Italia!

Our RyanAir flight to Bologna

It has just been one of those days. Uneventful for the first twelve hours, but packed and crazy for the last three. Everything went smoothly up until we got off the plane in Italy. Funny how much a change in language can screw up the finest (or in our case, misprepared) plans.

This first hit me square in the face when I realized that the buses would not be speaking our language and the signs and what not might as well have been in Italian... o right, they were. Confusing! Not to mention that we finally got back on the RIGHT side of the road for driving. After we figured out which crazy Italian bus to get on, we hopped on it as quickly as possible and got the rest of our insane night started. Getting to the train station was the easiest part of our night. We got in fifteen minutes before the first train to Florence left and were ordering our tickets. This would've been easier had the machines actually worked. By the time we actually figured everything out and had run up to the platform, our train was just leaving the station. It has just been one of those weeks for us. As Nathan started to panic, we made our back to the train hub to have them change our tickets. After a few words (and a few hand gestures from our attendant) we got our tickets changed to the later train.

Getting off the train we were greeted by the absolute beauty of Florence. Thank God! We are almost at the end of our Frogger of a trip through Ireland. It really has been a comedy of errors. Part of me is flustered by the problems we've been having, but the majority of my mind is embracing this for what it is: a college trip back packing through Europe. I shouldn't be comfortable travelling in another country at this point -- especially when they aren't speaking my language. I love it though, I wouldn't trade any of my experiences. I will get comfortable here, and until then I will enjoy it. This is a once in a lifetime experience and I will make the best of it. Did I mention we got lost in Florence? Yes, a theme, I know. But I've always thought the best way to get to know a town is to get lost in it.

I'm probably leaving things out, but it happens. I'm off to the Settignano and the Villa tomorrow. I love you guys! Keep praying! From Italy, may God bless you!