Journey Begins!

Journey Begins!

So let me first apologize for the lack of blog posts and extreme lateness of these blog posts. There are many reasons that can be listed but I’ll just say its mostly because of procrastination. I kept a journal for the past two weeks when I was away from a computer, so many of these blog posts are just my journal entries typed. I also plan to lie on the dates the blogs were posted so there is a clear chronological order.

Today I had to run and catch my first moving train today! It was just like the movies: a young girl with a gigantic backpack so large it looks like she has a hunchback, running for a train beside her friend at dawn in Santa Maria Novella. I actually climbed on the train while it was moving (granted it was moving very slowly) and Sonia had to pull me in because my center of gravity was off due to my 10 kg pack. Of course, there are four trains to Pisa every hour, but we wanted to catch this train (it went straight to the airport)! We left Florence at 6:37 am catching the bus from my home at 6:05. Of course, my Australian friend Nigel said he was going to be back in Florence on Wednesday for one night—so I spent the night before with him at my (and now our) favorite pizza and didn’t end up going to bed until 2 am—because of course I had to pack and update my ipod before I went to bed. This should have proved to be a long, tiring travel day.

We flew out of Pisa which is actually a one hour and twenty minute train ride away from Florence because we were flying via Ryan Air—one of Europe’s budget airlines that everyone raves about. It only cost 35 euro to fly to London Stanstead. We had plenty of time at the airport and I experience my first plane ride without assigned seats. We waited in line prior in order to get a better selection. But wait, we are in Italy so the real question is what line? Italians don’t really wait in line. It’s more about being constantly vigilant in a waiting blob and pushing yourself forward. I got an aisle seat and no one sat next to me! Yes! I felt something unexpected today while I was leaving Florence. It was a sense of sadness from leaving Florence. I can’t believe it, I am actually homesick for Florence! Although, I think it may be more about missing the people and not the city itself...