So this past weekend a group of us decided to go to Bologna. The problems started from the moment we tried to buy train tickets. Unlike the rest of Europe and even some of the places in the US that have public transit, Italy’s trains and buses are NEVER on time and you NEVER know when you’re going to arrive somewhere. Little did we know, that would mean 3 ½ hours on 3 different regional trains just to get from Florence to Bologna, a trip that should have only taken an hour. This was my first experience with the Italian train system and I have clearly figured out that, like everything else here, there is definitely a learning curve. We definitely figured out that we had bought the wrong tickets when we asked some Italians on the train for help and even they didn’t understand why we had so many connecting stations listed on our passes.
Once we FINALLY got to Bologna we completely forgot to buy tickets for the train ride back that night. Just winging it is what us college kids do best right? We just knew that there were supposed to be high-speed trains back to Florence that ran until midnight. It was also at this point that we figured out that no one in our group had a map of Bologna, another genius move on our part. I still wasn’t too worried though, I had taken two weeks of Italian classes so I was pretty good at asking for help and understanding directions when given in Italian. So far, not that bad of a start, but little did we know what we would be facing that night.
We spent the rest of the afternoon browsing one of the local flea markets and walking around the downtown district. We also went to see the two towers in Bologna and the chapel that is near then. Unfortunately, because we arrived so late in the afternoon most of the attractions were closed. The city of Bologna is quite different from what I’ve gotten used to in Florence. Where Florence is all about holding on to its history and tradition, the city of Bologna is fairly modern. Most of the buildings and streets in Florence can be dates back to the first few centuries AD, whereas a lot of what we saw in Bologna was probably constructed in the last one or two hundred years. I’m not saying I didn’t like Bologna, but it just didn’t feel as “Italian” as Florence.
One of the things I was looking forward to the most in Bologna was the food. In my Current Trends in Italian Cuisine class we have discussed some of the regional differences between Italian foods. Bologna happens to be pretty close to the center of several major food regions and is therefore considered the “Gastronomic Capital” of Italy. While in Bologna we found an underground restaurant where we had a traditional meat and cheese platter with some olives, salad, and fruit. Next, we moved on to a more modern Italian restaurant where we ordered several types of pasta and meat dishes. The best thing about traveling with a big group is when everyone orders something different and then we get to try several different dishes during one meal.
After our meals it was starting to get late so we figured we should probably head back to the train station to catch one of the late trains back to Florence. This is where the fun starts. When we got back to the train station we were greeted by an angry woman banging her purse on the counter of the ticket office and yelling in Italian at the man behind the glass. Several police officers showed up to escort her off the premise, and after several minutes of heated argument and pushing they finally managed to move her from in front of the window. I’m guessing the guy behind the counter was tired of dealing with people at this point so he promptly decided to close his window and that was it. I’ve kind of discovered in Italy that when people don’t want to work, they don’t. Several Italians in front of us started to get upset as well, because it was only 10:30 at this point and it seemed like no one was going anywhere anytime soon, and they started to head for the automated ticket machines near the platform. We followed suit only to find that there was a news announcement on the board above the machines saying that all trains to Rome, Florence, and Napoli were cancelled for the night. What? Cancelled? Can they do that? We asked the woman in front of us why they were cancelled and she told us it was probably because of a train strike. Now we understood why that one woman was banging her purse around and getting so upset.
This is when the group started to get nervous because from what we could tell the next train that was heading to Florence didn’t leave until 5:15 the next morning. That’s SEVEN hours away! We immediately start pulling out cell phones and calling for help. I called my roommate back in Florence to see about a rental car, a bus, a taxi, anything really. Another girl called her parents back in the US and was asking them about hostels and hotels. After little success, we had to finally resolve to just waiting it out.
We ended up going to a bar and sitting around talking to some locals until 4am and then we wandered around the main piazza for another hour until we could finally walk back to the station. When we got back to the station I made another discovery about Italians: they can literally sleep ANYWHERE. There was a waiting room at the station and most of the people we were in line with before were fast asleep, propped up in the waiting room’s plastic chairs. It was hilarious. The train finally got to the station and when we got on we found ourselves in another dilemma: it was a night train and all of the cabins were already occupied. We walked up and down the train at least three times, but we never found anything so we had to beg the bartender in the dining car to let us sit there without ordering anything. He was nice enough to let us stay.
This is how we all felt at 4:30am
We finally got back to Florence at 6:30 in the morning. It was probably one of the longest days of my life, but I bet it will be one of those Italian experience I’ll never forget. The moral of this story: make sure to look up train tickets, times, and local transportation strikes before heading out for the weekend.
I’m heading to Rome this weekend so I will try and update as soon as I get back. I’m also hoping the sinus congestion/ cough of mine goes away before we leave or else this weekend could be miserable.
Ciao! Ciao!
Also, I'll be uploading some videos for you guys to watch soon so you can kind of see what I've been seeing while here in Italy.
No comments:
Post a Comment