Italia: Il Primo Giorno

A fairly accurate image of how tired I was.

Today started at 8:00AM. Mind you, I had gone to bed around 2:00AM because I was packing and socialising (mostly the latter) and I was neither alive, awake, alert, nor enthusiastic!

By the time I got to the airport, it still had not quite hit me that I was going to Italy. Me. I was going to Italy! By myself! It was cray! Although I was really excited and looking forward to it, at the moment I was mostly nervous. It had been a while since I had spoken or used in any manner the Italian I studied in high school. And in the time between now and then I had studied a bit more of Spanish, and now it is all quite the mess in my head! But mostly, I was going alone. Which was scary.

I like my independence and all. A lot. But I also worry. A lot. I blame this Worrier Gene on my mom. What if something happened? And I had no way to contact anyone either in Stirling or in the States? And what about when it would get dark? Wandering around alone in the dark in a foreign city does not strike me as the smartest thing to do. But it gets dark so early now! So what was I supposed to do?

I got the the airport incredibly early, and was left with lots of time to mull these worries over. My backpack fit tightly into the carry-on measuring gauge, so I shifted things around, worried (of course) about Easy Jet going crazy about it. This ended up not being a problem, because as soon as boarding started they asked for volunteers to check their luggage-I did so, deciding that it would be easier to slip the backpack past them this way.



Unfortunately, I was in a middle seat. Now, I have not been in a middle seat in a very long time. And the last time I was I am pretty sure I was travelling with at least one parental unit and the sibling, so I could colonize some of their space as my own. However, I don't think my fellow passengers would have appreciated me doing this, so I was stuck in my little spot. As a testament to how exhausted I was, I fell asleep. On the plane (which I rarely do). In the middle seat. I fell asleep in a middle seat.

I was amazed too.

Getting through customs was surprisingly speedy! I did not have to fill out a landing card, or even tell the agent how long I was to be in Italy. However, he did glare at me when he saw my passport. Hey now, I may be American, but I am not Uhmuric'n!. So there was no need for that!

Once I made it to Milano Centrale, things got a little bit sticky. You see, for all my planning and inability to do spontaneous things, I had forgotten to print directions from the station to the hostel I would be staying in. But no worries! It's a train station, there must be city maps somewhere!

I had no such luck, and eventually (after entering the information room and exiting several times) plucked up the courage to ask the agent at the counter:

Dove posso incontrare una mappa della città? (Or "Where can I find a map of the city?" Although at the time I did not remember that incontrare means "to meet" rather than "to find" unlike encontrar which is Spanish for "to find"-understand how it can get mixed up in my head now?)

Fortunately, the man understood what I meant and was kind enough to print out directions from the station to the hostel, give me a map of the transport, and point me in the direction of the bus! I was quite pleased, and went on my way!

I had a bit of trouble finding the bus stop. And by "a bit" I mean "a lot". The printed map was a little grainy, and street signs were...less than present, shall we say. I stopped outside a McDonalds (No, I did not go in!) to get my bearings and figure out where I was on the map. However, there was a kind of creepy person just standing around and staring/glaring at me. So I quickly moved along.

Eventually, I found the bus stop after seeing the bus I wanted go by, and hopped on the next one. After this it was pretty easy sailing all the way to the hostel.

Okay. Let's pause. I have never traveled by myself. I mean, for a holiday, that is. Obviously I go to and from school by myself. And I came to Scotland by myself. And I go to the grocery store, orthodontist  and Chinatown/Japantown by myself. But I have never gone somewhere so far away without really specific plans alone. This all leads up to the fact that I have never stayed in a hostel. Ever. In my life. I really had no idea what to expect, having heard horror stories and been warned against seeing the movie Taken.

The place was ah.may.zing. If you ever go to Milan, you should definitely stay here. The porter at the desk was so nice. And friendly. And when he realised that my Italian is pretty broken he easily switched to English. He showed me where the room was, and told me there was a movie showing in the common room at 9:30.

I shared the room with a few Australians travelling together (It's their summer holiday), and some other people I didn't really meet. Everyone was so friendly and sweet! After the movie (Ted), I went to bed-very excited to explore the city the next day. =]