February 7th: Arezzo
Ciao!
Today was a good day! For the first time since I’ve been here I actually felt I
was able to explore a part of Italy. We went to Arezzo as a means to learning
how to use the trains. It wasn’t difficult to learn and when we arrived our
tour guide greeted us. He was a petite man with a “big nose,” and stubble on
his face. We all got excited when we found out his wife was from Dallas. He had
the greatest sense of humor and had us laughing from the very start. While
waiting at a crosswalk he told us that Italians never wait but because we were in a big group, “We waited for a green light like the Japanese.” He then looked
around and asked if there were any Japanese in the group. This was the first of
many “racist” jokes. He made jokes about the French, Germans, Italians, and
many more making me wonder what he would say about Americans. At one point he
even said, “They’re mean in Italy. It’s a socialist country. If you’re happy
they hate you.” I think he was being a bit dramatic but it did make me question
if there are Italians who truly feel they want change. After the tour of
extravagant cathedrals, Alexa, Mel, Tara, Kelsey, Emily and I went to eat lunch
and get gelato. We went to a place called Gelateria Soft. I tried pulling the
door open but like always I tried to open it the wrong way and thought the door
was locked for siesta. The girls and I were staring at the hours of operation
sheet when finally the lady behind the counter opened the door for us…it wasn’t
locked I just didn’t push. She didn’t seem to mind and she allowed us to get
behind the counter and take a group selfie.
Travel Tip: Don’t take tissues from men standing outside
of churches. They are either thieves or trying to make money. I mistakenly took
tissues from a man thinking he was just giving them away out of generosity. I
either stole them or tricked a thief because they he didn’t get anything from
me! Oh well!
February 8th: Can I get a Pisa please
The girls and I decided to take a
day trip to Pisa. Like all the foreigners to this land we felt the need to take
pictures with the leaning tower and our trip was focused on just that! It took
two trains and two hours to get there which made a full day of traveling. I got
to pretend I was holding, kicking, and leaning on the leaning tower so I would
say it was worth it. The day started with Abby and Allison hitting the snooze
button. Alexa was dressed first and being the motherly type, went around and
knocked on everyone’s doors to tell them we needed to head out soon. As we were
leaving, Allison and Abby were hastily putting on their clothes while walking
out the door. We had a 15 minute walk to the train station and only 17 minutes before
our train was scheduled to depart. There we were, ten Texas girls with our hair
and makeup done, dressed in boots and nice shirts, speed walking up and down
the cobblestone roads. With only a two minute cushion, the speed walking turned
to a slight jog and then fairly quickly into a sprint. You could imagine the
looks we received from the locals.
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