Europe '06, Part III: Italian Charm

Wow, it's been almost three months since I wrote about my trip to Europe this past summer. When I last left you, Corey and I were flying from Ireland to Italy via Ryanair (FYI--a nice, cheap way to hop around Europe). We arrived in Milan late at night and took a long shuttle ride from the airport to the train station (at least 30-45 minutes). Unable to figure out the train/bus schedules, etc., we opted to take a taxi to our hostel...for which we had made reservations:) I was quite impressed that between my b r o k e n I t a l i a n and the driver's broken English we were actually able to carry on a decent conversation along the way. (It's amazing how much you can learn listening to Italian language tapes for a full year. Thanks friends and co-workers for putting up me during this process.) Now, Milan is a BIG city!!! A friend who had also been there compared it (rightly so) to NYC. The hostel we stayed in was lacking the character we had experienced in other places, but was safe and provided one of the better breakfasts of the trip. We didn't really have any plans for sightseeing in Milan, although Corey had just finished reading The DaVinci Code and so we thought we might visit Santa Maria delle Grazie to see "The Last Supper"...you know, while we were in town. Unfortunately, it turns out that you have to make reservations at least 1 day prior. As we were spending less than 24 hours total in Milan, that didn't work out for us. We did see the cathedral from the outside, but I'm guessing the interior was much more impressive.


The majority of our time in Italy was spent in Florence (a.k.a. Firenze). Yes, I was inspired by "Under the Tuscan Sun" (the book, not the movie) and had to see the region for myself. My friend, Kt, had also specifically recommended the hostel here. While a little off the beaten path (more on the outskirts of town and an uphill trek from the bus stop), this was an amazing place to stay for the next few days. The hostel was a 17th century villa, complete with gardens and water fountains.


The bedrooms here were gender-specific, so Corey and I were on different floors. When we went to put our bags away before heading out for dinner, etc., Corey met a group of guys from Georgia Tech who were spending the summer taking classes in France. (At first they thought that there were staying in the same room, although that wasn't actually the case...but that's another story you'll have to get from Corey.) The guys were planning to go out to the bars that night and Corey was interested in going along, but not me so much. My idea of enjoying Tuscany was more relaxed and slow-paced (dolce far niente, "sweet idleness"). At first, Corey thought I would be upset that he wanted to go out without me, but I assured him that it would be fine, and probably a good idea for us to have some time apart. I was glad that he was able to go out and enjoy Florence the way he wanted, without having to be there myself, and also comforted in knowing that he wasn't alone (a big sister never stops worrying about her little brother). My original plans for that night were to hang out at the hostel and watch the Mexico-Angola football game (especially since some friends from Rochester were at the match). It turned out that the game was only televised on SKY TV, which the hostel didn't subscribe to. Luckily, I found a group of about 10-15 other people (Americans, Canadians, Germans, etc.) who where also interested in seeing the game. So, off we went en masse down the streets of Florence in search of the game. After a half an hour we came to the sad realization that most bars in Italy (or at least in the neighborhood we were in) are not "sports bars." Even talking to some locals along the way, we were having a difficult time finding a place to watch the game. Finally, one of the guys noticed a TV through the window of a large (but quite) bar--we filed in just in time for the second half of the match and ended up taking most of the chairs in the place. Perhaps this wasn't the evening I had planned, but it was a fun adventure.

The next morning Corey and I did kick back a little. We did a couple of loads of laundry and sat out in the garden reading and catching up with our journals. In the early afternoon we met up with the GT group for lunch. I had a wonderful pasta dish with pine nuts and pesto and the BEST cup of espresso I've ever tasted!!! I realized that morning that I hadn't really thought about where I wanted to sight-see in Florence, so I was glad when the guys pulled out their travel guide at lunch and said that we could tag along with them. We ended up going to the Duomo (cathedral), Ponte Vecchio (the "gold" bridge), and the Uffizi Art Gallery (where I somehow missed the Botticelli room with the Birth of Venus...oh well, must come back someday). It was on this day that I also had my first (of many) true taste of gelatto (home-made Italian ice cream)--SO GOOD!!!

Dinner that night was also tasty, but a bit pricy since we went to a classy place downtown. After the meal we went to the train station to make reservations for the next leg of our journey (Germany via Venice). Unfortunately, the ticket office closed right before it was our turn--seriously, we were next in line. (The bad thing about this is that when we went back the next day to get our reservations, it was too late to get tickets for Venice...again, guess I'll have to go back someday for that). As it was getting kind of late at this point, and more importantly the US was playing Italy in the World Cup that evening, Corey and I parted ways with the GT guys in search of a TV. On the bus ride back to the hostel, I noticed a bar that was showing the game and had a crowd of people standing around the door. We hopped off at the next stop and walked back to take our place in that group. Standing on our tip-toes we managed to watch (most of) the second half of the match. The game was already tied 1-1 when we got there, and we were only given a moment of passing hope when the US put another ball in the net, only to be denied the goal for offsides. (We figured this out when the Italian crowd initially groaned, and then cheered.) When the match ended in a tie, we were glad that our American identity would not be a hindrance to our remaining time in Italy, nor would we be pitied (at least not until we lost to Ghana a few days later).

The next morning we did a little shopping, wrote postcards in front of the Duomo, and looked at the line to see Michelangelo's "David" at the Galleria dell' Accademia (yet another reason to come back). After we checked out of the hostel, we took a train back to Milan to make our connection to Germany. During the 3 hour lay-over, we had a nice dinner at a nearby cafe. At the table next to us was a lovely Canadian couple. We had a great conversation with them and were given some great travel advice about Amsterdam that came in VERY USEFUL (more to come on that later). Another bonus for this portion of our trip were the TWO free bottles of water we got at the train station (one on the way out, and another on the way in). You should all know how much I love free stuff:)

That night was another first for our trip...the train ride to Cologne (a.k.a. Koeln), Germany was in a sleeper car. This was a great way to save time and a little money on accommodations, but it did have it's down-sides. The worst part of traveling overnight is that you miss all the beautiful scenery along the way (i.e. the Swiss Alps). I was fortunate enough to wake up in the middle of the night and take a peak out the window to catch a darkened view of some mountains and chalets, but would have loved to have seen more!!!

Stay tuned, my next installment will finally cover our WORLD CUP experience!!!