Trains, Planes and Automobiles

Getting around in Italy has been a real challenge for us so far. I don't know if it's just us, or if it's just difficult in general. The language barrier is definitely challenging at times. Mom and I also agree that there aren't enough signs. Hardly any, really. We managed to see 5 things in 3 days in Rome, but we spent a significant amount of time trying to figure out how to get to our destination, being lost, and trying to get home from our destination. I guess it's just what we're going to have to deal with.

Today, we left Roma (Rome) to come to Firenze (Florence) and we took the train. To get to the train, we got directions from the nice lady that we rented our flat from. They were actually fairly accurate. She suggested we ride the bus so we wouldn't have to carry our luggage. We waited at the bus stop for at least 25 minutes and it never came, so we gave up and started walking. The walk to the train station is uphill, and it was hot. Especially carrying all that luggage. I was pretty miserable. We asked at least 5 people where the termini was and finally found it. Then what? I stood with the luggage for over an hour while mom waited in various lines trying to get information about what we needed to do and where to go.

On the bright side, the termini station provided some excellent people watching. Especially for an extended period of time. Since I took no pictures today here are some of the most interesting (and comical) people I saw:

- A homeless guy with wild white hair, wearing a dirty, puffy winter coat, blew a snot rocket on the floor of the station less than 10 ft. in front of me.
- 2 Asian girls sleeping with their mouths wide open.
- A woman with a small male dog, that had a manicured hair cut like a female dog, with bows in his hair. The woman was carrying a plastic bag of wet canned dog food.
- A woman that couldn't wait to light her cig until she got outside, so she started smoking inside.
- A homeless woman, with no teeth, wearing a knee length. puffy winter jacket. It must have been 90 degrees in there at least. She wandered by me several times.
- Lots of nuns and priests, including one that was definitely under 30, which was surprising to me.
- An old man, with a cane, who came up to me, arm extended with coins in his hand, asking for handouts.
- Droves of stinky backpackers, in all shapes and sizes.
- A girl, who I believe was Italian, or she spoke it, dressed fairly normally, with a suitcase, who I saw initially ask a family where I was standing at the enterance for money, and then I saw her continue to do it while I was there. Mostly asked men. She was real sketchy.

After over an hour of waiting, Mom randomly showed up and told me we had to hurry. She had jumped the line when nobody was at the desk and was getting help. She was the queen and everyone else were the sorry people this time. We have Eurail passes, that allow us to take the train 15 times between 5 countries in 3 months. We thought that sounded like a good deal, we just picked which train was most convenient and got on. Not exactly. There are different types of trains. One stops frequently and is the inner city train, 2nd is the slower train, and the 3rd is the fast train, the Eurostar. For us to take the Eurostar, we have to make reservations, and pay an additional 10 euros, although we have Eurail passes. So, we will be taking the slow train, unless we're traveling a really long distance and don't want to waste too much time.

Today, the train took a little over 3 hours. The train ride was actually very scenic and beautiful. We passed a lot of little villages, and fields and fields of sunflowers. I would love to go take pictures in one of those sunflower fields. There were lots of vineyards and I even saw some corn. We spotted a few picturesque castles in the distance on a hill too. I got to listen to some music on the train for the first time since I left home. I put it on shuffle and "how he loves" came on. The line "if his grace is an ocean, we're all sinking" really hit me. I was hot, sweaty, tired and hurting from being in the sun and heat and carrying all that luggage uphill for about 30 minutes to get to the station, and then carrying it another 10 to get to the actual train. When I heard that song, I was reminded of Jesus sacrifice, and the luggage he had to carry uphill, after being beaten, in the sun and heat, and how bad he was hurting. How my pain is ridiculous and incomparable to his. It's funny how things get put into perspective. I'm very thankful for that.

When we arrived in Florence, there were no signs again, but we figured out where to go. We asked a man selling newspapers and such about the bus, and he told us that the buses were on strike until 9:00, which was a lie, and very rude. We just got a cab. This was our first hostel experience. There are a lot of young people here, and some that even sounded like they were American, but we haven't chitchatted yet. They have free breakfast and wifi. They don't have AC, but we have a nice terrace, and a fan blowing on us so it's bearable so far. It seems clean. I went to take a shower earlier, and another girl walked in to take a shower as well. She started stripping down. I'm sorry, but if I don't even know your name, or what language you speak, I don't really want to see you naked, and I don't really want to get naked in front of you. I'll keep my dignity. Even if you are a girl. A guy would be a no brainer. I probably would have thrown up on him. Anyway, I hightailed it out of there. Mom thought I was being silly, but I waited for her to finish and went in and took a shower without some stranger watching me. Communal showers are going to take some getting used to.

We got some bad directions from a guy that works at the hostel to a ristorante, and it took us forever to find it. I got a coke, with lots of ice. That made me happy. Europeans don't believe in ice. They don't put ice in any of their drinks, and if you want ice, you have to ask for it. They brought it to me in a little bowl. They are ice hoarders. Mom got a whole bottle of wine (that she didn't drink all at once, but that she actually liked) which I'm sure made her happy. We ate okay pizza. Tomorrow we climb the Duomo!

Best things about today: We made it to Florence, saw beautiful fields of sunflowers, got a little down time on the train, and I got ice for the first time since I left America.
Worst things about today: The continuous frustrations of traveling in Italy. Oh how I miss you, iphone. You make things so much easier.