A Year Ago Today...

It's crazy how much can change over the course of a year. I can remember leaving Florence with mixed emotions. Get me back to America, my body can't take any more pasta or carbs. I miss my bed and my house and my friends. On the flip side, I was envious of the students studying in Florence A. because they had not yet indulged in the pasta and gelato, therefore they were all skinny and B. I was jealous that they would be spending the next several months in the city, which I had grown to love so much. My roommates and I often laughed (and cried) when we would see pictures of people studying abroad in Florence as we missed the city that had brought us all together. Now, over a year later, it's safe to say that I can look at pictures of students in Florence and smile because if they're at all like me, they are having the time of their lives.

While it has been over a year since I was in Florence, I am constantly reminded of my time there as my room is filled with pictures of my time spent there with amazing friends I'll never forget. And for some strange reason, springtime in Columbia, SC just doesn't compare to springtime in Florence, Italy.

It's days like today, cold and rainy April showers that will hopefully bring May flowers, that I miss my weekly Thursday adventures wandering aimlessly around the city, or the Saturday morning runs in a park I discovered on accident, only to find that rollerblading is in fact very much alive--at least in Florence. I miss my morning walks over the Ponte Vecchio, watching the sun rise over the Arno with the promise of a beautiful day ahead. Small things, I know, but it's the little things in life that are often the most missed.

My family and I often talk about our time we spent traveling the wonderful country of Italy, often reminiscing about the crazy times we shared together for those two weeks in May. From accidentally throwing away my dad's invisaline in Pino's to having our hotel reservations canceled in Rome, I wouldn't trade those two weeks we spent together for anything in the world.

So here's a toast, to the best five months of my life

XOXO,
Meggie

Happy Monday!

Remember Bruno from my spring break trip? Well, I ran into him on my way home and he gave me one of his sketches to remember him by! Not too shabby right?

And this, this just makes me smile :)

XOXO,

Meggie

Notte Bianca

This past Monday (May 30), Florence prepared to celebrate Notte Bianca, a night dedicated to live music, eating and drinking. From 6 P.M. until 6 A.M. Wednesday, May 1, the city of Florence would not sleep.

Even better, May 1, is Italy's version of Labor day so we had the day off along with most businesses.

While, "Notte Bianca," literally means "white night," most Italians don't actually wear white. Of course, Santa Felicita decided to do it anyway and wore white shirts and white shoes if we had them.

Even during the crowded April and May months in Florence, walking over the Ponte doesn't take nearly as long as it did Monday night. I'm not talking about a few extra minutes either, I'm talking about a good 15 to 20 minutes more than normal. It was absolute madness but reminded me oh so much of NYC. The atmosphere was absolutely incredible!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the night!

And of course, no trip to Uncle Jimmy's is complete without leaving your mark along with the thousand of other college students who are studying in Florence! Even funnier, this bar just opened this semester and already the walls are full of signatures and various college mascots!

XOXO,

Meggie

A Unique Experience

If you've been following my blog, then you know that I'm enrolled in an Italian class, which contains a service learning component.

If you haven't been following my blog, I'll recap. Unbeknownst to me, I signed up for the "Service Learning" component of Beginner Italian, which includes a requirement of 15 service hours at a local organization or charity in Italy.

Naturally, the sound of this freaked me out as I thought I would be unable to travel on the weekend due to my service hours.

Naturally, that didn't happen, as my service began after spring break and was only once a week on Wednesdays.

Spring break came and went and I had my first day of service on Wednesday, March 28, 2012. After taking the city bus to the outskirts of Florence, we* finally made it to our correct stop and began the short walk to San Michele, a women's shelter, which is part of a larger organization called Caritas.

There, we met Tita, who was in charge of the shelter and spoke no English. Even with our basic conversational Italian vocabulary and my phrase book, we literally hung on her every word and used hand motions. A lot.

The first day went by quickly as we spent most of the day "learning the ropes." We played with a few of the kids but had even trouble communicating with them.

I mean, you can only say, "Come ti chiami" (what is your name) and "Mi piace" (I like that) so many times before they start to get bored...

However, both Talia and I quickly formed a relationship with a cute little girl name Sian, who was from Africa. She quickly clung to us and showed us outside to the play area, where we pushed her on the swing, caught her on the slide and helped her ride her bike around the yard.

No sooner had we started playing that it was time for dinner. Not hungry, I politely declined dinner only to receive several stares from the women at the shelter. It was not that I didn't want to eat, I just wasn't terribly hungry and wanted to make sure every woman at the shelter was served first--the next several weeks I came to the shelter hungry.

As I sat there, I noticed a Van Gogh poster on the wall in the dining room. It was a picture I recognized. A picture I had seen only week before. It was Van Gogh's "Sunflowers."

Tears began to well up in my eyes. Just months earlier when I heard about the service learning component, I was dreading it, concerned even, fearing it might affect my travel plans.

And here I was, staring at this poster of the painting I had seen in person. A painting, some of these women have probably never even heard of. A painting, most of these women will probably never see in their lifetime. 

I then began to think back to my own childhood, remembering my Barbie birthday parties, Christmas with my family....and, the infinite amount of toys I thought "I couldn't live without."

To say it was a humbling experience, would be an understatement.

......................

At 8 o'clock, we signed out, doing our best to use military time, and headed towards the bus stop, unsure of the correct one to take or what stop to wait at...

FYI, we made it home, only after we made a quick stop to change drivers even further outside the city center of Florence. My heart sank a little bit as I thought I would never make it home. The fact that I could barely communicate with the women at the shelter was proof enough that had we actually been lost, we probably would have never made it home. We later found out that the correct/fastest bus stop back to Florence was down the street a ways and came only a few minutes after our original/slower bus. Problem solved.

As the weeks passed, I began to feel more comfortable at the shelter, despite my terrible Italian, and even enjoyed eating with them during dinner. It was if Talia and I fit right in because every week, we sat in the same seats directly across from Sian and her mom, just like we had the first day.

A ball full of energy, Sian never slowed down. She would constantly want to run around outside, play with the blocks and leggos and, one of the more challenging activities for us, read storybooks. Thankfully, Sian enjoyed looking at the pictures more so we were usually off the hook!

This past Wednesday (May 2) was my last trip to the shelter. I never in a million years thought I would be sad to leave. Sure, I had my fair share of complaints at the beginning but, I actually felt like me just being there helped show these women that someone cared about them.

(Me and Sian)

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."

Mahatma Gandhi

XOXO,

Meggie

*I attended the shelter with a girl named Talia, who also attended Florence University of the Arts.

Romeo and Juliet

"Romeo, Romeo, where for art thou Romeo."

Perhaps one of my favorite plays of all time--I absolutely love Shakespeare..thanks primarily to my middle school and high school days at Latin--it was only fitting that I make the day trip to Verona to see the famous balcony where Juliet would secretly meet Romeo and of course where the movie "Letters to Juliet" was filmed.

After two failed attempts, Vaughn and I finally purchased our train tickets this past Friday (May 4) and were set to go early Saturday morning. Well, as usual, buying train tickets is always an experience. We attempted to buy them at the self-serve kiosk but, when we were given two train stations in Verona to choose from, we had no idea which one was correct and decided to ask for help. The next man we asked printed out the list of times for us as well as the correct arrival station, which we thought would help... However, it only confused us more. Was there not a direct train to Verona?

Finally, we decided to stand in line and purchase our tickets from the man working at the train station to avoid any confusion. And, thank goodness we did. Because there is not a direct train from Santa Maria Novella station, we would now have to get on a train, to take us to the other train station in Florence, where we would  then transfer trains, which would then take us to Verona.  There is no way any machine could have told us that!

72 Euro later, we had purchased our tickets to Verona and prepared for the busy day to come!

Arriving at the train station, our 857,563 tickets in hand, we looked at the departure board and found no departures for 9:12 going to the other train station. Great, we thought. Again, we asked the train attendant, who told us that the "Rome Termani" train was heading to that station at 9:12 and we could just get on that one and get off at the stop we needed. After waiting for the platform number to show up, Platform 12 finally flashed and we, along with 495,748 others headed towards it. We validated our tickets and boarded the train.

....9:17....9:20...9:23...why aren't we moving? Our train to Verona leaves at 9:35..why aren't we leaving...

...Finally, we started moving...

We arrive at the train station at 9:28, check the screen for departures. No Verona. There is a "Bologna" train leaving at 9:35 but no Verona. We panic.

It's 9:30.

We quickly ask another train attendant, and by ask, I really mean, Vaughn practically throwing her ticket in the ticket window and asking if our train stopped in Bologna first.

As we suspected, it did and we sprinted to platform 7 with minutes to spare.

It was 9:33.

As I looked down at my ticket for my seat number I realized I had validated the wrong ticket. I quickly ran off the train, validated it and sprinted back on.

2 minutes later, the train began to move and we could finally relax.

The train took around around two hours, making one stop in Bologna. For the duration of the ride, Vaughn studied and slept, while I read "Rick Steves' Italy 2012" section on Verona.

Arriving in Verona, we were pleased to see that the sun was shining, as the weatherman had called for rain and thunderstorms.

As we made our to the Tabacchi store to purchase our bus tickets, as Rick Steves had so generously told us, we decided we needed a quick pick-me-up and bathroom break so we decided to go to a small cafe. On our way, we noticed that the Tabacchi store was closed, but Vaughn reassured me that you could purchase tickets on the bus. However, as we headed towards the cafe, we noticed a ticket booth was open so were able to purchase a day pass for our bus ride to the city center at the train station after all.

As we boarded the bus, we found that there were no seats open so we stood off to the side so we could hold onto the railing. 10 or so minutes later we got off at the bus and began walking. Moments later  an Italian couple came up to us and began talking to Vaughn, telling her to check her bag and make sure nothing was stolen. Vaughn immediately recognized them from the bus and opened her bag to make sure she had everything--everything was accounted for, Phew! The couple then proceeded to tell us that a man had his hand in Vaughn's purse for the duration of the busride and when they noticed him, they had tried to warn Vaughn by saying,"Signora, Signora." Vaughn then recalled this as she remembered turning around to see what the commotion was all about. And thank goodness she did, because when she turned, she turned her body and purse, forcing the man to take his hand out of her purse. Vaughn thanked the couple profusely and stood there in shock as she realized she had her passport, credit cards, and cash all in this one little pouch, which could have been stolen only moments earlier had it not been for the Italian couple on the bus.

We both made sure our bags were secure and clung to the zipper for the entire day! Of course, this is why you always wear a money belt, right Mom ;)

...............now, time to go explore!

Rick Steves book in hand, we followed his map and the street signs and headed to Juliet's House. However, when we came to a fork in the road we had no idea which way to go and, the arrows were of no help as they didn't really point one way or the other.

Do we follow the mob of people, who were most likely headed to Juliet's House or go on the empty, less crowded path? Of course, we decided to follow the huge group of people, who in fact weren't going to Juliet's house...

We than had to back track, which was no problem at all, and eventually made it to the famous "House of Juliet."

We made our way to the back towards the famous statue of Juliet to get our touristy picture for the day--It is been said that if you rub her boob, you will have good luck. As we stood in the mob of people we decided we would just have to jump in as soon as someone left. Vaughn made it up first and I quickly took the picture. Now, it was my turn. You could totally tell we were tourists as we saw two old women simply go up to Juliet, rub her boob for good luck and leave. Perhaps, they were true believers as they did not feel the need to make a spectacle. Of course, I still wanted to take a picture and believed that even with a photo I would still have good luck!

              

(Vaughn and I rubbing Juliet's boob for good luck)

(A tree full of "love locks" and where Vaughn and I hid our letters to Juliet)

(Vaughn's letter to Juliet) 

(Letters to Juliet from the Trusty girls)

(The graffiti wall of lovers leading into the famous courtyard--this one's for you Mom!)

We then headed to another main Piazza where we were able to buy some fresh fruit and delicious panani's from the open market. We made our way over to some steps a few feet away and sat down to each our lunch. We both immediately commented on how good our panini's were and that we were obsessed with the incredibly large amount of fresh fruit sold at the market!

Throughout the day, we would buy even more fresh fruit. Obsessed doesn't even begin to describe it...

We continued our walk through the many side streets, no specific plan in mind and no map--We hadn't really planned our day after Juliet's house and lunch. We walked past a flower shop and decided we could definitely work there, and peeked our heads in various boutiques.

(I just love the smell of fresh flowers--reminds me oh so much of home)

While shopping in one store, we noticed it began to rain. However, because we had prepared for the weather, we weren't the slightest bit upset and continued to walk through the drizzles around the city.

After walking past the same stores several times, we finally decided that we should perhaps see what Rick suggests and follow his instructions. After looking at the map, I finally decided that we should go see the "Roman Bridge," which was the last stop on his self-guided tour. As we followed the map and attempted to find the river, which the bridge was located on, we ran into several unique windows and doors. At that moment, I immediately wished I had taken more photos of the various windows and doors I had seen around Italy... and Europe for that matter. I mean, how cool would it have been to have a photo album of just windows and doors?

I guess it's never too late to start anything because from that moment on, every window and door, which I deemed "cool" or "neat," I took a picture of it.

Here are a few of my favorite ones:

(An old VW bug I saw on the way that reminded me of my mom's at home)

After a short 20 minute walk, we eventually made it to the Roman Bridge and enjoyed the view of Verona. By now the rain had stopped and we were able to enjoy Verona without the confines of an umbrella. Despite the gray skies, Verona was absolutely beautiful. The architecture was stunning and it was all around "so quaint and cute."

(Vaughn and I on the Roman Bridge)

We continued to walk through what seemed like the entire city and made our way back to the city center where we were dropped off. We purchased some fresh fruit and decided to sit on a bench and people watch. It was fun getting to catch up too. You see, while Vaughn and I had both been studying in Florence this past semester, our different schedules and the fact that we attended different universities here made it difficult to coordinate a time to meet up. I was glad we were able to work this out and see a city, which had been on our list of places to go since January.

("And never was there a story of more woe than Juliet and her Romeo")

Our train ride back was nice as we continued to chat about our time here and the various trips we had taken throughout the semester. We talked about how we missed our friends and family and the fact that we were both looking forward to spending our summers in the one place we had missed the most.

Home.

While we love Florence and cannot imagine spending this past semester anywhere but here, Home--truly is--where the heart is.

Lucky for me, The Trusty's embark on their European Vacation in just three short days. I guess you could say, they're bringing "home" to Florence, Italy!

XOXO,
Meggie

Barca Round 2

Friday, April 20, 2012

Hopefully, you've read my Pisa post about Victorio by now and have been anxiously awaiting my Barca post!

......So, after leaving by far the craziest lunch I've ever had, we headed across the street to catch the bus, which would take us to the airport.

Having no idea what to expect and the lowest expectations for the Pisa airport, I was pleasantly surprised to find that, while small, the Pisa airport was not too shabby. After going through security, we found a row of five seats a few gates away from our departure gate, making sure we were able to still see Gate 7 so we would know when to start lining up.

Yes, you heard me right. "Lining up." You see, Ryanair, while it's worth its weight in gold, is a pretty cheap airline. Now by no means did I ever feel unsafe, I just meant that its pretty much a free for all...

After my first Ryanair flying experience, I determined that Ryanair has 4 stages of flying:

1. It's all about position--get there early and be prepared to wait.
2. Every man for himself- when those doors open, you run.
3. Relax-attempt to close your eyes and sleep for the duration of the flight and for take-off.


And last, but not least


4. The. Landing. If you at all get motion sickness and hate roller coasters, then Ryanair is probably not for you. "Brace" yourself.

As soon as your departure gate "opens" up, passengers literally flock to the gate to get in line. As a runner, it reminded me of fighting for a good position right after the gun goes off or as my mom would say, "you snooze, you lose."

Our boarding time was 8 P.M. and we were standing in line at 7 P.M.

So, after standing in the wrong line for about 45 minutes, we quietly set our luggage down off to the side, ready to jump in line after the last person had boarded their plane.

As the last person in line had their ticket scanned, my roomies and I grabbed our luggage and snagged a spot at the front of the line.

The closer you are to the front of the line, the faster you board the plane, the better seat you get and you have a higher possibility of being able to sit with your friends. It all makes complete sense.

Well apparently, everyone had the same idea as us, not only to stand in line but also to travel to Barca that weekend.

I mean after all, it was a pretty big weekend in Barca seeing as the FC Barca/Real Madrid soccer game was being played in Barca that Saturday--I know this 1) because my boyfriend is a huge soccer finatic and was green with envy when I told him I'd be in Barca that weekend and 2) three of my good friends from Florence were all celebrating their 21st birthdays that weekend and planned to spend them in Barca anticipating the crazy weekend.

After standing in line for what seemed like eternity, we were finally able to hand our passports and boarding passes to the gate attendant, who then directed us to file into a small glass room where we again, had to wait to board the plane.

Stage 1: Check.

As I turned around and scanned the many faces in the room, there were two kinds of people. People who had a look of sheer terror on their faces as they must have just heard the Ryanair rumors, and people who had faces of determination as they were determined to get the first and best seat.

I decided right then and there that this wasn't The Hunger Games so there was no need to fight to the death for a measly plane seat and decided to let the "determined" ones go ahead of me. Kelly on the other hand was ready to "throw some bows" if need be.

.......And just like that, the doors opened, and the giant sea of people behind us came charging towards us.

It looked like the start of the Boston Marathon if you need a visual. Every man for himself. 

As Kelly and I watched in shock, we told ourselves we would not run. We would not be "those girls."

And then we saw it. Our two friends, Javie and Butters, sprinting past us to the back of the plane.

What were they doing I thought. Surely they know that the "stairs" they are running towards are not actually stairs. I mean how did they not know that the glass tube towards the back of the plane was just a conveyer belt that transported luggage on and off the plane...

And then, as Javie and Butters disappeared into the glass tube, it hit us: This is Ryanair...you carry your own luggage.

Why hadn't we thought of that. Everyone always runs to the front of the plane but everyone always forgets about the back. Without even having to say a word, Kelly and I  began to run, passing passengers right and left, fighting for position to get a prime seat.

Winded and practically sweating, we snagged an empty row for ourselves and one for our roomies.

Phew. We had survived Stage 2.

Stage 2: Check.


While I'm by no means "terrified" of flying, I would prefer to be on the ground in the good ole' fresh air, than crammed in a small seat with little leg room. Not to mention, I hate taking off and landing.

So, while I was fortunate enough to be sitting next to Kelly, who attempted to calm my nerves, there's still something about taking-off that makes me feel un-easy. No amount of gum, dramamine or soothing music can calm my nerves on this one.

As we took off, I made a quick prayer to God and hoped for the best.

I must have fallen asleep for majority of the time because no sooner had I fallen asleep was Kelly shaking my arm, telling me to wake up because we were about to land.

Alright, that wasn't too bad. Let's just land the plane and be on our way...

Stage 3: Check.

And now for the worst part. 

The landing. 

It's like a scary movie, or better yet, a roller coaster ride. As you coast up to the top of arch, you know you're about to drop. It's inevitable. However, what you don't know is when. You hear the screams and you see it, but the point at which YOU drop will always be a surprise.

And, just like that surprise drop on your favorite roller coaster, Ryanair is no exception.

In fact, if airlines received Oscars, Ryainair would have 100.

As we made our descent into Girona Airport, you could have heard a pin drop. The plane went silent. 

Bummmmp. Booom. Bummmmp (those are my sorry attempts of the loudest and scariest plane noises I have ever heard in my entire life).

I actually think Kelly's head slammed into the seat back in front of her, now that I think about it...

Perhaps an unspoken rule, applause filled the cabin, and cheers filled the air as tears were literally streaming down the faces of several passengers.

Stage 4: Check...barely.

Now off to Barca!!

After an hour and a half bus ride to the main bus station in Barca, we quickly gathered our belongings and made our way to call a taxi* It was now 12:30 A.M.

After finding a taxi"van," which apparently is very rare in Barca (most taxi's are smaller cars that can only take four people but, as a group of five, we did not want to split).

Because of the narrow and one way streets, our taxi driver dropped us off a few left and right turns away from our Hostel. Several wrong turns later, we found our hostel, checked in, (after a slight misplacement of the passport by our roomie Kristen) and headed out for a night on the town.

There's just something about Barca time. While it was actually 1:15 A.M, it really felt like 9 P.M. Prior to heading out, we collectively decided we were hungry and wouldn't mind grabbing a bite to eat first, as we had not eaten dinner

...nothing like eating dinner a 1 A.M.--that takes "euro dining" to an entirely new level.

Well, thank goodness for "Big J's," an old fashioned diner located two doors down from our hotel. As we snacked on the classic diner staples, we attempted to plan out our next two days in the city. We would do our sightseeing on Saturday and our shopping on Sunday.

Arriving back at our hostel circa 4 A.M. we all immediately fell asleep, only to be woken up once by our mysterious 6th "roommate" in our hostel. 

Saturday, April 21, 2012

The next day..or shall I say six hours later, we woke up, showered and got dressed for our day of sightseeing. On our list, Park Quell.

With an amazing view of the city and amazing mosaics as well as it's feature on one of America's Next Top Model season finales, Park Quell did not disappoint. And, lucky for us, we had absolutely amazing weather!

Here are a few pictures from our adventures at Park Quell (hopefully I will be able to steal a few of my roomies pictures and post them later)

After spending most of our morning here, we headed to Bo de B for lunch, which was recommended to us by one of Kelly's friends who had studied in Barca last semester. This small yet oh so delicious sandwich shop literally operates out of a window, with a few tables inside for the lucky ones. You see, this spot, known by everyone, including the study-abroaders, is known for their fresh and unique sandwiches and salad plates. 

In fact, this place is so popular that people are lined up outside well before it's opening time, 1 P.M. We arrived around 12:20 to find others were already there waiting. For around 4 Euro, you can choose whether you want chicken, beef, rice or simply a veggie sandwich. And, that's not all. The toppings are endless. Peppers, cucumbers, feta cheese, lentils, rice, lettuce, corn, tomatoes, black olives, you name it, and they've got it. And, it's all fresh. However, the coolest part about this place is the sauces. After making the rookie mistake of choosing just one sauce, (I chose the avocado sauce) we were told you have to ask for all the sauces. Naturally we went back there for lunch the next day and ordered all the sauces: Avocado, Tzatziki, Hot sauce and one other sauce that I could not identify. 

So, what was my Bo de B of choice?

Veggie: Cucumbers, peppers, lettuce, tomato, corn and of course all of the sauces...

(While it might not look like much, I savored each and every bite and nearly cried every time my corn started to fall out, well any ingredient for that matter)

After lunch, we hit the beach, relaxed for a few hours on "rentable chairs" until we were told to pay six Euro to rent them...we passed and made our way further down the beach where we ran into our good guy friends Javie and Butters.

After hanging out with them for a while, we decided to venture home and get ready for the big game! 

.............I'm still not sure how we found this place but boy did we luck out. By now I'm sure you can guess that I'm talking about a really cool restaurant with delicious food..and you're right. I'm not entirely sure the name of this little hidden gem but boy did it have an ingenious concept. 

While "tapas" are nothing new, especially to Spain, this place allowed you to simply grab as many tapas as you wanted from the bar, eat, and pay later. You see, at the end of your "meal," you went back over to the bar, showed the bartender the number of toothpicks you had and then paid based upon the number of toothpicks rather than the type of tapa you ordered.

I guess, it can get pretty pricy if you don't keep track but we had six or seven toothpicks and paid roughly 10 Euro for everything. Not too bad right?

After the game, we headed to a bar called Le Serrano, where you can make your own drink. 

The bar is so popular that you have to arrive there before 11 P.M. as they have a maximum of 99 people allowed in at a time. Again, if you're late, "you snooze ya lose."

You choose the alcohol and the mixer and make the drink yourself for one flat price (about 3 Euro). Full from my tapas, I made a Tequila-Kiwi drink, which I sipped on throughout the entire night. After spending a few hours here, we headed to Catwalk, a nightclub near the beach. By complete dumb luck, Kelly ran into a friend from home, who was studying in Barca this semester, and was able to get us all in for free.

Ahhh, another 4 A.M. night. I love you Barca but, these late nights are really exhausting.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Hours later we were up and at it again, heading out for a day of shopping. Too bad, EVERY store in Barca is closed on Sunday. Thankfully, Kelly and I had done our shopping over spring break and were perfectly content walking around on La Rambla shopping at the various carts and kiosks.

That night, our last night in Barca, was by far our favorite night.

Again, by sheer dumb luck, we managed to get into Opium, a bar that is literally on the beach, free of charge. 

As we started to walk in, the bouncer stopped us and told us that it would be 15 Euro for each of us. Confused because we were told it was free on Sundays, we told the bartender what we had heard. Unconvinced, he held out his hand and we walked away. He then asked how many were in our "group." "Five," my roommate Kristen responded. And, just like that, he told us to just go inside, free of charge.

Because of our early flight and the fact that we had to take an hour and a half bus to Girona, we decided that we weren't going to sleep. We would stay out until 4 A.M., go back to our hostel, check out and head to the bus station by 5 A.M. seeing as the bus left at 6 A.M.

As we danced the night away to our favorite songs, we all were wishing we could spend more time here as we were all having the time of our lives.

4 A.M. came all too soon and it was time to say goodbye to Barca.

Our flight back was typical of Ryanair but, I made it back safely and in one piece.

As always, I fall more in love with Spain every time I go, leaving a small piece of my heart there every trip.

XOXO,

Meggie

*We are so used to having to physically call a taxi to come pick us up in Florence that it was a nice change to be able to hail one in Barca.

A "Pisa" Victorio Please...

As if spring break in Barca wasn't enough--Kelly and I decided to go back yet again but, this time the roomies were coming with us!

Yep, that's right--Santa Felicita does Barca.

The trip had been planned for several weeks and marked the conclusion of my traveling here in Florence. After learning that the Barca/Real Madrid soccer game was being held in Barca, we just knew we had to go back.

93 Euros later, I had booked my flights through Ryanair, a cheap yet affordable airline students studying abroad often use. Of course, the catch is that airlines, like Ryanair, only fly in and out of small cities and not major airports.

So instead of going from Florence to Barca--we took a train to Pisa, flew to Girona, Spain and then took an hour and 15 minute bus ride to Barca. Was it worth it? For 93 Euros, absolutely!

No worries though! My roomies and I had yet to go to Pisa so we decided to go to Pisa early Friday afternoon before our flight and do the whole Leaning Tower of Pisa touristy visit.

Friday, April 20, 2012


After a long run in the morning, I took a quick shower, finished packing my small carry on, and headed to the train station around 12:30 P.M. with my roomies.

Knowing that trains to Pisa run every 20 minutes, we planned to catch the 1'oclock one that afternoon.

Well, typical of the Santa Felicita girls, we arrived at the train station at approximately 1:50, with only 10 minutes to purchase our tickets, validate them and board our train. With minutes to spare, we ran to our train's platform, luggage in hand, and made it in the knick of time!

After searching for a place to sit, we decided we had walked long enough and settled on a private room in 1st class, despite our regular tickets.

By far, it was one of the most memorable train rides to date. Little did we know, Pisa would prove to be even more memorable. For starters, after being on the train for no more than 15 or so minutes, we all began to wonder if we were even on the right train because none of the stops were matching the ones listed on the wall of the train.

And then it came...the dreaded "knock" on the door of our private room. Great, we're about to get kicked out of our private room and sent somewhere else....at least it was fun while it lasted..

Well, much to our surprise, the train attendant simply checked our tickets, mumbled in broken English that we could either get off the train at the second stop, transfer trains and get to Pisa earlier or stay on this train, and then left.

We immediately burst into laughter 1) because no one really understood what he was saying and 2) because we knew with our luck that if we got off, we would never make it to Pisa with our track record.

45 minutes later, we arrived in Pisa and made our way to the bus station to purchase our tickets to take the bus to "the tower," as we fondly decided to call it. After waiting at the wrong bus station for several minutes, a kind woman pointed across the street and motioned for us to wait at that stop. No sooner has we arrived at the stop did the bus come rolling up.

Again, what is it with us and timing??

After a short 15 minute bus ride, we got off at "the tower" stop and made our way through the crowds.

Within seconds, I was standing in front of the monument I had associated with Italy for most of my life. While it was not as big as I had imagined, I was still in awe of the fact that I was actually standing in front of The Leaning Tower of Pisa.

And of course, I had to take the typical touristy picture...you would too!!

So after, we all got our fair share of touristy pictures, we decided to have lunch at one of the places Rick Steves' mentioned in his book. Now, Rick has never failed us, not once, so we were fairly confident that even in Pisa, he would take us to some gourmet ristorante...

Well, apparently Rick fumbled on this one..

I'm not even going to talk about the food because at this point, that was the least of our concerns.

I would like to talk about our actual dining experience with the four roomies plus Victorio..

Now, you might be wondering who Victorio is, and that's a great question, one I would also love to know the answer to. In fact, we are still trying to figure out who Victorio is..

Our lunch started out like most lunches. We ordered our food and drinks and chatted quietly amongst ourselves as we waited for our food. Then, out of no where, Victorio, who (to me) looks identical to Russel Brand except with blonde hair came up to our table and asked if he could eat with us. Not wanting to be rude, we said of course, thinking he wasn't actually serious.

Oh no, Victorio was in fact serious. Within minutes, (the fastest he actually moved the entire day) he had pulled up a chair at the end of our table and began to eat his salad.

He asked us where we were from, which of course prompted us to ask him where he was from, which was of course part of his plan the entire time--However, we truly were curious about this because he sounded british but looked oh so Italian and had an Italian twang if that's even possible...

But boy did we open a can of worms...

Victorio began to tell us that he was born right here in Pisa, but he could change his voice to whatever accent he wanted, Italian or British.  He also told us that he owned the restaurant we were currently eating in, the one next door, the leather store on the other side as well as two other restaurants down the street AND if that wasn't enough, Victorio also spoke five languages; English, Italian, German, French and Russian. 

And then he left...but, before we could all really have a good laugh about it, Victorio was back.

This time, he told us that he had just returned from London filming a Ron Howard movie called Rush with Chris Hemsworth. He then proceeded to tell us that he played the captain of the Ferrari team and that he has been in several other movies as well but that this was his most recent one. In fact, he was heading back to London again soon to do more filming.

Unfortunately, we checked IMDb and there is in fact a Ron Howard movie called Rush with Chris Hemsworth but no Victorio. Perhaps he has small role and didn't make the credits but, you better believe I will be the first in line to see this movie.

After Victorio left a second time, we all joked that we would come home to America only to find Victorio is a huge star complete with an E Hollywood True Story...only time will tell..

Still hungry after our rather interesting lunch, we decided to order Nutella Crepes. What should have taken, at most, 15 minutes, took Victorio a good 30 minutes. He would walk by, turn on the machine, walk by again and forget he turned it on and turn if off, then again, walk by and turn it back on...

Finally, 30 minutes later, we had our crepes. Ready to get the heck out of this crazy situation, we quickly ate our crepes and asked for the check. Victorio then proceeded to walk over to our table, take Nicole's placemat and write the amount we owed:

"Let's see, there were 3 capreses', 3 pastas, 3 crepes, that's 15 euros...43 Euro is what you owe."

Great. Perfect. Let's put the 43 Euro on the table and get the heck out of here, I thought.

And let me tell you, we have all never been more relieved and excited to leave somewhere..ever!

Confused, and full of laughter from our almost 2 hour and oh so eventful lunch, we left Pisa full of questions.

1. Who is Victorio?

2. Did he even work there?

3. When does Rush come out?

XOXO,

Meggie

See ya in Barca!