Yesterday, I woke up a little after 8:30 and decided to just read a little before actually getting up. I'd heard church bells ringing the morning before; my plan was to wait until after they'd announced the 9:00 hour before waking up Andreina and getting out of the hostel by our 10am lock-out. I'd completely forgotten that it was Sunday! It wasn't until I got reeeeaaaally suspicious of how long it'd been since I'd checked the time, plus the fact that everyone else in our room had cleared out, that I looked at my phone again and, completely startled, realized that it was 10am already! I woke Andreina up and the two of us madly scrambled to get dressed/brush out teeth even aaa we heard the jingling of the cleaning cart coming down the hallway. We left our room just as one of the hostel workers was pulling out his keys to unlock the door.
The first thing I wanted to do was get to the town with the biggest train station, Monterossa, and check out train times to getting to Nice. We jumped on a train and were having a pleasant conversation when the ticket checker came by, asking to see our tickets. We'd bought a two-day card with unlimited access to the area's trains and parks the afternoon that we'd arrived. I though that 2-days meant 48 hours, meaning that our passes were valid until that afternoon; unfortunately, I was wrong and the inspector made a huge scene about how our tickets were invalidated and then fined us for riding the triangle without passes. I'm still a little steamed about that. I wanted to hit him over the head and tell Andreina to run while I kept him down but no, we paid on fine there on the spot and sullenly (at least I was sullen) got off in Monterossa.
We got Andreina's tickets for the next morning then traveled back to our town (having also gotten valid tickets for this train ride -- I was waiting for that inspector to come by again, I would have smacked his nose with them!). Then we went on a walk up the hills again, stopping to pick blackberries until my small ziploc bag was full and to grab more grapes. the view is so spectacular on those hills. The watered stretch out forever, dotted by little sailboats and bigger ferries. I talked about growing my own berries one day along with apple and pear trees; Andreina talked about memories of Grandma's strawberries, raspberries, and crabapples.
For most of the rest of the afternoon, we jumped back into the waters, swimming in those gorgeous turquoise waves and sunning up on the white boulders where the waves musically crashed around us. We had ice cream that tasted more fresh than any ice cream I've ever tasted, and grabbed more bruschetta. For dinner, we found a pizza place that had free wifi and delightfully ordered a pizza to share while we checked neglected email accounts.
It's always unusual to go for a day or so without being able to check my email. I know it's not such a necessary part of my life but it's become so. To my shame, there was even a NPR article that came out not too long ago about how to disconnect your life. It's like a fix! I blame it on being away from home and being so very used to having a 24/7 connection to my Internet identity for the last few years.
I'm trying to remember how Nice was when the ship stopped there a few years back, 2007 I think. I remember the pebble beaches and how uncomfortable they are; I remember giggling at the topless beaches; I remember what seemed like a horribly long walk to the train station down the strip, but my guide books now tell me it's only 15 minutes and I hope that's correct.
The train now is cruising pleasantly along the curve of the cliffside. To the left is huge stretches of ocean occasionally obscured by grandiose apartments; to the right, bigger houses that dot out into the forested hills. There are few buildings here that are plainly or neutrally colored, few that come in white, black, or brown. Most of the buildings and homes are the colors of sunsets or the dawn: fading pinks, pale purples, powerful reds and oranges. And there are palm trees everywhere. All the roofs are made of rounded ceramic tiles and all the windows have wooden shutters. It's all very beautiful and you can't help feeling a sense of peaceful affinity for the world.
Today marks the two week point before we fly back home. That countdown is always in the back of my mind, like a silent stalker following my way through Europe.
Location:Train to Nice, France
Lol, quit being a hobo and buy those train tickets. (Heheh)
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