So Many Places, So Little Time

Ciao Everyone!

The end of orientation is upon us and everyone here is so pumped for the first travel weekend! Most conversations surround the topic of traveling and all the different places that people are going this weekend. Friday (after I finish the partially terrifying but intriguing LIFE Program), I leave for Florence, Italy. As much as I love the small town atmosphere we have experienced so far, like going to a small market in Crespano to just walking around Paderno, I can’t wait to go somewhere different!

 

However, everyone always talks about the amazing places we are going to see, but no one ever talks about how hard it is to actually get there. I guess I lived in this fantasy world of how vacations worked, because my parents always planned all of our trips. I just kind of went with it and enjoyed the ride. Haha. Well, now we are big kids and we must do things on our own.

First, you must find a group of people to travel with. As much as I would love to go with everyone here, I have found that it is much easier to plan and travel with less people.

After you have the group, everyone gathers into someones dorm with all of their computers and maps. Everyone is just throwing out places to go and the list becomes SO long. I mean I have a never-ending list of places myself that I want to visit, so with every one’s added together there just isn’t enough time.

After much deliberation, we finally have the destination hammered down. We are going to Florence! The weather should be nice, we can see some museums, and the night life is pretty happening there from what I have heard.

Then comes booking the train to get there and there are so so so many options. There are like four or so train stations to choose from, prices range anywhere from nineteen euros to three hundred euros (a little ridiculous if you ask me), and you have to make sure everyone can have a seat. We log on to trenitalia.it and fun note: make sure that you change the language to english or you are going to be super lost. Haha. After about an hour of searching and debating, we finally decide that the most time and money efficient way would be to take a taxi to Padova and then a train to Florence. But then, of course, the website gets all tricky and changes the prices every five seconds and sometimes the seats are available and sometimes they’re not. Pretty, much we are spread out all over the train and are all paying different prices, which I mean doesn’t matter unless you are the poor person paying the highest price. (Luckily, that isn’t me. Haha.)

The last step in this planning madness is to find a hostel. Now I have never stayed in a hostel before so I have absolutely no idea what to expect. I’m a little high maintenance, so I really don’t want it to be super sketchy. Fortunately, I think we found a good one right near the center of town. It’s called Plus Florence… Of course, we won’t really know for sure until we get there.

At least, all the planning is done for this weekend and at the end of it I have a trip to Florence. Pretty good trade if you ask me. Oh, and I will make sure to post lots of pictures of Florence. We should definitely have some keepers. By the end of this semester I should be a pro at booking adventures and I can’t wait to share all of the with you!

Ciao, Elizabeth