Italia: Not Many Stallions, But No Deficit of Scams

We left the French Riviera, a great week of relaxation with sun and fun, for Italia. Before setting up shop in Milan, we decided to take a day trip to Bologna, known for being the food Mecca of Italy. That it was- a 10 euro meal (salad, pasta, dessert and wine) and the dankest gelato yet (walnut/pinenut cream and nutella)...yummO. 

Best Gelato in Bologna

My first thoughts of Italy was that it had adorable mini streets and tons of churches. That night we trained to Milan-the worst hostel ever. The first night was hot, I didn't sleep much. I awoke, went on a run to some nearby park. No one really understands running outside here...when I asked the desk clerk for a good route he started drawing all these arrows on the map and proceeded to hand it to me, I'm not going to run with a map, how cumbersome, so instead I took the pen and wrote RLRL, right-left-right-left. He insisted on shoving the map at me, so I just threw it out as I jogged down the stairs. The park was a run-down place of old buildings, homeless people, and a few Italian men working out in their jeans, again puzzling. 

View of Lake Como from Hill Top

We went to Lake Como for the day, as was advised by the Parisian-American artist I met earlier. It was beautiful. Gorgeous side streets, romantic walkways, and a view to die for. That day we took the cheap route and made a large panini taking seat in the park with a lake view. Well, it was a shady spot, maybe not the best as there was a homeless guy sleeping a few meters away. His homeless friends were stealing his liquor and taking pictures of him on their phone. I wanted to swim in the water but we later learned that the area of Lake Como we were at wasn't swimmable-the hobos throw their drugs and needles into that area of the lake when the cops come by at night. Phew. I'm happy I didn't jump in! We took a gondola ride up the mountain top to check out a panoramic view...it was well worth the 5 euro ride. We walked by a few houses I could see myself living in the future*take note future husband. 

Lake Como Park Side

Group in Lake Como, Can't you tell it was my fav?

After, we returned to Milan and grabbed some pizza in town. The main plaza was a popular destination. Another gorgeous church-breathtaking. I could tell it was the fashion capital with the rows of high-end shops...but a poor backpacker can only window shop, and I'm not that attached to materialism to begin with.

Main Plaza in Milan-Candid

We returned to the hostel later that night and to our dismay we were moved to a different room. The agent walked us up. Flick of a switch. Bright light and 8 other fellow backpackers were annoyingly woken up. Liam's bed had luggage on it but the agent just moved it and told him to sleep there. The sheets had a stain on it and I insisted they be changed since I was paying each night for clean ones. This room was hotter. I would have preferred to just use the Internet rather than sleep but they switched it off and closed the common room at 10pm-so silly. At 2 AM I saw a girl come to wake Liam up. Then I heard her leave and yelling at the staff. I went to deal with the situation. The staff was screaming at this poor girl. She had been studying for a med exam she had that same morning, she told me they made her move from the lobby because her spotlight was bothersome, they told her to study in the smelly bathroom. So after a gross as study sesh she was off to bed and to her dismay my friend was in her spot. The staff was trying to have her move rooms. I went off-I hadn't made any remarks about the poor quality of the service and two days at this place had me steaming. I wanted to get this girl or my friends night comp'd. they were basically charging two people for one bed. I opened the door to our previous suite they had moved us from, while the desk agent was screaming at me how this wasn't my battle to fight. He told me there were people sleeping in there. The room was empty. So, basically, they had moved us from an empty room to another crammed room, and they were also trying to double charge a bed. I kept my tone short and not too aggressive, but in return I was getting yelled at. I could take it. But this girl started crying. I went to wake up Liam and just told this girl to go to bed and not worry about it. They moved Liam to another room and he calmed me down and told me to just suck it up and go to bed-no compromise was coming anytime soon. Nonetheless, my tripadvisor comment will hopefully deter future backpackers.

.....sorry for the trail off....I just had to bitch somewhere....

I was begging to leave in the morning, and held down the deep urge to flick my middle finger as we were departing. I'm not that nasty, but sometimes being treated like shit makes you want to spit lemons. Off to Florence. We were going to try and buy a 4 bedroom for 5 of us....but once we started booking the room I could tell Liam's palm was twitching thinking Lauren was alone waiting on the street at night awaiting our sign to sneak her on in. In the end the staff at this hostel was too nice and we were given our very own bathroom..much more of hotel atmosphere...so we decided to rent another room. I benefited with a single room-some nice peace after the previously unbearable hostel.

Florence Bridges Make Me Happy

 Everyone in the group kept on telling me I would love Florence and they were right. That next morning I woke early, and went on a run to the river that goes through the city. Adrenaline rushing and endorphins flowing, my mind was on cloud nine doing crunches looking up at a statue of Machiavelli. I must stand out like a sore thumb when I do my workout routine in the middle of tourist attractions, but I could care less. We spent 3 days exploring, sightseeing, and taking in the history that city had to offer. Again, lots of magnificent churches. We had one dinner with  an amazing view of the duomo-10 euro for salad, lasagne, and white wine. We wandered to an Irish sports bar that night which was fun getting liquored up. So much walking around makes one tired-but glimpsing the night life is always a must. The last night we took a very, very long walk up a hill to check out the panoramic view. We made it just in time for sunset-the clouds looked sick, but the sunset didn't deliver any colors. We laid out our spread and on the steps nearby a crowd had gathered to listen to an artist playing Italian and American beats alike like Paul McCartneys hits. We danced while looking at the epic view. Florence was definitely one of my favorite Italian cities.

Night View of Firenze/Florence

The next morning we were off on our next stop-Siena. Only one night here and we basically had a shared apartment so we cheapily pulled off the 4 for 5 deal. Some other Americans were in the apartment as well and when we were drinking later in the night I was abashed to be an American. I was forced to remember that annoying, caddy, sorority voices existed. Lauren rolled her eyes at me a million times over (I love having her to always secretly judge people; just one glance and we are both on the same page). 

Metro/Mall aka our Stair Master

Lauren and I went on a run that night...a good running combo because just in the moment I'm ready to stop, she adds another 15 minutes and vice versa. In attempts to not run uphill on our way back we added a bunch of extra time and decided to run through the metro/mall. I'm sure the only tourists having done that-using their crazy sequence of stairs to enhance our workout. The view from Siena is just so quintessential Tuscany. That night we cooked a great sausage pesto pasta. And I bought my favorite wine-Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio-for less than half the price they sell it in the states. We laughed and had lots of wine-drinking some expensive 30 euro wine that the other drunken Americans continued to share...the chianti tasted delectable. We could hear the party in the plaza from our apartment. So crowded, Caitlin, Sabine and I were stapled to each others hands as not to get lost in the stampede. The music stopped soon after we arrived around 130AM and we were looking for the next party destination. Turns out there is no party besides the piazza. And every Italian man I talked to had a girlfriend. Unsuccessful night that ended with Sabine and I snuggling at 4am watching Sex n the City to get our fix.

Sabine and Caitlin looking at the Tuscan View

Following Siena we took a day trip to a town called San Gimignano. It was such a quaint, small town. Even with the rain it was beautiful. Lots of pictures and some solo roaming before heading back on the bus to the train station. I was so happy I packed rain gear. From this point in our Italian adventure it was rainy...I'd say a pretty lucky stretch of perfect weather. 

  

Pantheon View of a God

We arrived in Rome and headed to our hostel. A good location, yes, but I swear they were working some kind of scam. We were locked out for "cleaning" from 10am to 5pm. Our first rainy day we forgot this lock-out and tried to go back for a safe haven from the downpour. I walked into the room hoping for a nap. Instead of 10 beds, there were only 2 and everyones luggage was stacked in the center. Liam and I infer they were trying to get away with not paying extra taxes. 3 days in Rome was a lot. Yes, there is so much to explore. But all of that constant movement and previous sightseeing made me pretty worn out. During our stay we went to the Coliseum, the Roman Forum, The Vatican, Sistine Chapel, Spanish steps, multiple churches and a pretty palace. The lines to these attractions was part of the torture, and in Rome there are locals everywhere trying to book it for you. A constant repetition and murmur of "Skip the line if you join me".

Trevi Fountain

 Overall Italy and some of France has given me the impression that Europe is a bit of a scam. Hospitality in New Zealand, Australia, and Costa Rica was much more welcoming and inviting. But, as one of my professors said when I started to complain about this, I guess that's just what it is. . .he said the "awe" of the place. I think maybe if I didn't carry around a gigantic backpack on my back maybe people would be a bit nicer.Who knows. Legend has it that if you throw a coin in the Trevi Fountain in Rome then you will return to Italy. . .well my first flick of a coin and a tourist walked by and vetoed my shot. So, I took the other legend, that if you drink in the Trevi Fountain you will return to Rome. Gross, yes maybe. . .and maybe it's all a legend. . .but I don't want to mess up my chances of returning to a beautiful city. . .with more energy $andmoney$ next time, I hope.

I'm happy to now be starting my Greek adventure. They have a poor economy, so maybe they will be empathetic to us poor tourists. . . but at least island time awaits!