Hola y bienvenidos! If you don't already stalk me on Facebook, I'm going to use this blog to document my time studying abroad in the beautiful country of Spain. Feel free to comment or say hi, and hopefully you're not bored and enjoy reading about my adventures :)
It's been 2 weeks since I've arrived back in the United States. It was a LONG 11-13 hour journey, but I got to watch 4 1/2 movies, so it wasn't so bad...
My last day in Madrid was bittersweet. In the morning I helped Nikki to the airport, which wasn't really that sad because I'm living with her at UCSB, so I'm going to see her again really soon. After that I repacked my suitcase for about the 10th time. I wasn't worried about the weight until Nikki was worrying about her bag, and mine was a lot heavier than hers. I ended up taking some of the heavier things out and putting them in my carry-on. Then later my bag ended up being 10 kilos under weight. Gah.
Anyways, after I packed my bag I was pretty bored. All the people that were left in Madrid are the kind of people that sleep in until 2pm. I had pretty much done everything in Madrid at least once, so the questions I asked myself were, What would I want to do at least one more time? What would I regret not doing again? Well, it wasn't that hard. My abono, or Metro pass, ended on May 31st. Anything I would have to do would be by foot, so I decided to go to the Reina Sofia again. It's only about a 10 minute walk away from Lavapies. The last time I had been there was toward the beginning of my program. It's a museum of contemporary art, and last time I didn't really have a great view of it. After going to the Guggenheim in Bilbao, I felt like I had to go to the Reina Sofia at least one more time.
I spend about 2 hours there, taking my time and going through all the exhibits. The cool thing is that they have the Guernica, and they have dozens of Picasso paintings and a lot by Dali (I LOVE Dali) and other famous artists. I was there by myself, and while I still don't see the point of some of the exhibits (a little too abstract for me), for the most part I loved everything and appreciated it a lot more the second time around. I like the Reina Sofia, it's a great museum with beautiful works of art.
After that I passed by the Doner Kebap place that Nikki and I went to a lot and bought my last Doner Kebap. The guy gave ma a free Nestea too! I was starving, so I gobbled it down. After that, I watched a little bit of TV and then headed to Malasana. Remember that Spanish guitarist that I saw perform before? Well, Ariel, Uyen, and I went to meet him at a local place called Picnic. We spend an hour or two just sitting and talking about him and his music. Uyen interviewed him. He was really down-to-earth and really cool. He autographed the CDs that we had bought and we took a few pictures. It was amazing!
Then Ariel, Uyen, and I went to another bar and then went to eat bocadillos and drink sangria at this really cheap place by Ariel's apartment. Then we kind of walked around to Gran Via and Plaza de Espana. I don't know if these words and places mean anything to you at all...if it doesn't, look it up! Near the Plaza de Espana, there is a park that has an old Egyptian temple where Nikki and I had gone to a long time ago. There's this thing called botellon, where people buy cups and drinks and just pick a random place and talk and drink. It's a lot cheaper than going to a bar, but the difference with this place was that all of the people there were Spaniards. It was really cool seeing them having fun and talking and laughing. We wish we'd known about this place when it wasn't our last week there. The temple with the lights was so beautiful, and the park overlooks the Casa de Campo, which is a HUGE park in Madrid. We were looking over the railing, and in the distance fireworks were starting. We lay down in the grass in the cool evening, took pictures, and just enjoyed each other's company. It was a perfect night...
...until I got home. After that, I walked back to Lavapies and finished packing a few things. I laid down in my bed, and until then my attitude had been that instead of crying and moping, I was going to suck it up and enjoy my last few moments in Madrid. For some reason, once my head hit the pillow, I started to think those stupid thoughts that people tend to think...Oh my gosh, this is my last time sleeping in this bed, sleeping in my room, laying my head on this pillow. I'm leaving Madrid, I'm leaving my home. Nothing is ever going to be the same. I'm never going to have this kind of life again. It's over. These moments are gone, I'm leaving my friends. This way of life is gone. Then I started to bawl. I turned on the lights again and had to grab a roll of toilet paper to attempt to control my uncontrollable sobbing and sniffling. I buried my face in my hands and just sat there cross-legged on my head, crying and crying. Then I did what any English major would do to organize my thoughts and feelings: I journaled.
I grabbed my notebook and wrote down everything I was feeling. The interesting thing is that when I journal, I'm kind of talking to myself/my notebook, but then a lot of the time it comes out sounding like a prayer. After writing everything down, I calmed down a bit more and stopped crying. I made myself stop crying, and I comforted myself by telling myself that I would actually see my friends again. I mean, I live very very close to a few of them, and we all do live in California. I KNOW I will return to Madrid again. If it's in a few years or if it's when I'm old and gray, I will return...although I'd prefer not to go there with a walker.
I slept pretty well, and I got up early at 7am to finalize my packing, eat, and make sure I had everything. The only problem was that I did not have any appetite. I was prepared to leave Madrid, I had been preparing myself for a while. The one worry I had was that my suitcase would be overweight. Well, I had asked Ariel to help me take my stuff to the airport, and he was nice enough to offer as well. I told him to come at 9am, so naturally he came at 9:30am. He's always late, so I knew to tell him to come half an hour earlier than the actual time I wanted to leave. So even though he was late, we left on time :) Hehe
We took our time going to the airport by Metro, and it took about an hour to get there. When you go there by Metro there's a 4 euro airport charge (ugh), and I paid for Ariel's 1,50 Metro ticket because, well, he was taking time out of his life to help me. We finally got there, and we did the traditional Spanish greeting/goodbye, a kiss on both cheeks...except at the time I was wearing a hat and I poked his eye with the brim. Whoops. So I just gave him a hug instead. I didn't want the last thing I did in Madrid to be blinding my friend.
I got my boarding pass and went through security without any problems - it was about the 100th time I've been in the airport that year so I knew everything worked. I walked to my gate, and 20 minutes later I was on the plane. I got to Heathrow in London, where I went through customs and saw an old classmate from high school with her parents - RANDOM. I literally walked to the gate, and the minute I got there they started boarding. Overall, it was a pretty relaxing ride home.
So here I am, finally back in the United States. How do I feel? Weird. It was really nice seeing my parents and my friends and having unlimited texting again, but it was SO weird seeing everyone speak in English. I missed the constant Spanish. The danger of being back here is that I may forget my Spanish - it is possible. I need to practice, so I end up talking to myself in Spanish and sounding like a crazy person. At least I'm practicing.
The weirdest thing was that everything was so familiar, yet so unfamiliar at the same time. I feel different inside, and I feel like a different person in a way, but everything else is the same. That bothers me. In a way I'm trying to see how I fit in this "new" world. I miss Madrid. I really do. I miss the way of life there, the pace, the people. Things will never be the same again. However, it has made my think more about my future. Seeing my friends graduate and go on with their lives and their plans...it's made me think. I still don't know exactly what I want to do or how to get to wherever that is. It's made me think that I've wasted my first 2 years of college. I've been lazy, I know I have. I've been unfocused. Now I'm motivated more than ever to find out who I am in a way and what I want to do with my life. It kind of scares me, as it would scare anyone. I'm almost down with college. Soon I'll have to face the real world, and when that time comes I want to have some kind of direction.
My time in Madrid is over. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made to go to that amazing city, and I don't regret anything. The new chapter in my life has already begun, and I will take my experiences and what I've learned and use them to find out who/what I want to be. I will go back to Spain. After all, it was my home for 6 months. I will never forget the friends I've made there, and I can't wait to see what's next in my life. Bring it on :)
(This is my "last post." However, I will continue to post the descriptions and more pictures about my different trips around Spain and my trip to Morocco if you're interested. Again, thank you so much for following me and reading my blog and keeping me from talking to just myself.)
In 2 days, I will be in the United States. I have been waiting for this day since I first got here, since the second I landed in Madrid. Now, I wish this moment had never come. Living in one place for 6 months...this city isn't something that you can just leave. The people I've met here, the memories I've made, the city itself...I've fallen in love with all of it. I love Madrid. I absolutely love it. In a way, I feel like I'm leaving my life behind. I'm trying my hardest to enjoy what little time I have left, but it's hard not to break down and cry. I haven't done it yet, but I know I will at some point - probably when I'm in the airport.
Most of the people in my program are already in the States. Actually, the people that are left are in my original group, except we're all separated. Angela is in Milan, Nic is either in Sweden or Bilbao, Alim is in Paris with his parents, and Nery is in the U.S. (the first one in our group to leave). Zee just got back from France, and Ariel is still here. Nikki leaves tomorrow morning, and I'm helping her to the airport. It's not that sad seeing her go because we're living together this summer and next year. All I have to say is THANK GOODNESS we go to the same university. Otherwise, we'd be breaking down and crying because we'd miss each other. The only sad (and funny) thing is, Nikki and I have the exact same flights at the exact same times to the exact same places with the exact same airlines...only our flights are a day apart. We both leave at 12:40pm with Iberia, pass through London, and fly to LAX on British Airways, except that she flies on the 1st and I fly on the 2nd. Bummer.
Tomorrow is my last day in Madrid, and the sad thing is that I have no idea what to do. I've been here for 6 months, so I feel like I've already done everything at least 2 or 3 times. I'm kind of bored right now, which i kind of why I'm writing this. I want to call up people to ask what they're doing, but I feel like I'm bugging them or something. I send them a message on Facebook or a text and they never respond. Whatever.
I think the one thing that's making me super excited to go home is the fact that when I leave the baggage claim in Tom Bradley, I'll see my parents waiting for me in the gigantic crowd of people. I know they'll both be happy. My mom will probably cry, and my dad will probably have watery eyes - that's usually what happens. In one sense, I'm so so excited to see my friends again, and I'm actually really excited for summer school. I'm pumped to work hard and raise my GPA before real life begins.
One thing I'm not looking forward to is the lack of change. Sometimes when you talk to people back home, they're like, "Oh don't worry. Nothing really changed, everything will be the same here when you come back." Umm that's the problem. My friends and I have talked about this a lot. We feel like we're so different and changed from our time abroad, and when we go home everything will be the same. It's kind of like, we're wondering how and where we'll fit in. The thing is, I don't want everything to be the same. I'm kind of hoping that everything will be different in a way.
Also, I'm kind of bummed because Nikki and I had a goodbye lunch with Maru at 2:30 at a restaurant/bar around the corner, and I'm STILL stuffed. Paella, beef, fries, natilla, and wine - SO much food. I don't know what to do. I packed all of the workout stuff, so I can't go running. If I did, the clothes would stink up my whole suitcase. So now I feel bloated and fat. Bloated, fat, and bored. Plus, it's 93 degrees outside and it's almost 9pm. Sad day.
Also, I'm a little worried about my suitcase...I hope it's not overweight. I didn't really bring a whole lot with me, so I think the extra weight is coming from the souvenirs...and 90% of them are souvenirs for you people, so be happy! :) Being an English major, I like books. The problem is, majority of the weight is coming from my books, PLUS the schoolwork that we have to keep. In my backpack/carry-on I have my laptop, 3 readers, a workbook, a Spanish-English dictionary (the fat orange one), at least 5-7 other books, and a fat Spanish-English Bible, as well as my notes and homework from the last 6 months. I'm going to DIE. At least I'll have plenty to read in the airport...
This also sounds kind of silly, but I'm really excited about the 11 hour flight to LA. I love airplanes and flying. Well, I ran out of things to ramble about. Basically the point of this post was to work out my feelings about leaving because they're very bi-polar. On one hand, I want to stay in Madrid and Europe forever, but on the other, I want to go home now. There's so much I have to deal with when I get back - school, signing the lease to my apartment, finding sub-leasers so I don't let $1240 go down the drain for an apartment I'm not even occupying, finding a job...there's only so much I can do via email and the internet.
Ok well, that's all I have to say for now. To sum this post up in 2 words: I'm sad.
Again, I'm so sorry that these posts will be kind of out order. To be a little clearer, all of these kinds of posts of me being informational and describing my life are all in order. Only the ones that are trips and "vacations" are going to be kind of crazy. I want to describe what happened besides just post pictures so that you can relive the adventure with me, and that takes a while to type out. Before each of the posts, I'm going to put the dates in that handy-dandy goldenrod-type font so that you can make sense of my blogs. Hopefully it's not too confusing.
Back to my actual post. Yesterday was a good day. Why? Because I spent most of it alone. I know that sounds kind of depressing, but I'm the kind of person that loves people but needs some me-time. If I don't get at least some time alone to process and think, I start going crazy. The day before, the 26th, we had just gotten back from Tangier (which I will describe later, I promise) so I was pretty tired. I went to sleep at about 11am and woke up at 8am the next day. The problem with that? No one else is awake. I thought I'd be kind of bored, but it turned out to be a great morning. I got ready listening to music and ate breakfast while watching TV.
It was my last Sunday in Madrid - the start of my last week in Madrid. I decided to go to the Rastro one more time, which is the giant flea market that spans several streets. If you feel like looking at a map, it's between the Metro stops Tirso de Molina, Puerta de Toledo and Embajadores. The cool thing is that it's only like two or three streets over from my house, so I can walk there in 5 minutes. The weather outside was PERFECT. I put on a sundress and sunglasses and strolled to the Rastro listening to Christian music and Spanish guitar. When I first arrived in Spain, I would have been terrified to go into the Rastro alone. Now, I couldn't stop smiling. I had a couple more souvenirs to pick up, so I plunged myself into the crowd. It was so cool though because I blended in. It's super obvious who's a tourist and who's not. They usually have hats, fanny packs, fancy cameras hanging around their neck, and they're usually on the plumper side - hey, it's true. Because it was a perfect day, there were a lot of tourists there - most of them being from England. It was really cool though because when I spoke Spanish to the vendors, I wasn't nervous for once. I didn't really have to think before I spoke - it just came out. If they spoke to me in English, I answered in Spanish. The last thing I was is for them to think I was a tourist, especially an American tourist.
I went to an Indian stand with beautiful scarves - one I had seen before. I bought a couple for some friends back home and got my change. The last time I was here, they tried cheating me out of a euro or 2, but I caught them and they gave me the extra euros without asking me why. This time, they had tried to cheat a woman out of a 5 euro bill, but she caught them. When she told them, the guy said, "Oh, sorry. The other guy gave you the wrong change, he's so silly." They're smart though. Many tourists are careless and don't stop to count their change. Sometimes, it's good not to trust people to give you the right change back.
I wandered all over the Rastro because I knew it would be my last time there. I kept my hand on my bag to ward off any pick-pocketers and took the streets with less people. I mostly did that just to observe and remember...the smell of the city, the sounds of the vendors, the buildings of Madrid, the constant stream of beautiful Spanish. I'm going to miss it. I had such a great time just wandering around the Rastro because I had some time to myself, I didn't have any problems with communication and understood everything going on around me, I knew my way around the buildings, and I knew where all the most inexpensive tents were. I'm going to miss Madrid.
The rest of the day was relaxing but kind of boring because I mostly just stayed in my room, roughly packing my suitcase, deciding what to throw away, and watching TV. I did finish typing out my Italy blog, so yay!
The most exciting part about the day happened at night though. My friend Ariel found about about this inexpensive Spanish guitar concert that was happening that night. He even got in contact with the artist. They were called the Anthony Ocaño Trio. We headed over to Puerta de Toledo and met Uyen (pronounced like When), a girl that goes to UC Davis who goes to Complutense I think. Anyway, we had met her through Alim. It was really small and was more like a gathering than a concert. We bought the tickets and went into a small room with about 10-15 people total. Soon, the trio came out and started playing.
They were AMAZING. The second that Anthony (the guitarist) started playing, I couldn't stop smiling. It was so beautiful, and nothing compares to live music. He was the "leader," and the other two women played the violin and cello. They were so incredible. He played a normal acoustic guitar, as well as a 10-string guitar, which was cool to see. They played for about an hour an a half, and they even played an encore when we kept on clapping. They played 2 songs again that were my favorite. Out of everyone in the room, we were the youngest - we just have good taste I guess. There was just one other little kid, and he fell asleep. At one point, he snorted really loudly, and everyone was laughing as the mom was trying to wake him up.
This was probably one of my favorite moments from my time in Madrid. It was perfect. It was a small little gathering, we were listening to beautiful music from passionate musicians who didn't need sheet music and played from their soul. Afterward, we met the main musician guy who had changed into a Ramones T-shirt. Uyen doesn't speak Spanish very well, but she wanted to interview him so she asked if he spoke English. He's from the Dominican Republic, but he went to college in New York. He answered, "Yes I do," and we continued talking to him. His English is pretty much perfect, and his accent is pretty good too. He even asked the 3 of us if we wanted to meet with him again to talk and stuff. I'd love to talk to him and ask how he got started as a musician. After that it was still pretty early so Ariel, Uyen, and I got some sangria and tacos al pastor (I told you, we miss Mexican food SO MUCH, especially since we're from around LA). It was a fun night :)
You're probably wondering about title. I shall explain to you why we had a morning of panic and how we almost missed our flight to Madrid.
Our day started off very relaxing. We got up at 7:30am or so, surprisingly well-rested for staying in a hostel, and headed out to have our last meal in Rome. We went down a couple of streets before we found a cute little place that only had locals, which was our goal. Locals = cheaper. The price for everything doubled if you wanted to sit down, so we ate standing up at the bar. I got a cappuccino and a croissant. It was only 2 euros altogether, and it was very Italian and really tasty. We talked about what we liked the most about Rome and how were going to miss it. Then we casually strolled back to the hostel to check out. When we bought our tickets for the bus to the airport the day before, the lady had circled the buses that would leave at 9:55 or 10:35, so we had plenty of time. We took our last pictures and checked out of the hostel.
We walked the block or two to Termini and got in line for the bus. We noticed everyone had little colored placards, and one of the official guys told us that we had to check-in at the bus place first. We didn't know that. We went to the office and waited in line. When we got to the front, the guy told us that the ones for the buses that we needed to take were sold out. SOLD OUT. He gave us placards for the next bus that would come at 11:00 or so. The bus took 50 minutes to get to the airport. Our gate would close at 12:15. We still had to go through security. We started to panic. We had no choice but to wait.
I was starting to get worried, but then the incident where we missed our train to Florence came to mind. I panicked then, but did it do anything? No. I remembered how calm Ariel was and how he even got to Termini before Alim and me, the punk. I mean, we had no idea how the transportation system worked, and we didn't know that we had to check-in. It wouldn't help to start putting the blame on people, so for the first time (I think in my life), I was calm. I prayed and prayed and prayed. I prayed that the bus would come, that it would be fast, that a freak storm would delay the plane - anything to get us on that flight. I said my favorite scripture to myself, Philippians 4:6-7. We ate the last of my blood oranges and waited in line.
Much to our dismay (and everyone else's in line), our bus was late by at least half-an-hour. People around us were complaining and starting to panic because they were late for their flights too, which made me feel better in a sick and wrong way. So there are 2 main airports in Rome - Fiumicino and Ciampino. We all needed to get to Fiumicino. While we were waiting, 2 buses passed by that were going to Ciampino, and they probably had like 10 people on them. If there are so little people going to Ciampino, why don't they just switch over some of their buses to go to Fiumicino? COME ON PEOPLE, WORK WITH ME.
When our bus finally arrived, it was a mosh pit. We were all crowding and trying to get in one door, and the guy was taking our tickets one at a time. People were pushing and shoving, and I was trying my best not to get separated from Nikki. It seemed like everyone on the bus was late for a flight. There was an incident where an old woman was taking a long time because her niece or something had her ticket, and she had to pass it to her. Then she wouldn't go on the bus because she was waiting for the rest of the family. Let me tell you, everyone in that crowd was ready to toss her over the bus. Every second was precious, and the longer people took to get on the bus and get their luggage on meant that it would take longer for us to leave. The worker guy finally asked the lady to step to the side, and we rushed onto the bus. I think everyone wanted to leave ASAP because it didn't take everyone long to get settled. Nikki and I took seats near the front. We held our carry-ons in our laps because we didn't want to leave it buried in the luggage compartment and wait to dig it out later on.
The bus ride was actually relaxing because we knew that we couldn't do anything but hope and pray, so we enjoyed the bus ride through Rome to the airport. We finally got there and realized that instead of 50 minutes, the bus had gotten there in 30. Maybe the bus driver knew he was late and was trying to get everyone to their flights? We stopped at Terminal 3, but our flight left from Terminal 1. We literally jumped off the bus and ran to Terminal 1. Good thing we're in shape. We weren't sure how long security would take, but when we got there we saw that there was almost no one there. In 10 minutes, we had breezed through security. We looked at the screen for our flight and saw that it was delayed by at least 30 minutes. When we saw that, I laughed. Everything that I prayed for came true. The bus went faster, there was no line at security, and our flight was delayed. Prayer works.
We walked for 10 minutes before we finally came to our gate. We looked at the screen, and it said that it was a flight to Portugal or Denmark or something - pretty much it wasn't our flight. We figured that the gate had changed, so we checked the screen but our gate was the same. We looked around to ask someone because it was like 15 or 20 minutes before our flight was supposed to leave. There was literally no one. NO ONE. There was not one Easyjet (our airline company) worker in sight. I asked someone in a booth, but it was for a bank, and she told me that she doesn't know that kind of info and told me to ask someone from Easyjet. I wanted to hit someone then. You'd think there'd be one person, just one worker. Nope. Moral: appreciate American airline companies because THEY'RE ACTUALLY THERE.
Maybe 1 minute before our flight was supposed to leave according to our schedule, they finally announced the gate change. We rushed to the quickly growing line of people and got on the plane. We sat down in our seats, exhausted. I mean it wouldn't be too bad to be stranded in Rome, but we were really excited to get home to Madrid. By then, we were kind of laughing with each other because of all the adventures we ended up having. Before our trip, we had almost missed the bus to the airport, I missed a train to Florence, and we almost missed our flight. It gives a good story afterward, especially since I had problems with almost every mode of transportation, but I'm okay with not having any more of those kinds of adventures. In the end, Rome was an interesting experience, and it was really fun. I'm glad I had the chance to go!
The morning started off pretty early. It was Nikki's 21st birthday, so that was exciting! She got to spend her 21st birthday in Rome - how amazing is that? We got ready and packed all our stuff because we had to check in at our hostel at 11am. It was nice because she shared the desserts that Angela had bought her the night before with me, so that was our breakfast. It was sad though because we were all going to be separated. Ariel, Angela, and Alim were going to the Vatican that day and then were going to spend the next 2 nights in Venice. When we had reserved the tickets and everything more than a month before, we didn't have the funds to go to Venice, so we decided to spend one more night in Rome. I was sad because we would be separated from the other, and I was SO JEALOUS because Venice is my absolute favorite city in Europe. Technically I've been there before, so it wasn't too bad. Still, I was SO close to going, which killed me.
Entrance to the hostel - looks like a palace, right?
We said goodbye to the others and took the bus to Piazza Venezia. Like most of the hostels in Rome, ours was located by Termini station. We weren't sure which buses went there from the Piazza so we decided to walk to Termini. I've walked there a couple times already and was leading Nikki there, but I was a genius and forgot to make 2 turns because I was busy talking. We ended up a little far from the station so had to backtrack a little. It took us a little while to find the hostel, so by the time we found it, it was 11:15 and were sweating and a little bit stressed. We walked in, and it turned out that we couldn't officially check in until 3:15. There was a luggage storage room, which was nice, but anyone could walk in. We left our stuff there, but we were a little worried about it. We took all our valuables with us just in case. It was really cool though because the guy who checked us in was Filipino. Once I heard his Filipino accent, I instantly felt comfortable. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing, but since my family is Filipino I always feel comfortable around them. We were waiting and then another Filipino lady walked in and they started speaking in Tagalog. The whole place was run by Filipinos You can't imagine how excited that made me, just because I haven't heard Tagalog for a while, and it reminded me of my family. I wish I could have understood them! I can't speak or understand Tagalog, which makes me really sad. I can understand simple words like yes, no, salamat, maganda, adobo, and pancit. Yup. Sad.
Anyways, after that we decided to go to Termini to find out how we would get to the airport the next morning. Turns out that there was a bus that left every hour or so that went straight to the airport. It would only cost 6 euros too, which was a really good price compared to the 15 we paid to get there. We reserved our spot, got our tickets, and everything was set. We had seen most of the major things Rome, but we hadn't seen the Spanish steps, so we decided to walk there. It was a bit of a trek there, but the day was beautiful, and the weather was PERFECT. We were both in sundresses with our shades and flats, and we were enjoying the sun, especially since it had been raining the majority of the time we were in Rome. We got to the Spanish steps, and it was absolutely gorgeous. The last time I had been there, the Spanish steps were a little mediocre to me. I didn't see anything special about them. This time, the whole place was strewn with almost a meadow of pink flowers. This time around, the Spanish steps were amazing. We were so happy to be there. It was nice because we were able to chill and take our time, taking pictures and enjoying the view. It was perfect.
After that, we decided to go to another Piazza a little further north because there was a church that Nikki wanted to visit. We walked there and decided to get some lunch, which would be our last time eating out in Rome. We found a little restaurant down an alley a block away from the Piazza, which had prices that were pretty fair. We sat outside under the awning, and it was really nice. Now, the thing about Madrid that I've come to appreciate is that you can ask for un vaso de agua de grifo, which is a glass of tap water. It's free, and the water's clean. In Rome, you can't do that. When you ask for tap water or acqua minerale, they give you a glass bottle of water and they charge you for it. In the restaurant, I ordered a pizza and Nikki ordered pasta. We didn't order anything to drink because we knew we had to pay for it. The waiter must have known that we were poor little college students because suddenly he came out with two glasses of water with ice - for free! That made our day. It was something really small, but it was really nice.
After that, we made our way to the church in the plaza. Turns out that it was closed and we had just missed it. Nikki was really bummed. At that time of day, most of the churches are closed. We had done most of the things in Rome, and the only thing left would be to go to museums. However, to enter museums you need to pay, so we were weren't sure what to do. Nikki asked if there was anything I wanted to do before I left Rome, and I said that I wanted to go to Piazza Navona (which I hadn't gone to yet this trip) and to the Trevi fountain one more time. We headed towards Piazza Navona, and when we got there I wished that I had hundreds of euros to spend. The cool thing about the Piazza, besides the pretty fountains and statues, is that artists and vendors can sell their drawings and paintings. All over the Piazza, there were hundreds of pieces of art on display that were absolutely beautiful. I wanted one of the Trevi fountain, but there was one of a dancer that was super gorgeous that I would've loved to have. It would be hard to get it home in one piece though, and I couldn't pay for it, so I had to let it go. It was relaxing just strolling and looking at the art though.
We walked away from the Piazza and just started wandering. We decided to "get lost." The thing about the center of Rome is that sure, you could try to get lost and wander around the winding streets and everything, but to me it's pretty impossible to truly get lost. We were wandering and strolling and ended up at the river. If you follow it in one direction you end up at the Vatican. In the other, you end up more towards the Colosseum. For a while, we just stood by the river, watching the water and trying to decide what to do. When we had bought our tickets in the morning in Termini, we had asked how to get to the Tivoli gardens because that was one place that I wanted to go that I had never seen because it's actually on the outskirts of Rome. The guy told us that we would have to go to the other station, but we had no idea where that was. We decided to just skip it because we didn't know the prices or anything either. Turns out, it was right by where we had lunch. We were right there. Nikki was the one who found that out because she was studying the map very intensely. She looked super upset, and I put my sunglasses on because I was trying not to cry.
Here comes the emotional part. The whole time I had been feeling weird because technically I've been to Rome, and I came to hang out with my friends and experience different parts of Rome. The whole time I had been good with the three, but it had been up and down with Nikki because she was alone. I knew that she liked being alone, but at the start of the day it had been awkward. It had been getting better throughout the day, and giving her the journal from Florence helped. However, in this moment standing by the river I regretted buying a ticket to Rome. I kept thinking that I could have gone somewhere else, like Ireland or Switzerland. Plus, it was killing me that we couldn't all stay together. Plus plus, I was sickeningly jealous that the others got to go to Venice. You have no idea how jealous I was - like it was sinfully jealous. I started thinking about what we did in Rome, and I didn't really do anything really new. I mean, the things in Rome are worth doing more than twice, but still. All that combined = a dumbly sad me.
We walked to Vittorio Emanuele and toward the Trevi. During that walk, I thought about everything and realized how stupid and ungrateful I was being. I had the opportunity to go to Rome not just once, but twice, and here I was complaining. I metaphorically slapped myself in the face and forced myself to have a better attitude. It's true, I didn't get to go to Venice, but technically I've already been there. Nikki didn't even get to go to Florence, and I went twice. Why am I telling you all this? First, because I told you I'd be real on my blog, and this is what really happened. Vacations aren't always happy happy time. Second, when I look back and read my blogs I want to remember what happened and remember my experiences, down to grimy details.
Back to Rome :) We arrived at the Trevi fountain, and the second I saw it I was instantly happy. We went to a little Italian grocery store around the corner, and Nikki bought some pineapple juice, and I bought a pack of 4 blood oranges for like a euro and something cents. We sat on a stone bench that wraps around the fountain and people watched, listened to the sound of the water, admired the details of the fountain, and just enjoyed each other's company. That moment was my favorite of the whole day. We relaxed and ate our fruit in my favorite place in Rome. It was warm, there was a cool breeze, and the fountain was gorgeous - a perfect moment.
After that we took a bus back to Termini and headed back to the hostel. Even though we didn't do too much, we did walk a LOT. We were pooped. We checked in and saw our room. To our surprise, the rooms and bathrooms were pretty clean. The room was colorful, and the beds came with new sheets and a warm blanket. We were in a 8-person room, and we chose a bunk bed away from the window. We relaxed and tried that Sicilian wine that we had bought Nikki for her birthday. We didn't have glasses so we used our water bottles - not the classiest way to drink wine, but it worked. Soon the other people in our room checked in. There was one Asian guy that seemed to be by himself. The others were a group of Americans that had studied abroad in Belgium. They attended college somewhere in the Mid-west - 1 girl and 4 guys. We were talking to them and they seemed really nice. So every night the hostel offers a pub crawl and entrance into a discoteca for 20 euros. We didn't go, but they did. You'll find out later how interesting that turned out...
So it was like 5pm by then, and we had nothing to do. How horrible is that? We were in Rome and already did everything. We were still pretty full from lunch so were weren't going to eat dinner. Instead, we decided to see the church down the street, Santa Maria Maggiore. We went there, and guess what? It was closed. Wonderful. We took pictures of the outside, and Nikki walked a little farther away to take a picture of the whole thing. As I was taking a picture, a guy was passing by and said hi to me. On instinct, I said hi back. Once the words came out of my mouth, I closed my eyes and was like DARN IT DARN IT DARN IT because once I responded, the guy turned around and came back. He asked where I was from, and I told him Madrid. He asked me again, and I said the U.S. I wasn't giving him information, so he was like, "Don't worry, it's okay. I promise I'm really Italian." In my head, I was like who cares if you're Italian. It doesn't change the fact that you're creepy. He was starting to ask if I wanted to get a drink when Nikki saw that he was talking to me and ran over. She asked if I was ready to go, and I said yes. He asked if we were sisters, and again in my head I was like, Okay, creeper, do we look like sisters to you?? Then we walked away quickly, and he said goodbye. So parents, if you're worried about creepers kidnapping me or reenacting a scene from Taken, don't worry. We got each other's back.
Well after that, we really had nothing to do. We decided to check out a place that I was on my list of cheap places to eat. Supposedly it was the oldest gelato factory in Rome and had super cheap gelato with big portions. I really wanted to check it out because Nikki hadn't had any gelato because it is pretty pricey. She didn't even let me buy her any on her birthday, but you can't come to Rome and not have gelato. Plus she's Italian and it was her birthday. Come on now.
On our way to the gelato place, the buildings started looking older. Suddenly guys were becoming creepier and creepier, staring at us or whispering "bella" when we passed by. Then we noticed that suddenly all the people were either African, Pakistani, or Filipino. It figures we would pick the Lavapies of Rome to stay in. We were seeing Doner Kebap places, and soon we entered Piazza Vittorio Emanuele, which was a beautiful, green park. Once we entered, a basketball rolled toward me, and I kicked it back to the guys. When I looked closer, everyone who was playing basketball was Filipino. Of course that shouldn't surprise me because that's all Filipinos play, but I hadn't seen Filipinos since my last family party on New Year's. They were mostly guys and kept staring at us, but because they were Filipino, I felt comfortable. That's probably not a good thing...but I was still happy. As we walked through the park, probably 85% of the people were guys and their eyes were all following us as we walked by. AWKWARD. We walked a little faster through the park and exited on the other side.
We came to the gelato place. It was called Palazzo del Freddo and had it's own building that opened in 1880. I guess they make their own gelato. Inside, all the people were locals, so that was a good sign. The building is not in a touristy area at all, so it would be hard to find if you weren't looking for it. The gelato was CHEAP. You see the sizes to the left? That huge 3 euro one would normally cost 5 or 6 euros in a normal gelato place. We got GIGANTIC cones for 1.60 euros. We each got 3 flavors plus a huge dollop of freshly made whipped cream. It was DELICIOUS. Of course, Il Crispino by the Pantheon has better quality gelato, but if you don't want to pay tourist prices, go to Palazzo del Freddo. The flavors I got was peach, banana, and tiramisu. Nikki's was really delicious! She got coffee, tiramisu, and caramel. I was glad that she had the chance to finally eat gelato. You should have seen the smile on her face when she was eating it. Moral of the story: it pays to do your research. If we hadn't, we never would have found this place.
After that it was getting dark, and we didn't want to wander around alone at night. We headed back to the hostel and changed to our pjs. We spend the rest of the night talking and relaxing. Nikki told me she had a great birthday, and to me that's all that mattered. I was so glad. Hey, she got to have her 21st birthday in the Eternal City. How cool is that?
Back to our American roommates. We knew that since they were going on a pub crawl that they would come back drunk. They came back at like 2am or so. They were puking and everything - at least that's what Nikki told me. She heard more than me because I slept through most of it, but there was a point at like 3 or 4 am where I smelled something weird. I thought I was dreaming at first and then I thought that maybe a pipe had burst or something. I woke up a little more and then to my horror, I recognized the sound. One of the guys was peeing on the floor. I was just like SERIOUSLY, WHAT IN THE WORLD. It smelled really bad. Then I heard Nikki's voice from the top bunk ordering them to clean it up right now. After that I fell asleep because I was super tired. The next day, I was trying to remember if it was a dream or not, and then I found the traces of the pee in the corner. Yay.
Well, other than the pee/drunk incident at the hostel, it was a pretty nice hostel I guess. Other than that, Nikki and I had a great day in Rome. Nikki told me that she was in love with the city. If she's that in love with Rome, I knew that she would love Florence and Venice. I'm 100% sure she's going to come back one day. When we all have money and jobs, we can come back and hopefully afford a hotel instead of a hostel. Overall, it was a great day with my host sister!
More Dino :)
These snack carts are everywhere!
On the Spanish steps
The Santa Maria plaza place where we had our lunch
Fountain in Piazza Navona
The Trevi ♥
It wasn't crowded or anything.
Our bunk bed inside the hostel
Santa Maria Maggiore
Santa Maria Maggiore
The park with the Filipinos!
Palazzo del Freddo
Our gelato. I'm happy :)
Inside the gelato place
The list of flavors
Getting fresh water from the fountains found all over Rome. It tastes better than the tap water in Madrid.
This was my favorite day out of the whole trip to Italy, although it started out a little rocky.
So Alim, Ariel, and I were going to make a day trip to Florence because the tickets were relatively cheap. I absolutely love Florence, but I feel like last time I didn't get to enjoy it because when I went before it was deathly hot and I ended up having a bad nose bleed. Also, I knew I wouldn't get to go to Venice (sad face), so I seized the opportunity to go to Florence. We had bought the tickets the day before, and our train was set to leave at 8:12am or some random time like that.We got up early (well I got up early and then woke them up), they got breakfast at the cafe down the street, and we bought a few bananas and oranges for the train ride there. We walked to the bus stop and waited. And waited. And waited.
Our bus was the 44, and for some reason it wasn't coming. Two 870 buses passed by (which would have taken us to the Vatican), but we needed the one to take us to Piazza Venezia. We probably waited for at least 30 minutes for our bus, which meant we were running out of time. Soon it was 45 minutes until our train left. In short, I was starting to sweat. I was NOT about to waste that much money. We decided that we'd take a cab to Termini station. Then we realized we were in Trastevere, which means no tourists. No tourists means no taxis. Not one taxi passed by. FINALLY, our bus came, but of course it was going slow. We made a plan B. We decided that when we got to Piazza Venezia, we'd hail a cab and take it to Termini from there. We got there, and guess what? NO TAXIS. I think we passed by at least 20 taxis, but none of them stopped. They were all taken, and none of them would stop. We had 10 minutes until our train left, and we still had to walk a couple blocks towards the Colosseum and then climb up a hill for a few blocks before getting to Termini at the top. Alim starts bolting at a full-on sprint towards Termini, and I start sprinting after him with my purse on my shoulder and a bag of oranges in my hand. I must have looked like a crazy person. I was pretty proud of myself because for the most part, I kept up with Alim, but then I noticed that Ariel was far behind, walking. I slowed down and walked with him to make sure everything was okay. We caught up to Alim who had stopped . We were just at the bottom of the hill. We caught up to Alim. We literally had 5-7 minutes left. Alim said we had to try and started bolting up the hill again. I kind of sighed and started running after him. When I looked back, Ariel wasn't even in sight. I caught up to Alim who had stopped. Even if we had run up there, we couldn't leave Ariel. I texted him but didn't get a response. We doubled back and looked for him. No Ariel. We decided to go to Termini and hope he was there. Turns out, we had forgotten to make a turn and we ended up getting there after Ariel.
But yes, we missed our train. Terrific. I was already regretting going, and now I was livid. I hate hate being late - probably got that from my dad. I was frustrated that Alim and I were running at full sprints while Ariel lagged behind and he STILL beat us. At the train station Alim and I were sweating like crazy, while Ariel was all calm. I was mad because I didn't want to spend money to buy another ticket, and I was mad because the whole time I was thinking, Should have gone with Nikki, should have gone with Nikki. We got in line at customer service, and turns out that the tickets have a 6 hour window, so we could go on the next train without paying another cent. I was relieved. We wouldn't have as much time in Florence as we would have liked, but at least we were still going and didn't have to buy all new tickets.
We still had an hour until we had to board, so we were American and went to the McDonald's across the street. The cool thing about the McDonald's in Europe is that they all have a McCafe, so they sell delicious coffees, espressos, muffins, and pastries. I got a "cafe americano," and let me tell you McDonald's coffee is pretty good for a fast food place. We knew the train ride to Florence would be 3 hours long, so we bought burgers from the "euro menu" to have a snack on the train. That way we wouldn't have to spend money on lunch and dinner in Florence.
An interesting thing about the McDonald's is that the men's restrooms were broken so everyone had to use the women's restrooms. It was interesting because I was standing in line behind a younger guy, and behind me was an older businessman. In my mind I was like, Aaaaawkward. Plus, the bathroom was small with 2 sinks and 2 stalls, and at the same time a lady was trying to clean it even though there was a long line for the bathrooms. It was a sardine can. I started to say excuse me to get past people, and that was when I realized that I was very linguistically confused. I would say excuse me in Italian to find out that they spoke English. I would be caught off guard and then answer in Spanish because I'm used to speaking Spanish. Also, I'd combine the words for "excuse me" and "I'm sorry," so that most of the time with that confusion plus the language thing I'd say "Me discusi." Then I'd realize that what I said was nonsense and then kind of slap my forehead and walk away quickly. It was fun :)
It was finally time to go, so we found the train and hey look - the boys need to use the bathroom now. We went to the McDonald's in the station, but there were none. We followed the signs to the bathrooms downstairs but there were turnstiles at the entrance. It would cost 1 euro to enter the bathroom. We had to walk outside to the McDonald's outside the station again where the boys had to wait in line at the same bathroom I had just left. Moral of the story: APPRECIATE FREE, PUBLIC RESTROOMS.
Alim in our Harry Potter compartment
After the bathroom, we walked a long time down the platform to get to our train because we were taking the cheap one. The cool thing is that even though from the outside it looked kind of janky, the inside was pretty nice and we could sit wherever we wanted. We found a free compartment with 6 seats that's closed off by glass walls, so it's kind of private. There weren't that many people on the train, so we had it all to ourselves. We called it our Harry Potter compartment :) Obviously I was Hermione, but there was still some debate as to who was Harry Potter. No one wanted to be Ron. Sad day.
Because the compartment had 3 seats on one side and 3 on the other, we were able to stagger ourselves so we could stretch out our legs and have a comfortable 3-hour ride to Florence. We took naps, I wrote in my notebook, and we ate our burgers and fruit. We took turns reading the guidebook on Florence so that we knew exactly what we wanted to do when we got there. It was cool because I there were 2 things that I really wanted to do - the Iglesia di San Lorenzo and go into the Duomo, since I didn't get to do that last time. When Ariel looked at the guidebook, he wanted to see the exact same thing so it worked out really well! It was such a relaxing ride there - inside we got to eat and relax while looking at the Tuscan countryside passing by outside. Plus, I think the 3 of us get along pretty well. I loved it.
Finally, we arrived in Florence. Once we got off the train and started walking towards the exit, I realized that everything looked familiar. I was SO excited, they're probably thought I was crazy. They had to go to the bathroom, and I was like, "If I remember correctly, there should be a McDonald's right outside the train station across the street." We exited the station, and BAM there it was. I remember eating lunch there with Noelle Mueller, Kassi, and Chelsea from high school (for those of you who know who they are). After the restroom, we exited and started walking towards the general direction of the center because I remembered it! Seriously, I was so excited, I couldn't stop smiling the entire time.
We went into a hotel, got a map, and headed towards the Iglesia di San Lorenzo. What I love about Florence is that it's so pedestrian-friendly. In Rome, you're constantly afraid you're going to be hit by a car and die. In Florence, there are no cars where the main touristy things are so you're free to walk at your own pace and stop and take pictures. It was super easy to find the church, even though the street signs in Italy are really tiny and hard to find sometimes.
We didn't have too much time in Florence, so we decided to eat really quickly and then do what we wanted to do. We ate outside right next to the church. Alim and I literally got the cheapest thing on the menu, which was a Margherita pizza. The wonderful thing about pizzas in Italy is that they're fairly cheap and they're huge. Ariel ordered a ham and cheese calzone, which was gigantic and looked amazing. Right outside of the restaurant there was the flea market, so while waiting for the food we took turns looking around. Ariel collects magnets, and he got a bunch of them for 1 euro. Flea markets = cheap = YES. I looked around for a journal for Nikki because that last time I was here, I had bought an amazing leather journal that I absolutely love that I haven't even written in yet because it's so beautiful. I know she journals too, so I figured it would be a perfect gift for her birthday the next day. Plus, I knew she was sad that she couldn't go to Florence :/ I literally looked at about every stand in the flea market that sold journals and finally found the perfect one at a fair price. I also bought a mini carpet tapestry thing of Venice because she wouldn't get to go there either. I hoped she would like them.
When I was looking at journals, I was really excited because the guy at the first stand starting speaking to me in Italian, and I answered him in Italian. Then he spoke in Spanish, and I answered him automatically in Spanish. It even took me a minute to realize that he had switched languages because I'm so used to hearing Spanish all the time. Then he asked me, "Are you from California?" I laughed and answered in English. I wondered how he knew that, but I guess Ariel had gone to that stand right before me and knew there were a few of us. I was super excited because I was able to communicate in 3 languages! Yay!
After shopping, I came back to the restaurant and my food was there waiting. The guys were extremely hungry I guess because even though they told me that the food had come five minutes ago, they were almost done. I scarfed my pizza down and was immediately full. Time was ticking, so we paid and headed to the church. We had to pay to get in (which is wrong in my opinion), so we just took pictures of the outside. We walked then towards the Duomo. I knew it was amazing, but when we turned that corner and I saw it again, I forgot how magnificent it really was. It really is incredible. I was SO happy.
We took tons of pictures. The one thing that I wanted to do - NEEDED to do - was go inside. There was a line, but it was fairly short. The guys wanted to do that, but they also really wanted to see the David. I had already seen it, but they only had time for one more thing, especially since the David was a bit of a walk from there. I told them that they could go see the David if they wanted and that I could just go to the Duomo by myself. Bottom line: I WAS GOING INSIDE. I was not spending 15 euros to see something I had already seen. Plus to do the Duomo it would only cost 8 euros. Alim didn't want to get separated, even though our phones worked and I had tested them in line. They decided to just to the Duomo too. I was sad that they went all the way to Florence and wouldn't get to see the David, but in the end, it was worth it.
After waiting in line for like 15-20 minutes, we entered through the cathedral and climbed and climbed and climbed. We went up hundreds of steps. They were the kind where you go in a circle, like you're climbing up a tower so it's a little dizzying. Finally we got to the middle portion and oh my goodness, it was amazing. We were on a ledge built around the inside edges of the building where we could look up at the inside of the dome. It was absolutely gorgeous. For us, just seeing that was worth the 8 euros to climb. But it wasn't over yet.
We climbed even higher, and we found ourselves in a place that reminded me of a dungeon. The passage got narrower, and the ceiling got lower. It was dark, except for the random windows where we could get a glimpse of the outside world. Finally, we climbed one last mini flight of stairs and found ourselves outside. We were literally on the very tippy top of the Duomo. The view was absolutely breathtaking. All I could do was sigh and say "wow" over and over. I didn't cry, but when I first saw the view I wanted to. There's a picture to your left of the view, but it does not do it justice. We could literally see all of Florence, and we could circle around the top to see a 360 degree view. We spent most of our time there, taking pictures and just marveling at the view. We all were saying the same thing, that the 8 euros and climbing all those stairs were totally worth it. We could have spent all day there, at least I could have. We stayed there for as long as we could before we knew we had to leave. We climbed down and found ourselves under the Dome again, except this time we were on a ledge higher up and closer to the ceiling - close enough that if we jumped high enough we could touch it. Amazing.
We climbed down and went to the flea market one more time, and Alim ended up getting this really nice white belt made out of buffalo. I bought myself a small 1 euro brown leather bracelet with pretty designs on it to remember that perfect day. I bought it from that first guy with the journals. It was funny because when I went up to him, he said in Spanish, "Hey! It's the girl who speaks 5 languages." That made me smile from ear to ear. Anyways, I absolutely love my bracelet. I never take it off - except when I shower of course. After that, we bought some gelato and water and rested for a bit. We made one last pit stop at McDonald's so that the guys could get their euro burgers, and we were on our way.
Our train back was a little nicer from the outside, and we got another Harry Potter compartment. The train was fuller coming back, so 3 more people shared with us. There was an Italian guy and a Russian girl who ended up leaving partway through the train ride. The last one was a Chinese woman from New York who was there visiting Europe with her husband and son. We all started talking, and turns out that she was a doctor. She asked us what we were studying in school. Ariel studies film and public health, and he actually started the Global Brigades chapter at UC Riverside and is the boss man and everything. They make trips to Honduras every year and kind of do what I did on my trek to Mexico City last summer, except they don't have the religion part. Well that sparked a long conversation between him and the woman because her husband is a medical missionary in Guatemala, she does things like that herself. Alim studies environmental science, and she asked him what he wanted to do with that and stuff. When I told her that I study English and Spanish, her response was a nod and "that's nice." Then she continued talking with Ariel again. Typical response. I have the "stupid" major. Sorry if I don't have a fancy schmancy title, but I think I'm more creative than scientific. Oh well.
It was funny because after a while, Alim and I stopped paying attention because clearly she wasn't interested in us. I started writing a birthday letter to Nikki, half wishing her happy birthday, half apologizing because I felt so, so, SO guilty for leaving her. Then the lady said something about God, and my head snapped up because she said it in such a way that only a Christian would say. She was talking about her work, and she started saying words like "blessing," "miracle," and "by His grace." I knew then for sure that she was a Christian. I thought it was absolutely hilarious because she was explaining to them about something that happened to her and was "preaching" to them in a way. I saw Ariel's and Alim's eyes go blank. I could tell that they stopped listening. They were doing that thing where they politely nod and smile at the appropriate times. I was sitting there laughing to myself because I know they're not religious, and here we were, on the train back from Florence, with a random Christian doctor from New York. She was telling us about her son in the compartment next to us who liked to get drunk and didn't want to talk to us because he had too much beer and wine. Apparently he had failed out of college or something, but then he ended up going to medical school and now makes more than her. At one point, Ariel had said something like, "It's amazing to see how what we're doing is actually working," and she responded, "You mean what God is doing." Inside, I was like, Preach it, girl, PREACH IT!
After a while, I asked her about her organization because she mentioned that she went on mission trips. I forgot the name now, but I was telling her about InterVarsity, and she said that she knows it and said that it's a very large organization that she's heard a lot of good things about. She and Ariel exchanged information, and she went back to her compartment where there was space now for her to sit down. We were saying how if Ariel and I were combined into one person, we would be her because she likes to go on missions trips to other countries, except that she has the medical part that Global Brigades does. I think the guys were glad that she went away because, face it, no one likes getting preached at. I mean, they know that I'm a Christian, but I don't slap them with my Bible. In the end, it was a pleasure getting to talk to her, and we were all glad to meet her.
We all fell asleep then, and after a while we finally got back to Termini in Rome. We got off the train, and okay normally the guys walk slowly. I wouldn't even call it a walk, I'd call it an amble. For some reason, they were walking super super fast, so fast that I had to jog at some point to keep up with their long-legged strides. Then I realized that they were trying to get away from the Christian lady. Part of me was very amused, while the other part was like sad day. We started walking back to Piazza Venezia and decided to buy a bottle of wine for Nikki. The next day was her 21st birthday, and she's Italian and hadn't had a chance to try the wine there. We decided to spit the cost and make a toast to her at midnight. We found a place open that was pretty cheap. We got their best wine from Sicily, and we were excited to surprise her. We made a quick stop at the Colosseum to take pictures of it at night. It was really pretty, especially with the almost full moon in the background. We took the bus back home, and Angela let us in.
To OUR surprise, Nikki was already asleep. She had gone to the Vatican that day and I guess was dead tired. We were sad and put the wine on the counter next to some tiramisu and a fruit white chocolate parfait thing that Angela had bought her. I put my gifts for her on the table too. Because I'm the closest to her, they told me to wake her up because it was midnight by then. Now I know that Nikki can be cranky when she wakes up, so I was seriously afraid that she would give me a surprise punch in the face. I shook her and said her name, but she wouldn't wake up. They told me to shake her harder, so I did, but she STILL wouldn't wake up. Shiesh, she must have been exhausted. They told me to shake her even harder, but I was seriously scared. Cranky Nikki = scary Nikki. Finally, Angela turned on the light and shook her again. Then Ariel and Alim jumped on the bed, and Ariel said happy birthday really loudly. She finally woke up, rubbed her eyes, and asked what was happening. I'm pretty sure she was still drowsy because she had no idea what was going on. I felt super bad that we woke her up, but we gave her the presents and the desserts. She said we were really sweet. Turns out, she LOVED the journal which made me happy. She got up and gave me a hug and asked if she could go to sleep now. We laughed and let her sleep.
We put the desserts in the fridge and left the wine on the counter for her. The rest of us talked for a little while, but we were all exhausted. I realized then the my feet were hurting from the hundreds of stairs I had climbed in my boots. I slept pretty well that night.
It was a crazy, crazy day. Even though we had missed our train in the morning, I'm kind of glad we did because now, we have an insane story to tell people. Also, because we didn't have as much time, it kicked the guys into high gear, and I had been afraid that they would "amble" around Florence. Turns out, they were the ones that wanted to do everything. It was an unexpected, random, amazing day. I love Florence, and I love Italy, and I am SO blessed that I had the chance to go back there once again.
