We woke up kind of late on Saturday so Katie, Tess, and I met up with the boys in Il Campo, just a short walk from our hotel. We ate some cold pizza and really bad, flat soda. All was good...we were sitting in the middle of Campo, so it couldn't be that bad. It was also a nice 55 or 60 degrees. Il Campo is the center of town. I would describe it as the center park, except the grass is in the form of bricks. There were families around and everyone was just hanging out, doing a whole lot of nothing. We hung out there for a little while until the boys came to meet us. We decided on the Duomo and headed that way. I was impressed just on the outside and could not even imagine what the inside was going to be like. There was a violin player outside and she was playing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." We all stopped and had a listen. It made us miss America for a few minutes.
Once we stepped inside, I think we were all speechless. Just the size of the building is incredible. As with a lot of buildings that have been here for so long, I wonder how long it must haven taken to build these enormous creations. A little bit of history about this Duomo for ya: It was finished in two stages, one at the end of the 13th century and on at the end of the 14th. The Duomo is most famous for it's marble floors. They are almost all roped off and the places where you can walk, is usually covered. It's stained glass is the oldest in Italy, finished in 1288. The Sienese people wanted to make it even bigger and they had the plans to go with it. Unfortunately, the Black Death struck, and what would have been the largest church in the world was not completed. What they started is still there in the form of a few walls that are now worked into other buildings.
After the Duomo, Tess got her card stuck in an ATM, we dealt with that situation, and then the obvious choice was to get some Gelato. I tried the mint chocolate chip...not too shabby, Siena, not too shabby. Then, we set off to find the Botanical Gardens and see some views. We found the gardens, but they were closed (we think) and ran into the other group. On the way back to the hotel to get ready for dinner, Katie, Tess, and I decided to get a little appetizer in the form of cheese and crackers. The woman in the cheese shop knew zero english so it was interesting to say the least, but she did pick out some fantastic cheese for us.
For dinner, we ate in Il Campo. I had the calzone pizza and it was huge and delicious. As always, giggles were all around and we decided to find a bar to hang out in. We found one, hung for a little bit, ventured to another one, and then called it a night. In the morning, Tess, Katie, and I climbed the Bell Tower. It was fun (the 400 stairs were nothing) and a great view at the top. It was pretty windy so it scared me a little bit, but it was so fun and so worth it.
We took off to the train station once we came down because we knew there would be a full day of getting back to Verona ahead of us. Some of us were going to risk getting on the bus without a ticket because they rarely check. But we're glad we didn't because for the first time, they did come around and check our tickets. At the train station I treated myself to chocolate croissant. (yeah right, this is no treat, it is the norm for me now) We were on our way and this is where the adventures start.
In Empolia (aka...the worst train station ever), we missed our train to Pisa. Oops. However, the nice man from the first train, who even kindly (or not so kindly) asked us not to put our feet on the chairs, told us how to get back on track. (get it..track/train/ehh whatever) He joked with us about Americans and gave us a hard time in good fun. Because of this little setback, we were going to have to book it to get our tickets in Lucca to get us back to Verona. We had about 10 minutes for all 10 of us to get tickets and get on the train. However, this little setback allowed us a longer time in Pisa. So, naturally, we went to see the tower...just jokes, we didn't have that long, so we went to McDonalds. It was great and just what we all needed. We were sitting there, some us eating the McItaly, and we see some college-age Americans walk by. And who do I see, Meredith Streppa, a girl I went to high school with. CRAZY. Shout to Marg...I think I now rival you for knowing and seeing people everywhere. Meredith is studying in Switzerland and had spent the weekend in Florence. I was shocked to see someone I knew in Pisa, Italy.
So on to the next train station to switch trains. We were headed for Porta. As the first four of us were getting off of the train, the doors shut, leaving the other six still on the train. So there we were, Cameron, Kari, David, and I at the train station while the others were stuck on the train. At first, I thought we were at the correct place and the others were going to have to come back to us. But little did we know, that we were at the wrong place. Katie called me and we started to figure it all out. The station that we were supposed to be at was the next one down and it takes about two minutes to get there. So we looked up when the next train was and Katie looked up when our train was leaving the correct station. The next train that would take us to the correct Porta was about 10 minutes away and would get us there at 3:40. 3:40 was also the time our next train was leaving. STRESSFUL. So, we boarded the train, hoping we would get in any bit early. We didn't even sit down. As we were pulling in to the station, we saw the rest of the 10 on the completely opposite side of the platforms. (Typical Sammy had his camera out to catch us running for our lives while Tess and Katie were frantic) We contemplated running on the tracks, but decided to take the underground route as directed. I've never run so fast in my life. And we all made it! As the last person was getting on, the doors were shutting. The reunion between the two groups was like we hadn't seen each other in years. And, we captured it all on video.
After that, it was pretty much smooth sailing home to Verona. After a long weekend of walking, seeing the sights, and laughing the whole way, it was awesome to be back in the 704. What really hit me was when we got off the train in Verona, almost all of us said, "We're Home!" Yes, Verona, Italia is my home for right now and we confidently knew what bus to get on and how to get 'home' to the residence.
This week, we are taking a city tour of our 'home,' Verona and then Venice. Oh, and class is mixed in there as well. I'm excited to see Juliet's house and the wall of letters to Juliet. (Shout-out to Claire...see if you can find the book that is about all the letters that are written to Juliet. I want to read it when I get home!)
This morning Katie S. and I had quite the adventure at the dry cleaners. A zipper on a pair of jeans of mine broke and I wanted to see if the dry cleaners could fix it. HUGE language barrier. I'm still not sure if she is fixing it or not, but I know whatever she does to it, it will be ready on Thursday. We'll just have to see how that works out. Then we ventured to Migros, the other grocery store that I had not been to yet. It is so much better than the other grocery store and I picked up some essentials for the week.
Thanks everyone for following! Wish you all could be here with me.
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