il biglietto è convalidato?

OMG everything is so exciting right now. I just looked over the schedule of weekend trips that Syracuse offers, and with those, in addition to side trips I want to take on my own, it looks like I may be going to a new gorgeous place every freaking weekend from now until the end of the program. I don’t wanna jinx my good plans by listing everything but you KNOW I’ll be gushing about every place I go, so don’t you worry; there is plenty of time for vicarious living.

As for this past weekend, I had such a great time. I went out again Saturday night (I took Friday off to ward off this cold that been looming dangerously close to my nasal passages for the past week) and basically just had a super-fun, random night – went to a cheesy dance club called Twice but had an AWESOME time dancing my ass off anyway. No italiano encounters this time around – Fabrizio’s persistence has kind of worn on my nerves and I spent most of the night calling upon my ragazzi americani to guard me from leering Giuseppes and Giovannis. Had a great time dancing with Tyler (I admit I have joined the mass of girls who have a pseudo-crush on him… god damn you good-looking, charming boys… why aren’t there more of you to go around??) and by the end of the night me, him, and a few girls I had actually just met that night started the excruciating yet inevitable 45-minute trek back home, thanks to the little 2am-3am siesta that Italian taxis seem to enjoy taking. BUT, this time the transportation gods smiled upon us and randomly a cab opened up RIGHT in front of us. HEAVEN. And, by the end of the cab ride, I had managed to make a plan to go to the beach with these newfound girlfriends the next day, AND didn’t end up having to pay for the cab either because when I dropped everyone else off (I was a separate stop since I live so freaking far up in the hills), these random chicks from our program hopped in the cab and were like “we can take you home first, just PLEASE let us get in this cab!” and since I only had a €50 on me, I couldn’t give them anything for my portion of the trip. Haha, sweet.

So miraculously, the beach trip actually ended up happening the next day, with only a few minor snags. I braved the Florence bus system by myself for the first time, which was rather painless, actually, and when I got to the train station to meet the girls, we bought our tickets and got on our train. Nice and easy. However, apparently there is some arbitrary step between buying the ticket and getting on the train that we missed (which involved some sort of mysterious validation machine), that ended up costing us a €25 fine when the ticket-taker man came to check our ticket about, oh, TWO minutes before we arrived at our destination. Why anything more than paying for a ticket and showing that ticket on the train is required is beyond me, but no use crying over spilled milk… or.. un-validated train tickets? Whatever.

After the minor setback we arrive, only slightly poorer, at Viareggio, a pretty little beach town on the Mediterranean, just a few minutes west of Pisa. We grab a slice of pizza on our way to the beach (remember, we are in ITALY, so this is VERY VERY yummy) and all instantly pass out the moment our heads hit the fluffy sand. Which of course results in a nice heat rash for me (oh, the woes of being a Nordic white girl), but luckily is nothing more than a nice tan now. After a few hours of strenuous beach-laying and frolicking in the Mediterraneo, we get back on the train. So after all is said and done, we basically took an hour and a half train ride to take a nap. But you know what? That’s how we roll in Italia.

By the time we got back to the train station we were ravenous and stopped at the nearest restaurant and had an enormous Tuscan meal – and I, in a typically Alex fashion, ordered pizza, AGAIN. There is no such thing as too much of a good thing. Hence why I ate the whole pie. Plus a large portion of the tortellini alla fiorentina and prosciutto e melone that Lally and Kaley ordered (yes, those are their names. Gotta love it). All in all, a day well spent.

I feel like that post was boring. But now I’ve written it all so you’re just gonna have to deal with it, sorry. Now I am deliriously tired after my excessively intense 10-hour schoolday (and possibly most delicious host meal yet: garden-fresh fagiolini, insalata with the most delicious home-grown pomodori EVER, pan-fried chicken, and bruschetta on homemade bread… with the usual 3-4 italian chocolates for dessert. Obviously.) More later. Buonanotte!