And now the fun really begins...

We left Milan (once more) bound for Venice on Friday afternoon. We possibly got on the wrong train at our quick lay-over in Verona, being that we arrived in Venice 45 minutes earlier than expected and the train was REALLY nice (as in not "Regional" quality)... this possibility grew ever more likely when we got off and the side read "Eurocity"... (you have to make a reservation for those...)

We doubled checked our train departure time (having learned from previous mistakes in Venice), and set off immediately for salad dressing. We decided that McDonald's would be most likely to help us out in this endeavor. After the 15 minute walk there, that notably gets longer every time you make it, passed slowly. Kjelsie invested in a cheesy tourist fan, like Mikayla's Toledo one--they come in so handy on hot, stinky euro trains. The McD's manager who received our obscure only-salad-dressing order, turned out to be kind of creepy. He did however, give us the dressings free of charge, and being the sweet Midwesterners that we are, we felt obligated to buy something from him. Cappucinos sufficed. He didn't charge us full price for them... unless you count the conversation as payment, as he sauntered over to our table just minutes afterwards.
We took our sweet time at the McD's. We peed; we filled our water bottles; etc. Then we made our way back down the canal towards the Santa Lucia train station. We passed our little vending machine room, and shed a small tear remembering the good time... ok, well maybe not, but we did smile. :D

We sat on the steps of the canal and oh-so-picturesquely read our books until the time came to board our train. We didn't get a compartment-mate initially so we folded out the couchettes, turned off the lights, watched Anchorman on KJ's ipod, and fulfilled all the usual happenings of a slumber party. :) Around midnight we did get a German-buddy but he just sat on one of the seats that hadn't been folded out yet, and left a couple hours later. At some point later we gained an Italian-buddy... who knows when... and he hung out with us until we disembarked at Vienna's Westbahnhof.

Venetian Follies

Venice!!! The city where canals are more common than paved roads and picturesque bridges outnumber the local population. There is a lot of hype surrounding this sinking cita, and all I can say is that it is totally, justifiably earned. The city sparkles like the sun on it's glistening waterways, in every aspect... well, except for some of the reeking water/fishy scents, but that just an unavoidable reality, methinks.

All did not go as planned on our little Venetian outing, however. This should not surprise you. Kjelsie and I are never ones for textbook approaches or experiences. :) For the sake of time, and our sanity, we are cutting this blog down to a bullet-style outline of all the high (and low) points. Are you ready for Venice? Here it comes!

• The regional train to Venice(aka, the "free with pass" train) leaves from a different station and at a different time than the ones listed on our Eurail-provided timetable.
• Thus, we got a very late start.
• We resolved to spend only 5 touring hours in Venice, enabling us to make it out on the last train and therefore use only one day on our pass... or so we thought.
• Left at 11:35am bound for Venice
• 2:55pm arrive in Venice. Mikayla is like a 5 year-old waiting outside the gates of Disneyland.
• The posted timetable is checked to verify time of departure: 21:09... this does not match up with our previous information from Milan rail workers, but hey, we're in Venice now.
• We ventured into the streets, up/down the bridges, taking in the sights with the greatest sense of fulfillment.
  
• We decided that 5 hours in Venice is infinitely better than 5 hours not in Venice.
• While (still) our way to the San Marco Piazza. We got thirsty.
• Kjelsie has genius idea to by a wine juice-box along with our water.
• We continued in merriment. The wine was gone by the time we got to the Grand Canal... for some reason it went faster than the water. :D
• We were pigeon ladies--check one of the ole "List of necessary cliched activities"
• We forced pictures upon gondola navigators and swindled.
• We ate our cold, pre-cooked pasta in tomato cream sauce for dinner by the Duomo
  
• We decided that it would be best to be safe rather then sorry so we turned back around 7:30 and worked our way back to the train station.
• Cue fun-time!
• Having not seen Milan on the departure board when we got to the station at 8:30, we inquired.
• We were informed that the 21:09 train only ran on Sundays and that the next train Milan-bound left at 5:14 am
• Shit
• Kjelsie's and my mood immediately drops and we are vexed--our 5 hour trip to Venice has turned into a 14 hour trip to Venice.
• Bus? Not possible. Hostel? Absolutley not--unnecessary expenditure. Does the train station close? Yes--1am. Shit x2
• Our Barcelona-Gerona time-passing practices were reborn.
  
• We had coffee in a cafe for an hour after rumors of a 24hr. McDonalds turned out to be false.
• We sat in the train station.
• We met Oregon friends who were in the same homeless boat as us, and hung out.
• We sat in a 24 hr. vending machine room, because it was warm... I kid you not. It was creepy.
• Unfortunately for us, a homeless man got first dibs on the less-creepy of the two 24 hr. vending machine rooms.
• We showed back up on the stairs with the Oregonites and waited a couple of minutes for the train station to open again.
• We walked the length of the platform, therefore isolating ourselves from everybody, and were followed by obnoxious, schizophrenic and/or drunk and/or homeless guys to the end. And in not so many words told them to f*ck off.
• We boarded the train (yay! somewhere to sleep) and passed out for the first hour of our journey.
• After being awoken by conductorman, sleep was just never the same, because we became conscious again for the ungodly cold air being pumped through the trains vents.
• We proceeded to freeze, having lost the battle of the fetal-position.
• We arrived in Milan over 20 minutes late, and expected to miss the metro because of the "strike" (it's is a mystery as to whether it even took place or not)
• By some miracle, we made the metro to Maciachini.
• We bought tomato sauce for dinner on our way home, started some laundry, showered, set an alarm, and passed out.
• Slept through alarm. It was 2:45 at time of wake up. Shit x3.
• We attempted to go get our package... because of the incredible length of this process and because of the inconceivable stupidity of this whole damn situation, that's all I'm going to say on this topic. Oh, except that it was also raining at this point... :/ no jokes, please.
  
• Clarification: we're still packageless.
• In an attempt to possibly salvage the package out of our situation tomorrow, we're cutting Switzerland out of our day-plan but still going to arrive in Munich tomorrow night. :)

That's about it, I suppose... I think that bullets list is wayyyyyyy longer than I intended, but whatevs. There is great potential for Kjelsie and I to be computerless for up to 5 days, so there may not be any new blog posts for that length of time... we'll do what we can though.

Please keep us in your prayers. We will need them if our past experiences are any sort of a glimpse at what the next month is going to be. We're so poor. Viva couchsurfing! Like my mom says though, "there's worse things than being poor" and that backpacking (or doing anything, really) in such a state only allows it to become more memorable and meaningful in the long run. Thems some wise words, folks.

Whew. this is way longer than I intended. oops. My eyes are burning with the fire of a thousand suns. Please send us all of your good vibes, and we'll keep you posted!

Salaam

Just another night in Milan :)

So it's 1:50am and we're sitting in the kitchen at my apartment cooking noodles. It's for lunch tomorrow. We're going to VENICE in the morning! We'll be waking up early to catch the 7:30 train and will arrive there by 11:00. MK is very excited... esp. for the handstand picture she plans on taking ;) It's been beautiful out this past week, we're hoping to catch a tan soon...



Today was the last day of my classes at Cattolica. I had a big presentation for my Leonardo da Vinci class on Monday-- my roommate Katie and I made a sculpture for our group's final project, we were pleased with the final product! I then had two finals yesterday and today I attended my Da Vinci class to listen to the rest of the group presentations. I can't believe the semester is over! It's weird to think that people will be leaving this weekend already.

This evening Katie and I took Mikayla to Spib's Pizza just down the street from our apartment. The pizza there is sooo good, it's our favorite pizzeria in town! As we were leaving after paying our tab our adorable nerdy waiter was waiting outside the door with three roses he had bought from a flowerman (sounds like weatherman haha). He made our night! We were smitten. We had to of course save our flowers so we brought them back to the apartment. Low and behold, we were running late (once again, poor Steph...) and we had to run to the metro stop to meet our favorite Minnesotan.

Next stop... Old Fashion (aka: a club, but still not The Club). It was SO much fun-- half of it was inside and half was outside. They played American music and we were able to sing along the entire time. They even played some Backstreet Boys followed by the Spice Girls.. nothing like a little bit of old school tunes and Old Fashion ;) Women were just a little outnumbered and hence, a good time was had by all... :).

Well, Mikayla has finished our pasta and we have to get to bed because the morning is going to come too soon.

Thanks for reading, Maties!
Baciiii!

Mikayla&Milan

Hey dudes.
Well, surprise! I'm kickin' it solo in the apartment again--it's ok though. This is the last installment of planned chill-time for a while. It will be nice to move quickly again. This state of activity (or lack thereof) breeds laziness, and I don't like that feeling.
Sadly, we still do not have the allusive care-package from home. :( Not only will it cost an additional 135€, but it is now out in Milan's warehouseland and it must be rescued before it journeys to the downtown post office on Friday. Well, being the the cab-fare alone could rival the value of the packages contents... ugh. So we're just going to wait until Friday and pick up our package at the downtown post office. Oh, but wait! Now that can't be too easy either, though! Why, you might ask? Well, because there's a planned public transportation strike on Friday! Si, claro! Dios mio!!! Por supuesto hay una huelga de trabajadores a viernes, cuando necesitamos transporte público!!! Dios mio... fucking típico.
I digress, just another "bump along the way"... kinda like 84 before that, but hey! We're still bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and nothing can get us down (except bankrupcy)!
I really wish I weren't so obsessive about finances. It's ruining my fun. I need to "Live in the Moment", damn it. I keep telling myself that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I need to savor it, but I'm too worried about something going wrong and costing us even more money.
Well, my oh my I am just a ray of sunshine today.
Sorry about that.
Things really aren't too bad. I'm glad I have such a positive partner to share this with. Even when I'm dead-set on being a downer, she perks me back up and makes me laugh.
We're good at that somehow. Thank God for Kjelsie. :)
I think I'll throw in some pictures just to keep this from looking boring. They're a bit old (from February) but KJ and I weren't blogging then. Kjelsie and I had rendezvoused in Barcelona for a weekend that will no doubt go down in history. ;) Enjoy.
Peace and Hope,
Mikayla
(respectfully listed: Kjelsie & I at the Sagrada Familia Cathedral; Kjelsie, Andrew,& Scotty at Parc Guel; and all of us at Parc Guel)

Milano!!!

Well, things are just getting revved up here in the ole boot country.

Kjelsie gets done with her finals tomorrow, and then we're just a hop, skip, and a jump away from beginning the backpacking adventure!

We've run into a couple snags so far, but we've conquered them with ease--nothing's too big for us to get through, especially after our Barcelona escapade. Presently, we're amid a misunderstanding with the Italian (and all European) postal service(s). We get to pay a hefty 135€ fee for having electronics shipped to us. :( No fun. The unplanned expenses really add up, and could possibly lead to our demise.

We want some gooey chocolate chip cookies. And cold milk to dip them in.

Pre-bedtime word association games keep us entertained and smiling. So does the surplus of consumed "tinto de verano/" Tinto de verano (Summer red wine) is a splendid little Spanish concoction, consisting of 1 part (cheap) red wine to 2 parts lemon soda. This is quite fabulous considering that the wine is often cheaper than the water... honest to God!

No worries, folks--Kjelsie studies studiously! While Mikayla is left to her own devices... which usually consists of a movie.

Let's play catch-up!
We were reunited and it felt so good! on Friday, May 1. Kjels being the lovely host that she is, introduced Mikayla to Milan through such experiences as visiting the Duomo and gettin McDonald's water (with 5 ice cubes!)
The next night we went to the most righteous penthouse BBQ. It was truly a sitcom-like experience.

Last Thursday we went to the club--and I mean "The Club"--with some of KJ's local Italian mates.
Friday night, we watched a movie, and under the dictation of Mikayla's stomach, we went for a late night kebab and surprise, yummy rice pudding! :D
Saturday night, Katie (KJ's roommate), Kjelsie, and MikD went out to Aperetivo (Italian version of the Spanish tapas), for free hors d'voeurs buffet with purchase of tastey cocktail beverage.
Sunday night, we were supposed to go to the AC Milano futbol game, but the game sold out days in advance. :( No oogling at David Beckham for us... :(
Also Sunday night, being Mothers' Day and all, Kjelsie and Mikayla called Ranae at the Gaslight. We really miss her.

Our Great Grand Gallivant begins Thursday in Venice!!!

We'll keep you posted!
Besitos/Bacio!!
(Spanish/Italian kisses)