Cliff diving in Cinque Terre and missing trains in Pisa.

I am going to write instead of doing homework. Don't think any less of me.

My friends and I missed the last train to Florence from Pisa last night at 11:30. Missing trains is my new favorite thing. I like having a general idea of what you want to do when you travel, but I feel like the best kind of traveling is unplanned and spontaneous. Missing trains is a great way to perpetuate this travel style. Not knowing what is going to happen and just going with it is so exciting. We had some time to kill until the 1:15 bus arrived, so we decided to walk to the Leaning Tower of Pisa in our spare time. The incessant rain hindered us in no way and the fact that I had been soaking wet since 3 that afternoon had no affect on my high spirits. It's almost like blunders in this country aren't inconveniences, but little gifts. If you look at everything that way I promise you will never have bad days.

My friend Mark told his Italian teacher this morning that we went cliff diving between Manarola and Corniglia in Cinque Terre yesterday. After he showed her a video of our friend Barbara landing very close to the rocks she said that was a dangerous place to do it and a ton of people had died at that spot. I guess that would have explained the caution signs we later discovered over the spot on maps.

The water was freezing but it was great. We found a little flat platform about 35 feet above a boat ramp. You had to jump out about 8 feet to land in the water and avoid the rocks that sloped from the platform to the waters edge. It was definitely a sketchy spot, but it was totally worth it. I can't imagine how much fun this place would be on a warm summer day, seeing as it was incredibly fun with rain and cloudy skies in the freezing cold water. We hiked to three of the five towns in the short day trip we took. I am still amazed that all these places actually exist.

I don't know what to say about Rome.

I am sitting on a wall that runs perpendicular with the Ponte Vecchio along the Arno River. I guess I am able to use the WiFi of the surrounding houses here. I hope they don't mind.

The sun is out and I have forgotten what it feels like to be warm. A pretty exaggerated statement, but I am sure you can understand coming from someone who lived in San Diego where the weather is perfect year round. And that is hardly an exaggeration. Don't get me wrong either. I'm not complaining, it's hard to believe that only a few days ago I was having snowball fights in San Gigminano. If the river didn't look so murky, I would be tempted to jump in for a swim. Probably not a high percentage move there. If weather permits though my friends and I will be going cliff diving in Cinque Terre on Sunday. I suppose I can wait a few more days.

***

It is so surreal to stand in a building that has been perfectly preserved since the Second Century. And to call it a building would be a gross understatement. The Pantheon in Rome is enormous and has the largest freestanding dome in the world. You see pictures of these places and you don't believe them. I can't even begin to know what to think when you actually go to them.

The city is dreamlike. Even more so than Florence. The amount of history there is so overwhelming.

I was getting dizzy from leaning my head back. Either the place really was one of the most incredible things I have ever seen or the lack of blood flow to my brain caused me to think so. Or maybe it was a little of both. Either way, I will never forget seeing the Sistine Chapel for the first time.

Or the minute when I first stepped into the Colosseum. Amazement turns into disgust after listening for someone talk for two minutes about the horrendous events that took place there. You can't believe-You don't want to believe that you are part of the same race that showed such cruelty to one another. And then you realize that you are standing where it all happened and your mind is blown all over the stadium. It's not comprehensible.

Then you walk to the spot where Julius Caesar was betrayed by Cassius and Brutus and you see cats running all over the place. Cats. Everywhere.

And then you step over the line separating Rome from Vatican City, technically a whole other country. You don't have to be religious to appreciate that this place is sacred or know that you are somewhere that has such an influence on so many lives today and throughout history.

I don't know. I want to draw some conclusions about this place. But I don't know how to make sense of it all. I don't know how to get your head around all these things. I could say it was amazing, but amazing is just a word. I could say I loved it, but love is ephemeral. I could pontificate forever about it, but I know you don't want to read that. All I know is that I don't know how you are supposed to go back to real life after this.

Free Hugs in Bologna.

I am continually blown away by the kindness of the people here. Mind you the particular group I'm talking about spends their free time giving out "Free Hugs," but this is beside the point.

I am sitting at a table full of strangers, but everyone feels like an old friend of mine. As I announce my departure from the restaurant to head back to Florence the table erupts in protest. One particular lady says I can spend the night at her house and head back to Florence in the morning. I tell her I wear contact lenses and have to take them out when I sleep. She says it's not a problem as she points out a gentleman sitting down the table from us. He smiles and waves as she tells me he has some solution and cases I can use for the night. I also tell her I grind my teeth at night and I need to sleep with a mouth guard. My new friend Rosa interjects with "You can't just go one night without it?" I am beginning to feel like I am coming across as ungrateful and rude at this point, refusing such hospitable gestures from people I have only known for a day. My broken Italian is only making matters worse. I finally tell her the real reason I have to go home is because I am feeling a little under the weather and would hate to get everyone sick. They concede at last and say anytime I come back I am welcome.

This is what happens when I get a message entitled "Want to come to Bologna with me this weekend to give out free hugs?"

Oh yeah. Every time.

I met this guy Michel at the couch surfing dinner I went to in Florence the first week I was here. He speaks Italian and Spanish. He sent me a facebook message inviting me to Bologna with him. So Saturday Michel and I hopped on a train to Bologna and wandered around the city for a few hours. Later in the afternoon we met up with a bunch of his friends at the Piazza Maggiore and started giving out free hugs, or "Abbracci Gratis." The Free Hugs Campaign started in 2006 by Juan Mann, who wanted "to reach out and hug a stranger to brighten up their lives." Although I had heard about before, it this was my first time giving out free hugs. Most people walked on by perplexed or annoyed by what our group was offering. But the people who took us up on our charity were as excited about it as we were. Some of the people we hugged busted out pieces of paper, scribbled "Free Hugs" on them and joined our ranks. I don't think it would have been nearly as fun either if it would have been in an English speaking country. Everyone was joking around with the people passing by saying "This kid came all the way from San Diego to give free hugs."

It's true. That's why I am here.

After the hugs were all given out we went to a restaurant to eat at the equivalent (but not really) of happy hour in Italy. It's called Aperitivo. Between 6 and 9 PM you go to a bar and buy a drink for 5-8 € and get to eat a free buffet. Not a bad deal if you want to have a drink with dinner.

When I decided it was time for me to go Michel and Rosa insisted on walking me to the station to make sure I got on the right train back to Florence. I told them it was alright, but I was glad they accompanied me. I didn't trust myself quite yet traveling alone in Italy. On the walk to the station Rosa was singing the theme song of an Italian cartoon to me called "Dolce Remi." The protagonist of the cartoon, "Remi Sweetie," goes on adventures playing music with animals, big bearded men and gets hot older Italian women...Or something like that.

It's great. I haven't even been here a month and they are already making cartoons about my life. (Kidding people!)

...But not really.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aemmQKHUrSU&feature=player_embedded


Michel told me the train station I was arriving at in Florence was outside of the city and I would have to take another train to get to the station I wanted. When the train was coming to a stop I exited my train compartment to make sure if it was my stop I didn't miss it. There was a guy and a girl eating M&Ms in the corridor of the train. I approached them and asked them if this was the stop for Florence. The guy said yes, and offered me some M&Ms. They were from Naples and needed to get to the same station as me. If I wouldn't have talked to them I am positive I would have missed the train into town, seeing as it was a bus not a train. I have done pretty good so far with zero nights spent sleeping in the train station.

But I am secretly hoping one of these nights it will happen.

Trip to Siena with my new Italian friends.

Last week I met this wonderful Italian lady at the Hot Springs in Petriolo Italy. Her name is Lilla. She invited me to come eat dinner and stay with her in Siena Italy. So on Saturday Lila, her friend Francesca and I went to see her daughter perform in a break dancing competition in Florence. After that we took a train to Siena to Lila's house. She lives in the hills of Siena. We ate delicious pesto pasta when we arrived at her house. I read somewhere that when an Italian family invites you over for dinner it is always customary to bring a gift, such as a bottle of wine. I don't know if it's true, but when I pulled out a bottle of Chianti from my backpack Francesca and Lilla were very excited. It was really neat.

I woke up early on Sunday morning to coffee with Francesca. For lunch Lilla taught me how to cook her speciality "Artichokes and Garlic Potatoes." I tried Buffalo Cheese also. It was delicious. After we ate Lilla said she had a surprise for me and took me into the garage where she had a piano. I don't think I have ever been so happy to see a piano. It felt so good to be able to play again. I hadn't realized how much I missed it. We finally left Lilla's house and they took me into the city to show me around. It was so amazing. Siena is like Florence but smaller, less people, less modern, more hills and cleaner. Or at least that was what I was able to gather in the few hours I walked around. They showed me the right bus to take and I headed back to Florence on Sunday night.

We only spoke in Italian. I probably only spoke 20 words in English for the duration of my trip. I am far from fluent but it felt so cool to get the basic gist of what was being said and be able to convey my basic thoughts. It blew my mind how kind and hospitable these women were to a complete stranger. And not even that but a stranger who barely spoke Italian.

When we were on the train Lilla called her friend Giovanna who lives in Naples. Lilla asked me if I wanted to go to Naples and stay with Giovanna next (this) weekend. Of course I said yes.

They say the best food in the world is in Italy and that the best pizza is in Naples. I am finally fulfilling the sumation of my existence: to eat the worlds best pizza. And if Giovanna is even half as amazing as Francesca and Lilla I know I am in for another warmhearted Italian weekend.

(Ended up not being able to go to Siena because of a boyfriend...or something rather. Lilla and Francesca still rule.)