I admit, I was getting a little anxious waiting at the bus stop for her to arrive. She was taking a shuttle from the airport to the central train station; I sat on the sidewalk, watching tons of shuttles come and go, each time standing up and hawkishly inspecting each of the travelers, ech time sitting down in discomfort when she didn't appear. It was an hour ride or so, I knew, from the airport to the train station; since her plane was supposed to land around 3:30pm, and I fudged her 30min to get out and find the shuttle, I expected her to arrive sometime around 5pm.
Instead, 5pm rolled around and no sign of her. 5:15 came, and I agreed fudging some numbers to explain why she hadn't arrived yet: maybe she took an awful long time to get off the plane, maybe they trolled about on the runway like they sometimes do, maybe she stopped to go to the bathroom or to get some food or, or, or --
And then, finally, at about 5:30, another shuttle bus came and I went up to sourly glare at all the passengers coming off who weren't her, and then, up in the window, I realized some maniac was pounding and waving and trying to get my attention -- and it was her! Yes! Finally!! Because, not only was I a little concerned about why she was taking so long...but also, I had needed to go to the bathroom for about an hour but I didn't want to leave my appointed spot until she got there! So as soon as she came down and we hugged, it was off to McD's for a time out before we went on towards our hostel.
The other good bit of news (for me) is that I've successfully enrolled myself into my fall semester classes, online and on time. I'm a little bummed, having found out that they enforce a strict 18-credit hour limit (and I think a 16-hour limit for incoming transfers/freshmen) so I had to narrow down my desired selection a bit. When I first started thinking about fall, I admit I was all for going in with. 21 or 24 credit hours, but I had already shorted that list down to only 19, and when I had to drop another class, I was seriously sour about it. Oh well. I also got an email from Boulder telling me that I needed to be on campus by 11:30am on the 16th, which should work out (hopefully) with a scheduled arrival of 9:30am to DIA! Crisis averted!
Yesterday was a straight-up wait and travel and wait day, having gotten to the train station for what was supposed to be a 9:50am departure for Milan, only to find out that the train had been cancelled and the next departure wasn't until 10:50. I waited impatiently, people-watching until my train finally rolled in. Onboard, I claimed my window seat and then secretly laughed when two obviously Texan tourists sat across from me. They were complaining about the heat so I obligingly pulled down the window and struck up a conversation. I could tell by their surprise that they took me for an Italian at first; the guy turns out to be a certification engineer of sorts, here on business to inspect machining parts for his oil-and-steel production company based out of Ft Worth. After having completed his inspection, his company (which had flown him and his wife out on company money) had graciously offered to let them tour through Europe for about two weeks before flying them back.
I am a little jealous. Though, I don't think I want to ever be associated with the oil industry.
They got off at a stop about two hours before mine. I took a nap on the train for a bit and when I woke up, I saw that a guy a few seats down the row was wearing a Colorado t-shirt. I'm pretty sure I totally weirder him out, staring down at him for some time before my inner self kicked me and said "hey, it's a little weird to just stare at people, why don't you go and say hello?" So I did. He ended up being a Londoner who had studied at CU Boulder for a semester a few years back, and was just wearing the shirt on a whim. Him and his buddy (who was passed out in the next seat) had been cycling through the norther parts of Italy for 10 days and were just now on their way back to London. We had an awesome conversation, mostly because he was very generous with his praising of Boulder and Colorado as a whole. I'm sure my head puffed up to the size of a hot-air balloon and the expression on my face was smug pride. At Milan, I waved goodbye to them as they walked on, bicycled in tow, and then I settled in for what would turn out to be a 3-hour wait for Andreina to show up.
Which is nothing compared to all the waiting she's had to do these last two days!! Goodness, I asked her what she did to pass the time and I'm just really, really proud of her.
We got lost once on our way to the hostel, walking the wrong way down a street until we hit a metro stop that was definitely in the opposite direction, but we made it and threw down our bags and headed back out to the center of the city, catching sight of the beautiful Duomo of Milan, the world's third-largest Christian church. Andreina, I've found out, is almost deathly afraid of pidgins, which was sadly funny because of course there are hundreds of pigeons everywhere, especially in a huge square where there are tons of people who take fun in feeding them birdseed. Oe bird flew straight into us it's ratty wings brushing against our legs, and she screamed. I know I should be laughing, not now and certainly not then, but I can't help it -- it was hilarious!!
When she first got off the plane, she was pretty energetic; after we headed back from the Duomo to our hostel's neighborhood in search of pizza, she got more and more tired, visibly dragging along. After we grabbed some pizza and got back to the hostel to eat, though, the situation flipped itself once more: I was ready for bed at about 10pm, and she was wired up and bright-eyed. It was annoying! I wanted to say "hey, go back to being sleepy, that way I don't feel like the old person here!!" ^_^
We're just eating breakfast now, and it's a little after 9am. The train I'm hoping to catch isn't until noon so we have quite a bit of time to eventually make it out of our hostel. Today we're heading to the Cinque Terra, a collection of five small villages scattered within walking distance along the northern coast of Italy, very close to the border of France. I'm very excited, personally, with the idea of hiking again. Venice was so flat and easy to walk around in, and my legs have gotten too used to being strenuously used each day, that the entire time I walked around that narrow city my body still felt like it was asleep, still felt like I'd never quite started the day going. I feel like all my muscles are tensed, waiting to spring into action, waiting to feel used and purposeful and strained. I've warned Andreina to let me know when she gets tired because she obviously isn't going to be as used to this as I am; I don't think she's gotten it into her head, yet, how much I mean to do. But she will very, very soon!
Location:Viale Regina Margherita,Milan,Italy
I am really glad that you both are going to be able to spend a lot of time together! I keep telling everyone that I talk to that vacations with you are the best because I know that I always had fun whenever I visited while you were in the Navy. Lol, except for that one time where I was left in your townhouse for about 3 days because you were called in for duty--but I ended up watching all of season 1 of Grey's, so it wasn't too bad. And when I say that I tell everyone, what I really mean is that I tell John over and over again. He kind of vacations like you where it is constant on-the-go mode and I tell him that I will go along with that, but if left to my own devices, I am a sit-in-the-hammock-and-read vacationer.
ReplyDeleteAny way, sorry to always make my post about John, but I love you both and have fun and be safe while finishing up this adventure.
I sat down and figured a way to post and add comments. We will see if this works. If does to bad took me 2 months to get it done. Life here with John is..oh wait..Im not Jessica! Im glad Andreina is there. I can picture her pounding on the window while others in the bus wonder of her sanity. AMERICANS!!! they probably thought. Keep us posted and let Andreina post thoughts or show her how to make a blog so she will have a rmemberance also one day. BE SAFE as I know you will. Looking forward to the Skype.
ReplyDelete:ove Much Popi
This is your Mother. Are you brushing your teeth and changing your cloths daily. ALL your cloths, I mean you don't want people thinking your French right. Keep you hair clean and wash your face. I love you....if you were wondering this is really Popi. I just needed to post something so I could set it up for Momi to post. Thogh I would type something funny
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