A Little Less Than Nostalgia

Im Back From Italy!

First vacation that I planned on my own. Well, without my parents more like; I went with a friend of mine. However, not to toot my own horn here, but I planned most of the vacation and did most of the booking myself. Not that I had a problem with that, I think it was the right thing to do anyway cuz it made it easier to keep an overview. 

Alas, it was nice being somewhere else for once. Especially because I have already known that specific hotel and area from my childhood. My family, especially my father, went there quite a few times during summer when I was like 6-10 years old or something. It was an odd feeling seeing all these sights again, may it be cities or the hotel itself. Nostalgia wouldn't quite fit. It's too strong of an emotion to describe it. While it felt familiar being there, the memories were so hazy and distant it almost felt disorienting. 

We filled our week quite efficiently in my opinion. First off we had to get there of course, so we booked interrail tickets for travel. Funnily enough getting those was cheaper than even just a one way trip booked separately. Not only was that the first time ever using an interrail but also the first time taking one of those night-jet trains. Being as smart as I am, immediately fucked up the activation process of my ticket by setting the inbound trip on the wrong day and thus having been unable to add the remainder of trips to our hometown....We were lucky with the ticket controls I guess. 

Since we booked our night-jet seats pretty late we only were able to get second class seats instead of beds. And let me tell you these carriers are the most uncomfortable seats in existence. You would get better sleep in any other regular train, no joke. At least our co-passengers were friendly enough. Though we had quite the interesting constellation with one Indian man, one Mexican guy, an American army solder and another woman from near Bavaria. The conversation s throughout the night were equally obscure...

Anyway, we arrived the on Monday around mid day and were too exhausted to really do anything else other than get our rental car and head to the hotel. If only that was as easy as we thought. Because after having to wait like another hour at the counter of the rental place since like, 10 families decided ON THE SPOT that they REALLY need a car  THIS INSTANT, we were told that the driver and the payee have to be the same person. Nowhere on the website did it say this, by the way. And I am the only one with a credit card, which was the ONLY payment method available. However, I do not drive (despite having a drives license...I get panic attacks unfortunately) so we put my friend as the driver. "No problem" the woman at the counter said, "we'll just refund you and your friend has to pay the whole 1000 euros right here right now if you want to have this car :)".

...

My friend does NOT have a job, mind you. Luckily, she had savings to transfer to her account. But regardless, this whole thing was just ass. I still need to give her the money back, ooff. Easier said than done cuz this card is old and does not run over my account directly (its complicated, don't ask) so I don't have full access to it. 

Whatever, at last we had our car. 

•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:••:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:••:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽

Tuesday!

after we crashed into bed the day before, it was time for our breakfast. Everything was very rural and simple, but good! We made plans to visit Volterra and San Gimignano for a start because those were the nearest bigger towns around.

It was raining quite badly that day as well as the days prior to that. While most streets, though slim and windy, were properly paved, our hotel was part of an agricultural program to combine farm life with tourism. Meaning: We were in the middle of nowhere. 

Us being dumb new tourists used google maps, as one does and decided to just follow where it lead us. Bad idea.

There was, opposite to the main road leading down to the premise, some sort of gravel path going further downhill. Our stupid asses drove that way until all of a sudden the whole fucking street was cut off by an at least one meter deep trench, which the rain had dug into the path. As slim as the streets are in Italy, we had no way to turn the car around. So we tried going up the hill backwards...we did not get far. The path was SO muddy and slippery that we quite literally were driving on the spot. Our little Fiat Panda gave it all it had but to no avail. 

With no other choice but to ask for assistance, we walked back up the five minute uphill path and waited until our hotel host was available. We asked if he, having lived there for his whole life, might be more skilled at getting the car up the hill. To which he promptly replied "no...thats impossible".

"not with these conditions", he said. Apparently he tried to go that way with his four-wheel-drive jeep and had trouble getting back up as well. However, after thinking for a moment he said he will get his "Tractor" (which was actually a small excavator) to try and tow the car. 

So, we let him lead the way and walked behind this machine in our 5 km/h "walk of shame" parade until we saw the car. And as if things weren't already bad enough, the cars tow points were at the fucking FRONT for some fucking reason, meaning we had to lead the tow ropes UNDERNEATH the car and pull it backwards praying that nothing will break off or that the car won't slide off to the side weirdly, thus falling off the cliff. 

That was pretty much the point at which I had my first mental breakdown this week. 

If this didn't work, we would have quite literally been fucked because you can bet your ass a tow truck would NOT have been able to maneuver those roads. 

While I was over to the side literally dry heaving and shaking, my friend and our host managed to pull the car back up to a point where he could at least turn the car around before continuing to pull us up the rest of the way at last. 

As embarrassing as this was, off we went to go check out those towns after all. 

And as bad as I felt for bothering our host with all this hassle in the first place: you wanna know what's even worse? 

The next day, he told us his friend died.

Are you fucking kidding me :))))))

•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:••:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:••:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽

Wednesday!

The funeral of said friend would be on that day, so he won't be able to provide us with dinner that evening. Hence the reason he told us about it in the first place.

We booked a three hour horseback riding trip that day, and originally wanted to just eat at the hotel instead of driving further out into town. 

My friend, who really likes horses, hoped the animals would be in a better condition than at usual tourist spots. Sadly enough her hopes were in vain apparently. 

I'm no horse expert, but when she explained to me where she identified some issues, I do agree that their physical condition wasn't the best. Ribs were showing and the bump between their shoulders was missing a lot of muscle mass, though the latter seems to be quite common according to my friend. 

Every bit of "maybe it's not as bad as it looks" flew out the window as soon as we started though. even I could feel that one of the horses was limping the whole way, the one our guide rode had incredibly unstable knees and ankles and was slipping and bending left and right. None of them had horseshoes for some reason, which didn't make it any easier for them to walk on stoney, slippery and muddy terrain. Our guide seems to either not have cared or not realized any of this because she even asked if we wanted to gallop/trot and if we wanted to cross a VERY active river bank. Which we declined both of course, not wanting to strain the horses even more. 

After three hours of PRAYING none of them would trip and snap an ankle, as well as contrasting scenery, we just decided to stop by a supermarket and head "home"...

We spend the rest of the day just playing Skipbo.

•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:••:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:••:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽

Thursday!

was the best day of the week to be honest. We planned to drive down the coastline and spend the day on various beaches and in coastal towns.

Our first stop was Cecina, which was closest to drive to from where we stayed. You could definitely notice that we were on vacation outside of tourist seasons because only very few stores and restaurants were open during the day, even in the middle of the week. 

That did not really bother us though, to be fair because it resulted in a way more relaxing experience overall. We were lucky it was warm and partially sunny that day because once we arrived at our final stop, a sort of bay to the south of Cecina, we were actually able to go into the ocean for a while. That place was incredibly beautiful, to say the least. 

The sand was literally glittering in the sun, the waves were still mild when we arrived and there was barely anyone there. We found some sort of footbridge that we were able to sit and place our stuff on. With literally no soul around, it was pretty safe to do so after all. The rest of our surroundings were truly pretty as well; huge, old pine trees were casting fields of shadows to hide beneath. Looking up you could see their winding branch structures and leaf crowns. The beach was encased by two stretches of land, weaves crashing into their stone cliffs. 

Literally felt like standing in a postcard. 

The wind picked up a lot the further we got into the evening which we took as a sign to go and find a restaurant for dinner before heading home. 

We didn't really do much that day, but simply being able to see, hear and feel the ocean again was incredibly therapeutic I must admit. i could have stayed there forever...and honestly, if a personal heaven exists, i think mine would look quite a lot like that place. 

•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:••:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:••:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽

Friday!

We wanted to really make use of our stay one last time before leaving. So we looked at all the places our host marked on a map he printed for us in the beginning of the week. In the end we decided on some sort of roundtrip through a bunch of smaller and less touristic spots that were a bit further away and then close it off with a visit to an openly available geothermic park. 

Funnily enough we found more open stores in those smaller places than in the more popular towns. Each place was pretty in it's own way and had it's own charm. We took a shit ton of photos and videos everywhere regardless but especially on that day I think. 

It was also when we bought the most souvenirs. 

Funnily enough we did not buy much at all throughout the week. Most of it was spend on food. All I got for myself was a perfume, a jewelry set consisting of two necklaces and earrings, a bracelet, a postcard and an alabaster bowl (a type of stone iconic for that region). Besides that I got two seashell charms for my boss and a small letter set for another friend of mine because we were quite literally coming back on her birthday. 

The geothermal site also had a museum which we WANTED to check out, but the lady literally threw us out after we barely started the exhibition because they were closing...Which she failed to tell us when we bought entry tickets...thanks.

Alas, the park as free and open for the public all hours of the day. 

As pretty and cool it was to see hot steam come out of cracks in the ground all around you and it's effects on the environment, the smell was absolutely HORRIBLE. As one might have guessed, sulfur gasses are naturally part of that phenomenon. 

My friend was pretty stoked about it all. I, however almost gagged.

•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:••:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:••:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽

Saturday!

And Sunday.

Time to go home. Well, in the evening at least. We still had until about 18:00 until our train would depart, so we decided to check out Volterra once again.

More specifically, the museum of torture.

Something I requested to do, since the horseback riding was a wish of my friend. While the museum was small, it was at the very least interesting. 

I had a blast of course. My friend, evident by her pissy/disgusted demeanor didn't like it as much, haha! Excuse my amusement, but if you make me do something I am not very comfortable with, you will have to endure the same.

For the record the museum wasn't that graphic. No blood nor guts nor realistic depictions of any practices. There were multiple info texts and devices and machines on display though, which was already enough for her I guess.

Our trip back was just as exhausting as the first, if not even more stressful.

Because even though there were no major tragedies, when we exited our night-jet I realized that I have forgotten the camcorder I have taken with me to film a bit of our vacation here and there. 

When I wanted to quickly jump in and retreat it, the train suddenly started to move again. My friend later told me that she did hold the door open but the train literally just drove regardless. I kid you not when I say this train was not even a minute at this platform in total before it departed again. So now I was stuck in this fucking train, sleep deprived and already cranky, being forced to drive 50 minutes to the next stop alone without my luggage and everything. 

Not only did my friend have to take the next train to come after me but she also had to carry my heavy suitcase on top of her own luggage throughout it all.

Thats when I had my SECOND mental breakdown of the week, though this time I had to really control myself not to throw hands at anyone who talked to me. 

Of course we also didn't catch our planed connection and thus not only had to pray to god the ticket controllers would understand but also change trains one ADDITIONAL time with no waiting break, drive about an hour more than originally AND squeeze into completely overloaded trains, sitting on the fucking hallway floor the whole time.

all in all I was pissed the whole way back and literally only went home straight away crashing into bed. 

Needless to say: fuck the ÖBB.

•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:••:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:••:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽

No matter what, one thing I am going to take with me from that trip...are bugs.

Stink bugs, to be exact. They were everywhere. We had to carry out at least ten out of our room during the first two days of our stay. They were crashing into you outside, flying around. My friend found two in her luggage once she unpacked, alive. 

That and mosquito bites. Me more than my friend, but no joke my ankles are absolutely obliterated. I had at least 20 on EACH ankle plus a few more on my legs and arms. I hope I didn't fucking catch anything...

Time shall tell.