Andy in The Netherlands: Day 147 - 150

We sadly wished Nice a fine farewell and headed off to Florence and Rome.

Day 147 - Nice to Florence via Genova and Pisa

When we finally made it to the front of the line at the Nice train station, we were told that the last tickets they could sell to Florence had been sold to the kids in front of us, and that the best they could do was tell us to take a train to a station just inside the Italian border and try to take regional trains that the French couldn't book for us. This turned out to be a remarkably good plan of action, because not only were we able to book tickets to Florence once we got to Ventimiglia, but they were also 50% cheaper than in France, which was awesome news. The train ride along to Italian coast was breathtaking - every beach was gorgeous, and I haven't seen water so blue in person, ever.

I finished Emergency Sex as we rolled into Genova, and boy was it disillusioning re: the UN. When presented with how shockingly ineffective the organization proved in times when it was most needed, along with the disillusioned memoirs of people who were on the ground, it's so hard to have faith in the international community. But I suppose being optimistic about your ability to improve the lives of people around you is a much better way to live your life than retreating to cynicism, so we'll keep working at it.

Everything in Genova was closed, so we walked around for a little bit before grabbing some food and getting back on a really nice train to Pisa. The ride was uneventful and gorgeous, and we rolled into Pisa in a couple of hours for our next train change. We decided we might as well walk to the Leaning Tower since we were there - little did we know it was basically an hour away on foot, with few taxis in sight. We eventually made it, and the tower is really cool to see in person, if not a shade underwhelming. After a photo-op we started the long, sweaty walk back to the station, cursing how dilapidated much of Pisa was, which was disappointing. Back on the train to Florence we witnessed a guy pass out and hold up the train for a bit, and we had to stand the entire hour-long ride, which was unpleasant. After disembarking in Florence we checked into our mondo-hostel and then headed out for some pizza. I got proscuitto and it was great, but not earth-shattering. When we got back to the room we talked a bit with the precocious young couple from Baltimore before they become insufferable, and eventually fell asleep with the AC cranking.

Day 148 - Florence

Adrian and I woke up rather early for us and wandered the busy, market filled streets of Florence. The Central Market was far less impressive than Barcelona's, but I guess that's an unfair comparison to make. We made it to the Duomo, which is a truly remarkable building, and further along to Palazza Vecchio, the Ponte Vecchio, and the Piazza de la Republique (or something). We wandered back to the Santa Maria Novella to meet up with my cousin Julia, who spent six weeks in Florence, and was headed back home the day after we met up. She had a crew of friends with her, and we grabbed really delicious gelato (I made the inspired decision of banana, melon, and lemon). We wandered around as a crew for a while as they looked for a mythical olive oil store (they eventually found a satisfactory replacement), and then rubbed some statue of a boar's nose - ensuring that we'll one day come back to Florence (Adrian neglected to do this custom, I think).

After Julia and her friends went back to the train station to head to their villa for checkout, Adrian and I climbed the 463 steps to the top of the Duomo and enjoyed some really amazing views of the city. I love aerial views of cities - you read the layout and get such a cool understanding of how it works. Afterwards I got a really tremendous smoked ham and onions pizza that was one of the better things I've eaten in Europe. We were walking through the square with the Duomo when we saw a parade going by, which turned out to be the opening ceremonies for the World Water Polo Championships. When the Canadian team passed by, tourists started singing 'Oh Canada' and when the US team walked past there was a huge cheer from the crowd. The Italian team immediately following the US? The crowd began to disperse. There were SO many Americans in Florence, it was really astounding. Afterwards we browsed bookstores for a while looking at English books - I didn't get anything, but browsing for fun at bookstores is one of my favorite things to do. The only other eventful happening of the day was the decision to venture out at 1 am in search of snacks - a quest that resulted in two cheeseburgers, Oreos, and a chocolate bar. All part of a balanced diet.

Day 149 - Florence to Rome

After Adrian made a much needed purchase of a new pair of shoes, we grabbed really great sandwiches on the street and headed to the train station. We were able to get tickets on the slow-boat to Rome for pretty cheap, and while waiting around I made a new friend in a kid from Atlanta, Quentin (sp?), who was in Europe doing some summer study and work. I gave him a euro for a bus when he didn't have any change and I'm awaiting his Facebook friend request!

It was a long ride to Rome - I started Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother - and halfway through we discovered that we were sitting in the only sweltering non-air conditioned car in the whole train. After a gypsy encounter we made it to Rome, checked into our pretty decent hostel (a room all to ourselves!), and hopped on the Metro. Walking out of the dingy Metro and being greeted with the most famous building in the world, the Colosseum, was pretty awesome, and it was cool to walk around all of the ruins of ancient Rome that are still intact. We saw a bunch of really cool buildings, made it to the Trevi Fountain and Pantheon, and I felt like we got a solid evening of some of the world's most famous attractions in. We went back to our hostel, grabbed a pizza dinner, and I finished off Tiger Mother (my third book in less than 3 weeks!).

Day 150 - Around the World in 150 Days (Rome to Holland - plus the Vatican)

We checked out of our hostel, dropped Adrian's laundry off at a bizarre laundry + internet cafe + travel agent place, and headed to the Vatican. Little did we know that the Pope was delivering a public mass, and we were greeted by tens of thousands of people. We timed it impossibly well - we arrived basically as the Pope was cruising by us, and it was neat to see him so close. We stuck around for a bit of the service, but it was mostly in 1000 languages other than English, and after some photos we scrambled off to pick up Adrian's laundry. After one last delicious pizza we got on a train out to the airport and onto our flight back to Amsterdam.

It was cold and rainy when we arrived, but the weather steadily improved, and we picked up a bike for Adrian after another meal at Eazie(!). Adrian had a treacherous ride home with a giant 30 lb. backpack that was nearly as tall as he was strapped to his back and he rode one of the shittiest bikes you'll ever find, but he made it home like a champ. We both kind of collapsed in exhaustion, and I was happy to be reunited with my laptop after three long, but surprisingly not-so-painful weeks.

Selections from Italy.