(no subject)
Ciao! I got back from Italy yesterday. I had a great time, but I'm muchly glad to be home.
So, what happened in the trip:
Tuesday
We got on the bus at two in the morning. I had been expecting (hoping, really) that everyone would be tired and would be quiet on the bus, but most people reached a level of hyperactivity that was not to be matched for the rest of the holiday. I, however, just wanted to go to bed and I honestly felt like clubbing each and every person over the head. Especially Sinead. 'I'm an i-pod, tell me a song to sing!' was her catchphrase.
Boarded the plane at seven. Sinead kept shaking my seat from behind and yelling, 'TUR-BUL-EENNCE!!!' This was before the plane had even taken off. And when it was turning to land I got the worst pain ever in the side of my face. Even a few days after, my teeth still hurt a bit to touch.
When we landed in Milan, we wandered around the shopping centre. Sinead and I admired the cathedral and jokingly pointed out different parts of the architecture to each other that we had been studying in Art. Then we visited the football stadium (snore), and then drove to Lake Garda to go go-carting. But I didn't take part, I was way too tired.
It was about nine when we finally reached the old-fashioned hotel and got dinner. By this stage I was too exhausted to eat. I've seriously never been tired like that before. My legs were aching and weak even when I was sitting down, my chest burned like I was getting a cough and I felt physically sick at the thought of eating. That is definitely the last time I ever miss a night's sleep again!
Aoife and I were sharing a room with two fourth-year friends, Cora and Olivia R. That night the noise from the surrounding rooms was unbelievable. Shouting, laughing and a banging around from upstairs that sounded like someone scraping furniture across the floor. The next day we learned that it was some of the boys wrestling in the dark, the idiots.
Wednesday
Went to Verona to see where Juliet was supposed to have lived (from Romeo & Juliet) and her balcony in the courtyard, and her statue. I was there two years ago, but I loved seeing it again. We didn't actually go into the house, even though we could if we wanted to. I regret that now. We went to the ampitheatre as well, which I've also seen.
After that we went to some town that I can't remember the name of. There was this real fairy-tale castle there with a drawbridge and a moat and everything. Aoife and I went in and climbed endless stairs to get to the top of the very highest tower, from which the view was amazing.
That night we went to a two-hour all-you-can-eat at the Rock Star Cafe, though I didn't eat that much, whereas my friends chomped their way through piles of food at an unbelieveable rate. When we got back to the hotel the teachers sat outside our bedroom doors until everyone fell asleep, because the night before there'd been too much noise. This was a relief.
Thursday
We visited different towns around Lake Garda, getting to one on a boat, which was cold but fun. Then we got on the bus to get to the second hotel, which was nearer Venice. That bus journey was quite miserable, actually...it was suppose to take two hours, but actually took three...feh. And the hotel wasn't too great, either. Aoife and I were sharing a room, and the shower...well, the bathroom was a sort of shower room, where the water just goes all over the floor, which is the stupidest thing I've ever seen. That night was not fun - I was tired and grumpy and we had to go bowling, which was the last thing I wanted to do.
Friday
VENICE!!!! Where I've ALSO already been - but I had an absolutely brilliant time, Venice is the best city in the world. Aoife and I had the time of our lives - we both love the Stravaganza trilogy, and the first book is set in an alternate Venice. So we were going around noting the places in the book and the differences between our Venice and that Venice.
It was pouring rain, and St Mark's Square was flooded - everyone was edging around these narrow walkways. An old-ish Italian man was our guide, and he took us into the Ducal Palace and explained its history and everything. I was really interested, and at one point he took my arm and said I was a clever girl; he could see I was paying attention, and he could always spot the clever ones. LOL. Anyway, the best part of that was actually getting to cross the Bridge of Sighs.
The guide took us briefly to the Grand Canal, and after we had lunch we were set loose for some shopping. Aoife and I got lost twice in pouring rain, and both times we found Ms T and she rescued us. I bought two Venetian masks, one purple with feathers sticking out of the top, and a blue and black one, to add to my collection (I already have a black and silver one). I love those masks; when I'm rich I'm going to buy those beautiful ones that cost hundreds of euros.
We were waiting on the quay for at least an hour, because the waterbus never came for us or something. There was icy rain and we were standing in puddles and everyone else was miserable, but Aoife and I were still hyped. At one point we saw a primary school students from Mayo on the quay! The principal came over to talk to us; he's from a town not too far from us, where Sinead's aunt lives. And it turned out that his brother had bought land from Sinead's aunt. It must be true what they say: anytime we meet another Irish person in the world, they'll have some sort of connection to us. And we'll always find another Irish person.
When a few of us finally got too cold to stand there any longer, we headed into a cafe with two of the teachers to get bowls of hot chocolate with whipped cream on the top. And the boat did come eventually, and when we got back to the hotel we got warmed up and got into our pyjamas. I tried to warm my feet up by sticking them into Michelle and Michelle's shower, but I flooded the whole bathroom. Stupid shower rooms! And then we hung out in Ms T's room, and everyone, including her, was in their pyjamas and Cora blow-dried Ms T's hair. Ms T is great - she really gets young people (she's only thirty herself) and you can feel you can tell her anything, and you'd do anything she asked you to. She sees the best in everybody.
As it was the last night, the hotel let us into its proper restaurant for dinner, and to get there we had to run in our pyjamas down a dark street in driving rain...I don't know what the other people in the restaurant made of us, heh.
At about half ten Ms T decided to bring us to a disco, but Aoife and I opted to stay behind and pack, and watch CSI dubbed in Italian. We went to sleep, but were woken up when the others came back at two in the morning, crashing through the corridors like a herd of wild elephants.
Saturday
We were allowed a bit of a lie-in that morning. All the teachers seemed very tired...we learned that they had all been completely drunk and had stayed up until six. Ms T came down to breakfast in her pjs! We drove to the town of Treviso, where we had to hang around until half four. The shops closed for two hours at lunch, and the clothes were all way beyond our budget, so it was a bit boring. But Aoife and I split a pizza and got ice-creams to eat while sitting on the monument, and that was nice and relaxing.
When we got to the airport, it turned out to be the WRONG airport, so we had to wait there for half an hour while the bus driver was contacted to tell him to come back. Our flight wasn't until nine. On the plane, Olivia and I were moved because we're both seventeen and had to sit beside the emergency exits, which made me a bit nervous. During the flight Olivia found a spare seat beside the rest of the girls, and later on Aoife came up to sit beside me and we discussed many, many different books and films at length.
On the bus ride home everyone was trying to sleep when Sinead started her fecking singing again, but thankfully she was made to shut up. We reached the school at one in the morning. Brendan and I were the very last to be collected, because Mammy didn't get Brendan's text message. But she arrived eventually, and the house was all warm and Ozzie was inside and Mammy had put up Halloween decorations and carved a pumpkin already, and she made us hot chocolate and toast and everything was cosy.
Then when I went to bed I started biting my nails, and the crown on one of my front teeth splintered off with a horrible noise. (It was put on when I was ten and pushed into a bathroom wall by a 'friend' and broke my tooth.) So now I have about a third of a tooth missing and I look well suited for Halloween. I am not going out in public until it is fixed.
-------------------
So that's the Italy trip summed up. I have loads of good memories and good photos (I hope. I mean, Brendan got the digital camera and I used Mammy's old camera, which is taped up and has to be held closed with a hair bobble.) There were a few bad times, when I felt so homesick that it was like a physical ache. Also my feet were freezing every night, without my electric blanket and hot water bottle. I had to rub them for ages, and soak them in hot water, and they were still cold. But last night I had the bright idea of warming them up with the hairdryer, go me.
Yeah, and the weather was really bad. I brought all summery clothes with me! Why oh why did I scoff at Mammy when she told me to bring a woolly jumper?!
Now I have a whole week off school to look forward to. A whole week of tons of Maths homework and an English essay and worrying that I should be studying. Yup.
------------
I saw Daddy today for the first time since he left in September to go hiking in Spain! He got me a lovely Tintin t-shirt with the cover of Destination Moon printed on it. Anyway, he seems a bit down - he's missing the people he met on the hike. I hope he feels better soon.
I'm a bit sleepy now. I suppose it's really eleven o'clock for me. I'm hungry, too. At last I can eat whenever I want, whatever I want. And I can finally drink a big mug of strong Irish tea. Northern Irish tea, actually - people from there always drink really strong tea. In Italy the tea was so weak. And they don't eat a proper breakfast!! And they eat stale bread!!!
It's good to be home.
So, what happened in the trip:
Tuesday
We got on the bus at two in the morning. I had been expecting (hoping, really) that everyone would be tired and would be quiet on the bus, but most people reached a level of hyperactivity that was not to be matched for the rest of the holiday. I, however, just wanted to go to bed and I honestly felt like clubbing each and every person over the head. Especially Sinead. 'I'm an i-pod, tell me a song to sing!' was her catchphrase.
Boarded the plane at seven. Sinead kept shaking my seat from behind and yelling, 'TUR-BUL-EENNCE!!!' This was before the plane had even taken off. And when it was turning to land I got the worst pain ever in the side of my face. Even a few days after, my teeth still hurt a bit to touch.
When we landed in Milan, we wandered around the shopping centre. Sinead and I admired the cathedral and jokingly pointed out different parts of the architecture to each other that we had been studying in Art. Then we visited the football stadium (snore), and then drove to Lake Garda to go go-carting. But I didn't take part, I was way too tired.
It was about nine when we finally reached the old-fashioned hotel and got dinner. By this stage I was too exhausted to eat. I've seriously never been tired like that before. My legs were aching and weak even when I was sitting down, my chest burned like I was getting a cough and I felt physically sick at the thought of eating. That is definitely the last time I ever miss a night's sleep again!
Aoife and I were sharing a room with two fourth-year friends, Cora and Olivia R. That night the noise from the surrounding rooms was unbelievable. Shouting, laughing and a banging around from upstairs that sounded like someone scraping furniture across the floor. The next day we learned that it was some of the boys wrestling in the dark, the idiots.
Wednesday
Went to Verona to see where Juliet was supposed to have lived (from Romeo & Juliet) and her balcony in the courtyard, and her statue. I was there two years ago, but I loved seeing it again. We didn't actually go into the house, even though we could if we wanted to. I regret that now. We went to the ampitheatre as well, which I've also seen.
After that we went to some town that I can't remember the name of. There was this real fairy-tale castle there with a drawbridge and a moat and everything. Aoife and I went in and climbed endless stairs to get to the top of the very highest tower, from which the view was amazing.
That night we went to a two-hour all-you-can-eat at the Rock Star Cafe, though I didn't eat that much, whereas my friends chomped their way through piles of food at an unbelieveable rate. When we got back to the hotel the teachers sat outside our bedroom doors until everyone fell asleep, because the night before there'd been too much noise. This was a relief.
Thursday
We visited different towns around Lake Garda, getting to one on a boat, which was cold but fun. Then we got on the bus to get to the second hotel, which was nearer Venice. That bus journey was quite miserable, actually...it was suppose to take two hours, but actually took three...feh. And the hotel wasn't too great, either. Aoife and I were sharing a room, and the shower...well, the bathroom was a sort of shower room, where the water just goes all over the floor, which is the stupidest thing I've ever seen. That night was not fun - I was tired and grumpy and we had to go bowling, which was the last thing I wanted to do.
Friday
VENICE!!!! Where I've ALSO already been - but I had an absolutely brilliant time, Venice is the best city in the world. Aoife and I had the time of our lives - we both love the Stravaganza trilogy, and the first book is set in an alternate Venice. So we were going around noting the places in the book and the differences between our Venice and that Venice.
It was pouring rain, and St Mark's Square was flooded - everyone was edging around these narrow walkways. An old-ish Italian man was our guide, and he took us into the Ducal Palace and explained its history and everything. I was really interested, and at one point he took my arm and said I was a clever girl; he could see I was paying attention, and he could always spot the clever ones. LOL. Anyway, the best part of that was actually getting to cross the Bridge of Sighs.
The guide took us briefly to the Grand Canal, and after we had lunch we were set loose for some shopping. Aoife and I got lost twice in pouring rain, and both times we found Ms T and she rescued us. I bought two Venetian masks, one purple with feathers sticking out of the top, and a blue and black one, to add to my collection (I already have a black and silver one). I love those masks; when I'm rich I'm going to buy those beautiful ones that cost hundreds of euros.
We were waiting on the quay for at least an hour, because the waterbus never came for us or something. There was icy rain and we were standing in puddles and everyone else was miserable, but Aoife and I were still hyped. At one point we saw a primary school students from Mayo on the quay! The principal came over to talk to us; he's from a town not too far from us, where Sinead's aunt lives. And it turned out that his brother had bought land from Sinead's aunt. It must be true what they say: anytime we meet another Irish person in the world, they'll have some sort of connection to us. And we'll always find another Irish person.
When a few of us finally got too cold to stand there any longer, we headed into a cafe with two of the teachers to get bowls of hot chocolate with whipped cream on the top. And the boat did come eventually, and when we got back to the hotel we got warmed up and got into our pyjamas. I tried to warm my feet up by sticking them into Michelle and Michelle's shower, but I flooded the whole bathroom. Stupid shower rooms! And then we hung out in Ms T's room, and everyone, including her, was in their pyjamas and Cora blow-dried Ms T's hair. Ms T is great - she really gets young people (she's only thirty herself) and you can feel you can tell her anything, and you'd do anything she asked you to. She sees the best in everybody.
As it was the last night, the hotel let us into its proper restaurant for dinner, and to get there we had to run in our pyjamas down a dark street in driving rain...I don't know what the other people in the restaurant made of us, heh.
At about half ten Ms T decided to bring us to a disco, but Aoife and I opted to stay behind and pack, and watch CSI dubbed in Italian. We went to sleep, but were woken up when the others came back at two in the morning, crashing through the corridors like a herd of wild elephants.
Saturday
We were allowed a bit of a lie-in that morning. All the teachers seemed very tired...we learned that they had all been completely drunk and had stayed up until six. Ms T came down to breakfast in her pjs! We drove to the town of Treviso, where we had to hang around until half four. The shops closed for two hours at lunch, and the clothes were all way beyond our budget, so it was a bit boring. But Aoife and I split a pizza and got ice-creams to eat while sitting on the monument, and that was nice and relaxing.
When we got to the airport, it turned out to be the WRONG airport, so we had to wait there for half an hour while the bus driver was contacted to tell him to come back. Our flight wasn't until nine. On the plane, Olivia and I were moved because we're both seventeen and had to sit beside the emergency exits, which made me a bit nervous. During the flight Olivia found a spare seat beside the rest of the girls, and later on Aoife came up to sit beside me and we discussed many, many different books and films at length.
On the bus ride home everyone was trying to sleep when Sinead started her fecking singing again, but thankfully she was made to shut up. We reached the school at one in the morning. Brendan and I were the very last to be collected, because Mammy didn't get Brendan's text message. But she arrived eventually, and the house was all warm and Ozzie was inside and Mammy had put up Halloween decorations and carved a pumpkin already, and she made us hot chocolate and toast and everything was cosy.
Then when I went to bed I started biting my nails, and the crown on one of my front teeth splintered off with a horrible noise. (It was put on when I was ten and pushed into a bathroom wall by a 'friend' and broke my tooth.) So now I have about a third of a tooth missing and I look well suited for Halloween. I am not going out in public until it is fixed.
-------------------
So that's the Italy trip summed up. I have loads of good memories and good photos (I hope. I mean, Brendan got the digital camera and I used Mammy's old camera, which is taped up and has to be held closed with a hair bobble.) There were a few bad times, when I felt so homesick that it was like a physical ache. Also my feet were freezing every night, without my electric blanket and hot water bottle. I had to rub them for ages, and soak them in hot water, and they were still cold. But last night I had the bright idea of warming them up with the hairdryer, go me.
Yeah, and the weather was really bad. I brought all summery clothes with me! Why oh why did I scoff at Mammy when she told me to bring a woolly jumper?!
Now I have a whole week off school to look forward to. A whole week of tons of Maths homework and an English essay and worrying that I should be studying. Yup.
------------
I saw Daddy today for the first time since he left in September to go hiking in Spain! He got me a lovely Tintin t-shirt with the cover of Destination Moon printed on it. Anyway, he seems a bit down - he's missing the people he met on the hike. I hope he feels better soon.
I'm a bit sleepy now. I suppose it's really eleven o'clock for me. I'm hungry, too. At last I can eat whenever I want, whatever I want. And I can finally drink a big mug of strong Irish tea. Northern Irish tea, actually - people from there always drink really strong tea. In Italy the tea was so weak. And they don't eat a proper breakfast!! And they eat stale bread!!!
It's good to be home.