June 1st

Europe » France » Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur » Nice
June 2nd 2012

Published: June 2nd 2012

Since I have now set off on my own I want to be sure to keep everyone posted; I’m going to skip over my missing weeks and work from the current experiences. As I have time I will go back and fill in my missing time in Italy.

I awoke this morning at 9:20 and was required to be out of my apartment at 10. I had already packed everything but what I would need in the morning and mailed off two suitcases full of clothes and souvenirs yesterday. Yes, I actually had to purchase a second suitcase because I bought too much stuff; I am however done with my Christmas shopping! The apartment had also been cleaned the previous day. As I gathered up the last few items I had around made it look so bare and impersonal; not that Michelle and I were able to decorate it in our tastes. Still this is where I had spent my evenings and even a few days, cooked meals, and communicated with family. I was leaving a safe place for an unknown world, without the support of AIFS to go to for questions. Plus I was really tired because our group had stayed out late the night before.

One of my goals for this portion of my journey is to be free from a set schedule, this is a goal because I am a planner, and I enjoy planning out every detail of trips. It was strange walking out of my apartment, knowing I couldn’t go back, and not having a place to sleep that night booked. I made my way to the AIFS office for the final time this trip. There I was going to make my train and hostel booking for Nice and meet up with Taylor and Ben and hang out together until it was time for us to depart and go our separate ways. Taylor is headed to Sicily, Greece, and Ireland to work on organic farms in exchange for room and board at each of these locations and Ben was on his way to Germany to pick up his twin daughters at the airport and guide them around Germany and Italy. We will all head home mid-July.

When I arrived at AIFS Taylor was already there and making her final plans, I got on the other available computer and worked on my travel arrangements for today. I quickly found out it was not going to be as easy as I thought; because I was traveling internationally I needed to purchase my train tickets in person at the station. At least I figured out a schedule online so I knew when the trains were running and when I would arrive. Next I moved onto finding a hostel. This wasn’t a difficult choice because the top rated one in Nice was available for the days I wanted to book and it was a reasonable price of €99 for 3 nights, it includes bed linens, towels, breakfast, Wi-Fi, and an added bonus of beach towels, beach mat, and umbrella!

After I had finished getting what I needed done on the computer Taylor and I headed off to get lunch, Ben still hadn’t showed up. Our destination was Il Teatro, where we did our pizza making class, and home of some amazing four cheese pasta. Lunch was quite, we both knew that after we finished I was going to head to the train station so I could book my journey from Milan to Nice. My leg from Florence to Milan was scheduled to depart at 14:55 (2:55). After we finished our meal, Taylor walked a for a bit with me and when it came time to part ways, we hugged and gave each other encouraging words, our sad moment had arrived.

I continued on to the train station stood in line for 20min and then purchased the tickets for the 2^nd half of my journey, when that was finished I still had about an hour until my train actually left so I sat down in the dining area with a drink to read. About 30 min into my wait I hear my name called across the room, I would get to say goodbye to Ben after all. Taylor ran into him and told him where I was so the two walked across town for another farewell. We talked about our upcoming journey until it was time to for me to board my train and they walked me all the way to the coach. They even waited until the train pulled away and we waved goodbye through the windows. Now I was on my own for the next six weeks.

My train to Milan was a Eurostar, which are the speed trains, so I would be there in an hour and a half. I intended to read my book, but I was quickly asleep. I awoke a couple of times and was able to see some beautiful countryside flying past, it would be a great route to take if you could slow down and just gaze out the window. In no time I was in Milan and I had 15 min between trains, I walked through one of the shops that are all through the train station and boarded the train for the middle segment of the trip. This was a slower train with more stops and I was sharing a cabin with 3 other people to begin with; it got up to 6 which is capacity and I got to my destination alone in the cabin. I was aboard for four hours during this portion and I did much of the same, read, nap, munch on the snacks I had with me. I changed trains in Ventimiglia and there was just a few min in-between my arrival and departure so I just went straight from one train to the next. My final train stopped at every city along the coast, and would take an hour.

One of the places I want to see on the French Riviera is the filming location of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. While looking out the window during this final hour I spotted the town and recognized it before I heard the conductor announce it, not that I understood any of his announcements, but I confirm with signs as we pull into the station and stop. Seeing the beach and recognizing the buildings got me excited I was here, although I was not staying in this town because they don’t have any hostels. Our train continued onto Nice. There are multiple train stations in Nice, I knew my ticket listed a specific one as my stop; what I wasn’t sure of is which one was closer to my hostel. The directions I wrote down from hostelworld.com just said the train station so when we stopped at the first station in Nice I had a moment of panic, is this where I’m supposed to get off? Now that I’ve read the sign and realized this is a stop in Nice I really don’t have enough time to gather my stuff and get off before the train moves on. There was a moment of panic, if I do get off and this isn’t the right one it is ten at night will there be another train for me to hop on and continue down the line? I did not get off the train.

I packed up my stuff and stood by the door so I would be ready for the next stop, not really knowing how many stations were actually in Nice. When the train pulled up the platform was full of people, and there were at least three other people waiting to get off here, this seemed like a busy station. Once the train came to a complete stop and the doors opened I stepped out onto the platform. I looked around for some clue as to where exactly I was and saw nothing, I walked through the station to the front and thought well maybe I’ll grab a taxi to the hostel since I’m not sure I’m in the correct place and it is now ten thirty at night and dark out. There were no taxis at the stand. Hmm, maybe I’ll compare the main street to my map I printed out from the computer. I can’t find the street in front of me on the map. Well I will follow the first part of the directions and see if I can find this cross street I’m supposed to turn onto. The area around me is a train station area, busy and not really the nice part of town. I hold my head up high and start walking. As I approach the cross walk a man next to me says no really loud and says no cross in English. I wasn’t planning on it I could see the red stick man clear as day. The man then uses this opportunity to try and chat, where are you from, do you need help finding something? I say no, I know where I am headed and as soon as the stick man turned green I was across the street and walking according to my directions. I found the street I was supposed to turn on and felt relief, I got off on the correct stop.

I followed the remainder of the directions which had me walking towards the beach for about five minutes and found the hostel without a problem. When I checked in I was told that I had been upgraded from a 6 bed mixed dorm to a 4 bed, nice. I got settled in to my room, emailed my mom that I had arrived safely and went out to find dinner, it was about eleven.

The man at reception told me where to go to find a place that would be open. I walked, and walked, circled a couple blocks, everything was closing, not seating anyone else. Lame, my stomach was growling I hadn’t had any real food since noon. I was getting a little homesick for Italy where dinner doesn’t begin until 9 and goes until at least midnight. At about a quarter to midnight I find the town square area that the man had referred to, maybe I had just gotten the directions backwards. I looked at a couple of menus that were visible and decided on the second place mainly out of desperation that they might close up and I would starve. The prices seemed a little steep, which makes sense since this is a vacation destination for people all over the world. I order a quarter of roasted chicken with fries for ten euro and a coke. It is during this time that I realize how comfortable I had become with Italy. I kept trying to communicate in Italian; I guess I picked up some of the language after all. It didn’t seem to be a problem for the wait staff because they responded in Italian. I ate some of the chicken, which was dry and most of my fries. I looked up how to ask for the bill in French and it was brought to me quickly. What a change from Italy where you have to ask for the bill multiple times before receiving it. My soda turned out to be €4.50 for a bottle, what a markup! I paid and then realized I don’t know if I should tip, another quick flip through my small phrase book, up in France a tip of10-15%!i(MISSING)s expected; that will be another adjustment I have to make since tipping isn’t expected in Italy.

I then left the restaurant making my way back to the hostel looking in windows along the way. I walked past multiple vintage stores, bathing suit stores, and even a couple hat shops. I reminded myself I had no room in my backpack for purchases so shopping here wasn’t really an option. I got back to the hostel, showered and went to sleep. I woke up in Florence with friends around me and AIFS there for help and went to bed alone in France.

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