And the fun began...

Our home took a week off in the beginning of September, and so did Jamie and I. Being as it was the first (and only) time that Jamie had been to Europe, we tried to make best use of the time to get her around to some cool places in Italy (with our limited budget, of course). - And so began the adventures (which we were already pretty good at by this time, I guess) that followed us everywhere.

First there was a day ferry trip over to Rome, then a lot of back and forth on trains with our luggage, as we were dropping it off at some friends. We then caught the last train to Ciampino (Rome), Jamie experienced the special "scusi" train that "Eurotrip" portrays (ahem - yes, I protected her), but we missed the last bus from the train station to the airport (NOT our fault - everyone on that train missed it - go figure, nothing is on time in Italy, and the one time it could be useful, like when our train is late, the bus leaves punctual - sheesh), so being the "go-getters" that we are we didn't just stand there and try to figure out what to do (as the rest of the crowd did), but no, we started walking. :D

Walking is good, we bumped into two Carabinieri who were checking up on some noises in a shop, but who were very concerned when I told them that we were thinking of walking to the airport. They were insistent that it wasn't a good road, and even less safe for two girls to be walking at that time of night (passed midnight by now), but they did not offer us a ride. - How odd! (Though I'm guessing the noises in the shop, and their being on duty played a role in that!) So I flagged down a passing bus, and with the help of the Carabinieri we convinced them to take us (and the whole crowd who missed the bus) to the nearest crossroad to the airport on their route, and...yeah, we got to the airport after a decently long walk only to find that they close the Ciampino airport from midnight to 4:30am. - But get this, not the whole airport, just the actual building. (How odd!!!) So let's just say it was a MAJOR slumber party with TONS (and I mean hundreds) of people camped outside the airport waiting for it to open as there were flights that left before the first train/bus. (If any Italian officials read this blog, PLEASE do something about it. - It's embarassing that such things happen!)

At any rate, it was all good - par for the adventure (I guess), and we made it to Treviso where we then caught a train to Verona and spent a few days at the Home there. They're SOOOO hospitable and sweet, made us feel sooo welcome, and it was nice to see old friends. We tried to see Verona the first day we got there, but were so tired after not sleeping the night before, so made it back, and then tried again the next day. (Much smarter!)

So here are the pics of the tour of Verona...