I make the trek with my dependable rolly suitcase to Abby's house. As I pass multiple Holland Spoors still decked out in orange and continuing the party, I am reminded just how early it is for anyone to be properly functioning.
Finally, it's 3 a.m. and we are on our way to catch a train to Schipol airport! Now, the Netherlands is notorious for not accepting Visa cards mainly anywhere (except H&M- dangerous), which is the only type of credit card Abby and I own. Since it is the middle of the night, the ticket desk that we usually buy our tickets from in cash is closed, and the ticket machines are just sitting there, taunting me with the little red X over the Visa card symbol. Since we had absolutely no way to buy a ticket (and let's face it, we are poor college students), we decided to take our chances and not buy a ticket. We boarded the train and tried to act casual.
After a few stops we figured we were in the clear. Then Abby suddenly turned to me as if a ticket checker was coming our way.
At first I thought she was joking, and then I heard the clack of shoes coming slowly towards us. A female ticket checker came up to us and said something in Dutch, which we assumed was "Can I see your tickets?" I was about to blurt out something along the lines of "WE DON'T HAVE TICKETS WE COULDN'T BUY THEM BECAUSE WE ONLY HAVE VISAS AND THE TICKET MACHINES DON'T TAKE VISAS AND THE TICKET OFFICE WAS CLOSED AND WE HAD TO GET ON THIS TRAIN BECAUSE WE CAN'T MISS OUR FLIGHT AND WE ARE SO SORRY AND WILL NEVER DO IT AGAIN DON'T FINE US WE BEG OF YOU" but instead I calmly said, "Excuse me?" Then she repeated herself, this time in English.
"You girls going on a trip?"
Why yes. Yes we are. We are going to Italy for two weeks!
"Well enjoy!"
And she went on her merry way.
We couldn't believe our luck. We were sure at any moment she was going to turn around and say "Oh I almost forgot, can I see your tickets?" but the next stop she got off the train. Crisis averted.
We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to go through security twice (Abby refused to part with her face lotion) and boarded the plane successfully! We believe this is the first time we have made it to our destination without missing our transportation! High five.
After we landed in Rome we took a train towards Katie and Chelsea's apartment, who we would be staying with until we went to the Amalfi Coast, and then we would have to transfer to a tram. After 20 minutes of waiting without a single tram in sight and finally learning they were on strike we decided we would just follow the tram tracks. Surprisingly we made it to their apartment successfully- things were really going great! We rang their buzzer, eager to be inside, because for the first time since leaving the U.S. I was actually sweating due to the sun's rays. After a few more unanswered buzzes, we decided to have lunch in the hopes that Katie and Chelsea would return soon. After our lunch of none other than pizza, we returned to their apartment.
BUZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
Contemplating knocking down the door we ring the buzzer again and to our relief the door opens. Once we walked to the second floor to their apartment, Kady and Chelsea's roommate informed us that Chelsea was at the beach and Kads is with her dad.
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Guess that means we can take a nap in their beds! After passing out for a couple hours we were awoken to Chelsea coming in, sandy and reeking smelling vaguely of wine, telling me her roommate was supposed to open the door when we came. At that point I didn't even care because I haven't seen her since February when her and Kads visited me in Amsterdam! We then went over her friends' house where we were cooked a delicious meal of burgers and sausages! God bless American men.
The next day Abby and I got an early start to see the sights of Rome! Our first stop was Saint Peter's Basilica.
Everyone was in line to touch this statue's feet. So we got in line too. We think it was something monumental but still aren't totally sure.
Then we climbed to the top for a breathtaking view of Rome!
After Saint Peter's Basilica we went to the Vatican Museum only to be told by the guards that it was closed. We didn't have much time before having to be back to the apartment to leave for the Amalfi Coast so we walked around a bit and then decided to head back to the train station.
Naturally when we asked directions to the train station people looked at us like:
I thought it was just the Dutch who were incapable of telling proper directions (okay and me- I fit in this category) but turns out Italians have no clue either! Eventually we found our way to the train station after many failed attempts and were home just in time to meet Katie and Chelsea and head to the Amalfi Coast! We waited for the bus outside of their apartment to take to meet the group we were going to the Amalfi Coast with, called Bus2Alps. Either the busses were on strike again or we were just having really bad luck. Eventually we ended up calling a taxi with 10 minutes to meet Bus2Alps. I was having flash backs to all the multiple times I have missed my busses and I was praying I wouldn't have to add this to the ever-growing list. Fortunately for us, Katie had the group leader's cell phone number, and was able to call him and let him know we were stuck in traffic and going to be late. When we eventually boarded the bus after making them wait 20 minutes they all just kind of looked at us like:
Oops.
After a three hour bus ride we made it to the Amalfi Coast!
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