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Before studying abroad, I didn't have much experience with train travel. By this point, I had plenty of it since it was my main method to getting around the UK. However, I've never experienced an overnight train before.
***One important thing to note about Italian trains in general is that you have to remember to validate your train ticket. What this means is that you have to take your ticket to one of the many little machines around the station (I believe they were yellow and/or green when I was there) and put your ticket in the slot to be stamped with the time and date. This then "validates" your ticket. If you don't do this, you can get into some serious trouble when they come around and check tickets. Thank goodness Alyssa had read about that online before studying abroad or else we might have gotten into trouble ourselves. This just serves as an example of all those little details you have to catch onto or learn when you travel to other countries.***
The overnight train experience definitely reminded me of the scene in Anastasia during their overnight train adventure. Except not as exciting and life-threatening, and definitely less spacious. Alyssa and I shared a tiny cabin with four other strangers, two boarding in the middle of the night. It was a hectic scene as we all tried to get situated and go to sleep. From trying to balance in the bathroom as the train bumped along, to setting up my cot on the third level of bed bunks while trying not to fall off, it was quite a challenge. What's more is that I don't even know how much sleep I got. I felt like I was constantly half asleep, although I must have fallen asleep part of the time. It definitely startled me when the last two passengers came into our cabin and settled in. It startled me even more when the conductors came to our cabin and told us the train was arriving in Milan (our destination) in 30 minutes. I was definitely very confused as they handed me back my passport, as it was only 5:30 in the morning. Thankfully, Alyssa was way more alert than I was so I didn't have to worry about missing anything in my state of confusion.
I'm surprised I didn't fall down to the floor as I stumbled down the ladder to get ready to get off the train, since I was so out of it. I had worn comfy clothes on the train in order to avoid any awkward clothing changes, so I only needed to brush my teeth and wash the sleep off my face to get ready. Then I just tried to wake myself up some more before we heaved our heavy travel backpacks on and exited the train.
From Milan we changed trains to travel for two hours to Pisa. At 6:45 am, it was no wonder that there were hardly any other passengers on the train. Because of this, we had a cabin to ourselves for a good hour, which we took advantage of by getting all of the deliriousness out of our systems.
Pisa was definitely different than what I was expecting. It was a much smaller city (maybe town?) and did not look like a place where there would be a sought-after monument. However, the map outside the station told us that the Leaning Tower of Pisa was, in fact, there, so we set off to find it. We had to walk through neighborhood streets to get to it, but before getting too far, we took a break for food. We ate at this restaurant here, and I was not all that impressed:
For one, the service was poor, our waitress being very standoffish towards us. Also, the pasta, which I was expecting to be amazing because we were in Italy, was sub par and nothing special. I was glad to get some food in my tummy, but I definitely felt like the ravioli I ordered should've been better for what it was priced at. To worsen the experience, a couple of people came over to the outside tables we were sitting at, trying to suck us into yet more tourist traps. So we had to be rude and ignore them until they went away. We were definitely ready to find the Leaning Tower of Pisa by this point.
With that, we made the rest of the walk to the attraction, knowing we were getting closer by the amount of tourist scammers infiltrating the area. As we approached the monument and saw it for the first time, I was a little confused as to why it didn't look like it was leaning very much.
But as we walked to get a better view, I quickly realized that it did, in fact, live up to its name. It had just been leaning towards us from where we entered the area. Alyssa and I then had to take the stereotypical picture (and a selfie):
There were more impressive buildings around as well, although we didn't pay to get into them:
It was a beautiful, warm day as well, so there were plenty of people lounging on the grounds soaking up the sun:
After walking around and taking it all in, we left to go find some gelato, which we found very quickly:
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| My first gelato! :) |
And it was amazing! I don't know if it was because it was my first time trying it or what, but after many gelato experiences during our time in Italy, I can definitely say that my favorite gelato was from this shop. I don't even remember the flavors I had, but one might have been Nutella flavored (even though it didn't taste like it at all). I think the other flavor could have been chocolate fudge or something like that. Even though it doesn't look like it in the picture, there were two flavors in the cone. (A side note: waffle cones are superior to any other cone out there. I definitely was converted from my previous cone indifference during my time in Italy.)
After finishing our gelato, we walked through Pisa's streets and snapped some photos before heading to Florence to find our hostel:
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Finding our hostel in Florence went a lot more smoothly than our experience in Paris, although we still had a little difficulty. The numbers on the doorways were a bit jumbled, so when we reached the street our hostel was on, we walked in the wrong direction. After a few minutes of not intercepting our hostel, we turned around and went up the opposite way to find our hostel, Hotel Paola.
From the outside, the building our hostel was in looked kind of sketchy, so I wasn't expecting much as we climbed the stairs to the third floor. Thankfully, we were greeted by two receptionists who were very nice and helpful in giving us directions and suggestions for places to eat and see. And our room was another welcome surprise due to its huge size. This room was the largest we ever stayed in during our many hostel stays. Plus, we all got our own twin beds that weren't bunk beds and were also fairly spaced out! (A rarity in the hostel world.) I would say we got the best quality and quantity of sleep during our stay there for our trip. The only thing that could have made the hostel better would be bathrooms inside the rooms (or at least toilet facilities). Everyone in the hostel had to share three toilets and two showers, although they were kept fairly clean.
Once we had settled in and relaxed for a while, it was time to grab some food. We decided on a restaurant called the Yellow Bar a little ways from our hostel, so we set out to go find it. (Despite the name, it was a restaurant, not a bar. Although they did have yellow lights outside the restaurant.) When we did find it, the restaurant was closed, but we saw all of the workers inside eating a meal together. Alyssa remembered that stores in Italy usually close in the afternoons, so we waited until 6:30 pm before heading back to get a table. This was where we waited in the meantime:
We entered the restaurant and saw that it was already busy. The owner came up to us and welcomed us, asking us if it was our first time eating there. When we said yes, he then led us around to see a couple of chefs cooking and told us a little about the restaurant. Then he brought us to our table and gave us menus. He was so friendly and kind, a complete contrast to our lunch in Pisa earlier. Alyssa and I both decided on the same ham and cheese pizza (although it had a much fancier name):
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| Sorry the picture isn't any better. I was just so hungry I could barely take the picture! |
The pizza was definitely delicious! Alyssa and I ate both of our pizzas in about 10 minutes flat. We left with plans to come back the next night to try some of their pasta. (Unfortunately, when we did go back the next day, it was closed for the day. :( We were so sad, especially since we didn't expect the restaurant to be closed on a Monday!) With full stomachs, we wandered a little around the city before heading back to get plenty of sleep for our full day in Florence.
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Let me start by saying that Florence is definitely underrated. It's a beautiful city that should have way more tourists than it receives. However, I'm glad it wasn't super crowded while we were there, because it made the experience that much greater.
We had to check out of our hostel by 10 the next morning, but they were nice enough to let us leave our bags there all day until we needed to catch our train to Rome that night. With our shoulders way lighter than expected, we headed out to see the city.
We first looked at the Duomo di Firenze, or the Cathedral of Florence. The architecture was pretty well-preserved; it must have looked incredible back when it was first completed in the 15th century:
After some picture taking, we explored all the little streets and alleyways of Florence. Only in Italy can alleyways not terrify me:
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| We found an outdoor market, where we were so tempted to buy some leather goods that Florence is known for. However, we didn't know if we would be buying genuine leather or not so we just admired them. |
Eventually, we came across a beautiful (and expensive) shopping area along a river:
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| A horse-drawn carriage! |
Once we had wandered around for a while, we went searching for a hole-in-the-wall food shop. And once we found it, we knew it was so worth it. The sandwiches were delicious and were made fresh right in front of us. The man running it was also very friendly (people, in general, were pretty friendly in Florence). Plus, these huge sandwiches were only a few euros!
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| Look at that beauty! |
I was pretty tired already, even though it was only lunchtime. Alyssa captured that moment on camera:
Even after some food, I was still pretty exhausted. So, what better way to pick me up than with some gelato?
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| All better! |
With that pick-me-up, it was time to wander the streets some more:
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| Alyssa being goofy! (Please don't be mad, Alyssa! <3) |
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| This was an awesome door we saw on our walk. |
When we were circling back to the main tourist area, we crossed the same river we saw earlier and witnessed it in all its glory. This is why I say that Florence is underrated:
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| The reflections on the water were just gorgeous! |
Pretty soon, we were thinking about dinner and started heading toward the Yellow Bar we ate at the previous night. Since we quickly discovered that the Yellow Bar was closed that day, we found another restaurant that was relatively cheap. I tried a Cruscioni, which is basically a closed sandwich. It had crudo (cured ham), carciofi (artichokes), pomodoro (tomato sauce), and mozzarella:
And then, for the second time that day, I had to fit in one more gelato treat before leaving Florence:
After eating our gelato, it was time to pick up our travel backpacks and say goodbye to Florence.
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I enjoyed Florence way more than I thought I was going to. Maybe it was all the gelato (there were a couple more times we got gelato that I didn't document on camera), or the prettier-than-expected scenery, but I would definitely recommend spending a couple of days there. There were more things we could have done in Florence, but between our time crunch and tired legs and feet, we couldn't do everything we could have.
Stay tuned for my Rome blog, where I kick it off by telling you all about my first class train experience!
