So its been a while and for that I apologize. To begin where I left...
After the fashion show episode, I took a few days to myself to get ready for 19 days of travel. It was wonderfully refreshing to have no responsibilies or immediate tasks at hand. I took a few walks; I had time to appreciate the beauty in the grounds of London. I had to say goodbye to my new friend, Angela as well as my roommates, Meryl, Cristina, and Jackie.
Soon after my other roommate, Kacie, and I boarded a plan to Nice, France to start our 6 day European vacation. Nice was beautiful. Clay tile rooves and stucco, rock beaches, palms, narrow alleys guiding you by warmly painted walls, shuttered windows, and postcard stands. if you get the chance, go there instead of Paris. Just be weary... we were endlessly harassed and followed. After a few days there we headed out to Milan Italy by way of train.
The train was one of my favorite parts of the trip. We traveled along the mediteranean sea coast and it was a beautiful sunny day. The train was quite warm. Two Italians and their big smelly dalmation took the seats next to (and foot space underneath) us. "Its alright.. He has ticket. See?" The trolley man with his cart of snacks worked his was down our car. He was an older, slightly out of shape Benicio Del Toro. He wore a heavy train worker uniform and kept franticly wiping the beads of sweat off his brow with his hanky while scrambling together peoples orders. It felt like a staged moment. A little to humorous and scripted to be real life. To bad my picture of it did not come out.
After around 5hrs on the train we arrived in Milan, Italy. As we stepped out of the station onto the busy, slummy street, we had a terrible urge to just run back in and catch the next train to Venice. Milan is horrible. The people there just stared us down. One even approached us asking for a tissue and when we offered it he laughed and ran back to his buddies. Not to mention is was Easter so absolutely nothing was open and everyone who was anyone was hanging around the only thing to see there, Duomo Cathedral. The crowds were so thick you could not walk without stepping into someone elses shoes. We almost had Kacie's credit card stolen. I responded with a punch to his neck with my elbow (Inspired the by heroics of Kathyn Chalmers). We hated Milan so much we returned to the hotel early and read books for the rest of the night. The next day I returned to the duomo in jeans for a quick look (the day before we had tried to go in but no skirts above the knee allowed) before heading to the train station (also known as the den of the desperate... there is a dense rain of beggers who will endlessly harrass you). Also to lay the cherry on the sunday, as we walked to the train station no less than two men in front of us just whipped it out and peed on the sidewalk while looking at us. gross.
The train to Venice was also good. Its amazing how many castles there are just hanging out atop hills surrounded by old villages in the middle of nowhere. So picturesque.
Venice was a welcome tourist town after the reality of Milan. I spend the whole first day walking around with my nose in the air, enjoying the beautiful architecture. Its funny how nothing really looks like how you imagined it would... except Venice. Seemingly, it is untouched by modern design. The whole city is like the ancient European Mackinaw Island. No cars. Only boats. Mostly we shopped and wandered about. Surprisingly, the food was terrible and expensive but the scenery more than forgave that. On the last night we could hear a live show echoing around. After investigation we found it. It was a reggae, ska, jazz band singing in Italian and English. They were alright; we stayed till the end when we realized it was a benefit for the communist party. Venetian elections were the next day. They have boats for everything is Venice. All the deliveries are by boats, individuals all have boats, there are the famous Gondoles, taxi boats, and my favorite... bus boats. They are huge long boats that wade along the grand canal. Their engines make terrifing sounds if you know what a boat should sound like but they sound sturdy and just like they should considering how they are driven. Venetian bus drives know speeds: full speed forward and full speed back. When they dock they come up fast, just as the seem over shot the dock they throw it into reverse and ram into the loading bus stop. The dock whines and groans, shifting under the pressure and all those about to board are tossed about, then quickly resituate, grab their things and bull rush on board.
The flight back went without hitch. I stayed in a Hostel in London before heading to America on the First.
(Pictures coming soon! Check back!)
