Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Bonjourno!

After some airport stress, I have made it to Macerata! I left Tuesday from Detroit to Chicago, but of course the flight was delayed 2.5 hours. After finally landing in Chicago, I freaked out that we were landing at the time that my flight to Munich was supposed to be taking off! So, I became the person who was sprinting across the terminals while other people take their time and laugh at my struggle to run while carrying an oversized purse bounding from side to side and threatening to break. But by some miracle of God, I made it to my plane in time! They were just about to close the gate when I came running up to them. Then making my way down the endless aisles of people in an enormous jet, I found my seat and proceeded to sweat profusely after my airport workout.

The flight to Munich was not that bad, we had individual screens in front of us that we could either watch movies on (I watched Ratatouille) or we could watch a map with our plane flying its route. It was pretty cool; it gave the time left, miles traveled, altitude and whatnot. I tried to sleep on the plane, but probably only got a couple of hours. We were fed twice: dinner and then breakfast right before landing. The man I sat next to was with his daughter and they were going to Germany to visit family. He is originally from Germany and met his wife while she studied abroad there- she's from America. He was nice and recommended I visit more than just the Munich airport if I got a chance to travel.

Once at Munich I had some time to kill before my flight to Ancona, Italy. The airport in Munich was totally in the middle of nowhere, but then once you got inside you felt like you were at a mall! There were so many stores and shops and cafès, it was crazy. Then I was able to get some money from an ATM, which was a little difficult at first since I don't know German.

My flight to Ancona was farely short. We got a little box of snacks during the flight. Mine had this pretzel type circle bisquit thing, but was seasoned with what they use on sausages.... it was weird. Then there was also a chocolate chip biscotti, not so bad. And then they also gave us 3 slices of meat and a thing of cheese, toppped off with a Italian flag. Rather funny looking. The woman who sat next to me spoke Italian to the flight attendant as I fumbled for a simple thank you- "grazie." Then, unexpectantly, the woman next to me turned to me and said "Are you American?" A little embarressed I said yes and then she went on to tell me that she is from Great Britain. Yipppeeeee, finally a person that speaks english! Then we spokesome more and I learned that she met her husband in Italy while she was studying abroad there...(weird, two people already have married people they met while studying abroad). So she has lived in Italy for a while, in a town on the coast just south of Ancona. And she has two daughters who also both married men from different countries. Then, and here's the best part: she then asked if I was going to go skiing and I was like uhh maybe. And I asked her if she skiied. She then told me that yes she does and that her and her husband own a chalet in the French Alps and are going there in a few weeks to spend a couple months there. (holy moly!) So, I was like, well then you must be able to ski a lot then. And she goes, "Oh not that much any more now that I'm older. I only ski about an hour or two a day.

Um.....are you kidding me? Talk about living the dream!

So we landed in Ancona and I got my luggage and said goodbye to my new baller friend and got a taxi to take me to the train station. While fumbling with my luggage I purchased a train ticket to Macerata... which I then found out that it actually stops in Civitanova and I have to hop onto a different train. So I validated my ticket and then went outside to find what platform I needed to pick the train up at. From what my ticket said, I had about 30 minutes until my train was to arrive, but it failed to mention what platform to pick it up at. And not being able to decipher to schedule posted outside I went to the help desk. Banging my oversized luggage thru the door I desperately tried to ask the worker for help and where to pick up my train. She told me it was on platform 8 and I better hurry. Panicking, I walk outside only to realize my platform is waaaaay across from the station beyond a bunch of other railroad tracks. Looking to my right I realized I had to take stairs downstairs and underneath the tracks to get to my platform.

Boooom, boooom, boooom went my luggage and my sanity down the stairs. Heaving it down the tunnel I was for sure I could hear my train leaving. Then I realized that although I thought going down the stairs was rough, going UP the stairs was going to be next to impossible. Lifting my three bags I went up one step at a time with aching muscles . Thank God a man was coming up the stairs as I was about to give up and offered his help. We hurdled it up the rest of the stairs and I managed another "grazie." Rushing to the train I hoped was mine, I dragged my luggage up the stairs into the train and plopped my bags on the nearest seat available. Unsure of my luck, I asked a man if the train was going to Civitanova. He said yes it was- YIPPEEE!!!! I sat back and tried to relax, only to feel the glares from the locals with thoughts that were probably like, "Stupid American, so much luggage!"

I got off at Civitanova and then tried yet again to read the schedule of arriving trains. Of course- I had to go down stairs and thru a tunnel an up stairs again to reach the correct platform. A train came rather quickly and pretty sure I had read the schedule correctly I climbed into the new train. Taking up another 2.5 seats with my crap, I had to make sure I was on the right one because the time on the ticket an the time it had shown up was waaaay off. I asked a girl across from me and she said I was on the right train.

Looking out the window as we rode through the countryside I was a little skeptical about what I was getting myself into. While it was gorgeous, the towns we were passing weren't was I was hoping for in Macerata so I began to get a little discouraged. But then the little towns we were passing disappeared for a while and all there was was amazing hillsides and mountains.

Then, there it was!!!! We arrived in Macerata. The train station was a little small, but after exiting it and getting a taxi we began to drive around the city to get to the hostel. AMAZING! The walled in city is gorgeous and has so much history. The rich texture of the walls and creative architecture was breathtaking. The people drive absolutely insane and get around curves that I have never even seen attempted before. The winding roads kept leading to something new until YAY we arrived at the hostel- Osilo Ricci. I got checked in, was given a key to my room (where 2 others from my group are staying in too), sheets, blanket and a towel. I got settled in and then waited for one of my teachers to come get me to lead me to where the rest of the group was. Since I arrived a little bit later than everyone else, they had started on a tour of Macerata. Dom Carisit, the visiting professor from Ball State University, came to get me and took me to the rest of the group. I met everyone and fit right into the bunch.

Everyone is so nice and we are all astounded at how beautiful it is here. It is foggy outside so we aren't able to see past the city walls, but I hear that we are surrounded by mountains and rolling hills and it is breathtaking. And we can see the Adriatic Sea from the city too- I can't wait until this fog goes away so I can see it!!!