Week 1.5 - in summary
I have been here a little more than a week, and I, of course, have neglected to document most of my Italian endeavors, so here is a brief summary of the past week or so (no pictures, sadly, due to my computer and iPhone both failing me, but I’ll post some when I get back to Nashville, if nothing else):
Sunday, May 22: After spending the weekend in Viareggio, including a few days on the beach (from which you can see the mountains), Pietro and I returned to Florence. We did have a rather long wait at the train station, because there was a train strike that day, so many of them did not show up. We eventually returned, though, had some local pizza, and stayed in for the night.
Monday, May 23: I met several International students in Santo Spirito, most of whom speak English. We stayed there for most of the afternoon, then bought groceries on the way home and Pietro cooked dinner. We then met up with some people on a peninsula in the middle of the river, an spent the evening there an in Santo Spirito. That night, as well as most nights, I went to bed far too late. Not helping my jet-lag.
Tuesday, May 24: I took a train to Milan to meet up with Cooper Neill, former fellow Belmontian/Nashvillian. We met at the train station, got lost trying to find our hostel, and when we did find it, no one answered the door. We ate lunch, then came back. No one answered. We wandered around, called the hotel, and finally got in. I suppose we shouldn’t have expected too much of a place called “Hotel RossoVino” (which translates to “hotel red wine” - yes, in case you’re wondering, they did give us a bottle of cheap red wine, rubber cork and all, as part of staying there). Actually, it was a pretty nice place for a hostel. We then made our way downtown, walked through the fashion district, saw the duomo and the castle, then found a place with a happy hour (cheap all-you-can-eat buffet).
Wednesday, May 25: Cooper and I took a train to Venice, took the water bus in the wrong direction, and eventually discovered that the address for our hostel was wrong on google. So we asked around, and eventually found the place (Venice, for the record, can be difficult to navigate). We shared a room with a guy from Istanbul, who was traveling around Europe to avoid post-college job searches. We found some food, wandered around our area of Venice, and were able to see a large part of the city at night, then we sat at a cafe and rested for a couple hours at the end of the night. Venice is beautiful.
Thursday, May 26: Cooper and I woke up early, ate breakfast at the hostel, then saw San Marco Basilica, Giorgio Isle, and several churches and schools (wandering aimlessly in Venice was my favorite part). I found a little shop and bought some Italian absinthe. We continued to wander through lunchtime and early afternoon and concluded our venetian trip sitting on part of the main “s” river that runs through the city, waiting for our train. We then took the train to Florence, and had dinner at the apartment (homemade sushi, courtesy of Pietro). We stopped by the Florence GELATO FESTIVAL, and then we ended the night in Santo Spirito.
Friday, May 27: Pietro took a train in the morning to Viareggio to help set up for Fosco (his brother)’s birthday. Cooper and I walked around Florence, seeing the duomo, the Boboli gardens, the Gelato Festival again, and another high point overlooking Florence. We found dinner and climbed on some roofs adjoining the apartment’s roof, and later that night, we met up with Jeska (who also lives in the apartment) and some others, mostly hanging out in Santo Spirito. It was on our way to meet them that I brutally stubbed my big toe in a hole in the cobblestone street, while running across. It hurt for the rest of the night, but I didn’t think much of it.
Saturday, May 28: I woke up to a swollen purple toe, and could not walk on it. Yikes. Cooper and I (power hobbling) made our way to the train station, arriving just in time for me to see my train to Viareggio leaving. I waited for an hour or so for the next train while cooper waited for his train to Rome. We parted ways, and eventually I made it back to Viareggio for Fosco’s birthday (Fosco is my other cousin, who lives in Viareggio with the rest of the family). Upon arriving, Pietro insisted that we visit the “little hospital” to have my toe examined. It was something like a public doctor’s office. There, they took a quick look at big my toe and sent me to the hospital to have an x-ray taken. We drove to the hospital, waited, had my toe x-rayed, discovered a small fracture, was told not to walk for a few days, take some pain medicine if I wanted, and that it would heal in 2-3 weeks (I’m only here for another 2.5 weeks). As terrible as this news was, let it be known that I did not have to pay the hospital a dime, even though I am not an Italian citizen. Wonderful. From there, we returned to the house for Fosco’s birthday, which was loads of fun. The party was held in the garden, which was decorated with a hanging tent and net, torches, and candles. The catering was also, of course, excellent. I mostly just sat around (since I could not walk) and talked with the people who spoke English. After the party, everyone went dancing except for me (and my aunt and uncle).
Sunday, May 29: I still could barely limp around with my straight, wooden-soled sandals that I was told to wear, so as Pietro returned to Florence, I stayed behind in Viareggio for another day and accompanied my aunt to Lari, a small town surrounding a castle on a hill in the Tuscan countryside, for a cherry festival. I ate no fewer than 50 fresh locally grown cherries, possibly nearer to 100 (the best cherries in the world). I learned how to tie a cherry stem into a knot using my tongue, was served lunch and dinner in a friend of the family’s palazzo (palace), learned how to play Buracco (Italian card game similar to Rummy), and was even given a tour of the family chapel. Everyone was very friendly and spoke English. A wonderful day of recovery.
Monday, May 30 (today): This morning I walked (with great toil, mind you) to the beach from my family’s house. Beautiful. From the beach, I could clearly see the mountains. I’m never leaving. I had lunch with the family, then took a train and arrived back in Florence just in time to take a bus and be fined €50 by the “bus police” for their faulty system/me being an American (lest we forget, there are extortionist douchebags even here, in the beautiful city of Florence). Also, my toe still hates me - I’ve been walking on it, and will do so until I leave - but there is plenty of time for me to succumb to pain when I leave Italy).
Whew. Sorry, I know that was a bit long. I’ll try to post something again before next week so I don’t have to write so much. I don’t know what I’ll be doing for the next week. I was planning a trip to Paris, but I doubt I can go with a broken toe. That said, I might go anyway.
If you actually read all of this, I applaud you. -Joe
8 months ago • 0 notes
