It has been quite a long day. I woke up just after 400, in time to see the 7th, 8th and 9th innings of the Rangers clinching the first AL pennant. I was very happy to be able to see the end of the game before I had to catch my train at 613.
Waiting in a train station is one thing. Waiting in a train station in the cold is another. Waiting in a train station in the cold at 600 in the morning is a whole other world. Waiting in a train station in the cold at 600 in the morning with a bunch of weird Germans is something one must experience.
So I got on the train having not eaten breakfast, since the train from Paris had served breakfast I assumed the same for the German train. Boy was I wrong. I think they once came by with some drinks and food stuffs to sell, but I did not want to venture the price, so I decided to stick it out. One thing that was nice, when we stopped in Stuttgart a couple got on and sat next to me with 2 oversized bags and roughly 6 other assorted bags. I heard them talking and knew they were Americans, so I struck up a conversation. Turns out they are from DC, he is an engineer (PhD Industrial Engineering) over on business, and she met up with him to see Stuttgart, Zurich, and Geneva. They were quite nice, and we both agreed it was nice to talk to another American. He also gave me interesting advice for writing a dissertation that his advisor had given him: write for two hours a day, solid, then take the rest of the day to recoup and think about tomorrow. We did eventually get a tiny snack bag of pretzels and stuff, my breakfast. All three of us enjoyed watching the scenery pass by. Rural Germany is quite a nice scene, lots of trees and there was a small brook following the tracks most of the way.
They stayed behind in Zurich as I moved on to catch the next train. I was a bit worried since I had 20 minutes between trains, but the Germans are punctual and I actually got to the platform before the train to Milano. So now I was on an Italian train. Most importantly, I got my first view of the Alps. I tried taking some pictures, but trains windows do not like to cooperate. I did nap for a good part of the 4 hours down to Milan. What I did see of Switzerland, however, was amazingly beautiful. I have to say that it is by far the most beautiful countryside of the countries I have seen. The varying topography, sometimes quite drastic, is a marvel, and the land is dotted with amazing lakes. As we neared Milan, I noticed that the time for our arrival came and went, with no signs of us slowing down or getting closer. We finally pulled into Milan with quite literally 5 minutes before my connecting train to Florence. Needless to say I, as well as most of the people from the train ran through the station to the train which was, of course, on the opposite side. I think the conductor saw the herd of crazy running people and decided to hold up the train for a few minutes. I hopped on as soon as I could, fearing it would take off, and of course I found out my seat was on the far end. I had to wade through about 8 cars to get to mine, only to find my seat filled by a father and young boy. Not wanting to confront them, and knowing I was the second stop, I crashed in another seat.
The scenary down to Florence was very nice as well. I loved seeing the miles of farmland dotted by Italian villas that look exactly as you would imagine them. The Italians sure have a flair for the dramatic. They came by and served a drink and a snack, so I had some hot tea and a small bag of some kind of dry bread niblets in a bag, my lunch. We finally arrived in Florence a little after 500.
When I walked out of the train station, it was like a whole other world. Very busy, somewhat closed in, people everywhere. Luckily the house I am staying in was only a few blocks away. The lady who owns the house showed me and and brought me to my room. I will actually be staying in a double for the majority of the time because the single was full. I say most of the time, because she told me she overbooked between Thursday and Saturday, so I will need to move to a smaller room for those days. I told her it was no problem, but she said she would charge me 10 Euro less for those days because of the inconvenience. I will not argue that!
The house is nice. There is a long corridor leading to each of the room, with a bathroom at the end of the hall, then a kitchen leading to the courtyard in the back. The kitchen looks nice, though I will be sharing it with a few other people, but I should be able to make dinners here after I go to the Central Market (perhaps tomorrow?). I did not go in the courtyard yet, but it looks like a nice, peaceful get away. We talked for awhile, and then I settled in a little before finding dinner. Italians like to make a big deal of dinner, and in fact most, if not all, restaurants do not open until 700. Dinner usually consists of an antipasta, a first course of pasta or soup, a second course of meat, perhaps another antipasta and then dinner. Of course you do not have to get all the courses, and if you do the bill will add up very quickly (5-9 Euros for the antipasta, 8+ for the first course, 12+ for the second course, etc.)
I looked in my guidebook and marked on my map a couple of restaurants close by to check out. It ended up the map was no help, because I was easily turned around but ended up at the restaurant I was looking for originally, so I guess it worked out. When I arrived at Trattoria al Trebbio, there were already about a dozen other tourists waiting in line outside. After they opened the doors, I was taken to one of the smaller rooms (there are, from what I could tell, 4 or so different eating areas). I ordered the Bruschetta (toasted bread with tomatoes) for antipasta, the Spaghetti alla polmadora (I think, it was a tomato sauce), and a glass of the house red wine. The wine was absolutely perfect, smooth and no aftertaste. The bruschetta was quite good, and even had a small salad with it. The spaghetti was very good as well. I was very hungry, and probably did not enjoy them as much as I should have. So hungry, I realized I had not taken a second to take a picture of the food. Nevertheless, it was an excellent first taste of Florence.
Fairly full, I walked back to the house past Santa Maria Novella, where I think I will attend Mass tomorrow. It is a beautiful structure from the outside, and I can only imagine the inside. I made it back to the house in time to see some of Joseph's birthday! It was great to see the whole family, though it only made me wish to be home more.
I am not sure my plans for tomorrow, after Mass. I probably want to check out the Central Market and get some food for the week. I will probably also wonder around and take in the sights. Not sure now if I will go in anywhere or not. I am excited about my first full day in Italy!
No comments:
Post a Comment