So today in the midst of trying to study, and knowing that we needed to really go grocery shopping SOMEWHERE in this city, I decided to venture out on my own across town to an SMA store (supermarket here) to buy that food! To do so, I had to take a metro. I planned my route, gathered up my little rolling suitcase, Shane's travel backpack, our old shopping bags (you have to pay for your bags here), my passport, translation book, metro map, and money. I headed to Geribaldi train station, the closest one to us, where I could hop on the blue line and get to where I needed to be. Once there I couldn't figure out why it only mentioned the green and red lines. I should have paid more attention when Shane and I went out and about instead of just following him! Finally I realized that the blue line was the train, basically a metro but a completely different system. Not to worry, since it was just a few steps in the opposite direction. I bought a 1 Euro ticket, which is good for about 70 minutes. Hopefully I could get across town, shop, and get back into the station before my time ran out.
I made sure I was getting on the right train and made it on just as it pulled in. Thankfully I was going the right direction! I got off at my stop without a hitch, and realized that I was going to the store that was right across from hotel Rossovino where we had stayed the first few days we were here. Well that made it better, at least I didn't need to look at my map to know how to get there. Once there, I set out on my adventure: shopping in a foreign language. I despaired for a while until I remember that I HAD packed the translation book. Unfortunately the electronic translator Lydia and I used while in Poland has dead batteries. It would be a lot more handy.
Pretty soon my little rolling cart was full, and I still had tons of things to get. Some things I just couldn't find, or were too expensive to get in the first place. I wish they'd make some cheap tortilla chips. I really want Mexican. And rice. All they seem to have here is that round rice...gross. I did get potatoes though, which tided Lydia and I over for many meals in Poland.
I tried to find good cheese, but I think I'm pretty picky about cheese. The only kind I knew I would like is mozzarella, but here they sell it in little balls floating in water. Gross again. I'll wait till I absolutely need it.
Once I had decided I had enough food to justify my trip, I went for the part I dreaded...checkout. Normally I wouldn't care, but I was by myself and I had so much food to pack into my bags and I have a thing about keeping people waiting behind me. So I decided to do self checkout. Simple right? Wrong! Thankfully the machine had an English option, which shouted out each item's price to me after scanning it. It made me feel a bit self-conscious. "Over here! I'm the American and yes my machine is speaking English! Look at my huge cart of food and my open suitcases on the floor ready to load up!"
After the first full bag that I put in my suitcase, the machine began screaming at me to put it back on the scales. "AN ITEM HAS BEEN REMOVED!!! PLEASE PLACE THE ITEM IN THE BAGGING AREA OR CLICK ON REMOVE ITEM!" At this point the cashier standing at her little booth just to the left of me walked over blabbing in Italian and put my bag back up on the scales, shaking her head and obviously telling me I couldn't put the bag in my suitcase. Is she afraid I'm stealing it all or is she just telling me what the machine is making me do? Either way, it was awful hard getting all my groceries to reside in that tiny space meant only for two small bags at a time.
At one point in time my potato bag wouldn't scan, even though it had a barcode. When I looked to her for help, she reached over and pushed the "key in item barcode" button, which made me feel stupid because I KNEW that, I was just hoping she could get it to scan without me having to do that. When my bags were threatening to fall off the scale to the point that the scale didn't recognize them and began screaming at me again, the woman walked back over and stacked my stuff on top of each other, then pointed to the sign above my checkout lane that said in Italian, "Max number of items: 15." Well. I don't speak Italian. The sad thing is that I really didn't have to; it was obvious that's what it meant. I just didn't see it.
When all my food was stacked in a tower on the scales, the machine asked me how many bags I had. I didn't WANT bags, that's why I brought my suitcases!! Besides, I had 4 bags and the machine only went up to 3! As I was pondering what to do, the woman came back over and pushed a button. I didn't see which one it was, but I turned to her and protested that I didn't want any bags, I had brought my own! She nodded at that and proceeded to help me pay with my credit card. I didn't need her help, I had done this a thousand times on my own. But I guess by now to her I was just the dumb blonde American who couldn't do things for herself. She handed me the receipt, which I don't even remember where I put so I have no clue how much it even cost. I pushed my stuff to the side of the store and loaded it all up. By this time I was sweating profusely in my layers of warm clothing.
As I finished, the security guard started meandering my way, looking at me, and I put on my most irritated This-stupid-store-has-put-me-through-hell-and-it's-so-much-better-in-America look and walked right on past him, making sure to not make eye contact.
I made it back to the metro to discover that my ticket had, of course, expired. Thankfully every once in a while they have the gates open and you don't have to slide your ticket....however, they often have officials at the other end of your ride checking to make sure you actually validated them. Well, I had validated it, and I hoped that that's all they would check, rather than the time. I made it back on the correct train without any problems, and thankfully there was no one waiting to check my ticket once I got off. I had to walk around a bit trying to find the right exit to my street, but it wasn't that bad, and I made it back home safe and sound. Hopefully now I can cook a nice different meal for Shane tonight other than spaghetti.
Lesson learned: I will never go on a huge shopping trip again without Shane there to help me!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Where's the FOOD??!
Sunday
Yesterday morning Shane, Ryan and I moved Ryan over to the other housing across town. Of course our internet hadn’t been working that morning, as usual, so Shane and I couldn’t check his email to see whether the woman he’d emailed about switching places had responded. We checked it when we got to Ryan’s place, and sure enough, she hadn’t. Figures. We went up and saw the rooms this time. They’re nice. Small but clean, modern, and private. The only downfall is that the showers are the kind where there’s no shower lip, just a drain in the floor, so water tends to run everywhere. The kitchen has much to be desired, if you can even call it a kitchen. I have a feeling I’d grow to hate that aspect of the place, not really being able to cook and all. And it would also be a pain to have to go downstairs every time I wanted to check my email. It sure is nice being able to sit in bed to do it here, when it’s working that is. So we chalked up the pros of not moving and sort of resigned ourselves to the fact that we’d probably be staying where we’re at, especially after the guy at the front desk told us we’d need to speak to the other woman; he couldn’t check us in.
We left Ryan to his unpacking and explored the shops near the Duomo for a bit. They were all too expensive for us, of course. Such as 300 Euro for some ugly, simple platform dress shoes. Designer, I’m sure, but still. I bet even their slippers are at least 100 Euro. So far I think the street markets are going to be my best bet if I ever truly want to buy anything here.
Shane and I went home, cooked some spaghetti, and finally unpacked. It’s a lot more homey when you’re unpacked, I discovered. Although studying is still going to be slightly depressing, what with the lack of sun or light in the place. Self-discipline Ashelle, self-discipline.
We tried to go food shopping at a little place we’d seen down the street, but whaddya know, Italians don’t like to work very much and therefore have “siesta” every afternoon. Shops usually all close at noon until the evening, when some open up again. So if you want to get anything done, you’d better get your butt out of bed in the morning. That’ll be good for me too I suppose. So that being the case this time, we went back to our apartment where the internet had decided to work again finally. We spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking, cleaning, eating, and bumming. We haven’t even gone to see the Duomo yet. Shane hasn’t been feeling well lately, due to the cold I think, and I haven’t felt much better. It’s a good excuse to stay inside the warmth and be lazy while we still can.
I’m REALLY craving American food. I’m tired of pizza and pasta already—not that it was ever my favorite in the first place. But as of yet we haven’t even found a decent cheap grocery store to buy all the basic things we need, much less be able to have ingredients to cook American dishes. I mean, we haven’t yet found butter! What grocery store doesn’t have butter?! Yesterday I had that feeling of unquenched hunger, even though we’d just eaten spaghetti a couple hours previously. Since we had spaghetti aplenty, I made a ton more to ensure that I got full. I did. And now I’m tired of spaghetti. Actually I could still eat it but I’m craving the kind of sauce my family usually makes: Ragu with pinto beans and TVP in it (TVP is a vegetarian beef substitute).
We went to bed early, so Shane could get up in time for class without being exhausted, and so I could be on his schedule, so he says. Wonderful. But I guess I need it, and it’s really not that bad.
Today (Monday)
Today I was unhappily awakened by Shane turning on his light to get ready, and I couldn’t believe it was already time to wake up—I had been dreaming so well! This was the day that my rigorous studying schedule should start, and while I had been ready for it a couple days ago, I wasn’t ready for it now! I stayed tucked in my bed until Shane left for school, all spiffy in his suit. Since I couldn’t sleep, the internet was once again not working, and I knew I really should get a head start on the day, I decided to take our shopping list down to the grocery store again to get those stupid groceries we can’t ever seem to get.
My walk to the store was cold, but not terrible. When I got there they weren’t open yet, but I only had to wait a couple minutes. I rushed in the second they opened it and started on my shopping spree. I started out with trash bags, since I was in the household section. No trash bags….was I blind? I decided to venture around the store to see if maybe they just weren’t beside the brooms and dust pans. As I walked around the store, I noticed something peculiar—it wasn’t a grocery store at all, but merely a convenience store with household items and beauty products. WHAT!? Why can’t we find a grocery store??! I made several trips around the store, feeling stupid because I was dragging a huge cart and carrying a huge backpack, ready to stuff them to the brim with FOOD. Not STUFF. Finally I found the trash bags….right beside the brooms and dust pans. I got two of them and looked around the store for more things we might need to fill my cart with. Of course there was nothing. I went to the checkout counter and handed her my credit card, after which she proceeded to ask me for my documents. Documents? At a grocery store? I suppose it does take the place of a driver’s license, but still! Shane never had to show his passport at other grocery stores we’ve been at, at least I don’t think. Thankfully they let me by. It was only 2,20 Euro worth anyways.
I came home with trash bags and no food to fill the empty fridge. Oh it’s not like I’ll starve today. We’ve got bread and jelly and leftover spaghetti and crackers. But I’d hoped to have a different meal than spaghetti on the table when Shane got home. Even worse, this means I have nothing better to do than…study. It might be easier if the guy next door would quit singing to his kid all the time. Wish me luck.
Obviously, since I’m posting this we now have internet. Woohoo!!
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Ho Hum days
I have to be honest and say that I don't like Milan. Of course there's the Duomo, which I haven't yet seen, but the part we're in at least has absolutely nothing interesting in it. There are plenty of shops, but with a tight budget like ours we can't afford to really buy anything. Bummer.
We all spent yesterday lazing around enjoying our free pilfered internet, watching Glee, and eating pasta. We went shopping at the train station grocery store 10 minutes away, which is the closest and only one we have so far found within walking distance. We bought basic necessities: pasta, salt, jelly, bread, dish soap and scrubbers, water, yogurt, fruit, and a few small snack items. Guess how much all that cost? About $40 worth. It wasn't even that much! We've actually already eaten about a third of it, and it's only been one day. Depressing, to say the least. We have got to find a decent larger grocery store that doesn't suck the life out of our meager funds.
I stupidly wore my knit boots on that little trip to the grocery store. I guess there was a reason someone was selling them at a garage sale. As a result I was squishing water between my toes by the time we got home. That makes zero clean/dry socks I have left. We really need to do laundry--but our washing machine literally might hold about 3 pairs of my jeans, 2 pairs of Shane's.
On the bright side, our apartment was warm when we got back last night! It has been raining for a few days now, making any adventure that may be outside an impossibility, or at least miserable. I can't help but think that if we lived in a place like Sorrento, even the rain couldn't take away from me wanting to go stand and look at the gorgeous sea view. On a more optimistic note, maybe the lack of excitement outdoors will make me want to study more for boards while I'm here. I've been pretty stressed about that lately. We figured out that minus all the weeks we'll be gone traveling while here, I have about 6 weeks to finish studying before we head back. 6 weeks! In about 4 months I've barely gotten halfway through the study book! Of course, that includes not really studying for the past month, and not really studying for the first month either. But still. The stress of my impending doom really takes away from my excitement over this spur-of-the-moment adventure. Not only that but money is getting very tight over here, what with prices of everything being sky-high for New Year's and the Euro taking over the dollar. I guess I'll need all the mercy from God I can possibly get right now.
Today was another Sabbath for us. I searched in vain for Adventist churches in Milan before we came here, but to no avail. Either there are none or I'm just not finding them. I'm starting to wonder if I just won't be able to attend church for the next 3 months. Kind of a sad thought. I guess we'll have to improvise in the future.
I awoke this morning to what sounded like the murmur of a crowd below my window. Upon finally getting out of bed for the morning, I discovered that I hadn't just been dreaming--while I snoozed, a 3-street flea market had been set up right in front of our building. White tents protected the wares from getting wet from the ever-present rain, and a surprising number of people were out and about perusing the contents. Since we had nothing better to do, Shane, Ryan and I went and scouted out what I can only describe as the most exciting thing that's happened in Milan since we got here. Sad, I know. Unfortunately it wasn't that fun, because the rain, cold, and sogginess seeped into my pores once again, chilling me to the bone.
We spent the rest of the afternoon in complete boredom, because the internet we had been pilfering had suddenly been blocked. Guess they figured out someone was stealing from them. When you are in a foreign country, have nowhere to go because of the rain, no internet, no phones, no communication with the outside world, and only an internetless laptop to keep you entertained, it makes for a pretty boring time. I didn't even bring any books to read.
By evening time we were so bored that we decided to take a trip across town and visit the two other girls from Shane and Ryan's school who had also been a part of the exchange team. Secretly we hoped that they had internet for us to use. The rainy trek didn't do well for my slowly developing sick feeling, and I'm sure it was bad on Shane's too. However we finally found the building, which is like a dorm of sorts. This is where Ryan will be staying, since he's not allowed to stay as the third person in our apartment. The second I walked in I fell in love with it. It was WARM, it was bright, and there were tables all around the lobby room with people hunkered over their laptops, which meant internet. Unfortunately the front desk informed us that we couldn't go to the girl's rooms unless we had our passports, which Shane and I didn't but Ryan did. So he went up to look at the rooms while Shane and I sat waiting and I wished in my mind that we could live there too. When Ryan came back down with one of the girls, we checked our email and Ryan went to talk to the guy about moving in. In 10 minutes he had the key and was checked in! After hearing descriptions of the place, I wish even more that Shane and I could live there too. We would each have our own room with a shared bathroom, and a community kitchen. The kitchen, we were told, is extremely ghetto, with only 2-3 burners, no oven, no fridge, and no dishes. Fortunately there are personal fridges in each person's room. Regardless, I would feel so much happier living there than our drafty, dark, cold apartment.
Upon getting back to said apartment, I looked around and realized it really wasn't THAT bad. Since it had warmed up it was a bit more homey, and we did have dishes and a decent kitchen after all. We emailed the woman in charge of our housing to request the switch, but this particular woman seems to be very selective of who and what she chooses to respond to. Several emails sent to her by Ryan and Shane just haven't gotten answered, while still others have been answered, but very vaguely. We'll see if she responds to this one or not. If it doesn't work out, I'll just have to be happy where I'm at. Maybe it will teach me something. I'm pretty spoiled after all. :)
We all spent yesterday lazing around enjoying our free pilfered internet, watching Glee, and eating pasta. We went shopping at the train station grocery store 10 minutes away, which is the closest and only one we have so far found within walking distance. We bought basic necessities: pasta, salt, jelly, bread, dish soap and scrubbers, water, yogurt, fruit, and a few small snack items. Guess how much all that cost? About $40 worth. It wasn't even that much! We've actually already eaten about a third of it, and it's only been one day. Depressing, to say the least. We have got to find a decent larger grocery store that doesn't suck the life out of our meager funds.
I stupidly wore my knit boots on that little trip to the grocery store. I guess there was a reason someone was selling them at a garage sale. As a result I was squishing water between my toes by the time we got home. That makes zero clean/dry socks I have left. We really need to do laundry--but our washing machine literally might hold about 3 pairs of my jeans, 2 pairs of Shane's.
On the bright side, our apartment was warm when we got back last night! It has been raining for a few days now, making any adventure that may be outside an impossibility, or at least miserable. I can't help but think that if we lived in a place like Sorrento, even the rain couldn't take away from me wanting to go stand and look at the gorgeous sea view. On a more optimistic note, maybe the lack of excitement outdoors will make me want to study more for boards while I'm here. I've been pretty stressed about that lately. We figured out that minus all the weeks we'll be gone traveling while here, I have about 6 weeks to finish studying before we head back. 6 weeks! In about 4 months I've barely gotten halfway through the study book! Of course, that includes not really studying for the past month, and not really studying for the first month either. But still. The stress of my impending doom really takes away from my excitement over this spur-of-the-moment adventure. Not only that but money is getting very tight over here, what with prices of everything being sky-high for New Year's and the Euro taking over the dollar. I guess I'll need all the mercy from God I can possibly get right now.
Today was another Sabbath for us. I searched in vain for Adventist churches in Milan before we came here, but to no avail. Either there are none or I'm just not finding them. I'm starting to wonder if I just won't be able to attend church for the next 3 months. Kind of a sad thought. I guess we'll have to improvise in the future.
I awoke this morning to what sounded like the murmur of a crowd below my window. Upon finally getting out of bed for the morning, I discovered that I hadn't just been dreaming--while I snoozed, a 3-street flea market had been set up right in front of our building. White tents protected the wares from getting wet from the ever-present rain, and a surprising number of people were out and about perusing the contents. Since we had nothing better to do, Shane, Ryan and I went and scouted out what I can only describe as the most exciting thing that's happened in Milan since we got here. Sad, I know. Unfortunately it wasn't that fun, because the rain, cold, and sogginess seeped into my pores once again, chilling me to the bone.
We spent the rest of the afternoon in complete boredom, because the internet we had been pilfering had suddenly been blocked. Guess they figured out someone was stealing from them. When you are in a foreign country, have nowhere to go because of the rain, no internet, no phones, no communication with the outside world, and only an internetless laptop to keep you entertained, it makes for a pretty boring time. I didn't even bring any books to read.
By evening time we were so bored that we decided to take a trip across town and visit the two other girls from Shane and Ryan's school who had also been a part of the exchange team. Secretly we hoped that they had internet for us to use. The rainy trek didn't do well for my slowly developing sick feeling, and I'm sure it was bad on Shane's too. However we finally found the building, which is like a dorm of sorts. This is where Ryan will be staying, since he's not allowed to stay as the third person in our apartment. The second I walked in I fell in love with it. It was WARM, it was bright, and there were tables all around the lobby room with people hunkered over their laptops, which meant internet. Unfortunately the front desk informed us that we couldn't go to the girl's rooms unless we had our passports, which Shane and I didn't but Ryan did. So he went up to look at the rooms while Shane and I sat waiting and I wished in my mind that we could live there too. When Ryan came back down with one of the girls, we checked our email and Ryan went to talk to the guy about moving in. In 10 minutes he had the key and was checked in! After hearing descriptions of the place, I wish even more that Shane and I could live there too. We would each have our own room with a shared bathroom, and a community kitchen. The kitchen, we were told, is extremely ghetto, with only 2-3 burners, no oven, no fridge, and no dishes. Fortunately there are personal fridges in each person's room. Regardless, I would feel so much happier living there than our drafty, dark, cold apartment.
Upon getting back to said apartment, I looked around and realized it really wasn't THAT bad. Since it had warmed up it was a bit more homey, and we did have dishes and a decent kitchen after all. We emailed the woman in charge of our housing to request the switch, but this particular woman seems to be very selective of who and what she chooses to respond to. Several emails sent to her by Ryan and Shane just haven't gotten answered, while still others have been answered, but very vaguely. We'll see if she responds to this one or not. If it doesn't work out, I'll just have to be happy where I'm at. Maybe it will teach me something. I'm pretty spoiled after all. :)
Friday, January 8, 2010
The past few days
The past few days since I’ve updated have been mostly uneventful. We packed up our bags at Seven Hotel on Tuesday morning and ate our free breakfast, then made the walk to the train station. My bag was getting progressively heavier, what with the 2 bottles of wine and my huge sweater purchase. I decided in my head as we walked that if anyone bothered me, all I’d have to do was swing around and hit them with my backpack—it would knock them out for sure. Lydia and I used to talk about different ways to defend ourselves should the need arise, and we developed the joke that a frozen bag of pierogies would suffice nicely. I suppose girls tend to think of these things sometimes.
We have recently obtained a food bag. Yes, the dreaded food bag. And guess who got to carry it? Me. Oh the memories. Actually it wasn’t too bad, since we hadn’t yet accumulated as much stuff as Lydia and I did. But our 3-week break is sure to be a killer in the food bag department.
The train from Sorrento to Naples was uneventful. I stared out the window, observing my happy little world whiz away. Deep green valleys and sea views gave way to dingy ghetto apartments and junkyards sporting cars compacted into suitcase-sized squares. Naples really is the most unappealing city I’ve seen in Italy thus far. I’m so glad I don’t live there. We’ve also heard it’s the highest crime city—another great reason not to live there. So far Shane and I have been lucky to keep all our possessions to ourselves. That is, with the exception of New Year’s eve in Rome, when we both stupidly put our metro passes into easily accessible pockets. The next day, neither of us could find them. We are guessing we were the victims of a pick-pocketer.
Upon arriving to the Naples train station, we went to buy reservations only to find that the next un-full train for Milan didn’t leave for another 3 hours. Three hours in this train hole? The Naples station is by far not the place you want to be stuck for more than 20 minutes. We resigned ourselves to our bad judgment once again and made ourselves comfortable in McDonalds for the remaining wait, where we bought french fries and I worked on my picture editing skills. While in there I heard my favorite song “I Got A Feeling”, which made me happy and sing-songy for the rest of the wait.
Unfortunately we weren’t sitting together on the train to Milan—we were across the aisle--even though no one was sitting anywhere near us. We decided that the one stopover in Rome must be a killer, if these were the only seats left on the train. In the meantime, we sat next to each other and entertained ourselves by watching Glee, my newest favorite show.
Upon stopping in Rome, the train was flooded to capacity. I somehow got sucked into trading seats with the woman across from me, so I was even farther away from Shane and we couldn’t really talk except through mouthing. We spent the trip passing the laptop back and forth and staring into space, wishing for a bed (or at least I was!). One kind woman across from me gave me a mint that tasted like licorice then got REALLY strong. She herself ate about 10 of them during the trip. They must be her favorite.
Once in Milan, the trek to the hostel was easy since we had stayed there previously, even though we went the long way on accident. We were upgraded to a two double bed private room with a bathroom, which was nice. Our bags were then brought in safe and sound—whew!
The next day we woke up freezing. I wore my coat and even boots in the room just to keep warm, and I was still cold. The heater was cold, the air was cold, the floors were cold. By the time we left I was in a bad mood over one of those feelings you sometimes get that you’ll just never be warm again.
We devoted this day to figuring out the ropes of the metro system for getting to the university from our apartment. First we had to find the apartment. The entire day was a whirlwind of hopping on one metro, bus, or train after the other. We made several mistakes and went the wrong way several times, but we found both the apartment and the school by the end of the day, along with the best route for getting there. When we got back to the hostel, they had cleaned it and the heater was on full-blast. YAY! We had decided to book another room there for the night rather than trek across town to find one closer to our apartment. Seeing as how much stuff we had to lug around, that was probably a good idea.
Thursday morning dawned bright and…cold again. This time we had decided to go meet with someone at the school with whom Shane had been in contact, to see if we could pay for and get our apartment before the night. Our first mistake was on my part, causing us to hop on the wrong train going the wrong direction. No biggie, you just get off at the next stop and retrace, right? Unfortunately this train came out of the tunnels and just kept gaining more and more speed. We could tell that we were headed out of town. Great. We were already late for when we had hoped to be there—thankfully we didn’t have an appointment. We got off at the next stop about 15 minutes later, and waited for the next train…and waited, and waited. Finally it came by, and we hopped on it regardless of which one it was. We just wanted to get back into the city again! Assuming by the places we stopped at that it was the one to lead us to our destination, we stayed on it until what we thought was our stop. Unfortunately it wasn’t, but it did land us in the general vicinity of the university. We trekked around for a while trying to find the set of office buildings we needed. Upon finally finding them, we were met with Gudula, a very nice younger woman about our age who spoke English. She couldn’t reach the person we needed for the apartment, but was able to set up a meeting with us and a woman who runs the building we were staying in. Unfortunately the meeting wasn’t until 3pm, and it was only about 11am at the time.
Since we had stored our bags at the hostel again and told them we might not be back until 3 or 4, we opted to just not go back until we were actually ready to pick them up and take them with us. So we took our time by eating at a cute pizzeria right next to our apartment building, and walking down some shopping streets. I bought a sparkly tan scarf, which I loved at first sight. Unfortunately I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do much shopping here because everything is so expensive—I’m not even sure there is such a thing as thrift store or second-hand here.
Once the shopping streets ran out we found ourselves in front of a large castle complete with a moat. Hm. So far in my experience here in Milan there’s not too much worthy of being excited about, unless of course you love shopping. Bummer for us since we’ll be here for 3 months. We took pictures of the castle and proceeded to go inside, where there was basically a large open courtyard to walk around in. Slightly boring actually. At the entrance we were bombarded by our European enemy: another “gifter” who wants your money. This time it was a Black guy from Africa, and he began rattling on about random things as he tried to put a rainbow-colored thread bracelet on my wrist. I declined and tried to pull away, but he insisted, and somehow I helplessly stood there thinking about why I can’t ever just put my foot down with these people from the get-go. After adorning me, he turned to Shane, who also refused. But did that stop the guy? No. As he put it on, Shane said, “I’m not paying for this.” But sure enough, as soon as we began to walk away, the guy began rubbing his fingers together. “Please, just for some coffee.” I looked at him and said “We told you no!” When he kept bugging Shane to give him some money, Shane took and ripped the bracelet off his wrist and threw it on the ground. At this the guy got mad and walked away.
After a few pictures with the castle, another guy approached us. I’m quite sure he had seen the exchange between his companion and us, yet he still tried to shake our hands. We ignored his hand and were actually quite rude to him, refusing to make conversation with him or accept his “gift” of a bracelet. Apparently unfriendliness makes them mad (are they really surprised?) and as we walked away Shane thought he heard the guy cuss at him under his breath. We opted to skirt around the castle to get out.
By the time 3pm approached, we were more than ready to have our apartment and have a place to call our own. Previously we had been planning to stay there with Ryan, our friend who was also doing the exchange program with Shane. However, in an email we were told that only Shane and I could stay in the apartment because there were only two beds—Ryan would have to get a single apartment at a different location. We still aren’t sure whether or not they will let us all 3 cram into one apartment, but it sure would save us some money. However, I’m doubtful about it because of the sleeping arrangements. Two twin beds do not accommodate 3 people, and there’s no way I’m about to share a twin bed for 3 months. I’d be perfectly happy sleeping on the floor, but we’d have to get more blankets and padding for me to deal with that for 3 months too. I guess we’ll find out.
We were met in the apartment building by a woman, Alessandra, who spoke almost no English. She brought us up to our apartment on the 4th floor, rattling away in Italian. We sat down and signed some papers, gave our passport information, and somehow understood as she explained in Italian how to get our WiFi working. She then brought us up one more floor to speak to a woman living right above us—a woman who speaks flawless English and offered to help us with anything we needed, anytime. Whew! What a relief! There is something very reassuring about knowing there is someone close by who speaks your language in a foreign place.
After visiting this woman, Alessandra rattled some more in Italian, handed us the keys, said Ciao, and left! YES!! We had a place to live!! Our only question was: when do we pay?? She hadn’t asked for a cent, and we assumed she thought it had already been taken care of; it should have been before we came actually, but the school never gave us their information for payment. Regardless of when we paid, we had a place to keep our bags!
First impressions of the apartment: the rooms are nice and big, the balcony view is pretty, but the furnishings are slim and I can tell it will feel a bit un-homey. Homey is my big thing. I have to have a place that is homey, if I am at all able to make it so. Unfortunately I don’t think this will be one of those places. As you walk in, you are met by a large kitchen/dining room area. The kitchen counter is almost non-existent, and there is a washing machine smack in between the sink and the stove. A large table takes up the other side of the room, along with a smallish refrigerator. The small bathroom, which only fits tiny people, opens to one side of the kitchen. The back room is the bedroom, fairly large, with two twin beds, two closets, two desks, and two nightstands. A window looks down onto the street. There are only two windows in the entire apartment, typical of European buildings. That means not much light, which is another one of my big things. Oh well. I will post pictures as soon as I can. We’re still not sure if we will be living here or upgrading to a 3 bed place to fit Ryan….or maybe me, since I’m technically the tagalong.
We rushed back to our hostel to get our bags and deposit them at the apartment before going to meet Ryan at the train station. He had been traveling in France. We got there just as his train was scheduled to arrive, but we didn’t know which platform it was on, and the schedule of arrivals didn’t list it. So we walked up and down the train station looking. No Ryan. We waited in the middle. No Ryan. We walked down to the metro. No Ryan. Finally we decided that he had decided to venture out to find the apartment on his own, so on our way back we stopped at a grocery store and bought some essential items, including toilet paper and pasta. Upon reaching the apartment, still no Ryan. Shane left a note on the front door telling him to buzz our apt number, and we sat down and enjoyed pilfering someone’s wireless. Finally when we had about given up hope of him ever finding it, our buzzer sounded. There was bedraggled Ryan, lugging two huge suitcases after traipsing all over town getting wrong directions. We made spaghetti that night with pesto and shared stories of our experiences over the past week.
We have recently obtained a food bag. Yes, the dreaded food bag. And guess who got to carry it? Me. Oh the memories. Actually it wasn’t too bad, since we hadn’t yet accumulated as much stuff as Lydia and I did. But our 3-week break is sure to be a killer in the food bag department.
The train from Sorrento to Naples was uneventful. I stared out the window, observing my happy little world whiz away. Deep green valleys and sea views gave way to dingy ghetto apartments and junkyards sporting cars compacted into suitcase-sized squares. Naples really is the most unappealing city I’ve seen in Italy thus far. I’m so glad I don’t live there. We’ve also heard it’s the highest crime city—another great reason not to live there. So far Shane and I have been lucky to keep all our possessions to ourselves. That is, with the exception of New Year’s eve in Rome, when we both stupidly put our metro passes into easily accessible pockets. The next day, neither of us could find them. We are guessing we were the victims of a pick-pocketer.
Upon arriving to the Naples train station, we went to buy reservations only to find that the next un-full train for Milan didn’t leave for another 3 hours. Three hours in this train hole? The Naples station is by far not the place you want to be stuck for more than 20 minutes. We resigned ourselves to our bad judgment once again and made ourselves comfortable in McDonalds for the remaining wait, where we bought french fries and I worked on my picture editing skills. While in there I heard my favorite song “I Got A Feeling”, which made me happy and sing-songy for the rest of the wait.
Unfortunately we weren’t sitting together on the train to Milan—we were across the aisle--even though no one was sitting anywhere near us. We decided that the one stopover in Rome must be a killer, if these were the only seats left on the train. In the meantime, we sat next to each other and entertained ourselves by watching Glee, my newest favorite show.
Upon stopping in Rome, the train was flooded to capacity. I somehow got sucked into trading seats with the woman across from me, so I was even farther away from Shane and we couldn’t really talk except through mouthing. We spent the trip passing the laptop back and forth and staring into space, wishing for a bed (or at least I was!). One kind woman across from me gave me a mint that tasted like licorice then got REALLY strong. She herself ate about 10 of them during the trip. They must be her favorite.
Once in Milan, the trek to the hostel was easy since we had stayed there previously, even though we went the long way on accident. We were upgraded to a two double bed private room with a bathroom, which was nice. Our bags were then brought in safe and sound—whew!
The next day we woke up freezing. I wore my coat and even boots in the room just to keep warm, and I was still cold. The heater was cold, the air was cold, the floors were cold. By the time we left I was in a bad mood over one of those feelings you sometimes get that you’ll just never be warm again.
We devoted this day to figuring out the ropes of the metro system for getting to the university from our apartment. First we had to find the apartment. The entire day was a whirlwind of hopping on one metro, bus, or train after the other. We made several mistakes and went the wrong way several times, but we found both the apartment and the school by the end of the day, along with the best route for getting there. When we got back to the hostel, they had cleaned it and the heater was on full-blast. YAY! We had decided to book another room there for the night rather than trek across town to find one closer to our apartment. Seeing as how much stuff we had to lug around, that was probably a good idea.
Thursday morning dawned bright and…cold again. This time we had decided to go meet with someone at the school with whom Shane had been in contact, to see if we could pay for and get our apartment before the night. Our first mistake was on my part, causing us to hop on the wrong train going the wrong direction. No biggie, you just get off at the next stop and retrace, right? Unfortunately this train came out of the tunnels and just kept gaining more and more speed. We could tell that we were headed out of town. Great. We were already late for when we had hoped to be there—thankfully we didn’t have an appointment. We got off at the next stop about 15 minutes later, and waited for the next train…and waited, and waited. Finally it came by, and we hopped on it regardless of which one it was. We just wanted to get back into the city again! Assuming by the places we stopped at that it was the one to lead us to our destination, we stayed on it until what we thought was our stop. Unfortunately it wasn’t, but it did land us in the general vicinity of the university. We trekked around for a while trying to find the set of office buildings we needed. Upon finally finding them, we were met with Gudula, a very nice younger woman about our age who spoke English. She couldn’t reach the person we needed for the apartment, but was able to set up a meeting with us and a woman who runs the building we were staying in. Unfortunately the meeting wasn’t until 3pm, and it was only about 11am at the time.
Since we had stored our bags at the hostel again and told them we might not be back until 3 or 4, we opted to just not go back until we were actually ready to pick them up and take them with us. So we took our time by eating at a cute pizzeria right next to our apartment building, and walking down some shopping streets. I bought a sparkly tan scarf, which I loved at first sight. Unfortunately I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do much shopping here because everything is so expensive—I’m not even sure there is such a thing as thrift store or second-hand here.
Once the shopping streets ran out we found ourselves in front of a large castle complete with a moat. Hm. So far in my experience here in Milan there’s not too much worthy of being excited about, unless of course you love shopping. Bummer for us since we’ll be here for 3 months. We took pictures of the castle and proceeded to go inside, where there was basically a large open courtyard to walk around in. Slightly boring actually. At the entrance we were bombarded by our European enemy: another “gifter” who wants your money. This time it was a Black guy from Africa, and he began rattling on about random things as he tried to put a rainbow-colored thread bracelet on my wrist. I declined and tried to pull away, but he insisted, and somehow I helplessly stood there thinking about why I can’t ever just put my foot down with these people from the get-go. After adorning me, he turned to Shane, who also refused. But did that stop the guy? No. As he put it on, Shane said, “I’m not paying for this.” But sure enough, as soon as we began to walk away, the guy began rubbing his fingers together. “Please, just for some coffee.” I looked at him and said “We told you no!” When he kept bugging Shane to give him some money, Shane took and ripped the bracelet off his wrist and threw it on the ground. At this the guy got mad and walked away.
After a few pictures with the castle, another guy approached us. I’m quite sure he had seen the exchange between his companion and us, yet he still tried to shake our hands. We ignored his hand and were actually quite rude to him, refusing to make conversation with him or accept his “gift” of a bracelet. Apparently unfriendliness makes them mad (are they really surprised?) and as we walked away Shane thought he heard the guy cuss at him under his breath. We opted to skirt around the castle to get out.
By the time 3pm approached, we were more than ready to have our apartment and have a place to call our own. Previously we had been planning to stay there with Ryan, our friend who was also doing the exchange program with Shane. However, in an email we were told that only Shane and I could stay in the apartment because there were only two beds—Ryan would have to get a single apartment at a different location. We still aren’t sure whether or not they will let us all 3 cram into one apartment, but it sure would save us some money. However, I’m doubtful about it because of the sleeping arrangements. Two twin beds do not accommodate 3 people, and there’s no way I’m about to share a twin bed for 3 months. I’d be perfectly happy sleeping on the floor, but we’d have to get more blankets and padding for me to deal with that for 3 months too. I guess we’ll find out.
We were met in the apartment building by a woman, Alessandra, who spoke almost no English. She brought us up to our apartment on the 4th floor, rattling away in Italian. We sat down and signed some papers, gave our passport information, and somehow understood as she explained in Italian how to get our WiFi working. She then brought us up one more floor to speak to a woman living right above us—a woman who speaks flawless English and offered to help us with anything we needed, anytime. Whew! What a relief! There is something very reassuring about knowing there is someone close by who speaks your language in a foreign place.
After visiting this woman, Alessandra rattled some more in Italian, handed us the keys, said Ciao, and left! YES!! We had a place to live!! Our only question was: when do we pay?? She hadn’t asked for a cent, and we assumed she thought it had already been taken care of; it should have been before we came actually, but the school never gave us their information for payment. Regardless of when we paid, we had a place to keep our bags!
First impressions of the apartment: the rooms are nice and big, the balcony view is pretty, but the furnishings are slim and I can tell it will feel a bit un-homey. Homey is my big thing. I have to have a place that is homey, if I am at all able to make it so. Unfortunately I don’t think this will be one of those places. As you walk in, you are met by a large kitchen/dining room area. The kitchen counter is almost non-existent, and there is a washing machine smack in between the sink and the stove. A large table takes up the other side of the room, along with a smallish refrigerator. The small bathroom, which only fits tiny people, opens to one side of the kitchen. The back room is the bedroom, fairly large, with two twin beds, two closets, two desks, and two nightstands. A window looks down onto the street. There are only two windows in the entire apartment, typical of European buildings. That means not much light, which is another one of my big things. Oh well. I will post pictures as soon as I can. We’re still not sure if we will be living here or upgrading to a 3 bed place to fit Ryan….or maybe me, since I’m technically the tagalong.
We rushed back to our hostel to get our bags and deposit them at the apartment before going to meet Ryan at the train station. He had been traveling in France. We got there just as his train was scheduled to arrive, but we didn’t know which platform it was on, and the schedule of arrivals didn’t list it. So we walked up and down the train station looking. No Ryan. We waited in the middle. No Ryan. We walked down to the metro. No Ryan. Finally we decided that he had decided to venture out to find the apartment on his own, so on our way back we stopped at a grocery store and bought some essential items, including toilet paper and pasta. Upon reaching the apartment, still no Ryan. Shane left a note on the front door telling him to buzz our apt number, and we sat down and enjoyed pilfering someone’s wireless. Finally when we had about given up hope of him ever finding it, our buzzer sounded. There was bedraggled Ryan, lugging two huge suitcases after traipsing all over town getting wrong directions. We made spaghetti that night with pesto and shared stories of our experiences over the past week.
Monday, January 4, 2010
I LOVE SORRENTO!!
We awoke this morning (yes, I am finally up-to-date) after a good night's sleep and prepared to go see the coastal world. The hostel provided a tasty continental breakfast of cream-filled croissants, miniature toast, and freshly made coffee or cappuccino. Yet another reason why it will get a good review. We ate our fill.
After a short 10 minute walk to the train station and another 5 minute ride to the Sorrento stop, I entered the perfect, most quaint, beautiful little town I have ever been in. It is, to me, what Italy is all about. Narrow cobblestone streets, flowers in window pots, outdoor cafes, and best of all, an elevated view of the Tyrrhenian Sea. It has the best of all worlds: the sea, mountains, and palm trees!
I am sooo happy we decided to stay an extra night and see this place. I never knew anything about Sorrento and really didn't care, until I saw it. I now have a dream to buy a timeshare on top of the highest hill, and visit often. Not sure that will ever happen, but I can hope right?!
Sorrento only took half a day to see really, and it was starting to rain by the time we decided to head back to our hostel. On the way to the station I stopped in a shop to look at the clothes, and ended up buying a really cute red sweater that comes to a little above my knees. That's their style here; long coats, skinny jeans and always, always a pair of boots, be it high-heeled or flat.
We stopped in another grocery store to buy lunch foods on our way back. While there we happened to notice a box package containing the cake and wine that the hostel in Rome had gifted us, and the package deal, which included an entire cake and an entire bottle of wine, cost a whopping.....3 Euro?? Say what? Here we thought they'd gone all out on their guests but it costs them maybe .50 Euro per guest? Wow. Ok. I suppose we have to take into consideration the fact that it was a one star hotel....
Our bellies freshly full from another grocery store meal, we spent the rest of the day lazing around the hostel enjoying the luxuries of WiFi. It was raining outside anyways, and there wasn't much more to see in Sorrento. We booked the same hostel we stayed at in Milan for tomorrow night, deciding to just go back so we can get our apartment situation figured out and make sure our luggage hasn't been carried off.
Dinner tonight was much to be desired. Shane ordered steak and fries, and after much pondering I hesitatingly ordered the Mediterranean salad, which the guy said contained "lettuce, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, corn............" The only reasons I ordered it were: A. the fries I wanted came with the steak, and I don't eat steak, B. his accent was so strong I couldn't understand the verbal menu and didn't feel like asking him to repeat it, and C. I only eat chicken, otherwise I'm vegetarian, and mostly everything on that menu was NOT chicken.
Well....Shane's steak came out looking like a cut-out slab of beef that had been pounded to a pulp, put on the grill for a couple minutes, and thrown onto the plate without seasonings. Shane said it was the worst, tasteless steak he'd ever had, with lots of fat on it. My Mediterranean salad looked like.....weeds and cheese?? What the.... What happened to the tomatoes and corn?? And since when do I eat "lettuce" that looks like weeds?? One bite told me there was a very good reason I have always refused to eat that kind of salad greens. It came with french bread, which was my only hope, but I just couldn't make myself be happy feeding my starving belly with those bitter weeds and cheese. So I went out of my comfort zone and went up to the waiter at the bar and questioned my salad that was supposed to have tomatoes and corn. (I don't even like corn in my salad, but the guy said it was supposed to have corn!!) In the middle of my pitch about my lacking salad, I decided I wanted something different altogether, so I went even farther out of my comfort zone and made myself request it....pasta with eggplant. Now, I don't like eggplant either, but I tasted some of Shane's last night and it was actually pretty good--tons better than that bitter stuff I had on my plate right then. So although I felt kinda bad about it, I got my pasta and eggplant. It had twice as much eggplant in it as Shane's had had, and I ended up pushing it all to the side. I returned my uneaten salad...but we ate the bread that came with it. Haha. All in all, it came to only 12 Euros, 6 each, so we didn't do too terribly bad. We'll be sure to make up for it tomorrow at breakfast. ;) Oh, and that good review might go down a notch or two...
Our roommates left today. The couple left a pair of headphones and the other two left an unopened bottle of wine. I guess now I'll have two to sell on Ebay! Merry Christmas to us!
Addendum: My sister just mentioned the fact that maybe you can't sell alcohol on Ebay. Good point.
After a short 10 minute walk to the train station and another 5 minute ride to the Sorrento stop, I entered the perfect, most quaint, beautiful little town I have ever been in. It is, to me, what Italy is all about. Narrow cobblestone streets, flowers in window pots, outdoor cafes, and best of all, an elevated view of the Tyrrhenian Sea. It has the best of all worlds: the sea, mountains, and palm trees!
I am sooo happy we decided to stay an extra night and see this place. I never knew anything about Sorrento and really didn't care, until I saw it. I now have a dream to buy a timeshare on top of the highest hill, and visit often. Not sure that will ever happen, but I can hope right?!
Sorrento only took half a day to see really, and it was starting to rain by the time we decided to head back to our hostel. On the way to the station I stopped in a shop to look at the clothes, and ended up buying a really cute red sweater that comes to a little above my knees. That's their style here; long coats, skinny jeans and always, always a pair of boots, be it high-heeled or flat.
We stopped in another grocery store to buy lunch foods on our way back. While there we happened to notice a box package containing the cake and wine that the hostel in Rome had gifted us, and the package deal, which included an entire cake and an entire bottle of wine, cost a whopping.....3 Euro?? Say what? Here we thought they'd gone all out on their guests but it costs them maybe .50 Euro per guest? Wow. Ok. I suppose we have to take into consideration the fact that it was a one star hotel....
Our bellies freshly full from another grocery store meal, we spent the rest of the day lazing around the hostel enjoying the luxuries of WiFi. It was raining outside anyways, and there wasn't much more to see in Sorrento. We booked the same hostel we stayed at in Milan for tomorrow night, deciding to just go back so we can get our apartment situation figured out and make sure our luggage hasn't been carried off.
Dinner tonight was much to be desired. Shane ordered steak and fries, and after much pondering I hesitatingly ordered the Mediterranean salad, which the guy said contained "lettuce, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, corn............" The only reasons I ordered it were: A. the fries I wanted came with the steak, and I don't eat steak, B. his accent was so strong I couldn't understand the verbal menu and didn't feel like asking him to repeat it, and C. I only eat chicken, otherwise I'm vegetarian, and mostly everything on that menu was NOT chicken.
Well....Shane's steak came out looking like a cut-out slab of beef that had been pounded to a pulp, put on the grill for a couple minutes, and thrown onto the plate without seasonings. Shane said it was the worst, tasteless steak he'd ever had, with lots of fat on it. My Mediterranean salad looked like.....weeds and cheese?? What the.... What happened to the tomatoes and corn?? And since when do I eat "lettuce" that looks like weeds?? One bite told me there was a very good reason I have always refused to eat that kind of salad greens. It came with french bread, which was my only hope, but I just couldn't make myself be happy feeding my starving belly with those bitter weeds and cheese. So I went out of my comfort zone and went up to the waiter at the bar and questioned my salad that was supposed to have tomatoes and corn. (I don't even like corn in my salad, but the guy said it was supposed to have corn!!) In the middle of my pitch about my lacking salad, I decided I wanted something different altogether, so I went even farther out of my comfort zone and made myself request it....pasta with eggplant. Now, I don't like eggplant either, but I tasted some of Shane's last night and it was actually pretty good--tons better than that bitter stuff I had on my plate right then. So although I felt kinda bad about it, I got my pasta and eggplant. It had twice as much eggplant in it as Shane's had had, and I ended up pushing it all to the side. I returned my uneaten salad...but we ate the bread that came with it. Haha. All in all, it came to only 12 Euros, 6 each, so we didn't do too terribly bad. We'll be sure to make up for it tomorrow at breakfast. ;) Oh, and that good review might go down a notch or two...
Our roommates left today. The couple left a pair of headphones and the other two left an unopened bottle of wine. I guess now I'll have two to sell on Ebay! Merry Christmas to us!
Addendum: My sister just mentioned the fact that maybe you can't sell alcohol on Ebay. Good point.
Pompeii
Our train left Rome at 9am for Napoli (Naples), an easy 1 hour 10 minute ride. We had recently read in our indispensable Rick Steves' Italy guide book that Naples is known for its thievery and poorness, and why live there when Sorrento was only an hour away? Since we had booked a hostel in Sorrento for the night and would still have all our bags with us if we toured Naples, we opted to cut our losses on that one too by skipping it. Instead, we would catch the commuter train, Circumvesuviana, to Pompeii instead, where we read that free luggage storage awaited us.
Sure enough, we were able to ditch our bags easily at the gates of Pompeii, an amazingly large city of ruins whose vastness I'd had no idea of.
For 11 Euros each we spent hours in fascination gazing at the history of this tragic Roman city. I remember watching a documentary on Pompeii when I was a lot younger, and have always felt intrigued by it. I'd had no idea it was in Italy though, and it didn't hit me until I was inside the gates that I was actually visiting a place I had only dreamed of visiting when I was younger. It filled me with awe and gratitude that I've been able to have so many amazing opportunities to see the world. I wish my parents could have this opportunity too--I think they would love seeing Pompeii especially. In this next picture you can see Mt. Vesuvius in the background, and you can connect the two remaining peaks to picture the mountain as it was before it erupted.
Regardless of our fascination, there is so much to see that after a while one crumbling building looks like the next, and our feet were aching from walking. We called it a day at Pompeii and boarded the train for the 30 minute ride to Sorrento. Unfortunately, our hostel was located one stop before actual Sorrento, and we missed it, so we had to return to a different train and wait for a few minutes before it took us the other direction. We did find our hostel with no problems, and wow, is it an improvement from our last one! It looks like a hotel that I wouldn't be able to afford, yet it's cheaper than most. Not only is it clean, modern and comfortable, it offers a free breakfast and dinners of your choice for only 5 Euro. Since it was Sunday and no stores were open, we took advantage of this option and dined on pasta. We also decided that we like this place so much would stay a second night and see the sights of Sorrento the next day.
This is the first hostel we've stayed at where we shared a dorm room. Our roomates are two girls and another couple, who all seem nice. I will post pictures of the hostel hopefully in my next blog or two.
Sure enough, we were able to ditch our bags easily at the gates of Pompeii, an amazingly large city of ruins whose vastness I'd had no idea of.
For 11 Euros each we spent hours in fascination gazing at the history of this tragic Roman city. I remember watching a documentary on Pompeii when I was a lot younger, and have always felt intrigued by it. I'd had no idea it was in Italy though, and it didn't hit me until I was inside the gates that I was actually visiting a place I had only dreamed of visiting when I was younger. It filled me with awe and gratitude that I've been able to have so many amazing opportunities to see the world. I wish my parents could have this opportunity too--I think they would love seeing Pompeii especially. In this next picture you can see Mt. Vesuvius in the background, and you can connect the two remaining peaks to picture the mountain as it was before it erupted.
Regardless of our fascination, there is so much to see that after a while one crumbling building looks like the next, and our feet were aching from walking. We called it a day at Pompeii and boarded the train for the 30 minute ride to Sorrento. Unfortunately, our hostel was located one stop before actual Sorrento, and we missed it, so we had to return to a different train and wait for a few minutes before it took us the other direction. We did find our hostel with no problems, and wow, is it an improvement from our last one! It looks like a hotel that I wouldn't be able to afford, yet it's cheaper than most. Not only is it clean, modern and comfortable, it offers a free breakfast and dinners of your choice for only 5 Euro. Since it was Sunday and no stores were open, we took advantage of this option and dined on pasta. We also decided that we like this place so much would stay a second night and see the sights of Sorrento the next day.This is the first hostel we've stayed at where we shared a dorm room. Our roomates are two girls and another couple, who all seem nice. I will post pictures of the hostel hopefully in my next blog or two.
Sightseeing in Roma
Unfortunately for us, our day of sleep was a bit too much....I awoke at 5:30am wide awake! I looked across the room at Shane in his bed to find that he was looking back at me! Creeepy... haha jk. Apparently he had been awake and tossing since 2am. We decided that we might as well make the best of this situation by getting an early start on seeing the sights of Rome. I wrote a long blog before getting ready, but we were still showered and on the streets by 8am. Now for those of you who really know me, I try my best to sleep as late as I possibly can, and to have accomplished a blog, a nice leisurely shower, preparation for a sightseeing day, and even out of the building by 8am on a non-school or work day is pretty impressive.
This particular day was Saturday, or in other words our Sabbath. Typically we would have gone to church, but let me tell you that trying to find a Seventh-day Adventist church in the capital of Catholicism is NOT an easy task! Because of this we decided that being outside and viewing the awesome creations of......uh, man.....would be the best alternative. I don't think God expected us to sit in our hostel all day anyways.
We began by trying to find my favorite fountain of all, the Trevi fountain.
(Look, my first picture insert!) It took us quite a while to find it, much to my chagrin. I had previously bragged to Shane how well I knew the streets of Rome without a map....well, apparently that was only the case when starting out from the hostel I stayed at last time. It took several tries, a map, and many wrong turns before we found it. But it was as glorious as I had remembered, and I took, as Shane says, a gazillion pictures.
After the Trevi came the Piazza del Popolo, where an annoying con artist tried to work his magic by offering to take a picture of us in front of a statue. He also held red roses, which he thrust into my hands, saying "Present! Present!" We declined his offer to take pictures of us, and when I tried to give back the roses he insisted that I keep them. Well, fine! As we started to walk away, he followed us like a shadow, rubbing his fingers together in the universal sign for money. We kept saying no, and I tried to hand back the roses. He wouldn't take them. (Well then leave us alone!!) Finally I put the roses on his half-limp hand and walked away. I'm assuming he caught them. I should have given him the look and tone of voice I used to give the annoying boys in grade school who were picking on me and had just gone a little too far. They always backed down, and quite suddenly I might add.
A few fun pictures with the fountains later, we climbed the steps to the lovely garden I had discovered last time I was in Rome...probably my favorite place in all of Rome. It were under construction which made it lose about 6 points on the charm scale, but we were still able to get several good pictures.
The statues lining the walkway provided several minutes of camera entertainment. Following the garden we headed to the most important of sights in Rome--the Vatican. Upon FINALLY getting there, I was slightly surprised to see that it was packed with people. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised considering it was halfway between New Year's and Epiphany. Regardless, we were able to squeeze our way into the line and see St. Peter's Bascilica, a sight that should never be skipped. We also toured the pope's tombs.
By this time we were starving, and we had no food with us or in our hostel, so we stopped in a touristy ristorante to have their Napoli special: Bruschetta, a margarita pizza, and soda. Sodas here are very expensive and you usually don't get very much, so we substituted a much-needed bottle of mineral water instead.
Fatigue and my hot and heavy boots were getting to me, so we headed back to the hostel for a few minutes to change before taking advantage of the remaining 2 hours of sunlight to see the coloseum and ruins. It seems that in the winter is when much of the construction is done, which was the case for the coloseum. We didn't do much more than take a couple pictures of it before attempting to find the entrance to the ruins. I couldn't for the life of me remember where it was (another blow to my pride) and by the time SHANE found it, it was already closed to the public. Seeing as we were leaving first thing in the morning, we considered it our loss.
On our way back to the hostel that night we visited the grocery store for the first time and bought some apples (Pink Ladies, my new favorites), oranges, bread, jelly packets, a drink, and yogurt for our supper. I had forgotten how amazingly good European yogurt was! This satisfied our stomachs for the night, which is good because it was much cheaper than our typical restaurant fare so far. As much as we tried to hold out, the early morning took it's toll, and we were in bed by 7pm. After all, we had to store up some energy for the next day's cities: Naples, Pompei, and Sorrento!
This particular day was Saturday, or in other words our Sabbath. Typically we would have gone to church, but let me tell you that trying to find a Seventh-day Adventist church in the capital of Catholicism is NOT an easy task! Because of this we decided that being outside and viewing the awesome creations of......uh, man.....would be the best alternative. I don't think God expected us to sit in our hostel all day anyways.
We began by trying to find my favorite fountain of all, the Trevi fountain.
(Look, my first picture insert!) It took us quite a while to find it, much to my chagrin. I had previously bragged to Shane how well I knew the streets of Rome without a map....well, apparently that was only the case when starting out from the hostel I stayed at last time. It took several tries, a map, and many wrong turns before we found it. But it was as glorious as I had remembered, and I took, as Shane says, a gazillion pictures.After the Trevi came the Piazza del Popolo, where an annoying con artist tried to work his magic by offering to take a picture of us in front of a statue. He also held red roses, which he thrust into my hands, saying "Present! Present!" We declined his offer to take pictures of us, and when I tried to give back the roses he insisted that I keep them. Well, fine! As we started to walk away, he followed us like a shadow, rubbing his fingers together in the universal sign for money. We kept saying no, and I tried to hand back the roses. He wouldn't take them. (Well then leave us alone!!) Finally I put the roses on his half-limp hand and walked away. I'm assuming he caught them. I should have given him the look and tone of voice I used to give the annoying boys in grade school who were picking on me and had just gone a little too far. They always backed down, and quite suddenly I might add.
A few fun pictures with the fountains later, we climbed the steps to the lovely garden I had discovered last time I was in Rome...probably my favorite place in all of Rome. It were under construction which made it lose about 6 points on the charm scale, but we were still able to get several good pictures.
The statues lining the walkway provided several minutes of camera entertainment. Following the garden we headed to the most important of sights in Rome--the Vatican. Upon FINALLY getting there, I was slightly surprised to see that it was packed with people. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised considering it was halfway between New Year's and Epiphany. Regardless, we were able to squeeze our way into the line and see St. Peter's Bascilica, a sight that should never be skipped. We also toured the pope's tombs.By this time we were starving, and we had no food with us or in our hostel, so we stopped in a touristy ristorante to have their Napoli special: Bruschetta, a margarita pizza, and soda. Sodas here are very expensive and you usually don't get very much, so we substituted a much-needed bottle of mineral water instead.
Fatigue and my hot and heavy boots were getting to me, so we headed back to the hostel for a few minutes to change before taking advantage of the remaining 2 hours of sunlight to see the coloseum and ruins. It seems that in the winter is when much of the construction is done, which was the case for the coloseum. We didn't do much more than take a couple pictures of it before attempting to find the entrance to the ruins. I couldn't for the life of me remember where it was (another blow to my pride) and by the time SHANE found it, it was already closed to the public. Seeing as we were leaving first thing in the morning, we considered it our loss.
On our way back to the hostel that night we visited the grocery store for the first time and bought some apples (Pink Ladies, my new favorites), oranges, bread, jelly packets, a drink, and yogurt for our supper. I had forgotten how amazingly good European yogurt was! This satisfied our stomachs for the night, which is good because it was much cheaper than our typical restaurant fare so far. As much as we tried to hold out, the early morning took it's toll, and we were in bed by 7pm. After all, we had to store up some energy for the next day's cities: Naples, Pompei, and Sorrento!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
New Year's Eve in Rome, Italy
Upon arriving at the Rome
A few minutes after we settled in, he brought us a tray containing huge pieces of cake and two glasses of wine. What is it with Italians offering wine as a welcome gift? I guess that is kind of their trademark. The cake was delicious, packed with raisins and dusted sugar, and we ate every crumb. Thanks for our second (meager) meal of the day! After eating this and unpacking, we decided (or maybe I decided) that we were tired enough that a nap sounded really good before heading out for the festivities. So we set our alarm for 9:30pm and had a great and much-needed nap.
The trek to the Coliseum was a bit of a failure. That particular metro stop was closed off, I suppose to avoid congestion. Tons of people were out and about, and the holiday spirit was apparent in the whistling, whooping, and hollering of several of the young locals. It made me wish I spoke Italian so I could feel more a part of the fun. We made two misguided stops on the metro due to this non-existent Coliseum stop, and finally just decided to wing it on foot by following our map and the locals. It was raining off and on by this point, and it was a pain trying to compete with so many umbrellas. To make a long story short, after several wrong turns and changing of minds, we made it to the concert area 20 minutes before midnight , and pushed our way through the thousands of people as close to the front as we could get. It was impossible to get to the very front, as by this point everyone was pushed so tightly together you couldn’t get through even if you wanted to. I didn’t even have to hold myself up. The concert was in Italian of course, and everyone around us was singing merrily along. The spirit was catching, but like I said, the language barrier kind of dampered the fun for me. The countdown started at 66 seconds, and the huge chant arose as people got their wine bottles and glasses ready. I was taking pictures with our nice camera, and at the midnight strike Shane and I didn’t get to kiss because I was frantically trying to stuff the camera in his coat to avoid the shower of wine being sprayed up into the air all around us. As a result my white and only coat now has purple spots all over it, which I have a feeling won’t ever come out. Pictures thereafter sport a red trickle of wine running down my throat, which I never knew was there. It looks slightly like blood. Haha.
After the countdown and the rain of wine, the fireworks began, both in the sky and on the ground. Those on the ground miraculously cleared a huge gap in the crowd—how, I don’t know—but the ones in the sky were gorgeous. We got several pictures, but none of them are spectacular, as trying to take pictures of fireworks is always hard.
The crowd began slightly dispersing after this and a huge circle became the fireworks/bottle dump. Tons of bottles were thrown into the center, followed by fireworks loud enough to cause you to go deaf. Shane and I walked around the perimeter taking pictures of the merrymakers and the ruins of Rome 2:30am .
In the morning we awoke, talked for a bit, and I decided to go back to sleep for a while because I still felt exhausted. We set the alarm for around noon , and settled back into our beds. I’m not sure whether I heard the alarm go off or not, but Shane never woke me up, and I never woke him up. As a result, we both woke up around 4:30 in the afternoon!! Our whole day had been wasted by sleeping! I couldn’t believe what a lazy bum I had been, but I just felt sooo tired! This was supposed to be our sightseeing day, and I felt bad that I had kept Shane from seeing Rome Rome
Needless to say, our activities this day were minimal. We went to the train station and bought reservations for a train to Naples Pompeii Sorrento
From here we tried to find free internet but to no avail. The two McDonald’s the train station sported required an Italian cell phone for the password, which of course we didn’t have. We finally sighed at our loss and paid for 20 minutes of internet at a café, where we made reservations for what promises to be a great little hostel in Sorrento
And off we go!
Note: The next two blogs actually happened a couple days ago…I haven’t had internet connection recently so I just now got around to posting them.
Our flight began with discovering we were sitting much farther back in the plane than we expected, and not having any space for our luggage in the overhead compartments…I had to stick mine in the next row over, which meant being one of the last people off the plane. Thank goodness for international flights having individual video screens in front of you to watch movies in case you suffer from insomnia. Like me. I managed to evade sleep (unwillingly) for the entire 9 hour flight, which was during my night time. By the time we arrived in London 1 pm their time and I had to do another whole day over again without any sleep. An hour into our flight we were served a surprisingly tasty meal of 3-cheese pasta, a roll, taboulli-type salad, and blueberry cake. After finishing our meal we were all served Earl Gray tea in actual teacups—the tea I came to love when living in Poland 10:00 at night. A mere 6 hours later in the “morning” we were served breakfast, which consisted of a soggy turkey ham & cheese sandwich, yogurt, orange juice, and a tiny packet of granola to convert our yogurt into a parfait. Due to the fact that I hadn’t slept off my supper like everyone else, I wasn’t the least bit hungry and only had a few bites of yogurt and my orange juice.
My exhaustion diminished a bit once the sun came up and we were allowed to raise the window shades. Because our first flight was delayed 2 hours, we were able to get to our next connection to Milan Milan
The search for luggage storage in the Milan Linate airport was a pain. After some confusing directions we finally found it. Through a sign and a non-English-speaking Italian, we discovered it costs 3.50 Euro per day, per bag…until the next day. Then it would rise to 7.00 Euro due to the holiday season. We debated on it and decided to go find our hostel in the hopes than maybe it would offer luggage storage too. At least we would save 3.50 Euro for the night we wouldn’t be storing it.
The trip to our hostel is another story. After buying tickets for bus 73, we hopped on and enjoyed the ride to….what stop again? The fast-speaking driver on the loudspeaker wasn’t very useful in announcing the street names, and often the electronic signs on the bus stops were out of order. Eventually I decided to make use of the curious woman staring at me from across the aisle, and asked her if she knew which stop to get off at, according to the street we needed. She kindly used her small bit of English to let us know how many more stops it would be, and we hopped off. One more hurdle down. The directions the hostel posted on the website were lacking a bit, telling us to keep walking (but what direction??) until we got to the Supermarket “Simple.” We were confused whether we were supposed to walk down the main street or go down the one we were dropped off at. We continued walking down the main busy street until we had almost convinced ourselves that we were going the wrong way. Thankfully Shane and his keen eyes saw a woman walking by with shopping bags from Simple, and we asked her and her English-speaking companion where it was. All we had to do was keep walking a little farther down the street we were on. Upon finding it, we read the directions for the hotel further. “You should see the sign for Hotel Rossovino directly across from the supermarket.” We looked across the street. Really? We’re supposed to be able to see a hotel sign in that row of dark, typical concrete unmarked buildings? We walked farther down the street. Maybe it was across from the end of the supermarket. Nope. Are our eyes just really bad? We walked across the street and traversed up and down the sidewalk. I surmised that it had to be in a certain small block of buildings since there were only so many across from the supermarket, but for the life of me I never saw a sign of any kind. Finally a man passed us, eyed us and our huge trail of bags, and said “hotel” and pointed behind us. Behind us was what looked like a gate that you see going into private apartment complexes, only it was another type of private street with buildings and apartments on either side. I hadn’t figured that the hotel would be down there since the directions said “you will see the hotel.” But since the man seemed to know what he was talking about, and it was freezing, we took his advice.
Sure enough, building 9 housed Hotel Rossovino, a brand new, fairly plush for cheap European standards hotel. The youngish guy at the front desk spoke good English and was very helpful. This was the hotel where we had been able to reserve a private room and bathroom, which was nice since we were exhausted. We were handed a huge, old-fashioned castle dungeon-like key complete with a huge tassel, and a bottle opener, because apparently they give you a bottle of wine in your room just for booking it. Since we don’t drink wine I stashed it in my bag to either sell or give to someone who would appreciate it more than me. To our delight we were told that we could store our luggage downstairs there for a few days free of charge, all they wanted was a good review. Thank goodness we didn’t pay for storage at the airport! Our room was small but cute, with lush burgundy colors and an itsy bitsy bathroom. Complete with a blow drier for your hands, no towel. The floors were unfortunately tile and cold, and the entire hotel was so bare and basic that it echoed every sound. I hoped that the huge racket coming from the entry-way, about 10 feet from our room, would settle down by bedtime. If all else failed, I had my trusty earplugs.
Speaking of bedtime, it had been mine for the past 12-ish hours. I felt I couldn’t even enjoy being back in Europe because I was so exhausted. But we still had to eat and go to the train station to check the schedule for departures to Rome Milan Rome
We left the train station and found a cute little restaurant across from it that served Asian and Italian cuisine. We ordered tomato & basil pasta and a margarita pizza, which I knew would be good based on my previous experience in Rome US US
After the delicious meal, we got the joyous task of trying to figure out which bus would take us back to our hostel. The maps on the bus stops were not helpful. Finally we made a decision between the two candidates and proceeded to stand around in the cold for seemingly forever, waiting for it to arrive. Once back at our hostel we took showers, re-packed our travel backpacks for Rome 8:00 .
After getting ready and securing our bags with what few locks we had, we went to the front desk to claim what they had said was a free breakfast delivered to our room. There was no one at the desk. Great. No free breakfast, and no one to tell us what to do with our bags for storage. We must have waited around there for nearly an hour. There was no bell to ring for service. A phone sat on the desk for guests to use but any instructions for calling the desk worker there may have been were in Italian. I don’t even think there were any. Since the guy the night before had said that it was a 24-hour desk, I was beginning to think my good review of them in exchange for luggage storage might go down a notch or two. What if we had had a specific train ticket instead of a Eurail pass? Finally when we were about ready to leave our bags behind the front desk with a note, a girl walked in the door. Did she work here? Si! Did she speak English? No! Wonderful. While I finished securing the bags, Shane used our internet service to find an online translator, where he wrote a message saying we were told we could leave our bags there, could she please help us do that? Upon going back to the front desk, we discovered she was gone. What? What kind of 24-hour desk was this? We waited another 10 minutes or so until she got back from the supermarket with what I assume was her breakfast. Well what about ours?? After reading Shane’s translated message, she nodded, Si, we could store them. She pointed down, and we assumed she meant we could take them downstairs like the guy had said, which turned out to be a slightly creepy concrete basement with basically a bunch of dusty junk in it. Strange of them to make us store them down here, but I guess it’s free so what can you expect? Halfway through sweeping out a spot for them in a corner of one of the 3 rooms, the girl came down the stairs. No, no! Upstairs! she gestured. Well now I felt dumb. Here we were traipsing down into the “Private” abandoned basement to leave our belongings. Taking us back upstairs, she indicated that we should just leave the bags in our room. Um. “But it’s for 7 days.” I used my fingers in case that helped. “Oooh 7 days…” She pursed her lips as she finally understood the predicament we had been trying to get her to understand all along. She made a couple phone calls and came back, telling us in a flurry of Italian that we could still leave them in the room. Whether they would leave them there or move them later, we didn’t know. But at least when we left she locked that room. I just hope someone is there when we get back to give them back to us!
Thankful that we finally resolved one more issue, we took the bus to the train station again and stood in the long line to activate our Eurail passes and buy reservations. Reservations cost us $30 round-trip, and all the trains were booked until one at 2:00 . It was only 10:00 . Lame of us to not consider the fact that they would all be booked because of New Year’s. But even worse, what would we do for 4 hours in the cold? Breakfast was #1 on our minds, and we traipsed down the streets around the train station looking for a suitable place. Nothing seemed to be open except for bars (which seem to double as coffee shops and cafes) and small pastry shops. We finally bought a small cinnamon-bread-like thing and went into one of the bars for hot chocolate. Man I missed the hot chocolate here! It’s the consistency of thick gravy, and I’m sure is actual melted chocolate with milk added. Delicious. We ate this small portion of food and it filled us up enough to be content for the time being.
The remainder of the 3-hour wait was spent sitting on the floor in the ticket area of the train station, which was the warmest part but still severely lacking. Once our train arrived we followed the mass of people, got help on how to know which train car was ours, and have settled in for the 3-ish hour ride to Rome. The past 20 minutes have annoyingly been tunnels, which make my ears plug up and pop unrelentlessly. Enviously, Shane is having a peaceful sleep beside me.
I realize this has been very long. Hopefully I can post shorter, more frequent posts later on.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Twiddling my thumbs
So the day has arrived!! My stomach actually had butterflies as we pulled into the Seattle USA
Once we got to the surprisingly empty airport and checked in, we found out that we had to pay $60 instead of $50 for our 3rd bag. What? It was a backpack and less weight than the other two by far! Oh well, what can you do. We then proceeded to go through customs which we had been sure would be crazy busy and tedious. Not so. We were through in 10 minutes and didn’t even have to take off our clothes or have strange hands feeling all over us. Haha I joke…kinda. But after that stunt pulled recently by the idiot in Amsterdam
As lucky as we got going through customs here, we didn’t get any luck from the other side. Apparently their customs are crazy enough that our flight is delayed 2 hours and 10 minutes. Boo! We get to sit here in this dead airport for another 4 hours. Oh well. I suppose I should be happy we aren’t stuck in a line. Shane’s dad just told us that the road we came in on is now stopped because two policemen got shot. Thank goodness we got here as early as we did, because we just barely missed the standstill traffic over that. So I will count my blessings and pray that the family of the policeman who was killed will somehow make it through.
There is the cutest little girl speaking German in front of me. I love international flights. This is where the fun starts. :)
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