Thursday 30 October 2008
Siena is over with O! how I wish we were back there, rain and crazy bus rides and all. now we're in Rome or more accurately Tiber. The hostel is calle "Tiber village" and it reminds me of summer camps but worse because it's in Italy. The effort it took to get here was astounding. We took a train from Seina to Empoli, changed trains, and went to Firenze, changed trains again to the Rome Termini. At the train terminal we waited in line to get our departure tickets for a half and hour and just as we're about the third from next to go to the counter a woman attempts to get in the front from no where. So the kids at the beginning of the like hand no problem but the woman in front of us went into fits abou it. Then a guy behind us got the attention of the policeman who was standing about. In the end Kristen and I wer no worse for wear but all the people involved had to wait for a while until they cooled down before they could take their turn. So we have our Rome to Milan reservation set for Saturday at 1:30. We should get into Milan around 6:30 from there we'll get a bus to the airport and stay the night there waiting for our 6:30 am flight. There was almost no way to get to the airport before 5 or so and we wanted to be sure to be there. Anyway. . . To get to our trailer of a hostel we had to get on the underground metro from the train station (a dificult feat in and of itself). I almost lost Kristen as I shoved my way between the masses into the train car. I had to grab her hand and pull her into the car or I would have lost her. There wasn't room to breath let alone move in that car. From there we had to get the above ground train-transport to the tiber train stop and from there we waited for the shuttle bus. we discovered, to our dissatisfaction, that the shuttle doesn't run between 12-4 from October on and we just happened to be waiting at 2. So we waited a half hour then called. When we arrived and I discovered our lodging situation I began to cry, only slightly (think about it, it was a stressful day of travel and I hadn't eaten a whole lot, a little shack of a room was not what I wanted in that moment - I discovered I get really grumpy if I don't eat something regularly).
I should speak of our time in Siena and why I miss it. It was enjoyable. Tuesday we wandered around the city and say some cool buildings and stuff, then it began to rain. So we went into a pub/café for lunch were we had hot sandwhiches and a great view of the main piazza.
Tuesday night we attempted to buy train tickets to Rome. We succeeded, of course, but only after an hour long bus ride for what would have been a 25 minute walk. then we got on a bus from the train station back to our hostel and were unceremoniously dropped off at some unknown point and told to wait for the next bus which wouldn't come for a half hour. it was a chilly wait.
Yesterday (wednesday) we got into the center around 10am for the big market. It seemed that everyone else was going to the market and on the same bus. I think there were probably around 50 people on that bus. Kristen claims to have been violated in every way possible, I just got spun around like a top several times as people were attempting to get off the bus. We named it "the swirling Vortex of Doom" there was no air and NO escape. After deciding that the market was not worth our time or money we explored the fortress around which it was centered and then moved on to a book store where we found some good cheap english books.
With our books in hand we made our way to a café with no sitting fee and read for an hour waiting for a good time to get lunch.
We had a tour at 1:30 of the Chiati region north of Siena, it was what I needed to see: Beautiful countrysides, rolling hills undisturbed, villages of 20 people, and we were the only tourists. It was gorgeous and it restored some of my hope in the world and in Italy as well. After the countryside we went to a winery and were given a tour of the cellers with all the barrels of wine and then a wine tasting. By that time it was completely dark and we made our way back to Siena via winding coutry roads so that i ended up with a head ache.
27.10.08
Siena
Monday 27 October 2008
Today held another adventure of transportation. We made our way out of Pisa to Siena first via train and then we transfered trains at Empoli ad made it to Siena around 12:30. We then trecked a good 30 minutes up hill and on a street with no sidewalks to our Hostel: a room with 2 beds, a tv, an armour, and a bedside table. It's definitely "quaint" I took a shower (we have to share a bathroom, but we had to at the hostel in Pisa and it was rarely available), then we siestad until 4:30 after which we went for a walk. We're outside of the historic Siena so there wasn't much but housing, a McDonalds at a gas station, and a café or two. We stopped at one to get some Fanta. It was now 6:15 and we're pretty bored, it was already dark outside and had been since 4:30/5. And we didn't feel inclined to take a bus when we can't see anything to know our stops. So we watched Italian MTV waiting for 8pm when we felt ok about eating our dinner: bread with Nutella, an apple, some almonds, pretzles, and water. Tomorrow we're getting bus into town. I feel so incredibly disallusioned. I think that's the right word. I've had this picture in my head, a hope that parts of the world could remain untouched or that wurope would be different. But it feels poor. Everything seems run down, the buildings, the countryside, the people. But this may just be my impression from a cool, rainy fall day. We are incredibly spoiled in the US. We have so much and it comes so cheaply, or at least I feel it comes cheaple. i just want to have a place I can call home and I dont feel Europe is that place. Once, before industrialization, Europe's countryside still held something. They lie to us now when they tell us there is something to discover here. That was lost with the birth of the Tourist industry. I'm sure I would feel differently if I grew up here, if I saw more than dirty cities full of foriegners. But all those dreams of my childhood were based on history books and PBS specials. Sometimes it's like that, but the things I can afford are not.
Today held another adventure of transportation. We made our way out of Pisa to Siena first via train and then we transfered trains at Empoli ad made it to Siena around 12:30. We then trecked a good 30 minutes up hill and on a street with no sidewalks to our Hostel: a room with 2 beds, a tv, an armour, and a bedside table. It's definitely "quaint" I took a shower (we have to share a bathroom, but we had to at the hostel in Pisa and it was rarely available), then we siestad until 4:30 after which we went for a walk. We're outside of the historic Siena so there wasn't much but housing, a McDonalds at a gas station, and a café or two. We stopped at one to get some Fanta. It was now 6:15 and we're pretty bored, it was already dark outside and had been since 4:30/5. And we didn't feel inclined to take a bus when we can't see anything to know our stops. So we watched Italian MTV waiting for 8pm when we felt ok about eating our dinner: bread with Nutella, an apple, some almonds, pretzles, and water. Tomorrow we're getting bus into town. I feel so incredibly disallusioned. I think that's the right word. I've had this picture in my head, a hope that parts of the world could remain untouched or that wurope would be different. But it feels poor. Everything seems run down, the buildings, the countryside, the people. But this may just be my impression from a cool, rainy fall day. We are incredibly spoiled in the US. We have so much and it comes so cheaply, or at least I feel it comes cheaple. i just want to have a place I can call home and I dont feel Europe is that place. Once, before industrialization, Europe's countryside still held something. They lie to us now when they tell us there is something to discover here. That was lost with the birth of the Tourist industry. I'm sure I would feel differently if I grew up here, if I saw more than dirty cities full of foriegners. But all those dreams of my childhood were based on history books and PBS specials. Sometimes it's like that, but the things I can afford are not.
Catagorization:
Italy
26.10.08
Pisa
Sunday 26 October 2008
Today we're in Pisa. It wasn't much of a hassle to get here, like I said, we didn't have to pay for the train, but it was definitely an adventure when we got off the train. The only directions we had were an address and the supposition that the hostel was a kere kilometer from the train station. so we checked the map and counldn't find it so we walked around a bit. On our walk we found a train stop with the name of the street that we needed on it, "Mateucci". We we decided to wait for the bus, thinking it could be like the ones in Sevilla where you pay once you get on. But they're not, you have to buy a ticket in a tabacci, or tabaco shops. Unfotunately for us, it's Sunday and everything is closed. So we head back to the train station where there's a place to buy tickets and we hop onto the bus. We get off at the Mateucci stop and look around us only to discover that we've been dropped almost in the middle of no where. No buildings, no street signs. SO we start walking. Unfotunately in the wrong direction. Two hours after getting off the train we encounter our hostel (after asking several people, changing directions, and crossing the street twice) But No one is home, just a note that says to call. As it turns out the hostel had no hot water for the night so they moved us to a hostel in the centro. It was way more convenient. Instead of a probable hour walk to the tower it only took us 20-30 minutes miander to make it to the tourist center. Moreover the train station was less than 5 minutes away.
Now the tower is pretty cool, I have to admit, but that's about it. It was tall and pretty and there were quite a few people. I think it would have been a good day trip, hop on the train in the morning, explore, hop on again in the evening and move onto Siena. But that's not what we did.
Today we're in Pisa. It wasn't much of a hassle to get here, like I said, we didn't have to pay for the train, but it was definitely an adventure when we got off the train. The only directions we had were an address and the supposition that the hostel was a kere kilometer from the train station. so we checked the map and counldn't find it so we walked around a bit. On our walk we found a train stop with the name of the street that we needed on it, "Mateucci". We we decided to wait for the bus, thinking it could be like the ones in Sevilla where you pay once you get on. But they're not, you have to buy a ticket in a tabacci, or tabaco shops. Unfotunately for us, it's Sunday and everything is closed. So we head back to the train station where there's a place to buy tickets and we hop onto the bus. We get off at the Mateucci stop and look around us only to discover that we've been dropped almost in the middle of no where. No buildings, no street signs. SO we start walking. Unfotunately in the wrong direction. Two hours after getting off the train we encounter our hostel (after asking several people, changing directions, and crossing the street twice) But No one is home, just a note that says to call. As it turns out the hostel had no hot water for the night so they moved us to a hostel in the centro. It was way more convenient. Instead of a probable hour walk to the tower it only took us 20-30 minutes miander to make it to the tourist center. Moreover the train station was less than 5 minutes away.
Now the tower is pretty cool, I have to admit, but that's about it. It was tall and pretty and there were quite a few people. I think it would have been a good day trip, hop on the train in the morning, explore, hop on again in the evening and move onto Siena. But that's not what we did.
Catagorization:
Italy
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