Bear with me ladies and gentlemen, instead of writing a whole new blog for the 2nd part, I have copied and pasted the journal entry I wrote for my advisor. It still contains all the key points.
Instead of starting this journal on Monday of this past week, this entry claims its origins on Friday April 17, the day we were to begin our epic Spring break adventure by flying out of Venice and making our way to Rome. That morning, I woke up with pep in my step, re-packed my bag, and met up with the group of us heading to the airport. In order to get to the airport we needed to take a waterbus from Venice to the airport, a brief 30-minute ride. While we were standing in the waiting area for our bus to arrive, it was mentioned that our flight was in jeopardy because of some volcano. This can as big news to me because that was the first time I had heard any news of the volcano that would haunt our vacation for the next week.
We boarded the waterbus and jetted off to the Venice airport where we would find our fate. Cancelled. In fact, I have never seen so much red on an airport departure list. Where there was one cancellation, there were 100. There were lines all over the airport of ragged, scrappy travelers who bore the expression of frustration and exhaustion. With our route to Rome now in the toilet, it was time to enact a plan B. Only problem was that we had no plan B. It was decided that we needed to go to the train station and find out about trains to Rome from Venice, which is what my real group was taking. I was the only one flying, with a different group of classmates. We all dragged ourselves on the bus, unsure of our travelling future and just what would happen next. Needless to say, our perfect batting average continued when the bus broke down not two minutes after leaving the airport. After a 10-minute wait for an empty bus, we continued our journey to the Venice terminal. 73 Euros later and we possessed a train ticket that would take us to Rome in just over three hours. Total price thus far for my journey from Venice to Rome: 153 Euro. Regardless, we boarded the train and I was off to meet my group at the Rome train station – if I could find them.
The train ride was interesting as we went through Italian countryside and rain showers. A brief delay on the tracks got us into Rome at around 3:30 p.m. With our arrival, I said goodbye to the group I had arrived with and attempted to locate the group I would be travelling with for the next few days. I looked for 45 minutes before eventually finding them and we were off to our hostel. On the walk to the hostel, we crossed a busy intersection where we had to run across the road. Well since I only had my carry-on bag with wheels, I was dragging it behind me and attempted to hoist it over the oncoming curb. With my amazing luck continuing, the left wheel caught the curb and snapped off, leaving me a rolling suitcase with one wheel. Just awesome. Anyways, we arrived at our hostel and proceeded on with what sight seeing we could accomplish in the next couple of hours before daylight died. We managed to walk around the neighborhood when we stumbled upon my dream of dreams. It was the one piece of history I have been dying to see since I was a kid. I had read about it in books, seen it in movies, marveled at its beauty in pictures, and gawked at the pure magnitude of its existence on our history.
The Colosseum.
It appeared just over the horizon as we entered a park and it was visible between two lines of trees and it was breathtaking. So much history has taken place in that very building and it made my jaw drop at the sight of it. After snapping what seems like 500 pictures of the ancient building, we took some time walking around it before heading back for free pasta (our hostel had free pasta on Friday and Saturday nights). The next morning we would be mobile tearing up the city of Rome before leaving on a jet plane, or so we thought, on the 19th for Paris.
The next day in Rome consisted of visiting the Vatican, the Forum, Circus Maximo, and various other landmarks that have made Rome the history capital of the world. You spend so much time in school history classes learning about the impact of Rome and how much they are responsible for architecture and art and everything. It really just blows you away when you get to see it up close. We also got to go inside the Colosseum, which was probably my most favorite moment. We covered a lot of ground in a short period of time and left ourselves time at night to hit up a local wine bar with live music. After an enjoyable time there, it was time to go back and get some shuteye because the next day we were to head to Paris. Not so fast my friend.
That night when we got back, we had received an e-mail that our flight to Paris was cancelled. The next few hours were spent with a bottle of wine, some kebabs, and a couple computers, as we were completely rerouting our Spring break trip. We toyed with the notion of heading to Croatia, my nationality, for a couple of days to hit up some party beaches. Believe it or not, Croatia contains some of the most popular beaches in all of Europe. Eventually, after some research, we decided to head 20 minutes to the coast of Rome in a suburb called Ostia, to spend a day on the beach as we regroup. After arriving at Ostia the next day, we were in love. It was near 70 degrees each day and for the entire day, seven to eight hours, we got to lay on the beach next to the Mediterranean Sea and soak in some rays. This was absolute paradise. During my time on the beach I collected seashells, swam in the sea, played volleyball with locals, goofed around, and got a chance to become closer with the six people that I accompanied on the trip. Ask any one of them and you will not hear one say that they missed Paris while feeling the sand between their toes.
The beach was an endless horizon of sand and sun. The sand shone like glass, warm from the midday sun, moving between your toes as you sunk. The water, which stretched for miles and miles, was colder than a ice cubes in December, but enticed you in. You could look at the sea and it just beckoned you to take one-step in it, to forget the rest of your worries and wallow in this vast space of water – nothing but water. The sun gleamed off the water and gave it a sparkle as the waves crashed on the rocks just short of the shore. The tranquility of the sea rocking you to sleep as you dig your fingers and toes into the pure grains of sand, closing your eyes to the sounds of waves, faint music playing, and people enjoying life.
The beach made me realize something during my time there. While we were spending our second day on the beach, Cody and I were approached by the cutest 3-year-old girl who was playing with bubbles. She came up to us, smiled, and blew some bubbles for us. I looked at Cody and I said, “remember when that’s all that it took to make us happy? Bubbles? Now we are so worried about plane tickets and whether or not we will have enough money. Why can’t we just go back to being care free? Bubbles.” And right then everything that had been bothering me, the trains, the flight cancellations, the bank account, all popped, just as the bubbles that were floating before our very eyes.
The next day we had a flight scheduled from Milan, Italy to Prague in an attempt to get home. It was only Thursday, but most of us were physically and emotionally spent from this vacation, so it was decided that Olomouc was the place to be. We hit a train from Rome to Milan and found our way to the airport, which would become our cheapest hostel on the entire trip. The bench was not all that comfortable, but it was free. The next morning we awoke to find out that our flight was still scheduled and we prepared for our journey home. After a short hour-long flight, we were in Prague at roughly noon. A 2 p.m train brought us home to Olomouc by 5:30 and I cannot tell you how good it felt to be back. I never thought I would say that at the beginning of this trip, but it happened. I was overjoyed to be back in Olomouc.
It will be a trip that will last in my memory forever. Never again will I get the chance to visit these places and I got to spent it with some great people. The whole journey was worth every cent, every minute worrying what would happen next, and every step. In a way, I would like to thank the volcano for sending us to that beach because I don’t know if I could have had a better time just relaxing as we head into the final home stretch of classes and paperwork. With a 20-page report due May 15th and still no laptop, this will be interesting to see how I can get it done. Regardless, I will let time tell its tale and just remember one thing: bubbles.
