Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

This is the first day of the Italy trip. Sam and I started in Vienna and over the course of 21 hours we made our way to Rome.

It all began at 3am. I met Sam near the Opera on the Night bus which we took to Südbahnhof. We caught a train to Bratislava and arrived there probably about 6am. Sam and I needed to get to the airport and we had no idea how to get there. Well, that's not true. Sam knew but we couldn't find the bus we needed. We wound up taking a taxi which cost us €20 but was worth the ride. The architecture is so different from Vienna, thanks to the Commies. The only positive thing to say about the huge apartment buildings is that they're colorful.

We made it to the airport and met this girl from California. She's studying in Budapest and back in the States she studies at Berkley. She's Hungarian and she's learning the language so she can be a leader for the Hungarian troops in CA. She told us that Hungarians are pretty vulgar when they speak. For example, she said an insult that you could use when you're kidding around with your grandma translates to: "A horses dick up your ass." On the plane (flying with Ryanair was a very good experience, they got us to Milan earlier than scheduled), she told us the reason she thinks Americans are fat is because of all the high fructose corn syrup in our food. Europeans ear more bread and pasta than Americans and are thinner than us. She might be onto something, but the corn syrup thing became a running joke between Sam and I.

We had to take a bus to Milan from the airport which took about forty minutes. I fell asleep on it and when we got to Milan it was about 10am. We made our way to the train station and left our luggage there. It a huge station which reminded me of Paris's. Then we spent the morning in Milan.

We got back to the station to catch a train to Roma that departed at 3 or 4. Walking through the station, we ran into Harry and Pat, the guy he's traveling with. They were taking the same train we were, but we sat at opposite ends of the Zug.

We got into Roma around 7 or 8 and found the hostel. Sam and I walked around Roma, found the Colloseum, which is nicely lit up at night. We got dinner and then called it a night - at 11pm. It was one helluva day.

More to come on Rome and Milan.