for a while, and at about 1, we called it a night and went back to the hotel.

The next morning, we woke up at 9 and went downstairs for breakfast. After we ate, we headed to the water bus station to get ready to leave (Chip to Greece, me to Paderno). We hopped on the boat and said goodbye to Venice. I got off at the train station, but he stayed on to go to the ferry dock, where he would be departing for Greece at 1. I bought a train ticket to Bassano, where I arrived at about 12:30.

I explored Bassano a little, and I came across a concert in one of the squares of Bassano. I stayed for two groups -- the first was a youth rock/orchestral band that played some Green Day, and the second was an actually band that played some hip Italian tunes. It was pretty unexpected and ended up being a great way to pass the time while I waited to go back to Paderno.

I also did some relaxing by the river. It felt amazing outside.

I guess that just about sums up my weekend. Next weekend I will hopefully be going to Interlaken, Switzerland!

Weekend in Florence

This weekend marked our first travel days in the summer program. The trips are not school sponsored, so we all have complete freedom to go where we want. After getting a small group together, some of my friends and I decided to go to Florence for the weekend. Mainly on the grounds of Cinque Terre was completely booked, but there were lots of really cool things to see in Florence as well. Although the amount of people going to Florence was around twenty, we all split into smaller groups for travel and hostel booking.

After our Friday classes, Mike, Mark, and I got on a bus and headed to the Castelfranco train station. We arrived at about 1:30PM, and immediately went in to get our tickets to Florence. We weren't surprised when there weren't any ticket options that included a direct ride to Florence, so we spent a little while figuring out how we'd go about getting there. We ended up deciding that we could just buy a ticket to Padova and go fron there. This is where our unintentionally long and frustrating journey began.

Many of the trains to Padova were full, so we had to wait about two hours for the first available one. After about an hour train ride, we arrived at the Padova station, and tried getting tickets to the next city, which ended up being another smaller station. To make a long (9 hour) story short, a combination of misread tickets, misread times, and bathroom breaks resulted in three missed trains and three very angry students. Luckily, we met two girls (Kay and Katy) who had been studying in Italy for the past year. They helped us get the correct tickets and told us the best way to get to our destination.

We fianlly arrived in Florence at about 9:30PM, two and a half hours after we were supposed to check in to our hostel. This would have been a lot worse if the girls we met didn't speak fluent Italian and call the hostel for us to let them know we would be late. Anyways, we grabbed our things and left the train station to try and find our hostel. After wandering around in the dark and asking for directions multiple times, we finally just pulled out Google Maps and it led us to the hostel, Ospitale Delle Rifiorenze, where we arrived at about 11. We headed upstairs, cheked in, and went to our room (which was a lot like a prison cell, but at least we got a room to ourselves).

Later that night, we went to a night club called Space Electronica. This place is so cool! Just about everything inside glowed, and the atmosphere was very fun and energetic. My travel buddies both brought button-up shirts and pants, but for some reason I left mine at campus. Luckily, the club made an exception for my t-shirt and shorts attire since I had never been there before. The bottom floor was a really futuristic-looking bar with a stadium-style table and chair area. Stairs on the opposite side led up to a huge dance floor overlooked by a third level balcony.

We left around 1:40AM, which was a little later than we had originally planned (the hostel curfew was 2AM). We left Space, and ran across Venice to try and get back before they locked us out. We left our city map in our room, so getting back took a little longer than normal, finally getting to the hostel at 1:57. After a sigh of releif, we went back up to our room and got some sleep before our day of sight-seeing.

The human statues were fantastic.

The next morning started at 9AM after much snooze button mashing. We tossed our stuff in our lockers and headed ito town. In addition to the cool shops and beautiful scenery, Florence seemed to radiate history. We walked around and looked at different museums and statue-laden squares scattered throughout the city. It was simply amazing. The streets were full of artists and musicians, making every street an exciting experience. The museums were full of fantastic pieces of art, but unfortunately, no photography was allowed. So the only pictures I could get were the ones I snapped quickly when no one was looking.

PS: The statue of David is gigantic.

After our feet started to fall off, we found a place to eat, and sat for a while. I don't really need to say anything about the food, it's all amazing.

That night, we walked around trying to find a place to watch the big Inter Milan vs Bayern Munich. We found a cool little Irish pub with four TVs and a whole lot of people. We met some other people from our program and squeezed our way to a table to sit down. The people here were absolutely insane during the game. And I thought Alabama football was bad...

Mark went off to the club again after the game with some of the people we met there, but Mike and I just wanted to take it easy and relax. We found a really cool restaraunt in a big square in the middle of Florence where we listened to a funny Italian pianist playing good ol' American hits, including "I've Got a Feeling" and "YMCA." The accent made the whole performance. We went back to the hostel around 1:30AM. We waited in the common room for Mark, but we never heard from him. Hoping he was ok, we went to sleep, and the next morning, he called letting us know he was on his way back to meet us. He was at Space until 3 that morning, so he stayed with some of the other people we met earlier.

This post is starting to get a little long, so I'll try to wrap it up. We woke up the next morning at around 8, packed up our stuff, and checked out of the hostel. We grabbed some breakfast and started walking in the general direction of the train station. We went by the market and looked around for a little while, getting to the station at around 11:50. Our return trip went much smoother than Friday's excursion. We bought the correct tickets, cought every train, and made all of our transfers. We arrived at Bassano del Grappa ar around 6:15, so we had about an hour and a half to walk around in Bassano until our bus to Paderno showed up. We met some others from CIMBA, and hung out with them until the bus arrived and brought us all back to campus.

That was my weekend in a nutshell. I'm starting to think that I may just post on the blog for weekend trips or if something especially exciting happens during the week. Check back every couple of days for an update.

A Few Days In...

Let me start by apologizing for my lack of posts for the past couple of days. Classes have really started to get into full swing, and between traveling and working on assignments, I'm not left with a lot of free time.

Now, let's get started.

Since I have a horrible memory, I'm just going to touch on some things that happened on Tuesday, Wednesday, and today without going into a ton of detail. This way, I get to write less, and you get to read less!

Tuesday started off with my 8AM Entrepreneurial Strategy class. Other than the time, I'm really enjoying it. The material is interesting, and the teacher looks exactly like Steve Jobs -- buzzed, gray hair, blazer, button-up shirt with no tie, slacks with no belt. I have the feeling he was trying very hard for that look. But thats neither here nor there. Anywho, this class went until 9:30, followed by an hour and a half break until my 11AM International Business class started. This teacher is very Russian. His name is Mikhail Grachev and his accent is very intimidating. His personality, however, is fantastic. He's very funny, and has experienced a lot, including helping break down the Berlin wall.

Tuesday evening, I went over to the mall in a nearby town with a group of people. It was about a quarter of the size of University Mall, but had three sports stores, a Home Depo-esque hardware store, some clothing stores, a food court, and a supermarket. The supermarket had a large cheese room:

We walked around for a while, ate some pizza and some gelato, and came back to campus.

Wednesday started the same way, but that evening, I went to Bassano del Grappa. This city was beautiful with tons of shops, cafes, and gorgeous scenery. And, of course, I forgot my camera. Once again, the iPhone will have to do.

While in Bassano, I got some fresh cheese, a blueberry and rum crepe, and (of course) some gelato. This gelato trip was more interesting than the persious ones, however. After ordering, one of my friends dropped a Euro behind the glass into the tiramisu gelato. The next couple of minutes were spent trying to articulate the incident to the woman working there, who didn't speak a lick of English. Finally, he got the message across, and left the store quite embarassed.

Now we get to today's events. Again, more classes, but today, I had a four hour afternoon Entrepreneurial Strategy class where we split into groups, came up with a business idea, and pitched it to the rest of the class, who then voted on whether it was an idea worth marketing or worth throwing in the trash. In the next week or so, we are going to have to draft a complete business plan.

This evening was spent writing a paper for my International Business class on the effects of globalization on the American economy. Fun.

Tomorrow afternoon is the official start of my first weekend during the program. Some of my friends and I are heading over to Florence for a couple of days. This being said, there will probably not be another post until Monday.

G'night everyone

In Need of a Title

Today was hectic. It started off at about 5:30AM when I woke up. I had trouble sleeping (still getting over jet lag), so when I woke up again at 5:30, I just decided to go ahead and get ready for the day. My weekend in Venice was over, and today was the day that I would finally arrive at Paderno del Grappa for my summer classes. After I showered and all that good stuff, I packed up my things for checkout. I left my bags in my room and headed out into Venice before checkout. I stopped by the water bus dock again to go ahead and buy a ticket to the train station.

I stuck the ticket in my pocket and headed back to the hotel. I grabbed breakfast there, which consisted of sliced capicola, salami, and ham, olives, juice, nutella’d toast, and various cheeses. After breakfast, I went back up to my room, grabbed my things, and checked out of Hotel Da Bruno. This all happened before 8, so the city was still pretty empty. I kind of enjoyed the quiet.

At around 9, I arrived at the San Lucia train station in Venice, and purchased a 9:50 ticket for Bassano (which is where I would then take a bus to Paderno). When 9:50 came around, there was no train -- 10:00, still nothing. Everyone around me (including myself) became very confused, so we found a conductor and asked what was going on. After explaining it to everyone in about four different languages, he let us know that the train was not coming (great), and that we needed to take the train to another city first (can’t remember the name), and then immediately transfer to the Bassano train from there. I hopped on the train, still a little nervous about the detour. I got even more nervous as the conductor started walking down the train cars, checking people’s tickets for correct validation. Luckily, I did mine correctly, but the young French couple to my right wasn’t so lucky. They were awarded for their incorrect validation to the tune of a 50 Euro fine. Needless to say, they were not happy.

After about an hour, I arrived in Bassano, where I went straight across the street from the station to a gazette stand to buy my bus ticket. I had finally made it to a place where it was hard to find someone who spoke English. I knew it would happen eventually, but I wasn’t quite ready for it yet. After sending a flurry of improvised hand gestures to the man at the gazette stand, I finally got a bus ticket out of him. He showed me to the bus stop that was supposed to take me to Paderno on its way to Pederobba. I thanked him and sat down on the bench. Here, I met the only man from Bassano to Paderno that spoke English -- a really cool blind guy. He felt around with his cane for a seat, and after bumping into me, he apologized in Italian. When I responded in English, he said “Oh, haha! Is there a place here for me to sit?” I led him over to the seat next to me, and we waited for the bus together. After about 2 hours, I started to wonder if my bus would ever get there (it was already an hour late). Finally, a bus to Pederobba pulled up, but not in the place that the man showed me earlier. I guess I must have gestured incorrectly. Nevertheless, I got on the bus and pulled out Google Maps on my phone to make sure I got off at the right stop.

I arrived at the Filippin campus in Paderno about 40 minutes later. I signed in, got my textbooks, and headed up to my room to unpack. After I unloaded all of my things into their respective drawers and cubbies, I went back downstairs for our orientation. Not much to say about that except that the man in charge of discipline (a retired Italian police officer) scared us all with stories of past summers where people were arrested, injured, and sent home. He then gave us a wave and a smile and went on his way. Later, I ate dinner at the cafeteria, took a look around campus, and got familiar with my schedule -- yay for 8:00AM classes! Tonight will probably consist of food and catching up on sleep.

Here is my dorm room and the view from my window:

Tomorrow…classes start.

Gettin' My Gelato On

Previously on “I Miei Viaggi”:
-Got on some planes
-Babies screamed
-Got to Venice
-Ate some delicious food

Day two of my trip started a little later than I had planned. Still getting over the jet lag, I woke up around 10:30AM, missing my hotel’s breakfast. Once I did finally wake up, I got ready and headed into town. I explored for a few hours, trying to get lost again. Around 12, I grabbed lunch at a small café-esque restaurant and ordered this pizza pie topped with spinach, two kinds of mushrooms, tomatoes, cheese, and more -- very, very delicious. The man who took my order looked like he was straight out of "Lady and the Tramp;" goatee, black hair pulled into a ponytail, slightly overweight, singing and whistling while he made the food. I was so happy. Immediately after, I treated myself to some tiramisu gelato, and carried my cone around with me while I walked around and took pictures (these two pictures were taken with my iPhone's camera, but the rest were taken by my actual camera).

When I arrived yesterday evening, I thought the city was pretty busy already…today was completely different. There were people everywhere, from locals to tacky tourists (the former usually giving the stink-eye to the latter). Some places were completely congested, making it hard to move around, but these areas were usually near the docks and the market. I took some side passages, attempting to bypass the crowds and ended up finding lots of really beautiful and interesting places. Unfortunately, the theatre I found was closed, so I was stuck peering into the windows. It looks like there might me one or two shows going on when I come back to Venice in two weeks with my friend, Chip Harrison (who is studying abroad in Greece this summer).

Looking around some more, I saw some Italian kids playing soccer in front of some old buildings. Nearby, another little boy was holding some bread, while the local birds executed an all-out assault onto his hands and arms. I quickly found that children are so much cuter when they are speaking a language I can't understand.

After walking around for a few hours, I stopped by my hotel to take a quick nap. This quick nap turned into a three-hour nap, but I definitely felt better. I satisfied my grumpy stomach with an enormous slice of margarita pizza, followed by another scoop of gelato (this time, hazelnut). Since I will be leaving Venice for Paderno del Grappa tomorrow morning, I left the hotel again and went to the water bus station to ask the best way to get to the train station. I was originally under the impression that the train was very close to my hotel, but it turns out that it is over an hour walk -- glad I asked. Looks like I will instead be taking a ten minute water bus to the station. Once I’m there, the plan is to get a train ticket to Bassano del Grappa, and then a bus ticket to Paderno del Grappa, where I will start my summer classes on Tuesday.

Well, it’s past 10PM here, so I’m feeling a late dinner. Maybe some more gelato….definitely some more gelato. Be afraid, Connor’s bidet, be very afraid.

Tomorrow will be my travel day, so hopefully there will be a lot to talk about. See you then.

Boats, Babies, Bolognese Lasagna

Here begins my blog. We’ll see how long I can keep it up, but hopefully there will be an entry almost every day. In lack of a more creative way to start off my first post, I’ll just jump right in:

My trip began today around 1:30PM, when I left Tuscaloosa for the Atlanta International Airport. I got there early, checked my bags, ate, and boarded my 9:15PM flight to Heathrow Airport in London. This eight hour trip consisted of screaming babies, abundant turbulence, and long restroom lines; but immediately became more pleasant after popping in a couple of Dramamine pills.

After landing at Heathrow, I grabbed my luggage, went through customs, and purchased a bus ticket to the Gatwick airport (about a forty-five minute drive). When I arrived, I re-checked my bags, went through customs a second time, and ate my first meal abroad, “beef and ale pie with mash and veggies”-- t’was decent. Afterwards, I grabbed a mocha from Costa Coffee and sat around until my 4:10PM flight.

When 4:10 came around, I hopped on my last flight of the day (more screaming babies) to the Marco Polo Airport in Venice. This trip was much shorter than the first, totaling about 4 hours. Once I landed and got my things together, I set out on a public water bus, headed to the Rialto Bridge in Venice.

As soon as we docked at Rialto, I asked around for directions to my hotel (Da Bruno), which was about a five minute walk from the bridge, nestled in a small square of shops and restaurants. I dropped my things off in my room and went back out to walk around the city. Even though Venice is a huge network of streets and alleys, I really didn’t have that much trouble finding my way around. All I had to do was follow the signs back to the Rialto Bridge, and find my way back to the hotel. Many of the shops were already closed, so I’ll write more about those later this week, but what I did see was beautiful. The buildings were very…Italian-looking. All I can really say is that it was everything I expected and more.

At around 10:30PM (Venice time), it was time to have my first true Italian meal. After looking around for a while, I decided on Ristorante Marco Polo, and I do not regret this decision one bit. The meal consisted of selections from three different columns, each being a single course. I started off with a Bolognese Lasagna, followed that up with an amazing chicken dish, and finished it all off with a mystery desert (the menu simply said “homemade dessert,” but it was delicious nonetheless. Every single bite was fantastic, and the atmosphere was amazing. I’m not sure if these cell phone pictures will do it justice, but you’ll have to trust me.

Whelp, that just about concludes episode one of “I Miei Viaggi.” Tune in tomorrow for episode two, where I get into a tussle with the local police and jump from the Rialto Bridge onto an unsuspecting gondola!

PS: I have a bidet.