Day One: Kirsten and I arose around 4am to finish packing all of our belongings and get ready for our 2nd European adventure to Italia. We were out the door by 5:15 and literally ran for a bus that wasn’t even our because we thought we were running late. We caught our bus, transferred and took the tube to the railway station then transported to Luton Airport and took a shuttle for our flight. Once arriving in Pisa, we figured we would simply take a bus from Pisa to Siena but the lady informed us we couldn’t leave until 5pm (it was only noon). It was then off to the trains to figure out how to get ourselves to Siena…keep in mind the language barrier (it made things interesting). We figured out that we had to transfer over and arrived in Siena then took a bus to the heart of the town.
Thankfully, on our way over we met a cute older couple from London who likes to take walks all over Europe and we ended up sitting right next to them! They were quite lovely J Anyways, we finally navigated ourselves to our hostel then were driven to another location because all of the rooms were full in our original one.After being dropped off, we dropped our bags and headed to enjoy the rest of the evening in Siena.
well as shopping and getting lost in the quaint little streets. We finished the evening with some gelato then headed back to our hostel kinda early because of some obnoxious cat calls and looks so we decided to just go back and settle in at our “palace” as they like to call it. It was off to sleep to get ready for the next full day of traveling and sight seeing in Rome.
Day Two: We decided to get up bright and early to figure out where a bus station was to get from Siena to Rome. After asking over and over again around the city, we fell upon our bus station and purchased tickets for the busride that left 30 minutes after we showed up! Thank goodness that worked out! It was off on our bus for a 3 hour drive to Rome.
Once we arrived, we met another American woman who was looking for the metro station as well sowe walked together to figure out where we needed to go next. After arriving at our stop, it was off to find our hostel…this was quite frustrating because we were constantly getting looks and felt a bit uncomfortable so we tried to hail a taxi. Instead, they would kindly tell us where to keep walking until we finally ran upon it. Once again, there was not enough room in this hostel so it was off to another location a few blocks over. We sat our belongings down and ran off to try to catch the end of some of the markets but they closed down too early.
We decided to go on to see the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and Colosseum and have some yummy Italian pasta and gelato to finish out the night. It was really cool to return to the exact place I stood 3 years ago for my senior trip in high school. We took some really fun pictures and watched some street performers then wandered around to different locations to try and pack in all of the big sites before calling it a night. Although it was extremely fast-paced, we still got to see everything before it was too late. We retired at our hostel for the evening and prepared for the next day of travel!
Day Three: It was up bright and early for us once again to check out and hop on a train back to Pisa to catch our flight. We grabbed a quick breakfast then caught our 9:30 train to get us back in Pisa around 12:30pm. Once we arrived, we spontaneously decided to go see the Leaning Tower before our flight (quite crazy). We took the chance and ran to the Tower to take a few pictures then hopped back on the bus to get to the airport and catch our flight. Although it was a whirlwind, our mission was accomplished and we made it back safe and sound. It is now freezing here in London…this is hard to adjust back into after wearing shorts and tank tops all weekend, but it feels great to be home sweet home!
A Few Life Lessons: Never plan to go three places spread apart within 3 days. Always pay extra to fly out of your last day’s location instead of paying the cheaper flight but spend all your time traveling from one place to the next. Try to buy maps before getting to new locations…that probably would have helped! Never be afraid to ask questions (I didn't have a problem with this one), but seriously...it is the only way we figured out our way around Italy!
Overall, this was a crazy trip full of fun and adventure. We had a blast and successful navigated ourselves around a new country barely knowing the language…this was quite empowering! I lovedgoing back to places that I fell in love with not too long ago in high school and experiencing all of the yummy Italian food
(GELATO is my favorite!!) If you ever go to Italy, I would highly recommend having gelato after every meal-it is well worth all of the calories JI wish we had a bit more time to explore the ancient ruins of a city with such vast history (Roma) but then again, we did get to experience 3 different locations all in one trip...it has its pros and cons!I have this week and some of next week to prepare for my 10 day trip in Madrid and Morocco, but it is a jam-packed week leading up to that trip! I am off to see a play tonight and Wednesday along with birthday celebration for one of my flatmates. I will hopefully update early next week before I venture off to new lands that I have never visited before!
Enjoy this video of sights and sounds around Italia:
So glad you are home!
ReplyDeleteYou are very blessed to have such a lovely Godly Mom and Dad! THey missed you so very much.
I am so glad your Mom was able to come over a join in the your joy while you were in London.
Celebrate your homecoming through the new year!
So happy you had such an amazing time there!
Kathy and Gary