Days 8-11: Florence

We were welcomed to Florence with a thunderstorm (luckily, our first of the trip). After deboarding our train, waiting at wrong bus stations, missing stops, missing more stops, waiting for different buses, and walking a bit, we arrived at our AirBNB host Isabella’s apartment only 3 hours later than originally planned. I felt horrible, because with no internet on my phone I could not let her know where we were or that we would be late. Unsurprisingly, she was gone. After sitting on the sidewalk and pouting for a few minutes, our next mission was to find wifi. Just a few blocks down there was a gelato shop with just that. After (not so) stealhily messaging Isabella with contraband/customer only wifi, we found it only right to buy a gelato – you know, for good karma and such.

DAYS 4 – 7: Rome

Day 1

After catching a short early morning bus from Naples to Rome, we timidly exited the Termini to find our next hostel. We had been burned before, and were praying our experience wouldn’t be a repeat of the last. The website said it was a 5 minute walk to our place, and we found it in 15 – SCORE. Already looking up, people.

Check-in wasn’t for a few hours so we stored our luggage in a locked shed they had (safe), and went exploring. They could have suspended them off a balcony and I wouldn’t have cared. Just get that thing off my back please and thank you.

We ended up heading toward the Spanish Steps, and along the way it took approximately 2.5 minutes to fall in love with Rome. Everywhere you turn is just a variation of the following:

DAY 1 – 3: NAPOLI, ITALIA

I think our fate in Naples was sealed when 10 minutes into looking for our hostel, I tripped and fell flat on the side of my face.

I’m not using this as a euphemism. The side of my face literally skid across the pavement. Because, turns out when you’ve got six weeks worth of livin’ strapped to your back you’re a liiiiiitle bit top heavy. We then proceeded to wander around lost for two hours while I held my face in my hands convinced I had a concussion (I didn’t). Luckily, I don’t have a working data plan and wifi is on short supply around here or I would have been in full out WebMD panic. I did get a nice shiner out of it though. I think it makes me look tuff, as Dally would say.

A Stressful Start

After seven years of pretend planning (under the guise of studying Advanced Algebra) and six months of actual planning, all that stood between us and our first stop on was a 3am train, a “L” ride through Chicago, a hellishly long line through security, and what I would later learn would be the loudest and unrestful plane ride of my young life.