So you may have noticed that the blog hasn’t been updated in a while…

Well, Waldo got pretty busy studying health economics…updates will be few and infrequent…

A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS

The picture is of our hotel room. Waldo’s on the bed.

Not gonna lie, today started great. I got up in time for class, and halfway through Mary de Rachewiltz came to teach our class and read some poems. But then it started going awry…

The quiz was unnecessarily difficult. My shower between class and lunch was unnecessarily cold. But it was all okay because Venice was only a few hours away.

After lunch, we finished packing, and about 10 mins before we left, it started raining. But it wasn’t the usual pitter-patter of drizzle; it was a torrential downpour.

We got our raincoats and umbrellas on and made our way up that steep hill. Of course, since we were going uphill, all the water on the ground was rushing against our feet, and by the time we made it to the bus, event though my torso was kept completely dry by my raincoat, my jeans and shoes and backpack were drenched. At this point, I had made two big mistakes: not bringing my flip-flops, and not wearing shorts.

We got on the bus, and it ended up costing 50 cents more than usual, but that was no big deal. At least we caught the bus - if we hadn’t, we may not have caught our train. But of course things continued to go wrong….

Halfway down the mountain, our bus broke down and the gear wouldn’t catch. After waiting a bit, we luckily got to climb onto another bus that came to the rescue.

We got to tue train station in merano and decided to quickly get tickets to Bolzano and then take care of tickets to Venice from there. We caught the train with no problem.

In bolzano, we got tickets to Venice with a connection in Verona at 6:29. All was going well.

I slept through most of the train ride as iv been doing on most of my rides, but then got up at 6:20 and realized we were still half an hour away from Verona. If you remember, our connection departed at 6:29.

We eventually arrived at 6:53, and Greg, Monica, and Ben had 2 minutes to grab their train (they were going to a different station and had different tickets). Anna decided to also hop onto that train since she had a eurorail pass.

The rest of us went to the ticket counter and told the English-speaking attendant our situation and our inability to make our -23min connection work out. He was kind enough to give us tickets on the next train at no additional charge.

We made the next train, got to the station, and found our hotel.

We soon got pizzas, found Anna and Apeksha, and chilled on the massive patio outside our rooms.

We also found out that there are buses to and from our hotel (on the mainland) and the island every 10 minutes. And for just 33 euro, we can get unlimited use of vaporettos and buses for 3 days. The man at the reception age us tons of tips on traveling and what to see, and he recommended a bar for us to go to over the weekend.

The hotel is nice. I also found out that hair-drying my shoes worked marvelously. All in all, so far things have gone well, despite some hiccups along the way.

WINE TASTING

The wine tasting yesterday was a pretty amazing experience.  Dr. de Rachewiltz had us try 6 different wines, taught us about the history of wine in general as well as each wine we tasted, and taught us how to drink the wine and what to look for in terms of wine quality.  All of the wines were from this area, and all of them were really good.

The first thing he pointed out is that corks should “pop” when opened, because that tells you that the cork hasn’t gone bad.

He started us off with a very weak red wine, and it tasted almost like a rosé.  he told us to look for transparency in the wine, as well as a clear reflection off the surface.  He also told us to inhale through the mouth as we put the wine in our mouths, and that made the wines have a completely different taste - definitely for the better.

ROAMING IN ROME

On Wednesday, we decided to catch a train at 3:46pm, so we planned to leave at 2:30.  However, because of a few people getting slightly delayed, we ended up heading out at around 2:40ish.  We ended up making the very last bus that would have let us reach our train on time, but only by literally 30 seconds or so.  Had we been just a minute later, there’s a good chance we would have missed that bus, which would have meant not catching our train and not getting to Rome until the next day.  But all went well.

We took a super speedy train to Rome, and we actually got to take the same train as our friends that were going to Florence.  Sadly, we didn’t get to sit by them :(

I ended up sleeping most of the way, but then we spent the last hour or so talking.

Finally, we got to Rome and were ready to check into our hotels.  Ben’s hotel was on the other side of the station, so we made plans to meet at our hotel at 9am the next morning and he headed off his own way.  The freshmen didn’t get the address of their place, nor did they know how to get there.  So they came with me and Josh to our Hotel Chicago, which itself is a story…

When I booked the Hotel Chicago, it had decent ratings, was in a good location, and it was supposedly fairly prominent.  So we were looking for a large sign that said Hotel Chicago.  What we found was a small dingy sign over these massive brown doors that were shut.  I pulled and pushed at the door, but it was locked.  We checked around the corner to see if maybe there was another entrance.  There wasn’t.

Then suddenly this black lady came out of nowhere in her car and asked us if we needed to get in.  We said yes and she unlocked the door, got into her car, and drove off.  There was nobody at the other end of the door, just a long outdoor hallway.  We continued walking and then saw this small-framed african man at the counter.  Luckily he spoke good english and we told him we were there to check in.  The freshmen asked if he knew where the Hotel Kennedy was, and he quickly directed them and they left us behind…

I told him my name and handed him my passport, and he began to check us in.  He told us we needed to pay about 300 euro, which matched my records.  But then he told us we needed to give him another 16 euro for this “Roma Tax.”  Apparently visitors needed to pay 2 euro per head per night to the Roman government.  We asked if he could put it on the card, but he said we had to pay it in cash since it was going to the Roman government.  Then he tried to show us the law written out, but pulled it out and retorted “oh, it’s in Italian.  I guess it’s no good for you.”  We figured we were being scammed out of 16 euro.  Oh well…

Then after dealing with all the payments, he told us that there were no more rooms at this building and that he was going to take us to another building on another street.  He led us outside of the building and down some dark streets and alleys.  Not gonna lie, this was pretty scary.

He then stopped in front of these massive, completely unmarked doors, and took out a giant set of keys, unlocking the first door.  Then after about 10 meters, there was another iron door which he unlocked with another key.  After we climbed the stairs, he unlocked yet another door.  After a fourth door, we found ourselves in a marble palace.  It was a nice hotel room with two twin beds and marble floors and walls.  There was a small TV, in-room safe, and a really nice stand-up shower.  Along with free internet and breakfast delivered to our rooms, this looked like a pretty good deal.  Turns out we didn’t get scammed after all.

The next day, we decided to check out Ancient Rome.  The first thing we decided to do was check out the Colosseum.  When we got there, we waited about 20 minutes for one of Kayla’s friends to meet up with us, but she never showed up and we had no way of contacting her.  We got in line just at the right time, because after about 5 minutes the line was starting to wrap around the building.  10am seemed to be when things in Rome started to become really crowded.  After the colosseum, which was amazing, we checked out the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill.  They were cool, but got a bit boring after a while.  Finally, we decided to make our way towards the Pantheon.  

As we walked there, Ben got totally scammed.  As we were walking, a man from behind us put a parakeet on Ben’s shoulder, and then another on his head.  He told us all to take pictures of him, and then conveniently asked for a donation.  It was pretty pro.

The Pantheon was pretty cool, and the Trevi Fountains we saw afterwards were amazing.  Josh and Ben then decided to head back while the rest of us walked around a bit.  When we finally headed back to the Hotel Kennedy, which was going to be the meeting place, we were confronted by waiters at each restaurant we passed, each one trying to get our business.  We told the first one that we’d come there that evening after he offered us an appetizer, entree, drink, and dessert, all for just 12 euro.  The second one was right next door, and he tried to get us to go to his place for 10 euro, but we had already committed to the other one.  We made our way to the Kennedy and hung out there until catching up with Josh and Ben at 8pm.  Then we made our way to the restaurants.

As we walked towards the restaurant, there was a place to cross over we conveniently decided not to take so that we could walk around that other restaurant that was right next door.  Ben (who had been wandering off by himself the entire trip) didn’t realize this and ended up going to the wrong restaurant and almost got seated before we managed to tell him it was the wrong place.  I don’t think he really ran off to that extent for the rest of the trip…

The dinner was absolutely amazing.  I had bruschetta, cannelloni, water, and straciatella gelato (chocolate chip).  After dinner, we went back to our hotels.

That night, i called my mom and had one of the funniest conversations i’ve ever had with her.  Immediately as she picked up the phone, i sneezed and had to find a tissue to blow my nose into.  So the first 30 seconds or so, mom was complaining about not being able to hear me.  The fact that the microphone was also not incredibly clear only made things worse.  The rest of the conversation went like this:

Mom: Sachin, i can’t hear you, there’s so much static and interference

Me: Sorry mom, I was sneezing

Mom: You were sleeping? why did you wake up?  what time is it there?

Me: No, mom, i was SNEEZING

Mom: you were eating? what did you have?

Me: No, mom, i was SNEEZING

Mom: you were sleeping?

Me: SNEEZING. ugh. nevermind.

We then talked about some other stuff and then after about a minute i sneezed again.

Mom: Sorry, i didn’t catch that

Me: ugh. nevermind…

I probably butchered a good bit of it, but something like the above went on for a good couple minutes.  Josh was in the bathroom and I could hear him laughing really hard the entire time.  Afterwards, i took a long, hot shower and went to sleep.

After doing Ancient Rome on thursday, we decided to do the Vatican on Friday.  That entire day was really cool, and we got to see some really cool paintings, sculptures, and maps.  Josh ended up doing his own thing, but the rest of us stuck together.

When we got to the Sistine Chapel, there were three men shouting at people banning them from taking pictures.  So, naturally, i decided to turn my camera on without flash and shoot as many pictures of the ceiling as i could get in an inconspicuous manner.  Then i got the freshmen to cover me as i pulled out waldo and grabbed a picture of him there.  it was a success.

After the Vatican museums, we grabbed some lunch at a nearby restaurant.  i ordered a pizza caprese, expecting just mozzarella and tomatoes, but ended up getting a pizza covered in artichoke, boiled egg, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, mozzarella balls, and olives.  It was…interesting…

After, we headed to St. Peter’s Basilica, which was an incredibly ornate church with a ceiling almost entirely covered in 24-karat gold.  Then we went to the train station to get tickets for Sunday.  The freshmen were initially at a self-service station, but i advised them to wait 30 minutes in line to talk to someone instead.  It was a good idea, because i got a direct train to Bolzano Sunday morning for me, josh, and ben, and the freshmen got a direct train to bolzano by night on Saturday.

Finally, we headed back to our hotels and agreed to meet for a small dinner at 8:00 in front of the Kennedy again.  We ended up just grabbing some gelato, and i also had some penne all’ arrabiata.

The next day, we planned to hit the Spanish steps, the Borghese, and the Modern Art museum.  The Spanish Steps were just a bunch of steps and were a bit of a letdown.  Afterwards, i popped into a WIND store and got a sim card with some texts and minutes, and an unlimited data plan for my iphone.  We then headed to the borghese gallery.

The gallery was at the edge of a really beautiful park in northern Rome, and on the way i used various twigs and plastic and josh’s pocketknife to find a way to take out the sim-card slot on my iphone (it needs a really thin pin).  When we got to the Borghese, we realized that you needed to get tickets a week in advance to get in.

Because we now had a few extra hours, we decided to hit the zoo.  We saw a bear-feeding early on and then saw a bunch of other animals.  The highlights were the ostrich, the winking crocodile, and the monkeys.  Watching the monkeys play around was pretty epic.  They had a spinning barrel for the monkeys with an opening, which i thought was pretty funny.

Afterwards, we hit the Modern Art museum.  Their 20th and 21st century galleries were being redone, so we only got to see the 19th century works, but it was still a great museum.

After the museum, we hit a Hard Rock Café, because everyone was craving some good ol’ American food.  After that, the freshmen left to catch their night train and we went to the hotel and slept.

The next morning was incredibly smooth.  We got our breakfast early, checked out, got on the train, and within 5 hours found ourselves in Dorf Tirol.  We waited no longer than 10 minutes at any stop, and everything went flawlessly.

Rome was a pretty amazing trip, and now I can’t wait for Venice…

I’ve been MIA for over a week now, so I’m going to attempt to catch you up on stuff that’s happened since last Saturday at 8pm in Florence.

After my last post, Jon and I decided we needed to grab some grub, so we went to the same place with the amazing ravioli and soup and pizza that we had gone to earlier.  the food was great, but what really made that meal special was the company.

There was a girl at the table next to us who noticed that we had been speaking in pretty obviously American English, and she asked where we were from.  The girl was of an average height and wore a netted hat thing, and we soon found out she was probably a 22-yr-old from Alaska.  We ended up talking to her for a good two hours about tons of random stuff, including life goals, studies, travels, and food, among other things.  Eventually we grabbed our checks and then she quickly departed before Jon and I realized we had never even caught her name…

We went back and got ready to depart early the next morning.

We had gotten self service tickets, and the next morning promptly boarded our train to Bologna.  At the station, we waited only about 20 minutes before boarding our next train to Verona.  This is where the second mistake happened (the first was using the self-service station).  We accidentally boarded a Eurorail train, and thought nothing of it until one of the train conductors came up to me and asked for my ticket.  She told me that my ticket only allowed me to travel on regional trains.  We could have been fined 50 euro, and have to buy a ticket.  Luckily, she let us off with just buying the ticket, which came to 22 euro for each of us, for this lousy 1-hr train ride.

We then were ready to board the train to Bolzano, but found that only every other train was running on Sunday, so we waited about 2 hours in Verona before getting our next train.  And then again in Bolzano, we waited nearly 2 hours for our train to Merano.  Luckily we found that the buses run until 8:22pm on Sundays, and we had safely made the second-to-last bus at 7:52.  We had been traveling for 11 hours by the time we got to Dorf Tirol.  It should have taken us 4-5 hours.  That was the last time i used a self-service station for a long trip.

Jon and I decided that we needed to get some food, so we stopped by at our Lindenwurt pizzeria before heading to the castle.  We found everyone at the castle and all had gone well.

The rest of the school week was pretty standard…you know, at the castle and all.  We did get a tour of Schloss Tirol, the main castle of the city, by Dr. de Rachewiltz, who is both the curator and executive director of the castle.  It was really cool to learn about the history of the town and the castle, and the sights were absolutely amazing.  We also found out that they have an electronic database of people who have signed their guestbook, so if anyone decides to go to Schloss Tirol at any point, definitely go look me up!

And then we prepared to leave for Rome…

These are some Waldo pics from Florence and Siena

This morning (Saturday), we got ready by 9:45 and decided not to rush it to grab the 10:00 bus, so we aimed to catch the 10:40.  So we got some quick breakfast (just a croissant), jon tried to make a call at a phone center, and then we went to the bus station to get our tickets.  we got in line and then hopped onto the bus.  when we got on, they ran out of seats, so we had to get back off and wait for the 11:10 bus.  I thought it would be a good idea to find a Bancomat (ATM) since we had such a long time.  bad idea.

it took us about 15 minutes to find it, and we finally got back to the station at 11:00 to a really long line for the bus.  i counted 38 people ahead of us and 55 seats on the bus, give or take one or two, and figured we were okay. well, i was wrong.  apparently, enough people had cut in front for Jon and us to be the first two people without seats.  luckily, they let us stay on board, but jon stood and i sat on the floor near the rail the entire way.  it sucked.

but we finally made it to Siena, without a clue as to what we were actually there to see.  all we knew was that it was the one city Dr. Redman recommended above all others (not including venice, of course).

we walked around and eventually made our way to the Duomo.  the streets of siena had a very different feel to the streets of florence.  the architecture was much older and there was hardly any graffiti anywhere.  We went to the bigliettera and bought some all-inclusive tickets for just €10.

the duomo was pretty sweet.  i still liked milan’s and florence’s better, but it was really cool.  we also checked out the crypt and a museum that led us up a bunch of steps for a panoramic view of the city.

to climb up to that view, we had to wait in line in the museum for about 30 minutes.  in that line, behind us was a british couple.  the woman went away to sit down while the man stayed in line.  i noticed that he slowly made his way from behind me to my left, and by the end of the line was in front of me.  he was a good bit bigger than me, so i wasnt going to do much about it, but this jerk and his wife got ahead of me in line.  and then of course in the next lot, they let up about 8 people, and the last two people allowed were that british couple now ahead of us.  its a good thing the wait for me and jon was only about 3 or 4 minutes more…

the panoramic view was nice, but it wasnt quite as magnificent as florence, in my opinion.  it wasnt quite as high and i wasnt quite as impressed with the city.  nonetheless, it was an amazing sight.

jon and i afterwards decided we should make a trip to Pisa to check out the leaning tower.  we were told it was a 2hr bus ride away, but it was just barely past 3pm, so we had time.  However, after asking for tickets, we learned that the only way out to pisa that day was at 7:30am.  we decided to wander around siena instead.

Jon and i walked to the other end of the bus stop, away from the city center, and saw a stadium of some sort (probably soccer), and a nice big park area.  We continued walking and came across a huge fort which we spent the next 45 minutes or so walking around.

finally, we were worn out and grabbed some quick gelato before heading back. we grabbed the first bus back to florence.  when we got on, there were no seats next to each other except for these two near the front.  I saw a blouse of some sort thrown on one of the seats.  I asked everyone around if anyone knew whose it was, and nobody replied. so i took the blouse, put it up in the overhead storage, and jon and i sat down.  at this point, there were still 10 or so free seats behind us.

as the bus prepared to leave, two more women got aboard and walked towards me and jon.  this middle-aged lady looked at me and asked in italian where her blouse was.  jon pointed up to the overhead storage.  the lady then asked for her seat, again in italian, so i’m just going by context clues at this point.  i didnt understand a word she said, but her tone was quite demanding and she was really annoying.  if she had nicely asked, i probably wouldnt have had a problem giving her a seat. if there were other seats, i also wouldnt have had a problem moving. but she got on just as the bus departed, and now demanded her seat back.  in short, i was annoyed.

eventually, i just decided it wasnt worth it, and that i wanted this lady to just shut up, so i got up and went towards the middle of the bus where there was some space for me to sit on the floor…again.  

And to make matters worse, we picked up a man at the next stop and he came and sat down right next to me.  not only was he talking far louder than necessary on his phone in some african language, but he also had major BO.  this ride was quite the annoyance.

finally, we got back in florence at around 6:30pm and headed to our hostel to drop stuff off.  we came to this internet cafe quickly before heading out to the river to see the sunset, grab some dinner, and head to sleep.  the current plan is to wake up early tomorrow to check out the boboli gardens before heading back to the castle at 11am tomorrow…

I made my way back to that internet cafe and figure nows a good time to update it with all the florence adventures from yesterday

i grabbed a quick 1€ creme croissant for breakfast and we headed to the Uffizi.  On the way there, we saw some street painters begin imitating some historical art with chalk on the street…

we got into line at the uffizi, and after waiting about an hour, we were in.  This museum was really cool, because i was actually seeing all the major works i had previously only read about.  it was pretty amazing to turn left as be like “whoa, there’s Botticelli’s La Primavera!”  after the major renaissance works, though, i didnt enjoy it nearly as much (also, i dont like european keyboards…everything is in the wrong place)

after the uffizi, jon and I grabbed a quick panini for lunch and headed to the duomo.  we waited in line for about 20 minutes and got to go inside the massive church.  i didnt like the interior of this duomo as much as the one in milan, but it was quite impressive nonetheless.  

immediately after, we headed to the line to climb up the dome.  the line was only about 20 minutes long, but it was totally worth it.  there was also an old homeless guy playing some good music during the wait…i tossed him a euro as we passed him

we climbed the 463 (or something close to that) steps and found ourselves at the highest point in Florence.  the view here was absolutely amazing, and we witnessed a panoramic view of the whole city.  this was my favorite part of the trip, hands down.

after climbing back down, we decided to hit up the Accademia.  we waited in line there for about 30 minutes, and during the wait we talked to this family from north carolina. they were telling us all about their previous day in Siena, and at this point jon and i decided we would spend our saturday in siena.

finally, we got into the accademia, and initially saw some cool stuff but were diverted by an early music museum within the gallery.  we took the detour and saw a bunch of old pianos, violas, cellos, and bassoons and clarinets.  it was pretty cool

then we walked through the rest of the gallery and saw a bunch of unfinished pieces by Michelangelo.  Then as we looked ahead we saw the magnificence that was Michelangelo’s David.  Seeing it in person was pretty amazing.  to think - the entire work was made out of one big slab of marble. it wasnt allowed, and there were tons of security people everywhere, but i had to get a picture.

after talking to jon about it for some time, eventually i decided not to listen to his advice and walk back towards the david.  I quickly pulled waldo’s head outside of my bag, pulled out my camera, took a quick shot, and walked away as if nothing ever happened.  yeah - waldo’s got a shot in front of David.  Sadly, i didnt have time to properly compose a shot, so the David in the background is pretty blurry, but i still thought it was pretty cool.

As we headed out, we saw a bunch of replica paintings being sold on the street.  Jon was kind of troubled by this one guy who wouldnt let him go, but it wasnt too bad.  nothing compared to the market people in jamaica…

I then decided i wanted a bottle of water, so stopped by the first store i saw with some water bottles.  i saw one and walked in, but it was empty, so i started to turn away.  just then, a man came up to me from the other side of the street and asked me what i wanted.  I replied that i wanted some water, and he told me i could grab a big 1-liter bottle for just one euro. this was incredibly cheap, so i gave him a euro and grabbed a bottle.  when jon asked if he could get one, the man said he could only sell one at that price.  it wasnt until we walked away that we began to realize that the man who “sold” us the water probably didnt even work at that shop…he was likely just a guy on the street taking advantage of a situation. oh well, i ended up with a massive bottle of water at a really cheap price…

Jon and i made our way to the boboli gardens, but then upon arrival found they were closed. it was really anticlimactic.

on our way back to the hotel, we saw those same street painters from earlier, but they had finished the paintings. it was pretty amazing…

then jon and i went over to the train station to get our tickets back to the castle, and then to the bus station to figure out siena for the next day.  all was good, and it was time for dinner

we went to an italian place near our hostel.  i ordered a cheese ravioli with arrabiata sauce and jon ordered caesar salad and a sampler of three soups.  when our entrees arrived, i had 8 small pieces of ravioli on a plate, and jon had two massive plates filled to the rim.  we began eating…

within about 5 minutes my ravioli was done and i was still quite hungry.  i ordered a margherita pizza and the waiter brought one back within a minute.  apparently he had that made for himself but gave it to me instead…that was really nice of him.

jon and i both finished our entire meals, and life was great.

we then walked around the city in an attempt to find an ATM, and failed miserably.  during the walk, jon wanted a fresh waffle, so he found one at a gelateria and ordered a waffle with ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate on top.  it was MASSIVE.  i ordered a double scoop of ice cream and regretted it as soon as the first scoop was on.  she gave me what should have been the equivalent of 4-5 scoops of ice cream.  SO MUCH ICE CREAM.

eventually, i did finish.  then we headed to this internet cafe and thats when i wrote the last post.  finally, we prepared for Siena and Pisa the next day.

I dont have my laptop with me here, so the waldo pics will come up later…

While everyone else in the group decided to stay at the castle this weekend and explore Bolzano, Jon and I decided to be the outcasts and travel to Florence.  So far it’s been awesome.

If you saw my last post you may have noticed that I ended up posting at like 5am, getting to sleep by 5:30.  Getting up just in time for class on Thursday, I quickly got ready only to realize my laundry from the night before had just been done, so I went to quickly hang up my clothes on the clothesline, resulting in me walking into class 8 minutes late (no dryers here).  Luckily I only missed the answers to the previous day’s quiz, which i got a 100 on (score).  After class we went to lunch, and today there were lentils and potatoes and tomatoes for lunch.  Again, it was great.

During lunch, it started to rain a bit, so I quickly ran down to put my clothes indoors.  Of course, by the time I made it back to the dining table, it had stopped raining.  It’s a good thing that I didnt need those clothes for Florence.

After lunch I quickly showered, since there had been enough sun out to heat up enough water, and packed for Florence. Then after about 30 minutes, I left with Jon and Anna.  Getting down took exactly how long we expected it to, so before getting on the train we headed to a Gelateria for some gelato.  Then we boarded the train and headed off.  Anna had come down to ask questions about her Eurorail pass, but I dont know whether or not she decided to follow through with her travel plans to switzerland.

The train ride I slept pretty much the entire way.  Then we arrived at the Florence Campo di Marti station and made our way to the Santa Maria Novella station by means of a quick 5-minute train.  Finding the hostel was quite easy.

At the hostel, we walked into the reception area and saw nobody at the desk.  Wandering about aimlessly like it seems us Americans typically seem to do, we quickly grabbed the attention of an old lady sitting at a nearby table.  She took our passports and scanned them both.  After simply writing “pagato” on the scanned copy in pencil as her proof of payment, she rang this obnoxious bell to get the attention of this old man on the third floor.  We were led upstairs.

We found this old man and a woman who seemed to be his wife, and they began talking to each other in Italian.  They were a typical old married couple, and hearing them bickering in Italian was quite a show.  I kept hearing the old lady say things like “grande” and “alto” in reference to Jon…

Later, we decided to head out to explore Florence nightlife.  Before heading out, I wanted to make sure the keys worked, but at the second door I couldnt open the door, so I went to tell the old man the key didnt work.

after hearing him bicker with his wife again, he took us to the door and tried the key…it worked.  he gave me a really funny look, one that jon will never forget

That night we walked aimlessly towards all the big features of florence, and we found ourselves at some intersection. we were trying to figure out where we were, when suddenly, at the same time, we looked left and saw the MASSIVE duomo.  It was an amazing sight.  pics will be posted when i get back.

well, we basically travelled the city at night, saw some cool stuff, had dinner, and headed back (not necessarily in that order) and went to sleep.

But now im running out of time at this internet cafe and have to finish my post…so that basically gets us through Thursday.  Friday and tomorrow’s travels to Siena and Pisa will be told about tomorrow or sunday. peace.

So I guess it’s been a while since I last posted.  Quite a bit has happened since.

The first day of class was tough.  I was behind on the reading and crammed it in right before class and during the break (but I did finish!).  The quiz wasn’t too bad, but it was sorta tough.  Later that day we decided to go into town for dinner.  7 of us went to a pizza place with delicious pizza and drinks.  After finishing there, we went to that same gelateria from the day before and had some good ol’ gelatto.  nothing special really happened, but it was a fun time.  On the way back, I decided to try one of the unripe apples and decided it was a bad idea.  They don’t taste very good yet.

When we got back to the castle, we hung out a good bit but also started to make a shopping list to buy ingredients so we can cook in the future, because the food here is ridiculously expensive.

Tuesday was pretty much the same in the morning, and in the afternoon I just napped.  The only difference was the lack of sun made hot water sparse.  We’re going to have to learn to take really really short showers to share the hot water, especially on cloudy days, since the water is heated by means of a solar panel.

 For dinner Josh made scrambled eggs and we ate leftover bread from breakfast.  Some others went into town to grab dinner.  Those of us still at the castle hoped to go to the market, but everything had closed.  In fact, pretty much every store was closed on tuesday…

Later that night, Lauren introduced us into the game of Things, in which there is a category and everyone writes down what they think of, and then they try to guess who put which answer.  For example, a “reader” decides the category is “things that explode.”  Answers could then be “fireworks” or “shotguns” or anything else.  Points are gained by guessing who put which answer.  It was lots of fun!  Also, Jon and I that night decided we were going to Florence for the weekend and booked a hostel which may be really filthy according to some reviews =\

Wednesday morning was again the same routine, except it was super sunny and nice outside.  Right after class, a bunch of us went into Merano to get some stuff and sort out train tickets.  Jon and I quite easily booked our trains to Florence tomorrow, but Anna had some troubles with the Eurorail pass.  While we waited for another person to come into the booth, we went into town to find ben a hypoallergenic pillow and a sweatshirt. We eventually found him a decent sweatshirt which he got for 40 euro and a pillow for 28 euro.  It’s expensive here!  Anna then went back to the station and this other guy helped her sort everything out.  We all got what we went for, so this was a good trip.

We also found out that reusing a bus ticket and putting multiple people on the same ticket can half the price of the bus fare…

On the way back, Greg, Anna, and I decided to go into the grocery stores in Dorf Tirol to cook at night.  We came across some pasta and arrabiata pasta sauce (tomato and chiles)!  We grabbed enough for the whole group and headed back to the castle.  I read for a little bit and then we headed to the kitchen to cook.  For just 1 euro a person, we put together a great meal.

Then at night Jon and I finished planning out the trip to Florence, and then  a few of us just chatted for a bit.

That’s pretty much an update on what happened since Monday, but I’ll be sure to post more from Florence if I can get wifi access…