My life in Italy....
So my family and I went to Italy to visit some family friends..... and all sorts of craziness ensued.
First, we had to buy the tickets to get there. Of course, most everything that needed a reservation was full, and my parents were using railpasses, making it even a little harder to get tickets. Anyways, we ended up finally getting aller-retours to Genova, Italy (pronounced Genoa). BUT on the way there we had to start by taking the night train at 12:36am from Perpignan, arriving in Saint-Raphael at 7:20 and then taking another train to Ventimiglia (which means literally twenty miles... interesting....) and then waiting an hour, and then taking ANOTHER train to Genova, making us arrive around 3:00pm. Ugh. By then we're dirty and all, but Maurizio (the family friend) doesn't take us straight to my parent's hotel and his apartment, he shows us a little of the city. Fine, I guess, even though I am sooooo exhausted!! Then we get to their apartment and find out it is six flights up with no elevator. So Meghan and I are draggin our little suitcase up their stairs. Then we get in, and they suggest we take a walk up to this top part of the city. Okay. So we do.
Genova is super hilly, being right by the mountains but also is a major port. We definitely walked the hilly area.
Okay, so in the end Genova was fun, don't get me wrong. We went to the Aquarium (penguins and dolphins and seals insued) and we did see a lot of cool stuff. Even though it rained. And even though I psychologically convinced myself I was sick half the time (yuck, that sucked but I am hoping I am learning to chill a little now).
And then it was time to go back to Montpellier. This is the fun part.
We find out the day before we leave that a plane that was supposed to go to Piza landed in Genova, and four peopl ran away from the cops. Two of them were found out to be international terrorists from I don't know were. But our hosts told us they were from a place that speaks arabic.
You know how paranoid I am. If there are terrorists running around in Genova, of COURSE they are going to be on my train into France, right?
So we get on our train at 6:44am, and ride to Ventimiglia. While we're riding, the persons next to us get my notice. Speaking a language I don't understand (maybe arabic?) and have two nondescript bags of grey color that they are keeping an eye on. And then in the middle of the train ride, the two people split up. Of course you know what I am thinking. Paranoia is like a calling for me.
We got into Ventimiglia without incident, and we also made it to our second stop Marseille after an hour wait in Ventimiglia. Then we had a three hour layover in Marseille. No biggie.
EXCEPT I convinced myself I was feeling sick, because I was so paranoid about maybe feeling sick.... stupid!!!! But I did. And then there was a train accident right outside of Marseille's train station.
We were supposed to leave Marseille at 4:30pm. Wanna know when we really left? We got out of Marseille at 9:10pm. After already waiting in the station for three hours, we had to wait on a train for four more before we got moving. AND they made us change trains at one point as well.
So we finally got to Montpellier at 11:00pm, where I then had to help my parents check into their hotel, where the dude was a little impatient to get going (understandably, we were supposed to get there around seven). Then my starving sister and I bought some chips and milk and cookies at 2M and came back to my apartment, and slept and ate (not in that order).
So here we are. And that was my time in Italy, the long version.
First, we had to buy the tickets to get there. Of course, most everything that needed a reservation was full, and my parents were using railpasses, making it even a little harder to get tickets. Anyways, we ended up finally getting aller-retours to Genova, Italy (pronounced Genoa). BUT on the way there we had to start by taking the night train at 12:36am from Perpignan, arriving in Saint-Raphael at 7:20 and then taking another train to Ventimiglia (which means literally twenty miles... interesting....) and then waiting an hour, and then taking ANOTHER train to Genova, making us arrive around 3:00pm. Ugh. By then we're dirty and all, but Maurizio (the family friend) doesn't take us straight to my parent's hotel and his apartment, he shows us a little of the city. Fine, I guess, even though I am sooooo exhausted!! Then we get to their apartment and find out it is six flights up with no elevator. So Meghan and I are draggin our little suitcase up their stairs. Then we get in, and they suggest we take a walk up to this top part of the city. Okay. So we do.
Genova is super hilly, being right by the mountains but also is a major port. We definitely walked the hilly area.
Okay, so in the end Genova was fun, don't get me wrong. We went to the Aquarium (penguins and dolphins and seals insued) and we did see a lot of cool stuff. Even though it rained. And even though I psychologically convinced myself I was sick half the time (yuck, that sucked but I am hoping I am learning to chill a little now).
And then it was time to go back to Montpellier. This is the fun part.
We find out the day before we leave that a plane that was supposed to go to Piza landed in Genova, and four peopl ran away from the cops. Two of them were found out to be international terrorists from I don't know were. But our hosts told us they were from a place that speaks arabic.
You know how paranoid I am. If there are terrorists running around in Genova, of COURSE they are going to be on my train into France, right?
So we get on our train at 6:44am, and ride to Ventimiglia. While we're riding, the persons next to us get my notice. Speaking a language I don't understand (maybe arabic?) and have two nondescript bags of grey color that they are keeping an eye on. And then in the middle of the train ride, the two people split up. Of course you know what I am thinking. Paranoia is like a calling for me.
We got into Ventimiglia without incident, and we also made it to our second stop Marseille after an hour wait in Ventimiglia. Then we had a three hour layover in Marseille. No biggie.
EXCEPT I convinced myself I was feeling sick, because I was so paranoid about maybe feeling sick.... stupid!!!! But I did. And then there was a train accident right outside of Marseille's train station.
We were supposed to leave Marseille at 4:30pm. Wanna know when we really left? We got out of Marseille at 9:10pm. After already waiting in the station for three hours, we had to wait on a train for four more before we got moving. AND they made us change trains at one point as well.
So we finally got to Montpellier at 11:00pm, where I then had to help my parents check into their hotel, where the dude was a little impatient to get going (understandably, we were supposed to get there around seven). Then my starving sister and I bought some chips and milk and cookies at 2M and came back to my apartment, and slept and ate (not in that order).
So here we are. And that was my time in Italy, the long version.