quattro terre

from nice we hopped on the train to genoa, a short but pleasant trip that skirted the coast. just a few minutes after we crossed into italy we heard some animated shouting in italian between a guy and the ticket checker. the only words we could make out were 'passaporto' and 'f*** you' (okay, that one was in english). there was a lot of raised voices and gesticulating - how italian can you get? other than that our train ride was uneventful and at about 8.30 we arrived in genoa. we stayed at a little hotel about a five minute walk from the station (not the main station but the one closer to the port). almost as soon as we got there we headed out in search of dinner. we only had about 24 hours in italy and we were intent on making the most of it (read: eating all the pasta).

perfect panna cotta

i had worried that that part of town would be a little dead by 9pm but there were still people milling about and restaurants open. we wandered down a few alleys and found a little italian (obviously) place with a seafood theme. it was a cozy little spot and we were tucked into a little spot near the door, surrounded by other people lingering over their meals (so italian). we got pasta with some pesto alla genovese (when in genoa..!) and some sort of wheat pasta with shrimp. both were very tasty. even though these were primi (not secondi) with our soft italian bread and white wine it was just enough. of course when we saw panna cotta on the dessert menu i decided we definitely had room. it was served in a little jar, infused with basil and served with blueberry sauce. perfetto!

the mare and monterosso

the next morning we headed out fairly early to catch a train to levanto. we made time to stop at the corner bar for an espresso and some lemony pastries. lemons are grown in the region and infused into just about everything - limoncello, pastries, gelato. the whole ride to levanto, and then from levanto to monterosso (our first of the cinque terre cities) i was watching the skies. it looked gray and overcast and it wasn't promising to be a great day weather-wise. when we made it to monterosso al mare, after about two hours, the sun was just barely started to peek through and we were a bit more hopeful. we got off the train and out of the tiny station and were right at the waterfront. first things first, we made sure JR got to touch the water. his first time in the mediterranean! at first we were a bit disoriented and couldn't figure out where we were on our map. after hiking up one direction to no avail we got our bearings. we walked up the correct hill this time to see the small church at the top which for some reason has a van eyck altarpiece. inside the quiet church there was choir music playing softly and we lingered, enjoying the coolness and admiring the painting. by the time we got to the top the sun was fully out - which we were grateful for. but also it was starting to get a little toasty. the view from the top looking down onto the turquoise water was definitely worth it though.

seaside snack

we wandered back down the hill and up the street that ran through the town. there was a little outdoor market happening and we stopped so JR could buy some cheap sunglasses (he forgot his, but we were glad that we actually needed them). we also picked up a little carved olive wood wine stopper, which we thought was a nice souvenir. farther up the street there were all kinds of souvenir shops and little cafes. we stopped in here and there and ended up with a bottle of limoncino and a jar of freshly made organic pesto. monterosso was supposed to be one of the better spots for shopping so we figured why not. at this point we were already fairly hungry so we set our sights on focaccia, another local delicacy. we found some right along the waterfront and we opted for one drizzled with (what else) local pesto. we enjoyed it right by the sea and i've honestly never had focaccia that good. it was warm, soft, and tasted so fresh.

sea & spritz

we wanted to head on to vernazza, so we walked up to the train station. there are walking trails between each of the cities but some are more arduous than others and we had limited time. the trains come fairly regularly but it's still italy so.. we waited for a little while on the hot platform before the next train arrived. vernazza we were let out in the middle of town, not down by the water. we made our way downhill along the main street and then back uphill again to explore a small church. at this point it was downright hot and we were ready for a little respite. we climbed uphill towards the castle and stopped at the ristorante de castello. we got a little table along the outside of the cafe, right along the water. JR got a local beer and i got an aperol spritz. we'd been seeing aperol on menus but weren't sure what it was. seems a bit like campari. it was light and refreshing and perfectly accompanied by a view of the boats on the water below.

manarola views

we made our way back to the train station at a leisurely pace, stopping to admire the view or pop into a little shop. we got a few more focaccia, this time planning to save them for our following day on the ferry. on the train (only two minutes late this time!) we decided to skip corniglia, at least for the time being, which is the only city that's inland, and head to manarola. it may be the most picturesque of the towns, with colorful buildings piled on top of each other on the hillside overlooking the water. we went down to the water and climbed in the rocks to try to get a better view of the town. tourists were out there sunning themselves and swimming in the water. i have to admit it did look tempting, being as hot as it was, but walking around in wet clothes would have been somewhat miserable. instead we walked on, around the bend which eventually gave us a very nice view of the town. our destination was nessun dorma, a restaurant perched on the hill that cocktails to match its lovely view. we made it there only to be greeted with a small line of like-minded tourists waiting for tables. i'm sure if this had been high season the place would have been even more slammed. there was a long wait for tables on the cliff-side but we figured one on the interior would suffice. we were seated in front of their small garden area, surrounded by rosemary, eggplant, squash and (of course) lemons. we each got cocktails, both with lemon. one featured a number of fruits while the other was a simple limoncino spritz. both were perfectly refreshing. we capped off our little afternoon stop with a plate of meats and cheeses, spending some of our very last euros in the process, eek (by the way, what is it with tourist towns not accepting credit cards? annoying.)

we all scream for gelato

at this point we wanted to walk along the via del'amore for a little bit, not necessarily all the way to the next town but at least to get a glimpse of some of the views. we walked back down to manarola and up out of town the other direction. we walked for about 10 minutes, passing a little cafe. it was only after the cafe that the path was blocked off and we saw a sign indicating that the path was closed due to rockslides. a bit disappointed, we made our way back down into the town and walked up along the path toward nessun dorma again. we followed the curve of the cliff and about 100 yards ahead once again found ourselves at the end of the road, literally. again rockslides were listed as the culprit. (we later looked it up online and JR discovered that these paths have been closed for several years! one wonders if they're actually working on them.) a bit disappointed at missing out on the two trails we had wanted to try, we decided to console ourselves with some gelato. lemon and nutella, how very italian.

our pricey drinks

our next stop was the last of the five towns, riomaggiore. after getting off the train we wandered through some alleys (right along people's verandahs and front doors, in some cases) and eventually made our way down to the main drag. our goal was to find some sciacchetrà (pronounced ska-che-TRA), the dessert wine we had read about. we hadn't seen it on any menus so far. we thought maybe it was just local to the cinque terre. or perhaps just touristy. we eventually found a bar with a table outside on the very sloping hill. we got a sciacchetrà and limoncello, spending our very last euros in the process (that always makes me nervous). we people-watched as we sipped our drinks. the wine was more like a sherry or madeira - different than we'd been expecting but not bad.

not a practical place for boats, i'd say

as we went to pay the waiter? bartender? owner? tried to insist that the wine was 10 euro rather than the 7 that was listed on the menu. i think he was trying to argue that the wrong menus had been put out or something but we literally did not have any more money so in the end he relented (although obviously he was in the wrong anyway!). we meandered down the sloping street to the water. the actual waterfront in riomaggiore is quite small, but it doesn't stop the fishermen from dragging their little boats out of the water and up the hill back to their houses. it seems ludicrous - there have to be easier places to fish! one assumes their families have been there for generations or else why would they stay in these crazy place that must be overrun with tourists most of the year.

end of the day

we were tired and sweaty at this point but before heading back we thought we'd stop one last time in vernazza, hoping to catch some views of the golden rays on the water. we walked out on the breakers where the sun was starting to go down and we watched as the boats bobbed in the water, fishermen waiting for their turn to haul their boats in on the ramp going up into the town. behind us the sun was starting to go down and the sky was glowing orange. we waited a bit longer but knew that at some point we'd have to start the journey back. so we made our way back to monterosso where we got the train to levanto. the next train wasn't for a little while so we waited in the little station, trying to cobble together some change to get a drink from the vending machine. it's an uncomfortable feeling not having any cash. eventually the train came, although we had to get out again midway for the last leg of our trip back to genoa. the little layover took quite a while so we amused ourselves by trying to translate the tabloid covers that were posted on ads around the station.

traditional trufie

finally the train came and we made it back to genoa around 9. again we didn't have too much difficulty finding a place open (thank you, italy, for your late dinners) and we were determined to get pesto alla genovese with the traditional trufie pasta. we succeeded and had a lovely meal in a small restaurant, enjoying watching the little baby at the other table. we knew it would be an incredibly early morning the next day to catch the ferry so we didn't linger quite as long as we might have. but i think it's fair to say we made the most of our 30 hours in italy.

gran torino

the last stop on my italian tour was turin. i arrived mid-morning to be greeted by my friend simona and one of her friends. from the train station we started our tour of the city; we walked down the big shopping streets, past famous cafés and into big piazzas (piazzae?). along the way we stopped for an authentic italian coffee - probably my first - which, as a good italian, you drink quickly at the bar. no time to sit. simona also treated me to a box of pastiglie, typical turin candies.

we continued walking, saw the university, the main building of which apparently appears in architectural textbooks as an example of "what not to do". here we met her fiancé for lunch. the place was called shortbus (after the movie, i was told), which initially concerned me. but it ended up just being an artsy little cafe/resto with an out-there bookshop. we continued walking, where i saw the palace, the "castle", and the church without a façade. simona was an excellent tour guide, telling me all about the city's traditions and history. when italy was unified in 1861 it became the first capital and the king of turin became the king of italy. also the city is famous for its roots in magic. at the gates of the palace there are two equestrian statues (the gemini twins) that are said to mark the boundary between the good and evil parts of the city. another part of the city has a fountain that shows black magic triumphing over white magic, pretty unusual. also, according to this website i just found turin apparently forms a triangle of white magic, along with lyon and prague. who knew!

as the afternoon went on we saw the rest of the city, including the mole antonelliana, the symbol of the turin. you can see it in the distance at right; it's interesting in that halfway up the tower portion there's a full neoclassical facade. we paused at the famous caffè al bicerin (above) to sample its namesake. we continued on and crossed the river po for a look back at the city. (turin, like lyon, has two rivers.)

at this point we met up again with simona's fiancé and some of their friends for a delicious pizza dinner before the comedy show. i hadn't planned on going but after hearing about luttazzi, who berlusconi has banned from tv, i ended up using their extra ticket to see the show. perhaps not one of my best decisions, as the show was over 2 hours and my italian's a little rusty (read: nonexistent). apparently it was very funny. after this we met up with other friends for drinks across town, where i spoke french and english (thank goodness!) before catching the bus back to simona's neighborhood.

the next day, my last in italy, i think i got a taste of typical italian lifestyle. i had a small breakfast before heading out to do a little shopping. saturday is market day and so we got our bread and pasta as well as henna for simona's hair (so italian!). we came back to simona's for lunch where her parents had prepared an amazing lunch - spaghetti with homemade pesto sauce, a salad (eaten after the main course) with maybe the most delicious oil and vinegar i've ever had along with a soficcino (sp?), something like a fried pizza pocket. then they offered me focaccia and cheeses and fruit to end the meal. how could i say no? then simona's aunt came to join us for the requisite after-meal coffee and see simona again before she left. a very sweet woman, she tried very hard to communicate with me (did i mention no one in their family speaks english? and only simona speaks french) and gave me her email so we could be friends on facebook. simona and i went to her grandmother's apartment, about a block away, for our coffee. she's a typical sweet old italian grandmother, kissing me on the cheek as i walked in the door. she proudly showed me the view of the city - pretty impressive - before doting on us and giving us coffee and sweets. she even gave me a bag of cookies to take with me. what an adorable woman.

after being thoroughly spoiled by simona's family we headed back into town to see the egyptian museum, one of the city's biggest landmarks. it's the second in the world after cairo, and certainly very impressive. there were entire rooms filled with monumental stone statues, not to mention mummies and room after room of smaller artifacts and hieroglyphics. we (now four, with simona's boyfriend and his friend) continued back through the center of town where we had tea at the famous caffè reale, inside the palazzo. the decorations consist of cabinets full of the king's china.

just past the palace is the duomo which houses the shroud of turin. we had to wait for mass to let out and then we were able to see the glass case covering the box that holds the shroud. it's only taken out about every 10 years (with the exception of 2000, being a very big year) but they have giant photos and x-rays on which you can see the outline of the shape. so i suppose i can say i saw it, in a matter of speaking.

we continued on, getting hungry, and opted for a dinner at an aperitivo. we doubled back across the city near the university where they're plentiful. we went to one that's particularly popular, la drogheria. it was so popular in fact that we ended up eating outside but the food was delicious - pastas, pizza, vegetables, polenta. we had thirds. after chatting over our drinks we headed back to simona's and i bid farewell to the city. i think turin was one of my favorite cities; it really surprised me. but then again perhaps it was because i had such an excellent tour guide and host. it was a nice way to round out my time in italy.

the next morning we left early for the train station and had our last italian coffee before the train. the first leg i spent sitting between two small families, which was entertaining to say the least. the view passing through the mountains was lovely and i was admiring the clear sky (simona tells me this is normal; italy is the land of the sun) along the way. just as we were approaching (or maybe at) the french border our train made a particularly long stop. in typical italian fashion they waited until about 25 minutes later to tell us to get off and board another train to lyon. literally in the span of that half hour, the clouds rolled in and by the time i got on the second train, the sky was completely covered. welcome to france. the next train was direct to lyon where i arrived and was greeted by gray skies and drizzle.

now it's time to settle back in and remind myself why i like this country, too.

not just a cookie

the next stop on the italian tour was milano. there seems to be a bit of a prejudice against milan among the northerners. all the italians i spoke to were curious as to why i was going there and were concerned when some friends were planning on staying several days. i can see where they're coming from, as the city is the financial center of the country but has little else that wouldn't fit in a day's visit.

luckily my stay was only one day and it was a perfect amount of time to enjoy the city. i arrived late at night, navigated the metro and then walked 20 minutes through a suburby type area to find my host. the next day we left in a hurry and it wasn't until i was on the metro until i realized that i had forgotten my tickets to the last supper. not only had i already paid (double-digit), but it was likely sold out and i was not going to miss my one chance to see it. after silently panicking for a moment i calmly realized i could just find an internet cafe to print off a new one. this turned out to be more difficult than i had imagined, but several unhelpful italians and a few euros later i had the ticket. whew.

my first view of milan proper was, fittingly, the duomo. (i shot it in several types of light - monet -style - but i think this one is a favorite) i always remembered thinking it looked very pointy in the slides/textbooks. in person i mainly noticed the flatness. the inside is rather unremarkable, except for a nice ceiling on either side of the nave. but perhaps i'm just spoiled when it comes to cathedrals. shortly after seeing the duomo i met up with another assistant, gemma, and her friend from home (in sydney). they're both musicians which meant that at random intervals they were likely to burst into song, talk about the acoustics of a particular building, or comment on the off-key busking. they made for very good company. we walked through the galleria (fancy shops with a marble hallway under a glass dome) and tried on sunglasses in prada. we also saw the facade of la scala opera house - not really even worth mentioning - where they had seen a ballet the night before. for lunch we popped into a cafeteria-style yet nice restaurant where i had traditional risotto milanese for a mere 3,50. this is what's wonderful about the primi platti - just as delicious as the main course but smaller portions and less money.

after lunch we parted ways as i had a date with leonardo. i arrived at the santa maria della grazie 20 minutes prior to my appointed time, as requested. i was told to wait an additional 30 minutes past my ticket time. in the meantime there was a small anteroom with explanations of the painting and its destruction/restoration.. all in italian. the english version was in the next room, where we spent about 30 seconds before being let into the climatised room. i'm getting used to that. the refectory itself is a large empty room, bigger than i expected. the painting itself is up pretty high on the wall and they keep you a good 15 feet away. even so, you can see how masterfully it's been painted. especially when you compare it with whatever nonsense is on the opposite wall.

after a quick look around the castle and its 5 museums (only 1,50 for admission to all of them) and the rest of the old city, all located conveniently in walking distance, i met up with gemma and matt again. it was gemma's birthday so we had a small dinner of delicious pasta and questionable dessert (the lemon cake was chewy..). this turned out to be unnecessary as afterwards we met up with a few french guys (one of whom she'd met on the train) who took us to an aperitivo. one of italy's best accomplishments, as far as i'm concerned. you pay 7 euro for a cocktail of your choice and then have your pick of the extensive buffet of appetizers. they had quite a spread, including gnocchi, polenta, paella, and even chips and salsa. as we were stuffing ourselves, a waiter came around with foccacia and then nutella sandwiches. i think it was heaven. in between platefuls we managed to chat with the frenchies. it felt surprisingly good to speak french again, and they even said i parled vachement bien. if only they knew how good i was at franglais. at any rate, this ended being a nice end to my stay in milan and a good transition to my final destination...

voila verona

in continuing with the alliterative trend, my next stop was verona. i left with another couchsurfer, daniela, in hopes of catching the first train into the city to meet two other girls and tour the city. the morning was interesting.. a sort of comedy of errors, if you will. we were dropped off at the train station only to find that the train had left ten minutes earlier. and the next train from this tiny station? three hours later. greaaat. we quickly decided to hop the next train to vicenza (backtracking) in hopes of catching an earlier train from there. when we arrived we happily discovered that there was another just 20 minutes later. we dutifully went to the track, awaiting its arrival. it never showed. no reason, just didn't run. so we were faced with waiting until 11.30, what we had been hoping to avoid. to pass the time and get an errand out of the way we decided to head towards an internet cafe. so we set out towards the city, luggage and all. the first place we were directed to (luckily daniela spoke italian) was closed on wednesdays. naturally. the next place had only one broken computer so we were directed to another on the main street. eventually we were able to get what we needed, but only after allowing the proprietors to make copies of our ID (apparently this is standard practice in italy). all this, and it wasn't even a tuesday!

at any rate, we eventually made it to verona, though we had no way to track down our other friends. daniela and i spent the morning wandering the city and only managing to find its most touristy locales. stop #1: juliet's house. obviously this has tourist trap written all over it, especially bearing in mind that juliet is a fictional character. it's basically a very old house that dates to juliet's era with a courtyard and balcony. some local entrepreneur took it upon himself to fill it with period furniture and film memorabilia and charge people 8€ to go inside and take their picture on the stone balcony. well done. additionally visitors have taken to drawing graffiti (romantic graffiti?) and hearts all over the walls and stairwell. the whole thing was amusing to see but perhaps not one of the more authentic corners of the city.

daniela and i walked through the city until the early afternoon when she had to leave and i met up with amanda, another couchsurfer, and a random italian man who had started guiding/following her. it was very bizarre. he just followed us, occasionally advising on where to go when we tried to explain what we were looking for. he seemed perfectly content and didn't blink when we would intermittently laugh at the strange situation. in this way we walked around the city, seeing its various bridges, castles, and piazzas until we headed back to the train station. nothing really stood out as remarkable, it was just a nice little italian town that probably has shakespeare to thank for the bulk of its tourism.

v for venizia

the second day of my trip i made it to venice, which had been my initial reason for going in the first place. i had planned on staying there three days but with the cost of the hostel i opted to couchsurf instead. if i hadn't i wouldn't have seen some of the smaller or towns or met any of the people i did so it turned out to be a good decision.

i got on the train early to enjoy a full day in venice. on the hour-long train ride i was trying not to notice the overcast sky and hoping it would clear up. italy once again came through as the skies cleared just as i was crossing the scalzi bridge from the train station. venice is interesting because on the one hand it's very easy to get lost, with all the meandering canals and dead ends; but on the other hand, it's difficult to go anywhere without running into signs that direct you to san marco or the rialto bridge.

i headed towards the rialto first where i saw the fish and vegetable market down below. on the way i passed all sorts of stores, some interesting but the majority peddling the same kitschy carnevale crap.

since i had been to the city before i didn't feel obligated to hit all the usual highlights and opted instead to visit the islands. murano, the glass-blowing island, was just a short boat ride away. i don't know that i've ever been in a place where the 100% of the stores sold the same product. the glass was fun to see of course but i was disappointed that i wasn't able to see more actual glassblowing. good thing i don't have a weird glass fascination or anything. after walking to my satisfaction and seeing a number of public large scale sculptures, i island-hopped over to burano.

the process was more strenuous than hopping; the boat ride was at least half an hour. but when i arrived i was not disappointed by the cuteness of the island. as promised, it was full of canals lined with colorful shops and houses. i had only a little over half an hour but i found that was ample time to eat my sandwich and explore the entire island - it's tiny.

boarding the boat to return to the main island i got my first taste of the carnevale madness. there were several people (generally pairs) in costume who seemed to be trailed by either personal photographers or very accomodating friends with large cameras. other people were surrepitiously taking pictures of them; it was a little strange. once we arrived i continued on foot towards piazza san marco, where i was hoping for more carnevale excitement. i was not disappointed. the square was beginning to fill up with people in costumes and masks. i'll say this for the masks: they are certainly beautiful and detailed but it is a little creepy to see the same hollow face everywhere. that didn't stop me from taking pictures, however. as far as i can tell the festivities (on an admittedly uneventful day) consist of people in costume posing endlessly for onlookers to take pictures. i can't understand what would motivate a person to do that, but i took advantage of it anyway. also there were three large bird/dinosaur/dragons on stilts, complete with sound effects.

once i had had my fill of the carnevaliers, who continued well on towards the grand canal and past the palazzo ducale, i begrudgingly paid 1€50 to go the bathroom (that's the "low season" price) and walked on. i wandered through the canals, popping out occasionally for a view of the grand canal at dusk. i also made one stop (and one of the few purchases of the day) for gelato. the flavor? nutella. how quintessentially italian can you get?

i wandered back to the train station where i came across the canal just as the sun had set and the lights were coming on. then it was back to vicenza for another dinner filled with home-cooked food, lively conversation and other couchsurfers.

veni vidi vicenza

my first stop on this whirlwind tour of italy was padua (sorry for the misleading title; i couldn't think of a good pun for padua). the highlight of padua was my first stop, the capella della scrovegni, which, for some reason, is also called the arena chapel. the chapel is giotto's masterpiece; the inner walls are covered with his frescoes. i waited in a climatised room for my fifteen-minute visit during which i watched a nice video on the paintings' meaning and restoration. as the previous group came out we were allowed in.

the chapel itself was bigger than i had imagined and the frescoes were quite impressive. you could really see giotto's skill in demonstrating depth and capturing emotions. before masaccio even. he's a bit like the cezanne of the 14th century. apparently he also used relief in some of his paintings, like with leaves or tears. the sequence of paintings is like a giant comic book depicting the life of mary and jesus. but honestly even knowing what was supposed to happen it was pretty hard to follow the order. after fifteen minutes we were ushered out and, i have to say, i don't like being given a time limit with art.

at any rate i continued on, being shooed out of the adjoining museum (apparently closed that day). i walked the rest of the city, stopping occasionally for interesting buildings or spectacles. speaking of which. well, padua's known to be a big university town; the campus dominates the better part of the old city. it's the second oldest in italy and galileo taught there. (i know, i know. galileo.) at any rate students are a common site but on the particular day i was there, there was some strange sort of demonstration. in several spots there were students dressed strangely covered in foodstuffs, reading from a poster in italian. at certain times they would have to variously drink something or get hit with something (likely more food), as well just generally being gawked at. (it was kind of like when dreiss wore a baguette on his head and read dali.) italian hazing? i'm still not sure.

i continued on, finding mainly churches - including sant antonio's. he's the patron saint of the city and receives all kinds of pictures, letters and general supplications. these things as well as the devout (who have no trouble walking through you in order to get to his tomb) somewhat overshadow the giotto fresco on the wall behind it. upon returning to the main squares i found a big produce market and nearby bread/pasta shop where i bought my lunch fixings. (i was particularly proud of myself when i completed a transaction in italian and gave the correct change - "perfetto"). afterwards all that was missing was a sunny spot to eat. i turned the corner and what do i find but a group of benches in the middle of a piazza. thank you, padua. (vence could take a lesson from this).

i figured i wasn't going to top that so i traveled back to vicenza. this is where the title becomes a bit of a stretch, as i did not so much conquer the city as walk around it aimlessly and take picture haphazardly. you can't walk more than about 50 meters without bumping into a building designed by palladio. some of the bigger estates are naturally outside the city limits and the biggest of these, the villa rotunda, does not open until march. so i walked until the good lighting faded and made my way back home. that evening my couchsurfer host and two other guests shared a meal of beef, vegetables, couscous, an omelette, and of course wine. it is nice to have a home to come back to, even if it's not yours.

lost in transition

so after my fantastic week in tunisia and less than 18 hours back in lyon i switched gears completely for a week in northern italy. instead of traveling with a great group of friends i was flying solo and instead of sometimes questionable lodging situations i was staying comfortably in real apartments with real italians (thanks to couchsurfing).

my vacation got out to a shaky start. let me share with you the story of my first night in italy and preface it by saying that i never claimed not to be an idiot.

i left lyon and arrived at the airport without a problem (the shuttle wasn't striking this time, thankfully). i went terminal three, a very temporary looking circus tent type of apparatus that's used for easyjet flights. the flight itself was very short and uneventful, as easyjet requires you to pay for any and all snacks. there was a really lovely view over venice at dusk when we were landing which, unfortunately, i did not have a great view of from my aisle seat.

i landed, retrieved my bags and determined which bus i needed to take to get to vicenza, my first destination. the woman was rather short with me and told me to get off at the train station at the "second stop". as the bus pulled away i was feeling pretty confident. hungry, but confident. we drove a bit on land and then across what i suppose was the lagoon until we reached venice. here all i could see was a parking lot full of buses and tourists as it seemed like everyone got off the bus. i got nervous and thought maybe the woman had meant the second stop including the airport as the first. i tried to ask the driver how to get to the 'mestre' station and he directed me towards the parking lot. i assumed the station was the big building behind it so i took my bag and walked on. first mistake.

i had an uneasy feeling as i continued towards the large building and after crossing several streets (with difficulty) it became clear to me that this was not the train station at all. i started to feel panic a bit but instead joined the tourists smushed together in a line for one of the buses. when it arrived i confirmed (once again in broken italian) that the bus went to the mestre station. i crammed myself and my suitcase onto the bus and hoped there was no sort of ticket involved. though i don't think a controller could have fit on the bus anyway.

we drove back over the lagoon (hmm..) and at one of the stops the nice old italian man directed me to get off and walk back towards the train station just after the overpass. i clumsily thanked him and got off in search of the train station. i had thought i knew where it was but upon doubling back i found myself stuck in a parking garage and then walking down a seedy-looking street. i gave up and turned back around and crossed the overpass back to where i had started. at this point i thought it best to try to ask someone, which i probably should have done in the first place (second mistake.) i was directed to follow the street i was on, which was parallel to the street i had been on before except that it was in a 'not so good area'. whoops.

eventually i did find the train station and even after all that i still just missed the train by about 2 minutes. the next train? not for another hour and a half. ouch. luckily there was a waiting room where i was able to sit and watch all the colorful italians. i really think they might have more crazies per capita than any other country.

i was worried about being late for my couchsurfer but it wasn't a problem and as it turned out he picked me up at the same time as another girl (from peru) and we were taken to a group dinner at a local restaurant. most people were just ordering so i wasn't even late. i comforted myself with a delicious, authentic italian pizza and good conversation. benvenuto indeed.