misschapin

Pisa to Calenzano to Florence I woke up early to explore more around Pisa and headed south in the afternoon. Calenzano is a small suburban town of Florence. I booked the hotel because it was cheap, and actually quite enjoyed the town. I spent the afternoon shopping and relaxing in the hotel. There isn't much to see in the town, so I wasn't missing much. By 7pm I realized I hadn't eaten anything all day so I headed out to find a restaurant. I only walked 7 or 8 blocks and found a great little place. It was already busy, so I figured it would be a great place.  Sidebar-- restaurants apparently don't usually open until 7pm for dinner.  Italians eat super late.  I walked in and asked for a table for one, but all the ... read more

Solo travels continued... I should preface this entry with a word of caution; if you were worried about me being safe during this trip, maybe just skip this day.  :) On the way to Cinque Terre, I hadto switch trains a few times. On my second to last switch, I noticed there weren't many people on it.  I didn't think much of it, until everyone but me got off way before my stop arrived. a little worried, I proceeded with caution.  My last switch was in Le Spezia, which I learned some people call "the hole" of Italy. I didn't realize there were two stops in La Spezia, so I got off at the wrong one. I am going to take it as a blessing that I did.  When I got off, I found a total ... read more

Monday.. Perugia to Florence Today started with the part I most looked forward to; the olive harvest.  We woke up at 6:30 am and hurriedly put ourselves together and headed to the living room to meet Paul.  He made us coffee and we had an Italian pastry for "first breakfast".  They traditionally have two breakfasts here... One early in the morning, and one at 9am.  This was the only day I will experience first breakfast, I'm sure.  :)  We were soon on our way to the area they were starting the harvest in Mongiovino (the land that comprises their property).  When we found the right trees (Paul got a little turned around while showing us around) the men were just starting their work laying out nets under the olive trees.  We weren't required to work, as ... read more

Roma to Perugia Our second day in Rome was a bit different than expected.  We woke up to a thunderstorm, so we decided to wait it out and head into the city after it stopped.  Fortunately the sun was shining by noon, so we got on the bus and headed to the subway station. Once we got there, we noticed there were a lot of people standing around.  We soon realized that the subway was closed.  I had read that Italians sometimes go on strike and all transportation shuts down, so I assumed that's what was happening. We found out later that the rain had flooded the subway so it wouldn't be open for the rest of the day.  I found a bus map and attempted to figure out which busses to take to get to ... read more

Leaving willmar was.... Weird. I didn't really feel like I was going anywhere. I started my day with a meeting. I went home and finished some laundry, attempted to clean the kitchen, and watched some tv. I headed to Max's in the late afternoon, excited to see him. I felt like I was just going to visit a friend, not travel across the world. We had a low key night, watched tv and ate a frozen pizza. Perfect. The boys were generous enough to let me crash at their house last night Thanks max, Jesse, and Tim for my go-to friends. Love you lots. Tim had the day off so we laid low this morning, went to lunch at a great organic hipster place, and watched crappy daytime television. I couldn't have asked for more. Tim ... read more