Italian Odyssey

Before school started to get too hectic, as a group, we decided to plan a trip to Italy. Unfortunately, we made this decision twenty four hours before we were supposed to leave. Thursday night, I was scrambling around the computer lab trying to find hostels along with train times in order to make it into Italy all in one piece, on time, and under budget. Deciding to go to Italy the day before we hat to leave, seemed to be an impossible and misguided task. Trail and tribulation were the only things that followed us on that Friday. From the beginning, we knew getting to Italy would be an odyssey of sorts. Our first indication was that we had to leave a man behind. As we boarded the train to Basel sans one, we debated and discussed the consecutive trains that would take us to our destination. With different Railpasses that the group possessed, we had to split up the group once more and go different routes. Now, the group, sans three, had to manage the ways of the trains and times which was not always easy, as we found out when we boarded the wrong train and the correct train was only minutes away from departing. Wrong trains, unmade reservation, and a long day eventually led us to our destination... Florence. This trip finally changed my perspective about traveling Europe. All the weekend travels I had taken thus far were planned weeks in advance with all reservations taken care of days if not weeks before. Therefore, I found traveling Europe just as difficult as getting around in the United States. This trip, that was decided in less than twenty four hours from our departure time, allowed me to travel and reach my destination safely and rather swiftly. Although, traveling at a moments notice was more hectic than my other travel, it was not more complicated or troublesome. The Railpass I purchased to travel across Europe gives me unlimited mobility with, of course, the occasional fee. But i am glad to say this pass along with the train time table restored my faith in the well known rumor that traveling in Euorpe has been mad fairly easy... with the occasional hectic process.