They say you gotta lose a couple fights to win...

Yvon Chouinard once made the comment, “The word adventure has gotten overused. For me, when everything goes wrong, that’s when the adventure starts.” I must say that both last Saturday and this Saturday turned out to be awfully big adventures.

Grace and I got about three hours worth of sleep last Friday. Strike one.

Grace, Caitlin, Lindsay, and I rose before the sun in order to catch a bus that took us to the train station. Destination: Venice. When we reached the train station, we got in line (behind some interesting-looking characters) to validate our eurail passes and to buy our tickets. The man behind the counter, who looked an awful lot like V from V for Vendetta, told us that the next three trains to Venice were already booked. He offered us tickets for a train that left close to noon, but that would mean sitting in the station for five-ish hours and then once we got there, we would have to turn around and come back. Strike two.

I was kind of excited about our failed plans, because it opened up a world of possibilities. Well, a country of possibilities, anyway. The girls and I conversed for a minute and then decided, what the heck, let’s go to Verona instead! We purchased tickets for the 8:05 train to Verona, thanked V, and went on our merry way. It took us a few minutes to figure out the platforms, but we finally realized that our train would be at Platform 9 ¾. Yeah right. I wish. It would actually be departing from Platform 21. We had some time to kill, so we walked around a bit and then went back to the platform just to be safe. At one point, a man came up to me and asked me for a cigarette in Italian. I told him I didn’t have one and he said, “Non fumo? Perche?!” He then realized that I was American and he started going on about college football. Zahhhm, baby, what’s up? Football! 

After some more time passed, I started getting antsy. I checked my watch. It was almost 8:10, and our train still hadn’t arrived. We checked the board to see what was up. Our platform number had changed. I remember Grace saying something about Platform 4, we started panicking, and then we all started running. *Cue intense yet hopeful music.* It was like a movie scene: the four of us sprinted across the station, and I was laughing hysterically because I didn’t know what else to do. We reached the platform just in time to see our train leave the station. Once again, this is movie material. *Cue Charlie Brown Christmas music.* Strike three.

But we would not allow ourselves to be benched.

Grace and I tend to be “glass half full” people. We recognized the fact that our plans didn’t exactly work out, but we also recognized that we still had the entire city of Rome to explore! And explore we did. We started out in Vatican City and worked our way towards the hotel. We walked our little feet off while we discovered different marketplaces and little shops off the beaten path. We window-shopped, enjoyed the beautiful fall weather, got lost, found ourselves, walked by the Tiber, and Grace and Lindsay even did a bit of bartering…

One of my favorite places that we stumbled upon was the market in Campo di Fuori. It was like a big farmer’s market with a ton of fresh fruits, veggies, wine, cheese, and spices. Everything was colorful and lively and it smelled amazing. Don't even get me started on all the cute little old ladies buying their weekly produce.

On Saturday night, Grace and I went out on our first date. We went to a restaurant with handsome waiters, one of which sang to us the entire night. We shared a lovely Italian meal together. When we finished, a waiter brought us each a glass of complimentary “sexy wine.” Those were his words, not mine. I promise. It was quite possibly the best wine I have ever tasted, regardless of the name.

The day turned out to be quite lovely, despite the failed travelling plans. What can we say? Grace and I are great at flying by the seat of our pants. It is also helpful that we are good at making the best of whatever situation we are in. But seriously, how could we possibly be unhappy? We are in Rome!

The week flew by quickly with lots of lectures, homework, afternoon study sessions in the library, and late night laugh sessions with Grace. Last night after a great class on moral theology and a delicious dinner, Grace and I decided to unwind by watching some good old YouTube clips of Whose Line Is It Anyway? We laughed soooo hard. Go team Colin. And to top the night off, we went to an Irish Pub (of all places!) called Abbey’s Theater and had a beer with our friends Jenni and Courtney. We just chilled out while we talked and listened to some wonderful live music. We headed back early to try and get a good night’s rest for today’s plans. Destination: Florence. Of course, we stayed up way too late talking and once again got three hours of sleep. Strike one.

We woke up early and got outside just in time to catch our bus to the train station. We purchased our tickets and even got on our train early. Pro status! We were so proud of ourselves, and we couldn’t wait to get to Florence. We switched back and forth between giggling and dozing off during our train ride, which went by quickly. An hour and a half later, we reached Florence. Besides the lack of sleep, everything was going smoothly. Who knew?!

Just in case you were wondering, Florence is beautiful. One of the first places we saw was a gorgeous church. We didn’t get to go inside, but the outside was decorated enough to keep my eyes busy for weeks. We wandered the chilly streets until we found a huge marketplace that was rich with the smell of leather. We walked around the market for quite some time, buying a few gifts and trying to stay away from the really pushy vendors. We walked around some more and had lunch in a cute café with pink tablecloths. We ended up meeting a woman from Ohio while we were eating, and she pointed us in the direction of Galleria dell’Accademia. Grace and I found the gallery and purchased tickets so we could see the Scultore del bello naturale.

The galleria was amazing. It was filled with religious icons and paintings, as well as gorgeous statues. We spent some time looking at a room full of large icons, which were painted with rich gold and red hues. When we turned the corner, our jaws dropped. There he was: the statue of David.

Let me tell you, the boy has some big hands.

The statue itself was massive and intimidating, but the first thing I noticed was the detail in his hands. The carved creases and veins made them seem so realistic, and for some reason they looked disproportionate to the rest of his body. The statue was so impressive. His body looked relaxed (and quite chiseled) while his face seemed tense and possibly a bit disturbed. Granted, he just got done killing a giant.  We couldn’t get over how beautiful the statue was. With the exception of his feet and shoulders looking a bit rough, the rest of the statue was silky smooth, and the lines in the marble seemed to match the contours and veins of his body. It was another one of those casess where pictures and words will never do it justice. During the short period of time that we were there, Grace and I may have formed a huge crush on David. It’s whatever.

After our museum experience, we found a pastry shop and Grace had her first ever cannoli. She even shared it with me. Italy sure knows how to make their pastries. 

After our treat, we headed back to the station so we wouldn’t miss our train. We kept getting excited because we had just spent the day in a city we had never been to and we found our way without complications. Look at us being all grown up and responsible in a foreign country and whatnot! The ride back went smoothly, and we both slept most of the way because we were tired birds. We reached the station in Roma and once again gave ourselves a pat on the back for having such a successful and stress free trip. We spoke too soon…

When we walked out of the station, there was a rally of sorts happening in the streets. The buses weren’t running in that part of town because the streets were blocked off, and we had no idea how to get back to the hotel. Strike two. Grace and I decided to find another bus stop. We walked around for a while, but we couldn’t find a stop that was part of our bus’s route. So we walked in what we thought was the general direction of our hotel.

Two hours later, we were completely and hopelessly lost. Grace asked about 10,000 different people for directions, but her endeavors were fruitless. So we walked some more. I honestly have no idea where we were for those few hours, but all I can say is that we did a good job of not completely freaking out. After lots of uneducated guessing and aimless wandering, we miraculously found a familiar street: Via del Corso. Oh, the joy of finding oneself again! No strike three this time. We happily made our way back and rewarded ourselves with the best gelato we have ever tasted (I know I say that every time, but it just keeps getting better.)

It’s just another chapter in the adventures of Grace and Allie. It was quite the experience, and I have the blisters to prove it. But there is something to be said about getting utterly lost and then finding your way home. I grew a lot today, and I learned how capable I was of pushing past my limits. I wouldn’t change a second of it.

But before I turn this into a novel, (too late?) I think I am going to get some shuteye. Sleep is a good friend that I haven’t spent nearly enough time with lately, and I think she is starting to feel neglected. Goodnight world. You just got a whole lot bigger.

P.S. What started out as a peaceful rally in the streets did not end so peacefully. Grace and I were lucky to get home safe before the destruction started. Here is an interesting link for the story:
http://www.13abc.com/story/15701412/rome-protest-against-corporate-greed-turns-violent