lessons from italia

01.17.08

as my time in europe progresses i've found myself becoming more comfortable with my gross inability to do anything without messing it up in some way/shape/form...however, confident that i'll make my way with a big smile and the phrase, "do you speak english?" i can't count how many times i used that this weekend. with that, my italia adventure began...

day 1 - milan

i was really nervous to use all this public transportation (tram, metro, bus) to get to the airport, but i couldn't ask the family to wake up at 4:30am to take me to the airport, so i braved it, hiked down the hill, and caught the #17 tram to begin my journey. to my surprise i made it from the tram to the metro to the bus to the airport without a hitch. with newly found pride i boarded my plane and arrived in milan to meet mr. thriller (fairfield robbie). we had very specific instructions: once in milan, catch the bus to the main train stations. go down the stairs and find the information desk by the front doors. we'll meet between 10 and 10:30am. i arrived at the info booth around 10:35am, but thought nothing of the tardiness. robbie would wait for me. but once i got there, no robbie. minutes turned to an hour and still no robbie. i remembered a lesson from my childhood...if you're lost, don't move, they'll come find you. so i was determined to wait. but after and hour had come and gone...all i could think was that i was at the wrong station or robbie had met some italian woman and i was out for the count. after accepting that my italian adventure would play out with me alone...i ventured to the sunlight. (keep in mind...i had a lump in my throat this entire time having not been mentally prepared to brave a foreign country alone.) not 20 yards from the entrance, there was my knight in shining armor. actually, it was that green coat that i had come to recognize...but i couldn't have been more pleased. that day, we trekked all over milan. took in the city. ate more carbohydrates than all the potatoes in idaho. and tried to pick up as much italian as possible.

here i was attacked by "the lord of the pigeons". he put seeds in my hand and it was downhill from there.





this is at an art showing. i'm not sure exactly what was going on, but robbie and i decided it would be a more memorable experience if we were the art as opposed to just viewing the art.



at the end of our day, robbie showed me this sculpture of napoleon. as neither of us can read italian, i'm guessing it's portraying a napoleon victory. you can kind of see him on a chariot.



01.18.08

day 2 - venice

our second day on the road found us in venice. its simply amazing! after a three hour train ride and some much needed sleep we toured the city where the people were charming and the streets and sights even more so. venice was very relaxed. we woke up, enjoyed caffeine and a pastry delight, walked and walked and walked and took it all in. when you're in a place like venice there isn't much you can do to describe it. its unlike anything you've seen before. winding roads that lead only to water. cafes every ten steps. at one point i said to robbie, "do you think the people that live here wake up one day and think...i have the BEST idea...i'm going to open a cafe!" but somehow, each of them survives and somehow are constantly filled with people. okay, pictures:

upon arrival and clearly without caffeine...a good view of what the streets of venice look like. four trillion bridge crossings later, you get to the other end of the city and it looks exactly the same...



this picture was taken after one of our many wrong turns. you think you're headed to a main street, but low and behold its just steps leading to someone's boat...



so, here is a statue of a man...on a horse, but i felt a need to include it because when you see these statues it tells a story based on how the horse is positioned. if the horse is on its hind legs that means the rider died in battle. if he has one foot up it means he died from injuries sustained in the battle. but if the horse has all four feet on the ground the rider is a survival of the battle and eventually died of natural causes. i thought that was interesting...



about six hours into our tour of venice and having walked around the entire perimeter we arrived at the tourist hotspot...san marcos square. here there were a trillion more sight-seers and even more pigeons than you can shake a stick at. blech...gross. here i decided to do a jumping series to make the pictures a little more action packed...



01.19.08

day 3 - pisa/florence

the next day we traveled by train to florence, checked into our hostel and caught a train promptly to pisa. pisa was so fun. and even though its a very typical touristy point, it was mandatory to visit for the endless photo opportunities. people would stand around forever in front of the tower pushing, pulling, hugging, holding it. here robbie and i encountered a hilarious italian family that couldn't figure out how to get their pictures to turn out correctly so they enlisted robbie's expertise. with me as his assistant and 20 minutes later they successfully pushed the tower and spoke rapid italian to us. i think they were giving thanks, but all that we understood from each other was the laughing. it's hilarious how funny it is when you don't speak the same language. you find yourself being extremely "hands-on" with the other person. a lot of wild hand gestures, loud speaking. i wouldn't be surprised if by the end of my praha experience i have gotten on my hands and knees to demonstrate a pony.

typical tourist pose...



jumping...



right by the tower is a magnificent cathedral (free to tour...love that) with the most amazing murals. you could stare at the walls for hours...



01.20.08

day 4 - florence

unfortunately i learned a few lessons while in florence that will explain why i have zero pictures of my fourth day and why i have jumped back on the wagon and taken a personal vow to get off the drink. (this will last approximately two to three weeks, but with each day, i'll become a little wiser and forget a little more about how badly i hurt this last sunday...). so robbie and i got back from pisa and ate dinner at this glorious restaurant called za za. with dinner we each enjoyed .66 liters of beer (the only size) and realized that we had somehow picked an italian hot-spot. it was packed with locals who slowly enjoyed four-course meals. it was fun to watch as you could see they truly enjoy the process of going out to dinner, savoring the food and eating until they had to be rolled out the door. so after dinner, we thought it would be fun to try and find some other travelers or locals our age. the quest began for a bar. 45 minutes later and no bar...we were confused...until our irish friends didn't let us down. we walked into the pub, bellied up and i enjoyed a glorious guinness. the bartender was from utah (an art student) and circled on a map places for us to visit. enjoying the ability to communicate, another bar-goer heard the english and asked us to join her table...so we did. her boyfriend and her were in the navy, stationed in italy and introduced me to a new drink called "calpiroska"...i think. basically its sugar in the raw that has been ground down. then some cubes of ice, a substantial amount of vodka and this thick strawberry stuff that is delicious. a little too delicious.

lesson 1: just because drinks are free does not mean you drink them more quickly.
lesson 2: when in a foreign country its probably going to be a little safer/wiser/healthy to embrace moderation.
lesson 3: don't play darts with boys from albania
lesson 4: just because bars are open until all hours...2am is still a good time to go home...before you fall asleep in a public establishment.
lesson 5: sleeping in an airport for the majority of a day is never fun.

the end.