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Published: August 7th 2007
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Pisa
See? It leans. Got up early and didn't quite mind this morning, which was strange, all things considered, for our "big chunky drive" today. I got on the coach and sat down next to Sara. Although I was fairly awake and alert, I was in no mood to chat after the insanity of the previous night. I was kind of relieved when she fell asleep and I was left to stare out the front window, taking in the scenery and the valiant attempt on Pom Pom's part to cheer Damian up (apparently he'd been woken up a lot the night before and hadn't gotten all that much sleep. I'd be cranky too...). I don't think there were too many other people awake on the coach for that first stretch of the drive, and I didn't blame them. As we were driving, the sky opened up and the rain started pouring down; not just a nice spring rain, but 'pounding down so hard the raindrops bounce off the windshield' rain. Before I knew it, we landed in Pisa and had a whole hour before we could get back on the coach. Yikes...and I had dressed for relative warmth in Florence - I had a small
Noooo! my umbrella!!
Haha, wind and rain making me fake-pout in Pisa dress, my shawl and sandals on...this was going to be chilly!
I had my crappy 'condom umbrella' (one time use only) from Florence still in my bag, and it was only partially broken, so I took it with me; though we all had to laugh as the umbrella guys were out in full force around the coach anyway, but I figured I'd save a few Euro and use the mostly-functional one I already had. Pom Pom led us to the Leaning Tower, and yup. It's a big ol' tower, and it REALLY DOES lean. I walked all around it on my own, as most people were making a mad dash for the bathrooms or running to get their picture and find shelter. I finally found Andrew, who took my picture with it, and I decided not to take the picture of me holding it up. As in any good theatre production, when something goes wrong? You don't try to ignore it - you work with it. So I just stood in front of the tower, my umbrella flipped inside out, pouting. I made him take a few, which is good, because that one in front of the tower didn't
Only happy when it rains
Me and the leaning tower really turn out (a big ol' raindrop must've landed on the lens of my camera), but I have one like that in front of the building beside the tower. Ha. In any case, it was pretty funny, and despite the rain, I was in pretty good spirits. I was freezing and wet though, so I ducked under an awning for about 10 minutes before going over to the meeting place. Pom Pom walked us back to the coach, and there was much smashing of umbrellas, most of which were trashed beyond repair.
We sat on the coach, soaked and cold, but Pom Pom got on the microphone, looked at us and made some crack about the situation, making us all chuckle, and then he looked out and said "What a good group of people. It's pouring down rain and you're all still smiling". We laughed, he put on some theme music for the rain, we settled it and tried to get more comfortable in our wet clothes. I kicked off my shoes, took off the wet shawl and piled my hair on top of my head, which made me slightly more comfortable - not much, but some, and that
Blue skies ahead!
A view of the Cote d'Azur from the coach. was fine. It was my own damn fault for not bringing a sweater on the coach, so I really couldn't complain. After about half an hour, the chills had left me and I just felt damp. I took the time to write in my journal a little - surprise surprise - but I think I spent more time staring at the page in a daze than actually writing anything down. About half an hour after we'd departed from Pisa, there was a little...incident that I really don't need to go into here. Those on the coach know what happened, and it's probably the one sour note of the trip, but, as I was sitting up front, I witnessed the whole thing and it wasn't pretty and I felt awful afterwards as I saw Damian fuming and biting his tongue, and was positively broken hearted for Pom Pom, who looked so sad. In any case, the coach was oddly quiet and awkward for the next stretch of drive, until we got to our service stop. I got some pizza and kind of stood back and watched everyone interacting. The tension certainly wasn't broken, but at least it was slightly better. After
our break we got back on the coach and things still weren't great, but Pom Pom played some comedy for us, which brought the mood up in the coach and had everyone laughing. I still couldn't quite shake what had gone on, but laughter is the best medicine.
We finally made it to Nice after driving through Monaco and seeing yet another one of Elton John's homes. Crazy. We got to our hotel, and it was kind of crap. Damn you, Kyriad and your foul smelling water and stained sheets. Blech. After checking in and dropping our stuff in our room, we went downstairs to eat. Quiche, chicken and ice cream. Not bad. I sat at a table with Matt, Jeff, Rachel, Sara and Pom Pom and ate while Jeff and Matt educated the rest of us on the subject of
"Wha' happend?", which cracked me up. I will never get that out of my head. Ever. If you haven't heard it, it's probably for the best. As everyone started going back to their rooms, Jeff and I stayed behind and chatted for a while as our roommates went up to take showers. Once I assumed I'd given Rachel
Wooo!
Something exciting's happening onstage! enough time I went upstairs and knocked on the door (there was only one key, and to make the lights work in the room you had to insert the key into a little slot, so I was at the mercy of knocking). Unfortunately, I had underestimated her quick-showering time, so I slumped down on the floor and waited to hear the bathroom door open in the room before I knocked again. Success! I went in and freshened up for the evening. We were being taken to Wayne's Bar, and though I wasn't sure I could handle another big night, I wasn't going to miss out on anything.
We all met in the lobby and started walking down to the bar. I dawdled at the back of the group, chatting away with Sara, Jon and Damian about random nothingness. Everything from leprechauns to speaking French. I love random nothingness. We eventually got to Wayne's Bar and it was a little dungy but the atmosphere was totally fun. The server we had told us we were to a)get drunk and b)dance on the tables. Sweet. I had a beer or three and danced away to the cover band. Everyone was up
Dance dance
Fun on the tables having a great time. Dancing on the tables was fun, even though I could barely move (the tables were croooowded). It was hot and sweaty in there, but I had an advantage. Sometimes being 5 feet tall has its benefits. I fit right under the air conditioning unit on the ceiling. Mwahaha. After a good night of dancing and hanging out, I went out to get some air, and there were Pom Pom, Damian, Shannon, Deloris and Cheryl. I decided that heading back with them would be a good bet, seeing as they knew where they were going, so I joined them and we made it back without being toooo annoyingly loud on the streets. When we got back to the hotel, I remembered the key system. The key would not be at the desk, it would be in the room with Rachel. Which meant I'd have to knock and wake her up. I felt bad, and in my beer-influenced logic, I thought if I waited a while, it would be better. I went a-visiting people who were still up and got back to the room at about 3. I knocked on the door and apologized for being so late
And this?
Later on in the evening before falling down in bed and staring at the ceiling for a good hour. For the first time on the tour, I couldn't sleep. My mind was kind of racing. A little after 4am was the last time I remember seeing on the clock, so I was quite happy that I wouldn't HAVE to wake up early the next morning.
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Rachel
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Awww I'm sorry for taking so long showering!! And also, I'm pretty sure I got bed bug bites from the Kyriad. What a crappy hotel.