EUROTRIPPIN
Hello from beautiful Tuscany, Italy! Ive started my 16 day trip here, visiting Riccardo, a CSurfing friend that Ive met a few times in Madrid. He lives in a city called Pistoia which is not too big, but surrounded by mountains, with other nice cities nearby as well. I arrived Wednesday night and Riccardo took me out for Tuscan food, consisting of both cheese and spinach raviolis which were really tasty! Thursday I was on my own and I went into Firenze, or Florence. Very nice city, with lots of old art, buildings, cathedrals, etc to see and then to top it all off, there is a river with cool bridges which is just my thing! Climbing up near the Micaelangelo Plaza gives nice views of the whole city! In the evening I met back up again with Riccardo and we went with a bunch of his workmates for dinner (pizza of course!) to celebrate one friends bday. I was a little overwhelmed with all the Italian, but his friends Daniel, Andrea and Federico sat near me and spoke in English :) A couple others knew Spanish too, so it turned out to be a good night, though I was pooped!
Friday I was going to visit Lucca, a walled-in city, but arrived late and went straight on to Pisa. HOW BEAUTIFUL!! I love Pisa! Along with the Tower and the Miracle Square, the colors of the city are just fabulous-- so many and so bright! The same river also flows through so it just seemed so perfect.. definitely a place Id like to return to. Riccardo ended up leaving for the weekend but left me his keys which was very nice. I figured Id stay in and look up more info for the trip but his friend Federico came and picked me up and took me back to his town for a tour and gelato!
Despite being up very late, I was going to go back to Lucca today, but once again (youd think Id learn) I missed the train, only this time the next one wouldnt come for another 3 hours, not giving me enough time. Bummed and mad at myself, I went around Pistoia seeing parts that I hadnt been to yet. Now Ive been doing a little more planning for the trip and Im about to head off to catch a train (I wont be late this time!) to meet my cousin Ellen and her friends from Belgium in Umbria, Italy.
Apart from missing trains, I havent had too much trouble traveling alone. Well, in Milan a random Italian/French speaking guy saved me eventhough we couldnt understand each other-- Riccardo had reserved my train ticket and it took over an hour to wait at the station just to pick it up (yeah, really, whats the point of a reservation??). You had to take a number like at Secretary of State and just wait.. a long time.. there were about 100 people ahead of me and I would have never caught my train, but as my luck had it, after showing me where to get the number and seeing me get a little nervous, this guy took my number out of my hand and gave me his, about 40 people sooner than mine, and I was able to pick up my ticket about 5 minutes before my train left. I have to say that I was very shocked at how kind this guy was for me, a stranger, not to mention, one that cannot even communicate with him. I was very grateful.
Well, time to get packed up and get ready to catch this train.. I dont have a set schedule for the rest of the trip, nor do I know anyone in Croatia and Slovenia but heres an idea of where Ill be in the next days..
July 19-21 Umbria, with Ellen and friends
July 22-27 South Croatia- Split, Dubvronik, Brac Island, meet with some other traveling CouchSurfers
July 28 Heading up Croatia- Plitvice Natural Park
July 29-30 Slovenia- Ljubljana, Bled and Bohinj Lakes
July 31 Venice
Aug 1 Return to Madrid
Heres to a continuation of the good times and good luck!
Friday I was going to visit Lucca, a walled-in city, but arrived late and went straight on to Pisa. HOW BEAUTIFUL!! I love Pisa! Along with the Tower and the Miracle Square, the colors of the city are just fabulous-- so many and so bright! The same river also flows through so it just seemed so perfect.. definitely a place Id like to return to. Riccardo ended up leaving for the weekend but left me his keys which was very nice. I figured Id stay in and look up more info for the trip but his friend Federico came and picked me up and took me back to his town for a tour and gelato!
Despite being up very late, I was going to go back to Lucca today, but once again (youd think Id learn) I missed the train, only this time the next one wouldnt come for another 3 hours, not giving me enough time. Bummed and mad at myself, I went around Pistoia seeing parts that I hadnt been to yet. Now Ive been doing a little more planning for the trip and Im about to head off to catch a train (I wont be late this time!) to meet my cousin Ellen and her friends from Belgium in Umbria, Italy.
Apart from missing trains, I havent had too much trouble traveling alone. Well, in Milan a random Italian/French speaking guy saved me eventhough we couldnt understand each other-- Riccardo had reserved my train ticket and it took over an hour to wait at the station just to pick it up (yeah, really, whats the point of a reservation??). You had to take a number like at Secretary of State and just wait.. a long time.. there were about 100 people ahead of me and I would have never caught my train, but as my luck had it, after showing me where to get the number and seeing me get a little nervous, this guy took my number out of my hand and gave me his, about 40 people sooner than mine, and I was able to pick up my ticket about 5 minutes before my train left. I have to say that I was very shocked at how kind this guy was for me, a stranger, not to mention, one that cannot even communicate with him. I was very grateful.
Well, time to get packed up and get ready to catch this train.. I dont have a set schedule for the rest of the trip, nor do I know anyone in Croatia and Slovenia but heres an idea of where Ill be in the next days..
July 19-21 Umbria, with Ellen and friends
July 22-27 South Croatia- Split, Dubvronik, Brac Island, meet with some other traveling CouchSurfers
July 28 Heading up Croatia- Plitvice Natural Park
July 29-30 Slovenia- Ljubljana, Bled and Bohinj Lakes
July 31 Venice
Aug 1 Return to Madrid
Heres to a continuation of the good times and good luck!